Eisenhorn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan, if he were a less patient man, might have snapped rather harshly at the Witch's apprentice who had proven to be just as difficult to work with, especially in getting to cooperate, and was now blatantly goading the Captain in an attempted guilt trip. She warranted a close eye to begin with, now more so than before, but fortunately Fionn intervened to deal with her antics instead. Good, as he stepped alongside the captain and spoke plainly, though quietly enough to not be overheard by the spoiled child of an apprentice. "We've done well so far thanks to your leadership Captain. Regardless of her intentions and childish games, we'll see this done. No matter how things twist once the final challenge begins in earnest, you always do adapt well to what's to come, and we all stand with you."

Of course, things were never so simple as to begin plainly, the Witch intervening with her own alterations to the impending fight with a dragon. No, that was not fair, a dragon grossly underestimated Thrinax. Volkstraad he may not be, but Rolan had no intention on underestimating such a figure. Rolan was staring down at Thrinax's position the entire time the Witch spoke, waiting patiently for either the order to engage, or for the dragon to act. The settling night suited him fine, he thrived far more in the dark, skulking and hunting, than he ever did in an honest battle formation. Even after agreeing to join the Roses, that hadn't changed much. The runecraft the Witch weaved didn't matter, it didn't change his tactic or approach. Evade, watch for an opening, blind the beast, end the contest. Of course, that was easier said than done by a wide margin, as the shimmering mass of scales moved his thoughts interrupted as he darted forward, barking a word of warning alongside the Witch chiming in.

"MOVE!" Rolan's path was inefficient compared to just a straight path down the hill, trying to distance himself from the rest of the Roses, and as the hill was bathed in fire he glanced back to see his own cloak already partially ablaze from the near miss of dragon's fire. A quick movement with his dagger cut the burning cloak free, turning hard and moving away from the direction the burning remains of his cloak were being carried in the night. He kept low, moving to keep himself both blended into the darkness on the ground and not draw attention to either himself or other knights. He had to wait for his opening, simply firing from a seemingly concealed position was foolish, the longer he went without drawing attention to himself, the easier it was to forget him. The moonless sky, illuminated though it was by stars and nebulae, would have to give him enough concealment to avoid Thrinax's wrath until he could take a confident shot at the eye or throat. Gauging how long he had between the mouth opening and fire spilling out would do well, if the opportunity arose. Until then Rolan would keep low and in the shadows as much as he could, watching his fellow knights and how they arranged themselves before committing himself to any course of action.

Pariah Online

Rolan

R O L A N
R O L A N

^{“Now why would we rush, there's still so much to see and do here.”}

C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T _________________________________________________________ C H A R A C T E R D A T A C H A R A C T E R D A T A _________________________________________________________ True Self Lorenz Ferber Persona Rolan Pathos Queon Role Burst DPS/Controller Weapon of Choice Estoc Domains Light Illusion Frost Manifestation Playstyle & Attitude Counterattacker - In tandem with his Controller role via Illusion and Manifestation magics, Rolan specializes in deflecting and evading incoming attacks, each failed blow increasing the instability in the foe's stance and approach. Whether this is literally in their stance, or in their mounting frustration with the defensive playstyle varies, but Rolan rarely strikes with his sword unless he can ensure a critical blow. He maintains aggression with Manifestation based attacks, supported by his illusions. Controller - Rolan deploys a combination of light infused illusions and frost manifestations to make actual navigation and targeting of himself, and allies by coincidence, difficult. Whether its using flashes of light to dazzle and disorentate, illusions to obfuscate his movements and actions, or mixing manifestation magic with either of his elemental choices, Rolan plays to narrow a threat's ability to maneuver and act, forcing them into a position where they have to start taking hits. Loremaster Nerd - Rolan has always had an obsession with exploring the lore of Pariah Online. Whether it was getting all the information he reasonably could from NPCs, digging through descriptions of items, locations, and everything he could get his hands on. He would regularly wander off to just explore the land, looking for any sites of interest. Anything he could find to add to his ever growing collection of journals, notes, and scribblings as he gathered first what was told to him (and by extension the player base), and then began theory crafting and trying to fill in the gaps between what has been made apparent or confirmed. Both in game and outside of it, he would post his findings and theories, maintaining an online presence as one of the players obsessed with the lore in a game. ♬

