[CHAR] Mist City Story: An Urban Fantasy Mage RP

Characters:

• Arinne Velvet Ar-Rynesarte
• Saturday
• Euphemia Dalraan
• Grain Blackmore
• Glen Pearwoolf
• Paul St.James
• Arden Grey
• Sophiana Chiffon Val-Verde

[VitaVitaAR]

• Name: Arinne Velvet Ar-Rynesarte
• Age: 14
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Arinne has blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She is very petite, quite short even for her age at below 152.4 cm/5 feet in height.
• Personality: Arinne has what many would call a bad personality. She is arrogant, self-assured, and manipulative, fond of seeing others struggle and quite eager to make the lives of the people around her harder for her own amusement. Referred to as 'the Blonde Devil' by some senior magi, her attitude is well-known throughout the Tower. To put it simply, Arinne has a sadistic streak. She also enjoys mocking or teasing others, and has nothing but complete confidence in her own capabilities as a mage. Indeed, she is quite proud of her own bloodline, and of her own capabilities. Arinne also has a vengeful, spiteful side. She deeply resents the branch families that sold off portions of the Ar-Rynesarte's assets, even some of the contracts they held, and would take satisfaction in finding some way to undermine or dismantle them the moment she gained the opportunity. However, it is also clear that she has some level of concern for the magi now in her employ, even if she does take pleasure in making life difficult for them and teasing them whenever she has the opportunity. While she will stop at nothing to find her parents' killer, at the very least she does not seem to have any desire to sacrifice those who are under her contract in order to do it. She is very plain about her intentions if the killer is found, however. Arinne plans to kill them. Even if she was not present for the death of her mother and father, even if she does not have many memories of them, she absolutely cannot accept a world in which the one who murdered them walks free and unpunished.
• Abilities: Arinne's arrogance is not unfounded. A prodigy mage carrying the blood of the Ar-Rynesarte family, she has a large mana supply that is of a very high quality. Her Affinity is Water, and she has a specialization in Ice beyond that. Her magic is therefore best suited to spells relating to flows and cycles, but also to Stillness and Stagnation. Of course, more directly, she can utilize water as a projectile via various spells, and use spells to freeze the moisture in the air into icicle bullets. However, she can also utilize spells to slow or freeze something in place. One particularly unusual spell allows her to convert a solid material into a liquid or vice-versa, though it only functions on inanimate objects and only within a magic circle she has put into place with chalk, making it irrelevant in a direct conflict. Additionally, she has use of the German spell Schattenpfiel, a low-power projectile spell that can be swiftly cast and used without relying on moisture in the air.
• Skills: Arinne possesses few life skills, but she does seem to know just the right way to tease people.
• Assets: While some of the Ar-Rynesarte family's assets have been sold off, Arinne still possesses their mansion and a considerable amount of wealth. This includes a large number of maids in her service. With her mansion comes the unique defensive barrier Crystal Killing Array, a defensive system embedded into the foundation of the Ar-Rynesarte mansion. When activated, it begins to manifest as a sheet of liquid that coats the walls and automatically seeks out body heat, attacking it by crystallizing and striking out at the target. If it is activated, any maids in the mansion are quickly called to one room to avoid their being harmed. The system ignores those possessing Ar-Rynesarte blood, but due to its method of tracking it can easily be fooled and it is best suited to penetrating soft targets as opposed to magical defenses or armor.
• Brief Backstory: Arinne was born into the Ar-Rynesarte family and swiftly prepared to be yet another powerful mage bearing the family name. Her parents rarely spent any time with her, outside of what was necessary to facilitate her growth as a mage, but they were not without care for her. When she was six years old, spending time at the home of a family associate, her parents were suddenly killed. There were no witnesses, but it was undeniably not a natural death, the interiors of their bodies heavily lacerated by some sort of magic. Left alone, without siblings or parents, Arinne was unable to take her position as the family head for many years. During this time, various branch families leeched off of the main family's wealth, even selling assets possessed by the Ar-Rynesarte. But during this time, Arinne also grew as a magus, receiving schooling and expanding her capabilities. As she grew older, her reputation as something of a devil grew as well. She quite recently activated the contracts she still possesses, with the goal of locating the one who murdered her parents through any means necessary.

