13org

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Being deployed to... complicated situations like the one they were in wasn't anything new since Alice joined the Intransigence, but it was the first time she was deployed with such haste. There was little to no time for her to get to familiarize herself with her new team, know what they were capable of, their specialties and prepare herself so she could better support them. Due to that, Alice chose to stay closer to the group than the usual position she took, supporting them from further back. Although not exactly ideal, due to how long and cumbersome her rifle was, it would still be better to be closer from the main group, at least until she was comfortable enough with how well she was able to adapt to their tactics and the teamwork. Especially regarding the Unztadtlige​, Echo, as it was her first time even seeing one from up close, let alone working together with one. The fact that the leader of the squad was a Voidhanger like her made Alice feel a bit less nervous though.

Like usual, she was wearing the adapted version of the scout armor that was provided to her by the Intransigence. It was thanks to it that she was able to hide and camouflage herself almost perfectly despite the color of her skin, as long as she remained immobile, that is. It was also thanks to that very characteristic that Alice wasn't focused on the earlier skirmish, despite being caught by surprise and off position.

If the chaotic, almost war-like situation they were deployed to wasn't enough, the locals seemed to be quite on edge and with little to no patience to any mistakes caused by lack of experience, as it became evident with the hostility shown by one of the tarrhaidim after one of the grunts that they could have interrogated was killed by the human instead. Unfortunately, that soon proved to not be the only near miss their group would have with locals, when a misunderstanding due Echo's presence almost caused another battle to start against neutral forces. Luckily enough, both sides seemed to be willing to negotiate and as soon as a common objective was identified between both forces, the destruction of the artillery platform that had been punching holes into the battlefield for quite some time.

While having more allies was always good, the new group they negotiated with seemed to be quite intent on using the Envenomed team as a battering ram only so they could strike by surprise, without having to risk themselves. Still, some help was better than no help and after that small briefing, they started making their way through the thick jungle towards their target. Every few seconds, the roar of the artillery platform firing could be heard, getting louder and louder as they approached, until it seemed almost as if they could feel the impact wave after every shot.

Strangely enough, even though it was almost drowned by the artillery fire, the group was able to hear another sound in the background, steadily approaching them. The vaguely familiar sound of gears and strangely uniform steps almost immediately told Alice that they were about to encounter more of the same CivSec forces that had attacked them earlier.

"We must be getting close. There are much more of them..." Alice said with a concerned tone, particularly looking towards the soldier in the power-armor.

Alice merely nodded as she heard Salvator's orders as he put up a cloaking field as they prepared the ambush, extending her own ether signature to a wide area, to try and conceal her position in case there was any other enemy etherealist nearby. Following Salvator's explanation, Alice quickly detached from the main group, using the trees and the cloaking field put by Salvator to reposition herself.
Moving as silently as she could, Alice maintained her distance from the main CivSec forces, circling them until she had a good view of the Power-Armor soldier. His armor would be probably very hard to punch through, but thanks to her rifle, if she aimed for a weak spot, such as the sides of the power-armor's joints, she was certain she would be able to pierce it. While not lethal, it would hopefully be enough to immobilize the soldier so the rest of the team would be able to focus their fire on him.

"I think I have a clear shot from here. I am not sure if my rifle can pierce the power-armor in one go, but I think I can pierce if I aim for it's joints. Should be enough to hopefully immobilize it." Alice said as she took cover behind a tree, crouching down and using her ether to activate her armor's camouflage.

"I'm ready. If any of you manage to make a hole in it's armor, exposing the soldier inside just a bit, I can try to fire some tranquilizers to make him unconscious... Interrogating him might give us some intel, given how well equipped that particular soldier is." Alice said, holding her breath and steadying her aim as much as she could as she waited for Salvator's order to fire.

The very second she heard Salvator's order, Alice pulled the trigger two times in rapid succession.

Almost at the same time Salvator's EMP rounds were fired at the power-armor soldier's helmet, Alice's fired, aiming at the weak spot on the side of both it's knees. The tungsten needles her precision rifle fired, while having a very low impact and not causing that much damage, had an incredible penetration capacity. With luck, they would hit the soldier's legs and do just enough damage to make him unable to move... or at least unable to run.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

At first, Nellara didn't think that the issue with Kerchak was something particularly worth her attention. After all, she had seen some other mages getting a bit carried away with alcohol and trying to use life magic... often to disastrous results, but more often than not, they just returned to normal after calming down and getting sober. But when she realized after a few minutes that regardless of how many people went to check-up on Kerchak, only more and more people started to gather, she knew there was definitely something going on.

Nellara ended up arriving just a few minutes after Ixtaro did and the scene she saw was a rather surprising one. In the middle of the commotion, she couldn't see the tekeri named Kerchak. Instead, the creature that was there, with three eyes and multiple arms and legs, didn't appear like any other creature she had ever seen before. Nellara approached in silence and merely heard the creature's explanation from behind the commotion. Kerchar, or better, 'Kolvar', was from a different race, a Kriliteran. According to his explanation, the reason for him disguising himself was due to fear the S'tor would enslave him again, like they had done to his people in the past. The slaughter and enslavement of his people also seemed to be the reason why Kriliteran often disguise themselves and are so closed to the rest of the races.