L O R E N Z F E R B E R - D R U D G E R Y I N M O T I O N L O R E N Z F E R B E R - D R U D G E R Y I N M O T I O N ________________________________________________________________________________________ Lorenz was never exactly what one would call a stand out individual. In his youth, he maintained perfectly serviceable grades, never anything to be ashamed of but nothing to brag about either. It wasn't for a lack of trying at first either, pushing himself even when he felt no engagement with anything in his scholastic efforts growing up. But regardless of effort, he always maintained the same level of acceptable results, so he stopped applying himself. His social life was healthy, if a bit dull, and he had the usual routine of heartbreak that young love would bring. By the end of his high school, he had chosen to go to a trade school instead of college or straight into a career, the most inspired choice he had yet made in life. Trade School went well for Lorenz, finding a knack for identifying impending problems, fixing them, and maintaining most anything he could get his hands on. It was the first time he had ever truly excelled at anything, which was an odd feeling for the young man as he graduated from his trade school and moved into a career helping maintain infrastructure critical equipment. It wasn't hard work, not for him at any rate, but he noticed very quickly that he never developed a rapport with his coworkers. No matter how many times he went out to company functions or after work drinks, he never felt any particular connection with them, and the feeling was mutual. He was professional, a model worker, but when the shift ended, he would simply go home. It was during this tedium of routine that Lorenz would hear about the upcoming Pariah Online, and something about it grabbed him and would not let go. He had plenty of money saved up, having few hobbies to spend any real money on, immediately investing in the game and required equipment to be able to log in and play as best as he could. There was something about the idea of immersing himself in a world that was completely unknown, that he would have to learn from scratch, that was itching something in the back of his mind that he had forgotten was ever there. An urge to learn, and maybe this time he would actually be good at it. R O L A N - O B S E S S I O N M A D E M A N I F E S T R O L A N - O B S E S S I O N M A D E M A N I F E S T ________________________________________________________________________________________ Rolan, as he chose his persona to be, is an old soul in Pariah Online, as far as one can be at any rate given the current amount of time the game has been up and running. He had joined as soon as he could at launch, but where some players became legends in raiding, in the art of PvP, Rolan found himself with a new feeling of obsession that he had never had to properly grapple with before. He couldn't tear himself away from the world itself, the stories, folklore, history that preceded the arrival of Wayfarers. He never wanted for companions, when needed, but his eccentric obsession with lore made him few permanent, long lasting connections. He would hop from guild to guild, party to party, never sticking around for too long. Rolan was always chasing the latest rumor, the latest missing gap between the lore of the world. He spent as much of his free time on forums and creating video essays on the lore of the world of Pariah Online as he did exploring it and improving as a player. He went to whatever content was needed, be it PvP, Raiding, delving dungeons or just wandering the world itself. He never saw anything in borders or sticking to any one activity, instead sometimes spending days of time in game simply pouring over every source of lore he could find, talking with both fellow lore enthusiasts, when they crossed paths, as well as digging through all the information he could from NPCs. Whenever a credible sighting of something new or unusual was posted or discussed, it was a fairly sure thing among the community that Rolan would not be far behind, carrying an ever growing collection of journals, notes, and books that he kept at his own player home when too dense or not relevant to what he was investigating this time. Sometimes he was recruited for a raid or battleground, given he was still a highly experienced player and one could not find all the lore simply in safety behind town walls and his eye for detail translated to a deadly accuracy in a fight, but he could sometimes be difficult to focus on the right task. He didn't care for the rewards of the content at times, seeing the story said content told as far higher value, and would sometimes take on sidequests and other minor content well below him just to review something he might have missed in the lore of it, however slight. Rolan was a man obsessed, having finally found a calling in life that spoke to him beyond just the day to day drudgery of his real world life. He was further isolated from that life than ever before, and while his performance at work didn't suffer, his coworkers noted he was even more distant than usual. A few had tried to talk to him, but his focus on a game none of them cared about made it even harder to connect. So Rolan would continue to descend into Pariah Online, only caring about the real world in as much as it was necessary to keep funding his access to what he truly enjoyed, and found he excelled in, at long last. Even if it was an eccentric field of interest, someone had to know the story of Pariah Online, even if only a fraction of the players cared.