[Rin]

• Name: Saturday
• Age: ??? Saturday has belonged to the Ar-Rynesarte family for countless generations, and no-one really remembers when exactly they came into possession of her.
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: Saturday and Ennira
• Personality: A terror on the battlefield, a truly grim reaper who mows down victims like wheat with an expressionless look on her face. Death is like second nature to her, and killing is her only reason to be. The only real meaning to her existence is to kill, to slay, to reap.
  
  ...At least, that's how she was before. Due to being given freedom and the chance of a regular life by Arinne, Saturday is... Not exactly sure what to do anymore. How does one act like a normal girl when their entire life has been so abnormal? With little idea what to do with her life now it is her own, Saturday mostly lives to serve Arinne as best she can. Arinne is the reason she is now free, and Arinne was the first to treat her like a human, so she wishes only to ensure no harm comes to her new mistress. Due to her inability to die, she has no sense of self-preservation, and doesn't seem to see anything wrong with sacrificing herself for Arinne's sake; in her mind, she is still simply a weapon to be used as her mistress sees fit. She comes off as expressionless, although on closer inspection she is not emotionless; a life of being nothing but a cold killer has left her with difficulties expressing herself and thus any emotional responses she may have are incredibly subtle. Due to living a life of nothing but death and ugliness beforehand, the discovery of things that are cute has rather notably affected her. As such, Saturday has developed somewhat of an obsession for small, cute things, and spends most of the allowance Arinne gives her on stuffed animals and other cutesy things for her room. Even her outfit was designed with cuteness in mind, as Arinne wasn't pleased with the rags she had been wearing when she emerged from the casket. Of all things, however, the one thing that is most important to her is Arinne herself, although it seems different from the previous sense of duty she had towards the Ar-Rynesarte family. Saturday is not entirely sure what these new feelings are, and has no idea how to properly process them.
• Abilities:
  • Deathless: Saturday possesses the rather peculiar ability of being incapable of dying. No matter how much she is shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, torn, mutilated or otherwise mortally wounded, she will immediately get back up to her feet no worse for wear at the moment she "dies". Because of this, she has been classified with the Sorcery Trait "Deathless", although this is merely for simplicity's sake; it is unknown if it is truly a Sorcery Trait or if it is something different altogether.
  • Enhanced Physical Capabilities: Saturday possesses physical abilities far surpassing what her build might imply, although whilst her strength is somewhat greater than she would appear to have what is more impressive is her speed and agility. When she is fighting seriously Saturday moves at blinding speeds and is able to react faster than any regular human, and she is so agile that it almost seems like she can run up straight walls.
  • Mage: Although she possesses the ability to use magic, Saturday is not a very skilled mage due to never having been taught properly and thus is only capable of using the most basic of spells. Although it unknown even to her what her original affinity was, over time her nature as a deathless being has caused it to change to "Stillness"; the most notable usage of this affinity is that her supernatual agility is partially caused by her subconsciously enforcing the concept of "Stillness" on her surroundings.
• Skills: Saturday was intended for the singular purpose of swiftly annihilating the enemies of the Ar-Rynesarte family, and thus she has little skills outside of combat. However, due to her newfound freedom she has decided (or at least been encouraged by Arinne) to try and branch out a bit and has taken an interest in cooking, art and music. She's still not very good at any of them, however.
• Assets: The scythe Saturday wields is a conceptual weapon known as the King of Mercy, a blade that embodies the concept of "Severing." Whilst this means it is capable of slicing through almost any physical substance, its true purpose is the "severing" of metaphysical connections; spectral existences, things with no material form, even the flow of mana from one thing to another can be "severed" by its blade. Other than the King of Mercy, Saturday owns very little in terms of personal property. Her only notable assets are a growing collection of stuffed animals she keeps in the room Arinne provided her, and a stray cat she has been allowed to keep that she has named "Ennira".
• Brief Backstory: The origins of the seemingly unkillable girl known only as "Saturday" are an enigma. She has belonged to the Ar-Rynesarte family for countless generations, to the point that no-one can quite remember when she first became their property, and was used by the more unscrupulous members of the family as a weapon against their enemies. Whenever her unique skills were needed, she was retrieved, pointed at her target and once the job was done was locked in a casket until the next time she was needed. For centuries, this was her entire life; she was nothing more than a tool of murder, and no-one considered her to be anything other than that. No-one, at least, until Arinne Velvet Ar-Rynesarte became head of the family. After finding out about this new "inheritence" of hers, she was shocked and disgusted at what her ancestors had done to the poor girl and immediately let her out of the casket in hope that she could pursue a less horrifying existence. However, as her life as a weapon was all Saturday had known, and due to Arinne being the first person to actually show her kindness, she decided to stay with her and act as her sword.

