Asura

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

It was difficult to discern whether the torrent of words that came pouring from Ueno was an information dump or a form of therapy for the girl. It was somewhat ironic; Noriaki had done all he could to avoid other Persona users, at least until his hand had been forced, and yet his senior seemed to find some level of catharsis in having other contract holders to talk with. If all she said was true—and he had little reason to doubt it, considering their similarly bizarre circumstances—then he couldn't fault her for it too much. She had shouldered the burden for far longer than he had, in addition to losing her friends to the Other Side and its unknowable machinations. The last member remaining member of the previous batch. Pushing aside the implication of their own disposable nature, the teen found himself no less stir crazy as the recounting of events began to work its way to a conclusion. He had, over the last week, pieced together some of what she had to tell them. Her explanation helped fill in gaps here and there, although none were of any comfort to him. Not least among those uncomfortable revelations was reveal of the ground zero of this entire supernatural affair; Daigo had quickly confirmed to their senpai that the house in question had been the one they had visited a few nights prior, and the burned out ruin that had been his initiation point into the world of Persona even earlier than that. As much as he didn't want a bunch of random classmates buzzing around his house every time William decided to humor them, there was no avoiding it now. "Would it make you feel better or worse if I told you the place that I ran into that girl looked exactly like a stage? Or that her sudden appearance as a cat came the day after William told me the 'previous denizen' had escaped? I don't exactly know who your friend was, or what she looked like, but I reckon she might know a little more about Mineri-san than just her whereabouts. Might wanna ask her yourself, if she decides to sniff us out today." He found himself once again eying the doorway to the locker room after his contribution. "Actually, it's pretty weird that she hasn't shown up yet. I swore I saw her earlier, which should have keyed me in on something happening today. Always figured it was the black cats that brought bad luck, but here we are."

Tales of Symphonia Interest Check

<Snipped quote by Asura>

A seal is a location in the world where a lot of mana is gathered and where the Summon Spirits rest. It's equivalent to a temple.

@Hero

oh that's messed

Tales of Symphonia Interest Check

so wait, whats a seal?

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

All in all, this outcome was probably the best Noriaki could have asked for. His suspicions about their blind senior were all but confirmed by her jubilation at their presence and the knowledge they too had been roped into William's little scheme. It was for the best, as it meant he didn't need to bullshit some piss poor good Samaritan excuse to explain their sudden storming of the locker room. She seemed absolutely desperate for details from her fellow 'Awakened', and seeing as though Daigo had a tendency to blabber when he was nervous, the teen found a part of the wall devoid of lockers to lean himself up against, crossing his arms and shooting the occasional glance towards the entrance as the others explained themselves. The others did an okay enough job at explaining the happenstances that had led them into this particular scenario. Of course, Daigo knew more than Mori seemed to, but Daigo was a few gasps away from a panic attack, so he couldn't fault the poor kid for not explaining their little midnight rendezvous into the burnt out house. It would be up to him to explain that part, when it was his time to speak. Which it seemed to be. "You want the long version or the short version? Actually, don't answer that. We don't have time for the long version. Power could come back on any minute now," He began, peering towards the mirror and its spectral visitor while speaking, as if he put as much stock in an intruder bursting through it as he did with the actual door, "Earlier in the week, I followed a cat into a burnt out house at the end of my street. Bunch of ghostly hands dragged me through a mirror inside the ruins. Ended up finding a girl in there, got my Persona, saved her from some horrible demon woman, and she sent me on my way. Figured that would be the end of that, but a few days later, she reappeared—as a cat this time, although different from the first one—and roped me into saving these two from the same hands that tried to do me in." He almost gestured towards Daigo and Genki for emphasis, but quickly realized how dumb he'd look trying to pantomime to the visually impaired. Instead, he carried on spinning his little yarn, figuring it best to address the ostensible mastermind of the entire affair. "Decided to go to the house again the day before yesterday, after William made his little appearance in my dreams, spewing cryptic shit. Turns out, the place looks way different when you're Awakened. Interior is still furnished, and that damned catgirl lives there. William's there too, although he didn't offer Hinari or I anything of use. Just vaguely implications that we ought to do whatever the butterfly wants us to do, or more people are going to get hurt." He chewed his lip as the words settled, mowing over anything he might have missed in his very generous abridged version of events. A final thought did occur to him, mostly in response to a tidbit from Genki's explanation that stuck out in his mind. "Wouldn't count on Sasaki showing up to help us. She cashed out her contract, apparently. I'd be surprised if we saw her at school again, to hear the consequences of that told."

