[IC] The Runes (In Need of Players!)

[EchoicChamber]

Today marked a month, right on the dot. It was exactly a month ago that the rune- that was its name, Dawn had found- had branded itself onto her wrist. She found herself examining it in the thin glow offered by the overhead lights, tracing the patterns with idle fingers. It had been nearly three weeks since the Blessed had found her, firmly insisted that she went along with them, and brought her into their fold. Not much had happened since then, really. There had been a few tests run, a few rounds of training done, but for the most part, the whole situation felt more like a vacation than anything. The Blessed had been bending over backwards to accommodate those marked with a rune; providing them all lavish rooms to stay in, offering full use of the base’s facilities, and letting them move about as they pleased during their free time.

Well. As long as their destination was within the city’s limits, that was.

Even the room that Dawn found herself waiting in now was clearly made to impress. The couch she found herself seated in was made from fine leather, and paintings that looked to be worth more than her car were hung neatly up on the walls. It was an incredible kindness that the Blessed were giving them all, but, in truth, all the cushiness and the pampering made Dawn feel somewhat...uncomfortable, really. The staff had been swearing up and down that simply following the path that the Allfather intended for them would be enough payment, but...

Dawn took a long swig of her coffee. It seemed a tad unnecessary- especially seeing as how the rest of the base seemed to live rather modestly in comparison. It certainly provided quite a bit of motivation to give back for all that had been done for them.

They, the marked, would all be meeting officially today. Group training, apparently. She had seen a few others like her in passing, but it would be the first time that all nine of them would be gathered anywhere together for a prolonged period of time. It would be a lie to say that Dawn wasn’t curious when it came to her new coworkers.

She took another sip.

There was nothing to do now but to wait, and to wonder.

[ScoundrelQueen]

Maeve did not like it.

The way her bedroom carpet squished under her feet was weird, the fact that someone turned over her bed sheets when she left the room was unsettling, and the ever-present shadow of a supervising Blessed that followed her outside of the facility was enough to make her insane.

There was nothing that needed to be done, and there had not been for the entire three weeks she had been trapped.

She woke up. She went to the gym, then showered. She went around the corner to the liquor store with a credit card that never seemed to reach a limit. Drink, eat, sleep, repeat.

Sometimes she would cross paths with another body in the halls, but it was impossible to know who there was like her, and who was one of them. She could have asked, of course, but she never seemed to get that far in conversation.

Mostly because she didn't talk in the gym, and she tried to avoid talking while plastered. Given her current schedule, there had not been much chatter save for mild smalltalk.

But this morning there would be. They had taken her liquor the night before, and (she suspected) hidden her left gym sneaker to be sure she would not skip out on the meeting.

Maeve sauntered in, a bit more early than she tended to be to most things, and spotted a vaguely familiar face. Denise? Dalia? She had seen the smallish woman around quite a few times, and swapped words briefly a time or two.

Danny? Darcy?

She came to stand behind the couch, opting to lean rather than sit.

"It's all very 'lamb to the slaughter,' isn't it?" she asked, her tone nonchalant. "Plush it up so they don't see the knife and panic, I guess. Dawn, was it? We've uh, I think we've bumped paths a few times."

[EchoicChamber]

Fortunately enough, the second to arrive, a woman with a tangle of red hair, was someone Dawn had seen before. Spoken with a few times, here and there, but mostly just seen. Out of the corner of her eye, she could spy one of the Blessed by the door giving a rather disapproving look at the woman’s choice of words, but Dawn opted to focus her attention on the latter for the time being.

“That’s one way to put it.” Dawn smiled. She tipped the rim of her coffee against her lips, then set the cup neatly onto the table in front of her. “I’m, ah, glad that someone else sees it, though. All the attention has been a little too much for my tastes.”

The understatement of a century.

“My name is Dawn, yes. You’re, ah...Maeve, right?”