[Aviaire]

Euphemia Dalraan

Euphemia Dalraan

age: 25 • gender: F

Personality:
Effie is the sole child of the Dalraan family, and it shows. She is incredibly sheltered, as well as a little spoilt. She is oblivious to a lot of simple things, but is eager to find out more about the world with an almost childlike innocence. When she speaks, she can be condescending, albeit unintentionally. She is a perfectionist, critical of her own mistakes, which often ends up with her upsetting herself. Effie is also known to get annoyed when she doesn't get what she wants or if things don't work out her way.

However, Effie is a generally sweet and optimistic person. She spends more time with a smile on her face than anything else, and is very supportive of other people. She is sensitive and quick to cry, and is very trusting of others. She tends to overlook other people's flaws, instead trying to find some kind of justification for the way they act.

Abilities: Affinity - Light
Effie's magic is not particularly combat orientated, but she functions perfectly fine that way. Her mana is not nearly of the highest quality, but she has vast quantites of it. She is able to bend light, which has a multitude of different applications. For example, she can create visual illusions, distract or blind the enemy or make herself and other things seem to disappear. Furthermore, she can alter the colour or intensity of light, and even can create it, though this takes a fair amount of mana to sustain. As a secondary effect of this, she can also manipulate shadows, though only in appearance.

She can also adjust temperatures slightly through the manipulation of infrared light, though she has considerably less practice in this. Effie can slightly alter the temperature of an area, or she can focus heat on a specific point. That's about all she can do, though.

Skills:
Cooking & Baking - She's good, for sure. Does she enjoy them? Also yes.

Silent Footsteps - Effie walks almost silently. Even when she doesn't try, it's hard to hear her coming.

Impressions - She can impersonate animals and other people pretty well, even more so with practice. Goes nicely with her illusions.

Cleaning - Therapeutic.

Assets:
Dalraan Shadowcloak - Purely for aesthetics. It is blacker than black, absorbing all light that touches it. Warm, too.

Torch - For emergencies.

Knife - For bigger emergencies. Or cooking!

Brief Backstory:
Effie was born Euphemia Dalraan, daughter of Camille and Darian Dalraan. She does not remember her early childhood, as most do not. There is one event that plays vividly in her mind, during the darkest hours of the night, and it is two beams of light, headlights, and the sharp squeal of tyres. Those are her final memories of Camille Dalraan. It may be her only memory.

Darian refused to remarry. And he didn't.

Effie spent the rest of her childhood under the watchful eye of her father. He was incredibly overprotective, never letting Effie out of his sight for even a minute, too afraid of what could happen to her while his back was turned. She went through her education, mundane and magical, at home. She was allowed to leave the house, but never without him or someone he trusted greatly by her side. This meant she rarely ever did, and when she could, her options of what she could do were vastly limited. She gained more freedoms with age, but she never really got a proper life. She didn't even know what that was supposed to mean. It was just normal for her.

She never resented her father for anything, even as she grew older. In fact, it was the opposite. She loved him more than anything, and Effie couldn't find it in her to hold anything against him. After all, he gave her anything she wanted, and in return, she was perfect. She had to be perfect. That was how the world worked. And it continued to do so, until Arinne Ar-Rynesarte activated her contracts.

[KoL]

Name: Grain Blackmore
Age: 19 years
Gender: Female
Appearance:

Hider

Personality & Description:

Grain is every bit the image of what an ideal knight. Almost out of a fairy tale, or courtly romance. She's quite tall for her age, with a well built body that reflects her extensive training quite well.

Despite not being one to speak freely unless requested to. Grain's voice carries a great deal of resolution. The same can be said of her actions. Even though her quiet demeanor may make it seem like she's shy or unused to social interactions, the truth is quite the contrary. From the way she walks and dresses, to what she reads and her silent, vigilante gaze, everything about her is proper and knightly.

While it's easy to think that someone like her would be a consummate tomboy, the truth couldn't be more further away. That said, she doesn't like it when others pay too much attention to her feminine side either.

"Though, just maybe, will she get flustered when called cute? Well, there's only one way to know..."

Brief Backstory:

Grain was born and raised in a spartan environment, with the sole purpose of continuing her family's knighthood tradition and their relationship with the Tower's magi.

