Vertigo

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Sorry for the delay, was away for part of the week and got a few other posts to do first rn, but should be able to respond in the next few days, at least!

Rerun: Blackguards!

Wraith

Wraith

Race:

Halfling

Gender:

Male

Age:

25

Appearance:

Short and unassuming even when compared to his kin, Wraith is easy to miss in a crowd — and that is by design. Standing a few inches short of three feet, he comes across as little more than a mobile pile of tattered clothes, scurrying from shadow to shadow. Even when standing still, his posture is poor and stance wary, as if the slightest sound could spur him into a run — a stark contrast to his face, which seems to be stuck on an indifferent scowl if you do happen to see it, and his voice, a monotone mumble. As a whole, he is quite unremarkable, and not many consider him a threat. That's their first and last mistake.

Cloaked in a hood and hidden by a mask, few are those who have actually caught a proper glimpse of the halfling's face — but those who have, will likely remember it, a fact Wraith loathes. A past magical injury has branded him, carving blue veins into the skin below his eyes. They ripple as if made of liquid, an occasional shimmer giving them an eerie hue. Their shade is a turquoise similar to his eyes; sharp, unnatural, unnerving.

Though Wraith comes across as unarmed at a glance, no self-respecting warrior truly assumes him to be such. His kind always carry blades, the smart ones two, and the ones that live the longest as many as they can. Wraith intends to live long.

Personality:

Having long since learnt that knowledge is power, Wraith lets slip very little of himself or his intentions. Some things, however, can be surmised easily enough. For one, Wraith is reserved, keeping to himself in every sense of the word; he abhors physical proximity as much as emotional, and is at his most comfortable (which is to say, not very) when at an arm's length away from others. What he isn't is shy; when he does decide to talk, he does so with deadpan confidence and the boldness of someone who never quite learnt how and when to stay his tongue. In a similar vein, insults from most others don't seem to bother him either, and though he can certainly display frustration, he doesn't anger easily.

Curiosity is a vice Wraith has suffered from for the longest while, and try as he might, he cannot keep it completely under wraps. Some say his cowardice is another, perhaps even worse vice, though Wraith considers it his greatest asset. It's his alertness and willingness to drop whoever might slow him down that has gotten him this far — and he isn't about to stop anytime soon. If you can trust anything about this halfling, it's his determination to see the morrow.

Background:

Little is known of Wraith's past, including his birth name, and he'd very much prefer to keep it that way. But to paint a proper picture, it's important to know that where he came from, halflings were not considered a jolly, merry lot with big smiles and bigger yet bellies; they were known as conniving, cunning thieves, likely to steal your coin the second you looked away. As such, Wraith wasn't exactly dealt the best of hands at birth. Living on the streets of a grandiose city known for its magical academy, he got by stealing scraps from mage apprentices and scribes.

That was, until he was caught — and instead of having his hands chopped or being sent to the gallows, he was offered an opportunity. The academy was looking for a few volunteers to help with a few of their experiments. He was promised an easy job even a kid like him could do, a roof over his head, a bed to sleep in, and all the food he'd ever need. Even as a child, Wraith wasn't trusting, and knew there was no such thing as free dinner. But desperate and hungry, he agreed. Whatever they had in store for him, surely it couldn't be worse than his life now?

A decade or so later, as the research wing of the Grand Academia of Magic was burning to the ground behind him, Wraith thought back on that thought and laughed. Since, he returned to his old ways, putting to use the magic carved into his very body by the experimentation he was subjected to. Only this time, he stole lives instead of coppers. Turned out it was far more lucrative.

Talents:

🗡 Universal key // Give him a lock, any lock, and he will have it open before you can so much as blink. The same goes for disarming — and indeed setting — traps, whether magical or mundane.
🗡 Coward's weapon // While it might not sound like much compared to magic, Wraith is very knowledgeable about poisons, able to brew his own.
🗡 Never here // If you're able to see Wraith, it's likely because he's allowing you to see him. He's a master of disappearing at will, partly thanks to his magic, which can render him invisible and undetectable, as well as allow him to jump from shadow to shadow. However, as someone who's specialized in tearing magic away from their wielders, he is quite capable of hiding even without any magical aids. He's inhumanely nimble, and also able to run on walls and other such surfaces.
🗡 Mageslayer // Escaping from the academy was no easy feat, but during his preparations for it, Wraith became quite adept at killing magic wielders in particular. Thanks to the experiments he featured in, his body is highly resistant to magic, allowing him to shrug off spells that would down a regular person. He is not completely immune however, and the more magical harm comes upon him, the longer a breather he has to take to "recharge", so to speak.

