STATUS:
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
3 yrs ago
Current
@SaltSight Game was Astlibra: Revision. Found it on sale bundled with another game I've been wanting so I gave it a shot and got like, straight indie JRPG of the early 2000s injected into my veins.
3
likes
3 yrs ago
Hate that strange ennui that hits after 100%'ing a really, really good game. Good time was had, but man am I glad it can't mess my sleep schedule up anymore.
6
likes
4 yrs ago
Rich people blood sports is how the Oscar's should always have gone. As a hot blooded american man I cant sleep at night without witnessing violence of some kind.
3
likes
5 yrs ago
So true. Anyways, play Lancer!
5 yrs ago
Final Fantasy: Stranger in Paradise is the funniest shit I've ever seen while also not being a bad game. Just crack open some cold ones with the boys, blare Limp Bizket, and Kill Chaos.
It looked like HaloHart was willing to join up, and another name was added to the Party HUD on the side of Mina's screen. He had said that he was fine being called by, what Mina assumed, was his real name, but breaching that kind of nettiquette was a bit too soon for her. It wasn't like she'd want to give her real name out after just meeting people after all. With that, it gave them an ample party size of five, which should prove plenty for tackling the World of Grace. With the gate shut and the sigil beneath the offering instruction on what to do next, Mina was glad that her party members were already taking the initiative, sending out their more nimble-bodied duel monsters to scout ahead.
"For strategies, I just thought that a random number based partner would be fun. But, if my cards are used together, I can boost a monster's power quite a bit and decrease an enemy's by a lot as well. The odds it works out are rather high, but the cooldown is pretty long too," Mina said, picking up Cuben and patting the cubed head he had, the small screen on it blinking from blue to green. "Let's go see what's going on with the smoke over there. On we go!"" Mina would say, releasing Cuben before starting to head off, keeping an eye out along the way for any other issues the World of Grace might have for them to solve before moving on.
Cuben would trot along, making small "plonk" sounds with each step its blocky feet took, kicking up tiny tufts of dust the entire way. It would look around at the other duel companions the party had, doing its best to figure out who it would work best with. It seemed there weren't other Thunder types, but the User called "HaloHart" did have light monsters of his own, so perhaps they could work together. Somehow.
It seemed that the head of the tower had finally deigned to make himself known. While he didn't seem like a physically imposing man by any means, Hector could tell by the way Herne was curiously observing Arteus and Brunhyldia as they entered, seemingly either very aware of the power they held, or just curious about the smell of the newcomers. As fledglings to the tower, Hector and Herne weren’t too aware of magi and the workings of magic, but even the former priest had heard of the duo. Some of the most powerful Magi that the Tower had, which also meant they were definitely not people to cross.
Eon Tower seemed to have a hands off approach, which was perfectly fine by Hector. The less he had to worry about the specifics of a task, the more likely he was to be direct on it. With the available requests as well as their options being laid out clearly for them, Hector was nearly the first to step forward to check, almost tripping over a miniscule golem no bigger than a child’s ball trotting underfoot to allow…erm…
Wait, who was that? Hector hadn’t recalled her introducing herself…or, maybe he just wasn’t paying attention. Actually, wasn’t she part of the staff and not a Reaver? Hector wasn’t quite sure, but he overheard her mentioning that she wanted to take on the job to search for the missing children. A noble cause, for someone so bookish in appearance.
Hector’s concerns were primarily on the gang of Belua. Petty crimes were something he couldn’t judge too harshly; Those that lived had to survive by any means they could…but it never stopped with a gang of criminals. Survival would turn to doing it just for the desire to do so, with a complacency of morals borne of public neglect. Thus the Book of Lucens spoke. And thus, Hector would speak in kind. If words would not work…well, that was what his magic was for.
”I’d be interested in speaking with this gang of Beluan fellows. I’d heard a bit about them at the inn I stayed at as well,” Hector said, with Herne rising to point at the paper, before raising his tail in approval, curling back onto Hector’s shoulder.
