Crowvette

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alexandria

A bead of sweat formed on Alex's forehead as the person before her went off on their own tangent. 'Um. Is this guy serious?' Alex tried to work through what he said in her head. 'Is he threatening me? He's definitely talking about stuff that only someone stalking me would know. I've never seen this guy in my life.' Alex clenched her fists in her lap. 'What would Vera do right now?'

Alex knew that Vera would likely have decked the guy halfway through the sentence where he casually dropped that he knew what she and her friends had been up to. Especially the Vera she had just ran into, who after two years of separation had only become more tenacious. She'd probably also tell him that if he approached her again, she'd break his legs AND his face. The thought made Alex nearly snicker aloud. She couldn't imagine being so bold. At the same time, this guy was even crazier than she was. For putting up a facade, she could take some notes.

Alex felt unnerved at the guy getting closer to her, but she had enough adrenaline from the previous fight to stand steady. She had already stood up to things far scarier than this today. She narrowed her eye, taking a tiny gulp before firing back a response. "No sane man considers themself on the same side as a demon. In the end, I'll be the judge of who is my ally - regardless of space or time." Clasping her fist, the latent enchantment enhancing her strength glittered around her. "Remember that, if we ever meet again." It was a simple warning, but Alex was proud of her delivery. Not quite a level of a pro like this guy, but for something on the spot it was great.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alexandria

@Dezuel

Alex was wrenched out of her own thoughts by someone sitting at her booth. She wasn't exactly ready to field questions, but she knew eventually someone would come up and ask about her since her flashy fight with Vera. She'd have to brush them off as best she could.

But the weirdo didn't seem to want to talk about Andras's powers, or how she managed to punch that hard, or why she was getting tossed around like a toy before the end of the fight. Alex wasn't really sure if these were the standard clientelle of Midnight, but she was getting weird vibes from this one. Alex nearly welcomed the distraction from her own issues - which were currently a tumultuous vortex of anxiety and sadness. 'Is this guy a stalker or something? Why would he come to ask me?' Alex raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the picture.

Alex took a deep breath and tried to work back into character. She was Andras, the Demon Lady. Who fought in underground tournaments and cared not for the domain of the living. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. My domain is not this world, but that of the Underworld. Your boldness to ask a demon amuses me, but it is misplaced." She gave him a flippant wave of the hand.

'Not to mention, I've been completely removed from normal life for the last two years...' Alex thought to herself. 'So I've not been seeing anyone other than the five people at the hospital until recently.'

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alyona

The oil-slick goop that Alyona recognized as the 'Sea of Death' seemed more active than her memory of the myth led her to believe. It was said that the Sea of Death once crawled over the lake of the Tsar's capitol, as a grave punishment for his crimes against the gods and spirits of the land, and to this day the lake bears no fish or life.

Or that's how the story went. The shifting muck seemed to be sprouting distorted hands, legs, faces... poking out and then falling under its surface. Like it was trying to grow something new entirely. That unsettled Alyona just as much as being close to a giant spider.

Alyona crashed to the ground as Kiwi pushed her clear of the way, the spider-girl somehow finding a way to trip despite having so many extra legs. Alyona's aura certainly worked quickly. "Spider! Are you..." Alyona couldn't think of what to say. Dead? Able to speak? Even here anymore? The lack of response made her give up on finishing her sentence. "Oh well." She got to her feet. She was back to being alone. Same as usual, then. She took off in a run, wanting to put as much distance between her and the goop as possible.

As Alyona reached the stairwell, she realized that it would not be so simple. The stairwell was dripping with the same black mud, as if it was coming from the top of the stairs, or the roof itself. 'Great.' Alyona began to turn when she realized that there was something following her.

It was a black, dripping mockery of a human form. The same kind that she saw morphing and rising from the onyx slime. It seemed that they were becoming more advanced by the second. And it was shambling towards her.

Alyona looked around for a way out. The nearest window, labelled for a fire escape, was past the ambling muck-monster. "So be it." Alyona muttered to nobody in particular. The fire escape wasn't her preferred option, but she was used to being forced to pick the worst option in any given situation. It was better than jumping to the ground from the window.

She took a breath, watching the thing's movements before it was upon her. Just like her mentor taught her. Learning how to fight was one of the only pieces of solace she had back where she had previously lived. A way to escape her twin, the gossiping nobles, the worried look of manor servants. She hadn't taken much interest in learning what her gift - as silly as it was to call it that - was capable of until she had laid out a manor guard with a single stroke of a black lance. Through a stab-proof vest, even. Most just dismissed the case as the cursed girl claiming another victim. The same guard took her aside later and demanded to know what she had done. And from then on, she stole away from prying eyes, learning bits of how to fight from the man. The guard was stunned at her lances, weapons that passed through armor and clothing only to hit living things. Alyona remembered what he called her lances when he learned what they could do, "A weapon worthy of the Tsar's Assassin!" Alyona had always liked the sound of that. It could never translate outside of her mother tongue, of course.