Kolvar seemed to be quite nervous as he spoke, which was definitely understandable considering his position, the amount of people that gathered near him (particularly the S'tor guards and the thought mage they were escorting) and especially the weapons the humans seemed to love carrying so much. The moment the tensions hit their peak and Kolvar transformed his arm into a blade, determined to end his own life rather than have himself interrogated and his race enslaved once again, Nellara decided to finally intervene.

"Captain Zeynep, with all due respect, I need you to ask your subordinates to lower their weapons." Nellara said, her words carrying a palpable seriousness and weight to them, despite her politeness.

"The act of pointing weapons to things one does not understand has already caused enough misunderstandings for a single day." she said, particularly towards Darnell and Ezra, clearly referring to the first contact they had with the humans.

"As... 'unusual' his appearance looks like, Kolvar is more willing to end his own life than to resort to violence, despite clearly being able to. I believe that is more than enough proof that he means no harm to any of us." Nellara said, looking towards the humans who still had their weapons on hand.

"Kolvar, I heard your explanation and I can assure you it is exactly as Kareet said. The Ascension has no desire to interrogate you, do you or your race any harm or enslave you. Since the very beginning, the Ascension has always welcomed anyone with skills, regardless of their blood, family, age or race. Slavery is against the very foundations of our nation." Nellara said as she looked at Kolvar.


"I will make you the same request I made to Captain Zeynep. Kolvar, please lower your weapon. There is no reason why we cannot sit down and solve this situation without threats or violence." Nellara said, hoping to tranquilize him and defuse the entire situation, both making Kolvar lower his weapon and make the other humans stop pointing their weapons and interrogating him.

Avalia

Time: Morning
Location: Forest near Guarav Village
Interactions: Cyrus @Helo, Ophelia @princess, Dante @FunnyGuy Darius @Samreaper Menzai
Equipment:

Steel Dagger of Unbreaking

Cannot break or become dull.

243 Amas

Viola watched silently as Cyrus helped Darius to carry his brother. While there was a doubt about how much were they able to trust the brothers, the fact that Darius trusted them enough to let them help him carry his weak and vulnerable brother meant that it was... unlikely that they had any bad intention... Still not enough for her to fully trust them, but enough for her to lower her guard, even if only a little bit.

When Darius asked asked them whether they were fairies like Phia and if where did they came from, Viola looked towards Cyrus, unsure of how much he was willing to tell them. Fortunately, it seemed like Cypress already had a good idea of what to tell them. Viola simply let him speak in silence, watching Darius' reaction as her brother told him their story... or at least part of it.

While she did notice the pause her brother made after he was finished, supposedly giving her a chance to explain something about her, she simply stood in silence, unwilling to tell them too much about her yet. The eagerness Darius asked about where did they came from made Viola a bit wary. Cyrus also seemed to notice that and expertly steered the conversation away from that question, making Viola nod, agreeing with Cypress' words.

"They seemed to be quite eager to resort to violence and threats." Viola said, agreeing with Cypress as she glanced towards the other wolves on the distance.

"Ophe-... Phia... Thank you for the hospitality." Viola said as Ophelia approached, hesitating when she noticed she was about to call her by her full name, which Viola was uncertain if she was aware about.

"I'm fine. These wounds are nothing..." Viola replied as the Blood Rose continued to use the smooth part of it's vines to staunch the bleeding from the holes it left earlier.

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Alice Bellerose

_{Name | Age | Species| Occupation
Alice Bellerose, 54, Voidhanger, Combat ethereologist for the Intransigence.}

Detailed Appearance

Even at first sight, Alice's race as a Voidhanger is quite evident. Her skin is of a translucent blueish-violet tone, enough to see her bones when in well lit areas. A quick examination makes it clear that her bone structure is considerably reduced when compared to a normal human, with most, if not all the bones below her hips being completely absent.

Due to her the particular fleet of Voidhangers being one of ethereologists, focused on expeditions to the Oneiric Chasm and the Abyssic plane, the mutations shown in her body are quite unusual when compared to some other, more common Voidhangers. One such example is Alice's complete lack of legs and instead, taking a tail-like form in order to aid on void movement, similarly to how her arms have a thin, sleeve-like membrane around them.

While all these mutations can maybe give her an unsettling appearance to some other humans, they also give her an ethereal-like beauty according to some, especially due to her white hair and completely white eyes, adapted to be very sensitive to light. When coupled with the way she usually moves, by using a small anti-gravity, ether-generated field to float, have made some people compare her either to an angel or to a ghost (to those who feel more unsettled by her voidhanger appearance).

Aside from her unique physiology, Alice stands at around 1,68m and mostly uses custom protection equipment when on missions due to her body's unique shape, which often requires special adaptations to adjust to her legs and arms.

_Personality

Alice is, most of the times, a very tranquil woman. Very rarely raising her voice, her calmness and gentle voice is often said to be tranquilizing even to those around her, even though it might make her look a bit distant. Even while on missions, Alice's personality doesn't change much, which ends up being quite a boon when paired with rookies or those prone to get nervous or let their emotions take the better out of them. Strangely enough, she seems to often enjoy taking the role of a gentle, caring big sister in a team, particularly by taking a supportive position as a sniper for her team.

While she is gentle and kind to her allies, Alice still fulfills her duties on the battlefield without hesitation. While normally it would be hard for someone as gentle as her to shoot an enemy, Alice believes that every enemy she can incapacitate, means one less ally that is wounded or dies. With that said, she has a strict rule that she refuses to break: Never attacking anyone that has either surrendered or is unarmed.

