Bloodline Name: The Peralta Family

Region: South America, specifically Leticia, Colombia.

Crest

Industrial Focus: Legally, Coffee and Chocolate. Illegally, drugs. Any and all drugs.

History: Alchemy has always been apart of the Peralta family. It's been called many things over the years. Magic. Divine blessings. Witchcraft. Whatever you call it, throughout the years they've wielded it in the name of the King of Spain. It was a fairly safe arrangement. They killed anyone the King deemed an enemy, and they did it quietly. What's more, they spoke to no one about their targets. In return, the King allowed them to continue experimenting and keep to themselves. This made them a source of rumors and speculation in the Spanish court. What did they do? Why were they so protected by the King? No matter how many questions the other noble families asked, they only got more guesses at best and more questions at worst. The Peraltas were safe to practice their Alchemy, so long as they continued to serve the King.

Of course, all good things must come to an end. Things began to take a turn for the worst when Ferdinand the Second of Aragon and his wife Isabella the First of Castille established the Spanish Inquisition. The protections that the Peraltas had enjoyed so much were suddenly stripped from them. They came under heavy scrutiny from the Inquisition and it did not like what it found. Their family name was expunged from Spanish records, and they became exiles in their own country. Whats more, they became hunted exiles, wanted for the practice of witchcraft and heresy. For thirty years the Peralta family was hunted, the Inquisition whittling down the once great house to a proud band of ragged men and women clinging to the old ways and cursing the name of Ferdinand the Second. Their skills as assassins only increased, however, as many people would pay to have their enemies and rivals slain, and if there was so much as a hint that they had been apart of the murder, the Inquisition was sure to show up soon. They had to be even more careful and stealthy than they were before.

As soon as they could, they took a boat to the new world. The Inquisition still had power in the Spanish colonies, however. So they went deep into the mainland of the New World, establishing themselves a home in what would become Leticia, Colombia. For years they practiced their alchemy, increasing their skills and prowess, gradually gaining influence and power over the the natives.

No one is sure when the Peraltas joined AMRO. The Patriarch is the only one who knows concrete details about 1733, apparently an important date that could tell them when they joined, but he isn't telling anything. What the Peraltas do know is that they were the second family to join AMRO, and when they joined they brought their considerable expertise in assassination with them. They've been consistently producing some of the best stealth Silencers for AMRO. If an Asylum comes from the Peralta family, they are sure to be lethal, quiet, and efficient.

Key Members:

Lucas Peralta: The current Patriarch and the youngest in Peralta history, at only 25. After the tragedy that took both his father and his older brother away from the family, Lucas was the next in line for the head of the house. Everything he does is...meticulous. His black goatee is neatly trimmed, his head neatly shaved, his suits having not a single thing out of place, the three rings on his fingers (his father's, His brother's, and his own.) are gleaming. Even his sunglasses are perfectly placed, his teeth always dazzlingly white. He approaches everything with an arrogance and smile that only being filthy rich can cause. Friendly enough, if you can take the condescension.

Maria Peralta: Lucas certainly loves pretty women. His dark-eyed Argentinian wife is no exception. The former model appears to be just as shy and vacuous as the rest of the women he dated prior to the tragedy that left him the patriarch. All she ever does is flick her raven hair, laugh politely and give their esteem guests her most vapid smile. Though, occasionally, she would lean over and whisper into Lucas’ ear. Despite her apparent “aloofness”, she’s always ready to gossip with the other women, but sadly, she doesn’t know much about anything other than makeup, clothes and celebrity news.

Arwen Peralta: The oldest child of Lucas and Maria (adopted from a branch of family that had died), being 16 years old, and current Heir to Peraltas family. A budding Alchemist with promising talents. She's a wild child, always seeking the next thrill or adrenaline rush.

Luke Peralta: Second oldest child, being 10, Luke is most likely to be sent off to AMRO as soon as Merry is of age. He's friendly and doesn't seem to have the rest of his family's arrogance.

Merriam 'Merry' Peralta: A mere child, being 4, Merry will most likely be going with his older brother to AMRO.

