Crimson Paladin

The Long Afternoon of the Mojave (A Fallout Roleplay)

Sentinel Derek Irving- Hidden Valley Bunker

Irving stood at the McNamara's side, watching as the door to the elder's office opened and Head Paladin Hardin entered. The Head Paladin stood at attention next to Senior Knight Lorenzo and Head Scribe Taggart, dwarfing the two in his T-51b power armor. The Elder pressed a button on his desk, causing the door to close behind Hardin. This was not to be a conversation to be shared with the lower echelons of the Brotherhood, not yet.

"Not that we are all here," the Elder begun, "We can get down to business. There has been an incident that threatens our mission in the Mojave Wasteland. Sentinel?" he asked, gesturing at Irving. The Sentinel stepped forward, the servos in his power armor making a muffled whirring. It was clear from the Elder's voice that his health was declining. Whether it was from years of breathing bunker air, the stress of the position, or simply the ravages of age, McNamara clearly did not have quite the energy that he used to.

"Last night, two of our procurement specialists were arrested by the NCR," he began to explain. "While Abernathy's forces have earned a reputation for making arrests on flimsy pretenses, this was not one of their NCRCF workforce recruitment drives. Shortly after our specialists missed a rendezvous, a recon team operating out of the northeastern safehouse spotted NCR Rangers escorting two prisoners to Fort Golf. We must assume that the NCR has arrested them on suspicion of being Brotherhood of Steel, and intends to interrogate them as to our whereabouts."

The Sentinel paused to give the assembled subordinates an opportunity to process this information.

"While the NCR has laws regarding treatment of prisoners of war, they do not always follow these laws even when with the shadow of Shady Sands hanging over them. Colonel Abernathy, being largely free of NCR oversight, will almost certainly not heed these laws. They will try to break our brother and sister."

"It won't matter," Hardin spoke up. "Even if our brother and sister prove unbreakable, the NCR still has proof of our presence in the Mojave. Now that they know we are here, they will scour the Mojave until they find us. We must go on the offensive and strike while we still have the element of surprise."

"There is another problem that this presents," Lorenzo added. "We needed the food and supplies that they procured. It was difficult enough for Veronica keep this chapter fed when it was at under half strength. With our current numbers, our stockpile of provisions will not last if we remain hidden in the bunker."

"...I'm afraid you are both correct, we cannot remain hidden," Irving conceded. While the Brotherhood was no longer under a lockdown, they had made great efforts to avoid drawing the attention of the NCR. They only sent small patrols out at night, avoided roads and towns, and kept to the largely depopulated western regions of the Mojave. With the arrest of their agents, the façade was crumbling. They could no longer fly under the radar.

"There is no better time to strike than now," Hardin asserted. "Abernathy's forces are stretched thin, unsupported, and much of their strength is bogged down maintaining their occupation. Give me a few targets, and I will blind and cripple the NCR before they can make a move against us."

"Or you'll bring another ruinous battle to us," Taggart interjected. "Our reports state that even with most of their men tied up maintaining their grip, they will still outnumber our own forces at least ten to one, and many of them are hardened veterans. The VR scenarios based on these parameters paint a grim picture of our chances..."

"Your simulations tell us nothing, Taggart," Hardin shouted, angered. "The last time we took tactical advice from a scribe, we lost over half the chapter."

"Enough!" Irving rebuked them both. "While the NCR is a considerable obstacle that will assuredly need to be dealt with, defeating them is not the primary objective of our mission. If there is a way to sidestep them without weakening our ability to oppose The Green, I will take it. However, Hardin is right that we must act quickly and decisively, and all of us must do our part."

The Sentinel walked up to the three Brotherhood members. "Head Paladin, you will get our Knights and Paladins combat-ready. Send a few Eyebot teams out to give us eyes on the surface. Senior Knight, your orders are to ensure our warriors have the equipment that they need. Lastly," he paused, standing over Taggart, "Boot up Black Mountain's radio transmitter, and tell Scribe Santangelo to fetch two eyebots and meet me in the war room in an hour. You are all dismissed. Ad Victoriam!"

The three subordinates immediately headed out to carry out their tasks. After the last of them left, Irving turned around to face McNamara. The Sentinel's mask of stoic professionalism faded, making way for an expression of weariness.

"I knew this would happen eventually. Tell me, Elder, do you think that the NCR could be persuaded to a ceasefire for the sake of stopping the growing threat of The Green?"