_Backstory

Bio

With the fires of war and conflict ever burning through the galaxy, neutrality often becomes an incredibly dangerous choice to make... Especially when some of the powers would rather destroy the resources and information they can't secure for themselves. In such cases, those who claim neutrality on the ongoing conflict are often targeted, if they are considered to be too valuable to be lost... or worse, secured by the enemy.

This was the case of a particular research and exploration ship, consisting mostly of voidhangers, tasked by the Black City Conglomerate in exploring the applications of Ether, the Abyssical Plane and the Oneiric Chasm for the usage in wars. After refusing to produce more weapons to be used in the war, it's captain and crew became fugitives, having to flee to the corners of the galaxy to avoid the eyes of the eyes of either one of the sides of the war. Interestingly enough, there aren't many places where an entire ship can hide from the eyes and influence of either one of the three great powers and those running away from them often end up meeting each other. Due to the proximity to places with a high concentration of ether, more and more voidhangers in similar situations ended up together, slowly forming an entire fleet. It was exactly on this fleet Alice was born.

Due to the almost inhospitable place they chose to live, taking advantage of their unique physiology, the conflict and wars were, for a good deal of time, a distant threat for the fleet Alice was raised in. Due to the isolationist politics of their fleet, they subsisted mainly by trading with the few ships they could trust that wandered to the far corners of the galaxy and especially by hunting creatures from the Oneiric Chasm. Having been raised by two other Ethereologists, Alice grew up fascinated by the Ether, the Oneiric Chasm and it's mysteries. Since the first time she asked her father to take her with him to a hunting trip, she began taking every opportunity she could to go to expeditions to the Oneiric Chasm. Going even as far as learning how to shoot with her father and becoming quite the good marksman, securing her a place on the hunting party, only so she could have more chances to go to expeditions to the Oneiric Chasm, only to further satiate her curiosity and research.

Life, albeit simple, was free from the horrors of war... until the location of her fleet was discovered... Leaked by someone to the Black City Conglomerate... Whether they did it for profit, to protect their own lives or maybe on accident, it didn't matter. What did was that after so many years having forgotten about the wars, their fleet was not ready for the arrival of the forces of the Black City Conglomerate. Within a single day, their fleet was completely surrounded by the Black City Conglomerate forces. With nowhere to escape, they were forced to surrender. Immediately upon boarding, the BCC forces went through every single bit of data they had, old ones and even the new researches on the Oneiric Chasm they made on their time of isolation. Unfortunately, having their scarce possessions looked at and whatever interesting data they had stolen wasn't everything the BCC forces wanted. In times of conflict and war, having soldiers and extra hands to work was always necessary... and the BCC saw Voidhangers in particulars as being very useful...

At first, the BCC forces offered them a deal. They would offer them protection from the other powers, funding, resources and everything they currently lacked. In return, they only wanted their help in developing their own research on Ether. Despite the rather aggressive arrival, the BCC forces painted themselves as 'seekers of knowledge', unfortunate and unwilling participants on the current war. The initial offer seemed to be quite decent and so, the fleet decided to accept.

In the beginning, the BCC fulfilled their part of the agreement, but as time passed, the BCC required more and more 'help'. It started with simple research data regarding the Oneiric Chasm and the applications of Ether, but as the voidhangers' trust on the BCC grew, so did their greed and sooner than they had noticed, they were almost fully integrated into the BCC forces. Researchers and ethereologists working on the BCC research and development departments and the ones that were part of the hunters on the old fleet, used as scouts and soldiers in localized conflicts with the other great powers. But as the Black City Conglomerate's greed grew, so did the Voidhangers' dissatisfaction. Pressured to deliver more and more results with ever shorter deadlines, with their hunters being treated more and more like common BCC soldiers, a revolt was something that was bound to happen...

The breaking point was when the BCC, after overworking the voidhanger hunters by sending them to continuous scouting missions, ended up causing one of them to die of qillatu poisoning. Outraged, the voidhangers that were members of the old fleet united, staging a revolt, just like the one they did many years ago in order to break free from the inflience of one of the big powers. This time, it was the BCC.
Unfortunately, the BCC didn't prove to be as hesitant to use violence. The revolt was mercilessly crushed. Most of the voidhangers that picked up on weapons ending up either dead or enslaved, the few who were able to escape, did so by using the old escape pods from the ships in their old fleet after running from the BCC forces when their loss became evident... Even if that meant leaving their allies behind, as Alice's parents did, trying to save at least their child's life. Unfortunately, BCC enforcers were already expecting such outcome and ended up intercepting the group. The last thing Alice saw as she was pushed into the escape pod was her parents being shot by the BCC enforcers, before the escape pod finally closed.

For months, Alice survived drifting through space only by eating the old emergency rations before someone answered the emergency beacon from her escape pod. By a stroke of luck, the ones that rescued her didn't have any connection to the Black City Conglomerate. Instead, they were part of a group called the Intransigence. At first, Alice found it hard to trust them. Not only the isolated fleet she lived in had little idea of the political state of the conflicts from outside, but trusting others had already went terribly bad for them, as it was the case for the BCC. But slowly, she began warming up to the group, in part thanks to the kindness from the people who rescued her. With time, they ended up making an offer to her, motivated by her talents and her motivation to fight against the big powers that tore the galaxy apart with their greed.

