Force and Fury

The Hourglass Order

Marceline Hohenfelter

Magnetic: 4
Arcane: 1
Binding: 4.5
Chemical: 1
Kinetic: 4.5
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: 0
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.28
Base Health: 18
Mana: Tethered (can attack from long range)
Bonus Effect: Foresight has 10 points to distribute whenever she sees fit.
Fruit: Brandæble - increases Marci's RAS modifier dice by one stage above where they should be.
Consumable 1: [Prime Shot] - increases Marci's RAS by 104, for a total of 256 with item.
Consumable 2: [Pescoberry Cupcakes] - Provides advantage on all (d2) rolls and non-damaging actions.
Item 1: Souleater's Sombre Sombrero - Penalizes all enemy spells with a persistent -2 so long as they are within casting range and steals any two magic buffs or consumable boons per scenario for use on the wearer instead. Currently at 6/10 and 1/5 charges. Provides 28 manas.
Mobility Aid: Power Wheels - a lightweight, aluminum-framed wheelchair made for humanoids. It has rubber tires, shocks, and a pneumatic, self-repairing seat cushion. It appears to have been modified by hegelan craftsmen with imbued spells that allow it to siphon and store kinetic energy from its surroundings in order to help its user hop curbs and boost momentum when rolling up inclines. Contains a slot for a mana gem as well as a small treasure compartment hidden by illusory magics. Provides 36 manas that can stack above the normal 32 maximum.

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Penny Pellerin

Magnetic: 1
Arcane: 3
Binding: 4
Chemical: 2
Kinetic: 4
Atomic: 0
Blood: 2
Temporal: 0
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.34
Base Health: 20
Mana: Leadvein (boosts Kinetic by one RAS tier)
Fruit 1: Pomegranate (fortune) - All passed thresholds and successful rolls add a stacking +3 bonus, up to +13. While the bonus is 9 or below, consecutive failures will dispel it. Above 9, any failures will dispel it. After +13 is reached, the player gains advantage.
Pomegranate (misfortune) - Tie the fates of the fruit bearer and their enemy together. Every time the bearer succeeds in meeting a threshold or a (d2), their enemy must roll their next one with disadvantage. Every time their enemy fails at a threshold or a (d2), the bearer gains advantage on their next roll of either of these types.
Consumable: [Pescoberry Cupcakes] - Provides advantage on all (d2) rolls and non-damaging actions.
Item: [Brooch of Determination] - Boosts the RAS tier of the bearer by one level for (d3) rolls after failing on a roll. Provides 20 manas.
Mobility Aid: [Quicksilver Crutches] - Boosts Skill Modifier on kinetic spells by one tier. Provides 12 manas.

The Hourglass Order

Chad'amis'yida'thala

Magnetic: 5
Arcane: 5
Binding: 0
Chemical: 1
Kinetic: 3
Atomic: 5.5
Blood: 0
Temporal: 2
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.64
Base Health: 22
Mana: Glowvein
Fruit: Red Apple
Consumable: [Pescoberry Cupcakes] - Provides advantage on all (d2) rolls and non-damaging actions.
Item: Grapes of Wrath - this set of five rings provides 20 manas, as well as a different bonus each time it's used, starting from the thumb and cycling to the next one after each roll.

1. Thumb: All strengthening on Chad is doubled for (d3) rolls.
2. Pointer: Hits an opponent with disadvantage for (d3) rolls.
3. Middle: Adds up to +6 to any roll three times per scenario.
4. Ring: Allows for use of the other fruit that Chad's fruit is paired with as well as empowered general fruit effects.
5. Pinkie: Provides a second flee that does not cost a turn anytime over the next (d3) defenses.