Rem Indagrund
Rem was hiding within one of her golems during the entire debacle going on within the assembly, the various magical attacks having startled her enough to form a G-Defender, the almost putty-like golem possessing a misshapen face not unlike a jack-o’-lantern that was melting as it adhered to a far wall. Rem was held inside of a small pocket of air and space within, kept perfectly safe as the “battle” occurred outside.
Once Rem recognized the familiar sound of Arteus’ footsteps resounding through the golem however, the gnome would poke her head free of a freshly created hole in the Defender, looking as if she had been buried neck deep in a pile of mud that was now shaping itself to move away from her. ”Oh thank goodness…looks like those three stopped. But, I doubt Arteus would let them rampage like that so easily!”
Arteus began speaking about work and…wait, huh? He wasn’t going to address the extreme bursts of magic from barely a few minutes ago? …Seriously!?
”Oh, so a gnome walks into a ruin she dug up and she gets house arrest, but three newbies get to blow on through like a tornado and nobody bats an eye!? Magi are so weird…” she thought, unable to hide her displeased frown before becoming fully able to hdie it by sinking back into the G-Defender. Whatever, she supposed, she wasn’t the one cleaning it up. With a quick re-modeling of the Defender’s core, the hundred G-Smallers it was comprised of emerging into a formal sitting position to listen to Arteus and Brun banter a bit, before the two got to speaking about the work of the tower in enough detail that Rem got the gist of it. “Best of luck, don’t bite off more than you can chew”.
Well…Rem supposed that she couldn’t just rely on the generosity of the tower to allow her room and board for nothing. Plus, it wasn’t as if she was an utter novice of a Magus…she could do stuff! Mostly. Nothing too violent she hoped, but things could certainly be done to help.
The request board was sadly more “normal-race-height” focused than it was “gnome accessible”, so the G-Smallers would form a staircase for Rem to boost herself up with, the gnome taking careful steps one at a time to stand at eye level with the request board. It seemed they were entrusted with two jobs, one seeming directly confrontational, while the other seemed right up Rem’s alley. After getting a good read, she would descend her makeshift staircase before sending her bevy of golems to the library to see if they could find a potential map of the waterway. Approaching Brun, the quiet gnome would say: ”If it wouldn’t be too much trouble Brunhyldia, I would like to take on the request to find the missing children. My golems would make this a quick search, plus, I’ve been meaning to poke around in the waterways. If that’s alright, I mean,” Rem stated, awaiting her golem battalion’s return.
Faster than she'd expected, Mina found her party filling up with both remote applicants and people outright coming up to ask to join.
"A pleasure to play with you today, Eternia. I'm excited for whats ahead too! "
"Absolutely, Jet. The more the merrier! Pleased to meet you too, Simorgh."
"Welcome aboard, Koi. I was thinking of starting at the World of Grace too, since we're all new," the final greeting came for the time being, before the party of assembled duelists would step to the gate and out into the world of adventure; the very first world, the World of Grace. What seemed to be an endless expanse of green stretched out from the portal's entrance, a forest far in the distance to the North that seemed like as good a spot as any to begin their adventure. The sound of the ocean's waves crashed against a cliff face to the south, and it looked like a river ran from out of the forest to that very cliff side, forming a sort of waterfall as it cascaded down to crash against the ocean.
"Alright...now, what sounds fun? The forest looks like it'll have a lot of opportunities for dueling monsters, but maybe that river has a village or...something along it," Mina offered, looking to her assembled party, before realizing that someone else was there by the portal. A young man whose avatar looked extremely pretty, enough so that if this wasn't a virtual game where Mina could assume he looked different IRL, she might have asked what moisturizer he used.
His looks being on fleek aside, it was clear from nobody emerging from the portal with the young man that he seemed to be alone...which, given that this zone was likely balanced around party play for beginners, she couldn't help but be worried that he might be in over his head going it alone. As such, a greeting message would pop up from Mina, a notification featuring her avatar's mugshot beside a message with:
"Hello there HaloHart, would you like to join up with our party? We're all beginners, and the kiosk made this area sound like parties made progressing easier. No pressure if you don't want to."