Since then, after she received formal training from the Intransigence, Alice participated from a number of skirmishes and battles, both against the BCC and the other powers, hoping to be able to find and rescue members from her old fleet... If they were still alive.

_Etherealism

Alice's Etherealism focus on the raw application of ether to her surroundings. From powerful force-waves to the usage of ether limbs to crush enemies and her surroundings, she is capable of a frightening destructive power, in exchange for a high ether-signature left behind when she uses her powers. Alice is also capable to taking dives into the Abyssic plane, repositioning herself while she gathers ether, exploding in violent force waves as she emerges from it.

Due to her powerful Etherealism, Alice also developed quite a high tolerance to Qillatu. With that said, the symptoms of qillatu poisoning tend to be very dangerous when they finally happen. From immediately falling into shock, unconscious or in more dangerous cases, causing her to lose control over her powers and forcing her to either be incapacitated to stop the ether outburst.

While Alice's ether signature is quite easy to distinguish once she uses her powers, she learned some tricks on how to use it to her advantage in her time working for the BCC. One of those is extending her ether signature to form a large field around herself, masking her own ether signature by extending it outwards and flooding a large area with it instead. This area is virtually harmless to most living beings, being only useful against those trying to track her position by using her ether signature and helping her to track the position of anything with an ether signature inside said area. Whenever she uses her powers while this 'field' is active though, a pulse of ether is emitted, which can allow those who are able to track ether to triangulate her position after a few times.

_Skills

Ethereologist: Alice spent years studying about ether, the Oneiric Chasm and the Abyssical Plane. Her knowledge can be incredibly helpful when dealing with situations involving such matters. Studies about the biology of void creatures also gave her a good understanding of how their bodies work.

Hunter: Both her experience in hunting void creatures and the time she spent working for the BCC made her a very good shooter and able to mover herself incredibly quietly, without being seen. Her being rather fragile on close combat makes it quite fitting for her to take a supporting position on the backline.

Ether-sensing: Due to her experience in dealing with Ether, Alice learned how to track and sense ether signatures, being able to track other Etherealists without the use of specialized equipment if necessary.

_Equipment

Light-weight scout armor - Adapted: Lightweight suit of armor. The model Alice use was adapted to her unique physiology. Focuses on mobility and agility rather than offering any meaningful defense. The hood and skirt are made from a flexible, fabric-like polymer, which can change it's color when Ether is injected into it. Assists the armor user to hide themselves by taking similar colors to their surroundings. Works better when completely immobile, crouching or lying down. Based on the color-changing characteristics of a few specific types of creatures in the Oneiric Chasm and the Abyssic Plane

Extreme-distance precision rifle: Precision bolt-action rifle boosting impressive precision and range, but limited ammo, low impact and destructive power, but outstanding penetration. It's focused more on penetrating a single point with special, needle like tungsten rounds. It can also be loaded with syringe-like rounds to administer tranquilizing substances, paralyzing venom or even helpful mixtures like adrenaline, antidotes, painkillers or even mixtures to help dealing with Qillatu buildup.

Standard Intransigence sidearm: Standard pistol issued to intransigence agents.

Orbis: The Liberation of Gyrland

Even though it didn't take long until the unmistakable signal that marked the beginning of the operation, Klara could feel her heart beating faster with every second she had to wait. The excitement growing as she imagined the oncoming battle. It was close now, so close she could feel the scent of burning oil in the air, the screeching noise of metal being cut and melted, the smell of gunpowder... She could barely wait...

The order to begin was marked by Outlander's shots. The powerful light coming from his laser cannon, followed by the rhythmical noise of five shots, one after another as they struck the bunker, annihilating it in the blink of an eye. The very moment the fifth shot hit it's target, the Wraith began moving. Even before Saint gave her the confirmation, the Wraith began slowly moving towards the battle-frames. Almost imperceptibly, the only hint of Klara doing so was her position on her allies' radar, which was slowly approaching the group of lancers.

"It'll be my pleasure..." Klara replied as she heard Saint's orders through the comms, her voice quivering as she let out an unsettling giggle.

The moment Saint's shots hit the three widows, causing the lancers to immediately go on alert, the Wraith, who was already a few steps away from them, pounced in one of the lancer's back, piercing each shoulder with heated daggers, immediately immobilizing it's arms.

"Too bad the shots ruined my entrance..." Klara said with an unnerving chuckle on the open comms, clearly talking to the enemy Lancers.

"No worries... There are still quite a few of you left for me to play with!" Klara said, laughing as the Wraith's tail pierced the immobilized lancer's chest, going straight through the cockpit before it got up, it's arms rotating and splitting into four, with a third pair of arms unfolding from the battle-frame's legs, all of them armed with heat knives.

Before the other lancers could even attack, the Wraith engaged it's disruption and counter-measure systems, quickly enveloping itself and the group of lancers in an electrified smoke and chaff cloud, completely jamming their radars and detection systems. Completely blind, the lancer pilots were forced to rely on their very own eyes and ears. The sounds of shouting through the open comms coming from the lancer pilots was almost drowned by the gunfire as they fired their gatling guns shot wildly, trying the unknown attacking battle-frame. Unlike the lancers, her allies, especially Aurelia, Saint and Outlander had a direct link to the Wraith's radar and detection systems, which allowed them to know it's position regardless of the emp and the other counter-measures employed by the Wraith.

