Th3King0fChaos

The Hourglass Order

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Location: La FLeur Rouge -> The Main

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Interactions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Ingrid @dragonpiece, Amelea @Force and Fury

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Time to find Friends

Desmond gave the princess a nod with his smile still strewn across his face as he said, "Alright, lady's first". As Desmond lightly bowed in front of the window to allow her to go first, after which he followed after. Desmond looked out as the princess landed and tossed him a mischievous smile, he tossed her one as well as he began to grab his hat in one hand and the other takes hold of the rail and jumped out. As he approached the ground he shifted his leg placement to be directly underneath himself to prepare for impact. Once his feet hit the ground, he allowed his knees to buckle as he began to control his fall, allowing the next area to make contact with the ground be his thigh. After this, he continued his 'fall' having his hip and shoulder twisted so he then let his ass and his back and shoulder land as he began to roll out of this fall. Shifting his body to allow him to set his knee to the ground and pop up quickly with his free hand.

Once he hopped up to his feet, Desmond tossed the Princess a toothy grin as he began to head towards La Fleur Rouge, he needed to find Benedetto but he needed to make sure he wasn't spotted in there a second time. If he was seen there a second time, people might start asking questions. So once he made it near the building, he looked at the princess and said, "Give me a quick minute to change. Can't let myself be seen as a suspicious target while looking for my partner". As he set his back to it and began to change his look, he took off his hat, and his jacket, and began affixing different things onto himself. A bandana to hide away some of his hair and change its look a bit, tightening up his shirt and allowing his weapons to be more shown rather than hidden away. His rifle was already hidden away attached underneath the cart they appeared herewith to make sure he wasn't pinpointed so quickly. After changing himself to look like a completely average pirate, he tossed his other clothing at her and said with a smile, "Here, put some of this one and change yourself up a little, can't have you looking like yourself. You might get caught", as he walked around to begin his look around. He spoke a much more guttural Perrench, much different from his suave and aloof persona. Maybe after a few drinks and moving around, Desmond left with an upset look on his face, pushing his way through a few people who got in his way before making a bit of a small circle before meeting up with the princess again. This entire time, Desmond was worried, Benedetto was nowhere to be seen, and he had a bad itch in the back of his mind about the princess. Was this so easy?

Cynical Man's Thoughts

Desmond had thoughts running through his mind while he was away from the Princess, he did not want his thoughts to be read by her prying eyes. Desmond had no clue on her skills, yet he was not going to take a chance of her reading him. After all, she seemed suspicious. She was stolen away by the pirates and held captive, yet it felt weird, she seemed almost strangely free. She almost walked around like she knew this place, she was even able to take a long and strange route to her room, like she was trying to mislead someone, to Desmond it felt like she was trying to buy time. She looks decently healthy even after her being taken by pirates and probably held for ransom for about a month. They hold no need to keep her 'healthy', just alive, yet she looks shockingly so, she has enough strength to break a false piece of wood on a drawer with her knee and didn't even seem to worry. She was able to hold onto the rain flute with relative ease and landed clumsily yet not like she would fall. Also, there was no way she was able to install a false bottom to the drawer with what she had on hand, let alone steal a pistol and coin purse so easily without being noticed. She also seemed like she was not watched over by anybody, from what Desmond knew, all Nobles and Royals have some use in the Gift so that meant they would either need not be worried about her or that she wouldn't do anything. But the most interesting one was that she was at La Fleur Rouge.

She was in the den of pirates, a very beautiful woman who seemed to have no one at all near her, as she seemed like she was looking out for 'interesting' people, people here to save her. She was not taken for the night, preoccupied, or even doing something of interest. She was drinking alcohol and watching the door, sure other women were also unoccupied, however with her beauty, she should have garnered some attention. People should have been near her unless they knew she was off-limits, or already knew who she…fuck!...wait...no, that wasn't it.

A Line of Reasoning

She was looking for people to come to save her yet then is trying to buy time? If they were as strong as they seem to be, they would know where she was and she could never run from them. She would know this, yet she was composed, and she showed her ability to prep and plan. This might have been a way to try and lead Desmond astray. Desmond thought they might not be Perrench, because of what Penny was saying. Revidia and Perrench are at the brink of war, and privateers on both sides would be shooting for each other when either stepped over a line, yet this ship seemed to stick around, and so did Nero's. So obviously they never faced off, where one would be looking for the other.

So they might not be Perrench, so that might mean she is not a captive. If she was, they wouldn't let her leave their sight and run off to the Perrench area, if she had any chance to run to the Revidians and spilled their secrets they would get hunted and lose a big payday…wait…what is their motive? They can attack any ship, any shipment, hell, they could attack a port and take everything it had with the power they must be packing. Yet they target Revidian Ships, any and every, war-ready ships even are on the chopping block. She wasn't running to the Revidians, who would possibly be of some gain to her, the Segoñaian might be in good relation with Revidians. That would give her safety, and Nero is a well-known Privateer who is loyal to Revidia, so that means it would be a safer bet to be there than to do as these pirates do.

Desmond thought of this and immediately wished he studied more, if he did, maybe then he could understand what was going on in Segoña. Maybe they are Segoñaian Privateers, but why would they take the princess? Maybe there is something else there, maybe Revidia has control in Segoña, and the princess might have some hate for it. Maybe she is working with the Pirates giving them things that no real pirate can have, after all, warships aren't an easy target, even with magic, they would need to know where it's coming from, especially since it's like a ghost. Survivors should be few and far between, yet reports of it come up, like ghost stories. Who would produce them? Maybe someone who might capitalize on such things. Maybe they are trying to either spark a war or maybe get back at Revidia.

A Mercenary's Gambit

Once Desmond made his way back to meet the Princess, he said in a low tone as they moved, "So it seems my partner has ran off. He does know our meet-up point, so we'll meet up with the others, and he's probably going to be with one of the others if not with us before long". Desmond tossed her a small smile as they continued forward to The Main, trying to reassure her everything is okay.

To Desmond, he expected this, and honestly, he was hoping the same thing occurs with another group or two. He hoped for one person to slightly be split off for him to capitalize on, maybe for him to run off and find them, but she might be too smart for that. Maybe someone would find such a situation dubious enough to think of something is up and doing something he just couldn't, after all, his RAS doesn't allow him such skills as long-distance communications, so he is unable to tell others what he's thinking. His hope was that someone could do something other than what's on his mind.

Avalia

Time: Time to Hide (~11:30 a.m.)
Location: Riverport Beachs -> River Port Inn
Interactions: Kharne, the Swift @Kazemitsu, Saoirse, the Caring @potter, and Raven, God of Hammers @Tae
Mentions:
Armor:
A full suit of Steel Half Plate & a
Steel Targe
Steel Half Plate
Weapon(s):
Steel Longsword

Inventory: A rogue-ish set of clothing, his dog tags, and a set of faux demihuman Wolf ears, a Ring of Disguise, two rations of food, water flask, a bar of soap and a few other portable hygienic products.

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Ismael sighed in relief as it seemed Shae lifted herself and Raven up to begin to follow them. As Ismael stood he loosened his jaw and his grip on his gear and shifted it to better hold it. Ismael was worried, he was ready, he was always ready, but it never meant he was not worried, or afraid, but death never cared for that. And today was a rude awakening for many, to Ismael, it was a reminder.

Ismael fought, killed, and watched countless die at either his hands or another's. Friends were there and were gone, enemies rose and fell, and even himself, he was invited into Death's home. Yet he was still here, his breath was still there, his heart still beated there in his chest, and his fear was still there in his mind. Yet he was still there, his breath was shaky but then calmed calm, his heartbeat rose for but a moment then fell into pace, as once they moved Ismael was calm, like he never was worried.

As they walked Kharne began speaking, wondering what he did before he was brought here. Ismael let out a bit of a chuckle as now of all times would be when he got to speak of himself, "Me? Oh, I was in the millitary for some time. After risking my life by throwing myself onto an explosion to save those around me and living, I was sent back and became a civilian again. After that I joined a Weapons Dealer Merchant as a Mercenary. There I travelled the world, protecting someone who sold War like it was a commodity. I lived like that for a good few years before I showed up here". Ismael tried to keep things vague enough so as they walked, if anyone listened in it would sound like the wild boasting of a Demihuman trying to show up someone bigger than him.

