Conscripts

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

"Yeah, yeah. I'm certain we'll get our peace at some point, a brief moment of respite from continuous work and fighting." A weary smile formed after the long sigh, as he felt Lein's subtle movements on his back and shoulders, having mostly used to his 'backseating' shenanigans on a fine normal day, but battle fatigue's slow crawl was making that a lot more apparent. "Aimlenn sounds good, but..."

His occasional concerned side-glance at Sir Renar's little rant converted back to direct contact, as Steffen was asked what to do. More of a nudge than anything. Renar's tone of voice and the previous personal tirade made it pretty clear where his sentiment lies. "Yeah, seems like these are just lowly pawns that they clearly don't know how to use. Our only lead at this point is...well..." He gestured up to Lein on his shoulders and what he just said. "...or that now dead commander, whatever they could extract outta him."

With that he began to walk back, but not without a last glance at Renar. "And let's hope to the goddesses that this isn't another word dance routine like back in the fort."

@PigeonOfAstora@Psyker Landshark

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

Time: Late Morning
Location: Sorian Beach
Interactions: Layla/Olivia @Potter, Charlotte/Calbert @princess, Farim @Lava Alckon
Mentions: Lorenzo @FunnyGuy, Roman @ReusableSword

---

"Oh, but please, some patients are always haughty about knowing better than the ones who know best. I implore you to look past your ego and listen." John knew that the Alidasht princess would simply shrug and look down upon commoners like him, and pretended to be cool by ignoring, but one last warning wouldn't hurt. After all, there was no way she could actually hurt him really. Nor does Lorenzo, who was perpetually confused at who the real enemy was. This time, it was so funny he would simply just watch beneath the sunglasses. Nor does Count Calbert, who came all the way down here for an invitation to his whatever masquerade he was hosting tonight.

"Because all those patients..." The doctor took off his sunglasses, looking at Layla as she strode off with a half-smile concealing a sense of pity. "...have all died."

Now for Calbert. This masquerade was actually something he could consider going. Not because he wanted to go to this nobleman's pretentious gathering and meet all their pretentious guests, but it could be a good time to learn more about Calbert himself personally. After all, he could be wanting John dead after what happened the other day.

"That would be lovely, Count Damien, though I am preoccupied with a work meeting at the given time, but I might be able to catch the later part of the masquerade. I hope that would not be a big issue for you."

John returned a rather non-committal but reasonable response. He knew it would potentially be walking into a lion's den if he just accepted. He needed more thorough diagnosis before he could commit. But all on the outside, he maintained his smile and politeness. Roman had flat out rejected the proposal, so now he could see how Calbert would respond in both rejection and uncertainty.

Once he left, John lingered around and enjoyed his smoothie in serenity until someone disturbed him again. But oh well, it is Farim. He was friendly thus far, and he seemed interested in his work, which was a rarity. Granted it might still be for business, but at least it was for a cause rather than to look nice and earn approvals.

"Oh for sure, pick away!" John tapped his head several times with a laugh. Whatever stiffness he might have had before with the group or with Layla dissipated. "I only heard your name through like official papers or letters, and it's mostly to do with your trading company, so it's finally good time to put a face to...a legend, you know."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

Steffen could already smell whatever horror show the creature that inhibited this ugly twisted mess had to go through, but his blade sank further until he could finally feel its resigning slump, a final act before its disintegration. The Ingvarr already separated from the rotting corpse as it fell apart, but the smell quickly engulfed the immediate surrounding. The twilight above with the calm and still water would have made for a serene winding down after a relatively fine day of work ridding the world of evil, but it wouldn't really be the case until the stench returned back to the earth.

"Bloody hell..." His eyebrows twisted as he noticed the residue of tars on his sword, feeling the churning stain slowly gnawing at the moonlight gleaming steel. He made sure to have that thoroughly wiped with cloth from a dead Boar's body nearby before sheathing it back. His body and limbs tickled around, all adrenaline and tension slowly throttling back to idle when it was clear that the battle was over, checking for any signs of injuries. Surprisingly, aside from numbness and aches that followed as a result of his constant running, slamming and battering, he got off the battle quite fine.

Taking a huff as he finally made eye contact once again with Lein. An amused smile more than anything trumped over lecturing about the earlier act. "You are one popular man indeed. Make sure to let me know beforehand, so I could prepare them some of that Ingvarr hospitality too." He said as he picked up his spear and laid it to rest in his shield hand. "How are you faring this entire fracas? Any injuries, wounds, bruises?"

Seeing Sir Renar, Steffen passed by him with an acknowledgement wave. "Thanks for the help." He stated as plainly as he imagined the man would have preferred. Seeing the group in the distance, he sure hoped that there would be no more hopping around. The cathartic beating of those Boars was a satisfactory ending to an act for now.

@PigeonOfAstora@Psyker Landshark

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

The puny Boars simply melted. Steffen was surprised at their zealotry that allowed them to even muster a desire to resist. But this was, weirdly enough, the only time he felt anything resembling catharsis in the bloodshed of other living creatures, so that disturbing observation was simply just nuisance. There would be more time later to point to the danger of fanaticism.

