TheMerlin

Ashen Skies

A New Dawn

Meanwhile across the distant skies...

The walls shook with the clamour of battle as Corvo Leonis dashed through the halls of the royal palace, his footsteps echoing urgently upon the flagstones. The artificial muscle fibres of his nerve suit whirred loudly as they worked to accommodate his movements, accelerating as quickly as possible without breaking limbs, but the prince could be transformed into a bolt of lightning and it would still not be enough. The enemy was here! Saboteurs had cut off all power to the palace minutes ago, communications were down and there was not enough time to send a runner, he had to warn them himself. Had to reach his parents before it was too late!

Breathing hard, Corvo turned a corner and passed by his study room, door still hanging ajar from when he left after hearing news of the invasion earlier. To think that the Vaimese Empire would dare to attack the Kingdom of Belisio so brazenly... to think they would do so with such ease. It had not even been a full day yet since they crossed the border and smashed their way through the Hearthguard, cutting apart its most elite warriors. Whether it was the Crimson Rider's Vanguard Battalion or the infamous Shooting Stars, all the Knights and Battlemages of the kingdom could not so much as halt the Empire's advance, and now they were here within the very heart of Olysium, the shining jewel of the skies.

Approaching the end of the hall, Corvo sensed a lull in the cannon fire and risked a glance outside the windows, only to see the guns of every enemy warship suddenly turn towards the palace. Towards its towers. With the horror of realization dawning upon him, the prince skidded to a halt and lifted a hand towards the window, reaching out feebly as if to stop what was about to happen. "No..." he had time to whisper before the guns bloomed to life and the walls came tumbling down in a shower of death.

"NO!" Corvo screamed again as he woke up in bed, wide eyed and panic stricken. Breathing rapidly, he looked around his quarters and upon realizing where he was, his panic gradually turned to grief as he slowly sat up and wiped away the tears welling up in his eyes. How long had it been since that night, a day? A week? It mattered not for the fact remained that the city had fallen and both his parents, the king and queen, were gone.

What was it all for? the prince-in-exile wondered as he looked out the window, watching a sea of clouds pass by as the vessel he was travelling in flew on. Sky and water?

The more Corvo thought about it, the more it filled him with anger and when he remembered reaching out pathetically towards the enemy warships, he looked down at his hand and balled it so tightly that the nails dug into his palm. Then with a deep breath, he channelled all his rage and frustration into his fist and let it all out as he exhaled.

One of these days, the prince thought with dreadful calmness. I will paint the skies red with Vaimese blood.

Until then however, today was a new dawn.
Time to get up and get ready.
His work was waiting for him...

Ashen Skies

Name: Corvo Leonis

Age: 20

Sex: Male

Appearance:

Hider

Alias(es): Prince of Belisio

Description:

• Height - 5'9
• Build - Slender
• Skin Colour - White
• Hair Colour - Dark Brown
• Eye Colour - Brown

Magic type: Ki

Personality:
Brooding and deeply introspective, Corvo is generally a quiet and reserved young man but when stirred he becomes hard headed, passionate and impulsive. In such a state, he is quick to anger and even quicker to act. With strong ideals of justice, he believes in swift action and for better or worse, he never hesitates to back up his words with deeds. He is also prideful and confident in his own abilities, though the arduous experience of awakening his ki has humbled him somewhat and has allowed him to accept that there is still much for him to learn. With the fall of Belisio and the loss of his parents, he is now single-mindedly focused on reclaiming his kingdom and enacting vengeance upon the Vaimese Empire, no matter the cost.

Background:
Before the fall of Belisio, Corvo was a brilliant yet carefree young man whose largest concerns in life were his studies and training as heir apparent to the kingdom. History, politics, economics, religion, military strategy and the nature of magic, all of these things were drilled into him from an early age and though much was expected of him, he took his education in stride and somehow always found time for joy flights, swimming in lakes, travelling the city and other such frivolities.

After witnessing a Knight's tournament where the famous Iron Bear was bested by the Crimson Rider, Corvo developed an interest in cultivating his own ki and when his father learned of this, he was appointed the Knight Commander Chisom Balthair, the 'Black Bull', to be his tutor. Although the old warrior proved to be a strict disciplinarian, Corvo took to his martial training with his customary aplomb and was confident that he would awaken his ki within the year.