Related Members:

Delmar Peralta: The youngest of the deceased patriarch’s three sons and the only active Peralta Asylum. A true roguish gentleman at heart, this young man always showers all the pretty young ladies – and the occasional “grandma” – with such ardent attention that many would call him a “flirt” outright. He is polite and friendly enough when talking to other men, but it’s quite clear that he (like his two older brothers) prefers the ladies.

As an Asylum, he knows he has to be as loyal to AMRO as he is to his older brother. Approaching him as a fellow Asylum is probably the best way to him to cooperate with you, but expect him to be very forthcoming about his opinions on AMRO and their operations. Only one person is privy to that information – a certain Delacour whom he seems very fond of.

Bloodline Name: Laofengs

Region: China

Crest:

Industrial focus: Banking

History: The Laofengs are a family of an ancient culture, with their influence spanning across the world and even within A.M.R.O itself. The Laos are the last remaining 'Old Bloods', a title which bequeaths upon them great power and respect. While the exact age of this bloodline is unknown it is estimated that the Laos have existed for over two thousand years, however the details of their history before A.M.R.O's existence is shrouded in ambiguity. It can be said the Laos had always been reclusive, their contact with the outside world minimal and their primary focus always being in honing their craft and maintaining the ideology of balance. It is this ideology that brought the Laos to ally themselves with A.M.R.O which was conceived in the early 1400s, they viewed the organization as a tool of correction and as such decided the world could no longer afford bystanders. The Laos contribution to A.M.R.O had been so great that some argue without them the organization may have crumbled, it was the Laos who pumped ridiculous amount of funds into A.M.R.O, they gifted land which became A.M.R.O's first base. There is also the undeniable fact that throughout the generations they have always presented A.M.R.O with alchemists of immense power who become Chronos.

Balance brings peace, these words have been the foundation for the Laos who have spend their lives perfecting the art of Taoism. Their very alchemy is a reflection of their believes and as such throughout the ages they have designed an abundance of alchemic innovations. They are the true pioneers of 'the way of tao' which utilizes alchemy in sync with the human body which soon came to be known as the alchemic art of 'Motem'.

However despite the sheer power and influence the Laofengs possess they rarely interact in the matters of humans or bloodlines, they adhere to the principal of indifference and neutrality unless and until the balance is threatened.

Key Members

Patriarch

Name: Lei Gong Laofeng

Appearance:

Appointed as Patriarch when he was just 21, due to the sudden death of his father, Lei's ascendance was viewed with much scrutiny by the main family. For the Lao's it went against tradition to appoint someone so inexperienced as the head when other worthy candidates existed, however blood demanded such and the claim could not be refuted. The next five years Lei toiled and endeavored to prove the naysayers wrong, which he did and earned the respect of the Bloodline, being the youngest ever to do so. However this wouldn't surprise most, Lei was trained from early childhood to take up the mantle of Patriarch. Much of his youth was spent in learning the ways of Taoism, the culture and traditions of Laofengs and alchemic arts; it was almost as if the last Patriarch foresaw his death to ensure a brutal upbringing for the next heir. However despite the hardship there was little Lei could not accomplish and soared above all expectations, he was after all a prodigy like his siblings. While his brother and sister; Yan laofeng and Yin laofeng were sent to A.M.R.O to be trained as Chrono candidates, he served as the rightful heir with the alchemic potential to rival his siblings.

Currently Lei gong Laofeng is 26 and despite his lack of experience, he hold just as much influence and respect as any patriarch before him. His upbringing isn't the only thing that is credited for this but also the sheer talent Lei holds in terms of alchemy, his potential is said to rival his brother Yan Laofeng who is currently a Chrono Asylum.

Attendee/Body guard

Name: Yin Laofeng

Relationship: Younger sister of the current Patriarch and twin sister of the Chrono Asylum Yan Laofeng

Status: Lost Number

Age: 22

Appearance:

Alchemy: Darkness manipulation

Region: Japan(Though it varies).

Industrial focus: Political negotiation/arbitration and Libraries.