Amidst such chaos, a deeply unsettling giggle could be heard coming from the open communication channel. Teasing, provoking and playing with them.

"You're neext~" Klara said excitedly as she and the wraith dashed right besides another lancer, carving open a deep cut on one of it's legs, causing it to immediately lose its balance and fall to it's knees before she jumped away, dashing through the group of lancers, getting close enough so they could catch a glimpse of the Wraith only to bait them to swing their lances, only to miss her as she disappeared in the smoke once again.

"I wonder if your superiors still remember me. It would be so cold of their part if they didn't... Don't you agree?~" she continued as she approached the fallen Lancer once again, just as one of the other lancers sent a salvo of bullets towards her direction, only for Karla to hide behind the fallen lancer, using the Wraith's tail to hold it's lance while staying just behind him, where it's gatling guns couldn't hit her.

"Maybe this might refresh their memories!!" Karla said, laughing hysterically as she plunged two of her heat daggers into the fallen lancer's chest, slowly moving them towards the center where the pilot was, making them get closer and closer to the center.

"Go ahead, call your superiors... Let them hear your cries and tell them... Tell them Sanngridr is back~" Karla said, stopping the heat knives just before hitting the center, waiting for half a second only to pierce the lancer's cockpit from the back with one of the Wraith's extra arms as she giggled excitedly before tearing the head from the fallen lancer and throwing it far outside the smoke, landing between her position and Saint's, just as Aurelia mentioned if they could make any more noise.

"Two down~ How many of you are still left again? I am having so~ much fun I ended up forgetting!" she said, her voice quivering with excitement as she let out a blood-curdling laughter, jumping away just as one of the other lancers charged against her, his lance going straight through the lancer she just destroyed.


"So weak and insignificant... I really thought more of the empire's pilots... No matter... You will all end up like your friend over there once I'm done playing with you." Karla continued, openly mocking the lancer pilots as she continued moving through the smoke.

13org's characters

Nellara

_{Name | Age | Race | Occupation
Nellara, 23, Tekeri, Castigator for the Order of Magisters}

Detailed Appearance

Standing at about 2,30m (7'4"), Nellara's appearance, unlike some Tekeri, can be considered to be more elegant and beautiful than outright feral. Even with the two pairs of ferocious, sharp looking eyes, the dangerous claws, talons and her hooked, serrated beak, Nellara's beautiful, black feathers, her tall, lean and elegant body and the beautiful crown of feathers adorning her head make her quite a majestic creature to look at. The gold dye adorning her face and crown of feathers only give her an even more 'dignified' appearance, matching the gold decorations on her chitin armor which extend until her talons and claws.

With one look, it becomes clearly evident that Nellara is as dangerous as any other warrior though, despite her elegant build when compared to other, more 'feral' looking Tekeri.

Much like many other Tekeri, Nellara doesn't use weapons, instead preferring to make use of the natural weapons and her physical prowess. Nellara in particular seems to focus on using her legs and talons as weapons, supported by her speed and Lightning Magic.

_Personality

As a result of both her training and upbringing, Nellara was taught to be ruthlessly efficient, cold, logical and practical in everything she did. Hesitation, both in acting and fulfilling orders was a sign of failure. Showing one's emotions while fulfilling her duty, a sign of weakness and through all Nellara's training, repeated failures were always answered with punishment.
Since she was young, these values were always carved into her mind by both harsh training and education. Staying true to that, Nellara is nothing but cold and ruthlessly efficient when performing her duties as a Castigator.

Be it both for the gold marks in her feathers, the dark armor she wears or the imposing almost regal presence that demands respect, it is hard to ignore Nellara's presence. Exuding both elegance and danger, Nellara carries herself with the pride of someone who has earned the title of Castigator for the Order of Magisters.

In the rare moments where Nellara is not officially on duty as a Castigator, one might find that she isn't as hard to approach as she seems to be nor is she as cold as she normally is when on duty. While definitely still an intense and fierce woman, her curiosity is a good way of earning her interest and striking up a good conversation with her. Despite her rather 'fierce' personality, Nellara still takes care of her appearance, cleaning and maintaining both her feathers and dying them whenever the gold paint starts to fade.

_Backstory

Bio

Unlike many Tekeri, who were raised in commoner families without many resources, Nellara was born as the result of the union of two mages, one of which was a life mage and thus, highly valued by the Ascendancy. Thanks to her lineage and the expectation that was put into her awakening into a powerful mage, she was able to receive the best education and training one could, with her childhood been largely spent studying and training.

Unfortunately, awakening one's magic isn't something that can be forced and is largely left up to fate. Regardless of how much Nellara trained while she was younger and how much she prepared, magic only came to Nellara very late and with great difficulty. Even after awakening as a lightning mage, manifesting her magic was always difficult for Nellara, to the point that her parents started losing their hopes on her and instead focused their attention on her siblings.

Despite having lost favor with her parents, Nellara didn't give up. While having been tossed aside by her family did wound both her confidence and her feelings, it only made Nellara even more determined to show them that they were wrong. Instead of focusing her efforts on magic, she decided to train her body as much as she could. Soon it became evident that even though Nellara seemed to lack talent for magic, she more than made up for it with her physical capabilities. She was fast, agile, strong, deadly. Few were the ones who were able to dodge her kicks in the sparring sessions, even fewer were those who were able to come out unscathed after being hit. Despite being considered as a waste of resources by her family, despite the lack of talent for magic, for a moment, Nellara thought that she was going to make it... That was until she decided to try applying to the position of a Castigator for the Order of Magisters...