That year passed however and then another, followed by yet another and while Corvo developed excellent combat skills under the Black Bull's tutelage, he never seemed to make any progress towards awakening his ki. Frustrated by this, the young prince abandoned all of his leisurely pursuits for the sake of achieving this one goal, but it became increasingly apparent that the conventional methods of unlocking one's ki was simply not working for him. No matter how harsh the training, it seemed it would never happen at all... until that day when Vaimese warships appeared on the horizon and fired their cannons upon the Royal Palace.

Seeing both of his parents being buried beneath the rubble, Corvo let out a shout so fearsome that it shattered every window and cracked the very walls around him. He had finally awakened his ki, but at the cost of his kingdom and now - possessed by righteous wrath and the grief of losing his parents - he will do anything to take it all back and make the Vaimese Empire pay for what it's done.

Abilities:

• Ki Shout - Unleashes a blast of sonic pressure with a shout that can knock back foes or damage the surrounding environment.
• Combat Skills - Highly adept in armed or unarmed combat.
• Piloting - Able to drive or pilot most vehicles.

Extra:

TheMerlin's Study

Name: Corvo Leonis

Age: 20

Sex: Male

Appearance:

Hider

Alias(es): Prince of Belisio

Description:

• Height - 5'9
• Build - Slender
• Skin Colour - White
• Hair Colour - Dark Brown
• Eye Colour - Brown

Magic type: Ki

Personality:
Brooding and deeply introspective, Corvo is generally a quiet and reserved young man but when stirred he becomes hard headed, passionate and impulsive. In such a state, he is quick to anger and even quicker to act. With strong ideals of justice, he believes in swift action and for better or worse, he never hesitates to back up his words with deeds. He is also prideful and confident in his own abilities, though the arduous experience of awakening his ki has humbled him somewhat and has allowed him to accept that there is still much for him to learn. With the fall of Belisio and the loss of his parents, he is now single-mindedly focused on reclaiming his kingdom and enacting vengeance upon the Vaimese Empire, no matter the cost.

Background:
Before the fall of Belisio, Corvo was a brilliant yet carefree young man whose largest concerns in life were his studies and training as heir apparent to the kingdom. History, politics, economics, religion, military strategy and the nature of magic, all of these things were drilled into him from an early age and though much was expected of him, he took his education in stride and somehow always found time for joy flights, swimming in lakes, travelling the city and other such frivolities.

After witnessing a Knight's tournament where the famous Iron Bear was bested by the Crimson Rider, Corvo developed an interest in cultivating his own ki and when his father learned of this, he was appointed the Knight Commander Chisom Balthair, the 'Black Bull', to be his tutor. Although the old warrior proved to be a strict disciplinarian, Corvo took to his martial training with his customary aplomb and was confident that he would awaken his ki within the year.

That year passed however and then another, followed by yet another and while Corvo developed excellent combat skills under the Black Bull's tutelage, he never seemed to make any progress towards awakening his ki. Frustrated by this, the young prince abandoned all of his leisurely pursuits for the sake of achieving this one goal, but it became increasingly apparent that the conventional methods of unlocking one's ki was simply not working for him. No matter how harsh the training, it seemed it would never happen at all... until that day when Vaimese warships appeared on the horizon and fired their cannons upon the Royal Palace.

Seeing both of his parents being buried beneath the rubble, Corvo let out a shout so fearsome that it shattered every window and cracked the very walls around him. He had finally awakened his ki, but at the cost of his kingdom and now - possessed by righteous wrath and the grief of losing his parents - he will do anything to take it all back and make the Vaimese Empire pay for what it's done.

Abilities:

• Ki Shout - Unleashes a blast of sonic pressure with a shout that can knock back foes or damage the surrounding environment.
• Combat Skills - Highly adept in armed or unarmed combat.
• Piloting - Able to drive or pilot most vehicles.

Extra:

Scorched Earth

Yeah... Better late than never, eh.

Scorched Earth

Hey guys, sorry for ghosting. I suppose I owe you all an explanation. It's not a good one to be honest, but I'll just go ahead and say it now before I change my mind again.