That was all behind her now, of course. The manor, its mercenary guards for oligarch drinking parties, her sister. What lay before her was Rhea, a land where she could start fresh. Or so she thought, until the Sea of Death seemed to follow her. The lumbering humanoid figure had gotten close enough. Alyona would stop it, one way or another.

Drawing from Alyona's finger like a drop of pitch-black blood, another lance manifested from her accursed gift. As the monster lurched towards her, she gave an experimental toss of the lance; spearing the monster right through the torso. Yet it still lumbered forward, only slightly impeded by the lance of dark energy that seemed to burn the ooze where it touched.

'To be expected.' Alyona knew that wouldn't stop it. But she wanted to be certain that it wouldn't be able to absorb her negative energy... since Alyona felt an uncomfortable familiarity with the black mud.

The next lance she drew out was more fitting of the title, and one she shaped for a well-known task: Charging. She had to get past that thing if she was to get out of the building. It was simple, then. Bracing the lance, she took off in a sprint towards the clumsy figure. Spearing it through the chest, she drove it to the ground. It mindlessly grasped for her before being too drained to keep its form, reducing itself to a puddle of black goop once more. The slight hint of energy that Alyona managed to drain felt... odd. Alyona felt a little gross absorbing the thing's energy at all, but it was just what her lances did. No way around it.

Unlatching the window, Alyona crawled out to the fire escape. But of course, nothing would be that easy. Rattling the metal stairs from below, more sludge-figures were one level below her. Whatever was going on, the sludge seemed to be coordinating, at least in some rudimentary way. The clumsy slime monsters were having trouble navigating the metal mesh of the fire escape, but they were doing enough of a job deterring her from descending. "Up it is then." Alyona groaned to herself. She never liked going up. Increasing the potential for her to fall was never something she wanted to do.

Alyona hopped from the metal fire escape to the much sturdier floor of the rooftop. She was just happy that the metal stairs did not somehow decouple from the building and end up falling. With her luck, anything was possible. The fire escape had led her to one side of the roof, covered by air conditioning units. She took a moment to catch her breath. She didn't have a plan on how to get down, but the slime monsters seemed to be moving extremely slowly due to oozing through the metal grating stairs.

She peeked around the air conditioning units and froze when she saw someone there. A normal person, even. She nearly called out, but something Cel had said rang in her mind. The ooze had a source; someone had caused it to happen. And the stairs were out, completely covered in the sludge. She kept an eye on the person, taking her moment of peace to prepare to confront them.

'Just my luck. I run into the culprit and everything. I should have just kept walking home.' Aly mulled over what she was going to do as she spied on the figure on the roof.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at the Isolated House

@PaulHaynek

Before she checked on the house, Io mulled over the corpses of the fallen. Io selected two fallen Varjan bodies, marking them with necromantic power from a touch and a briefly whispered spell. The spell was a simple reanimation spell, limited in power but quick to form and cast. These undead would only obey simple commands from her and would likely be more of a nuisance than a threat to a warrior; Io instructed them to remain on the ground until they were called by her, or a living person came near them.

It was a simple insurance policy that Io adopted often when possible. While she was perfectly capable of holding her own in a fight, setting up contingencies was almost a second nature to her. While lacking in the artistry that Io would have liked for her necromancy, it was quick, which was unfortunately important when dealing with the affairs of the living.

Io discovered survivors in the nearby house; they were alert enough to find her. There were several unknowns with these survivors, but Io surmised that they were a bit too spent to want to fight her immediately. The thing that concerned Io most was if they were bandits, or honest villagers caught up in the fight - though, something they said about an iron mark also piqued her curiosity.

Io drifted around the house to the entrance, activating one of her tattood spells along the way. It would disguise the pallor of her skin as well as the magical runes on her scrolls, making her appear as a normal (though perhaps oddly dressed) human girl. It was worth a try to not immediately escalate things given the attitude towards monsters. Plus, the appearance of an ordinary human girl had the chance of revealing their true nature. Io considered it just another contingency; the spell to disguise her was simple and easily maintained so it was worth trying.

She warily scanned the entrance as she entered, and softly spoke up as entered the same room as the survivors. "What's going on? Are you all okay?" She feigned a tinge of concern in her voice. "Did the Varjans attack your village too? Should I send for help?"