@ScoundrelQueen

[Daemanis]

‘A week and a half, an entire week and then some’ Silvarae thought to herself as she worked herself out in the training room. She had long since worked out a sweat, she had several trainers she worked out with at once this was so that she could practice blocking attacks from all directions at once. Another strike and another parry, she was fast on her feet, able to sense where the strikes were coming from almost as they were coming. Another Strike, it connects with her left arm, pain shooting out from the point of impact, ‘not fast enough.’ She thought to herself as she reversed the grip on the training staff she held in her left arm providing a measure of cover for her now throbbing arm. Another strike, blocked with the reversed staff, This was her moment to retaliate, but if she did the training session would be cancelled without her having improved with generating shields.
“Enough!” the instructor called from the side stepping towards the small group that were training. “It’s about time for you to officially meet the other Marked, I want you to go and get showered and presentable Zero.” The man said using the alias that she had become known by many years prior.
”Five more minutes.” She would respond her voice devoid of emotion more of a command than a request. She had been known to be like that since she was old enough to start working with others.
“Now!” the instructor would state firmly and the trainers would immediately back away before bowing respectfully to Sivarae. She would glare at the Instructor before changing the grip on the staff in her left hand and transferring the one in her right hand to her left. She severly disliked that she had been stopped midway through her training process, she needed to improve otherwise her coming here would be a waste and father would be furious. But then again, he had told her they were paying a very large amount to have her here, so maybe he wouldn’t be too mad at her if she didn’t improve.
She returned the Staves to the racks and grabbed up the towel she had cast aside upon first entering the training room. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she headed for the showers, her right hand had strayed to the quickly forming bruise on her left arm rubbing it gently as she walked. She would not show any outward signs that she was in pain though the unconscious movements would be a dead giveaway. ‘Got to get better, faster, stronger.’ She thought to herself as she pushed open the door to the showers.
The room was already steamy, she guessed that someone else had been in here before and shrugged as she set about following her own procedures to shower. It didn’t take her that long to get the smell of sweat off her though it did permit her time to think.
”From today you have a new assignment” the familiar voice of her father told her, “You will be working with a group called the Blessed, you will do as they tell you for the foreseeable future, So long as they are paying the bills, you will not hear from me. They will give you all your instructions and I expect you to preform to your utmost. Failure is not an option. Standard mission parameters are in effect. Special condition, If I contact you, you know what to do.” He would add before dismissing her.
She would then be escorted to a car that had been waiting for her and brought to a rather large looking mansion. It almost seemed comical to her in the way it reminded her of the mansion from X-men. It hadn’t taken that long for them to arrive but she was given a file of rules and procedures that she would have to study while she was shown to a room that made every comfort she had ever known look like it was bland and utilitarian. She felt uncomfortable in such accommodations and after the first night had requested to be transferred to a less ludicrous room.
They quickly found her a room similar to that of all the other workers and she felt much more comfortable in them though she did consider them a little gaudier than she would have appreciated but she was able to rest in her room from time to time.
Stepping out of the shower she would procure a new towel and dry herself before wrapping it around herself and gathering her dirty discarded clothes and headed towards her room. She passed a few people who seemed to take a second look at her body. She would keep looking forward ignoring the looks as if they mattered little to her, this was something she fought with herself about, she wanted to hide each time they looked at her, but her ‘appearance’ would be shattered if she did.
She had to be the perfect soldier, that’s what they hired, and that is what they expected from her. Entering through her door she would close it quickly breathing deeply, thankful to be away from prying eyes. She quickly found her clothes and combat armours, donning them she would stretch out.
‘should I take my weapons.’ She pondered to herself for several minutes before nodding to herself, she would strap the twin daggers Fenrir’s fangs to her hips and her bastard sword Jorgmundr to her back before walking towards her door. She glanced over at the two cases she knew contained Valhalla and Artemis wondering if it was worth bringing them too and shook her head. No, they were for special occasions.
She left her room still slightly before the time to meet and greet everyone and proceeded to wander her way to the area with no real haste. ‘This is a waste of my training time.’ She thought to herself as she shook her head slowly. The bruise on her arm quite visible and spreading slightly.
As she approached the halls that would lead past the gyms and towards the greater assembly areas she would spot a familiar, well semi-familiar face, a woman she spoken to on occasion at the gym, ‘Maeve’ she thought to herself remembering the name of her fellow marked. She would remain silent however giving of an air of self-importance, which was to cover for the fact that she felt self-conscious around a woman who also seemed to work out almost as much as herself.

[ScoundrelQueen]

"Yeah, it's Maeve," said Maeve, shifting her weight. She lowered her lean onto her forearms against the back of the sofa, and the smell of new leather wafted up where the black material puckered around her elbows. "But 'ginger bitch,' and 'Oi, you!' probably also get the job done."