It would be easy to assume that this meant an abusive and grueling childhood, but the truth couldn't be more different. In fact, she was raised with attention and care, befitting her social standing. Even if her parents were always the hands-off type, Grain always counted with her servants to do everything she needed so that she could concentrate solely on the obligations required of her as a knight.

However, as a consequence of such intense focus on her life goal, Grain is pretty... disconnected from the outside world. Whenever she goes through the streets of a modern day city like London she can't help but feel amazed at the simplest of things. It's quite amusing to think that someone so well-educated has difficulty using even something as simple as a smartphone.

Anyway, it's of no surprise that when the young heiress of the Ar-Rynesarte family declared that she would find the ones responsible for her family's fall from grace, one of their old time allies like the Blackmore would answer their call for help.

It was the only honorable thing to do.

Abilities:

Grain isn't a member of the Tower, or even mage in the proper sense of the word. She's knowledgeable in magecract and magical foundations, but practicing it—while not beyond her abilities—is beyond her interest. That said, she does have an enviably high reserve and quality of mana—befitting her pure, noble blood—which comes in handy for other applications rather than spellcasting.

All of this is possible because of her very rare Sorcery Trait:「 Blood of Heroes 」which only appears sporadically in families of those who are related to a legendary hero of the past. In her case, the legendary Celtic king Fionn mac Cumhaill, also known as Finn MacCool.

First of all, always having such an amount of mana on reserve, makes Grain highly resistant to magic effects in general since she can simply counter pretty anything using her own raw magic energy.

She also the "body of a hero who can challenge fate itself", an ability that goes way beyond what even a mage dedicated to just physical reinforcement would be capable of doing. Which can reach truly inhuman levels of power when combined with her ability to release her magical energy to improve her physical abilities, making strikes harder, jumps longer, etc.

When combined with her family's heirloom arms, it's possible to unleash a blast of pure magical energy that mimics the legends of old, when a lone knight had the power to defeat whole armies on their own as well as other similar feats.

However, the most unique part of her trait is inheriting part of the legendary wisdom Fionn is said to have gained in the tale of the Salmon of Knowledge. By sucking bringing her thumb to her mouth Grain is able to gain limited clairvoyance allowing her to divine the possible best course of action for almost any situation, as well as get a good idea of the answer to pretty much anything you ask of her. Needless to say, this skill is pretty handy for her studies.

Skills:

It's safe to say that grain could be a specialist of everything if she truly wanted to overuse her gift of wisdom to solve the problems of life. However, not only would this be inappropriate in her view, but also... she can't help but feel embarrassed while doing it in front of others.

Thus, it's no wonder that she avoids it. Even so, she's very knowledgeable in the classic matters, knightly traditions, and social etiquette. She's an outstanding athlete, amazon, and naturally acquainted to many different forms of combat. That said, she's mostly helpless in matters that don't pertain to her chosen life goal, sometimes to pretty amusing-to-see degrees.

Assets:

As far as monetary assets, it's simpler to say that Grain never did, nor ever will, lack anything that she might need or want. Unless some incredible misfortune befalls her family, the fortune they've been amassing for the previous hundreds of years, won't be getting smaller any time soon.

When it comes to other possessions, she has access to a decent selection of both arms and armor. As well as a number of magical tools accumulated over centuries of service, even though most of them have either lost their original powers, or are outright useless in a practical sense. To the point that it's almost appropriate to say that the Blackmore's excel at collecting junk.

As expected, she doesn't have most of those possessions with herself unless she's on official business, in which case she'll almost always be seen with her family's heirloom sword, or spear, and a set of very light armor (basically just gauntlets and greaves). All of which can be summoned or dismissed at-will using transportation magic.

[Ginnungagap]

Glen Pearwoolf

Glen Pearwoolf

"All dreams are born of a truth in the heart of the dreamer"

Age: 31
Gender: Male

Appearance

Glen is an unassuming man of about 5'3", a short man of sleek build and who practically blends into the background when left to his own devices. Tired green eyes stare out at a world full of lies, always accompanied by either bags or dark circles below them. His salt-and-pepper hair is kept short but remains terminally unkempt, only cared for in the most superficial of ways but otherwise allowed to simply do as it desires.
His fashion sense is equally substantive, in that it possesses absolutely no backing in anything. He wears suits that don't fit because they fit just fine two years ago and they still fit now, and most of his clothes are already suits so he might as well just keep wearing them. Ties are worn because they're easier than bowties, not because of trivial things like actually matching his shirt. It's honestly a miracle that he usually manages to wear slacks that go with his shirt, but that probably has more to do with a lack of variety than any actual effort on his part.

