[OOC] Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

[Virgil]

The Knight Of The River

• Name: Druncarde "Of The River"
• Age: 27
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
  - - -
• Appearance: At 5'6", it's more than fair to assume one might be unwieldy under the turbulence of war - yet what he lacks in size, the former farmhand makes up for in strength, carrying a deceptively muscular frame beneath modest attire; Heavy black eyebrows rest plaintively beneath a widow's peak of fuzzy, pitch-black hair, and a short, bushy beard covers the olive skin of his rounded chin. Lazy umber eyes greet the world with a placid reflection, as if to cut conversation down to a convenient minimal.
  - - -
• Personality: Still waters run deep, or so the saying goes - and if any man were to reflect this sentiment, it would surely be the Knight Of The River. Soft-spoken in nature, with a voice like a house cat and his mind a labyrinth of philosophical pondering, mellow musing and quaint quandary, he replies only when spoken to and never more than anyone else need care to know. Generosity he repays in small thanks, disrespect with suspicious absence of malice, and intelligence with equal parts honor and envy; Druncarde is only one to mind another if they mind him, and anyone unlucky enough to get stuck scouting with him would have better luck coercing song with the birds than idle, "useless" conversation from this warrior of whispers. His unofficial motto: Stoop to Conquer.
  - - -
• Brief Backstory: Druncarde is no one to judge; Born the third son to peasants, he was forced to seek his fortune fighting for the realm at an early age, entering into service as a Footman at 18. Over subsequent years of duty, he accrued prestige (Sergeant) and a reputation for integrity, modesty, and an ear like that of a well trained hound. When the War of the Red Flag broke out in full, Druncarde lost the remnants of his heritage to blood and fire - and lacking any proper place to call home, he declared himself nameless until such a time as he would make his own. As luck would have it, diligence in battle rewards even the poorest of souls, and Druncarde would gain his knighthood at the aptly named Red Crossing, a thin stretch of rocky river forded by several stone works, and over which he would strike down not one, not two, but three particularly exemplary knights of the Phoran rear guard. The battle earned him his title, but for the sake of humility, he refrained from any further glories; Time has only elevated a desire in him to return to humbled roots.
  - - -
• Equipment: Though modest of character, Druncarde's vanity is plastered in full over a head-to-toe set of steel plate, coated bright orange with paint and embellished with ocean-blue details of a crescent moon, twinkling stars, and more than a handful of "sea-goats" dancing about between them. In his left hand he prefers an ash spear with a long, narrow spike adorning its head - the better for puncturing gaps behind the knee, between the groin and the inner thigh, under the armpit, or through the visor or throat. In his right he touts a shield as garish as his harness - a towering kite layered in birch, hide and steel, before finishing with a coat of equally engaging orange and topped with three blue horns painted to look as if they curl about each other. Tucked neatly away at the small of his back lies a strapped pouch for less violent, but equally personal belongings; Attached to his waist dangles a smooth, aged shillelagh...as a backup in case his primary tool isn't persuasive enough for the particularly brazen foe.
  - - -
• Skills: Violence has taught Druncarde the boundless values of subtlety, and as such he is adept at paying close attention to the environment around him, allowing him to use the slightest weakness as his winning exploit. In combat, he prefers not so much to use the terrain as to become it - wearing down enemies from a distance, and only choosing to strike once he's persuaded them that they're winning. Lessons learned from a lifetime of internal solitude allow him to bend easily with the shifting of the wind, and his ability to blend in with his surroundings has saved him more than once from breaking to the metaphorical torrents of man-made storms. In his spare time he values art and craftsmanship, and enjoys woodworking scenes from life; small figurines may occasionally find themselves scattered about the premises wherever he goes, reflecting the lives and livelihoods observed there.

[Virgil]

@Crimson Paladin

"The stone cannot know why the chisel cleaves it;
the iron cannot know why the fire scorches it.
When thy life is cleft and scorched, when death and despair leap at thee,
beat not thy breast and curse thy evil fate,
but thank the Builder for the trials that shape thee.
-The Hammer Book of Tenets"

Let the Mechanists curse themselves to fate for betraying that which is holier than themselves!!!...
...and coincidentally, out-of-vogue XD).

[HereComesTheSnow]

Noticing the various descriptions of the other members’ armor has me thinking— Are the knights expected to fund their own ventures into purchasing full suits, or would the Order have some sort of “base” kit offered to those who don’t have their own? Seems like a dumb question because I’m almost certain it’s the former, but better to remove any doubt before I set out towards the old “saving money to get properly kitted out” arc in the off chance it isn’t.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Virgil: Accepted.

