A sharp and highly focused young woman, who never seems to miss even the smallest detail about the world around her. Gives off a scholarly impression, and a sense of knowing more about everyone and everything than a person of her standing should. Despite this, however, her interactions with others have all the finesse of a sledgehammer: she cannot or will not tell a lie and will speak her mind freely, even if doing so means spouting something downright rude or improper.

She is not an empathetic person by nature, or at least not one who cares to understand other humans. Rather, she has an eye for ‘elegance’ and ‘unsightliness,’ not in the aesthetic sense but in terms of mathematics. Something that is sound in terms of principles, structure, and purpose will be seen as good, whereas things that are uncertain or fundamentally flawed will be seen as bad. For this reason, she prefers homunculi to humans, though it’s more of an appreciation for how beautifully they fulfill their purpose rather than any strong desire to influence them.

From Nuari’s perspective, her body is mainly a vessel for keeping her mind alive and at full operating capacity. She maintains it in excellent shape, as one would an essential machine, but prefers mental activities to physical ones in most respects. The exception would be cases where a technique can be finely honed through careful analysis, though really she’s more interested in puzzling out the right movements that need to be performed to carry out a certain action, and actually carrying them out becomes nearly an afterthought. Often, she’ll learn a technique or a form of magic without her body actually possessing the ability to ever make use of it.

It is said that nothing created in the Atlas Institute should ever leave the Atlas Institute. Or at least, this was the rule. For thousands of years, the alchemists fervently obeyed it, keeping the wonders and horrors they had created locked away forever from the outside world.
However, over such a long period of time, it is impossible to avoid exceptions to such a strict doctrine. Within the Institute, rumors abound of separatist factions plotting to break away and take their secrets elsewhere, though few can say how many of these whispers contain a hint of truth. On the rare occasion that an Atlas alchemist does attempt to break their cardinal rule, they will almost certainly be killed, or at the very least have their freedom completely restrained. Even if one were to get away from the Institute itself, they would swiftly be hunted down by the Holy Church.

Occasionally, however, an alchemist will just disappear entirely.

Sometimes this is from natural causes, when a half-finished weapon malfunctions and wipes its creator from existence. Other times, such as when a visitor is accepted into Atlas or when the Institute itself is forced to send out some of its alchemists to resolve a major crisis or contractual obligation, they are lost to external forces. The ancestor of what would later become the Maaike family was one such mysterious disappearance, whom all evidence showed to be dead and gone.

In truth, it was a perfect crime. This individual’s field of study- specifically the intersection between Void Space and reality -required them to inspect certain points in the world beyond Atlas in order to continue it. Though they were aware of the Institute’s rule, their obsession with Imaginary Numbers won out in the end, and thus they carefully arranged for their own presumed loss, escaping in such a way that the other alchemists were never even aware of it.

‘Maaike’ is a false name, a minor mage family thought up as a cover for a certain rogue branch of alchemists whose magecraft was originally from Atlas itself. They generally stayed out of the affairs of the Mage Association unless absolutely necessary, preferring to seclude themselves and keep their activities entirely secret while they continued their generations-long work.
No matter how stealthy they were, however, eventually suspicions began to rise. A cold case was re-opened, and agents of the Church and the Association suddenly began showing a new interest in this supposedly dull magus family based in the Middle East. The Maaike knew that if things continued, their connection with Atlas would be exposed, and the Institute’s allies would move swiftly to contain and eliminate that which had escaped long ago.

What they needed was protection, an ally who could stand with them against the inevitable retribution that would come for them once the truth was discovered. Yggdmillennia represented a power they could align themselves and use as a shield, a power unlikely to bend to Atlas's will so long as the Maaike made themselves useful to the cause.

Nuari is the latest heir and representative of the Maaike, though she views herself as no more than a cog in the machine that is their project. The Grail's power is a tempting possibility, but to her it's mostly a political opportunity that will raise up Yggdmillennia and ensure her own family's survival.