It was something to be said when an online game had so many servers that they hit the triple digits, and with the brief character creation, tutorial, immediately realizing that her avatar looked incredibly generic next to the actual NPCs, deletion of first avatar, then remaking, Minimax would officially take their first steps into the world of Terminus a bit behind others. She'd experimented with a different monster as her first partner in the first go around, quickly finding that her Card Trooper partner didn't really suit her playstyle. After doing a quick mental run of the numbers, and realizing that a partner like Cuben offered a mix of luck-based strategy as well as good odds for risky support cards, that became her final choice for this go around.
In the hub proper, Mina's first stop would be to check the Guide Center for anything she might have missed on her first go around, then starting up a party recruitment. Which meant more than it usually did for online games, since Terminus seemed to also have a focus on socializing with other players. Made sense for a game based off a card game that needed at least two people to get going. As for how to advertise, she had an idea. Summoning her duel partner, Mina had a mind to test out just what the AI in the game was capable of. The 9x9 Thunder Monster would emerge from its card and stand before her, about knee high and looking up at her as if waiting for a command. "Alright Cuben, first up...let's advertise a little bit," Mina would say before picking Cuben up by the bottom of his blocky body and handing him a picket sign, formed out of a text box that Mina was typing in. Once it was done, Cuben would be holding a sign that read:
"LFG: EN / DEU OK, New Players Stick Together! Thunder Level 4 High Defense, Luck Effects."
...That did the trick in that other game she played usually, so now it was a matter of actually getting someone to look her and Cuben's way.
A rather unremarkable woman, save for her bangs being customized in game with neon green and pink dye that she only applied due to looking too much like a non-player character. She stands at 5'3" and carries a ZeXal style duel disk on her right arm.
Name: Mina Fortuna
Username: Minimax
Age: 26
Bio: For some people, their life path is pretty obvious to anyone watching them as a child. Hidden talents were something everyone had, even if they were discovered way, way later on in life…but when a grade schooler starts doing math problems for fun, you might have just raised a super nerd. Such was the case for a young Mina, whose modest upbringing and interests resulted in a life without much friction, but not much excitement either. Even when her parents were working abroad, she trusted in the constancy and predictability of numbers to be a constant force in her life, breezing through school and making money on the side being a tutor for grade schoolers.
It was through her tutoring job that she was introduced to Duel Monsters, learning the game to help a struggling tutee by using the game’s terminology to break things down, one step at a time. It turned out that something beside math interested her, with the countless cards in the game offering endless layers of strategy that kept her interested well into her college years.
It was around the week of her receiving her Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Domino Technical University that Terminus was announced by Cairo Tech, the slightly burnt out graduate figuring that she could use a break before going back for more at DTU.
Playstyle: “It isn’t luck if I’m weighing the odds ahead of time.” - Focuses heavily on luck based effects, with her Duel partner able to change the outcomes of otherwise risk-based cards.
Duel Partners:
LIGHT // THUNDER
****
600 ATK // 1900 DEF Advanced Duel Abilities:
Probability Array: Once per turn when a dice-roll based effect would resolve, you can choose to re-roll the die before the result is finalized. You may choose either result as the final outcome.
Support Cards: Spells:
Graceful Dice: [QUICKPLAY SPELL] Upon activation, Roll a Six-Sided Die. Target monster gains ATK/DEF equal to the result x 500 until the end of the turn.
During the start of your turn: Roll a six-sided die and apply the result:
1: Choose a monster on your side of the field; Their ATK and DEF become 0 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
2: Target opponent’s monster loses ATK equal to its DEF until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
3: Choose a monster on your side of the field; That monster’s ATK and DEF increase by 1000 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
4: Choose a monster on your opponent’s side of the field; That monster’s ATK and DEF increase by 1000 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
5: Choose a spell card that your opponent has played this game; You may immediately activate it as if you were its owner.
6:Destroy this card.
Traps:
Skull Dice: [NORMAL TRAP] Upon activation, Roll a Six-Sided Die. Target opponent’s monster loses ATK/DEF equal to the result x 500 until the end of the turn.