The Hourglass Order

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The moment that the others were out of earshot, Benedetto turned to his ‘captain’ with a smile on his face. “You speak Perrench to me again and I’ll rip your tongue out.” He kept his tone somewhere between light, like he might be joking, and serious, like he definitely wasn’t, just to mess with this guy. Making people uncomfortable was one of Benedetto’s favourite pastimes and he’d might as well have some kind of fun on this stupid mission.

As they walked Desmond was wondering why his companion was unusually quiet, as the moment Benedetto spoke, Desmond knew he was going to have an interesting time. He let out a laugh as he said, “O-ho~, I’ll keep that in mind~”. Desmond kept up his jovial voice and an air of light nature, but inside he is keeping up a guard in anticipation. He’s unsure how much of a loose cannon the man he decided to work with is, but Desmond is not one to wish to get stabbed in the back while he is in a brothel. Desmond used his off hand to gesture to La Fleur Rouge and said, ”Since that’s settled, let’s be off!”

Benny grinned, showing - as usual - a few too many teeth. “Good,” he replied. “Good, we have an understanding. Now, let’s see if we have to kill ourselves any frogs tonight.” His tone made little effort to hide the fact that he was hoping for it and he shot a fork of lightning at a nearby bird that had been chirping incessantly for the past few minutes, frying it into a tiny roasted turkey. Then, he walked along in silence for a blessed moment, Edmund or whatever his name mercifully quiet for once lest he end up like the bird. A thought occurred to Benny. “But not the prostitutes,” he amended. He furrowed his brow. “They’re just doing their jobs, and they’ll be our best source of information.” Presently, the doors of La Fleur Rouge drew near, as well as the handful of surreptitiously rough figures that stood outside. “I don’t speak their greasy tongue,” Benny advised his ‘captain’. “It’s all you, bud.”

As they walked, Desmond was anticipating what could be the many words that’d spill from this idiot's mouth, as it seemed he had a hankering for some blood. As when they walked Desmond saw Benedetto’s many ‘quirks’, the killing of birds who seemed to chirp for a little too long seemed to be but a small one. Desmond felt a weight come onto him as he realized he was going to be working with a psychopath, but some of it came off of his shoulders when he heard his bloodthirsty ‘crewmate’ had some morals toward the prostitutes, at least. Desmond was still worried about him dropping some kind of hell onto them because of his blatant hatred for those around him. Yet he seemed to have some mind to him as he told Desmond he was going to be unable to speak here. Which was a boon to Desmond, as Benedetto’s hatred might have made it too hard for them to even get a bit of information. Desmond looked over to his crazy partner and said, ”Oh that’s more than fine to me. What’s a language you know? Don’t want the worker to need to draw ideas to work with her”.

Benny was barely listening to whatever Edmund was saying. Something about workers and drawing. The real fun would be inside. It was definitely the Perrench. Damned grenouilles could never stop preying on Revidian ships, and that had been the Maria Nera’s game as of late. Thing was, the Nera wasn’t a Perrench ship. Benedetto was actually kind of interested in how that’d resolve itself… so long as he didn’t have to do any of the work figuring it out.

Of course, he had other motives for being here, but Edmund didn’t have to know those. Nobody did, and he’d kill them if they tried to find out: even the high-ranking Volti. His RAS was higher than just about any of theirs anyways. The two youths stopped at the door and Benny simply flashed his coins, a grin, and a wiggled eyebrow. His partner could try to talk his way in. Body language spoke louder, though. Already he could see the well-stocked bar inside, the Perrench and Miattan pirates lounging about on divans and sofas, the scantily-clad women playing lutes, harpsichords, and other instruments. They bounced from one man’s lap to another until they found likely prey and then they sucked him dry… in more than one way. Smart, he thought, and cruel.

Benedetto wanted to fuck them, no money paid, and end their little game. He could kill any of these frilly Perrenchmen and take the women by force. That’d leave the world with another bastard, though. That’d leave the world with another him. He came back to his senses. He had a job to do. He let Desmond do his, getting through the front door, and then leaned in. “We should split up and gather intel separately. We’ll cover more ground that way.” It wasn’t a suggestion, the way that he said it. He was going to do what he was going to do regardless.

Desmond let out a slight laugh as he heard Benedetto’s response to his question as they stepped in. Desmond took point as he was the talker for them to get in, as once they made it in, his partner ‘suggested’ they split up. It was less of a suggestion as he already began walking away before Desmond could even say otherwise, yet he didn’t mind, them being away from each other could make it much easier for him to do his own thing. Desmond began looking around and started going his own way, trying to pick out his own prey, trying to find a mistress of the night that might have been here for some time.

There were a handful of women who remained uncoupled, though one of these could be counted among the number of the pirates. She was rather drunk and sour-looking. Another was a good deal older and rather striking for her age, but seemed mostly to be a musician unless a particularly good opportunity arose. There was a third of particularly exotic extraction working the bar, doing all sorts of tricks with pouring drinks and lighting alcohol on fire. It was clear that she had a touch of the Gift about her. Fourth and final was a petite striking beauty with black hair and blue eyes. She sat alone on a barstool, sipping demurely from a tall glass. There was something tense about her, and it was hard to place exactly what. Presently, she glanced his way and locked eyes with him, her gaze intense and… perhaps evaluative before she remembered to smile coyly, flick her hair over her shoulder, and bat her eyelashes before returning to her drink.

Desmond looked to each of the women here, some seemed to have had more than their fill of alcohol, while others almost played with it to entertain those watching. But one seemed to almost have magic coming from her, her presence seemed serene yet the moment Desmond locked eyes with her, it was intense. Which told Desmond everything he needed. As he sauntered on over, he took a quick gander at others around her, hoping to take in his surroundings before he sat down. Desmond sat down and looked towards the young woman with ebony hair and entrancing azure eyes and said, "Why hello there~, who might you be?"

The woman smiled at him. “Was wondering when you’d come over,” she cooed, her voice rising and falling with an accent that was distinctly not that of a native Perrench-speaker. She twirled some of that hair that he seemed to be fascinated with. “I could tell just from looking at you that you weren’t one of the usual sorts we see around here.” She paused. Her voice lowered and her eyes sparkled. “New people… interest me.”

Desmond listened to the woman she seemed to be interesting, her tongue seemed to carry an accent that was from another land rather than the normal rolling that the Perrench is known for. Desmond was fascinated by her, almost as much as she seems fascinated by him. Desmond had a smile curl as he looked her in the eyes and said, ”O-ho~, it seems I’m not the only one interested”. Desmond looked at this woman with a grin and leaned in further and spoke only for her to hear, ”How about we get acquainted?”

{To be continued}

The Hourglass Order

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Location: Isla d'Amato

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Interactions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, VVvysin @Ypnosi, Ismet'ych'lahin'dichora, Penny Pellegrin, Benedetto Corvi @Force and Fury

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Once Desmond was passing around the coins, Trypano seemed to have taken her role in a silent acceptance, it was what he was expecting from most. They had the simplest job so Desmond wasn't worrying as he waved to them and said in a laugh, "Don’t have too much fun!" As he continued to hand out coin bags, the next he landed to was Onarr and Ingrid. These two he knew were going to be in the most trouble as they had no exact place in his mind where they'd go.

When Desmond passed Onarr and Ingrid their coin bags, Desmond let off a smile as he said, "If you find the place a drag, maybe walk around! You can probably find some trouble somewhere else". Desmond had no clue on where they could go to talk to some Pirates they could possibly communicate with, but if it was anywhere, it could be 'The Main' or near it as it is a trading hub, but he didn't want to force them, after all, they are a strange pair together. Yet it seemed the next set had one person who seemed extra keen on showing her feelings, Penny.

Penny seemed to have been very upset with Desmond, it wasn't hard to tell from her stares. Probably thinking he had a nail or 2 loose, he could tell from how she looked at him, and from the way she began tp speak in Perrench at him as she seemed to make some bitchy remarks. Desmond let out a laugh and waved to them as Penny began to walk away, he said with a smile and a jovial voice, "Vous pouvez demander gentil. Je peux voir si vous obtenez un emploi à La Fleur Rouge!"^*1 As once they were almost gone he yelled to them, "Bonne chance, amusez-vous!"^*2 His tongue had a thick accent, a bit of slang from the start, yet when he said the second part it sounded quite smooth like he spoke Perrench quite fluently. He knew it could annoy her, most higher merchants and noble types hated hearing their language be butchered, and what it seemed to be on purpose. Desmond was was hoping it would rile her up a little, maybe it will make her Revidian extra spicy.