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@Obscene Symphony

There was the slightest reprieve from the situation's frustrating roots when Daigo puffed his cheeks out in protest—it took all Noriaki had to keep his expression straight when faced with such protests, not least of which because the childish pouting did nothing to make the poor guy look any more masculine. Like so many moments of levity in his life in recent times, it was quickly snatched away from him by the sudden appearance of a mysterious girl. In this case, the blind upperclassman that had been host to a pity party earlier came bumbling by, and to Noriaki's chagrin, right into the locker room their group had been meandering around the entrance of. The only small consolation was her lack of sight; after all, if someone who could see had suddenly needed to use the changing room, he would have immediately had to explain the impromptu huddle around such sacred ground to the female student body. It wasn't enough of a consolation, though. They still needed access to the locker room, and he doubted that all three of them could simply sneak around such an echo-prone space to find the mirror and enter without alerting her, and the last thing he needed was for her to get spooked and cry for help. The alternative was to simply allow her to bumble into whatever hellish creature came pouring out of the mirror given enough time to fester. Maybe she would luck out and awaken a Persona like his companions had. Or, she'd find out first hand whatever the shadows intended to do with people from their side of the divide. Either way, both would probably work out better for him in the long run than charging in to play hero for a girl he hardly knew. It certainly never worked out well when he did it for girls he actually knew. Luckily (for her), Daigo seemed to find his conscience first, or perhaps he had already submitted himself to the fate of playing their gender-masking vanguard. The ginger's blubbering earned a roll of his eyes as he watched his classmate walk towards the door. "If you don't wanna see it, just take your glasses off. That should work, right?" The wait that followed was tense, not least of which because of the ever present possibility that one of the blind girl's hanger-ons would come looking for her and find not only he and Mori standing outside like idiot, but Daigo in the middle of his infiltration. It was perhaps more of a blessing that when a disturbance did break out, it came from within rather than without. Resonant shouts echoed from the doorway, a mixture of two voices, and before he knew it, the last of his remaining partners in crime went barreling through the door after barking in Chinese of all things. Snarling a few curses of his own under his breath, he followed in seconds after, hoping that the ginger hadn't been so thoroughly defeated by a girl with a cane in the twenty seconds he'd been gone. What he found, albeit through the barely lit darkness, was somehow even less impressive—Daigo laid out directly in front of a low-lying bench, which likely caused his current vertical state. It was bad enough that he had announced himself after falling, but worse still that Mori had done the very same. He contemplated abandoning the two to their fate, but it would do little to soothe the growing unrest to come if he simply backed out now, to say nothing of a certain feline's inevitable appearance. Besides, their upperclassmen was in such a curious position, clawing at the butterfly itself as it perched upon the reflective surface that would undoubtedly be their entrance to the other side. "I'm not gonna explain anything," The teen added his contrarian voice to the chorus, "But maybe you can. Like, why you're hammering on a mirror in the middle of a blackout. Don't happen to be engaging in some spontaneous butterfly hunting, are you?"

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo

"I got a feeling that no matter what happens, you're gonna end up crying about it." Noriaki retorted with a roll of his eyes, though he ultimately did wait for Mori to run off and retrieve the pint-sized ginger's glasses before he did anything else, though he felt like half a kindergarten teacher for doing so, standing around holding the wrist of a shorter, more fidgety student. Once Daigo had his glasses back on his face where they belonged, the impatient teen wasted little time in dragging him along, assuming that the taller of his two impromptu companions would come along more willingly. Of course, he couldn't get very far before one of his many new acquaintances cut him off, halting his forward advance. The former athlete eyed Sakuya carefully as she jogged along, barking orders as she went. The last thing he needed was for her to decide to jam her nose in his business in the middle of a would-be supernatural crisis, but luckily, her responsibilities left her just as blind to his presence as the girl she hurried passed in her own rushed departure. The weariness in his gaze only grew as he watched the butterfly circle about her before darting down towards the locker rooms. Fate must not have wanted Noriaki to make much headway in his reluctant march towards the Other Side—he had only made a few long strides down the hall on the tail of the butterfly before it fluttered its way into locker room opposite the one he was familiar with. He stared towards it for a few long seconds, watching the last glimmers of the spectral insect's light disappearing into the unknown that was the girl's changing area. Then, finding his resolve, he suddenly yanked at the arm he had been clutching since leaving the gym, using the force of the sudden motion to thrust Daigo in the direction of the doorway. "It's gotta be you," he declared with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest to lend credence to his sagely posture, "Mori and I would look too out of place if someone caught us in there. You, you might manage to fit in."