It was a simple loaded question - if the bandits were likely to be known by locals as bandits, it's likely they would refuse her offer to get help. Not foolproof in telling if they were bandits, but a reasonable question for her to ask in the situation... As far as Io could tell, at least.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

I'll try and get my post in today! I've been busy this last week unfortunately

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

Io gave a nod to Shizuka's introduction, and the quick explanation of events from him and Kerry. She had to take in account the rather quickly developing situation. It was at least happening faster than she expected - but Io knew at this point that the living always moved faster than she would prefer. For a few moments, she seemingly froze, lost in thought about the situation.

She snapped out of it when Gringor crossed her vision. Now this was already a groundbreaking finding. Without missing a beat, she threw open her grimoire, dictating notes in her native tongue. Her eyes seemed to glow with fascination as she scanned the monsterboy, taking steps around him from a distance as if she was observing a museum piece from all angles. Her grimoire's pages fluttered, being magically filled with writing and turning to the next page in moments. After a moment, she quickly realized she didn't introduce herself. "Ah. I'm Io."

It also didn't occur to Io how her rapt study of this newcomer would appear in the view of others, but even if she did it wouldn't matter to her. This discovery alone made her trip the island worth it. Io had barely managed to finish dictating her physical description and series of questions before Gringor had already taken off, handling an issue that one of the locals had described to him.

For a moment, it seemed like Io might take off after him, but she simply closed her grimoire. She turned back to Shizuka. "That one... Is part of the task force?" The excitement in her voice was noticeable even to the people she had just met. "This island is already beyond expectations."

"I saw a terrible battle near Kuta Farmstead, yokai. Bandits and Varjans killing each other. I probably shouldn't worry about scum tearing each other apart, but their fighting might put someone in danger.

Please, can you take a look?"

"Two enemies of the village fighting? I will take care of it." Io banked on the situation being a good fit for her abilities. Worst case scenario, the villagers would likely not care much about dead bandits temporarily being raised to ward off the Varjan threat. With that in mind, Io strode off towards Kuta Farmstead, the lightest note of a smile on her face. She had originally planned on simply resting, but this development had put her in a good mood. An energetic mood, even. How rare, she mused to herself.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Andras and Michael's Brief Chat

Andras sat in an empty booth near the corner of the bar, trying to sort out what the night had become. There was a distinct berth around her booth, with the spectators giving her plenty of space. Andras didn’t know if it was because she threw around such immense force in her match, or just because it was clear she was upset.

She didn’t care. She really wanted to curl up and wait for her throbbing bruises to stop hurting. She was at least able to stop herself from crying, so she considered that a little victory. The entire night had gone sour in an instant. She only stuck around because she had won, and it’d be an even larger insult to Vera to win and then drop from the tournament.

Well, that, but also Andras was brimming with frustration, sadness, and a feeling of powerlessness. Maybe giving someone a super haymaker would cheer her up.

She sighed aloud. “I’m definitely not in the right place at all…” She rested her head on the table, enjoying its cool surface against her cheek. “What was I thinking…?”

The sight of a newcomer who had shaken up the tournament sulking like that could easily be seen from across the bar. It stood out like a sore thumb.

Michael wandered the bar, turning his head side to side as he searched for Andras. If he recalled, she did not leave her match with the highest of moods, nor with the best of health. He was worried about her, and couldn’t imagine what she was feeling.

Fortunately, she wasn’t too difficult to find, finally spotting her at a corner of the bar. It seemed she was still not feeling well after her match. At the sight of her, Michael put a hand on his hip and sighed. Michael realized he would have to take it upon himself to make her feel better, or at the very least, try to.

Taking a seat next to Andras, Michael gave her a light tap with his fist on her shoulder. “What’s got you so down, Andras? You’re supposed to be a winner.” he asked. “I’m guessing something, uh, not great happened in the past between you and that girl back there, huh?”

Andras quickly snapped up in her seat. “Oh! It’s just you.” She calmed down considerably upon seeing her friend’s face. “No… Um, well… It’s more of something that didn’t happen…” Andras put her head in her hands.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two before Andras realized she was breaking character. Quickly fidgeting, she began backtracking what she had said: “I-I mean! T-There’s no history between her and I, Andras, except the history of… Battle…? L-Like-”

Her stuttered lies were interrupted when her fidgeting caused her bruised knee to hit the table above it, causing her to wince in pain. “Y-Yeah. Like that. Ow…” She added ‘embarrassment’ to the wide range of feelings she was experiencing, just below ‘pain.’