Personality

Glen is the very image of a man who has been chewed up and spit out one too many times. He is a man with no drive and who long ago forgot what it meant to have ambition, moving only according to his needs and acting only to keep his place in the world. To be quite honest most people would perceive him to be a dullard, given his unwillingness to do anything more than what is absolutely necessary with little regard for the consequences of doing such subpar work, and his utter lack of enthusiasm towards anything one might call fun. Sure, it's possible for him to get caught up in the moment, but it's always in the moment with him.
At least he was up until a little witch pulled on his chain. That brought something out of him, though whether it's what she wants or what she needs, only time will tell. Something about service seems to have relit that little dead ember in his heart called passion, but when he speaks with such a fire in his heart it betrays he had a reason to bury his years ago.

Abilities

Affinity - Dreams
Mana Quantity - Average
Mana Quality - Superb

• Sleep - The most basic application of Glen's affinity is of course to send the undefended off to a blissful nap, though this generally doesn't do much against anyone with even the barest mental defenses still standing. It's a simple trick, and not one Glen trusts too often. Far more useful is the other side of such sleep magic, delving into the dreams of someone who is asleep and taking command of them, twisting them to either deceive or to terrify the dreamer.
• Actualization - The Pearwoolf lineage's real art, however, is taking dreams and desires and making them real. While the things they make are images born of the mind, unlike an illusion they have substance to them; a sword drawn out of the desire to strike out still cuts just as well as a real sword. The number and frequency of distinct objects are limited by Glen's relatively subpar mana quantity for his line, though the durability and strength of his conjurations are typically rather high, so long as the aspiration he pulls has enough force behind it to support itself. A fleeting, momentary desire for something is just that when made real: fleeting and momentary.
  Lucky for Glen the act of creating a tool or weapon comes with enough knowledge to competently use whatever he makes, though that is only to the point of competence, not expertise. Unluckily for him, aside from creating and dismissing the things, both of which require a spell, Glen has no special control over the things he Actualizes, e.g., something made of fire could be taken over by a pyromancer and thrown back in his face, or could simply burn him from being foolish enough to touch it.
• Nightmare Actualization - One might assume with all this talk of aspiration and desire that the Pearwoolf line has avoided touching bad dreams with their magic, but this is incorrect. A frightful, turbulent dream of horror is still a dream and still has that inkling of Truth that they shape their magic around, and Glen is just as capable of pulling some horrible, visceral thing out of the heads of those nearby or from his own mind as he is something noble and wanted. Creating a thing out of someone's nightmares follows all the same rules as creating something from their dreams, however, and any fear caused by a creation is normal, mundane fear. Sure it might be custom-tailored to the viewer but people are kind of known for flight or fight responses.

Skills

• Accounting - Glen's good with numbers, books full of numbers, and money. Good enough to get a job working with just those things.
• Inspiration - Despite the fact that it's a long-unused skill, Glen is actually good at inspiring feeling and emotions in others, if he actuallys puts his mind to it. He'd be a natural muse if he wasn't such a sadsack.
• Lucidity - Even without magic, Glen is naturally a lucid dreamer, capable of taking control of and shaping his own dreams with no need for a spell.
• Technical Aptitude - Seeing as it seems to be a trend with some of the cast here, it's probably worth noting that Glen does not have any issues with modern technology and is quite capable of things like using a computer for everyday tasks.

Assets

Though his family is influential in Wales, Glen is individually not, and he is also not in Wales at the moment, so he must rely on his own resources instead of theirs for the most part...

• A wizard's stave... - Warded against the eyes of those uninitiated to the supernatural, Glen habitually carries a willow quarterstaff capped with a hand-sized hoop filled with cloth, displaying a red dragon with a background horizontally split into white and green. He claims it's a badge of his office in representing his family, if questioned, but it also makes a rather good weapon for just beating things when he inevitably runs out of mana.
• A forest's grove... - The only benefit Glen really considers part of his role in representing his family is that it does come with existing housing that he doesn't have to pay rent on, though it's a bit of a sad state of affairs: a quaint cabin in Buckhurst Hill, adjoining Epping Forest. On the one hand it's been the home of magi for centuries and is warded as one might expect a place that has long housed such people. On the other hand it's been the home of magi for centuries, so modern conveniences like 'running water' or 'electricity' are somewhat lacking. And getting pizza delivered is difficult with wards like that around.
• An everyday life - Glen does, on the other hand, favor modern conveniences, and owns both a laptop and a phone which he can put to good use, and although he lives a relatively simple life he does keep plenty of perfectly mundane objects around where other magi might not. While not rich he still has quite a bit of savings in the bank he can use, and that's measuring from an accountant's standpoint.