Flaws:

🗡 Paranoia // Distrustful to a fault, Wraith's own paranoia prevents him from truly being able to make use of teamwork, and often has him run away even from his own if he suspects them to be after his life.
🗡 Shortstuff // While his short stature has its advantages, Wraith cannot deny the disadvantages either. Simply put, he's physically weak, unable to lift or carry heavy things or withstand nearly as many physical blows as magical. He's light, too, and one of his worst enemies so far has been a particularly strong wind. No, really.
🗡 Magical infliction // While the magic coursing within him offers him many a benefit, it is also unpredictable, the result of curious, not genius, minds. This can cause his magic to backfire at times, causing unpredictable results.
🗡 Curiosity killed the // Curious and greedy to such a degree that it sometimes supersedes his cowardice, Wraith cannot help but pocket every shiny, potential dangerous thing he comes across — or at least, have someone else do it for him. That was, ironically, how he ended up caught by the magical scholars in the first place.

Equipment:

🗡 Serrated dagger, with runes running along the length of the blade. Those in the know call it the Essence Reaver. Wraith calls it a dagger. Its blade never seems to dull, but its greatest strength is its uncanny ability to rend magic from its target. That is to say, a magic wielder injured with it will find themselves unable to properly channel their magic for a time. Weaker mages will lose their abilities altogether until their wounds have healed and their blood cleansed, while extremely powerful ones might experience recoil, or find it difficult to aim where they intended to. If taken from Wraith, the dagger's runes will fade and its special abilities cease to function until returned to his possession.
🗡 Tools of the trade; crowbar, ball bearings, lock picking set, small mirror, the usual things needed to get into places he isn't welcome in.
🗡 Vial of paralyzing poison.
🗡 Hooded cloak.

Miscellaneous:

xo

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

<Snipped quote by Vertigo>

Considering Fellwing is the one asking this, mentioning some aspect of her own family situation would work. It's up to you what you feel would be most applicable here.

@XxFellsingxX

Fellwing once she realizes that

Rerun: Blackguards!

@Vertigo Excellent, accepted! Now, if you could find the time to toss up an intro in the game thread, I'd be grateful. I'd like to get the story moving :)

@Red Wizard

I'll try to do that tonight, yeah! (Just woke up) But you can go ahead and get the story moving already; I can just combine my intro portion to reacting to the update. That way i don't hold anything up.

Rerun: Blackguards!

Ok had considerably less time than I thought, but speedran the CS to completion! Edited the full version over the wip here.

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

<Snipped quote by Vertigo>

Sure thing. Depending on what you ask and how Fellwing reacts, it might help me figure out how to answer Rush's questions.

@XxFellsingxX

So with a 9... hmm how to word this, damn. Uh, I guess like: "How could I get you to open up about the situation with your sibling(s)?"

Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

Hmm 👀 Any chance I could do a Study Someone now, in between posts and then incorporate the reply to my next one?

SPIRITUM

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All pretty things really were fleeting, Silje thought, as the last few flames burned out. They left behind a half-melted husk, a few smudges of colour clinging to its metallic frame. It didn't look like it was about to swing at them anytime soon anymore. Cut open the head, and it was all but a glorified trashcan.

... Hm, now there was an idea! Could they keep it, maybe? Her room back home could've used a bigger bin.

"We did it, Mordie!" Silje cheered, running up to the goliath, about to launch herself to cling to his arm, when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. More robots. She grinned, spinning around towards them, ready for another go — only to realize she was the only one to do so. The rest of the squad had taken care of things on their end, but were quickly backing away now.

"Aww, do we have to?" she whined at Gerard, kicking at the debris scattered around her feet. He didn't need to reply; the fact that everyone else was already gunning it to the truck said enough. She wasn't about to get left behind. Besides, she really wanted to meet the princess — whose discovery she had missed earlier! Maybe she should've paid more attention to their communication channel?

...Nah!

Silje slipped into the truck next to Kalina, trying to peer at herself in the rear view mirror. Her hair was a wild mess, her face covered in dirt. "Kali, how do I look? If you were a princess, would you be impressed?" she asked from probably the only person even more clueless about these things than her.