As finally, he looked to his compatriot, Benedetto, honestly Desmond had no clue on what he could and couldn't do, so he had to wing it with him looking like the young mercenary type. Desmond gave the man a smile, slightly devious in nature as he said in Perrench once more, "Viens, mon ami, Laissez-nous trouver un peu de plaisir!"^*3

Translations

^*1- You's can ask nice. I can see if you get a job at La Fleur Rouge(The Red Flower)!

^*2- Good luck, have fun!

^*3Come, my friend, Let us find some fun!

The Hourglass Order

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Location: Hugo Hunghorasz's Study -> Isla d'Amato

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Interactions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, VVvysin @Ypnosi, Ismet'ych'lahin'dichora, Penny Pellegrin, Benedetto Corvi, Jocasta Re, and Hugo Hunghorasz @Force and Fury

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A Captain's Introduction

Once Desmond and Trypano made their piece, it seemed one of their other teammates had spoken up, Onarr was his name, Desmond remembered him well enough, he was strange in comparison to everyone around him, but Desmond paid no true mind to the strangeness, what he does remember was him blurting out the answer to get in. Sure Desmond doesn't care at this point, but he will remember that when making plans. When Onarr spoke, Desmond chuckled to himself when he tried to 'recreate' a pirates dialect, however, he did have a point. None of them know the 'exact' pirate dialect, so Desmond spoke up, "Well, it would be nice if we had someone who could speak the dialect, but I'm unsure if any of us can". Desmond began looking around at everyone and tried to think of who out of them could, and it isn't looking good. Most of the people here seem a little too fresh-faced for that, and those who seem to have some wear to them seem to have it from different things rather than as a local of the area and interaction with pirates.

Desmond let out a sigh as he continued, "Either way, we will have to probably figure out the dialect upon first contact. We might even need to have a point man to talk to first and the rest will try to learn from ambient conversations". Desmond looks around at who they have, and his eyes land on a few people, as there are a few here who might be most helpful in this plan. Yet they needed to talk about cover stories before then, "Alright we'll need to figure out our cover stories, something we all know so it is easy to know". As Desmond sees the items he asked for start to come to him. He looked to Jocasta and gave a head nod to her and called out to her and said, "Thank you very kindly, ma'am!". Once he started seeing the other things he asked for from Arch-Zeno Paradigm, he called out to him as well as he thanked him as well with, "Thank you very much, Sir!".

As once Desmond saw the outfits landing in front of them, he stood up and reached out to grab the large pirate hat and flipped it onto his head as he said with a smile on his face, "I'm the Captain. I am Captain Desmond Cutter-Gretz Von Sausex-Eisenac, Captain of the Golden Sun. Bastard son of a Noble turned Pirate to live free on the sea. Call me Captain Desmond though, I wouldn't want you to think y'all are less than those rabble".

Desmond had formed a few names and identities, he's rehearsed them a few times and even played with some for a bit. It shouldn't hurt him too much, after all, most of these people are pirates, so he shouldn't need to worry about them questioning his legitimacy, after all, he has all this coin with him, good gear for himself and his people, and with some good acting, maybe even the swagger needed. His posture changed slightly, he was slowly forming his mannerisms, even how his hand swayed to how his eyes seemed to have softened but still have a sharpness to them. As Desmond continued as he started passing out the clothing to each person, "Alrighty, well, let's introduce each other. I was wondering where my crew came from and who they are. After all, I don't think I need 2 navigators on my crew". Desmond said this with a charismatic smile but has this slight twist like he has a dark undertone to it.

The Christening of the Golden Sun

After the 30 minutes of talking, preparations, and other such things, like Desmond applying makeup to some of them, it seemed like they were ready to depart on their 'Voyage'. Desmond had done the best planning he could, yet sadly no matter the planning, those who aren't willing to follow along will make it crumple, and it seemed at the precipice, someone decided to fold. Sadly it was someone on his team, which made Desmond wince to himself with the departure of their teammate. Desmond knew this was a tall order to ask, and knew it would probably scare people off, so he was hoping that if they were to leave then it would have been at the start rather than right when they were to leave. He knew something like this could shake people a little, having them reconsider and even back out like their teammate. Yet Desmond looked forward, arms crossed, as he stared into the portal with a smile on his face. He wanted to make the act as real as possible. Maybe if he acted from the start, people would follow through, but it was just a hope.

However with his leaving they were given a new teammate, Penny Pellegrin, Desmond knew very little about her, honestly, he knew her because she had a disability, but other than that he has no clue who she was. Nor did he care right now, Desmond asked the Archmagus to procure her a set of clothing. Once he had the clothing he looked at her and gave a smile to her extending his hand out with the clothing as he spoke in a confident voice, "Ahh, good to meet you, you must be my new crew member. I'm Captain Desmond Cutter-Gretz Von Sausex-Eisenac, Captain of the Golden Sun. What's your name and what do you bring to the ship?" Desmond wanted to bring her into the group's lingo quickly, since she wasn't there for the 30 minutes, she would need to get caught up on what their plans are, but they will start with clothing and identities.

They were ready to go, Desmond stepped in first and said, "Come! Gold and Glory awaits!!".

The Arrival of the Golden Sun

Once they made it through the portal, Desmond took a look around at everything around him. He noticed they were on the outskirts of a rundown settlement's dock. The tropical air felt good and Desmond's skin, he could feel the warmth and even the rowdy air. However the scanning for the merry time will come soon, right now he needed to check what they were sent with. As he checked the chests, he saw a few were filled with supplies like rations and the such, however the one he wanted to know was the plunder they were sent, and it seems that the Old man does not disappoint. They were sent with loads of treasure, multiple Neskals, large gems, gorgeous jewelry, and a chest filled with coins. Desmond looked at it and knew that they at least had something to look like some pirates.

After taking stock, Desmond's sight shifted to the many buildings where merry time seemed to be had. A large stone building that flew the Pennant of Revidia called 'The Doge's Breeches', probably a place our unlikely ally could be. Next came the tall wooden building near the center of the town, it seemed to be much more elegantly made and more well kept, as he saw some working women were seen near the area 'La Fleur Rouge' was the name of the establishment, sounds like a great place for some 'merry time'. The next building Desmond noticed was a stone building called 'The Main' which seemed to fly the Dorvalish flag, which means that 'The Main' must be a tavern for them, but more likely because of the nature of the Dorvalish pirates here, they probably use it like a trading hub and inn rather than anything else. As it seemed they were in a constant hustle like they were preparing to leave. Then finally a very strangely built building with a strange script written as the sign. Desmond looked at the script and began remembering his Yasoi, as it came out to be…Ismet was first to tell him the name as it is called 'The Mermaid's Knees'.

After now seeing each of the places, what they looked like, and even who inhabits each area, Desmond started creating a plan of attack in his head. There were 4 areas to get information from, each of which need a different set of skills to get through. As when Someone asked the question, "Where to begin", Desmond answered with a confident and boisterous, "No clue, but we should start with splitting up into teams of 2. And each team will tackle whatever challenges lay ahead of them in these Dens of Villainy!"

Desmond began going over to the chests and began collecting money for each group, as he began tossing a bag of coins to each person he calls out, "lngrid~! Onar-r'! You two will be going to The Main. You two will need to figure out what's going on in there, maybe try to talk to some people and make some friends". Once the coins landed in their hands he grabbed some bottles of alcohol to take with them. After which he continued as he grabbed 2 more bags and threw them to their next target as he began grabbing some more bottles of alcohol and handed them to the girls as he continued, "Try~pano! Lovely I'smet~'! You both will be heading to The Mermaid's Knees. Try and make some friends there and collect the information you can".