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Ciro Volta

Magnetic: 1
Arcane: 4
Binding: 0
Chemical: 5
Kinetic: 3
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: ?
Dark: 5
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 7.95
Base Health: 20
Mana: Agitator, Voidstrider - can create portals into the VOID and modify or summon basic aberrations. Can [redacted] [redacted] aberrations.
Fruit 1: Mint (Logic) - The bearer earns two free counters per encounter, with advantage.
Fruit 2: Hellfire Pepper (Passion) - The bearer earns two free strengthens per cycle, with advantage.
Consumable: [Yuri's Special Sauce] on [Smoothberry Strudel] - All defensive rolls are elevated by one RAS tier. Reflects overdefenses back at the attacker for use on the next counter, up to a maximum of 25.
Item: Laurel of Salt and Woe - Allows dark magic to combine with up to two other schools without predictability penalty or lockout. Provides three free advantage rolls on (d2) and 16 Manas.
Extra Item: One simple Apple.

The Hourglass Order

Edyta Laska

Magnetic: 0
Arcane: 5.5
Binding: 4
Chemical: 1
Kinetic: 4
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: ?
Dark: ?
Command: ?
Primordial: 0

RAS: 7.25
Base Health: 22
Mana: Greyborn, Icevein
Fruit: Brandaeble
Consumable 1: [Yuri's Special Sauce] on fried [Puffchicken Eggs]: +6 x 3 (one used), 2 advantage rolls.
Consumable 2: [Prime Shot]: Adds 97 manas to Edyta's true RAS for six hours.
Item 1: Zamrazenie & Palenie - Fire and Ice, the Twin Sickles of Reaping, this legendary item has been down in the Red Rezaindian order to promising your operatives for nearly two hundred years. It boosts Edyta Laska's Skill Modifier tier in all heat and cold-based magics by one. She will also roll all (d2) and upcasts with advantage. Provides 32 manas.
Item 2: n/a

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Rikard Ambrus

Magnetic: 5
Arcane: 4
Binding: 0
Chemical: 0
Kinetic: 4
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: 2
Dark: ?
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.21
Base Health: 20
Mana: Bronzeblood (d5 for exploding dice), Timeracer (d4 for extra action)
Fruit: Destruction (advantage on attacks)
Consumable: [Prime Shot]: Adds 115 manas to Rikard's true RAS for six hours.
Item: Thunder King's Lance: This great spear requires at least 3 points in kinetic magic and 3 in magnetic to be wielded. In addition to providing 24 manas, it will increase the speed of magnetic drawing and casting, allowing for a d3 to be rolled before each action taken with this school. If a 3 is rolled, its bearer will receive an extra turn out of sequence.

[MAGNETIC MARCHING BOOTS]: These automatically apply a [SKYWALKING] effect, allowing the user to move across all terrain types as if they are gentle terrain. These boots also provide +1 for all dice rolled in the magnetic and kinetic schools. Finally, they provide 16 manas.

[SPARK OF INSPIRATION]: An enchanted scarf with conductive golden fibres woven throughout. The tassels at the end often spark and zap with electricity. Provides up to five free upcasts in the Magnetic school per scenario, or three in any other school. For every successful Magnetic attack, gains a defensive advantage roll. Provides 24 manas.

The Hourglass Order

Johann Steinbauer

Magnetic: 4
Arcane: 0
Binding: 4
Chemical: 4
Kinetic: 0
Atomic: 0
Blood: 4
Temporal: 2
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.75
Base Health: 22
Mana: Copycat
Fruit: Golden Apple
Consumable: [Yuri's Special Sauce] on [Kelp Sandwich]: eeaiko cuisine! Will make you flatulent but boost chemical rolls by one RAS modifier tier.
Item: Landgraf's Lederhosen - So long as your RAS is above that of your opponent, you may roll (d2) with advantage up to five times per scenario. You may also copy one of their dice and add it to your rolls once per scenario. If your RAS is not higher, this item has no effect. Provides 32 manas.

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N. Kaureerah Wenhan

Magnetic: 0
Arcane: 4
Binding: 0
Chemical: 4
Kinetic: 4.5
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: 0
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 2

RAS: 7.01
Base Health: 20
Mana: Goldblood, Oceanborn
Fruit: Passionfruit
Consumable 1: [Yuri's Special Sauce] on [Kelp Sandwich]: Eeaiko cuisine! Will make you flatulent but boost chemical rolls by one RAS modifier tier.
Consumable 2: [Screaming Lemon Juice]: Very sour! Raises RAS modifier tier by one when using light or heat-based spells.
Item: Barbarian's Net - Anything ensnared in this ogauraq net will be subject to an immensely powerful Gaze of Dominion Spell, rolling 6d15 with advantage. This may only be used twice per scenario, or once, if used out of turn order, and only one target may be controlled at a time. Also grants 24 manas to its bearer.