Michael looked down at her knee and placed a hand on his chin, thinking about what Symbols to use to help her out. Getting down to one knee, Michael gently grabbed Andras’ leg and said, “Here, hold still.” He then proceeded to apply a Symbol to her leg, a vertical line with a coil around it, reminiscent of the Rod of Asclepius.

Standing back up, Michael then raised his finger and drew a red cross symbol onto Andras’ forehead. Tapping the center of the cross, Andras would find her wounds healing up, especially around her knee. These Symbols would draw on her own energy in order to heal her body, as all they did was accelerate the natural healing process. She might feel a little drained, but a little rest before her next match would be enough time to make a solid recovery.

“There, that should be better,” Michael said. Sitting back down, Michael would proceed to seriously address his friend, “Alex, please be honest with me. You’re my friend.” He then quickly muttered to himself, “One of the few I actually have,” before continuing on, “I hate to see you like this, and I wanna help you, but I’m not sure I can if I don’t know the details.” He took a deep breath and steeled his resolve, then proceeded to ask, “What really happened between you and that girl?” He knew he was risking his friendship a bit by asking Andras this, but he had to know. Too much had happened to simply brush it off at this point.

Andras groaned, clearly torn between her desire to shrug things off and her desire to respond with the truth. She thought back to some of the times that she had leaned on Michael, even literally, and now she was being propped up by him again. The thought made her want to curl up even more.

After an uneasy silence, Alex spoke up. "Um. She and I used to be friends." Alex sniffled, wiping her eye preemptively. "Really good friends. But we haven't seen each other since I was... Hospitalized. She didn't ever visit after I woke up, and I..." She paused, searching her own feelings. "I... guess I never looked for her, either, after I woke up. But it had been so long that I... Never..." She choked up. "I don't know why I didn't."

She grabbed the end of Michael's shirt and looked up at him with a teary eye. "Why wasn't she just happy to see me?! Why did she want to fight?! And why didn't I stop her when she tried to?!" She crumbled, hiding her face and hunching over the table. "What's so wrong with me that this happened...?" Her muffled voice wavered.

As Alex poured her feelings out onto him, Michael’s mind raced through a million possible answers he could give. However, none of them seemed right to him. He didn’t know what he could say to make her feel better. The only thing he thought of to do at the moment was to awkwardly pat her on the back. Michael may have said he wanted to help, but he certainly wasn’t a psychologist or anything. It was the best he could do.

“Hey hey, it’s- it’s alright,” Michael tried to console her. He thought about giving her a hug, but he wasn’t sure he was willing to do that yet. Especially not with a crowd around them, watching the entire scene unfold. Instead, he continued to say, “I’m sure you did the best you could. Tensions seemed a little… high at the time.”

Alex let out a long sigh once more. She was going to need a long break after all this. Maybe she’d skip classes for a day or two. Depending on how roughed up she got in the next fights, she might have to skip classes. Teachers would ask questions. “She’s always been… We’re going to talk it out. Things will work out...” She turned back to Michael. “Thanks for helping. I feel better… Actually, way better.” Alex stretched her legs, surprised at how quickly her bruises disappeared. “Looks like I owe you… again.”

Alex wanted to stand up to hug him, but she didn’t want to cause any more of a scene than she already had done. She resolved to give him one the next time they met without a crowd watching their every move. Plus… Demons didn’t give out hugs. Or at least, not the kind that get into underground fights and crack the concrete foundation of a building with their bare hands.

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Michael said, giving her a smile and a thumbs up. “You just do your best in the semifinals… Lady Andras.” It seemed appropriate to him that a “demon” be given some proper respect, after all. He flagged a bartender over and ordered a water, and was soon chugging it down from its tall cup.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

Io gracefully descended from the teleport. It was not her preferred method of transport, but given the circumstances she accepted it. She was met with the still air of a temple, as Lady Kyouko had described she would. Notably, the ones inside the temple were not attacking her - not something that could be said of every temple she had entered in the past.

Io quietly watched the fight unfold outside of the temple, analyzing each minute detail of the Mikos' actions. There was much to learn already about the development of magic here. Whispering in her native language that the surrounding refugees would not understand, Io's grimoire glowed, her whispered words inscribing themselves into the page magically. There was much note-taking to be done.

The situation rapidly escalated out of hand before Io could intervene, but perhaps she was not too late to help. Emerging from the temple's sliding door, Io stepped down from the temple steps, walking past the refugees and monks to Ayu and Shizuka. Her pallid skin and torn robes which fluttered and revealed ribbon-like scrolls that wound tightly around her body drew a bit of attention, but she seemed to not notice it at all. "Kyouko sent me," Io brusquely muttered, as if that would answer all potential questions levelled at her. Crouching down, she examined Shizuka's wound. Io knew that Kyouko expected her to help, and not solely observe, but she was surprised at how quickly she already needed to act. "Unfortunate." She said, not considering how bad that would sound to a wounded person. She added after a moment of study, "But not fatal. I will fix it."