When an opponent declares an attack on your monster or activates an effect during their turn, both you and your opponent roll a six-sided die. If your opponent’s die roll is higher than your’s negate this card.
If your die roll is higher than your opponent’s, you may choose a new target for the attack / effect, or negate it.
If both players roll the same result, repeat until one player rolls a greater number.
Miscellaneous: Currently working to get her PHD in mathematics.
May or may not literally be looking for Number monsters.
A rather unremarkable woman, save for her bangs being customized in game with neon green and pink dye that she only applied due to looking too much like a non-player character. She stands at 5'3" and carries a ZeXal style duel disk on her right arm.
Name: Mina Fortuna
Username: Minimax
Age: 26
Bio: For some people, their life path is pretty obvious to anyone watching them as a child. Hidden talents were something everyone had, even if they were discovered way, way later on in life…but when a grade schooler starts doing math problems for fun, you might have just raised a super nerd. Such was the case for a young Mina, whose modest upbringing and interests resulted in a life without much friction, but not much excitement either. Even when her parents were working abroad, she trusted in the constancy and predictability of numbers to be a constant force in her life, breezing through school and making money on the side being a tutor for grade schoolers.
It was through her tutoring job that she was introduced to Duel Monsters, learning the game to help a struggling tutee by using the game’s terminology to break things down, one step at a time. It turned out that something beside math interested her, with the countless cards in the game offering endless layers of strategy that kept her interested well into her college years.
It was around the week of her receiving her Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Domino Technical University that Terminus was announced by Cairo Tech, the slightly burnt out graduate figuring that she could use a break before going back for more at DTU.
Playstyle: “It isn’t luck if I’m weighing the odds ahead of time.” - Focuses heavily on luck based effects, with her Duel partner able to change the outcomes of otherwise risk-based cards.
Duel Partners:
LIGHT // THUNDER
****
600 ATK // 1900 DEF Advanced Duel Abilities:
Probability Array: Once per turn when a dice-roll based effect would resolve, you can choose to re-roll the die before the result is finalized. You may choose either result as the final outcome.
Support Cards: Spells:
Graceful Dice: [QUICKPLAY SPELL] Upon activation, Roll a Six-Sided Die. Target monster gains ATK/DEF equal to the result x 500 until the end of the turn.
During the start of your turn: Roll a six-sided die and apply the result:
1: Choose a monster on your side of the field; Their ATK and DEF become 0 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
2: Target opponent’s monster loses ATK equal to its DEF until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
3: Choose a monster on your side of the field; That monster’s ATK and DEF increase by 1000 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
4: Choose a monster on your opponent’s side of the field; That monster’s ATK and DEF increase by 1000 until the end of your opponent’s next turn.
5: Choose a spell card that your opponent has played this game; You may immediately activate it as if you were its owner.
6:Destroy this card.
Traps:
Skull Dice: [NORMAL TRAP] Upon activation, Roll a Six-Sided Die. Target opponent’s monster loses ATK/DEF equal to the result x 500 until the end of the turn.
When an opponent declares an attack on your monster or activates an effect during their turn, both you and your opponent roll a six-sided die. If your opponent’s die roll is higher than your’s negate this card.
If your die roll is higher than your opponent’s, you may choose a new target for the attack / effect, or negate it.
If both players roll the same result, repeat until one player rolls a greater number.
Miscellaneous: Currently working to get her PHD in mathematics.
May or may not literally be looking for Number monsters.
Color code: 8dc73f.
Aaaaaand done! Please let me know if any of the random dice effects need tweaking. I tuned up how much attack / defense Graceful / Skill dice give or take away but also made them only work on one monster.
Alice stepped forward, as Kerry made her plans known, and Liliana started to oblige her. "Is this how you wish to serve your role, Bladeflower, mine,” she asked, hands on her hips, as she stared at the castle.
Having raised her sword to buff Kerry, Liliana would look at Alice confused; dark circles under her eyes spoke clear enough about the fairy’s state of mind. “I…no but…I’m no good like this,” Liliana said, wings drooping. “I’m even hallucinating a Lady Alice scolding me…”
"You imagine nothing of the sort. I am,” Alice says, "You need sleep."
