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Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lein

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Location: Bandit Camp, Forward Position
Interactions: Serenity @ERode

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Lein had hung back as he watched the other knights pile the dead into the centre of the road, using the time to instead to poke the unsullied corpses with his greaves. Burning the bodies after combat was standard practice after most battles, and although it would mean the dead would remain dead, it also meant most of what these bodies had to offer in the form of beast food and bones would also be wasted. For now, Lein was just there for the occasional trinket he could find before all the opportunity dried up.

After carefully avoiding the attention of Dame Tyaethe as she inducted more knights into disposal duty, Lein looked at what was left. Some of the Knights were messy, alright - some were frostbitten, others cleft in two through the torso; however grisly their deaths, none of them really had much to pick through in the first place. It solidified Lein's suspicions - these were the dregs, cast out here either as a taunt or a bait. They were never meant to stand a chance at even running away from the Knights. "Least Jerry's living up to the title of King." Lein mumbled sardonically, throwing away a bloodied wooden trinket.

As the Knights started to regroup and continue their advance, Lein hung back to watch the fire alight. The stench of An occasional glint of copper or paper suggested some valuable or keepsake, but it was quickly smothered by the roaring orange-red. Tch. What a waste. Lein shook his head, covering his nose with his scarf. Lein turned onwards into the night with the rest of his cohort, preparing for the bigger fight.

<---<<

Lein could smell the anticipation in the air. Excitement at a real battle was there, for sure, but there was also a sliver of nervousness. A caged beast under the thumb of the Bandit King, or so the scouts had relayed back to them. Bandits, especially if they were as ill-equipped and ill-trained as their first encounter, would be easy enough to deal with. But some rabid beast? What sort of trump card could this Bandit King be holding? Lein would certainly have wanted to strike out ahead and act as his usual role of reconnaissance himself, but for now he'd just have to trust that Cecilia and Hope had made good with their claim.

Actually - Lein mulled, scratching his ears as Fanilly delegated their positioning for the upcoming rush against the bandit camp - charging ahead did sound far more interesting than hanging back again, this time. As much as slacking off was a part of his job, he also didn't come all the way here to just sit back and play crossbones while the other Knights burned down the camp. Lein quickly slipped among his more heavily armed compatriots as they advanced on the camp, scanning their entry point. Watchtowers. Dangerous, preferably taken care of by the ones hanging outside the base. Lein had a better shot at pushing through the armoured ones in the front and going straight for that cage. Lein's tail bristled inadvertently. A sinister hunch. Yeah, best to take whatever was in that thing out first.

And now... Lein readied his bow, tapping a bone finger against an arrowhead as a countdown. And one - two - three - the treeline exploded into a chorus of battle roars, their Knight-Captain's cry flying well above the rest as Lein followed the flow of muscle and steel pouring across the palisades and into the camp.

As Serenity warded the vanguard with a grand swipe of her spear, instead of the green glint of verdant crystals she would hear the crackling of a thick bowstring and the mechanical clicking of metal against bone. A weighty thwack announced the release of an arrow that soared past the scattered men and punched cleanly through the metal coif of a cage guard. The bandit staggered backwards in surprise, stumbling over with a confused gurgle.

Before the cage guards could react - another crack and another arrow pierced the gap in the shoulder pads of the second target.

Yet another - this time erupting blood through the eye socket of a third.

"You called? I was about to think you forgot about me!" Lein grinned coyly at Serenity, before dodging behind Serenity's shield arm as the men closed back around them, now with revitalized vitriol against the new Hundi. "Hup - On your left, Serenity!" Lein called out, knocking an arrow into the knees of more men that rushed their forward position.

These ones were smart, quickly catching on. They'd need more than just a spear and a bow to push through. Fire?

Lein barked out to whoever was near, above the din of the battle that now fanned out from the entrance. "Anyone got a light? We need to break through!"