"Not with Abernathy," the Elder answered. "Our ambitions and mission are not at a cross purpose to theirs, and there are some in the NCR that would agree to a truce, but the Colonel is not one of them."

"No, I guess not," Irving replied. "Perhaps, however, his subordinates and subjects will think differently..."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

Fleuri lowered his sword as he entered the fort and saw what was within. The inside the fort was a grisly sight to behold. The soldiers within the walls were dead, killed in a variety of violent, gruesome ways. This wasn't the first time Fleuri had seen the aftermath of a battle before- back when he was a squire, he and his mentor beheld the aftermath of several small battles and skirmishes of the War of the Red Flag They walked upon the ground where just days or even hours before, soldiers fought and killed one another, with bodies left to the scavengers.

While his past experiences had steeled Fleuri for this terrible sight, it didn't do anything for the bewilderment he felt when he looked at the scene. Unlike those battlefields, this fort didn't appear to have any corpses of an opposing force- the bodies all appeared to be Thaln soldiers. Furthermore, the position of the bodies was such that the soldiers had never managed to mount a defense against an attacking force. Lastly, there was no getting around the seriousness of this- an entire fort slaughtered within a day without having managed to put up any resistance against whoever or whatever did this, beyond a dying, maddened messenger. If Fanilly's band of Roses were to run into it, could they hope to fare any better?

When the door to the interior of the fort suddenly opened, Fleuri immediately readied his weapon, startled but ready for a fight. The newcomer to the scene (even if technically, she had no doubt been present at the fort longer than the knights) was a young woman of short stature, carrying a red spear. For a moment he thought that they'd have found another band of bandits, but the girl's words suggested she was just as confused at the fort's state as the Roses were. Still, Fleuri kept his guard up, ready to back up the captain as she demanded the spearwoman's surrender.

Fortunately, things did not escalate. The shark-toothed woman had no interest in fighting the Iron Roses, and perhaps more interestingly, some of the other knights recognized her. Sir Gerard called her by name- Alette the Shark- and identified her as part of a mercenary band that normally operated further north. Sir Fionn took it even further- he addressed her as an old associate or friend whom he knew personally.

It was definitely advantageous that they had with them a few knights with mercenary backgrounds.

If she's okay by their standards, she's okay with me, Fleuri thought as he complied with Fanilly's orders to search the bodies. A cursory examination yielded a rather disturbing find- the soldiers appeared to have killed each other. Many of them had wounds made by the weapons held by the corpses beside them. Other corpses gripped the weapons that fatally injured them, as if they had killed themselves. No wonder there were no outsider bodies here- the soldiers were the only combatants when this happened.

While examining the bodies generated as many questions as it had answered, some of the knights brought up was one other matter that still hadn't been explained- what was Alette's band doing here? Fleuri turned back towards the mercenary, curious as to what the answer would be. Alette probably wouldn't just give away her employer, but perhaps she could at least give some context as to why she was here.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Captain Argus Fellborn

This thing was tough- this was the first time since his resurrection that Argus had sustained any real injury. The first time he felt real, physical pain. At least he had some idea as to what his physical limitations were now.

The human woman was quite courageous. Not a thrall, by the look of it, but willing to work with vampires. Not that she had much of a choice, when the alternative was annihilation. Meanwhile, the red-haired vampire was proving to be a decent ally, looking out for the well-being of the human, for whatever her reasons- enthrallment, blood, or something else- were.

The monster also seemed to have a particular interest in the human woman. It made a second attempt to attack, lunging at her with seeming intent to devour her, while striking at the cleric with its other claw. Argus couldn't be sure if it somehow recognized that the vampires were poorer eating or, like many predators did, it was just going for the weakest of the group, but there was one thing that was very clear.

In this brief moment, his foe had the gall to ignore him.

There was only one suitable punishment for this affront. He must make this thing recognized firsthand that disregarding the Red Tide was more than just insulting, it was also quite dangerous. Argus gripped his cutlass with both hands to compensate for the injured right arm, and thrust it at the beast's neck, where the jugular would approximately be on a human. He'd then try to rip the sword against the beast's incoming momentum, trying to open the wound as much as possible before his blade was withdrawn.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

The Long Afternoon of the Mojave (A Fallout Roleplay)

Sentinel Irving

Name: Sentinel Derek Irving

Appearance: Irving is a fit Caucasian man of average height in his mid-40's, whose face and body shows signs of the hard life that he's lived. He has short, graying black hair and light stubble. His body harbors several scars, as well as several bullet fragments from at least one AP 5.56 round- and possibly more.