@HereComesTheSnow: I'm certain they have some kind of very basic equipment avaliable, but by and large knights are expected to supply their own equipment. After all, they're knights.

Fanilly's an exception, her armor is brand new and specially-made, as is standard for every new Knight-Captain.

[HereComesTheSnow]

So I’m probably sticking with the half-plate in the picture for now, got it. Thanks, that’s what i had figured

[Floch]

Sheet will be coming within this week. If not a few hours later within the day.

[Floch]

Knight of Trickery

Name: Loki Spiegelblume
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Appearance:
Loki stands 5'10 and appears appears to be baby faced which often people mistook him for a girl . Despite lacking the muscles that most Knights of his age would, Loki makes up for it by wearing his pitch black armor. Without the armor, he wears fashionable and diva-like clothing and puts up a wide array of facial expressions that matches his fair complexion and long black hair.

Armored

Default

Fancy

Personality:
Loki is an eccentric and cheerfully reserved man who finds joy even in the simplest and boring things, a peacemaker in the job yet a troublemaker to his fellow Knights. He is good at ignoring things that does not bring joy to him even if it is people, worse he'll also ignore orders given to him and twist it in some way that it would benefit him. He labels himself The God of Fun and Shortcuts and shuns evil.

To a certain degree, Loki is moderately arrogant as he sees himself self righteous which would often bite him back in one form or another. Still, he is more than willing to accept his faults to better himself.

Brief Backstory:
Loki is an estranged child from Thain and comes from the religious Spiegelblume family, worshipers of the Sun and Moon Goddesses, Reon and Mayon. As a child his family taught him the basics of magecraft and the tales about the goddesses perhaps what changed the amiable child into the trickster he is today is the poor communication that his social circle failed to properly explain, Loki was conflicted of his brethren's sects: worship either gods or worship both and it really broke him. He may as well call himself agnostic and believe that there is only one God and would gladly evade religious discussions and so he parted ways with his family and diligently worked his way up to the Iron Rose Knights to find the answers that he seeks and find his own identity.

Equipment:
Two pitched black long swords.
A magic book about illusions.
His black armor.
Skills:
Loki being a practitioner of magic picked up a two notable magic to suit his Knighthood as a Magic Knight of Trickery. He is well-versed in casting mirages and enchanting his dual swords with wind magic to increase its sharpness. As a Knight, Loki hates prolonged fights and would rather formulate strategies to break his enemies' wills into submitting to him because he lacks physical prowess compared to the other knights. He rather come to an arrangement of negotiations to avoid conflict due to his hatred towards conflict and belief of using one's talent on better things than fighting.

By all means Loki is an opportunistic fighter with some pragmatism to his liking, when he is not using his magic, he overwhelms larger opponents than him in a battle of stamina and speed by outlasting them with hit and run tactics with his dual swords and situational opportunities to let other Knights do the fighting for him as he lands the finishing blow. With the set of skills Loki have, he can seamlessly fit into any team as long as it doesn't bruise his ego.

It's out.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Indra: The worship of Reon and Mayon is a single religion, it's just the focus that's different. Someone who worships Mayon primarily will also worship Reon and vice versa, they're inseparable as a single religion. So the backstory details don't quite work in that regard. ^^;

[ERode]

Artificer Axegirl

Elodie Maya

_{18 y/o | Human | Female}

Appearance

5’4 if you include her boots, Elodie stands tall with uncommon poise, often an individual who feels as if they should be bigger than they actually are. Her pale skin, flawless and lovely as it is, is more a product of staying underground for far too long than recommended for a normal human being, while her slender build is built from the same conditions; often, Elodie would forget to eat altogether, becoming progressively crankier and crankier without realizing the root cause of it. She likes to keep her long hair down, despite what others say about it interfering with her work, and her hands are callused and thick-skinned, marked with years dedicated to learning her craft.

Personality

Elodie is ferocious and aggressive, not in the way that she picks a fight with everyone else (though that’s totally in-character for her as well), but in that she will pursue her goals and her work with a single-minded focus that often disregards tact and etiquette. She’s no master of her craft, of course, and her high self-esteem could be easily interpreted as youthful arrogance, however, her willingness to never stop is a very admirable trait. She owns up to everything she does, whether it be her achievements or her mistakes, and the girl bounces up from disappointment and displeasure fairly quickly. What time spent moping about can be spent working out, after all. Only a moron would rest on their failures, rather than build up on their successes. Elodie has no patience for people who just want to feel sorry for themselves, and this often crosses the boundary into just making her seem like a cold-hearted bitch.