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Spells & Spell-like Abilities

Hall of Mirrors - A mixture of light and illusion magic that Rolan is fond of, he utilizes his magical grasp on Light to bend it, removing him from immediate view while, at the same time, creating a number of false clones of himself. While they lack substance and can be dispelled in a single blow, shattering one of these mirrors is often accompanied by a flash of light that can leave unaware foes blinded, and even those ready for it dazzled and struggling to see briefly. More effective against singular targets, and notably ineffective against those that do not rely on sight. If he doesn't want to rely on Light, he can use Frost magic instead to cause the mirror image to burst in a cloud of frigid cold, sapping energy and stamina from those caught in the burst for as long as they stay in it, or until it fades.

Whiteout - Manifesting a field of frigid Frost and dotting it with orbs of Light, Rolan creates a field that is nigh impossible to see in, the Frost sapping the stamina and energy of those trapped in it, while the motes of Light that circle within the storm make it more disorientating and difficult to escape. While Rolan himself cannot enter the manifested storm safely, it creates good cover for escapes, maneuvering, or simply softening up a target before it escapes or the spell expires on its own. Rolan could maintain the spell for longer than the initial burst requires, however such a thing would prove increasingly taxing over time.

Lantern's Lure - A purely utilitarian spell, Rolan can manifest a number of orbs of Light, anchoring each of them over the shoulders of himself and a number of other people. These orbs let off soft light in most directions, but a beam of stronger light in the direction that the person looks at any given time. Rolan developed the spell purely because he got tired of having to keep a torch or lantern handy at any given time and would rather simply have a light source that tracked where he looked at any given time. The fact that it was trivial to expand the number to include allies was mostly coincidental.

Frost Light Arsenal - An entire set of spells designed to compensate for his far more defensive and patient swordplay, and for dealing with foes that are too large or dangerous to simply duel at close range, the Frost Light Arsenal is as close to a unique creation as Rolan ever gets when it comes to his combat capabilities. Utilizing Manifestation as its core, he can form a variety of temporary Frost or Light constructs, be it sharpened pillars rising from the ground or projectiles to launch at nearby targets. His favorite is a series of blade shaped forms that orbit him, providing both a barrier and a weapon to launch as needed. Using Light magic typically is less directly harmful, but the pattern and hues of the Light often are difficult to see past, while Frost magic is more directly damaging, though even split between stamina and actual physical well being.

Character Feats

Stance of Deflection - Rolan's method of swordplay lends itself to his entire approach to Pariah Online. Observe, record, and determine what it all means before delivering a thesis on a matter. In a fight, his fighting style revolves around deflecting, parrying, and patiently learning and observing his opponent. When settled into his Stance, it takes a great deal of force or skill to completely bypass his defense. The entire purpose is to draw a foe into more aggressive and, by extension, more exposed attacks until a critical flaw can be found. Then, much like his lore research, Rolan delivers a critical blow to a vital spot in his foe. The more enemies he fights at once, however, the less effective this becomes as he cannot as readily focus on any one foe long enough to deliver critical strikes, his blows less dangerous than if allowed to focus.

An Eye for Knowledge - Rolan cannot, despite his efforts, profess to know everything there is to know, fortunately for him. However, all his time spent gleaning everything he can from sometimes fragmented and especially under duress or other less than ideal circumstances makes him a natural at picking out details. Be it a faulty piece of construction, an old wound that could be targeted on a foe, or even a rare material easily overlooked, Rolan has a naturally high perception and awareness of his surroundings, making it difficult to ever catch him off guard or conceal things from him.