"But yeah. My bet is on either sacrificial offerings, or possibly a weird luxury fuck cult for an eccentric patron. Our ready bodies offered to either the Allfather, or All-Daddy." She raised her voice a bit at the end her blasphemous joke, feeling satisfied as the Blessed now listening in stiffened where he stood.

"And speaking of ready bodies," she muttered, possibly less under her breath than she had hoped, as the Gym Blonde (possibly named Silvery? Maeve hadn't spoken to her half as often as she had seen her,) joined the room.

"Oi!" Maeve called with a wave, "Come sit with us, would you? We're discussing whether our keepers plan to kill or fuck us. I'm starting a pool."

@Daemanis@echoicchamber

[Daemanis]

"Oi!"
"Come sit with us, would you? We're discussing whether our keepers plan to kill or fuck us. I'm starting a pool."
Silvarae would raise an eyebrow at the greeting from the familiar red-head and the chosen topic of discussion. She could honestly say that she highly doubted they were there to be used in some kind of offering for the price her father normally charged for her services, a sacrificial offering would be insane to even consider. As for the second idea a slight blush would cross her face before she would shake her head furiously.
”Don’t be ridiculous” she would say unable to completely hide the embarrassment from her tone. The thought of such a possibility being totally abstract though reminding her of her total lack of experience in that department.
”Besides why would they have martial training facilities for us to train in combat here if they intended to use us as some kind of pleasure doll. she would add as she took up a position beside the door leaning back against it, her left hand straying to the dagger at her side gently resting on the pommel. An old tactic to be aware of the exits, and to secure them. In this position she had a good view of the rest of the room and commanded control of the ext.
Looking over the two women in the room she had seen Maeve working out and knew that if it came to it she would be hard pressed to take her out in hand to hand if not for the fact that she seemed to be largely unarmed while Silvarae herself carried her armour and her weapons for close combat. The other woman, a much smaller woman who seemed to her to be kind of petit, she had seen her around the bas only in passing though and had no real knowledge on her, ‘if it came to a fight she’s the wild card.’ She thought to herself with a nod.
She would relax against the wall visibly, she had assessed the situation now and they didn’t seem to be any real threat to her though she had no way of knowing their runic powers were, and in the case of the smaller woman, she didn’t know if she even had a marking to say she has powers, she could very well be one of the blessed waiting here for everyone to gather.
“The names, Zero.” She would say as her fingers traced around the pommel of her dagger she was feeling a little annoyance at being made to stop her training for this, while also feeling slightly underprepared in not knowing that much about the others.

@ScoundrelQueen@EchoicChamber

[EchoicChamber]

“I’ll keep that in mind, then,” Dawn said wryly. The line about a potential “fuck cult” saw the corner of her lip perk up, and “All-Daddy” had her give a decidedly undignified snort in spite of herself. “I have to say, out of those two options, I’d, ah, I’d probably prefer to be sacrificed, myself. Keep my dignity intact, at least.”

Her brow rose slightly at Maeve’s half-mumbled comment, and she turned to see a blonde, rather athletic woman stroll in. Dawn’s eyes quickly landed on the sword strapped to her back, then came to fall on the knives at her hips. For a moment, Dawn found herself wondering if the Blessed were planning to throw them into a fight right off the bat, and had simply neglected to tell her. A somewhat curious glance from the man at the door told her otherwise, thankfully.

“If I had to pick between the two, I still have to say that I’d opt for the sacrifice. So, uh, I guess that I’m casting my bet in that side of the pool, then.” Dawn turned more fully to Silvarae, then, and gave a brief nod and a smile.

“I’m Dawn. By the way. It’s nice to meet you, Zero."

@Daemanis@ScoundrelQueen

[ScoundrelQueen]

"It's not ridiculous! There are some verysadistic kinksters out there," Maeve quipped back, turning to face halfway toward the door. Gym Blonde, about as strapped as she normally seemed to be, was not someone Maeve planned to leave unwatched. "Once had a couple offer me six hundred bucks to smack the Mrs. around and kick the husband in the nads. Didn't take the money, before someone asks."

She ticked off an imaginary box in midair as Dawn spoke. "That's one for sacrifice. Maybe they'll make us fight and offer the strongest to the tyrannus deity. Or maybe we're just here for the free breakfast." Maeve shrugged.