Brief Backstory

The house of Prengellyg, anglicanized as Pearwoolf, draws its origins as a single family from the late 9th century, as a union between a family of Danish seers from Northumbria and Welsh druids in the court of King Anarawd in Gwynedd during a regrettably short-lived alliance with King Guthred of York. It is sufficient to say that their position in the Welsh court became strained in the decades that followed, and in the centuries that followed as the power of Wales shrank until it was finally conquered by the English, their influence waned ever more, and they did not regain any real status until the ascent of Henry VII to the throne of England, but from there they were determined to maintain their status as a noble line of mages, holding fast to their heritage in the face of a world that was rapidly changing.

Glen Pearwoolf is the product of this family, and grew up in the tiny village of Aberffraw on Anglesey, the ancestral home of his family. He was raised traditionally, taught everything he would need to be a proper representative of the pride of his people, and then sent off to the Tower of London to complete his schooling in the art of magic.
He came back home having learned how to be English, how to live among the uninitiated, how to work like the uninitiated, and how to use magic. As he was really only supposed to pick up one of those things before coming back and helping to further solidify the family's power, like his brothers and sisters and cousins had, the only solution was to send him back to England to live amongst the tyrants. To that end he was made the family's representative to England, a formal position with about as much prestige as one might expect from a traditionalist family of Welsh nobility, and sent off to go represent them there.
Aside from some minimal duties of showing up and relaying news back to the family, Glen has very little contact with his relatives, which suits him just fine. He found work in London, becoming an accountant, and just sinking on down into that role until it just became who he was.
And then someone pulled on his chain and given he knew the reputation of who was calling on him, a certain blonde devil, he decided it was better to resign from his mundane job to save face. Because chances were, at least in his mind, that she wouldn't have enough mercy to let him off the hook for something as simple as 'having a real job'. That would imply someone else's life was as important as hers, and he knew damn well that no respectable mage would dare think such a thought.

[TheFake]

Paul 'Saint' St. James

Name: Paul 'Saint' St James
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Appearance:


Personality:
Paul is eternally calm and reserved, with a will that is as relentless as the advance of a glacier. Those that know him and his employer often remark that he has the patience of a saint, giving rise to his nickname. As stoic as he is now, it wasn't always so. In his youth he was passionate and impulsive but age and experiences have hardened him. Saint battles daily with depression but has found something to focus on that distracts him from losing the woman that he loved. This focus in combination with his current occupation has almost become an obsession; making him paranoid, meticulous, and demanding regarding all those but his young charge.

Abilities:
Saint has an affinity for metal, most notably iron and steel. Though he doesn't have the same amount of mana as other mages, he has long practiced his skills and thus his spells are very efficient in most cases.

Acting directly on objects, He can reform metal to match a defined mental image with more simple objects coming easily and change most of their properties such as state and hardness, although the former is very taxing to do. While it is possible for him to propel metal objects using his magecraft, this is also considered a waste of energy and thus he prefers to take things hand to hand in direct confrontations.

The easiest application of his powers, as well as something that he can maintain as long as he is awake, is his metal detector spell, which makes him aware of metals within twenty meters or so of him.

The most difficult of his arts, and that which has taken him the longest to master is to imbue his flesh with the properties of metals, hardening his body like steel and lending his body immense weight. This is only sustainable for a few minutes at a time.

Skills:
Paul St. James is professional regarding anything necessary to serve and protect his master. He is a very competent driver, having been trained in tactical driving. He has also been trained as a bodyguard as well as in pursuit, escape and evasion. Unfortunately he is lacking somewhat in more domestic matters.

Assets:
As an only child, Paul is the last of his bloodline. His family had a number of holdings and properties that ensure a stable income that he uses in service to his master. He owns a handful of lightly armoured cars and a small armoury of weapons. In almost all situations he carries a pair of matched daggers in holsters under his jacket.