The Hourglass Order

Miret'thilan'dichora

Magnetic: 0
Arcane: 5
Binding: 3
Chemical: 4
Kinetic: 6
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: 2
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.28
Base Health: 24
Mana: Sanguinaire, Skyborn, Fireblood, Agitator, Skinspeaker, Rosebud
Fruit: Brandæble
Consumable: [Yuri's Special Sauce] on fried [Puffchicken Eggs].
Item: Chains of Retribution - may counter on 7 points (solo) or 11 points (combo). May counter no matter what once per scenario, with advantage. May [FLEE] without losing a turn. Provides 30 manas.

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Margot Fischer

Magnetic: 2
Arcane: 4
Binding: 2
Chemical: 4
Kinetic: 3
Blood: 2

RAS: 8.19
Base Health: 22
Mana: Sanguinaire, Agitator, Moodcaster
Fruit: Starfruit - gain five free disadvantage rolls to assign your enemies per cycle. Doesn’t replace or stack with other disadvantage rolls. Foresight - gain 10 discretionary points per cycle to be distributed as you see fit.
Consumable: Pescoberry Cupcakes - Provides advantage on all (d2) rolls and non-damaging actions.
Item 1: Schleim - this loyal sumpfkrake is always close at hand if Margot is around. He may provide her and himself with one free [FLEE] per scenario that will not use up an action, three advantage rolls, and may heal her for up to 4 damage once per scenario. If Schleim is killed, Margot will receive an immediate (d4) roll boost of one level to her RAS and Skill tiers.
Item 2: Gnomenzerstörer - A tiny, gnome-sized hammer that seems to manipulate luck and illusions. Will dispel any two illusions per scenario for free. Once per scenario, may negate all divine fruit and consumable effects of her opponent for (d3) rolls. Once per scenario, may 'steal' (d2) of an opponent's levels in any one school of magic for (d3) rolls. Provides 18 manas.

The Hourglass Order

Abdel Saqqaf Aziz

Magnetic: 0
Arcane: 6
Binding: 4
Chemical: 1
Kinetic: 4
Atomic: 0
Blood: 0
Temporal: 0
Dark: 0
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.33
Mana: Fireblood
Fruit: Brandaeble
Consumable: Seagoat Cheese

Item: Burning Blade of the Paladin - This great silver scimitar glows with divine wrath, providing 24 manas and an effect whereby it will strike with an extra RAS and skill tier if used against unholy beings such as wildbloods, sanguinaires, and demons. It may also store energy from overdefenses to unleash offensively, up to a maximum of twelve. It will glow brighter when charged this way.

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Tyrel'yrash'dichora

Magnetic: 1
Arcane: 2
Binding: 3
Chemical: 4
Kinetic: 6
Atomic: 4
Blood: 3
Temporal: 4
Dark: 4
Command: 0
Primordial: 0

RAS: 8.99
Base Health: 20
Mana: Lifestealer, Godsblood
Fruit: Pomegranate (misfortune) - Tie the fates of the fruit bearer and their enemy together. Every time the bearer succeeds in meeting a threshold or a (d2), their enemy must roll their next one with disadvantage. Every time their enemy fails at a threshold or a (d2), the bearer gains advantage on their next roll of either of these types.
Consumable: Special Sauce on Puffchicken Eggs
Item: Tiara of the Fallen Goddess - enhances RAS tier when using kinetic spells by one. Flee can be used without giving up a turn. +32 manas.
Mobility Aid: Crutches of the One - One combo defense or attack can be made for free per scenario, out of turn sequence. Once per scenario, two rolls may be made during the same turn for a charged spell. +8 manas.