Delta End

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Adalia Isola Rosenthal

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| 21 | Female | Lawful Good |

| PERSONALITY |

Adalia is less a person but a ball of anxiety shaped in the vague suggestion of a person. She's highly motivated to perform well in her given assignments and has a strong sense of moral alignment, but it may also be due to a certain naivete. Due to her long times in isolation, she doesn't have a good sense of interpersonal skills and tend to be lonely most of the time.

| ANIMA |

A pistol that fires bolts of energy that when hitting a target, covers them in a blue stasis field and freezes them for a variable duration. The field is powerful enough to stop most small arms fire, though targetting larger objects than the average human will decrease both the strength and duration of the stasis field. It also has a secondary effect of assisting the aim and accuracy of its user, especially when targetting those perceived as allies.
Expensively furbished, whoever initially procured this gun was quite the opulent type indeed.

| BACKGROUND |

Adalia's childhood memories are mostly of isolation. She was told that she was sick, and meeting other people was dangerous to both the public and herself. Her parents were never around, and Adalia's only companions were the attendants that were rather unwilling to converse with her. Adalia's abode in a secluded mansion in the 4th Pillar was quite opulent indeed, with luxuries and comforts that most inhabitants of the Metropolis could only ever dream of.

Her apparent sickness was however, only a small part of the reason behind her quarantine. She was really the illegitimate child of a wealthy casino business family, and though her existence to the family wasn't shunned, Adalia was kept out of polite discussion. Left on the sidelines, Adalia was left to her own devices, as long as she didn't make a scene and avoided public scrutiny.

Adalia did cultivate an academic career over her time being stuck inside, however, as well becoming familiar with handling Anima after a brief look into the less legal practices of her family business. In recognition of her surprisingly strong affinities in dealing with destructive Anima, Adalia was inducted into a small research institute in the 7th pillar exploring the effects of the Fog on Anima usage (with her caretaker's begrudging approval). With an aversion to social interactions Adalia's work was mostly solitary and Adalia's clumsiness and general unfamiliarity with anywhere outside her comfortable mansion didn't help, but Adalia found a mentor and her first parental figure in the elderly head of institute Dr. Romanov.

Such times didn't last long. As after a disastrous attack from an Entity, Romanov was removed from the institute after allegations of illegal experimentation, disappearing from the public eye without a word. Apart from a couple of encrypted datapads that Adalia managed to recover before the Agents swooped in, Adalia was left with no trace to where her mentor had gone and even little guidance. With nowhere else to go and refusing to simply return to a silent life within her family mansion, she applied to being an Agent in a vague hope of finding any more leads on Romanov's whereabouts.

| ADDITIONAL INFORMATION |

Sometimes seen with a gas mask rebreather to help with her weak lungs, as well as bandages all across her body. It has been confirmed that Adalia is indeed sick with a chronic illness of some kind that leaves her skin prone to scarring, but whether or not it is infectious or as serious as Adalia's parents have impressed on her is yet unknown. Nonetheless, it is not debilitating, and Adalia remains operable for the time being.

Code Vein (Closed)

JUICE

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Location: Howling Pit
Interactions: Akaia @Exit, Vincent @Daxam, Erik @FunnyGuy
Mentions:

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"Ehh? It's not a pit pit and it doesn't even howl!" Juice whined as he followed suit in peering down at the Lost, disappointed that it was far less grandiose than he anticipated. Juice didn't like caves too much. The dampness often got through the powder and ruined it unless he was careful, and he couldn't watch the particularly fiery ones from up close, unless he wanted to get his helmet burnt off. And something else about them...Juice involuntarily shivered, jingling the many gadgets underneath the coat. He agreed with Vincent's sentiment, expressing it with a small grumble.

But! They weren't in the cave yet, were they? Juice cheered himself up by pulling out a baseball painted grey, nearly bursting at the seams and a curious wire attached to a pin sticking out on top of it. A small yellow smile was painted on its side, as if it too, was excited at its future prospects. An old classic, the compact shrapnel blast bomb: Sharpie MK III.

Juice swung to the two plus ghost plus bird that was with him, and with a voice that could be attributed to a concert MC, announced, "And our opening song goes to-!" Before tossing the baseball down the pit. The baseball whispered a small ticking sound as it sailed down the pit and landed squarely amongst the screeching blades of the Lost. Juice peered over the edge, mentally ticking down along with the baseball as the helmet shook with anticipation.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lein

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Location: Roadside, Bandit Camp Approach
Interactions:
Mentions:

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Huh, guess Hope is used to this kind of attention.
Lein had expected a fluster from Hope at the sudden approach, not a matronly kind of gentleness and certainly not a scratch behind the ears. What was meant to be tease had come off as youthful zeal. Perhaps Lein's initial impression of Hope as the 'royal hemmed in child' had been too hasty; there was a more hardened sort behind those soft looks. Nonetheless, Lein played into his character with his bushy tail swooshing with a guileful sort of enthusiasm. "But of course! This march is yet treacherous, beyond these scrappy scoundrels."