"I’m fine," Liliana insisted, brushing past Alice to get closer to the gate.
Liliana would find herself behind Alice again, looping seamlessly, as she surpassed ten feet away from Alice.
"Oof!" Liliana blurted out, running into Alice’s backside and bouncing back.
"Ever-clumsy. You are far from fine,” Alice says. "Lying about it, and putting on a front is no sign of bravery. Just foolishness”
Liliana would grit her teeth, getting up and picking up Whimsy, only to find that her sword had turned to petrified wood. …Whimsy…was in agreement with Alice, it seemed. "...Whimsy, please!"
"Even the imp understands, you've reached a limitation that you've never been dealt before," Alice says, "Cowardice is something unbecoming of you, Bladeflower, o’ brave Knight,” she kept her back to Liliana, "Yet here you are, fearing not the most imminent threat, but the most internal threat: breaking a promise to a dead woman.”
Clutching Whimsy to her chest, Liliana would shudder behind in Alice’s shadow. "I promised Cecilia…and I promised Lady Alice. I…Knights keep promises. They always do. I promised to see Cecilia. I promised Lady Alice I’d see her again. I can’t do both…"
"Your allegiance is to the Fairy Queen, Titania,” Alice says, "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. You display one at a time, limiting yourself from your potential...”
"Titania…maybe…I was never fit to be a Knight to her…maybe that’s why she sent me here," Liliana said, wings losing color as she started to dread countless possibilities.
"Maybes are poison to the self,” Alice says, "Pity isn't something I will impart upon you. That's for others, like Marigold, to do.”
"Even so…" Liliana said, rising to her feet with the petrified Whimsy in her arms, starting to try to walk past Alice again. "Even if I don’t think that I’m a very good knight…Titania thought I was. And Lady Alice did too. And I won’t disappoint them."
Liliana would loop back.
"A good knight understands her limitations, and doesn't run from them, but faces them,” Alice says.
"Yeah…but right now, limits or whatever, I gotta get us past that big door," Liliana said, looking up at it, the gate easily towering over every member of the task force, let alone its smallest.
"You believe you can bypass that gate, when you cannot even pass by me,” Alice asks.
Liliana would smile at Alice’s back, saying: "I gotta try! I definitely won’t if I don’t, and I wanna, so I gots-ta!"
"Says who,” Alice asks, looking back, her expression devoid of warmth, a convalescence of seriousness and confrontation, "If you backed down, it would not be a strike against you. Yet you struggle onwards," she says, "To accomplish what? To prove your worth to... Marigold, that one that raised you? Daisy, the one you succeeded? Rosebud, the one you idolize? Titania, the one you serve? Or..." Alice returned her attention forward, "...this foolish Queen of Nothing that stands before you, taking promises without reward...”
"Everyone, of course! But…" Liliana would suddenly step forward, hugging Alice. "Right now, its just you here, Lady Alice. O-Or Cecilia…whichever is right here, that’s who I’ll keep my promise to, the whole way!"
Alice wouldn't rebuff her, chuckling. "Honor and Duty are the blades of a true knight. It's certainly true to say that Whimsy is a Blade of Duty,” she would turn, and draw Carroll, "You're in need of a Blade of Honor, in that case."
"Whimsy’s honorable though," Liliana said, Whimsy coming to life once more on her back.
Alice chuckled, again, before presenting Carroll for Liliana without saying anything.
Reaching her left hand out, Liliana would carefully take hold of her handle.
“This is quite the arrangement...”
"A-Are you sure? You and Carroll have a special bond…like me and Whimsy," Liliana asked, gently handling Carroll while awaiting Alice’s answer.
Alice returned her attention to the gate, crossing her arms, as her feet started to petrify. The effective area of [O’ Frabjous Day!] would start to extend, encroaching upon the castle, as she extended her invitation upon the Taskforce and started to fiddle with Time Magic.