Which could easily be the case. For someone who has so little ‘real’ experience in the battlefield, this particular Iron Rose Knight appears rather unmoved by all the death that accompanies such a profession, after all. Is it an iron will that makes her this way? An unshakeable faith? Or something less…acceptable?

Brief Backstory

Elodie was an orphan.

Her parents had been merchants travelling to the Grey Mountains, when an attack by highwaymen left all dead except for baby Elodie herself, lying in her mother’s arms, bawling all the while. A caravan of dwarven craftsmen stumbled upon this wreckage and, recognizing her parents as ones who’ve formed a relationship of mutual benefit and trust with the people of the earth, sought to raise their child in their stead rather than abandon her in the callow homes of unrelated man. Thus began her life and her tutelage, working metal with the greatest artisans under heaven.

Her adopted parents were virtuous if not stern, and Elodie became a child more at home by furnace than by hearth, her lullabies made of hammer strike and bellow roar, her toys the tools that will one day become her life. She was raised up on the stories of Dwarven smiths who’ve crafted weapons fit for the Gods, mere mortals who, without magic, gleaned the secrets of steel from the whispers of the mountain itself. Oh, the wonders of the Elden Ring. Oh, the might of the Hordebreaker. Oh, the beauty of the Starglobe. On myths were her dreams stoked, and in training were her ambitions realized. Day in, day out, ever since she became strong enough to hammer hot steel, Elodie polished her craft alongside her dwarven brethren, drinking and working in turn, her skills steadily improving under the masters she dedicated herself to. Beardless and longlimbed as she was, her tenacity drew merit, her devotion drew admiration, and slowly, her flexibility became her most valuable trait as well.

Her stubbornness, after all, was merely her personality, rather than something coded in the racial bloodline that her stouter brothers had. And as life went on within the caverns of the Deep King, so too did another difference pop up. All dwarves could hear the whispers of the steel they bent, but it was Elodie and Elodie alone that could speak to that same steel. Her tutelage was of the dwarves, scientific and unyielding, but her bloodline was of the humans, arcane and irrational. And as the magic she taught herself became more and more useful, Elodie came to a conclusion.

If she were to create something that’d surpass the myths and the artifacts, the ancient objects that were revered across history, then she surely needed to expand her horizons, to see the world beyond the mountains.

Her journey took her to the Iron Rose Knights, where she plied her services not as a master swordsman or a legendary warrior, but as a blacksmith would could take care of herself and all the tools of trade they had. All for the low, low price of having them try out all the new weapons she’d come up with.

Really, she was a bit lucky that the captain of the Knights was a young girl too.

Equipment

Outside of her set of tools for smithing, from her hammers to her tongs to her chisels, Elodie carries a variety of interesting weaponry and armor befitting of someone who has the ability to make her own equipment. Of note are the clothes she wears for combat: despite appearing like flexible fabric, steel threads have been worked into them, giving them a great degree of resistance to sharp edges, though less so for piercing thrusts or bludgeoning blows…but that’s why she wears portions of stiff plate armor over it as well, namely chestplate, greaves, and gauntlet. All are crafted of the miraculous alloy that dwarven craftsmen use, maintaining a lightness similar to leather while being more durable than steel.

Her weapon, too, is oddities. Elodie’s preferred weapon is a magical artifact of her own invention, dubbed the ‘Blasting Rod’. Cylindrical in shape, it’s crafted of magically fortified wood and steel, with additional inscriptions inside it to generate a fiery explosion when a verbal command is given. With only one place to exit, the explosion shoots out of the open end of the Blasting Rod, generating a powerful, cone-shaped blast potent enough to tear down stone walls in one fell swoop. Charged up through heat, the Blasting Rod can hold a maximum of five charges, and is heavy enough to also be used as a bludgeoning weapon.

Of course, using the Blasting Rod merely as a club is pretty crude, so Elodie did to it what any reasonable person would do: she added the necessary parts so that she could turn it into a melee weapon. A collapsible pole can be attached to the bottom end of the Blasting Rod to turn it into a blunt staff, while an attachable axehead completes the Blasting Rod’s transformation into a wicked halberd. Magical enhancements exist in this form as well; the explosive force once generated inside the Blasting Rod is modified by the inscriptions of the axehead, turning those fiery charges into propellant for a devastating blow instead.