As the battle wrapped up, roars and screams quietening down to whimpers and gurgles, Lein took the time to pull any spare arrows back from the cadavers. The bodies that twitched when Lein retrieved his ammunition, he made sure to cut out the arteries with his dagger. A compassionate gesture, as the young Knight-Captain suggested - and a practical one. Live prisoners too weak to carry themselves would just be a burden, extra cargo to lug around. With the Knight Order trying to stay 'pristine' and 'noble', ransoming would be off the tables as well.

Lein paused as he examined the under-brush leading from the main trail. The brush was torn up and crushed down from the dozens of boots and bodies that fell upon it during the battle, but a peculiar trail of reddened slickness wound out from the trail. A body dragged. Probably an escapee, though they wouldn't have gotten too far. Not exactly urgent, but - Lein looked around the site, the other knights busily delivering their coup de grace - it wasn't like Lein had much to do, anyway.

Just as Lein guessed, it wasn't long before he found his mark. A crumbled brigand, heaving and slumped under the tree. He was confusedly attempting to move his legs that remained limply on the ground, the rough leather of the armour starting to be dyed with pooling blood. He didn't move nor speak even as Lein approached, only squinting at the Hundi with an exhausted look. An animal that was far too tired and shocked to register that it was looking right at a trapper. A heavy blow to the back? Shattered the spine at the wrong place perhaps. Lein usually just aimed for a fatal blow near the neck just for frugality's sake, and to avoid these situations. This one would live, given the treatment that the castle healers could bring. But the legs were gone. For this profession, it was as good as just a slow, protracted death sentence.

Lein's ears twitched thoughtfully, his ossific hand still holding the arrow to the bowstring. Die easy here or die awkwardly later. What a pain. With a quick look around to confirm that his compatriots were too busy cleaning up the rest of the battlefield, Lein leant in close with a hushed but firm tone. "If ever they let you keep your head on your shoulders, head to Marlea'an. Look for a Sister Ifreet. Tell her, ah, tell her you messed up and got bit by a dog or something."

The wounded brigand gave Lein a confused look. Lein yawned and shrugged, resuming his nonchalant smile. With a short wave, he hailed down a healer to carry the brigand away. Eh, not like he'll probably make it to Marlea'an, Lein thought with a foreign brand of uneasiness brewing as he watched the newly imprisoned brigand be tied and hauled away.

The Return of Magic - An Intro

Jay

Wind. Technology. Well, if sentient houses that may or may not have ate people existed, then it hardly surprised Jay that more diverse domains of this... arcane influence existed. An uneasy sense of bitter irony welled up in Jay's stomach as she pondered on her own abilities, which Jay quickly stamped out. First, the house. Find those who got swallowed. Find out more about all this cult/collective hallucination/actual magic/magical cult. Then she could probably crawl into a corner and question her sanity.

Jay tapped her foot as she noticed the planks become more decrepit with each flicker of the light, the house becoming more and more hostile, more akin to what she had first seen outside. Was it growing impatient, or was it an illusion struggling to sustain itself? No matter - Jay was not to let her investigative proclivities root her at the entrance. Jay caught up to Mae and Sam with a few breezy strides, "Exciting, isn't it? A cannibal house~. Though won't houses eat planks if it was a cannibal?" She said, before catching herself in her usual non-sequitur. "I'm Jay, great to meet you all~. I can...sleep! Not really as exciting as you two."

She glanced backwards, with most of the crowd still hesitantly standing outside the house, and waved to them to show that she was fine. At least, for now.