Affiliation: Brotherhood of Steel Mojave Chapter

Previous Affiliations: Brotherhood of Steel San Francisco Chapter

Gear/Equipment: Irving's personal combat attire includes T-51b Power Armor formerly owned by a now-fallen Mojave Chapter Paladin, and a suit Recon Armor when out of his power armor. Having gone up against the NCR's Rangers and snipers in the past, he has opted to not include any rank markings on his armor. His preferred weapons are a P94 Winchester Plasma Rifle, an AEP7 laser pistol for a sidearm, and a Ripper for a melee weapon.

Background:
Derek Irving was born to Brotherhood parents in Lost Hills in 2243. During his early life, he chose to pursue the path of a Paladin and upon attaining the rank, was assigned to the San Francisco Chapter. While Irving distinguished himself in the war with the NCR, even scoring two confirmed Ranger kills (and one unconfirmed), he harbored a number of outspoken views that strained his relations with his superiors. He claimed that the war with the NCR was a mistake, that they should have targeted the Shi and Van Graffs instead. Furthermore, he had a reputation of destroying technology that he deemed too dangerous to fall into the hands of the "unenlightened".

In one particularly controversial incident, Irving's team discovered a lost Robobrain maintenance and repair facility, he set its atomic reactor to melt down rather than risk anyone getting their hands on what he saw as a travesty of life and technology, despite his elder's wishes to use the facility against the NCR. Because of the increasingly dire situation that the Brotherhood was in, they couldn't afford to get rid of a seasoned veteran like him, so instead they had him "kicked upstairs", being promoted to Senior Paladin and tasked with training initiates inside of the bunker.

When word reached his ears of the young Arthur Maxson's successful ascension to Elder, Irving became an outspoken supporter of Maxson's policies and interpretation of the Codex. When the western elders received instructions from Maxson to deal with The Green, Irving was promoted to the formerly East Coast exclusive rank of Sentinel and sent with a group of other veteran Brotherhood members to the Mojave Wasteland under the cover of NCR refugee waves. He suspects that his promotion to this station is less due to the elders' confidence in him, and more a way to kick him even further upstairs and away from them.

While McNamara remains the Elder of the Mojave Chapter, his declining health has allowed Irving to serve as the de facto leader of the Brotherhood. Since arriving at Hidden Valley, Irving has worked to understand the situation in the Mojave, its major players, and the Brotherhood's own position here. He's had to deal with the logistics of the chapter's increased numbers and the harsh reality that even with the NCR gone, the holdouts still want them dead and have the numbers to make it happen. His time in San Francisco may have prepared him for weirdness, but the situation in the Mojave is nothing like anything he's seen before.

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

The wyvern had avoided the knights' attempt to swiftly kill it. Perhaps most alarming was seeing ice seemingly rot off of its face. What kind of monster could cause the gruesome impossibility of making water decay? It'd clearly be a good idea to not let the thing touch him- Ethelred's armor might not be able to withstand the wyvern's corruption.

At least they were able to get some more information out of it. The wyvern claimed to be the Herald of War, and that the big black one was the Herald of Perdition. This was just one of many signs that it was closely affiliated with their fallen foe. Come to think of it, the emblem on its head was similar to that on the so-called Herald of Perdition's chest.

As the wyvern curled into a ball and charged again, the Frozen Knight braced his lance against the ground, ready if it came after him. Instead, however, the wyvern turned to target Luana instead. As it descended upon Luana, Ethelred charged at the monster, swinging his lance at it like a bludgeon. Luana didn't have Elias' immortality or Ethelred's armor, so it would be wise to not let it hurt her.

@BrokenPromise@Rune_Alchemist@Guy0fV4lor

The Long Afternoon of the Mojave (A Fallout Roleplay)

Here's my faction submission. Character sheet submission will be coming soon. If numbers need to be changed, I'll make the necessary changes.

Brotherhood of Steel

Faction Name: Brotherhood of Steel Mojave Chapter

Description: Formerly led by Elijah, the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel was forced to go into hiding following a disastrous battle against the NCR at HELIOS One. Having lost their elder and overhalf their knights and paladins, the chapter would have been wiped out had they not fled the battle and taken shelter inside a concealed pre-war military installation in Hidden Valley. Since that fateful day, the chapter has survived by remaining hidden from the NCR and stealthily procuring food and supplies from traders, biding their time and gathering data on the state of things in the Mojave to share with the rest of the Brotherhood.