Rerun: Blackguards!

@Vertigo I'm going to want to move the story along within a day or so. Do you think you'll be able to squeeze an intro in until then?

@Red Wizard

Yeah for sure, got a day off work tomorrow so plenty of time to finish up.

Pokemon: Dream

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_{Abandoned Stellar Toy Co. Factory
@Rune_Alchemist, @XxFellsingxX, @Crusader Lord, @Savo}

The Magnemite was gone, thanks to the brave little Riolu and Jill's quick thinking with the Pokéball. With it, away went the continued pain Snugglebutt had been subjected to, but not the injuries she'd already sustained. The Snubbull's usually pristine fur was frizzled and messy as Chloe held the fairy type to her chest. She was trembling, both from fear and anger alike.

It wasn't like Snuggles hadn't fought before — she loved to throw herself at everything that moved, and sometimes it didn't end well for her. But this time, the feisty little thing had gotten hurt protecting her, and not even from a wild Pokémon — but from some random freak's need to follow his intrusive thoughts or something. Honestly, she had no idea why he'd tried to get her hurt, but who knew how people like him worked.

How a guy like him could have such a sweet Pokémon like the Riolu, Chloe didn't understand. She gave the fighting type a small smile and whispered: "Thank you." She was just about to continue, when the freaky guy's hand suddenly jerked up, startling both Chloe and her Snubbull. Even in her weakened state, the latter started to bark viciously, fangs gleaming as she readied to bite the offending hand were it to come closer. It didn't, thankfully. Instead, the guy had the nerve to start shouting at her as if she was the one without sense? Like? Hello, excuse me? How delusional could one guy be?! He was complaining about her dropping her Pokédex of all things, when he'd just tried to get a Magnemite to attack her and gotten both of their Pokémon hurt!

Throughout it all, Chloe couldn't even bring herself to interrupt him, though she usually had no trouble doing so. She was so flabbergasted that all she could do was stare, the way one would a car crash, unable to believe what was happening.

In the end it was the Riolu, the little sweetheart, that smacked some sense into his trainer. It was only then that the guy thought to shut up, leave them a potion, and go bother poor Jill instead. Chloe's gaze turned from his distancing back to the potion on the floor. Oh, was... that what he'd been holding? So then, he hadn't been trying to further hurt Snuggles, but to... actually heal her?

... Okay? Great? That was like... the least he could do after causing the injury in the first place, so she wasn't sure why he was acting all wounded Samaritan about it. Like, yeah, you're going to help heal the Pokémon whose injuries were your fault in the first place? Gee, thanks? Whatever, he was gone now, so Chloe picked up the potion and started applying it, talking to her Snubbull throughout the process.

A little ways away, Jill was talking with the newly caught Magnemite, trying to make friends. Chloe smiled a little at her. She would've loved to up and leave the psycho to his own devices, but while Jill didn't know to be wary of him, she couldn't. She was absolutely not going to leave Jill alone with him. Who knew what he'd do! So, instead, she stood up, Snubbull still held tight, and walked over, her heels clicking.

"For once, I agree. Finding Clarissa is like the most important thing right now. But first, let me make one thing crystal clear," she declared on arrival, talking after Yuu, who seemed to be about to leave. "I don't give a Pidgey's shit what you think about me, or how much sense you think I have, or whether I'm qualified for this job in your opinion, or whatever. Like? I'm sorry, but who the hell are you? You think I'll even remember your name after we're done here, Yoichi? Oh, that's SO cute."

She let Snubbull down on the floor, seeing as she seemed to be good enough to walk again.

"What I care about, is that you stay away from my Pokémon — and take better care of yours. That Riolu is seriously like the most precious thing I've seen in a while, and he deserves so, so much better. He got hurt because of your stupid antics, and you didn't even apologize to him! Honestly, he's an actual saint for putting up with you, and unless you get that through your ego-laden skull and start appreciating him fast, you're going to end up all alone one day, Yutarou."

With that, she settled on waiting for Jill, intent on walking right next to her once they did get going. But before that...

She picked up her Pokédex from where it'd fallen, and sent a quick message.

O M G girl im SO sorry for leaving u on read!! u wont BELIEVE what happened here 😱😱 ill tell u abt it later like??? it's crazy. anyway are u ok? we're coming NOW i promise 💖

ps. the dude with us is like an actual legit douchecanoe omg 🤡