Code Vein (Closed)

JUICE

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Location: Renee's Farm
Interactions: Akaia @Exit, Vincent @Daxam, Erik @FunnyGuy
Mentions:

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The ride was surprisingly quiet. Relatively quiet. Aside from Juice all too enthusiastically tugging on Akaia's clothes when she suddenly manifested in front of him, both crow and Sidhe rather unenthused by the newcomer's presence. (Brittle. Invisible? A dam against a welling current. Accompanied by a corvid. A single confluence, tied together with many, many strings.) Or him shifting around the back and banging his helmet against the van ceiling. Aside from that, Juice was content to watch the landscape fly past him, the grey of the city melting into the pastel brown of the aridness.

Juice didn't seem to mind the extra attention at all. Between his usual floundering gait, artificial voice, and the casualness with which he wandered around the settlement, he seemed to almost want to actively invite the extra attention. His helmet prevented anyone from peering at his face, yet a wave and the melodic way he repeated his greeting, "Hey, I'm Juice!" all gave a plentiful hints that although quite odd, this helmeted man that accompanied the strangers meant little harm. Well, aside from a slightly sore ear, perhaps.

While the three more familiar strangers followed Renee, Juice took a more meandering path around the farm and scanned across the pockmarked structures and its inhabitants that peered out back at Juice. Juice hadn't seen a settlement like this in a while, especially a settlement that wasn't ringed by Lost tugging at barbed wire fences. It must be a dull living here, with little music and little to fight.
Disappointing.
With his initial curiosity satisfied, Juice appeared peering over Vincent's shoulder. "Ominous! Why name it like that?" The tone was happy to emphasize that he approved the naming convention regardless of the reason.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lein

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Location: Roadside, Bandit Camp Approach
Interactions: Hope @Aeolian
Mentions: Fionn @The Otter, Gerard @HereComesTheSnow, Renar @Psyker Landshark

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A small creak, a sharp draw of an anticipatory breath and the smell of leather soaked with nervous sweat. They had given away too many signs. As the bandit leapt from his hiding place, his crude blade raised and roaring, Lein had already raised his arrow at the incoming foe with a mockingly apologetic smirk that said, "That's rough, buddy." With a sharp fwip the arrow punched through the bandit's mouth and through the base of his skull, splattering blood and fluid across the tree that used to conceal him. The victim clawed at his tongue, teeth biting blood, too late to cry out in surprise.

Lein sidestepped the gurgling man as the brush came to life with motion and steel, two more men wearing patchwork leather and vengeful grimaces attempting to rush the archer that had seemingly waded too far into the treeline. The first lunged towards him with short-sword, thrusting their blade in anticipation that Lein would attempt a dodge backwards; instead the pint-sized Hundi ducked forwards under the sword, pivoting under the arm and slamming his weight into his foe. The bandit let out a startled yelp as the slam knocked him right into the incoming blow of the second bandit's axe. Lein took no time in taking advantage of their momentary shock at the friendly assault: one backstep, two flying arrows, two more crumbling down to the dust.

With his immediate surroundings fended off, he scanned the path that had similarly turned into a brawl. Brawl was inaccurate, actually. It was a pathetic show of skulduggery. They had the element of surprise, the Knight-Captain so graciously taking their horridly constructed bait, and yet between Fionn and Renar tossing the bandits around and Gerard "elegantly" tossing the bandits around, it seemed as if the Knights were the ones who had taken the first strike. The vanguard was quickly surrounding themselves with more dead bodies than live ones, a solid wall of flashing blades and uncoiling muscle that stood between the injured man and their assailants.

"Oh, tea parties are far scarier. If you eat crumpets the wrong way you get yelled at for being unsophisticated. Least here you just point the sharp end the other way." He quipped as he rushed past Gerard, shooting down a bandit flanking them with an arrow placed neatly between their brow. The bandits were inexperienced at fighting against plate and had makeshift weapons that they seemed to swing with untrained abandon. Were they even part of this Bandit King's crowd? A crook worth half his coin would know when to mess with a superior force and when to dip. The bigger problem was if any of these ones decided to pull out and ring the alarm (Then again, if the sound of the battle wasn't going to stir people up, Mori's unusually musical enchantments were sure to raise hell), or if they somehow nicked the more vulnerable magi of the Knights.