As soon as the selection process began, all the confidence Nellara had built by showing her superiority against other Tekeris was simply crushed. Even though she was still physically superior to many applicants, the lack of magic showed to be a huge disadvantage. Even by trying her hardest, Nellara was only able to barely pass to the second phase of the selection process. On this phase, the applicants would be dispatched to a location where the Ascendancy has some interest in, adistant territory beyond the Ascendancy's borders in order to deliver report about it an and resolving any issues along the way.

The place Nellara was dispatched to investigate was a small village in an arid, desert-like territory. Assailed by wild beasts and the harsh, arid climate, the trip to the village was an arduous and harsh one. The wild beasts, despite being small, were still dangerous, due to many of them either hunting in packs of being venomous. More than once, Nellara saw herself having to flee or avoid crossing the path of giant ants that made their home near the deserts.

After three days, Nellara finally arrived at the village. Tired, exhausted and with her body covered with cuts and scratches, she was received in the village by one of the families there, who took her in, fed her and took care of her wounds in exchange for a few pieces of silver. At first, Nellara thought that it was just one family, but as soon as she regained her strength and went to investigate the village, she noticed that all the Tekeris that lived there had immaculately white feathers, something that was incredibly rare back in Arcaeda.

Her first meeting with the elder of that village wasn't a very amicable one. The strange, albino Tekeri, had his body, feathers and claws decorated with gold, forming lines that connecting them in a complex pattern. Despite his advanced age, his first words were as harsh as his eyes were as he asked Nellara for the reason for her visit.
After Nellara finished giving him a brief explanation, mentioning she was acting under orders of the Magisters, the elder simply sneered, showing his discontent. Despite Nellara's insistence, the elder, who introduced himself as Aibiq, didn't seem to believe her. Arcaeda had abandoned him and his village for years, to assume they would suddenly send someone to make a report was simply preposterous and immediately ordered Nellara to leave.

Upon Nellara's refusal, Aibiq's patience had visibly started to run thin and even before Nellara could try and explain herself the elder approached her and with a surprising speed, especially taking in consideration his age, he extended his hand and approached Nellara's forehead with the tip of the claw on his index finger. The moment the gold painted claw touched her, before Nellara could even act, a strong electrical current ran through the elder's body jumping from one golden line to the other in dangerous arcs of electricity. The moment the electricity was about to reach her and the Elder's claw was just about to touch her, a strong spark of electricity suddenly jumped, coming from Nellara's own body and met the Elder's claw, repelling both of them and sending them flying to separate sides of the room.

As Nellara opened her eyes, after suffering a strong impact, she was met with Aibiq's surprised expression as he stood up again. Before Nellara could open her mouth, he simply raised his hand, asking for silence. It was then that Aibiq made Nellara a proposal that would change her life. In exchange of interceding for that village when reporting to the Order of Magisters, Aibiq would teach Nellara about their unique way of using Lightning magic, which greatly differed from how the Magisters taught. At that moment, Nellara was met with a choice she had to make... She could go back to Arcaeda and complete the second phase of the selection, only to fail when competing with the other applicants... Or she could give up from the selection process and stay to learn the Tekeri nomads' way... In the end, she chose to take the chance and stay on the village.

Nellara would stay in the nameless vilage for eight months, where she would learn that she wasn't suited for how the Magisters taught Lightning magic and instead, learned the ways of the Tekeri nomads. From the usage of iron sand, magnetism, iron spheres to how gold could be used as a conductor for their lightning magic. In the end of those eight months, Nellari, having been taught everything she could learn, underwent a ceremony where she was taught the gold patterns and the markings which now adorn her feathers, body and claws.

Her return to Arcaeda was unsurprisingly met with the disapproval from the Order of Magisters and her family, for having failed the second part of the selection. Despite such reception, Nellara was unfazed by the harsh, judgemental stares. Using what she learned with the nomads, she once again volunteered for the seat of Castigator and unlike the first time, Nellara crushed the competition. Unlike her previous self, she didn't doubt herself or her skills anymore and with renewed determination and confidence, she shattered previous records, earning the title of Castigator with a frightening speed. In the end Castigator Nellara stood proud of her accomplishment, having reached such position with nothing but her own blood and effort.

_{Magical Affiliation}

Lightning Domain Proficiency: Nellara uses her Lightning Domain magic in a rather ingenious manner. While she is unable to use lightning as projectiles or summon it from the skies, she is able to use magnetism to control iron sand, using iron spheres as projectiles or even create a strong electricity current linking one iron sphere to another. The gold markings in her claws can also serve as conductors, allowing her to electrocute enemies as she strikes them.

_Skills

Unarmed Combat: Like some Tekeris, Nellara prefers to use her claws and talons as weapons. While skilled with both her hands and feet, her specialty is the usage of deadly kicks, coupled with her speed and her lightning magic.

Wilderness Survival: All Castigators are required to know how to survive by themselves in the wild as they are frequently required to take long trips in order to fulfill their duty to the Ascendancy.