Even at her best, over such a massive area and with no ritual prep time, she could only dull the reaction speeds of her - no, of their enemies. Still, it would have to be enough. Time Magic was a difficult magic, but it was the specialty of Mad Hatters.
This was something that only she could do.
“An encore, I see...” Carroll understood the assignment, before she would surge over Liliana, and enter Whimsy’s mindscape.
"What’s your plan, Carroll," Whimsy demanded.
“Oh, don't you struggle with that, little petal,” Carroll purred, fingerwalking from her left shoulder to her right, “You and I have a more important task...” she says, her tone dipping into sultry, as she whispered into Whimsy's ear, “Merging Duty and Honor to create Bravery.”
"........."
"H-Huh?" Whimsy questioned as her eyes followed Carroll’s fingers, then shuddering as the wood elemental’s ears were pricked by her whispering. "M-M-M-Merging what and huh to WHAT!?" she questioned. "Liliana, don’t j-just stand there! Do something!"
Liliana stared at Carroll’s goop covering her sword, weakly offering a thumbs-up. "Be brave, Whimsy! I will never forget you!"
Carroll netted her fingers with Whimsy's from behind, bringing her into a hug, before twirling her as she hummed. As if she'd been born to, Whimsy’s feet would twist and turn with Carroll’s, as she led her through a dance - familiar, subdued steps, entering and exiting a perfect circle.
The Waltz of a Wallflower.
“Be honored, little petal,” Carroll says, “I don't dance with just anyone. The Wallflower Waltz is my creation, made for the woman I loved and lost...” she would draw Whimsy close, and rest her chin upon her shoulder, “I'm sharing my very soul with you. I was created to cut and you to bind. We're well matched.”
Carroll would draw her head back, before looking face-to-face with Whimsy, “I'll cut. You sew. Together, Honor and Duty make Bravery, and create a brave heart...”
Uncharacteristically gentle, Carroll would bring her lips to Whimsy's, as she closed her eyes, and left it to her to close the gap.
Whimsy would squeeze her eyes shut and close the distance and…
Some things lead to other things, and Liliana was starting to wonder if this was just an elaborate scheme by Alice to get their swords to date. Which was…cute? Kinda? Liliana wasn’t sure.
Elaborate schemes, while the forte of a Mad Hatter, usually didn't involve self-sacrificing. Regardless, Liliana would feel a far more powerful weapon coming to life in her hands - a heavy weapon unfit for a Fairy. A greatsword - no, a hand-and-a-half sword, better known as a bastard sword - with a gleaming blade of silver and an emerald handle with a rosebud pommel, three blossomed roses upon the European-style cross guard - one in the center, and one of each end - and a network of thorny vines that created a lattice, not unlike a fencing sword.
It took elements from Carroll and from Whimsy to create a heavy sword that was balanced for both sweeping and thrusting attacks.
Liliana would have to maintain her Human-size to have the physicality to wield it due to the fusion.
"Alright…its time to get this siege started! Kerry, poof!" Liliana said, pointing her blade at Kerry, causing her to turn invisible as she’d requested.
"Gringor, hit ‘em hard!" Liliana said, casting Giant’s Strength upon Gringor, feeling the orc’s strength multiplied would let him just tear the gate apart like paper.
"Atsuha, let’s keep you safe," Liliana said, casting Ironhide on Atsuha, her skin gaining a magical barrier just an inch above it that would deflect most physical attacks.
"Now…let’s knock this place down, and save Takeshi’s dad! This is how I’m gonna ruin their beauty sleep! Summoooooooooooon! Vorpalllllllllll! Cow!" Liliana cried out, drawing a circle with her blade before the gate before a bull larger than any of the many assembled warriors had ever seen, nearly twelve feet tall with horns spanning the length of a man. What very well may be the strongest bovine on the planet would grind its hoof against the ground before glowering at the gate, sweeping its head once before cleaving the wall before it, then charging a gaping hole through it with the same ease a scythe cuts through grass.
Leveling Whimsy and Carroll’s united form on her shoulder, Liliana would point forward. "For Shizuyama!"