Desmond began collecting more money as he had 2 more bags, he hands them both over to VVvysen and Penny and he then gave each of them a bottle of Revidia's finest wine in a bag they can carry in as he said, "VVvy~sen! Penny~! You two will be going to The Doge's Breeches, there you two will be trying to find our friend. Make sure to treat him kindly". Finally, he made 2 more bags as he attached one bag to his belt and tossed the other to Benedetto as he grabbed the keg of alcohol as he said, "Ben'edetto~. You and I will be going to La' Fleur- Rouge~. There we will be having a merry time, make a few friends and maybe get lucky". Once everyone was given their things, the cart was to be loaded, as they would go off into the settlement, find somewhere for them to stay, and then begin their search.

The Hourglass Order

I've done something I shouldn't have, but now it exists.

This is Desmond's Fighting skills, his style, and the 'Martial Arts' he knows.

Kind of giving myself and you guys a better understanding of how Desmond fights when put in different situations and with different weapons.

If you could, let me know what y'all think. Or don't it's understandable to not want to read a 20K character post on ramblings on how Desmond hits things good.

Fighting Style

This is stuff for Desmond not only to explain his skills in combat but also to help me write and figure out how he would fight in different situations.

Ranking System

I will be using this chart to actually be ranking where I see skills Desmond uses and such. This is not an official list but is meant to help with understanding what I'm saying, and also gives me a much easier time explaining it now rather than having to explain it every time I am trying to talk about his skills.

Beginner This is an amateur level, you dabbled in the ideas of skill for about a few weeks, but you haven't spent much time in either working with the skill nor have you seen much of it.

-A peasant who is being trained to hold a spear in a spear line.

Intermediate- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 6 or so months, at this point you have been creating habits, learning the fundamentals of the skill, and even developing your own ideas in a skill. There are some things that aren't instinct or second nature yet, but you can still rely on the fundamentals taught.

-A Militiaman who has completed training to be a part of a functioning spear line.

Adept- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a year or two, at this point you have been developing muscle memory. At this point, you can start relying on the skills that you started learning to still be with you without you needing to mentally figure out the maneuver you are doing, you can just do it.

-An inexperienced squire, who has been under the care of a lord, and training and sparing against other squires.

Advanced- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 5 years or so, at this point, you have been tested in your skills. You have gained and lost multiple habits, you have started figuring out certain things that have been less efficient and starting to create your own skills to best fit you.

-A fresh-faced Knight, who finally finished his years of training and is now to go to war for his lord.

Sacred- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a decade or two, at this point you are starting to refine your skills and making a name for yourself with certain 'signature' skills. At this point, you have seen many different things, and started to create and form new measures to best combat certain faults and counters you have seen through your time.

-A Knight/Mercenary who has seen years of battle, and has been now refining skills to best combat the many things you've seen.

Royal- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed to some of the greatest degrees they can be. Few can match you in your skills, as you have seen many different styles, many different skills used, and have taken meticulous care to make sure your skills have been brought to a level that nothing really surprises you anymore.

-A Greater Knight who has seen decades of battle and has now been honored for his skills as he has now passed on many of his skills to his successors.

Divine- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed beyond what could even be thought of as possible. At this point, few can say they are able to even equal you. Your skills seem otherworldly, you are seen as the pinnacle and few can even imagine equaling you let alone surpassing you.

-A Grand Knight who has defeated foes thought beyond possible by ones self. Few can challenge a dragon on their own yet a Dragon's head is on your mantle for that very reason.

Thought Processes

Tactitian

When Desmond is working with others around him, he is quite an efficient tactician and team player. Desmond has learned how to work with many different people, may it be with other Magusjaegers, knights, to mages, Desmond had to play ball with them. Often he was seen as a child at best, however, showing skills on the battlefield helps people reconsider their position.

He normally takes the role of a small-scale tactician and supportive role, making sure people are able to do their jobs. If a Mage is giving some people trouble he will deal with them, knights are pushing too close, he will force them back, and if he notices another Magusjaeger, he will track them to make sure that there is only one set of eyes over the battlefield.

Desmond will oftentimes pick out certain plans to best allow for everyone's abilities to come forth, or what he thinks they can be. He hates it when he needs to give some control away to someone else, however, to use the resources you have is the utmost priority, after all, they could possibly find something that he himself could never see, like a more equipped Chemist being able to pick up on a faint internal change or other things like that.

However, when Desmond can have control over the majority of the operation, that's when he is most at ease, as it will give him the most he can work with and how they will work.

Lone Wolf

When Desmond is by himself, his thought process when doing missions is much more methodical. By himself, he needs to fight and think smarter than most. As the only things he can rely on are his skills, his wits, and his will to get through. Yet this makes him at ease, cause it gives him the most control making him the sole cog and the easiest to control.

Often he will be on a constant watch of things, he will more often than not hide among what he can, often trying to blend in the best he can no matter where he is. Even when walking the streets he will often hide in the crowd, slowly and methodically planning his route and all possible way to escape.

He is a constant vigilant alert, as he will often plan days if not weeks ahead, often learning the environments he will get himself into, the dialects, and even some simpler mannerisms. Because of his looks, he has learned how to blend in, changing parts of himself to best fit the bill, maybe even sometimes living somewhere nearby for some time creating an alibi before moving to his objective.

Desmond will often put his own safety above all else, except when it comes to someone he cares about. Where he might compromise himself, the mission, and all else in making sure they survive. Yet if that is not to occur, his skills were formed to allow him to move like a ghost, even able to shift through crowds to find his target or complete his objective. After which, he will quietly complete it before he disappears back and almost as he disappeared off the face of the earth.

Ranged Weapons

Hider

Sniper

Skill Level- Sacred

When Desmond is at a far range and out of notice of his enemies, he takes up his gun in a slow and methodical approach to assassinate targets from extreme ranges. Here he will use his long gun exclusively as it is the only of his weapons that can reach out far enough for his use.

With the use of methodical and stealthy movement to find good fields of view to get clear lines of attack. He uses calm and incremental drawing from the area, he will start finding anything around him to draw from, the swaying of leaves, the ambient heat, or even small things he does with his body and he draws from the movement.

From there he converts it slowly to the energies he needs them for. Such as transforming it to form low-level light magnification to better help him differentiate between targets. Uses Kinetic energy so he can increase the velocity of his bullets to reach out further. As well as converting it to Magnetic energy so he would be more able to guide his bullets and make sure they fly in a much more controlled and precise way.

Once he fires a shot, he will begin moving to one of his next shooting areas, as he will continue to do so until his objective is done, or he needs to leave in preparation for being overwhelmed.

Desmond will often use his many different bullets during this to deal with as many as he can as quickly as possible. Using explosives to deal with swaths of enemies, Inferno bullets to quickly start fires and cause chaos, and using QuickSilver bullets to poison people in areas where they are hiding.

If he needs to leave because he could be overwhelmed, he will use many of his bullets to start causing an area of denial. Chilling areas and then having ice forming there, using QuickSilver bullets to form poison clouds and many other less-lethal bullets, but having wide areas of effect to buy him time against pursuers.

Gunslinger

Skill Level- Adept

When Desmond is at the range but is noticed by his enemies, he changes his fighting tactics to a much more defensive and manipulative style. Uses the flow of combat to cause greater effects and opportunities, manipulating forces to create bad situations for the enemy, and using counter-offensive tactics to take down his enemies. Here he will use his long gun and pistol in tandem to increase his rate of fire and combine bullets together to cause devastating effects through different reactions. He will use magnetic magic to help him load his guns to increase his speed of reloading and fire rate, as often he will have both his hands occupied and unable actually reload his guns.

With the use of fast movement and defensive use of cover, Desmond will constantly be shifting away from his opponents, making sure he keeps some form of cover between himself and his enemies if they have ranged weapons as well. If he is facing off against enemies without any ranged counters, he will make sure to destroy all cover the enemy can use to make fights much easier.

In the midst of fighting, he will begin to pick out everything the enemies have at their disposal, from there he will begin creating strategies to combat what every they have. As a matter of what kind of objective he needs to achieve, he will change how aggressive or defensive he will be. As if he knows he can win he will get a little more aggressive to ensure victory, however, if the fighting does not look like a winning fight, he will often try to be much more defensive or even try to escape to prompt a cat and mouse chase where he has a bit of an advantage with the use of guerilla tactics and stealthy takedowns.