Skills

Elodie has serviceable, all-round combat skill, enough that she generally knows how to use most common weapons, from spear to axe to sword to bow. While she’ll never win any tournaments with her proficiency, it’s enough that she can sorta hold her own in a fight. More important, however, is her skill at smithing, taught to her by the master artisans of the Grey Mountains, and runic inscription, self-taught through trial, error, and explosion. Her self-taught magic enables her to change the properties of metal, allowing her to heat chunks of steel white-hot without requiring a forge and allowing her to then rapidly cool them down without requiring an ice bath. Oils are still necessary, however, and the process is far too slow to be of use in combat, but this magic is primarily what makes her more useful than other, more skillful blacksmiths when it comes to journeying with the Iron Rose Knights.

Outside of that, Elodie’s also ridiculously good at holding her drink for a girl her age, and seems to be able to function well even with no sleep at all. Of course, her personality takes a nosedive for the nastier, but her mental faculties remain sharp despite that. She also enjoys reading, which is weird for such a salty, sooty brat, until one realizes that, rather than considering herself a smith, Elodie fashions herself an artificer, and seeks to learn as much as possible to augment her own creations.

[VitaVitaAR]

@ERode: Accepted.

[PaulHaynek]

Heartbreak Hero

Name: Jarde Devaron
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Race: Human

Appearance

*He has a hood he can pull over his head to conceal his face

Personality:
Jarde is a playful person that gets a kick in teasing someone if the mood is perfect. If he himself is the target of teasing, he will try his best to turn the teases into cool and clever remarks about himself. But if it keeps up, he will get frustrated and leave. No hard feelings will be kept and he will come back same as ever.

He very rarely calls people derogatory terms, even if they are getting on his nerves. Those words are reserved for those who anger him greatly. And nothing angers him more greatly than harm, physical or emotional, coming to those he loves. Speaking of his love, he knows he doesn't know what to say to her or how to act around her but keeps himself calm by reminding himself of reality.

In battle, he tends to be quiet and focuses much of his thoughts into the situation. This is so because battles are matters of life and death and screwing up in one could lead to very painful regrets.

Brief Backstory:
Jarde is a regular commoner in Thaln born to a farmer family. Still, that did not stop young Jarde from hearing and dreaming of the great knights of Thaln, especially the Iron Rose Knights. However, his status as a mere commoner regularly reminded him that it was unlikely for him to rise above his station.

However, one festival in a city and he saw a girl whose beauty captured his heart. Unfortunately, she was of noble birth, making it almost impossible for young Jarde to talk to her. But another noble in birth but not noble in soul, proudly declared that he was going to make the young lady his as if she was property. This angered Jarde greatly and the commoner boy publicly challenged the young, haughty noble some time later.

Jarde thought the fates were on his side. After all, was he not defending the dignity of the young lady? But he was wrong. Skill and prowess triumphed over righteousness. Still, young Jarde put up a decent fight but his opponent's words stung at him:

'Even if you win, do you think she can be with you?'.

Those words sapped the will from the young farmer and lead to his loss. Disappointed, battered and embittered, Jarde made way for home.

But not before an old man stopped him. The aged person observed Jarde fight and deduced he had talent that can be enhanced with skill and training. And training was offered and Jarde accepted. The old man's lessons were hard but the farmer boy endured. His body shaped to fit and his mind honed to let go of his bitterness. Several years later, Jarde was a capable fighter. Not one that relied on strength but one that relied on speed.

Then the old man suggested something unthinkable for Jarde:

'You should try to join the Iron Rose Knights.'

The former farmer protested but the old man was adamant, saying that status did not matter to the order. Somewhere between reluctance and eagerness, Jarde learned more about the Iron Rose Knights to find out how he could properly join. As he dug through, he saw someone familiar, or rather, easily recognized as she never left his mind ever since he saw her. It was then he learned the name of the young lady now leader of the Iron Rose Knights:

Fanilly Danbalion.

Equipment:
- Twin Kusarigamas: A gift from the old man. They are a pair of sickles from the East. These are Jarde's main weapons.
- Gladius: A gift from Jarde's village. This expensive but sturdy blade comes handy when the Eastern sickles fail.
- Throwing Knives: A set of seven daggers. Light but sharp, perfect for hurling at short to medium distances.
- The Essence Of Koril: This strange purple gem attached to a necklace appear to bend space a bit, enough for arrows and other fast projectiles to slightly miss their mark. However, it only ever activates once and when Jarde does not see it coming.