The final abomination had suffered a crippling blow from its own arrogance, Lein's arrows acting more like indemnity to a pretty much perfect outplay. But both acts failed to accomplish the goal of bringing down the hulk of flesh. And now Lein is in danger of succumbing to the same creature's arrogance that he successfully took advantage of. The lurching creature reached its limbs out for a killing blow, as Steffen found out there was much less time than he imagined.

"It's still alive! Get outta there!" Steffen cried out as the charge broke into a tidal wave, once again turning himself into a living ballista bolt in motion. But this time he really needed to. As he held the shield in a brace position, his increasingly narrowed world could not see a different course of action than to ram the abomination with thundering blunt force of his shield. A spear thrust wouldn't do meaningful enough, he thought, nor would a kick or a spear throw. In fact, in fear of throwing his spear into Lein instead, he decided to toss it into the grass and kept on charging.

The Ingvarr only changed course very slightly, around Lein, bracing his other hand behind his shield, as he crashed into the abomination's torso at a slight angle, in the hopes that the impact at the very least shocked the abomination enough to abandon or throw off the blow. As for the result of the head-on collision, Steffen never counted on that. The kill-intent comes in a follow-up, drawing the sword tucked behind the shield all this time to stab at its undersized skull.

@VitaVitaAR@PigeonOfAstora

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

"As if you Boars have any credence." The tip of the spear was right at his throat, and he made it so easy too. But Steffen saw through this ruse. A pathetic last gasp of a petty lesser child, one that deserved an even pettier response. The tip bearing the two diamond-shaped emblems trailed the reddened skin of the Boar, but not one spill of blood leaked from its scrotum. Not from there. The young former-mercenary, fully-fledged knight stepped on the execution pad, Steffen gladly gave the Boar a taste of his own hammer. The gauntlet thumped the bastard's lousy mouth, hopefully sending some teeth down his throat before the final judgment.

"He's one of us." His last statement whispered in his ears as he stood up, stepped aside and let Gerard have the honors, if there is any honor in taking out the trash. His spear was at rest, but any insidious second thoughts would be swiftly dealt with.

Once the dirty work was carried out, Steffen gave the young knight a firm nod but lifted the spear off the ground.

"Good response." He said, a little bit envious of the lad who was so resolute in shedding off his troublesome past. "Let's catch our breathe for now." His defensive stance were there to ward off any Boars who might attack. A few deep breathe observed the battlefield. The defensive line around Veilena was still holding against these abominations, Fionn and Tyaethe doing their own thing, the knife wielder was fencing with two instead of just Serenity, and Lein off on his own with the hounds. He wasn't sure how his friend was there to begin with, but having an archer at that position fending for himself was a waste of manpower, if not dangerous too.

"Can you help Sir Fionn? I will be bringing back Sir Lein and join you."

With that, Steffen set out towards where Lein was, hounds and Boars in the way be impaled.

@HereComesTheSnow@Raineh Daze@PigeonOfAstora

Avalia

Time: Morning
Location: River
Interactions: Aurora @mole Zora @13org
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

Like a training dummy, he just stood there, not knowing how to leave or even approach the conversation, until the tattooed lady took the conversation to him instead. But it was about the previous encounter he had with the dark elf. Barrock mostly found that annoying to be reminded of. He still harboured some innate urge to take the dark elf to an early grave, but once again he had to remind himself that malarkey like that does not deserve any further attention.

"At one point, you have to say it's not worth it."

He gritted his teeth on the inside, as the anger subsided for good. Now he was left with this lad elf and two ladies, one of whom did not hesitate to compliment his 'gentleness'. From the sound of it, she seemed to be genuine about it. A genuine compliment, that's a first.

He glanced away awkwardly at first before looking back at Aurora. "Thank you." Barrock gave a light bow as he held onto the hilt of his sword. He never really knew how to respond to the compliment. Simplicity was perhaps the easiest and, in his opinion, most genuine. "The name is Barrock. And no, you did not bother me." He returned Zora's greeting with an acknowledging nod. Seeing the weird but pleasant friendliness the two of them gave to him, he was tempted to ask a follow up.

"You two must be Master Rowan's training partner. What training is this?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

The kill was not achieved, but his shield bash succeeded in staggering his opponent. However, shocking his opponent meant having to follow it up, especially when his guard was down, having to use his entire active offence and defence tool to keep himself straight. After absorbing the blastback of the charge he himself commenced by letting himself loose and be bounced back a footstep, his spear retracted and cocked back to ready for another thrust.

Steffen moved in, determined to kick the dog (or boar in this case) while he was down. And it was a literal frontal kick too, coming after thrusting his spear at the same throat that he aimed for a few seconds ago, with the sole intent to get the bastard off the hammer.