Unconventional Lightning Magic: Nellara can use magnetism to control iron sand, iron spheres and use the gold markings on her claws and talons to conduct electricity when striking her opponents. While she is unable to summon electricity from the skies or use ranged attacks just with electricity, she can fire iron spheres as projectiles (one at a time) or use iron spheres on the ground to conduct electricity from one to another to electrocute enemies nearby these spheres or prevent them from running.

_Equipment

Darkened Chitin Armor: Armor made of darkened chitin plates. While it's not as strong as a metallic armor, it's much lighter and has the added benefit of being resistant to lightning mages.

Pouch of small iron spheres: A pouch containing a handful of small iron spheres with a centimeter of diameter each.

Pouch of Iron Sand: A pouch of heavily concentrated, black iron sand Nellara takes with her in order to use with her Lightning Domain magic.

The Five Senses - Second Arc (Accepting New Players!)

Karina Frost

Despite being a Lord's manor, luxury was hardly present, considering the adaptations one had to do to most things due to the influence of the divergence. Regardless, it wasn't anything intolerable. The soap, albeit bland and cheap, was more than enough to clean oneself and the overall accommodations, while undeniably bland when compared to most stuff outside, were still as adequate as they could be, considering the divergence.

Even though the lord had offered them his hospitality and decided to cooperate, Karina still respectfully declined the wine after they were told the dinner was served. While the probability of it being poisoned or drugged was very low, drinking alcohol in the place and situation she was in was hardly a smart choice to make. Regardless, she still sat at the table and ate a healthy portion of food, despite the announcement made by the servants that the princess and the lord would be dining by themselves in a separate room, something that wasn't exactly suspicious or anything, considering the political implications that such conversation between them would have.

"Thank you." Karina said towards the young servant, with an understanding nod before she turned towards Chres, which she had caught eyeing the wine just a moment before the servant arrived with her message.

"Getting drunk here wouldn't exactly be the smartest choice, Chres." Karina said, not so discreetly suggesting him to not overindulge as he usually did.

"Smart or not, it would at least liven up this dinner a little... This silence is almost depressing..." Akai said, rolling her eyes as she looked to the others.

"Not only the divergence's effects are unpredictably dangerous, but the fact that there are dangerous prisoners nearby make certain... luxuries impossible for the people living here.. These peoplemust adapt to these circumstances in order to afford unfortunate... 'accidents'. Just think about what would happen if a bunch of people threw a party and got drunk here? I can imagine a hundred different things that could go expectacularly wrong." Karina said to Akai while at the same time, giving another glance towards Chres, as a reminder that drinking right now was a REALLY bad idea.

Avalia

Time: One week after Zora arrived into Avalia.
Location: Riverbloom, Daisy Bakery
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Barrock @Conscripts, Rowan
Mentions:

---

Soon after speaking with Rowan, Zora's attention finally was directed towards the orc, perhaps a tad bit late though. From the brief lessons she had about Kanth-Aremek with Aurora and Rowan, she was told about orcs. A race of ferocious and violent fighters, blessed with a truly intimidating physique, but with a tendency for solving most problems with violence while not being as cunning as the other races when outside combat. But despite everything she had heard about orcs, the one who was in front of her was very different from the stereotypes she heard and was told about them. Incredibly calm and collected, not resorting to violence even when it would be justified, such as the situation with the dark elf a few moments ago.

"No matter where we are, it seems there are always pathetic people like that dark elf..." Zora said, referring to the scene they witnessed a moment ago.

"Something tells me it was not the first time you had to deal with such situation... After all, you dealt with it in an admirable manner." She said, as she gave a step forward and extended her hand towards the orc.

"Sorry for intruding on your training. I am Zora." She said, greeting him as she watched the orc, intently observing his reactions, almost as if she was analyzing him.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

"A universal truth indeed." Nellara said, raising an eyebrow as she watched, amused as the glen Ixtaro was looking at struggled to stand upright as he continued drinking.

Regardless of the offenses that were committed by Silbermine and his 'loyal knights', the common glen soldiers weren't at fault for what was happening and Nellara knew that. No matter how badly was her impression of Silbermine or how the Mythadian forces disrespected the Ascension territory, the common soldiers had simply nothing to do with their superiors' choices. Softening her gaze would probably be a good idea, not only out of consideration to the common glen soldiers, but more importantly, since it might make the very Tekeri soldiers feel uncomfortable.

"Hm... Considering your species seem to be the dominating one on your home, it is understandable that regional differences might appear. Different cities, different kingdoms, different cultures..." Nellara said, thinking about Ixtaro's answer, still a bit amused on how she was using words from different languages.

While such cultural differences between members of a single race could be quite interesting, Ixtaro would soon explain that it also brought much strife and many wars over the centuries. Conflicts that seemed to almost be, as Ixtaro suggested, part of human nature, seeing as how those continued to hold them back from creating a paradise for their own race to inhabit, despite having such advanced technology.

"Perhaps the introduction of a common foe might have been the first step towards escaping such 'violent nature'. The sense of unity that the despair of a common foe might have brought. The new heights humans were able to attain due to uniting themselves and forgetting their previous differences..." Nellara replied.