"Either way, good to meet you, Zero. Cooler name than Blondie anyways. Fits the kind of girl who brings a sword to a meeting...for cutting through red tape?"

@echoicchamber@Daemanis

[Daemanis]

Silvarae would listen to the others as they conversed disagreeing totally to the fact that it wasn’t a ludicrous idea that they might sacrifice them. The cost of her life alone would be absolutely astronomical and not to mention the combat ability that she possessed should be more than enough to find her way out of any possible sticky situation, no she was more than certain that they weren’t here for that. She would raise an eyebrow as Maeve mentioned bringing Jorgmundr to cut some kind of ribbon.
”absolutely not, that is a preposterous concept, there is no way in hell that I would unsheathe Jorgmundr for anything so mundane.” She would state adamantly her hand being temporarily removed from the dagger on her hip to the sword on her back. ”I come prepared for anything, whether I am to be given an assignment right now and must leave to act on it promptly or if this is as they say a meet and greet.” she spoke truthfully in this fact though it did make her question the sanity of the woman who had implied that her sword should be used for the cutting of a ribbon.
She would look at the woman who had named herself Dawn, “Pleasure.” She would say simply not really showing any kind of true emotional response, more seeming to appear as if she were showing a great respect by simply answering. “Zero I have earned.” She would add turning back to Maeve.

[Magister]

For Makorai, the city limits was the best place to drink in the mornings. Despite its inherent danger, it represented his livelihood for almost a decade. Now, it represented a place he could no longer go without permission. Parting wasn't such sweet sorrow. He just liked the view. What was there to miss? He had a place to sleep, and whatever cash he managed to scrounge up, went to pleasure items. A gilded cage was still a gilded cage right? Makorai stood for a moment longer, and offered his final opinions on the matter. "Fuck freedom."

The young man turned his back on the wall, like he had done many a morning before, sat on his motorbike, kicked the stand up, and drove off. He wasn't terribly concerned with being late for meeting one, or orientation, whatever they called it. He wasn't far off, and he always drove better when he was drunk. Makorai swerved suddenly, narrowly avoiding winging the mirror off of a car. "I /am/ better at driving drunk." He said. More than words of reassurance, he had changed the nature of his travel. Positive thinking taken to a whole new, directly tangible level.

Makorai disembarked, kicked the stand town, and took an even stroll up to the door. He knew the routine well enough, hello to the guards, drop his flask off in the basket. Pat down search for whatever.

Bidding the security guards a farewell, he took another slow stroll to the orientation room, where, upon opening the double door, he was greeted with his first listen of his fellows.

Fuck Cult.

All-Daddy.

Pleasure Doll?

Popping a piece of gum, and hastily wiping his nose, he approached the group. Mako grabbed a chair, turned it around so he could lean on the back, and straddled the seat.

"All-Daddy? guess my reputation proceeds me." He offered them a quick smile, and promptly rested his arm, then his chin, on the back end of the chair.

"I'm Makorai. Forgot what my rune is. Something about the future."

[VitoftheVoid]

Blessed HQ - Courtyard

The acquisition department was an area of the organisation that deal with some interesting requests from time to time. A lot of the expected things, weapons, body armour, ammunition, but sometimes slightly more unusual things were asked for. Icelandic sheep blood. The skull of a white crow. A wolfskin that had been hung from a yew tree under the like of the first full moon after midwinter. It could be pretty eclectic.

So when a certain request was made for a skateboarding half-pipe, and about fifteen different kinds of shoes, they fulfilled with a lack of concern...and perhaps a certain degree of interest as to exactly what it was intended for.

Oren Kovalenko, the Isa Rune perched on the top of the wooden structure, her legs folded beneath her and a pair of black trial boots resting in her lap whilst she worked in the soles with a scalpel and a screwdriver. A few minor adjustments to the formula. The flexible sole should allow for the blade to be pushed in and out by pressure to the toe and heel respectively, and the built-in shin-guard would prevent any problems arising from stray edges. Last thing you wanted was to catch and ankle and end up bleeding out in the field.

And that seemed to do it. Isa paused for a moment to regard her handiwork, before slipping them on and rising to her full height at the top of the ramp. She took a moment to adjust the camera mounted at the top, and commended the recording.