Pariah Online: A Voyage into the Intangible Aether

hey is there a waiting list for this it looks so cool.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo

If he hadn't actually been glowering before, the sudden protest from Daigo definitely got Noriaki to scowl. As the coach wandered off to calm the students, Noriaki leaned in so he could hiss his response in a low tone. "I don't know if you've gotten the hint yet, but we don't exactly have a choice as to whether we go, Personas or not. You probably couldn't summon yours that night because that asshole didn't want us roasting him with ours," It probably wasn't the kind of reassurance the redhead was looking for, but it stood to reason, if only because Noriaki definitely would have singed the guy with Helel if given the opportunity. "He won't have any reason to prevent us from using them while we're off doing his dirty work, so let's go already—otherwise, Mori is gonna start getting antsy." The teen took a moment to gesture behind Daigo with a jerk of his head, to bring attention to their fellow classmate, as if it were all that hard to miss him in the first place, considering his height. With any luck, it would provide the distraction necessary to get a hold of the squirrely freshman's wrist and drag him out of the gymnasium before the butterfly got too far and hands started sprouting from the walls again.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 13th 2018 L O C A T I O N Hinotori Highschool T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth

Friday was shaping up to be a real shit day. After his ill-fated exploration with Daigo earlier in the week, there was a brief, precious day of respite, where nothing irritating happened and Noriaki could pretend his life retained a semblance of normality. Then the faculty decided to go ahead and ruin that with some harebrained bonding scheme. In truth, it wasn't all that bad. It was just an impromptu athletics festival without any of the fanfare or excitement. Take some time out of classes, go play sports with your senpais, and fend off the vultures trying to scout you for their clubs. For most of the student body it was little more than a nuisance, and for the more athletics ones, maybe a little bit of fun. Yet despite all his athleticism, there was absolutely no joy to be had in playing sports for Noriaki. Especially not ones played in a school setting. It made him feel pathetic. It had been almost a year since his little incident with the team back in Osaka, but his mood immediately soured whenever he so much as thought about baseball, or joining up with another club. He had loved the game, loved playing, and now he couldn't so much as watch the other class play without trudging up old feelings he'd promised himself he wouldn't humor. If there was any mercy in the events of the day, it was that his class had been picked to remain indoors, and instead of taking up on the diamond, they had the gymnasium assigned to them. He hadn't taken much of a shine to basketball before, but in the moment, it provided him with an outlet for all his negativity. Rather than brooding on the sidelines, the transfer student made himself a tyrant of the court. The teen found himself between games, wicking the sweat from his brow with the rim of his shirt when—in a predictable turn of events—the power was lost. The mixture of panic and disappointment from his classmates was all but lost on Noriaki in that moment. His blood ran cold, not for fear, but in the briefest moment of internal pleading. Not today. Why did it have to be a day that already sucked so much? Either guided by a growing instinct, or by sheer happenstance, his blue hues drifted through the dark and landed upon the unfortunately familiar silhouette of a butterfly. The ice in his veins quickly turned to fire. "God fuckin' dammit." Having to deal with bizarre supernatural bullshit was bad enough. Having to deal with that bullshit with next to no warning at the drop of a hat was even worse. As much as he wanted to ignore the fluttering azure insect, it would only be a matter of time before something more dire happened to force his hand. Whether it be the dumb little cat from down the street, or the grabby hands from the mirror, something drastic would occur if he didn't go running to answer the call like some kind of attack dog. The only solace to be had was that maybe, just maybe, he'd have the opportunity to beat the living shit out of something with a big sword. Maybe that would improve his mood. He couldn't go alone though, much as he wanted to. There was no telling what craziness awaited him at the end of the trail the butterfly was concocting. His eyes immediately moved from it towards the shock of red hair in his peripheral vision, and Noriaki gave Daigo a knowing looking—albeit one that likely came off more like a glower considering his dispotion—before gesturing with his neck to the teacher in charge. "Hey, coach, is this a good time to use the bathroom? I gotta go, and so does Hinari." He said after jogging over to the man in charge, hiking a thumb towards the aforementioned redhead, "We'll be back before the power, I'm sure."