Io whispered in her native language to cast a spell of healing. Drawing energy from her own body, and subtly leeching life from the nearby flora, she shaped the energy to heal Shizuka's wound. Ordinarily she'd draw life from the surrounding area without much care... but Kyouko had explained the importance of not defiling Shizuyama's lands willy-nilly. Kyouko had explained it multiple times, even, as if she didn't believe Io got it the first time. Io understood the concern, of course. A dead circle of grass following the area she walked on would likely not make her look the best in the eyes of the locals... especially since it was on a temple's ground. She took care to not overtax the life around her, fragile as it was, for the sake of relations between them all. Io had enough energy to spare... though maybe not if she had to do this too often.

Io watched intently, almost clinically, as Shizuka's wound closed. While she had plenty of experience healing living things, she was more comfortable with undead. Much more room for error with undead. The wound disappeared within moments, leaving no evidence that there was ever one except for the torn clothing and traces of blood.

Io stood after judging the healing was satisfactory, flatly gesturing to herself. "Io." She considered that enough of a greeting. "It seems things aren't as simple as Lady Kyouko hoped," Io said quietly, unaware of how much of an understatement that was.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

@Crowvette

I can't access the image. :(

@PaulHaynek

Interesting. Let me mirror it to see if catbox is the issue.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io

Appearance: Link here because the image probably will mess up the rpguild page.

Name: Io

Race: Lich

Magic/Abilities/Equipment: (There will be fighting in the RP so having combat-related abilities is encouraged. Nothing OP, of course.)

Ancient Caster: Io's casting comes from a long-forgotten school of study, in an ancient tongue that few others would understand or remember, likely from before she became a lich. She is most comfortable with necromancy spells, such summoning minions/spirits as well as directly draining life from enemies.

Encylopaedic: Io has a veritable wealth of knowledge about magic from her time studying. While she may not be able to cast every spell she knows off the top of her head, she can often recall with meditation the right spell for the job, even outside of her forte of necromancy. She also can usually identify magic just from witnessing it, recognizing its effects as it's being cast. Particularly strong, obscure, or specialized spells may elude her ability to cast them, though she'll be able to at least recall the details of what they do.

Scrolls: Io's scrolls that she adorns herself with carry various magical enhancements written in her ancient runes. She has to activate them to gain their benefits, so they're not always on, but she can also give the scrolls to others in order to bestow the enhancements on them. These enhancements are simple in nature, like increasing strength, speed, or toughness for the wearer of the scroll.

Inscriptions: Written in magical tattos on her skin are always-active magical enhancements that give Io considerable sturdiness to phyiscal and magical attack. There are also a few that offer non-combat uses, like to disguise the pallor of her skin and warm her body, in order to blend in with non-monster people, but she will only use these if necessary (Nobody's asked, but presumably she finds it uncomfortable).

Lich traits: Io doesn't need to breathe and various other little traits that are common to undead. She merely ignores anyone asking about her phylactery, but it's presumably something that exists.

Personality: Io is defined by her immense curiousity and desire to learn. To most around her, her nearly constant deadpan expression and mostly covered face makes it hard to get a read on what she's actually feeling. Her focus is unparalleled, being able to continue working on a single thing for days on end without fatigue and all while ignoring distractions. Despite having a seemingly broad vocabulary, she often speaks in brief, truncated sentences to communicate as quickly as possible. Her enthusiasm for jewelry, especially gemstones, often surprises others with how animated (pardon the pun) she becomes in their presence.

Background:

Io talks very little about her past, especially anything before she became a lich. Even her age in broad strokes is unknown, though there may be people capable of deducing her relative age from the writing she uses for scrolls.

It's unknown how Io made it to Zipangu, though there is a legend that she emerged from the ocean in a leisurely stroll... as if she walked from one landmass to the next, completely unfazed by the ocean. Studying the islands of Zipangu, she found herself intrigued by the isolated nature of Shizuyama and warnings to not approach it, at the same time learning of Lady Kyouko's interest in it. Io proposed to help study the island for Lady Kyouko, a win-win for both of them.

(I think I gave away my favourite already but it's the Lich.)

Hopefully this is about right for a character. I also am not quite sold on the name but I wanted something extremely short since that'd fit well with how she communicates in general. Plus I just like how it sounds. But it may be subject to change if I can think of another similarly nice short-as-possible name.