History: While other families curried favor in one way or another, playing to the strengths of their area, the Tatasuko family is one of measured adaptation and dabbling. While many sought to take hold of an industry, the Tatasuko slithered their way into the ears of powerful people, influencing their action and gathering allies, connections, everywhere they went. Passing down their traditions and gaining knowledge in psychology, politics, and culture the Tatasuko family dealt in ideas and favors. In their time, and to this day, they were (and thus are) ambassadors and neutral parties...but with an agenda all their own.

Then it was that a great behemoth, or one who posed as such in their mind's eye, garnered their interest, soon requesting their attention in earnest. So it was that the Tatasuko family surrendered their ability to hold industry so that they could instead serve to better the world and perhaps, if only subtly, influence the organization that even then they knew would come to rule it from the shadows.

So it was that the Tatasuko family became the political platform which AMRO could stand upon or force others to stand upon for their benefit, and the downfall of their enemies—which were once many and now are few. As AMRO rose to power and the families with them, so too did the Tatasuko family, riding on the coattails of what the other Bloodlines thought their masters.

The Tatasuko knew better for they played the long game, a game which started with their first member and would only end with the death of their last or the end of humanity itself. With the help of the other Bloodlines, AMRO policed areas of the world, but with the help of the Tatasuko, they took hold of those who would otherwise control it.

For rather than deal in goods, the Tatasuko family has always dealt in ideas, philosophies, psychology...and people.

What, one might ask, is their trade in earnest? They are librarians and they are ambassadors and that is all that truly matters.

The Family Practice
--Known as Akasha or the Akashic Alchemy, the entirety of the Tatasuko family has the tendency, since their initial discovery/use of alchemy till the present, to use a bizarre sort of alchemy originating not from their homeland, but instead from Hinduism. "Akasha," a word derived from the root word "kāś" (meaning "To be visible,") and meaning "open space/vacuity(emptiness)," "sky/atmosphere," or even its most telling translation: "an ethereal fluid imagined as pervading the cosmos"

A word with a variety of meanings, Akasha, the name by which this alchemy is known, is the sanskrit word for "Aether." The word may mean anything from "to be visible," to "an ethereal fluid of pervading the cosmos," and it is indeed this vagueness that makes it so dangerous an alchemy to utilize.

Rather than allow each member of their tightly knit family to practice each their own form of alchemy, the Tatasuko focus on three branches of the same form of alchemy named as mentioned above.

The first and most common of these branches is what the Tatasuko have termed the "Akashic Sight," which allows them to manifest an intangible form of Akasha, or aether, which they may utilize to glean greater amounts of information in smaller increments of time than would otherwise be possible. This is used by the fringe members of the family and often exacts the least price on the average Tatasuko's sanity.

Second among these branches and far less common than its predecessor, the "Akashic Force," is a form of Akashic Alchemy that allows a Tatasuko Alchemist to manifest a Akasha in a physical format. The substance possess bizarre properties as it is etheric in nature, meaning that Akasha is often fleeting in form, making it easily shattered if solid, but oddly durable as a liquid. "Akashic Force," can be utilized as a sort of telekinetic construct, creating complicated, or simple, mechanisms of energy. This allows for the creation of barriers of "liquid," energy that applies resistance to outside intrusion. Conversely the substance can be utilized to draw things in or create weapons of a sort. Perhaps the substance's most peculiar trait is the fact that it is fueled by a bizarre mixture of belief and will. This is most apparent when a Tatasuko utilizes the gaseous form of the substance to create visual illusions on the surface of already established constructs, objects, or people. At first an illusory construct is only fueled by the alchemist's will, made into an image resembling whatever they are thinking of, and about as accurate as they can picture, but as time goes on and more people buy into the illusion, the material is fueled by this belief, becoming stronger and harder to break. While it may appear that the belief itself acts as fuel, but in truth it is this feeling of belief reaching the alchemist, thus reinforcing their own belief in the realness of the illusion and its properties. While used often, it is this property that is little noticed by others, and this is just why it is so effective. Though it should be noted that the grander the illusion, the more fragile it becomes.