Desmond will use his specially made bullets more often, as many will often be used for area denial to cause his enemies to move according to his own wants, setting up large reaction explosions to take out swaths in an instant and cause disarray, or using very specific bullets against certain mages to take them out efficiently and with as little effort as possible, because a drawn-out fight with a mage is a death sentence.

Way of the Gun

Skill Level- Intermediate

When Desmond is at close range while fighting enemies, he changes his fighting style to a much more frenetic and aggressive style. Mixing in different ranges of attacks to open many different opportunities and openings to take down his enemies. Here Desmond will both use his long gun and pistol in tandem, to fire off multiple bullets in a short period of time. Often times he will use magnetic magic to reload one gun while using the other as a club to fight with or shooting the bullet it was loaded with.

With the use of fast movement and aggressive shifting footwork, Desmond will constantly be shifting his position to be near his opponents for fast elbows, knees, and strikes using his pistol. Then he will shift away to do kicks, strikes with his long gun, and fire off a shot from his pistol. Finally, he will shift just far enough away to fire off a shot from his long gun and begin to use it as a one-handed spear to jab and keep his opponent at a slightly farther distance.

While Desmond uses this constant shifting and aggressive style, he will draw kinetic energy from attacks he does, some of his movements to change his movement patterns to mess with his opponent, or from some of the attacks, he would sustain. From there he will often use the kinetic energy he draws to either increase the force of his attacks or convert it into magnetic energy to set up for devastating counterattacks or to reload his guns as he is fighting.

While in this range, he will normally use lead rounds to fight with, or very specific bullets to assist him against certain pesky foes. He will sometimes use certain bullets that can cause area denial effects to force certain adversaries to either make distance from himself or keep within close range. After which he will continue to use led bullets or if up against a skilled Kinetic or Magnetic mage he will use his Death's Promise to take them out when they least expect it.

Throwing Weapons

Skill Level- Intermediate

Desmond has learned how to throw many different types of weapons, may it be knives, sharpened needles, and spears, Desmond is quite good at throwing them. Desmond will use these less often than his guns, but when he gets into close-ranged combat he will use them often like throwing daggers and the such.

Desmond will sometimes use throwing weapons in fights, however, he does not carry them on him often enough to matter. So often he will find objects he can improvise as throwing weapons and using them when he can.

Desmond will normally use throwing weapons more for 'fun' in a fight rather than as an essential weapon for his fighting. Often he views throwing weapons as a less efficient projectile than other ones, but it can be useful when caught in a bad situation.

Bow & Arrow

LOL!!! Who uses these things?

Stay seething Knife Ears

Melee Weapons

Hider

Polearms

Skill Level- Advanced

Among most of the Melee weapons, Desmond has practiced, the Polearm is one of his most used. A large wooden pole can be found anywhere and can make a great weapon. A spear, a bo staff, or mattering on what you affix to it, a hammer, an axe, or a large pick. However, when fighting in melee range, the most important things are often range and speed, as the spear is well known for both, with fast and strong strikes that can reach out farther than almost any other melee weapon.

Desmond had become quite skilled with Staves and Polearms, as whenever he is found without any ammunition, he will often need to rely on his gun to become an impromptu short spear, bo staff, or even a club. This soon changed to becoming a weapon skill he wished to foster as now he has become quite efficient at using Polearms and staves, to the point where if he needed to choose a melee weapon to fight with, he would take a spear knowing he can probably take on a Knight with it.

Swords/2-handed blades

Skill Level- Intermediate

Desmond is practiced in swords and 2-handed blades, however less so than most of the weapons he has normally used. His skills with swords and 2-handed blades are fundamental skills, and he will often use them when it is one of the few things in his hand, however, it is not his favorite weapon. He will often use a mixture of blade attacks and kicks and mixing into close range for shoulder bashes, elbows, and headbutts.

Desmond sees the sword as more of a tool to use as a finisher rather than as a weapon he will use more, but he does think it's cool. This is why he has learned it a bit, but for the sake of fighting, he finds it less efficient than his other weapons.

Short blades/Daggers

Skill Level- Advanced

When Desmond uses a short blade or dagger, it can often be akin to a surgeon of the Dordian Order. He will normally use a dagger with a mixture of martial arts, yet his blade will often swing fast and with precision. Uses the blade to parry and deflect blades as he strikes from the other side with kicks, strikes, or getting them into a grapple.

However when using his blade while sneaking is that of an assassin, his skills to hide as a Magusjaeger, transferred almost seamlessly to sneaking as a silent blade and taking the lives of those he was tasked with. He silently moves around, almost making his presence unknown, until the blade is already through the abdomen of his target. He knows the areas on the body that will either instantly kill his target, or push the air out of them before they are able to scream.

When caught in a fight, Desmond will normally use his blade to disable a certain part of his target before going in for the kill. Slicing the wrist to deactivate the hand, slicing ligaments to stop the use of a limb, or even making large slashes over large arteries to bleed the person out in a fight.

Unarmed

Skill Level- Intermediate-Advanced

When Desmond is pushed to the point where no other weapons are able to be used, his fists are the things that come out.

Desmond has learned some of the fundamentals of multiple different unarmed Martial Arts, many of which he either learned through sparring against other mercenaries, soldiers, and his 'family' or through watching them be used so many times by different practitioners. Which makes Desmond formidable on first contact, as he can very quickly figure out what style to use to give himself an edge over his opponent.

But this is only often times a short-lived advantage, as if an actually studious practitioner of Martial Arts was to go up against Desmond, they can find his skills are lacking. His fundamentals are solid, but when it comes to the more nuances of certain styles he is an amateur at best. Yet when he gets pushed into an extended bout, Desmond pulls out his most practiced Martial Art, Kastäng.

Kastäng is the Eskandish traditional martial art. Desmond will normally not use it from the start of a fight because of its very long drawn to nature, it focuses on breaking not only the body but the opponent's spirit. This point can lead to Desmond facing off for multiple minutes, yet Desmond will switch to it when faced off with multiple opponents or when faced with an opponent who seems to be much strong than himself.

It was taught to him by the man he sees as a father figure from his Mercenary group, a man named Danyel, he taught Desmond a martial art he developed that combined many different aspects of different martial arts into one greater form.

Using Vai-to and their mentality of 'All the Way In' and 'All the Way Out' style to constantly transition ranges that will change and alternate between unexpected ranged kicks, pseudo-feints, and lunging step-ins to go into close range hooks, elbows, holds, and takedowns, all while trying maximizing the bodies force. Yet the moment a full step-in happens the transition changes to using more Kastäng traditional mentality, making use of holds, grips, angles, and the body's weak points to break opponents physically and mentally. All the while the practitioner will be drawing from the kinetic energy to amplify the force of their attacks, the speed of the throws, the speed of movements, and the speed of the feints to make them seem almost blurs of speed.

Yet because of Desmond's RAS, he can only moderately use this ability, so he modified it for himself to introduce new moves in multiple different grapples, while still using the teachings Danyel had shown him. Forming new standing strikes that lead into shifts and range changes more easily that lead into grapples and hold that seem to lead in from one to another to make use of every ounce of energy and strength he can create. Sometimes closing the gap a bit in the differences in power can be found when facing off against Mages who use kinetic magic in their martial arts.

Out of Options

This is for when he is out of mana, ammunition, his weapons are broken, and he is left exhausted.

Hider

He's Never Out of Options

A place to keep my stuff in order

Fighting Style

This is stuff for Desmond not only to explain his skills in combat but also to help me write and figure out how he would fight in different situations.

Ranking System

I will be using this chart to actually be ranking where I see skills Desmond uses and such. This is not an official list but is meant to help with understanding what I'm saying, and also gives me a much easier time explaining it now rather than having to explain it every time I am trying to talk about his skills.

Beginner This is an amateur level, you dabbled in the ideas of skill for about a few weeks, but you haven't spent much time in either working with the skill nor have you seen much of it.

-A peasant who is being trained to hold a spear in a spear line.

Intermediate- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 6 or so months, at this point you have been creating habits, learning the fundamentals of the skill, and even developing your own ideas in a skill. There are some things that aren't instinct or second nature yet, but you can still rely on the fundamentals taught.

-A Militiaman who has completed training to be a part of a functioning spear line.