When Ixtaro mentioned the Jotunheim itself was a weapon, Nellara raised an eyebrow, surprised. While her reaction was rather mild, internally, she was quite shocked. Knowing that the entire ship was a weapon made her quite relieved that her first choice was to establish friendly relations with the humans instead of showing any hostility. A race of beings that seemed to be eternally engulfed in war with themselves, since the beginning of times, undoubtedly had developed very powerful instruments of war.

The very idea of such 'ships' seemed to be one intimately linked with violence and war, as Ixtaro mentioned when talking about what happened to the people from her homeland after other humans arrived on wooden ships. What was perhaps most alarming about the story Ixtaro told was that Nellara herself could imagine very well a similar situation unfolding in Kanth-Aremek, should other 'groups' of humans, ones that weren't as amicable as Zeynep's crew arrived. Such concerns would definitely be written in later reports to the Ascendancy, once the current situation was dealt with.

"I see..." Nellara said, with a serious expression flashing over her face for a brief moment.

"The reason for such extreme cautiousness over sharing human knowledge and technology seems to be much clearer and justified now." Nellara said, certainly relieved on how seriously the Jotunheim crew seemed to take the act of sharing their technology. Not out of selfishness but out of concern of what it could do to Kanth-Aremek.

The emotions invoked by the matter they were discussing quickly became apparent in Ixtaro's voice and expression. Nellara herself noticed how she seemed to change matters as soon as she realized that she was losing her composure and respectfully moved on as well.

"In these cases, respect seems to be the key word. For both sides, coexistence isn't impossible, as long as both sides respect each other." Nellara said, agreeing with Ixtaro as she talked about how even for the humans, religions were remarkably hard to deal with.

With other humans going to check up on Kerchak, Nellara started getting a bit worried that things might quickly get out of hand, considering how quick some of the humans were to resort to violence. Due to that, the moment Ixtaro mentioned she would go after Kerchak, Nellara was a bit relieved, knowing she was a bit more... sensible than a few of the other humans she had briefly met earlier.

"Some of the humans might have a rather... excessive reaction to the scene but just remember, it might look quite unsettling, but he probably had a bad reaction to the alcohol." Nellara said, nodding towards Ixtaro as she started making her way.

Just before she turned away though, Ixtaro had one more thing to say to Nellara, her tone visibly more serious as she talked about making peace with Mythadia, using her own race's story about how bigger threats would destroy them should they keep warring against each other.

"Thank you for the advice, Ixtaro. Although, as I mentioned earlier, respect is the key to the relationship between our kingdoms. The way our societies work might be incompatible with each other, but as long as respect is maintained, coexistence should not be a challenge. Once again, it is not mine or the Ascension's desire to start a war against Mythadia." she said, her tone, posture and expression quickly suggesting she was talking not as 'Nellara', but as a Castigator, before her expression quickly went back to normal.

It was only after Ixtaro was gone that Nellara noticed that humans were the majority that went to check on Kerchak. Suddenly, the idea of having Ixtaro go wasn't enough to make Nellara relaxed about the situation. Not enough for her to go after, but enough for her to keep an eye on the direction where the group of humans went soon after.

While paying attention to any commotion from the humans and Kerchak, Nellara ended up also noticing how close General Kvarr was from the Warden... Their closeness made even more apparent since they were from the same race and from the fact that both of them attained positions of extreme importance in other kingdoms... Suddenly, Ixtaro's warnings about other enemies became a bit more relevant...

Avalia

Time: Morning
Location: Forest near Guarav Village
Interactions: Cyrus @Helo, Ophelia @princess, Dante @FunnyGuy Darius @Samreaper Menzai
Equipment:

Steel Dagger of Unbreaking

Cannot break or become dull.

243 Amas

Viola nodded in silence as she heard Cyrus' words, agreeing with him. The whole idea that Ophelia she once knew might be truly gone and that they would need to get to 'know' her again was still something Viola found difficult to accept, bringing many mixed feelings about whether Ophelia had truly abandoned and forgotten about her or not.

"Both the wounded wolf and Ophelia... don't seem to display any hostility towards us. As long as they are around, no more problems should arise." Viola replied after Cyrus asked if she was okay with following them back to their village. Even though Viola didn't trust the other wolves, the authority the wounded wolf had over them was evident with the few words he spoke. Besides... Everyone present seemed to value Ophelia's opinions too much to just ignore her.

Despite being both exhausted, the two men who were disguised as elves still approached them to introduce themselves. The one to speak was the younger one, Darius, who was carrying his exhausted older brother, Dante after both displayed such powerful magic. While their magic was certainly powerful, the way they exhausted themselves after using too much of it hinted towards them not being experienced with controlling and using their own powers.

"Viola. We are thankful... for your assistance." Viola said to Darius, introducing herself.

Unlike her brother Cypress who quickly offered to help Darius to carry Dante back to the village, Viola's sharp eyes were quick to betray that she was still suspicious and wary, despite her words of thanks and her neutral tone.

Despite all the internal conflicts Viola still had regarding Ophelia and the entire situation, she still visibly lowered her guard the moment she turned towards her and Cyrus, asking if they were wounded.

"These are nothing. This little one will take care of them, like always. Thank you." Viola said, referring to the Blood Rose and the wounds made by it's thorns when she was fighting the Roc.

As Ophelia went towards Menzai, Viola looked towards Cyrus, seeking confirmation to whether they would follow the others back to the village or if they would wait for Ophelia and Menzai, due to the authority and power they seemed to hold over the other wolves.