The Hourglass Order

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Race to the Top

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For fifteen minutes on a random Orreday, the sky above Ersand'Enise was filled with the dozens of creative efforts of students trying to get - and remain - aloft. Some sunk and some soared to dizzying heights. A few even crashed from there, and that was quite the spectacle. For the army of thousands of workmen who kept the city running and the ever-growing number of Mycormish, Tansoan, Oiyan, and Parmoyan refugees camping outside of the Queensgate and the Seagate, it was a reason to pause and look up. The prodigious youths who would one day be their masters soared far above at heights they could scarce ever dream of reaching.

If one group of yasoi, hidden in the trees south of Mudville, took a couple of potshots at one of the balloons, certainly, nobody heard about it. They had enough to contend with as dozens of less creative teams simply ascended the Forked Tower - its doors opened for the day - battling for top position on its twin steeples and sniping at passing balloons, rockets, and other elaborate solutions to the problem of beating gravity. This, too, was a time-honoured form of chaos as, despite having been warned not to, over a dozen of the foolish teens opened various doors leading to the tower's many floors. For some, it meant furious itches, explosive weight gain, or a temporary switch of gender. For others... the consequences were somewhat more severe. At least none ran into something truly terrifying this time.

Far above their heads, however, among the very top few teams - also, and perhaps not coincidentally, among the top in the overall standings - a fierce battle of sabotage, split-second timing, and extreme limit-pushing played out. In the end, it was an unlikely alliance of Vyshta's More Favoured and Fiske n' Chips that prevailed. Yet, it was not the powerful yasoi team who took home the pole position and its highly coveted seventy-five points. Instead, they found themselves pipped by one meter, at the very last second by their erstwhile allies. While Fiske n' Chips went home with a victory that vaulted them into first position in the table - a truly unlikely outcome by any reckoning before the tournament's inception - they would now live with the sword of Juulet's ire hanging over their collective heads. So it was that, after three events, the table appeared as follows:

Result & Tournament Standings

Tournament Standings

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Thin Air Standings

1. Fiske n' Chips + Sea People: (75)
2. Vyshta's Favoured + Shortlisted: (65)
3. Fait Accompli + Soul Sisters: (60)
4. Invisibles + Covenant: (55)
5. Beware the Nice Ones + AWOLE: (50)
6. Rock and Stone + Xicallicoatl: (50)
7. Raffscallions + Technically Correct: (40)
8. Singers & Saints + Coastal Crusaders: (40)
9. Skull & Crossbones + Huggy Bears: (40)
10. Teatro Sorridente + Beach Boys: (40)

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Race to the Bottom

As with every other night of The Trials so far, the night after Thin Air was not a peaceful one; neither was the afternoon. At Daybreak the next day, as teams gathered in Balthazar Square for the start of the festival's final game, Mano e Mano, they knew that Thieving Cherune would also come to a close. The clandestine game of theft and skulduggery had been taking place in the background for the past three and a half days, but only a handful of teams - mostly the existing leaders - had managed to figure out what the wood blocks they'd found in the chests actually alluded to and collect all that were available.

Now, in the Hours of Ipté, as the stars sparkled on the water by the city and the fog began to dissipate against a glowing horizon, they raced towards the three most famous towers of Ersand'Enise: the Pharaoh Point Light, the Lonely Obelisk, and the Forked Tower itself. It was a desperate flight of sprint, sabotage, and then... riddles. With the aid of magic, it took the quintets little time to locate the hidden boxes, but these were locked within larger compartments and their warding magics made it clear that these were not ones they could simply blast open. Instead, they scrambled to find solutions, there in the predawn gloom, hearts pounding, adrenaline coursing through their veins, adversaries sniping at them. Three emerged victorious. Another three claimed the second set of chests. The rest returned emptyhanded and Fiske n' Chips not only remained atop the standings, but saw its lead grow.

Thieving Cherune Standings

Overall Standings

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Thieving Cherune Results

1. Vyshta's More Favoured: 110
2. Fiske n' Chips: 100
3. Singers & Saints: 100
4. Beware the Nice Ones: 90 +10
5. Raffscallions: 90
6. Rock and Stone: 90 +10
7. Fait Accompli: 70
8. Teatro Sorridente: 70
9. The Invisibles: 70
10. Huggy Bears: 70
11. King's Ear: 70

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The Zenith's Speech

They filled the plaza in various states of sleep or wakefulness. To some extent, magic could compensate, but its effects would wear off eventually. Twelve-hundred-eighty youths from around the globe had only just received their scores for Thieving Cherune and, while some tried to do the math themselves, others watched the great leaderboard mounted on scaffolding atop St. Tristana's Fountain as a small army of Tan-Zenos and labourers shuffled its standings around. The square was so thickly abuzz as they waited for the Zenith to emerge that few noticed her appear quite suddenly and unceremoniously on the balcony abutting her apartments.