About a month ago my brother got back into Final Fantasy 14 after not playing for a while, roped me into it before the newest expansion came out and I got hooked. I mean it was immediate, didn't take long for me to drop everything else I was doing at the time including writing and it's basically all I've been doing with my free time lately.

I was too ashamed to admit it and thought about saying something many times before, but kept putting it off until now. Nothing's changed really, I just finally decided to follow through and that's basically my excuse for going awol. I'm sure that everyone's moved on by now, but in any case I'm sorry for anyone I may have disappointed. I hope you all enjoyed the roleplay while it lasted.

Scorched Earth

@Skittlez @Ogobrogo you guys still with us?

Scorched Earth

Apologies for the delay everyone. Got hit by a bad migraine the other day and it didn't subside til a few hours ago. Next time, I'll take a Panadol. Anyways, post is up now.

Scorched Earth

Liffis kept up the kinetic barrier for as long as it took for the Spectres to disembark from their shuttle and set about their tasks. Unlike the Knights and Battlemages, they had no leader or unifying force to hold them all together. There was only the mission and the orders they were given, and the one issued by the Knight Commander could not be any simpler: kill the mages. A task that the Spectres were more than well acquainted with.

Unbeknownst to the old Knight however, some of them had already been assigned targets that could not be allowed to live regardless of the outcome of this battle. Targets they would pursue at the earliest given opportunity, which almost immediately presented itself in the form of a crash landing shuttle. One of ours, Liffis noted as he watched the downed aircraft falling from the sky, trailing smoke and bodies.

"Knights and Battlemages on me! Rally at the crash site!" he heard the Knight Commander roar and almost followed after before realizing that no one else made a move to follow with him.

"We should help them," Liffis said as the Spectres passed by, casually ignoring the plight of their allies.

"Screw off, Holy Man," one of them snarled before activating his cloaking device and vanishing from sight. "I'm not one of your little followers. Besides, did you hear him calling for any of us?"

"Sorry Liffis," another said as she gave an apologetic pat on his shoulder. "But he's right. They don't need us and we don't need them. Good distraction though."

Disappointed, Liffis stood there looking forlornly towards the crash site as each of his fellows went their separate ways. It should have been no surprise since most Spectres worked alone - preferred to in fact - but it was still saddening to see that even on an active battlefield, almost none of them were willing to work together. Only a handful remained behind, one of them being Duncan due to the nature of his powers, but he may as well have been on the other side of the battlefield with his senses focused elsewhere, hundreds of metres in the air and seeing what his drone was seeing. Something had gone wrong however and Liffis could feel a wave of blinding rage emanating from the young boy as he started making a beeline for the crash site with pistol in hand.

"Wait," Liffis said as he reached a hand out to him. "I'll go with you."

"We're with you too," one of the remaining Spectres added as he stood by their side. "Light willing, we may save some lives."

No sooner had he spoken however than a wall of flames suddenly erupted on the battlefield, burning through enemy lines and encircling the crash site. The turncloak mage was working his magic, more fearsome and destructive than anything Liffis had ever seen before. Then again however, he rarely saw such things in the first place considering his line of work. If any mage he slew had been capable of similar feats of power, he never gave them the chance to display it.

"Don't worry, I got this," Liffis reassured his fellows as he walked towards the crash site, holding his arms out once again and using his telekinetic powers to open a breach in the flames. Like the other Spectres who had wandered off, he had been assigned his own target as well, but that could wait after helping the Knights first. Ohren Forec could wait.

Scorched Earth

Makes sense, just don't forget that there are still enemy mages on the other side who'd be trying to counter his magic. They'd be giving away their positions while they're at it, but like Turzo, I imagine they'd have a bunch of guys standing between them and danger. Something to consider.

Anyways, once again a reminder that if you're waiting for someone else to post, you don't have to. You may if you want to of course, but personally I think 3 - 5 days is more than fair. After that, I'll have to move things along whether everyone's had a chance to post or not.

That said, I'll be posting from Liffis's pov tomorrow. Been meaning to do that earlier, but work's been getting in the way. Overtime, what can I say? Anyways, just a heads up. If anyone wants to beat me to it first, you're more than welcome to. How about it, @Skittlez? @Ogobrogo?

Scorched Earth

Looks like Turzo's putting on quite the show. Basically just made an arena around the crash site, right? @ReusableSword