Adept- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a year or two, at this point you have been developing muscle memory. At this point, you can start relying on the skills that you started learning to still be with you without you needing to mentally figure out the maneuver you are doing, you can just do it.

-An inexperienced squire, who has been under the care of a lord, and training and sparing against other squires.

Advanced- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 5 years or so, at this point, you have been tested in your skills. You have gained and lost multiple habits, you have started figuring out certain things that have been less efficient and starting to create your own skills to best fit you.

-A fresh-faced Knight, who finally finished his years of training and is now to go to war for his lord.

Sacred- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a decade or two, at this point you are starting to refine your skills and making a name for yourself with certain 'signature' skills. At this point, you have seen many different things, and started to create and form new measures to best combat certain faults and counters you have seen through your time.

-A Knight/Mercenary who has seen years of battle, and has been now refining skills to best combat the many things you've seen.

Royal- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed to some of the greatest degrees they can be. Few can match you in your skills, as you have seen many different styles, many different skills used, and have taken meticulous care to make sure your skills have been brought to a level that nothing really surprises you anymore.

-A Greater Knight who has seen decades of battle and has now been honored for his skills as he has now passed on many of his skills to his successors.

Divine- This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed beyond what could even be thought of as possible. At this point, few can say they are able to even equal you. Your skills seem otherworldly, you are seen as the pinnacle and few can even imagine equaling you let alone surpassing you.

-A Grand Knight who has defeated foes thought beyond possible by ones self. Few can challenge a dragon on their own yet a Dragon's head is on your mantle for that very reason.

Thought Processes

Tactitian

When Desmond is working with others around him, he is quite an efficient tactician and team player. Desmond has learned how to work with many different people, may it be with other Magusjaegers, knights, to mages, Desmond had to play ball with them. Often he was seen as a child at best, however, showing skills on the battlefield helps people reconsider their position.

He normally takes the role of a small-scale tactician and supportive role, making sure people are able to do their jobs. If a Mage is giving some people trouble he will deal with them, knights are pushing too close, he will force them back, and if he notices another Magusjaeger, he will track them to make sure that there is only one set of eyes over the battlefield.

Desmond will oftentimes pick out certain plans to best allow for everyone's abilities to come forth, or what he thinks they can be. He hates it when he needs to give some control away to someone else, however, to use the resources you have is the utmost priority, after all, they could possibly find something that he himself could never see, like a more equipped Chemist being able to pick up on a faint internal change or other things like that.

However, when Desmond can have control over the majority of the operation, that's when he is most at ease, as it will give him the most he can work with and how they will work.

Lone Wolf

When Desmond is by himself, his thought process when doing missions is much more methodical. By himself, he needs to fight and think smarter than most. As the only things he can rely on are his skills, his wits, and his will to get through. Yet this makes him at ease, cause it gives him the most control making him the sole cog and the easiest to control.

Often he will be on a constant watch of things, he will more often than not hide among what he can, often trying to blend in the best he can no matter where he is. Even when walking the streets he will often hide in the crowd, slowly and methodically planning his route and all possible way to escape.

He is a constant vigilant alert, as he will often plan days if not weeks ahead, often learning the environments he will get himself into, the dialects, and even some simpler mannerisms. Because of his looks, he has learned how to blend in, changing parts of himself to best fit the bill, maybe even sometimes living somewhere nearby for some time creating an alibi before moving to his objective.

Desmond will often put his own safety above all else, except when it comes to someone he cares about. Where he might compromise himself, the mission, and all else in making sure they survive. Yet if that is not to occur, his skills were formed to allow him to move like a ghost, even able to shift through crowds to find his target or complete his objective. After which, he will quietly complete it before he disappears back and almost as he disappeared off the face of the earth.

Ranged Weapons

Hider

Sniper

Skill Level- Sacred

When Desmond is at a far range and out of notice of his enemies, he takes up his gun in a slow and methodical approach to assassinate targets from extreme ranges. Here he will use his long gun exclusively as it is the only of his weapons that can reach out far enough for his use.

With the use of methodical and stealthy movement to find good fields of view to get clear lines of attack. He uses calm and incremental drawing from the area, he will start finding anything around him to draw from, the swaying of leaves, the ambient heat, or even small things he does with his body and he draws from the movement.

From there he converts it slowly to the energies he needs them for. Such as transforming it to form low-level light magnification to better help him differentiate between targets. Uses Kinetic energy so he can increase the velocity of his bullets to reach out further. As well as converting it to Magnetic energy so he would be more able to guide his bullets and make sure they fly in a much more controlled and precise way.

Once he fires a shot, he will begin moving to one of his next shooting areas, as he will continue to do so until his objective is done, or he needs to leave in preparation for being overwhelmed.

Desmond will often use his many different bullets during this to deal with as many as he can as quickly as possible. Using explosives to deal with swaths of enemies, Inferno bullets to quickly start fires and cause chaos, and using QuickSilver bullets to poison people in areas where they are hiding.

If he needs to leave because he could be overwhelmed, he will use many of his bullets to start causing an area of denial. Chilling areas and then having ice forming there, using QuickSilver bullets to form poison clouds and many other less-lethal bullets, but having wide areas of effect to buy him time against pursuers.

Gunslinger

Skill Level- Adept

When Desmond is at the range but is noticed by his enemies, he changes his fighting tactics to a much more defensive and manipulative style. Uses the flow of combat to cause greater effects and opportunities, manipulating forces to create bad situations for the enemy, and using counter-offensive tactics to take down his enemies. Here he will use his long gun and pistol in tandem to increase his rate of fire and combine bullets together to cause devastating effects through different reactions. He will use magnetic magic to help him load his guns to increase his speed of reloading and fire rate, as often he will have both his hands occupied and unable actually reload his guns.

With the use of fast movement and defensive use of cover, Desmond will constantly be shifting away from his opponents, making sure he keeps some form of cover between himself and his enemies if they have ranged weapons as well. If he is facing off against enemies without any ranged counters, he will make sure to destroy all cover the enemy can use to make fights much easier.

In the midst of fighting, he will begin to pick out everything the enemies have at their disposal, from there he will begin creating strategies to combat what every they have. As a matter of what kind of objective he needs to achieve, he will change how aggressive or defensive he will be. As if he knows he can win he will get a little more aggressive to ensure victory, however, if the fighting does not look like a winning fight, he will often try to be much more defensive or even try to escape to prompt a cat and mouse chase where he has a bit of an advantage with the use of guerilla tactics and stealthy takedowns.

Desmond will use his specially made bullets more often, as many will often be used for area denial to cause his enemies to move according to his own wants, setting up large reaction explosions to take out swaths in an instant and cause disarray, or using very specific bullets against certain mages to take them out efficiently and with as little effort as possible, because a drawn-out fight with a mage is a death sentence.

Way of the Gun

Skill Level- Intermediate

When Desmond is at close range while fighting enemies, he changes his fighting style to a much more frenetic and aggressive style. Mixing in different ranges of attacks to open many different opportunities and openings to take down his enemies. Here Desmond will both use his long gun and pistol in tandem, to fire off multiple bullets in a short period of time. Often times he will use magnetic magic to reload one gun while using the other as a club to fight with or shooting the bullet it was loaded with.

With the use of fast movement and aggressive shifting footwork, Desmond will constantly be shifting his position to be near his opponents for fast elbows, knees, and strikes using his pistol. Then he will shift away to do kicks, strikes with his long gun, and fire off a shot from his pistol. Finally, he will shift just far enough away to fire off a shot from his long gun and begin to use it as a one-handed spear to jab and keep his opponent at a slightly farther distance.

While Desmond uses this constant shifting and aggressive style, he will draw kinetic energy from attacks he does, some of his movements to change his movement patterns to mess with his opponent, or from some of the attacks, he would sustain. From there he will often use the kinetic energy he draws to either increase the force of his attacks or convert it into magnetic energy to set up for devastating counterattacks or to reload his guns as he is fighting.

While in this range, he will normally use lead rounds to fight with, or very specific bullets to assist him against certain pesky foes. He will sometimes use certain bullets that can cause area denial effects to force certain adversaries to either make distance from himself or keep within close range. After which he will continue to use led bullets or if up against a skilled Kinetic or Magnetic mage he will use his Death's Promise to take them out when they least expect it.