Recently, however, the other Elders have finally sent aid, along with a new mission from Arthur Maxson himself- to find a way to stop the Green before it can become a threat to humanity's survival. With no allies and the the NCR still hunting for the chapter, however, they will need to seek out allies or uncover pre-war technologies if they want any hope in succeeding in their mission.

Territory: Hidden Valley Bunker

Sphere of influence: The Mojave Chapter has only survived this long by staying under the NCR's radar, and as a result has little influence outside of their bunker. However, they occasionally send research and recon teams into the Green-heavy regions west of New Vegas, and have a few undercover suppliers that work to keep the chapter fed and supplied.

Force Composition: With the reinforcements from the west, the Mojave Chapter currently has 34 paladins, 55 knights, 15 combat-capable initiates, and 34 scribes, with a total population of approximatly 250. Additionally, they possess approximately 20 operational Duraframe Eyebots.

History: The Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel first came to the Mojave under the direction of Elder Elijah, whose radical ideas put him at odds with the western elders. They occupied the Hidden Valley bunker and HELIOS One power plant, with the latter being of such great interest to Elijah that he made it their headquarters despite being poorly defensible. When the NCR arrived in the Mojave, conflict was inevitable, and in 2276, the NCR carried out Operation: Sunburst, laying siege to HELIOS One. The battle was a devastating blow to the chapter, and in the chaos, their elder disappeared without a trace. The chapter might have been wiped out if it were not for Head Paladin McNamara taking command and leading the remaining Brotherhood defenders in a retreat back to Hidden Valley, where they locked down and hid from the victorious NCR.

For the next few years, the Brotherhood remained hidden, occasionally sending teams of paladins or knights to the surface to perform reconnaissance or seek out technology. While some of these missions led to further losses of Knights and Paladins, they also bore fruit, including the recovery of a armored Enclave Eyebot prototype. It was during one of these expeditions, a failed effort to procure replacement HEPA filters for Hidden Valley's air filtration system, that the Brotherhood first came into contact with the phenomenon now popularly known as The Green, and the deadly effects of its spores.

While the Brotherhood did eventually obtain the needed filters elsewhere, the rapid emergence of this strange new plant life, and its considerable lethality, became a matter of far greater concern. The Brotherhood continued to send expeditions to gather data on The Green, modifying their power and recon armors with self-contained breathing apparatus- and implementing stringent decontamination procedures- to prevent any more fatalities from Greenlung. Meanwhile, the scribes shared whatever data they recovered with the western elders, not just of The Green, but of any technology they had recovered, including the prototype Eyebot.

In 2286, the Mojave Chapter received a contingent of reinforcement from the west, composed of Brotherhood veterans and duraframe eyebots disguised as NCR refugees and civilian-model eyebots. However, this aid did not come without conditions attached- the leader of the reinforcing Brotherhood members, Sentinel Irving, bore an encrypted message from Arthur Maxson himself. The message claimed that based on the data they had gathered, The Green was a threat to humanity and that the Mojave Chapter was to be tasked with stopping it spread by any means necessary, and at any cost. The message further explained that Irving was to be assigned to serve as the chapter's Sentinel to ensure compliance with Maxson's orders.

While some of the Brotherhood (particularly Hardin, who disliked the shakeup to their rank structure that left him third-in-command) were displeased at these changes, they could not deny that the assistance was sorely needed. Over the next two years, the new Sentinel familiarized himself with the region, the chapter he had been assigned to, and the threats that they faced. By 2288, the Brotherhood had identified a number of leads to be pursued, in hopes that at least one of them would allow them to defeat a foe that not even the NCR had been able to best...

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Roger Falkner

Well, this was just great, Roger thought. Just as he angled his spear to deflect his foe's incoming forelimb, he saw things had gotten much more complicated.

The twisted construct was already proving to be a stubborn foe, but now it was only one worry among many. Discarded dolls rose out of the rubble around them, much more crude-looking than the first one but also far more numerous. The Lions would not be able to focus everything on the big one, but would have to split their attention. Having already moved to engage the big doll, Roger wasn't in a position to fend off the smaller ones- he would need to trust in the strength of the others to handle that.