Once they did, however, a hush fell over the crowd. "Friends, Subjects, Students of Magic," she began, "we are gathered here today for what should be a joyous occasion." The 'should be', more than one observer came to understand almost immediately, was key, here. "For five hundred fifty-five years, a number sacred to the most holy Pentad, we have gathered here, in the hallowed halls of the Academy at Ersand'Enise, to engage in these spirited games." Her eyes roved across the crowd as they withheld their judgment, waiting for more. "We have gathered," she continued, "In times of feast and in times of famine." The murmuring began. There was a political subtext to this message, it seemed. "We have come together here in times of great bounty and times of great need, times of joy and excitement, and times of mourning."

Still, they waited. "We have gathered here," she concluded, "In times of peace and in times of war." This, then, was her point. "The latter - my friends, my colleagues, my students - is nearly upon us, I fear." She shook her head gravely, her voice, amplified by magic, carrying out across the crowd. "So, though you are young and your blood burns with the fervour of your youth, I ask you to quell it somewhat, for I once stood where you did and I learned, firsthand as a young woman, of the horrors which await upon the battlefield." She paused and swallowed, taking a moment to make a gesture encompassing her fellow faculty. "We all did," she warned them, voice becoming hoarse. "It is a grim path that we now walk as a world and, should the aims of those who reside in great and callous halls prevail, there will be no turning off of it." She swallowed again, shaking her head, and took a deep breath. The crowd had gone still and silent. "I expect that not all of you should be alive this time next year, unless something changes. How it pains me to say so: to think of your futures, your promise stolen away, but this is the reality of conflict in our world."

She took another breath and reached up to dab at her eyes. "But our job as educators is to prepare you as best we can for the world that you will come of age in, no matter what that world looks like, and so that is why we do as we do this day." She seemed to have recovered some of her composure. "You will learn to fight, as I did, though it is not a burden you should have ever had to bear." She was firm, now. "Go, people of the future, fight, and fight well, that you might survive the ruinous conflicts that my generation has set before you." Her voice rose fervently. "Fight that you might yet build the better world that we had hoped to. Fight and die now, in practice, so that you may fight without ever knowing Eshiran for all your days."

For a moment that seemed to stretch long across time's horizon, only an uncomfortable silence prevailed. Then, one student, somewhere towards the front, raised her right hand, thumb tucked in and four fingers extended together, in the old Quentic gesture for 'no judgment'. She stood there like that, for a good second or two. Then, a second raised an arm. Then, a few more followed. Quietly, with only whispers and murmurs, it spread through the crowd. If Arch-Zeno Harrachora had been starting to shoot his nominal superior a glare of some species, he suppressed it very quickly. In the end, the majority of the student body - leaders of tomorrow should they survive the coming war - raised their hands in the salute. Riu Kai-Tan returned it, even though he was not Quentic. Ardredelle Latvar and old Giacomo Giarrone followed suit. Joshe Intaba bowed his head and raised his hand, and Harrachora was quick to follow suit. Claresse Upta returned it and, for about two seconds, they stood there in mass solidarity. Then, she lowered her arm and closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

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Bloodsport

If it was an unusually solemn crowd that filed out of Balthazar Square and through ten great portals, it quickly came to life as it divided itself amongst the ten arenas where the fights were to take place. For days, the teams had been eagerly preparing and, while some found themselves sobered, there was still a game to be won and, with it, rich prizes to be earned. Others shook off the sombre speech within minutes, eagerly planning how they would reach the pinnacle of their power and blow up this person or flatten that one. They worked on their arena entrances and their combination moves. They sparred, both playfully and seriously. The air was, undeniably, electric, and more so in the presence of magnetic mages, naturally.