Throwing Weapons

Skill Level- Intermediate

Desmond has learned how to throw many different types of weapons, may it be knives, sharpened needles, and spears, Desmond is quite good at throwing them. Desmond will use these less often than his guns, but when he gets into close-ranged combat he will use them often like throwing daggers and the such.

Desmond will sometimes use throwing weapons in fights, however, he does not carry them on him often enough to matter. So often he will find objects he can improvise as throwing weapons and using them when he can.

Desmond will normally use throwing weapons more for 'fun' in a fight rather than as an essential weapon for his fighting. Often he views throwing weapons as a less efficient projectile than other ones, but it can be useful when caught in a bad situation.

Bow & Arrow

LOL!!! Who uses these things?

Stay seething Knife Ears

Melee Weapons

Hider

Polearms

Skill Level- Advanced

Among most of the Melee weapons, Desmond has practiced, the Polearm is one of his most used. A large wooden pole can be found anywhere and can make a great weapon. A spear, a bo staff, or mattering on what you affix to it, a hammer, an axe, or a large pick. However, when fighting in melee range, the most important things are often range and speed, as the spear is well known for both, with fast and strong strikes that can reach out farther than almost any other melee weapon.

Desmond had become quite skilled with Staves and Polearms, as whenever he is found without any ammunition, he will often need to rely on his gun to become an impromptu short spear, bo staff, or even a club. This soon changed to becoming a weapon skill he wished to foster as now he has become quite efficient at using Polearms and staves, to the point where if he needed to choose a melee weapon to fight with, he would take a spear knowing he can probably take on a Knight with it.

Swords/2-handed blades

Skill Level- Intermediate

Desmond is practiced in swords and 2-handed blades, however less so than most of the weapons he has normally used. His skills with swords and 2-handed blades are fundamental skills, and he will often use them when it is one of the few things in his hand, however, it is not his favorite weapon. He will often use a mixture of blade attacks and kicks and mixing into close range for shoulder bashes, elbows, and headbutts.

Desmond sees the sword as more of a tool to use as a finisher rather than as a weapon he will use more, but he does think it's cool. This is why he has learned it a bit, but for the sake of fighting, he finds it less efficient than his other weapons.

Short blades/Daggers

Skill Level- Advanced

When Desmond uses a short blade or dagger, it can often be akin to a surgeon of the Dordian Order. He will normally use a dagger with a mixture of martial arts, yet his blade will often swing fast and with precision. Uses the blade to parry and deflect blades as he strikes from the other side with kicks, strikes, or getting them into a grapple.

However when using his blade while sneaking is that of an assassin, his skills to hide as a Magusjaeger, transferred almost seamlessly to sneaking as a silent blade and taking the lives of those he was tasked with. He silently moves around, almost making his presence unknown, until the blade is already through the abdomen of his target. He knows the areas on the body that will either instantly kill his target, or push the air out of them before they are able to scream.

When caught in a fight, Desmond will normally use his blade to disable a certain part of his target before going in for the kill. Slicing the wrist to deactivate the hand, slicing ligaments to stop the use of a limb, or even making large slashes over large arteries to bleed the person out in a fight.

Unarmed

Skill Level- Intermediate-Advanced

When Desmond is pushed to the point where no other weapons are able to be used, his fists are the things that come out.

Desmond has learned some of the fundamentals of multiple different unarmed Martial Arts, many of which he either learned through sparring against other mercenaries, soldiers, and his 'family' or through watching them be used so many times by different practitioners. Which makes Desmond formidable on first contact, as he can very quickly figure out what style to use to give himself an edge over his opponent.

But this is only often times a short-lived advantage, as if an actually studious practitioner of Martial Arts was to go up against Desmond, they can find his skills are lacking. His fundamentals are solid, but when it comes to the more nuances of certain styles he is an amateur at best. Yet when he gets pushed into an extended bout, Desmond pulls out his most practiced Martial Art, Kastäng.

Kastäng is the Eskandish traditional martial art. Desmond will normally not use it from the start of a fight because of its very long drawn to nature, it focuses on breaking not only the body but the opponent's spirit. This point can lead to Desmond facing off for multiple minutes, yet Desmond will switch to it when faced off with multiple opponents or when faced with an opponent who seems to be much strong than himself.

It was taught to him by the man he sees as a father figure from his Mercenary group, a man named Danyel, he taught Desmond a variation of Kastäng that focused more on the striking aspect of Kastäng. Using kinetic magic, focusing the energy the body can create and transfer all of it into each strike and grab.

Yet because of Desmond's RAS, he can only moderately use this ability, so he modified it for himself to reintroduce the multiple different grapples, while still using the teachings Danyel had shown him. Forming new standing strikes that lead into grapples and hold that seem to lead in from one to another to make use of every ounce of energy and strength he can create. Sometimes closing the gap a bit in the differences in power can be found when facing off against Mages who use kinetic magic in their martial arts.

Out of Options

This is for when he is out of mana, ammunition, his weapons are broken, and he is left exhausted.

Hider

He's Never Out of Options

The Hourglass Order

---

Location: Hugo Hunghorasz's Study -> the War Table

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Interactions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Zarra @BreathOfTheWoof, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, Karim @Theyra, Wvysin @Ypnosi, Ismet'ych'lahin'dichora, Benedetto Corvi, Jocasta Re, and Hugo Hunghorasz @Force and Fury

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Preludes to Action

When the Arch Zeno let out a laugh Desmond had a small smile on his face, he finds it hard to not feel good when someone else laughs. There's just something infectious, especially when it comes from the heart. As the Arch Zeno answered his question, Desmond was actually quite happy to hear that they were guided rather than controlled. As they continued, Desmond began looking around taking notice of the people around him, he was trying to figure out certain commonalities between each person, nationality seemed not similar, gender seemed not much of a factor, honestly, Desmond could not make 100% certain commonality that leads each person here. Maybe there was none, maybe all these people were able to pass each of these tests and made it here. Through Desmond's inspection he found at the moment when the man who brought them here spoke out in addressing them, he broke away from his scanning and listened in.

As the man spoke Desmond didn't have much to dissect, he seemed to have laid most bare. He had gripes with how the school had been taking most things with a detached look, and the old man was not happy. Now the old Wizard was booted from the table and told to take some students for the off days, and they would be those students. Desmond was excited about the idea, to be taught by someone who was strong was the exact thing he wanted, so when offered a seat Desmond took it up and was prepared for whatever to come.

As what was to come was an opening that showed them to another place, Desmond was surprised beyond belief, he heard of such things but had no clue it would look so strange. It was like looking into a mirror, but what showed through was a different image. With the image of different places at different times, Desmond started to quickly decipher what he was looking at as the old mage spoke. Naming off each of the places, and what was happening, Desmond started to understand that these were like doors to other places, they could see into them, and since they were on the other side of the world, they are in quite a different time than what they were. Unlike them being in the early morning, they would be experiencing nighttime. Desmond watched and listened with great intent as the Great Mage explained the situations occurring. Desmond wondered which of these 3 he would have been picked to undertake, and it was shown that he would be on the mission to take on the pirates, reclaim the artifact that they have taken, and the princess they have captured.

Desmond's mind started running rampant as to what to expect, pirates are a certain type of ilk, yet from what he saw from the doorway, it was possible that they had a much more established island they work from. Before Desmond could even ask for extra information, the Mage of great foresight already gave to them papers with the information that they needed plus the extra information he could provide. Desmond began looking to his supposed companions, yet before he could even go to them, the Grand Wizard spoke once more and informed them that with this, they will have half an hour to plan before he will reopen the portal and the missions will begin. They were also allowed to ask for anything they needed, within reason most likely meant things like artifacts would not be able to be procured, but simple things and materials would probably be possible. Yet Desmond was quite interested when he picked out a student who was here, to be someone who would also procure some of the items they needed from the school. Desmond took a moment to deduce the reason, and there would be only one real reason, that that girl should possibly be able to open up doors as the Master Mage could. After all, she is wheelchair-bound so for her to go and procure the items by hand would make no sense, unless the old man likes to bully young girls.

A Grocery List for a Strategist

Desmond didn't assume the old fart would do such a thing, so he began making a list of things he immediately thought would be needed.