"Isa Rune, Tactical Manoeuvring Experiment, Iteration 6. After extensive study ice skating of I've altered the use of the most promising boot samples to have small retractable blades in the sole to allow my to direct myself effectively."
With that, the young woman stepped to the edge and sprang from it, as her feet hit the vertical surface, the painted wood bloomed with ice and she slid down at blistering speed, hit level ground, passed it and was thrown up the other side by the momentum. She let her boots leave the surface entirely, managing a quite turn in mid air before she came to stand across from where she'd commenced her trail, a shimmering stripe of from left to mark her progress.

A glance at the clock. Four seconds.

Not bad.
Could be improved.
But not bad.

She would have liked to make a second attempt, but duty called. There was apparently supposed to be some sort of 'meet and greet' with the other runes. Of course Isa was pretty intrigued at least, having spent the better part of her possession of her abilities with no equals at all, but at the same time...for the better part of her possession of her abilities she'd had no equals at all. She suspected most of the conversations she truly wished to have with these people were not for this point in time. Frustrating.

She packed up her things, though retained the shoes on the basis of expediency, and made her way to the room in question. The ice-wielder strolled in at a brisk pace. Of course she'd prepared. She'd looked them up on the records to ensure she was ware who was who. They didn't look especially out of the ordinary, though neither did she.

"Kenaz. Sowilo. Algiz. Ansuz." she greeted with a small nod in each direction.
"Good morning. I am Isa. The first rune, in a sense."

@Magister@Daemanis@ScoundrelQueen@EchoicChamber

[EchoicChamber]

“It sounds like you have some interesting stories to tell, Maeve.” Taking the cup of coffee back off the table, Dawn took a sip of the now-lukewarm liquid before continuing. “And maybe the gods prefer their sacrifices toned. Like livestock.” She spoke with a certain pleasantness, like she was planning out lunch with the two instead of joining in on the rather morbid line of jokes.

While Maeve seemed about as casual with the situation as one could get, “Zero” was far more openly tense. Stiff. As if she wasn’t entirely comfortable with letting her guard down so easily, even when there was no open threat anywhere in sight. Dawn finished the rest of her coffee in one gulp, then rested the mug back on the table. It was curious.

The next rune soon came sauntering in, smacking a piece of gum and joining the little gang that had formed. Dawn’s brow lifted yet again, although she rearranged her expression back to normal within a near moment.

“Dawn. I have the...Kenaz rune, I believe. Good to meet you.”

Makorai was soon followed by a dark-haired, rather grim faced woman, who introduced herself simply as “Isa”. No name, only the rune. Dawn gave her a tip of the head in return, smiling amiably.

“Good morning to you, too, Isa. You can call me Dawn and not “Kenaz”, though, if you'd like.”

@VitoftheVoid@Magister@Daemanis@ScoundrelQueen

[Prinz]

One Kana Cerulean sat on the branch of a large tree just outside the gigantic mansion that the 'Blessed' were using as their base of operations. Humming idly to herself as she scanned the windows and saw nothing particularly interesting through her binoculars, she eventually landed on a window that gave her a view that was, quite frankly, only a little more interesting.
Three people were in a room together, one of them leaning on a couch and the other sitting on it.
There was another near one of the doors, but from Kana's currently position it was hard to see.
One short and honestly awfully normal looking, the other was taller and seemed a little bit meaner.
"Wow, cute grills down there. Probably uber tasty, too."
Flicking her forked tongue out, the odd, special and delicious scent reached her senses once again as she zoned in on the trio. They smelled special, like quite a few people in that building did.
Putting her binoculars back in the bag at her hip, Kana wiggled and flopped off of the tree, hitting the ground hard and bouncing a little before rolling over into some bushes.
Stealth complete.
Standing up, she kept herself in a crouch before remembering that she could just do something even better. Kana's form melted into the shrubbery only for a group of snakes of all shapes and sizes to slither out, one of the carrying the handle of her bag in its mouth and dragging it along behind it.
The grounds were awfully empty at this time, and the snakes made short work of their trip over to the side of the mansion, just below the room. Three stories up, however, was a bit harder. They pulled together, twisting and forming into one being again as Kana idly picked her teeth- there was still some meat stuck between them, and first impressions were important!