Maaike family: “A device for the realization of a dream, of which I am one component.”
Atlas: “A threat to our dream. Avoidance is a high priority.”
Mage Association: “Useful resource, but also an inconvenience and source of threat. Keep contact to a minimum.”
Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia: “Our shield. He may be the key to our survival, but this does not mean we can wholly trust him.”
Alethia Mathers: “A mage. Some similarities in family history, dealings may be possible.”
Slaine Druiminn: “A good boy, but his magecraft is unsightly.”

Memory Partition: an ability used by the superior alchemists of Atlas. It represents the ability to partition thoughts to form multiple independent thought processes. While normal people can only focus on one thought at a time, users of this ability can partition their mind into multiple ‘rooms’ to attack a problem from several angles at once. Advanced users (of which Nuari is one) can perform further titration of their thought processes within these rooms, allowing them to maintain hundreds of separate thoughts at once and perform complex calculations even when occupied with physical tasks.

Thought Acceleration: the main magecraft of Atlas alchemists. Allows for inhumanly rapid thinking, and is a prerequisite for Memory Partition. Used in combination, they vastly increase effective computing power.

Zero Dipping: temporary means of accessing pockets of Void Space and hiding oneself or small objects within them. While in this space, one is effectively outside of reality, and cannot be accessed or harmed from the real world without the use of corresponding magecraft… However, it’s inefficient as a storage method. Its only real use is as an emergency hiding space for Nuari herself or something that she absolutely needs to protect.

Fragrance Annulus: small ring implanted in Nuari’s nose. Vastly enhances her sense of smell, and connects it with the ability to sense magical energy. Her abilities are on par with a bloodhound, or perhaps one of the Hounds of Tindalos; she can detect the nature and origin of a spell even hours after it was cast.

Azure Distiller: an artificial right eye implanted in her skull. Not a true Mystic Eye, but its abilities are on par with them. Not only does it allow for improved sight, it can also configure itself to receive different ‘wavelengths’ and see things that could normally not be seen, from infrared radiation to magically concealed objects to things no human mind would even be able to comprehend.

Q.E.D.: her robes, which act as a strong ‘proof of existence’ of the one wearing them. Can temporarily maintain the user’s existence while in Void Space, and also protects them against conceptual attacks that would erase or distort their nature.

Void Bolt: one of two Maaike weapons in her possession. This one resembles a long brass rifle; when fired it triggers a localized collapse of reality into Void space, about 5 cm wide, that propagates outwards in a straight line for up to 500 meters. The destructive power of this collapse is absolute: anything caught within its narrow path is simply removed from reality as humans know it. However, it propagates at sub-sonic speeds, moving more akin to an arrow than a bullet, so even a human may be able to avoid it if they are fast enough.

She may do a fine job at hiding it, but Priscilla is a woman on the verge of a breakdown. Faced with the consequence of choice for the first time can be terrifying - and for Priscilla, that is absolutely true. There is a tremble to every action she takes, a silent question in ever word, but she is determined. Determined to see these consequences through, so long as the decision was hers.

Being isolated for most of her life, Priscilla is very interested in making connections with others. Connecting is even the basis for her own abilities. Approaching someone in order to make a friend, or even to make an enemy is something she finds enjoyable and exhilarating. She takes pleasure in the life experiences of others. She never fears jealousy or self-pity, instead this kind of thing gives her hope for the future.

Her personality is unsteady. Though she desperately wants to live according to her own whims, she is prone to doing what's she told. Backing down, staying quiet. When she resorts to these passive actions a dark pit forms in her heart. It the pit gets too heavy, if it falls out and takes her heart with it... she doesn't know what she'll do.

The Methumorte family. Small time, weak foundations. They hadn't produced a worthy heir in generations. So they doubled down. Forcibly integrated good genes into their own pool when possible. Secretive isolation otherwise. More children, more chances. Predictably, it became a sinister commune over time.