Speaking of, Lein thought as he spied Sir Hope struggle against an ambush and a certain icy knight sneaking glances towards Hope, looks like someone's distracted. Lein leapt next to Hope with an exaggerated overcorrection of his momentum, as if to mimic a bow and conveniently hiding a playful glint in his eye. His voice held an air of knightly-ness as he addressed the mage. "Sir Hope! It seems your beauty knows no bounds, on and off the battle," - Lein loosed another arrow against an incoming fighter, deftly shifting so that he would block the line of sight between Yasha and Hope - "friend or foe! Allow me to be your trusty guard against those who would sully it."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lein

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Location: Roadside, Bandit Camp Approach
Interactions: Cecilia @Rune_Alchemist, Tyaethe @Raineh Daze, Alodia @Rin
Mentions: Serenity @ERode

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Lein's smile didn't falter as Serenity shrugged him off, and instead grew wider at Serenity's retort, entertained at her challenge. "I certainly would like to see a helmet, it would be far too easy otherwise." And if not, let's see that scrap iron try to stop a dart to the head. He thought.

He turned to Cecilia, tapping the side of his eyes. "If our man's wearing a helmet, I'll give you my next ration if you can shoot through the visor. If I can, let me try out that bow of yours." Ever since he had lain his sights on the sparkling green limbs of Cecilia's bow, Lein had always longed for a chance at handling it. His shortbow was good enough at what it did, of fine Hundi make, but surely such an expensive looking bow would fly differently? Though as Lein recalled watching her arrows adjust themselves in flight back at the shooting ranges, he pondered if he just tossed down a weighted gauntlet.

As he was about move, however, he felt a movement at his side. When he spied Tyaethe's telltale orange scarf next to him, shivers ran up his tail and Lein instinctively covered his neck with his prosthetic arm, his body remembering far faster than his conscious mind can react. "Wait, I haven't even pawned it off ye -" Lein interrupted himself with a cough as he processed what the vampiric paladin actually instructed and regained his poise, though his tail failed to return to its usual bushiness. Right. Lein just didn't have to have a repeat of *that* incident, and he would be fine. He regarded the sight of the cart in front of them and the oncoming darkness.

"Stop me if you've heard this one - dead horse, broken cart, at dusk, right in the middle of the path of the conquering force they know that's coming, then they don't bother to sic the one man who can tell us where they went? Sloppy." Lein gave the air a sniff. Fresh blood. Even if it wasn't planned, these thugs would have surely heard the procession moving through and looped back. "Or they know exactly what we're gonna do."

And the bandits would probably be correct. Whether or not Lein was the one to jump unto the baited trap, the bait would be far too tempting for the more chivalric types to not take. Plus, the honourable Knights would have no choice but to act their part, in front of all the procession that was watching them from the back. Lein would just have to be the one to try and spot the trap before it closed fully. As he heard Serenity call him out to check their surroundings, he gave an undertone of a grumble and a nervous sideways look at Tyaethe. "Alright, already on it." And thought to himself, "'Sir'. Urgh."

He looked back toward Dame Alodia, who gracefully toppled over from her mount. Though her strengths over basic athletic skills was questionable, her lack of restraint at not obliterating her target unsuitable for anything approximating stealth, Lein had spied her command over fire back in the castle. If she decided to not burn down the forest, she would be perfect at lighting the place up. "If you can send out a light or something, more than appreciated."

As Lein moved out toward the brush to scout out any dangers that would jump on them, his gait shifted to one of a stalker's, tail lowered and ears perked up, his body low to the ground and all movement with the purpose of silencing his steps. With a muted clack his prosthetic arm reached back and drew his trusted shortbow. His real hand slipped on a thumb ring and a fletched arrow, holding it knocked and ready to fly at a moment's notice. Lein carefully surveyed the branches and the foilage for any movements and the air for sweat. The darkness would make it more difficult, but Lein had hunted elusive game in the dark before.