Looking up at the wall of the mansion, Kana shrugged to herself and began her climb. It wasn't too difficult considering her abilities and strength. Climbing the wall was a cinch, and eventually Kana found herself holding onto the window. She climbed up beside it, staring inside at the group with a curious look on her face. She idly reached into her bag, pulling out a pack of beef jerky and tossing a piece into her mouth as she watched the group inside the room interact.
Part of her was considering pulling the window open and climbing inside, but that'd be sheer lunacy.
Kana grinned and reached down, grabbing the window and pulling it open.
Noticing a man now sitting in the room, Kana tumbled through the open window and onto the floor, laying there for a moment before standing up and brushing herself off.
"Well, ain't ya'll just a lovely bunch'a coconuts?"
Kana dropped onto the floor, crossing her legs as she sat against the wall below the window. Reaching into her packet of beef jerky, she idly tossed a piece into her mouth and chewed.
"Oh, don't mind me. I'm a rune, too. The rune of, um, I forgot, honestly. Don't ask me to show you, it's in a naughty place."
Watching as yet another person waltzed in, Kana gave the woman a small wave. For a moment, her mind raced. Introducing the others by names was great, but it also posed a problem.
This woman knew who the runes were.
This woman knew she wasn't a rune.
This woman was a problem.
Damnit why can't things just be super easy?
She hoped that the woman hadn't scanned through the files too recently.
Kana sat in place, back pressed against the window. If she needed to, she'd be able to escape. Although it'd be likely that anyone there who tried to attack her would succeed. It's not like she was there to murder them or anything, but they might not show her the same mercy.
"So, so, how is everybody? Everyone seems pretty relaxed, honestly. How's the time here been? I myself got picked up last night, so I haven't had the luxury of staying in this lovely place just yet, y'know?"
She was awfully placid despite possibly being in immense danger. Speaking up, she decided to address something important.
"Oh, me climbing that wall is a part of my rune. Don't worry about it, I'm still getting used to things, y'know?"
Kana-chan wanted the difficulty level to be lowered, please.

@EchoicChamber@Magister@Daemanis@ScoundrelQueen@VitoftheVoid

[Daemanis]

"Kenaz. Sowilo. Algiz. Ansuz."
"Good morning. I am Isa. The first rune, in a sense."
Silvarae recognized the rune of Isa from the gym and training arenas and would nod in greeting, she had a grudging respect for the ice user though like Maeve she felt more intimidated by the woman who had an innate ability to manipulate ice. An ability that seemed to grant her some particular advantages in combat though she had no idea of knowing what the girls limits were, just like with herself she had no idea how far her barriers could be pushed, or if they would even work against the others runes.

As the new guy walked in taking a chair and spinning it into reverse before sitting down she mentally assessed him for his threat level. He seemed to be somewhat inebriated and thus lowered his threat level in her eyes.
"All-Daddy? guess my reputation proceeds me."
She would roll her eyes at the man, he all in all seemed to be relatively pathetic to her. Someone that might have hired her in the past to walk them home from some midnight jaunt at a brothel or something of the likes.
"I'm Makorai. Forgot what my rune is. Something about the future."
As he introduced himself she would take particular note mentally of what he said his rune was, ‘something to do with the future.’ She thought to herself, that could be troublesome if it allowed for instant battle readouts before they happened. He seemed utterly to casual to form a threat so she disregarded him.

She watched as Dawn responded to the others the girl seemed overly all to comfortable, unprepared for the possible danger that the world held. Being in the centre of the city meant absolutely nothing if the frost giants decided to attack. No she seemed to be like how Silvarae would describe the rest of humanity, ‘livestock.’ How could any of them truly relax while they were in a situation where they could never truly know safety.

As another person joined them coming through the window she began to babble so much information that Silvarae would simply raise an eyebrow listening to the woman. She mentioned something about her rune being in a naughty place and if anyone was paying close attention they might have noticed the corner of Silvarae’s lip twitch as if to smile which was quickly supressed. When the woman added that she had been able to climb three stories thanks to something to do with her rune she would note that as well. ‘maybe I should try walking on my barriers.’ She thought to herself as a test for later.
”I note you didn’t name yourself.” Silvarae would say looking at the girl sitting on the floor. Everyone else had named themselves and this stood out as awkward to her, though it was to be expected of some people.

[Magister]

The blonde one didn't even bother to respond to him, and, from his perspective, eyed him with something too arrogant for contempt. The look itself near elicited an involuntary laugh from Makorai who was no stranger to the gaze. "That bruise must hurt. Well earned I bet."