Located in the British highlands, the Methumorte family compound has expanded a lot in the past century. As more members spread out to kidnap young magi with potential and add them to their own family, word got out about them. Some willingly chose to join the commune, others left it to rejoin modern magus society. Many outside of the small family kept watch on them, seeing the commune as a silly experiment they could get some modest entertainment from. No one really thought such a mediocre family could strengthen itself through this method.

...and they were right, of course. Even if they'd increased the overall quality of their core lineage, it was negligible in the world of magecraft. Like any other magus family they wanted more: more power, more knowledge, more opportunity. Their current course of action wasn't working, and all of Clocktower's mages were laughing at them.

When the Yggdmillennia, seeking allies, offered protection in return for aid, the Methumorte family begrudgingly accepted. On the condition that the family retain full control over their own heavily fortified compound, they accepted any resources the Yggdmillennia had to offer in exchange for a handful of their own breed.

This "breed" included members of the core Methumorte family that were not chosen as possible leaders of their clan. Siblings and cousins with a stronger potential than most in the commune, yet expendable. While lesser members of the family were put to physical labor for community upkeep, the "core" members with most magic potential were shut inside to focus exclusively on improving the family's own magecraft. Keeping up their large bounded field and... Numerology, discovering the hidden meanings and true nature of the world through numbers. The hope was that eventually even miracles could be reproduced with enough study. The family's students were isolated with limited interaction with each other, put through strict training and diet. They had their sleep schedule planned out and didn't even choose their own clothes, dedicating all of their brain power to their craft. It broke some, strengthened others. For Priscilla, a member of this "breed," life was near insufferable.

And then she was given away. With the Yggdmillennia, she learned about their plans for a great war. In what was perhaps the first choice she'd made in her life until that point, Priscilla seized the chance to join in and find her own destiny. It's been a rough transition, but for the sake of her own life, Priscilla is determined. The Methumorte family never planned for this, but expect that if she can claim the grail for herself rather than the Yggdmillennia, they can use it to finally lift their family out of obscurity. Of course, Priscilla has no such plans. The Yggdmillennia gave her freedom, she wouldn't betray them. And yet...

TBD!

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Stats:

• STR: C
• END: A
• AGL: A-
• MAG: D
• LCK: C

Weapons: swords, lances (preferred), shield

Class Skills:

• Riding A+
  • Simply put, the skill to ride mounts. Excepting the dragons and dragonkind, Rider can use any vehicle, vessel, or creature as a mount and ride it expertly. He is a perfect "knight," after all, and what knight can't do something as simple as that?
• Magic Resistance D
  • A skill that grants protection against spells and magical effects. Though certainly in the royal family's employ, Rider's own contact with antagonistic mages was limited, hense the relatively low rank.

Personal Skills:

• Charisma (Black) B
  • A person's natural charm, and their ability to lead people, whether it's commanding an army or uniting a nation. During group battles, this skill raises the abilities of allies. For Rider, his words are a promise of violence: so while they inspire those on his side, they also demoralize the enemy.
• Combat Maneuver (Horse) A
  • The skill of mounted battle. Naturally Riders are gifted in such combat arts, but this Rider takes it a bit further. His jousting skill is legendary, and his mastery over his steeds unparalleled. Because his battle tactics rely so heavily on being mounted, his own Agility parameter features a minus correction whenever he is unmounted.
• Contradictory Nature C
  • Similar to a certain other Rider's skill, but instead of a split of the mind it is a split of behavior. The type of man who would swear an oath of piety and protect an ally with his life, yet stubbornly take the lives of innocent women and children. English legends of a gallant and chivalrous knight, as well as the French legends of a brutal, whimsical general - both of these are true simultaneously, leading to an alignment of both good and evil.
• Mad Enhancement E+
  • At this low of a rank, he wouldn't normally receive the benefits of this skill. In exchange, his sanity is left intact. However, his rage can be triggered by being made a fool of, and the skill is further affected by one of his own Noble Phantasms.

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