Methodical - Both a flaw and a boon, Rolan has a very particular, and measured approach to all things. Fights with him, by his own dictate, are measured and steady, moving at particular paces. Exploration, down time, all things have a very measured, controlled, and steady pattern to them. When in his element, Rolan is naturally more capable at what he puts his mind to, however being forced out of this by circumstance can be off putting and leave him on the back foot should he not adapt to this new pace or circumstance.

Lore of the World - Having spent his entire time in game towards the purpose of learning about the world he is in, Rolan has a near photographic memory for anything that happens to catch his eye when exploring, fighting, or otherwise spending his time in Pariah Online. He is also proud to state that he actually understands the world that existed before the existence of the players in it better than nearly anyone else who isn't a part of the world itself, instinctively treating the people of the world appropriate to who they are as people rather than just as NPCs in a game.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

If Rolan had his crossbow at this point he would have been sorely tempted to consider Lady Gertrude an active barrier to accomplishing their goal. The massive, whirling firestorm was probably some sort of attempt to blind or impede the Hundi's efforts to stop the knights from ascending the hill. Glancing back, he got a good look at the daemoness leveling a truly impressive looking crossbow before realizing that the other knights had reached the top of the hill. Fortunate for him, at least, as he began heading down to retrieve his crossbow, moving at a brisk jog. The Hundi cleaned up the firestorm, giving him time to fetch his crossbow and regroup with the rest of the knights, checking over his weapon to make sure the tumble hadn't damaged it in a way that would impact its capability as a weapon. Fortunately not, though the damp, heavy fog was thoroughly uncomfortable and left him feeling horribly humid, though he kept his mouth in check for now given how near death he had come during this contest. As much as he disagreed with the act, the Captain and Ser Renar had quite frankly saved him from a certain death. He could complain about that later, since they had gotten lucky with the other knights reaching the top before one of them was laid low.

The Hundi complimented their efforts, noting that most powerful mages, even those with retinues protecting them, would be hard pressed to avoid friendly fire, should they care about it at all. Their ability to avoid such things was at least noteworthy, though Rolan did make a quiet, offhand remark as he set about cleaning his crossbow of the more superficial dirt and grime. "If we have to cross another powerful mage, one would hope the defending retinue doesn't include teleporting daemons, that complicated things a bit."

The Hundi metaphorically dressing down Lady Gertrude would have been more of a sight to behold, if it wasn't for the fact Rolan had a sneaking suspicion that, as far as he had seen her in action, it would only cause her to dig her heels in harder on being a stuck up brat. Still, apparently any further discussion would be held in a few weeks time, referring to the actual world they were fighting to prove they were ready to return to, before sending a signal into the air. A flash of shadow, crimson scales, towards the gates where their last challenge awaited. Thrinax, and all they had to do was injure the dragon. Yes, because just injuring the dragon would be anywhere remotely close to just that easy. Loading his crossbow, his mind raced back to the time he spent planning while everyone else celebrated their progress. First problem, getting Thrinax to stay on the ground. Second, avoid getting wiped out in a focused attack. Third, landing a hit that could wound the dragon through its hide, which he wasn't going to waste crossbow bolts on. He had to aim for the eyes, as difficult as that was going to be.

"Lady Gertrude, you are our best bet to keeping Thrinax grounded, or at least low enough for the rest of the knights to reach. I would recommend that she take to the skies and strike from there, ideally to keep the air contested long enough for the rest of us to reach striking distance. Scatter and approach from as many directions as possible, limit the ability for an attack to take out several of us at once. I would rather not have to assault the hill again. On your command Captain."