The List Desmond quickly formed up for Jocasta all came from his room so it was easy to find:

Jocasta's Errands

1. His guns: both the long gun and pistol are found on his bed.

2. His titanium and leather ammo pouches, both of which are found right next to his guns.

3. His Black powder Horns, he has 2 right next to his guns.

4. His bag of tools, the satchel can be found in his second desk drawer to the right-hand side.

5. His 2 coin pouches, each of them are found in the top left and right drawers. One is filled with actual money, specifically in Perrence currency, as it was one of the most efficient coins for his use at the moment. While the other is filled with fake Revidian coins made of nickel, magnesium, and some gold. As with quick chemical changes and physical manipulation through the Gift he can make them look like any coin. Yet when done on the spot, when they are inspected it is very easy to tell that these coins are fake as the work on them is quite poorly most of the time. But given enough time and reference material Desmond can make them look very similar to their real counterparts.

The List Desmond quickly formed up for the Old Man was a bit different:

Hugo's Grocery List

1. He needed appropriate attire for himself and his team. This is the most important because if they stick out in the wrong way then they could just be screwed from the get-go.

2. A chest with a random assortment of jewels and coins from Eskand. Something on the heftier side would be nice, but as long as it looks like they have a decent bit would be the best. Even if it's a chest filled with fake pieces, then having a top layer of more expensive proper pieces, is fine. Maybe a few Neskal, but not too many. It needs to look like we are not just some chumps, it'll make us look like we have some actual steam to our chuff.

3. A few bottles of strong alcohol from Eskand and a bottle of some of the finest wine Revidia has to offer, also a Keg of something cheap, there might be some people who have loose lips with a wet whistle.

4. A few weapons for those who don't have any, a cutlass for those who don't have a melee weapon, including one for Desmond himself, and a pistol with a black powder horn and ammo pouch for those who don't have one. These are not for the idea of actually fighting, but this is needed to maybe hide them a little by looking like they belong.

5. A large makeup kit, they need it to try and 'age' a few of them, because some look a little too fresh-faced. Some need a few fake blemishes, and others need to be given a certain look, once similar to those who've seen combat. Is Desmond the best? No, but it will be better than nothing.

Once Desmond finished his lists, he made his way to the young Girl in the wheel-chair first. He handed her his list and said, "This is the list of things I need from my room. I am in the Commons dormitory, with the building being in the farthest area nearest to the North-East wall of the living areas. I am in the building with the large mismatched colored tiles on the roof and is the one nearest to the Merchant dormitories. When you enter the building I am in the room farthest left making it closest to the Merchant dormitories. When you enter you will see a window directly in front of you, with my Desk being placed on the left-most wall and my bed is on the right-most wall with a large black banner with a red sun on it. Hopefully, that will be enough information for you to get the items from my room". Desmond assumed she would need some understanding of where she would need to open the door, so he decided to try and give the most detailed area description he could. After all, there are probably a lot of people who will start asking her to grab things, so Desmond wanted to make it quick for her. Before Desmond leaves he gives a light head bow to the Jocasta as he says, "Thank you for grabbing my items for me. It's much appreciated".

For the Geezer on the other hand he had a much more extensive list that would require a bit more work, but he assumed someone as old as him, knew where he could find some of the stuff. When Desmond handed him the list he began to speak to him, "This is the things I think we'll need. Most of which on the list will have a quick excerpt on why we'll probably need them. A few of which I think would be easy to procure and are also essential, but if the chest of treasure and alcohol is unable to be gathered during the time, that is fine, we'll figure something out". Before Desmond leaves he gives a light head bow to the Old man as he says, "Thank you for grabbing those things for me. I hope you find it easy to procure the items".

War Council

Once Desmond made his way over to his group and sat down to begin listening in on what they were talking about, Trypano immediately brought up the lack of information. Desmond agreed, they had nothing on the most important bits of the puzzle, yet he was hoping with what he had cooling they could alleviate it a little. Once Trypano had said her piece Desmond spoke on his side of it, "We have nothing much the ship nor her captain and crew, this is true. I believe we can learn a bit from those on the island, but it will require a bit of acting and playing on our part".

Desmond let the idea sit for a moment as he adjusted himself to being leaning in before he continued, "So, we'll need to blend in and become like a pirate, using makeup and disguises to get close and acting our way in to be able to actually start talking with them. From there we will use a few tactics to get them to talk, such as getting some of them drunk, wooing a few, or even capturing a few to interrogate-". Desmond took a quick scan while saying that, seeing what kind of people he was working with, after all, no matter how good his idea is, if they would not work with it, then they will need to figure something else out while they still can.

Desmond continued talking, "From there we can make a plan of attack with more information. Who knows maybe we will be able to find some unlikely allies during our time there. After all, there seems to be a band of Pirates who seems to be at odds with our target". The last part was left with a bit of a shadow of a grin like Desmond was already thinking of using them to help their ends.

Avalia

Time: ~11:00 a.m.
Location: Riverport Beach
Interactions: Kharne, the Swift @Kazemitsu, Annya, the Deceiver @princess, Saoirse, the Caring @potter, and Raven, God of Hammers @Tae
Mentions:
Armor:
A full suit of Steel Half Plate & a
Steel Targe
Steel Half Plate
Weapon(s):
Steel Longsword

Inventory: A rogue-ish set of clothing, his dog tags, and a set of faux demihuman Wolf ears, a Ring of Disguise, two rations of food, water flask, a bar of soap and a few other portable hygienic products.

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Ismael had made his way over to the beach that once had a column of razer wind. As once he got there he saw the column had slowly disappeared and Annya was holding both Shae and Raven. The event had ended, it seems Raven had been the perpetrator of the tornado appearing. Ismael had some assumptions about what could have caused Raven to go into an emotionally unstable state. But this was not the time, the main event ended, which meant the fallout was about to begin.

It seemed Annya knew this as well, as she saw him and Kharne were there and asked them to accompany them. Ismael let out a sigh as he then said, "Yeah, that would be for the best". As Ismael made his way closer he began to notice both Raven and Shae were disappearing. At first, Ismael was worried, but he started figuring out what was happening, Annya was using her light magic to bend the light and make them hidden. Ismael let out another sigh of relief as he then says, "Alright you two, we'll need to start heading off. Make sure to stay close behind me and Kharne, leave next to no room as we go okay?". Ismael waited for a response to occur before they started moving, he had no clue where they'd be if they didn't stay in close contact, but they couldn't hold hands or a rope because then it'd be obvious.

The Hourglass Order

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Location: The Forked Tower -> Hugo Hunghorasz's Study

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Interactions: Onarr @Bork Lazer, Zarra @BreathOfTheWoof, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch, Ingrid @dragonpiece, Hugo Hunghorasz @Force and Fury

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Upon Onarr's voice coming out, Desmond's blood ran cold. Desmond was not ready for someone to speak, so to hear any noise immediately sent him on red alert. At that moment he was about to curse, but he noticed that at that moment their surroundings changed. The once draft and damp stairwell had changed now to a large and dry study. Yet study wasn't an apt description, a much better one would be a cathedral to knowledge. This place had large books shelves that stood taller than most buildings would ever reach, a large table akin to a king's dining table fit for himself and the hundreds of his nobles, many different stations filled with magical and scientific apparatuses, and translucent art made for the windows. Everything here was marvelous as Desmond knew whoever owned this place would have to be absolutely rich.

Desmond forgot for a moment to yell at Onarr, as everything here surprised Desmond, as he took everything in. Yet his eyes landed upon the probable owner of this study. He was an elderly man who stood there and…Desmond had no clue who the man was. Honestly, Desmond knew jack squat about most things related to the culture of magic, Desmond just assumed he was some Mage who had some major control over some very powerful magic. Not only was he able to control hundreds of birds, but also he was able to seamlessly make sure none of them were able to sense or notice each other, and then finally transport all these people here at once.

Even when others brought up his name, Desmond had Zero clue on who the guy was, he thinks he heard his name before, but he isn't really clicking anything. Desmond was quite curious about something, so raised his hand like he was normally told to do in class and then immediately spoke after, "Uh, sorry sir, I'm not very familiar with you, so sorry if I butcher your name. Paradigm Hung'horas, I was wondering if you were the one in the crow?"

Desmond honestly thought his first name was kind of weird. Who names their child Paradigm anyways?