Final and third among the branches is that which is used only by the core members of the Tatasuko family, namely the immediate family of the Patriarch, Matriarch, or Heir. This form of Akashic Alchemy is known as "Akashic Mind," and expands the often already prodigious mental faculties of a Tatasuko by allowing a sort of etheric mind made from intangible Akasha to meld with their own acting as additional processing space and memory storage. This alchemy is largely passive and while it is not always in use, anything stored via this method is kept even when it is deactivated, though the information becomes less easily accessible by the individual in most cases--though this is a hurdle that some Tatasuko have found ways around. It is this alchemy which, oddly, causes the least amount of drain in sanity despite its closeness to the mind of the user.

Note: While a powerful alchemy, Akashic Alchemy is infrequently the specialization in the technical sense, of most Tatasuko alchemists. As a result it more often than not causes a greater drain to them than a true alch-spec would. Nonetheless, due to their having used it since their family's conception they are more resistant to its drain than others might be. Nonetheless, many members of the Tatasuko family are given to A.M.R.O to be dealt with or trained to a degree so as to better resist the alchemy's influence or serve the Tatasuko family's purposes. Perhaps the greatest downfall of Akashic Alchemy though, is the fact that almost all, but the core members of the Tatasuko family succumb to insannaddiction between their 30s and 40s on average. The core family tends to survive till their 50s and 60s.

Note #2: The Second Branch “Akashic Force,” when utilized via its gaseous state to create “illusions,” does not cause the belief that occurs. The alchemy does not have any mind altering effects, but rather the wielder notices when other people believe that the illusion is real on an intuitive level and this strengthens their own personal confidence as well as feeding the “illusion”. There are some niche members of the Tatasuko Family who specialize in these “illusions”. These individuals are not to be trifled with.--

Name: James Dancer, or "Jim" for short.

Official Title: Hammer

Team Title: Song & Dancer

Gender: Male

Age: 47

Position: Asylum

Specialty: Silencer

Alchemic Style: Vocem (primary), Sigillum (secondary).

Asylum Code: XVI

Weapons:

- Submachine gun, loaded with anti-alchemy bullets, which it can fire at a rate of over twenty rounds per second. Jim usually carries at least three extra ammo packets.

- Massive club forged of iron and steel, shaped roughly like a baseball bat. Five feet long, and very heavy.

- Three explosive grenades. Jim pulls the pin, and a few seconds later they go boom. Due to improved technology, the explosion produced is far larger and more powerful than anything conventional grenades might be capable of.

Alchemy Specialization: Durability enhancement. Jim can make his body incredibly tough, allowing him to wade through most minor attacks without so much as flinching, and take greatly reduced damage from more powerful ones. He can also affect his insides, making it possible to increase his strength by pushing his muscles past the point where an ordinary man's would be torn apart from the strain, and make himself temporarily immune to all sorts of poisons.

Appearance:



Tall and imposing, Jim is a large and somewhat frightening figure. Though not particularly broad-shouldered, his frame is wiry and packed with muscle, and is extraordinarily strong even without the use of alchemy. A good face might have helped alleviate matters, but Dancer's is fierce and constantly scowling, an expression that is only made more aggressive by the wrinkles that have just started to emerge as he ages. His voice is deep, loud, and slightly grating.

Even when out of combat, Jim has a tendency to move very quickly, and in a very controlled manner. He rarely shows any sign of laziness or relaxation, and this shows in his posture and mannerisms. He tends to favor dark and formal clothing, which he keeps very clean and carefully maintained.

Personality: Dancer is foul-tempered and aggressive, and makes no attempt to hide these traits. Though not entirely unkind, he has little tolerance for the mistakes of others, and shows little respect to those he feels have not earned it. He is also highly cynical, never completely trusting anyone around him, be they ally, enemy or even superior. He is also stubborn, highly opinionated, and difficult to compromise with.

In spite of his abrasive manner, however, Dancer is a fairly well-respected Asylum because of his efficiency. He will work tirelessly to ensure that his missions succeed, no matter how much he complains about them, and is tenacious enough to work towards solutions even when they seem impossible. Additionally, though his personality makes him difficult to work with at times, he will defer to Song over most matters- indeed, she is one of the few people he truly respects, and arguably the only one able to keep him under control.