Wounding Thrinax, while nominally easier than outright killing the dragon, was not what Rolan had planned for. He expected to have to fight the dragon to the death, and his planning and preparation had revolved around that. Landing one wounding blow should be easier, but it was never going to be that easy. Once the Captain gave out the orders, Rolan would pursue to the best of his ability, though he would be hanging back, watching for openings to land a good shot. He only had to get one good shot in to constitute as wounding the dragon, and he kept his spare alchemical supplies firmly stashed away for now. Wounding was a different objective, and most of the remaining supplies would either not assist in landing the first wound, or would possibly endanger his allies who were approaching in melee. He didn't have any more vials of the caustic smoke on hand, having decided that using it on the Hundi and her daemon was a better use than saving it for Thrinax. All that being said, Rolan was hoping he would not be rushed down into a melee quite so quickly during this final trial.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan resisted the urge to start cursing when the daemoness protected her eyes from his attempted movement, but the sight of the warping and marring of the armor gave him ideas in the future for dealing with heavily armored knights and the like. He could muse on that later, right now he was scrambling back from the daemoness as she blocked a damn spell from the caster's partner, if that was the right word for it, who was still at the base of the hill. Already moving away from the melee, Rolan had to throw himself hard to the side to narrowly evade the incoming Spear, though he could feel it tear through his cloak and the strap holding his crossbow on his back. He heard it clattering away and down the hill, momentum carrying it out of his reach as he scrambled to his feet, mind racing to process the battlefield right now, and now found himself barely resisting the urge to start cursing as the Captain engaged the daemoness, calling Sir Renar after her in an effort to save him.

This would be the point where a faithful man might start muttering about gods damn it or the like, the Captain should be advancing up the hill, not pulling his sorry hide out of the fire. If it was his place to draw the daemoness away so the others could advance, so be it, he would have stalled his death as long as possible. But if the Captain wasn't going to, in his opinion, pursue the goal of this test, then so be it he would. Crossbow was out of the question, but he didn't need that since, clearly, attempting to cut the Hundi short on casting would just piss off the daemoness further. He didn't waste his breath on shouting at the Captain or other knights, or even rebutting the daemoness as she called the others out on ignoring the objective. He had an opening, slim as it was, and he was going to take it. The Captain and Sir Renar were better suited to melee, and without wasting time to retrieve his crossbow he could not readily contribute to fighting the daemoness.

Without hesitating Rolan turned and took off as fast as he could move, beelining straight up the hill while the Hundi was focusing her efforts on the other flank. He had no qualms with abandoning the fight if that meant ending it sooner, let the others call him out for it at another time. He had to watch for incoming magic, and listen for the daemoness redirecting her attention to the fleeing hedge knight, but right now he was going to take advantage of his relatively light load and naturally fast movement to try and close the gap on the Hundi before he could be stopped. If he was lucky the others could handle the incoming threats long enough to put an end to this once and for all. If he was lucky he would reach the Hundi before she could refocus her efforts back across multiple flanks again, but if not, well, he would have to continue pushing his luck to not getting killed by attacks he couldn't even begin to hope to block. Once he got out of this mess he needed to start carrying an actual arming sword around, a knife was only going to get him so far.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan didn't waste either his breath or the daemon's attention on vocalizing just how much he did not appreciate the situation he found himself in. Was it advantageous for the others to be able to focus on advancing up the hill? Yes. Would it force the mage to spread her attention out more across the rest of the knights? Certainly. Was it going to get him slaughtered in a fight that he was sorely unprepared for? Very likely. In the moments of the daemon crushing the fired bolt in her hand, the hedge knight slung his crossbow and drew the hunting knife he always carried. Not that it was going to deflect anything, let alone block, as laughable as that consideration would be, but Rolan did have one thing going for him. He was fast enough on his feet that he could, in the moments the weapons remained formed, deflect himself away from the attacks. He was trying to draw her as far away as possible despite the teleportation showing that to be less than relevant. His mind was racing through the tools he had on hand, most of which did not fit here.

Most of his prepared alchemical compounds had been tailored almost exclusively towards the impending Dragon encounter, and Rolan wasn't going to entertain a flask of alchemist fire doing more than getting him burned alive by the daemoness just grappling him once doused. Even the reagents and components he had decided to pack were almost useless on their own, but one came to mind as he felt several hairs get clipped off his head from the backswing of an axe larger than he was. Aqua Regia, he had packed a vial mostly because the compound fascinated him, its interaction with various metals something he wanted to experiment with when he had the time, and part of him had assumed there would have been travel and more time between contests. Hand darting under his cloak, every attack driving ever closer to his luck finally running dry, hell odds were good the knife wasn't going to take much more of this and it wasn't even taking much more than glancing force from being used to guide his own evasions.