Brief Backstory:
Paul St. James was a prideful, arrogant younger man that wanted to further his skills to impress others and improve his own standing. He was also in love with the daughter of a well off mage family, one who was to marry to the heir of the Ar-Rynesarte bloodline.

Losing her was a terrible blow to him but he persevered, vowing to serve her however possible. With hard work, discipline and a major change in attitude he was eventually hired as a driver for the family and caretaker for their young daughter.

Their deaths a short time later impacted him strongly. In his time with the family his love for the Mrs. Ar-Rynesarte had become more like that for a sister and the daughter felt like a niece to him. From the depths of despair came an obsession in serving and protecting this young girl to the limit of his abilities.

[Dark Light]

Arden

Name: Arden Grey
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Hider

Personality:

Arden, lacking confidence is often considered quiet, shy and reserved, that is until something goes against his beliefs or moral judgment and then he is not afraid to show just how passionate he can be. He is curious, creative and kind, albeit nervous and a bit reclusive. He loves solidarity and music in any form.

Abilities:

AFFINITY: Sound, vibrations and the sense of hearing

_{MANA QUALITY: Exceptional
MANA QUANTITY: Average}
Intense potency but limited reserves. Arden is new to mage-craft and the supernatural world, so he doesn’t know many spells beyond his inherit abilities, and even those he has not yet mastered.

• Deep listener- Arden not only has beyond exceptional hearing with immaculate precision and control, but he also can hear things others can’t. This magical ability interprets patterns and activities of the mind into audible surface thoughts and or feelings and intent. It requires Arden’s focus and concentration and doesn’t work equally well on all people. It is more effective on non magical humans and those unaware of his ability.
• Quiet speaker- Arden’s voice, without being raised, can reach anyone’s ear within his vision and only theirs if he so chooses it.
  Master of subtle tone manipulation and with the ability to ‘hear’ people, Arden can generate frequencies to manipulate people’s emotions or make them more susceptible to suggestions. This is a near passive hypnotic effect that again works on varying degrees.
• Silent type- Arden’s control over frequency and sound allows him to also nullify it. This is very helpful for those that wish to sneak around.
• Conscientious- ’Listen to oneself.’ Arden has yet to thoroughly explore this sonar like ability through using echo location techniques. But it is there just waiting to be discovered.
• Vocal- The heart and strength of his ability. Creating and manipulating vibrations to such an extent that they has a physical effect on his environment or singularly targeted area. These ‘shock waves’ can emanate from any part of his body as the vibrations and energy come from within. Most effective though are vocal shouts or arm thrusts.
• Haphephobia- Arden can also use the above mentioned ability to violently displace the air around him creating a defensive bubble.

Skills:

He is not much of a combatant except for the odd scrape he picked up from being bullied at school. Arden’s skills fall more into the creative and intellectual realms, especially around creating music or fiddling with technology. He is a whiz around computers and programming.

Assets:

Growing up in poverty Arden possesses little of value from his past even though his abilities, if understood earlier, could have provided otherwise. Since being discovered there were those that tried to ‘buy’ him and essentially succeeded.

• Enhanced Notebook computer- Because all things are better with magic. Besides being faster, more secure and compact, it also has access to a great database of information very useful to a mage-in-learning.
• Bugs- Part technological marvel, part familiar. This conscious hive mind of little creatures exists mostly as an ordinary watch, laying dormant until called upon. Then at which point they disperse and fly through the air scouting an area or following a target. This extends the reach of Arden’s ability via microphone’s and speakers while recording everything for later analysis.
• Taser (extendable baton)- For self protection when all else fails.
• Motor bike- Method of transport.

Brief Backstory: Arden’s mother and father met but once, she couldn’t resist the handsome man, literally. It was a rendezvous that started on the busy dance floor of a high end exclusive night club and ended in an empty, cold, filthy, little alley way that didn’t even earn a name. He discarded her when done and that was the last she ever saw or heard of Arden’s father.

Arden’s mother held no magical aptitude whatsoever. She was not connected to a rich family, or any family for that matter. She was an aspiring dancer crushed under the weight of failed dreams, bad youthful decisions and financial strain.
Arden grew up in poverty, and while his mother held love for him, she was hardly around to share it.