Itiner: Heroes of Ardenfeld

meow

Nathaniel Brightwood

Who I Am

Nathaniel is the quintessential bard: charming, eloquent, and always just a little dramatic. He believes in living life to its fullest and without regret, his formative experiences teaching him a painful lesson in its fragility and transience. Such a belief has led him to a life of hedonism, something he is rather unapologetic about, though he never allows himself to devolve into uncouth debauchery, if only out of pride. For all the stories and songs he espouses of great heroes and mighty triumphs, Nathan is something of a cynic. He understands how the world works in actuality, and that there are never enough heroes to rescue every backwater from every owlbear. Perhaps that is why he's dedicated his life to singing their graces: to uphold the illusion that help is always just a horizon away.

My Story

Nathaniel's birth was something of a scandal in Ardenfeld at the time—while most children in the town were born of couples from the town, only one of his counted themselves among the populace. His mother, Sabitha Brightwood, served as the local tailor, and his father had been a passing adventurer of some sort. To hear it told, his father had been a brave man, who had left his lover and son to continue on his heroic journeys, saving damsels and battling evil witches and all the other tales that were spun to keep curious children from ruminating too much on the circumstances of their birth, or why gossipy hens seemed to whisper whenever he wandered the village markets. In the hindsight of adulthood, Nathan realized the truth of the matter, that he was the product of a simple fling, but as a boy, the stories had inspired him. He loved them, loved telling them, and when he was big enough, he wanted to travel the world like his father did, and come back home with first hand accounts.

Unfortunately, fate had conspired to crush that dream, in a way. Ardenfeld fell, and with it, Nathaniel was left without a home. He was shuffled off, like so many other surviving children, to the orphanage at Sarinan. Like most, he did not adapt well. To have his world view so thoroughly shattered left him melancholy and despondent. What happened at Ardenfeld wasn't how the songs went. The bad guys were never meant to win. The heroes always came and put them down and the townsfolk would cheer. He spent most of his days moping about the premises, taking what little comfort he could in practicing with the lute he had received for his eighth birthday, something to occupy his mind.

That proved to be his salvation. During a paltry show of charity, the seneschal of the local lord noticed the boy plucking at his strings. The lord, as it was explained to him, had always been a patron of the arts, and kept his court well-staffed with musicians and storytellers. The tune Nathan had been diligently plucking away at since arriving at the orphanage was a favorite of the court, and perhaps out of pity or an eye for potential, the seneschal offered to let Nathaniel return to the court with him, that he may practice his skills in a more productive environment and make something of himself. While most joy had left his heart since, the opportunity to leave the oppressive atmosphere of the orphanage was more than enough for the young half-elf to agree.

From then forward, he lived as a courtier at the lord's pleasure, serenading knights and ladies-in-waiting alike, honing his craft over the years. He traveled from castle to castle with his lord, seeing the world and indulging in all its beauty. Until the tenth anniversary of the sacking.

Going Forward

As far as Nathaniel is concerned, he has already gone forward. He's filled the void left by the loss of his home with song and stories and women and the world. His desires remain rather ethereal, shifting to-and-fro with his whims, a never-ending string of distractions to keep himself from plunging back into the melancholy that permeated most of his early youth. The return to Ardenfeld is an event he had tried long and hard to push out of his mind, kicked further and further down the road until he could no longer avoid it. In truth, he almost decided not to return, to simply allow the others to imagine he had disappeared entirely. Ultimately, though, honor won out over reason. He had made a promise to return, so return he would, to prove to them all (and in actuality, himself) that the shadow of the tragedy no longer hung over him.