Rolan waited for an opportunity, gritting his teeth as death kept creeping closer, using the cloak to conceal what he was up to while trying to obfuscate his form at least a little, to buy him a few more seconds. Panicking now and just throwing it wouldn't help, he had to try and wait for the right moment to go for her eyes. If it had the effect he was hoping it would, she would not be able to visually track him long enough to get some space and try to employ what he was actually good at, putting a bolt somewhere where it would hurt. Rolan would thrust the vial towards the daemoness when the best chance he could spot arose, uncorking the vial as part of the motion and aiming to get as much of the mixture in her eyes specifically as possible. If he were a faithful man he would probably offer a prayer up at this point, but it would ring kind of hollow for him to suddenly start doing so now. Hoping to at least get something out of his last ditch effort would have to suffice.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

At the sight of the metallic blur launching itself upwards out of the cloud, Rolan found a single thought crossing his mind as the arc began carrying the blur back down towards the knights, the caustic smoke doing far less than he would have preferred, again, as it was cast away with a stiff breeze that was conjured. He caught himself muttering under his breath as he kept moving, though he was moving for a covered position rather than simply bolting further upwards with no regard to what was incoming.

"Fuck..."

Positioning himself in cover, he looked to where the daemoness had slammed down, cutting him off from the Captain and Sir Renar while the magic intensified. No, now was not the time to think, as he snapped the crossbow to his shoulder and fired. He wasn't aiming center mass for the daemoness, he expected her to be fast and smart enough to know he would react to her landing as well and evade. Hell, maybe she was expecting it and deliberately positioned to allow a missed shot to strike his allies. That's why he aimed low, aiming for her knee, specifically one that, on a miss, would harmlessly slam into the ground instead of risk injuring his allies. Still, this was a juncture he had to resolve quickly. The daemoness was the kind of threat he was not going to be of much use dealing with, not in a fair fight, and right now he had to assume the original plan had been scattered to the wind just like his smoke screen had been. That meant adapting, and that meant making for the top of the hill. Sir Renar had the right idea with attacking the mage, though the throwing knife was likely more a distraction than a true attack. Rolan was not going to allow himself the same luxury as he bolted up along the more sparsely covered path, trusting the daemoness to Sir Renar and the Captain.

It was likely one of the other Knights would peel off to engage the daemoness as well, Sir Gerard given the previous volunteering to face the daemoness, leaving two knights for the more guarded path, and Rolan alone for the sparser path. Not ideal, but considering that the daemoness could slaughter him in a melee with little effort he was only going to slow the others down dealing with her. No, he focused on the original plan, lead the way up even if no one was following him. Only one of them had to reach the top, and with two remaining on the other path had better odds splitting attention than he did. But he could work with that, as he finished reloading and began trying his absolute best to land a killing shot on the hundi on the top of the hill as he bounded upwards, only pausing to line up a shot when he was weaving through the veritable hail of magic coming down on them. At worst, he would get her attention and focus long enough to create openings, at absolute worst the daemoness may take offense to his efforts long enough to leap up after him, buying the knights time to reorganize and advance.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

The broad consensus among the gathered knights was to split up and attack from multiple flanks at once. The Captain organized things more thoroughly. No one would be making an attempt on the climb, a part of him was disappointed to hear that but it was quickly suppressed. The bold, arguably foolhardy, volunteering by Sir Gerard was wisely not pursued. So it would be three and three, since Rolan was not going to hold his breath that anyone was going to convince Gertrude to assist, even by prodding her ego. He considered the groups and their taskings, continuing to size up his opening shot all the while. There was quite a lovely small rock at the point the hill reached its peak, just falling short of a directed attack, which would work wonders in scattering the smoke upwards and outwards. Even if it only lasted a second before being blown back or dispersed it would give them a second to begin moving. As for the groups, Gerard, Fleuri, and Fionn would tackle the route likely defended by the daemoness. Gerard on the front, with the other two on the flank, they should be able to hold the creature's attention well enough, maybe even advance. He would have to keep a sharp eye on their flank in case an opportunity to interfere made itself available. He did have a knack for ruining perfectly good fights.