The other one, Dawn with the delicate looking skin, seemed to be the most mature out of the trio. More careful he'd say.

Another feminine voice rang in his ears, this one curled quite unlike the accents of the other ones. A mile different sounding from the pretty blonde, or the porcelain faced girl with the dark hair, but like them, she sounded like she took herself very seriously. The redhead seemed similar spirited to himself but...there was something about the way her swagger worked, something he figured he could put his finger on, but not without jumping to conclusions. "Thanks Isa." He replied, moving his head backward to look at her. 'Isa like what I see.' Makorai paused. That was terrible. That one was best kept to himself. Probably until he died. He had a vault of those. One liners that never made it. Another one for the vault.

Not a single male face in sight. Makorai figured that it referenced what his disposition was more geared toward. No way it was mere coincidence that he was given a rune along with all of these frankly gorgeous women. Must reflect on who he was more comfortable around. Made complete sense, men were garbage.

Breaking this musing was a fun sized creature that came tumbling through the window behind him.

Her first comment on coconuts finished that involuntary reaction Silvarae started. "Big, small, some as big as your head." he continued, finishing the mid part to the old drinking song.

"Mine is in a naughty place too." He responded. "I think I'll show you mine, you show me yours is a bit too schoolyard for us.

He relatively suspicious entrance would have piqued Makorai's interest a little more, had it been a a man sitting cross legged on the floor before him. He wasn't particularly smart, other than was was granted by his rune, and he had the deductive skill of someone who had been around the block a few times.

She was distracting though, distracting enough to mitigate his suspicion.

Makorai wiggled his body slightly. That nip of scotch he smuggled in was starting to sit weird.

[Prinz]

From her place on the floor, Kana got a good view of everyone who'd spoken.
The blonde girl already asked her a question. One that she promptly ignored. If they pushed, she'd answer, but she wasn't going to toss her name out in a room full of strangers.
Plus it'd be odd if she mentioned either of her names.
Makorai finishing her little introductory song brought a wide grin to her face. She happily extended her arm and gave him a thumb up, almost poking her tongue out as well but remembering that that wasn't exactly the brightest idea.
"Schoolyard indeed, indeedy. Plus it's a bit awkward with all these other lovely people sitting around and staring, y'know? Glad to know I'm not the only person with a rune in an awkward place. Nice." She idly popped another piece of beef jerky into her mouth, chewing it and smiling in enjoyment before swallowing it. Looking around the room, her gaze landed on the blonde who'd questioned her earlier. She cocked her head to the side, staring at the weapons attached to her.
"Hey, blondie, what's with the armory yer cartin' around, hm? Isn't it annoying to hold alla that?"
It wasn't much, but if she got conversation started before that Isa lady tried to interrogate her, it might get put off until later on. Kana could handle the woman by herself if she tried to attack, but everyone at once..
She figured it was a bad idea to come here, but it's not like dying was something she was afraid of, exactly.

[xXSINXx]

Volkir finally makes it to the mansion where the Blessed reside. As he reaches the door, a gust of wind opens the door wide for him, creating a big thud on the walls. He stands there gnawing at his chocolate candy bar as he eyes everyone around the room. He had a cold, dead silence about him. His posture was horrible, he was bare foot, and it looked like he hadn't slept for months. Then again he always looks this way.
He slowly walks in the room, where the others sat and converse. Sliding back a seat, Volkir crouches in his chair as he continues to eat his chocolate. The wind picked up again and the doors that Volkir entered slammed. "Well... Guess I'll start off by saying." pauses as he drops a piece of chocolate in his mouth. " I am Volkir, a rune, just like all of you.." He spoke in a dull, monotone voice, as if he were empty or lifeless. He shows no emotion, even his eyes were a lifeless grey. After his introduction, Volkir sits quietly, gnawing on his chocolate again.