Skills:
Jarde is very fast and can easily evade average swings and projectiles slower than an arrow from a bow. He strikes quick and at weak points in the enemy and will not hesitate to fight dirty if the going gets tough. However, his strength is lacking and he would need to get creative when facing heavily-armored or protected foes.

Let me know if there's anything wrong. Also changed his equipment a bunch.

[Floch]

Oh thanks for the info.

Then again, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to turn down. Something came up IRL and yes we all know priorities first.

See ya next time.

[VitaVitaAR]

@PaulHaynek: Accepted.

@Indra: Sorry to hear that!

[HereComesTheSnow]

so many returning vets, oh me oh my

[VitaVitaAR]

@HereComesTheSnow: Yeah, I'm really happy with how things are turning out so far. This RP is very close to my heart, so the more people who will enjoy it the better.

[HereComesTheSnow]

it'll only further inform my roleplaying as a relative newbie

[VitaVitaAR]

If all goes well, this will probably start sometime next week!

[TheFake]

Mostly the same as before.

My Hider

Name: Lothar Indrau, The Crippled Lion
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance:

His more formal is largely the same but with more vibrantly dyed blue and white leathers and a great deal less steel.

Personality:
Indrau is bitter, in constant pain and hates the moniker that he has been given him. Even so, he can be kind in his own way and is selflessly devoted to his friends. He has a gallantry streak that extends only as far as actions go though even this has a limit. The knight also has a sharp mind but is content to sit quietly and hold his ideas to himself unless he feels them to be very important.

Brief Backstory:
Indrau's short career as a knight errant was bloody and fast moving, drastically changing his outlook on life after he was badly wounded in battle and left for dead.

A younger, more naive man left home with just a sword and armor, trained by his fathers household knight but untested in battle. Given his familial lands position on the northern coast and the frequency of raids hitting under their protection it would only have been a short time before he would have come into battle naturally.

But Indrau was impatient, incontent with being a third born son there as was little glory that might come to him naturally. He found his worth soon enough in a large town set upon be a band of deserters. The young knight first bloodied his sword against these enemies while townsfolk fled. Indraus withdrew and rallied the survivors of the attack and struck back against the raiders. He was captured in their first engagement and spent three days being beaten before they dumped him in the crossroads outside of the town with both of his legs broken.

Inspired and enraged, the townsfolk fought a battle of attrition until the invaders were driven from their homes. Fewer than half of the townsfolk survived, a statistic that Indrau mourns to this day. His left leg was too badly damaged to heal properly and he lost an eye. For his part in the battle the towns lord, who was away at the time granted him an apprenticeship in the trade of his choice given that he was no longer able to fight.

Indrau discovered a talent for magic, metalwork and a love of problem solving. He excelled at his studies, throwing himself into them in an attempt to distract himself from his disability and the slaughter that had occurred. In the end, after completing his final piece as a student and mastering the art he felt dissatisfied. It wasn't his place in life to create things in a workshop. Indrau was a man of action, a knight. He donned his armor once more and picked up a blade to set out on a new path.

He found himself with the Iron Roses, and organization that appealed to his youthful ideals of righteousness and chivalry.
Equipment:
Silence - Indraus Masterpiece and personal blade. To prove his mastery of Runic magic he has adorned the blade with a complex series of two hundred runes that deaden magic and slice through spells. The sword draws off of its own reserve of mana that can be added to by a mage.
Cane - This is a simple cane with a more minor runic enhancement that grants sure footedness.
Armor - His leg no longer able to bear the weight of a full set of plate, he wears a brigandine vest under a long leather coat with vambraces and greaves.

Skills:
Runic Magic - Instead of traditional words and gestures, Runic magic uses sigils charged with the will and mana of the caster. A sequence of runes comprising of a single spell must be performed all at once with unceasing concentration as the image in the mages mind serves to refine the physical aspect. A working as complex as Silence might take as long as 30 hours to create. To use a runic weapon requires nothing from the user provided the fuel requirement for the spell is already met. If such a weapon runs out of mana it is usually destroyed.

Other:
He is an accomplished horseman but his preferred method of fighting is on foot with a planted stance that serves well on the deck of a ship, owing to his families modest navy. The immobile nature is easier on his leg than a more dynamic style.

[VitaVitaAR]

@TheFake: He'll be accepted, but I'd still like to go through the proper process. ^^; Post in the OOC first please.

[VitaVitaAR]

@TheFake: Accepted.