That left him paired with the Captain and Sir Renar. Renar was smart, adaptable to changing battlefield conditions, he had observed as much during his actions against the Talderian knights. How fast he was on his feet, however, was another matter that remained to be seen, but he would not disparage the man for being the spitting image of a proper Knight. The Captain was faster on her feet, in comparison, and had proven herself in the melee before. Fortune willing, she would be able to keep up better, but as far as Rolan was concerned, he would end up leading the way. He wore the least armor, not a scrap of metal on him, and travelled light to begin with. Problem being, taking hits was, frankly, not an option. Even more so than normal, staring down magic capable in a siege. Regardless, they had stood around long enough, and a real threat wouldn't have let them stand around, scout, and plan to this extent. It was time to get this underway, and he knew just how he would do so.

"As you say Captain, I suggest that whoever is being targeted goes to ground and the other two leap past, so even defensively we advance. I'll lead the initial way, and fortune willing create an opening. Long strides and swift feet, Roses." With that, he snapped the crossbow to his shoulder and fired, having spent the entire discussion sizing up his shot he shouldn't have needed any time to aim and give away his intent more than necessary. The bolt, caustic smoke vial lodged in place of its tip, was aimed to shatter right in front of the duo above rather than on them directly, but Rolan did not wait for the shot to land. He bolted, low and fast, for the eastern approach. He was reloading in motion, already planning out where he would take cover from the no doubt impending magical strikes, listening for the Captain and Sir Renar behind him so he didn't evade in a way to bait the impending counter attacks right into their paths. If Gertrude decided to be goaded into helping, well, all the better to keep the opposing mage busy, but he wasn't planning on having her help. Let her prove him wrong.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Yūma was meandering the facility, head fairly lost in his own thoughts at the moment. Sure, they had gone and secured the area, the spirit samurai was secured and the area was, last he heard, being converted into some sort of shrine after an attempt at assisted suicide hadn't worked at all. He suspected they had all been missing something or another, though it wasn't like he could go waltzing back on site and poke around at this point. What was done was done, for better or worse, sometimes all they could do was contain an area and hope someone down the line figured it out. Maybe some exorcist or something could figure it out, all he was good for was shooting problems, or punching them if the need arose. Speaking of shooting, he made a mental note to at least grab a shotgun next time he was called to head out to a situation, at least if it was slightly possible that another full blown battle would occur.

That being said, Yūma figured at this point he could do with some time on the range to get his head out of the last mission. Dwelling on it wouldn't help or change anything, and he always felt better after putting himself through the paces. Heading down to the training wing, he would go to focus on firearms training and drills. Unlike normal, where he would go for his sidearm, he instead began picking through longarms, both conventional and less so. Having had to burn through his entire supply of .45 ammo during the mission had been a bit of a pain, and figured a good way to get his mind off the last mission was focus on bringing more varied tools to the next. Even if that variation was in the method of his shooting rather than completely new ones.

Settling one a shotgun to start with, a standard issue patrol model he was more familiar with from his time with the AERT than as a full blown Agent, Yūma would start proceeding through various courses of fire. Accuracy and speed were goals on the range, sure, but he was also practicing techniques he hadn't used in awhile. Different methods of reloading, firing from each shoulder in case one was compromised, firing from the hip, anything that could come to mind as something that might be useful for whenever the next mission would come up. He fully expected another one to come up, something in his gut was telling him things were not going to be quiet today.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan didn't dignify Lady Gertrude with further attention when it became apparent that she was planning on sitting this one out. If she wasn't going to be of use, he had no need to acknowledge her any further at this juncture. The planned, and carried out, scouting altered his plans and considerations notably. Unlike the majority of the Roses, Rolan was the best equipped and dressed to take advantage of the agility needed to climb the steepest, and most well protected, of the approaches. Granted, that also left the most armored to try and make an attempt on the most exposed approach, where the ability to evade the inevitable torrent of magic would be more important than anything else. He also had the means to force attention by returning fire with his crossbow, something that required very little in the way of concentration and setup to do by this point. He gauged the distance between where he was and the mage above, mentally plotting out the shot so that it would shatter at the feet of the duo and maximize how much time they had to utilize its effects before no doubt driven off with magic. Even a few moments was enough to buy them time to scatter their approach, though since he couldn't settle on where to suggest he go, he deferred to the Captain.