@EchoicChamber@Kuroakuma@Magister@Daemanis@VitoftheVoid@ScoundrelQueen

[Daemanis]

"That bruise must hurt. Well earned I bet."
Her eyes would narrow looking at the man who she had deemed to be at best an annoyance, she had not expected the person that he appeared to be to even notice anything other than maybe her breasts or the short shorts she wore, but no he had mentioned the bruise on her arm. A slight distraction to her thoughts throbbing at the back of her mind though nothing she wasn’t used to, in fact the bruise was the least of the injuries she had suffered in the past for failure.
”It’s to be expected when training in new methods.” she responded her tone devoid of emotion that might have shown the surprise she actually felt. She considered bumping his threat assessment up a little as her right hand strayed to the bruise rubbing it again. The man seemed to lose interest in her at this point as he went back to speaking to the others she would berate herself mentally. ‘it’s bad enough that you got hit, now you appear weak to them, you idiot girl!’ she screamed at herself mentally.

"Hey, blondie, what's with the armory yer cartin' around, hm? Isn't it annoying to hold alla that?"
Silvarae would look at the girl whom still hadn’t answered her name, however now the more pressing issue seemed to her to be to defend her choice of armaments and garb.
”What could you expect of a soldier, I must be prepared for everything, should I be told to go now I could go and fight. My daggers, the fangs of Fenrir, have never failed to find their mark no matter how tough that target may be.” she would explain as she pulled the two daggers out revealing the masterfully crafted daggers which she would flip in her hands before replacing them in their scabbards. She would then remove the bastard sword from her back with it’s intricate designs and the same attention to detail as the fangs of Fenrir it would glint in the light.
”And this is Jormungandr, an extension to my very body easily able to defend myself or someone else with it, I am never to leave without it.” she replaces the sword on her back carefully, appearing to care a great deal for the sword.

As she was finishing up her spiel another male would walk in, this one seemed to register on her threat assessment as extremely high. He had the eyes and tone of one that had nothing left to lose and this made him extremely dangerous. She also noted he had mentioned that he was a rune user like herself this made her stiffen her hand tightening around one of the fangs after releasing her sword. ‘Stupid, stupid, stupid’ she thought to herself as her eyes now solely focused on the perceived threat. She would not however draw the dagger just yet, however she would be prepared to should it be required.

[xXSINXx]

@Daemanis

Volkir glances over at the lady, studying her movements and facial expressions. He then bites into his chocolate before speaking. " You are on edge..." He said in his usual emotionless tone. " You are thinking that I'm a threat to you, that I'm going to harm you..." He puts his index finger inside his bottom lip. " I'm no threat until you make me one... friend. Otherwise I think you'd find me pretty useful around here, giving the right circumstances.." Volkir sighs. "Now I want cake.."

[Cloudburst]

When Jeddah had learned that she was to meet the other runes, she simply had to make a good impression. In spite of the objections that the Blessed had made, Jeddah had made her way out of the mansion with her bike and was on the move in town. Her first stop was the bakery, where she had procured two dozen muffins for a sheer excess of the price- purchasing a bow and a basket would certainly help cut down her purse's contents. She had considered getting everyone a puppy, but that would entail ferrying nine puppies and a basket of baked goods across town at high speed on a bike. Either the puppies would eat the muffins or the muffins would eat the puppies. Either way, she wouldn't have it. So, instead, she simply returned with the muffins- a handful of them poppy seed, another few blueberry, some of them banana nut, others being plain, and a few of them actually not being muffins at all, for they were cupcakes in disguise. What a pleasant treat indeed for those that would come across the hidden cupcakes.

As she had biked back, Jeddah couldn't help but wonder what the other runes would be like. Perhaps they would be the kind and gentle kind of hero that she had dreamed to be all those years ago in her home. Perhaps they were the kind of people that would plan before going into a situation. It did not matter to her, she was simply glad that she was not alone in her duties. Sure, she had occasionally engaged passerby in conversation, either being shrugged off or ignored entirely, but that meant nothing. Surely they were busy, and had no time to talk, if they even were her fellow runes.

On arrival, Jeddah dismounted her bike and leaned it against the nearest wall. Nobody had taken it yet, so she had taken to leaning it on various surfaces of various establishments. She had no lock after all, so trust in the public would have been her lock and key for the time being. Beginning to walk in, she was plagued by the usual sharp pain of a plant coming from her rune. That time it was a small sunflower. Shaking it off, Jeddah counted the muffins and made her way to the meeting room where she greeted her newfound allies with an infectious and joyous candor.

"Good morning room and all that inhabit it, my name's Jeddah and I'll be your muffin mistress today!"

@EchoicChamber@ScoundrelQueen@xXSINXx@Kuroakuma@Magister@VitoftheVoid