Alice would watch, slowly freezing in place. Time for Time, a fair trade for an unparalleled advantage. Silently, she'd simply approve of Liliana taking charge. All she could do now was hope for the best…
"We’ll be back, Lady Alice!" Liliana made one last promise before stepping in, ready for an all-out battle.
"Do your best, my First and Only Bladeflower..." Alice smirked.
Scaling the stony walls of the castle was trivial to Eula, her steel fingers easily able to dig into the wall when she couldn’t find footing. Making her way along with the rest of the team to go over their plan within a gap in the wall, Eula would listen to Takeshi’s plan before formulating her own. Skarsneek’s idea was a well-suited one for controlling the flow of reinforcements to the gate front, but Eula felt that the hobgoblin would be best suited with support from someone else.
Then, a change was tangible in the air. As if there was a protective aura that was enshrouding those who were allied with the task force. Recognizing this as Alice’s ability, Eula would clench her fist before looking to Takeshi as he started to scale the mountain face.
"Takeshi will need some support. The Varjans will likely have extremely powerful guards inside the castle, so I will follow to back him up. Best of luck, everyone," Eula said before kicking off the wall to start pursuing Takeshi, hoping that whatever distraction was being concocted at the gate would be enough to let them slip into the castle.
Eon had no shortage of colorful individuals it seemed, even before this motley crew rolled in. As much as Hector could nitpick the appearances of those assembled, he also couldn't help but remember that he'd completely neglected getting a haircut for...what, three years now? Life on the road wasn't as cheap as one imagined, especially with Hector not having the gall to contact his father's estate for funds when he was bumming around the countryside slaying Malfested for revenge, and fulfilling final favors for the departed. Honestly, it may be better for his family if they just assumed he'd passed away with the rest of his flock.
Assembled from two parts "walking crowd" and "flying crowd" was a dwarven gladiator, whose face he'd seen on a fair number of posters in other cities and towns, a Beluan lizardman who...Hector could swear was staring at his back, a young human man who had been engrossed in his reading before the staff arrived, a human woman who looked ready to tackle anything that came her way with gun and sword, an unassuming human man with a beast at his side, and a fair-looking noble woman-
Hold on a moment. Hector wasn't quite sure on that last one, but more importantly his ears couldn't help but prick a bit as one of the members of the "flying crowd" expressing shock at the idea of someone with a Book of Lucens joining the tower. He didn't expect to be in the religious majority here...but was it really that unfathomable? Paying it little mind once he cast his eyes back to his reading, Hector would feel his guardian spirit start to stir from his slumber, the barrel of his gun soon releasing a serpent with scales of pure white that slithered out and down Hector's shoulder, coiling around his wrist to peek its head at his book. With its scales trailing off into non-existence at the end of its tail, the ghostly serpent would look to Hector before he would nod, starting to speak in a hushed tone to the snake. He seemed to be reading to it quietly while introductions were made, the book's words so common in Hector's mind now that he could recite them in small whispers while listening to the staff introduce themselves.
Hector didn't have much interest in personalized introductions. He was almost certain that at some point, he'd wind up moving on from the Tower once it became too stifling to work under them. But for now the services provided were a nice benefit for risking his skin on their watch. Hector's reading would be interrupted however as four magic circles opened up, his hand reflexively moving to his bayonet only to see that nobody else was on edge. Except for the gnome behind the artificer, strangely enough. The time for introductions now fell on the new applicants it seemed.
The snake around his wrist wasn't particularly worried, slithering back up his arm to perch upon his shoulder with its body coiled in a neat spring. "Hector Wyland. And this is Herne. Best at fighting from a distance, and...well, nobody here seems the praying type, but I am an ordained priest of the Advent Church. Funerals, weddings, confessionals, etcetera, Hector said, not seeming to put much weight behind his title.
Rem Indagrund
Upon being introduced to the varied group of magi candidates, a rather common gnomish racial microaggression would occur. Namely, getting called cute by a tallfolk woman after being introduced by Kiff. There were certainly worse things to be called, so she could let it slide. She did have a bit of a smug ego boost after Kiff clarified her age though, the various G-Smallers in assembly behind her giving Eve an irate look with all the huff and puff ankle-height golems could. "Gii!" one in particular said, probably some manner of insult in clayish.