Code Vein (Closed)

JUICE

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Location: Roadside Ruins
Interactions: Akaia @Exit, Vincent @Daxam, Erik @FunnyGuy
Mentions:

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"A road-trip across the wasteland! Say less!" Juice said, just like, well, the buyer in the bag. Anyone who could fix up a working motor and maintain a decent rim on these roads was sure - and importantly, sure to also know where to get all the petrol to burn. Finally! Some high octane! If they did manage to hook him up to a tank or two, that would almost certainly put that extra kick to all of his technics.
More people.
Before long, Juice had gathered his sparse belongings; the metallic bat, a beat-up radio, and a large haphazardly marked map crumpled into one of his side pockets.
Then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he opened up the trunk, stowed the bat, slid in the radio, and then stuffed himself into the trunk among all the luggage. Thankfully, the jacket made Juice look far bigger than actuality - the actual 'Juice' beneath all those clothes was lithe and small enough to allow for a kneeling position. The top of the helmet bumped against the top of the van as Juice regarded Renee. The third. Hidden? A guest, jealously protected. He gave a small wave.
"Alright~ ready to go!" The still-helmeted bundle of clothes said breezily accompanied with a thumbs up.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lein

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Location: Roadside, Bandit Camp Approach
Interactions: Cecilia @Rune_Alchemist, Serenity @ERode
Mentions: Fionn @The Otter, Renar @Psyker Landshark

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Among the advancing silver was a pair of orange-furred ears that drifted lazily among the ranks, accompanied by a whistling tune that pranced along the sounds of horse cantering. Its owner, barely taller than the shortest members of the procession, absent-mindedly spun a metal dart across a set of ossific fingers, clinking slightly as each digit weft the it back and forth in an odd display of dexterity. With one final spin into the air, 'Sir' Lein caught the dart with his other, living hand, before slotting it back across the belt-quiver that stretched across his breastplate.

Lein rode in the same manner as he usually went about on foot - skulking out the formation whenever the road allowed him to and occasionally taking the detour to jump over the occasional fallen lumber just to see if he could. He had never been too big of a fan of these long marches, even less since they had to travel in formation for most of the time due to the procession behind them. But he took the opportunity to catch his first few glances at the full cabal of knights that had assembled for the march. From veterans like Dame Morianne whom Lein only needed one scolding to learn to avoid, to new faces such as Dame Cecilia with her temptingly fancy bow, and even the lonesome Dame Serenity, this was a war-march, and anyone who was anything under the Iron Banner were here.

At the head of this band was of course, the illustrious leader of the Roses, Dame Fanilly. Knight Captain Fanilly. It felt strange to attribute that title to the tiny blond figure riding in front of him, as even the horse looked so giant and the armour seemed strangely ill-fitting upon the shoulders of Knight-Captain (though to be fair, these horses were too large for Lein too). Strange would be putting it politely - Lein would bet coin on whether the blond haired girl was even old enough to go through a Teething by Hundi standards. He would also bet twice that someone, somewhere, had paid a hefty sum to place this Knight-Captain right at the heels of the 'Bandit King'.

Not that Lein bothered to voice his concerns. Anyone who had the guts to call themselves the 'Bandit King' outside of a drunken bar fight would have at least some meat behind their claims, and anytime 'bandits' dropped the pretence of being the underdog meant that they were pretty confident about not being the underdogs anymore. Still, it was hard not to look back over the forces that marched up dust behind the Knights' procession and not feel like this whole process was going to be decided by their sheer numbers alone. And if the King managed to pull a fast one on them, or if that small figure at the front couldn't keep it together: well, Lein would probably find a way.

As the procession dismounted one by one, Lein took a moment to have one last glance at the darkening road ahead before he, himself, landed on the road with his own two feet. Ahh, finally. No offence, but two legs are better. Lein thought as he tied the horse. He could see the other knights start to declare their intentions of glory and fame. Sir Fionn, Sir Renar and Dame Serenity. Those three, as Lein recognized early into his induction into the Roses, were the thoroughly chivalry-blooded, - training and glory and all. It wasn't much of a surprise to Lein that this 'knightliness' would include staking their claims on the trophies to be won. The trophy on Lein's mind was simple as always: his head on his shoulders, and maybe loose change. But that would make for a terrible drinking story, won't it?

Lein put on his usual mischievous grin as he spotted Cecilia dash up to Serenity and attempting to lock her with an arm around her shoulders. "Great, I was starting to think we came all this way to have some moonlit tea with the King." He said, slinging his prosthetic arm around Serenity's shoulders from the other side, and pointing to Cecilia's bow. "Though I reckon I only need one arrow to put knock him out."