History: Jim Dancer was an alchemist even before his recruitment by A.M.R.O., working as an independent mercenary and bodyguard. He fought against the organization's agents several times of behalf of his clients, and was considered an enemy for years, until someone realized that it might be possible to turn him from an obstruction into an asset.

Using a mix of threats and leverage, A.M.R.O. was able to recruit Dancer, intending to make him a linked Asylum. However, they soon found that his personality and his destructive methods for problem-solving made him very difficult to work with. Until, that is, they paired him with Maya Song. The young Asylum was able to not only handle being constantly berated by Dancer, but even turned the tables on him, rapidly proving herself even more competent than he was. In gaining the former mercenary's respect, Song finally made him actually put in the effort to get along with his partner, which in turn lead them to become a linked team and an effective fighting force.

Name: Maya Song

Official Title: Nail

Team Title: Song & Dancer

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Position: Asylum

Specialty: Sniffer

Alchemic Style: Motem (primary) Sigillum (secondary)

Asylum Code: XXVII

Weapons:

- Long-range sniper rifle, which fires armor-piercing anti-alchemic bullets with deadly precision and power. Maya normally carries it around in parts, and it takes her a few seconds to put together. One of these parts is a suppressor, which serves to silence the weapon.

- A set of six throwing knives and ten meters of razor wire.

- Three gas grenades, which spread a thick, toxic cloud when thrown. Though not lethal, this gas will cause a burning sensation around the eyes and mouth, and will knock a person out in seconds if breathed in.

Alchemy Specialization: Light manipulation. Maya can generate and distort light at will, producing everything from mirages to searchlights to blinding flashes.

Appearance:



Maya is short and slim, with a slight build that makes her look like a mere breeze might knock her over. She is, however, fairly athletic for her size. She has long hair and very smooth, unblemished skin, although this aspect of her appearance is due more to light manipulation than makeup. Indeed, even when she's exhausted or dirty or otherwise unable to take care of her appearance through conventional means, her alchemy makes her look absolutely pristine. She also sometimes uses it to disguise herself or simply change her appearance for the sake of it, altering things like eye and hair color at will through motem-style casting. Her voice is soft, but very precise in its enunciation.

In general, she holds herself in a very reserved manner, moving without flair or any particular elegance, yet without being particularly clumsy. She tends to be quite slow, giving careful consideration to every movement- though this belies her true ability, as she can move lightning-fast in the right situations. Like her fellow Asylum, she wears dark clothes, but hers tend to be a little looser and more fashionable.

Personality: Song is quiet and highly introverted, rarely speaking of anything not related to business. To an outsider, she appears almost emotionless, as she has a very good poker face and can use her alchemy specialization to supplement this, making it impossible to get a good read on her. In fact, she has a very forceful and energetic personality, but her demeanor and her tendency to hide what she feels mean that it rarely emerges.

When she does speak or act, she does so carefully. Her usual role is that of a watcher, breaking down and analyzing everything around her, and to step out of this role, she usually needs a good reason. Since being scared or surprised is not a good reason, she has grown almost immune to being fazed or provoked, which serves her well in dealing with Dancer. She is not only capable of tolerating him, but can also command his respect and obedience, a position achieved through her demonstrable competence and iron will.

History: Maya Song was recruited by A.M.R.O. at a very young age, after it was discovered that she was capable of using alchemy at seven. It was assumed that someone had taught her to do so, but who it was and how they achieved this were never discovered. Taking advantage of their acquisition of a talented young alchemist, the organization began teaching her about infiltration and combat tactics very early on, shaping her into an ideal agent.

When the time came to link her with another Asylum, Maya was found to be highly compatible. The organization felt that she could work well with almost anyone- and so, to test this out, they paired her with the volatile Jim Dancer. When it turned out that she was actually able to handle the difficult operative to some extent, the two were linked, and the team of Song and Dancer was born.