Seeing as everyone in the tower had an introduction, Rem would give a small wave before saying: "A pleasure to meet you all. Aside from my duties assisting Kiff, I handle some odd jobs around the tower with my golems. Please let me know if you need help with anything at all. Oh! And I'm especially keen on helping with anything to do with archaeology. Whether its ruins or translations, please let me assist you in any way me and my golems can." As if on queue to introduce themselves, the hundred small golems that reached around a foot in height each would let out a rallying introduction, each giving out a cry of "Gii! Gii!" while waving enthusiastically, with only one abstaining as he kept close by Rem's side. Probably a leader of some sort amongst the other golems.
Stifling a chuckle at how funny they all sounded trying to mimic a formal introduction, Rem would pat the head of the golem that remained closest to her. Once the staff finished their introductions and Rem thought they were going to move inside to continue the tour for the new folks, a quartet of women arrived that put Rem on edge. For whatever reason, she just couldn't seem to keep her nerves under control...though she wasn't sure why. Sensing her discomfort, the assembled G-Smaller golems would huddle around her. Crouching down, she would try to reassure them that everything was fine, whispering something to them while wondering why her nerves had to act up now. Holding one of her G-Smallers just to hold something calming, Rem would try to keep her eyes on the ground rather than meet anyone's gaze for now. "My head's starting to hurt again..." she thought as she waited out her unease.
Floating off alone and barely listening to the ongoing meeting, Liliana would grip Whimsy tightly in her hands. ...She didn't get it back from Cecilia directly, but rather from Whimsy flying back by herself. Liliana was an idiot, sure, but even she had moments of overthinking. Was Cecilia not returning it because she'd already left?
Stop thinking.
If everyone was already leaving...what was she supposed to do?
Stop thinking.
Maybe if she ran to the shore, she could still make it-
Stop thinking.
Liliana would practically decide her team with a coin flip, winding up standing amidst the group bound for the first assault plan. So far that consisted of Nobutada and Gringor, the usually chipper fairy uncharacteristically quiet as she held her sword against her like a pillow. "Whimsy...I'm not alone as long as I have you, so please don't go away."
With quiet hesitation, Liliana braced herself for whatever this plan required, only for her to see a ghost that shouldn't be there. Alice was standing next to her, seemingly talking as she always had. Liliana was sure of it. She'd gone so crazy that she was imagining that Cecilia was Alice again. Or maybe she was just coping and imagining Alice was here to fight with them. Either way, Liliana's mind had no choice but to shut everything else out and shrink down to hide in a flower until it was time. ...She just had to stop overthinking and keep her promises. That's all. Hiding amidst a half-bloomed flower, she would hug Whimsy against her chest as she waited for the start of the operation. Maybe while the second team took the tower, she'd have time to piece herself together again...and see Cecilia, like she promised she would.
Eula
With the talks finished in private, Eula would take up her desired team, believing that her speed and ranged capabilities made her a match for the stealth operation the second team was carrying out. But, to her surprise, rather than Carroll and Cecilia, their unified state, "Alice" walked among the task force once again. A miracle, or just a temporary sacrifice, Eula couldn't be sure...but she was sure that she saw Liliana shrink away somewhere upon seeing her.
Even if she was more in touch with her own emotions now than when she arrived, Eula still didn't understand why the fairy was hiding. But it also wasn't something that she thought she should intervene with. For better or worse, what was going on here was between Alice and Liliana. As such, Eula would give a quiet nod of acknowledgement to Alice, and Carroll as her armament. "We'll have to strike hard and fast," the automaton said, flicking her wrist and transforming it into her demonic energy stun gun, leveling it, checking for any signs of instability in her aim before changing her hand back. She hadn't engaged in combat much with Skarsneek or the three Shizuyaman warriors, but hoped to be effective at this blitz tactic approach.
CitrusArms
RPM
Not a Sayan
Lunamaria Hawke
Neziul