"When we are ready to scatter, no matter the plan, I can send another vial of smoke up to the top of the hill. We just have to get up there, the condition we are in doesn't matter, assuming the cloud lingers that long. Whoever goes for the hardest climb should be concealed from sight long enough to be able to safely get there and started unseen. Assign me where you see fit Captain, I can fill in on any of the groups, be it distraction or dedicated climber."

To his credit, Rolan did not raise the crossbow to his shoulder yet, cradling it like they were still in the planning phase. He could snap it to his shoulder and loose in a moment's notice, no need to telegraph himself too much. The mage had plenty of advantages as it was without adding more, especially if all their planning was in earshot, the increased buzzing grating on his nerves. It was always something annoying with mages, be it attitude, general atmosphere around them, or something else was always either irritating or aggravating when it came to those dedicated exclusively to magic. He didn't say this out loud, mind, no need to offend the vast majority of those here who used magic in addition to their martial abilities misunderstanding him.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Rolan felt a brief, confident smirk on his face when he interrupted the clashing of blades between Ser Gerard and one of the opposing knights, the echoing call of gratitude back towards his current position not lost on the man, though he didn't waste his breath quite yet on shouting back. No, his efforts were proving effective, and he would keep up the fire while adapting to the new approach by the frontline knights. It was like he had considered when he first agreed to join the Roses, that so many of them were front line fighters. Sure, their individual tactics and skills were varied and unmatched at this moment in time, but in the thick of a brawl, it was hard to observe what was going on beyond the next incoming blow. Of course, the opening was finally exploited by the Captain, mirroring the shield running leap by another of their contingent. What he wasn't braced for was, when the Captain reached the Prince, that all the opposing knights were shunted to the sides, and they were all collectively hauled in front of the throne for...congratulations.

Rolan wasn't content to just stand around and listen to Prince Erion, rather he was scanning the surroundings, looking for the next challenge even as the Prince explained how he did not know what was next. Rather, the best bet would be that Thrinax would possibly know, although if he was watching it was out of their sight. Speaking of, there was a glinting that caught his eye. Azure gleaming, and his instincts took over where his mind processed what it was seeing. He barked a single word warning as he made to get off the path as fast as possible. Sure, death was cheap in this place, but that didn't mean he was going to just accept dying. "MOVE!"

---

Rolan collected himself as he moved back up on the remains of the path, having rather unceremoniously dashed and threw himself out of the incoming attack. Even with agility, it had not been an elegant maneuver, but he was still standing so to hell with elegance. Even if it was apparent that, anyone too slow or too central to the incoming spell to evade it, had returned as well. So it wasn't a part of the challenge, but simply to get their attention. Two figures on a nearby hill, one notably taller, but he couldn't identify them from here. The goal became apparent, climb the hill, and no further strikes would be coming until they began working up the hill. Given the power of the spell, attempting any sort of formation maneuver would be asking to be obliterated. Rolan was already scheming, wedging the second of his caustic smoke flasks to the end of a crossbow bolt. Blind the casters and take advantage of a scattered, multiple pincer approach.

"Rude method of getting our attention, wasn't it? My suggestion is we approach the hill from multiple directions, force their attention to be spread out. Tight knit formations will get obliterated by spells like that. I'll draw attention first, try to blind them, and focus on holding their attention to buy the rest of you time to start running up that hill. Any disagreements?" Rolan was looking at the hill while he spoke, preparing to get moving towards the hill assuming no one disagreed with his thinking. They had time to plan before simply rushing in headlong like a bunch of fools. He would be ready to move out on a moment's notice, even if it was because one of his fellow knights took off unceremoniously.