His spear had so far proven ineffective against the doll's hard body, but the Steel Princess had already singled out a weakness- its joints. Velvetica commanded those fighting the large doll to strike at the joints in order to disable the limbs. Complying with his commander's order, Roger raised his spear, gripped it overhand, and thrust it into the doll's nearest elbow joints. The Steel Princess' tactical acumen had always paid off before, and he trusted that it would continue to do so, even against a foe they had never fought before.

@VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

As the fort came into view, Fleuri was already feeling quite uneasy. The means by which the message was conveyed- by a hysterical man who then dropped dead before he could elaborate on anything- was both very strange and very suspicious. The fort might be a rather mundane fortification that any defender of Thaln would be familiar with, but with the circumstances of the message, they were more or less going into this ordeal blind. Even so, it was the Roses' job to investigate and deal with whatever threat had come up, and he was going to do just that.

In the time since the last mission, Fleuri had focused almost entirely on training. There had been plenty to take in from the dream, particularly the techniques and moves that Florian had used against him, but he had also made a considerable effort to obtain instruction from Rui. He didn't know how long the foreign swordswoman would be here before being recalled back home, so he had been keen on learning as much as he could from her. The language barrier was still a bit of a problem, since Rui spoke very little of the language of Thaln, but communication had become slightly easier when he realized that Rui some of Talderian. Not quite the same dialect as what he had learned from the priests and priestesses that educated him, but it allowed for somewhat better verbal communication than in Thalnish.

He wasn't sure if his skill and lethality with a sword had improved by any measurable metric in the short time between the last mission and this one, but learning took time, and perhaps some more experience in the field would do him some good.

The first thing he noted as they arrived was that the fort didn't appear to be under siege. The relief from that first observation quickly died when he made his second observation- there didn't appear to be anyone on the walls. No sign of a battle on the outside, either, just an eerie nothing. Just what could have happened here? And was it still happening here?

Fleuri followed behind Amy as he had approached the fort. It was good that Fanilly had opted to take a cleric on this mission, even if Amy's repertoire of spells was not exactly the standard array of magics expected of a devotee of Mayon. A dedicated user of magic, even somewhat unconventional magic, could greatly aid them. Her partially-demonic heritage was very odd for sure, but what did it matter? The church saw only good in her, and if it was good enough for them, it was more than good enough for Fleuri. If anything, he was glad that they had another pious devotee of the goddesses accompanying them.

He wasn't the only one afflicted with an oppressive discomfort with this mission- Amy's ominous words suggested that she was even more at unease. In fact, she seemed quite certain that there was something terrible here. Fleuri wasn't sure what sort of senses that Amy possessed to pick up such things, but between being a cleric and having demonic blood, it stood to reason that she'd be more attuned to this sort of otherworldly stuff than the more mundane knights like himself.

"Steffen's right, you've got us watching your back," Fleuri assured the horned cleric. Once they reached the courtyard, he would stick close to Amy- it was imperative that the Roses stuck together, because Sir Rickert was grim proof of what happened when a knight was cut off from his brothers and sisters even for a moment.

@6slyboy6

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Captain Argus Fellborn

No sooner had Argus slew the last beast in this house did he hear a terrible ruckus going on outside. There was a piercing shriek, followed by what sounded like a house being smashed apart. These houses weren't going to provide any protection against whatever that thing was. As for the girl, she appeared unharmed for the time being, but seeing her parents die in front of her would assuredly leave her mind thoroughly scarred. There wasn't much left to do except try to keep her out of the way and hope that there wouldn't be too much collateral damage.

"I suggest you find a place to hide," Argus spoke to the child, before exiting the dwelling. Upon stepping outside, he saw exactly what the source of the noises were- a huge, chimeric beast. Just how many of these twisted things were there?

Argus rushed to intercept the beast, bringing his sword to meet one of its bared claws. He was unsure if the human woman that the monster was targeting would be of any use in this fight, but the other vampire and her gorebats should prove useful allies.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Elias had grabbed the wyvern, and Luana was making the effort to assist restraining it. If being disintegrated didn't stop him for long, surely whatever dark powers the wyvern possessed would barely slow him down. If just one blow from this beast was enough to kill, it would be prudent to kill it as quickly as possible, which is what Ethelred intended on doing.

There was the option of capturing it, but Ethelred wasn't going to take the risk. This thing was too malevolent to parlay with, too dangerous to spare.

Ethelred thrust his lance at the creature's head, channeling his powers of ice through it. Unless his queen or the other knights spoke up, this beast would receive no quarter from him.

@BrokenPromise@Guy0fV4lor@Rune_Alchemist