So that left Arden’s father to be the mage of the family, and a powerful one at that because despite his training or understanding of that world, Arden possesses some strong magical talent and aptitude. It was very confusing for him to be seeing things that others around him couldn’t. Hearing things others didn’t. It took him longer than most to get recognised and then when he finally did, there were those trying to take him in and train him, just wanting to take advantage of the young boys ability and shape him into another pawn in their own agenda. One such family succeeded, buying his trust and faking care they now have enlisted him into the service of Arinne’s quest. Testing him and fulfilling their contract at the same time.

[Raineh Daze]

• Name: Sophiana Chiffon Val-Verde
• Age: 18
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "In everything, from our bodies to our magic, we possess only the finest." Height does not count, five feet is quite sufficient.
• Personality: Pride. Pride is a very, very important facet of Sophiana's personality--she is an exemplary mage from a long line of exemplary mages, a family whose wealth and influence is comparatively free of circle politicking, so far as things go. Her sense of self importance thus is quite... excessive. Not so much that she rubs it in, but there's almost always an undercurrent of considering herself to be better than those she's talking with. She's surprisingly easy to get along with if you don't try to take down her ego, being generous and fairly helpful. Plus, she has a blatant and unconcealed interest in cute girls.
• Abilities: The Val-Verde are a very old, very proud family who consider themselves to be amongst the greatest level of mages. Sophiana is an example held up of this, with mana quality and amount to spare, and the family's hereditary affinity for Air... though nobody would ever hear them refer to it as such except to correct someone else. It is an affinity for the Heavens, much classier sounding than those who muck around with little breezes and cleaning spells.
  Naturally, with this attitude, Sophiana tends to eschew the minor things or subtleties of the element, though she will indignantly conduct spells related to energy or movement if needed. The predominant bulk of her ability is on the art of Displacement, of moving a thing from one place to another. The simple trick she holds almost anyone with the right affinity should do is nothing more than a charlatan's cheat: from one hand to another. Her specialisation is much more advanced than that, allowing for the movement of unattended items within sight, or to transport part of her body elsewhere, or even--though with great reluctance given the possible dangers--her entire body from one location to another. This is the family's modern specialisation, and by specially preparing rooms, or marking and indicating items, she is able to access these stockpiles and retrieve or send items to them without much consideration for the physical distance... provided that she can remember what the item in question is when trying to obtain it.
  Her family's older speciality is still passed down and treated with great caution, as the danger it poses is directly proportional to the amount of mana fed into it: the violent, destructive invocation of wind and lightning. It is magic intended to cow, awe, and eliminate any threats; the only person truly safe when it's put to use is the caster. This use of elemental fury in its most directly powerful yet unconstrained form is, perhaps, why the Val-Verde are so insistent about their affinity.
• Skills: Almost nothing. If it doesn't involve magic or keeping track of expenditure, there is almost nothing that Sophiana has any skill with.
• Assets: A very large amount.
  As the heir to a very wealthy family, and an adult at that, Sophiana has access to an extremely large pool of discretionary funds for whatever catches her fancy... if it isn't something that the family already possesses, anyway. In terms of more magical things than maids, transport, or access to exclusive restaurants, the Val-Verde have vaults full of magical items for all sorts of situations--some quite minor, being entirely to immediately clean something, up to compensating for their lack of middle ground when approaching magic. The main limitation for what Sophiana can pull out is if she knows where it is; a lot of the more convenient items she's memorised the storage for, but more obscures magic, or offensive magic beyond "here's a fireball"? Well... she'd need to get the catalogues.
• Brief Backstory: The Val-Verde family is one of the oldest still around, and their history indicates that Sophiana's mana--and that of her parents--is quite typical. But it wasn't until they pushed to excel at displacement that they became so extremely wealthy. Even in the modern day, the ability to charge for sending something perfectly securely and instantaneously across the world to a destination... even without all their investments, it's still a good way to make money. Or to grab valuables after a battle or siege has concluded and you're done levelling the place with a storm, but that's not something they talk about except by vague references to the rewards of victory.
  Sophiana's life is quite typical for one of their heirs: shown enough affection and completely spoiled, but forced to behave with the expected level of decorum and to excel at her studies. Naturally, with comparatively few mages of her social standing and generation, she's tried to be a reliable big sister to Arinne... but mostly this hasn't worked and she just tries to tease her back.
  Arinne doesn't actually have a contract to force her help, and one wasn't really necessary. As soon as she got wind of what the younger girl was going to do, she volunteered to help out. What else was she going to do with her time? Arinne and her adorable bodyguard are a valuable use of her time... and she could do with making some contacts amongst those forced to help.