@Raineh Daze@HereComesTheSnow

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

Time: Late Morning
Location: Sorian Beach
Interactions: Layla/Olivia @Potter Charlotte @princess, Sjan-dehk @Apex Sunburn, Roman @ReusableSword Farim @Lava Alckon
Mentions: Lorenzo @FunnyGuy, Ruby @SausagePat, Kazumin @samreaper, Ariella @Tpartywithzombi, Cassius @PapaOso, and others

---

One after another, more and more people continued pouring into the fray, gradually taking over his senses, creeping around him as he found himself increasingly irritated. He didn't know why so many are willing to bite into granite with this person, and it was getting very clear that Layla had no intentions of playing nice or was unaware of her own rudeness. She was here to make trouble, to vye for attention, and they were just giving it to her like a masochist asking for the belt. At this point, John seriously doubted if this was about hurting Layla's ego than preventing their own from getting hurt. Everyone, and everyone, was ruining his day.

Another girl joined the shouting, and quickly passed out for no god damned reason. The same girl just a few days ago, at it again. He didn't want to bother himself with this. A quick look already gave it away, as he told Olivia to simply take her to a dry, cool spot. The bigger problem here is this crowd, and specifically Layla. She needs to GO, period.

The voices in his head began to dissipate as John zeroed in on his decisions. The stressed breathing began to mild, the posture cold and professional. After spending a moment away from Layla's sight and everyone's attention, he headed back into the thick, calmly standing as closely to Layla that juuusst barely get her guards to toughen up a little. The most quizzical thing now was a newly acquired sunglasses blocking the vision into his eyes.

"I hate to be the diplomat here, but can we not escalate into a full-blown war right on this beach? Thank you." He raised a hand towards the anti-Layla group. Their good intentions were not good enough, but he spared his anger towards them for it.

Now, for the Shehzadi...

"Shehzadi Layla, I assume my lack of elegance did not catch your attention, so here is my attempt." John said, adjusting his sunglasses playfully before returning to his cold professional manners. "You have been...say...unkind." He said, in such a manner that could come off as either sarcastic understatement or unnerving politeness. "Such a contrast to the image of the Shehzadi I met the other day. May I ask what had caused this change of personality? Or at the very least what is the reason for causing such a scene here?"

The boring, overdressed, bug-like doctor is now face to face with one of the most powerful individual in Eromora, but there is a certain lack of both fear and interest in engaging with her game. Whether or not she realized that yet was still up in the air.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

The smoke cover signalled to him that his enemy was intent on engaging combat with Serenity with a battlefield of his own choosing. With a few steps backward in extra caution, seeing that was excess, Steffen finally turned around for Gerard, giving one last trust to Serenity, now engulfed in the smoke cover. Once this bastard is felled, that rogue will be next. None of them will be spared.

A few strides quickly turned into a sprint, quickly closing distance with the hammer-wielding Boar, his spear raised overhead with very clear intention. A Boar noted for his reckless bravery decided to be the rampart against that, and quickly learned his last lesson of the mortal life: you do not get in the way of a charging Ingvarr. He did not even came close to slowing down the outlander knight. A rock solid boulder in its descent.

Steffen's normally dull amethyst eyes were lit up with energy, as his step landed in the vicinity of the two fighters just as the Boar finished his swing. Once in, his feet only touched the ground two times. At the last second, his shield locked forward, the metallic spear thrust towards the throat area of the armor, the energy of the charge imbuing his strike with equally monstrous strength. If the spear did not find its target, the larger shield would be the collision point.

@Raineh Daze@HereComesTheSnow

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Steffen Gravinir

---

Steffen received little response from the former mercenary lad, but at least he was causing havoc. He found it a little out of the element having to keep up with Gerard's fury, but the slaughterhouse continued functioning. Boars continued to run headlong into danger, the hounds continued pounding, but their fates, like many that came before it was either a hole in the face, chest or throat, or sidegrade-wise a head severed from its torso but still dangling on their skins.

The slow-roll approach of the Ingvarr knight allowed him some observation. Alarm quickly raised in his head the moment the black-cladded knight of Veilena was split in two, but just as quickly it shifted over to amazement that it continued fighting on somehow. He had been surprised more than enough, and having little time, he looked on to the reinforcement that arrived. Bigger, stronger, uglier, harder they would fall. But he did not see the dagger that curved right at him at his blindspot, not until it was too late anyway. He knew it, but the instinct overloaded with decades of training still snapped his limbs and body into the incoming knife, only to find the lioness inbetween him and the attacker, a shield at hand.

"A thousand thanks." Steffen gave the flaxen-haired knight a nod, quickly glancing over to Gerard, whose rampage were too stopped by an armored Boar. As much as he wished to help Serenity with this more elusive opponent, his worries over Gerard himself and his respect for Serenity's judgment and capabilities made him turn his goal elsewhere, but his attention and body orientation still in the direction of the dagger-armed attacker. Who knows if he would let this 'my kind of opponent' a free pass. But assuming the best, that armored Boar with the cocky hammer - truly Steffen's kind of opponent too.

@HereComesTheSnow@ERode@Krayzikk@VitaVitaAR