Beside many of the arenas, there grew a heap of discarded bottles, vials, and food scraps as the soon-to-be combatants eagerly consumed all of the empowering, enchanted, and imbued foodstuffs and beverages that they could. The tournament organizers had set strict limits, of course, but these were regularly disobeyed and seventy-nine contestants, in all, were disqualified in the first round for attempting to subvert them, either sneakily or brazenly. Then, that was it. Amid the ruins of the enormous Red Mountain of Perrence, within the bustling shipyards of Harrowend, on a pair of currently-empty slips, atop the multilayered dams and waterworks of Oud-Dijk, and before the roaring crowd of one-hundred-thousand bloodthirsty spectators in Zatera Teca, the first teams marched in, the horns sounded, and the bloodsport began.

For nearly six hours, the round of two-hundred-fifty-six carried on. While a few teams went out with a whimper at the hands of prohibitive favourites, this sort of combat, without permanent consequence, was a dream come true for many. The matches were ferocious. Emotions of all stripes lived large on the bloodied canvas of those ten arenas. There were seventeen decapitations, at least eight human torches, two dozen electrocutions, five drownings, thirty-one other suffocations, seventy crushed alive, and one-hundred-eighty-two dismemberments, not counting multiples on the same target. It was a veritable bloodbath. One girl melted from the inside out. Another's brain was liquefied. A boy died of explosive hair overgrowth and a second had his intestines pulled out through his mouth. There were two who literally expired of particularly intense fright. At different junctures, dark, temporal, blood, and even command magics were used, and that was just the first round.

They recessed for an hour and those who had the stomach for it ate. Some regarded their recently un-deceased teammates with a strange sort of protectiveness. Others pawed wonderingly at regenerated flesh or stood staring at bloodstains in the arena that had been theirs. Then, half of them returned to those arenas for a second round, rotating to new settings, cheered on by new crowds, and resumed the slaughter. A particular highlight was when one girl began disassembling herself piece by piece calmly, and then expired under the control of a binder and internal chemist. There was a boy who gradually turned into a sentient, ambulant mushroom over the course of two minutes. He actually won, but still had to be temporally reset because nobody could figure out how to turn him back. Then, there was another break, the round of sixty-four, and further spectacle. Three more cheaters were caught. Someone's hair was turned into pasta and it split their scalp open. Another had his arms torn off and was beaten to death with them. One girl turned blue as her blood was filled with silver before suddenly dying. The audience was abuzz trying to figure out how it had been done. The nose and mouth of another were fused shut until she suffocated.

By the round of thirty-two, a handful of students were sitting very still, hugging their knees to their chests. Others could not seem to rid their hands of constant shaking. Some didn't speak. Then came the slaughter once more and, this round, favourites fell, like the Soul Sisters, Nia and Mio being turned into blackened imprints on the arena wall by a fantastic atomic blast. Two members of Blaze of Glory were sliced in two by a single dark bolt from Tyrel'yrash'dichora of Fait Accompli and they, too, crashed out of the competition. Another early favourite, the 'reformed' criminals of AWOLE, bowed out somewhat more gracefully at the hands of prison wardens Technically Correct. Not so for the quirky and beloved Sea People, who found themselves fried alive by the massive Arcane power of Prince Kamehameha and the Beach Boys. Surf was, indeed, up. However, the sun was most definitely down, and it was time for participants and spectators alike to head off to sleep.

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♫

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Fortunate Few

Was sleep easy to come by? Most were either partying or... reliving what they'd witnessed over the past few hours. In some cases, they relived their own deaths. While these had been erased from their memories and their physical selves reset, just the knowledge that one has died from being burned alive will sit in his mind's eye and simmer until he is cooked. Still, the hour was late and those fortunate few who had to fight the next day did their utmost to rest and recover. This, now, was the coming of the elite. This was where there were no more soft opponents, nobody just 'lucky' to be there. Everyone remaining was an absolute killer and they and their peers all knew it. Did they walk taller for it? Did they feel shame? Accomplishment? Ambivalence? Perhaps the answer varied from person to person. One question remained implacable, however, as the sun dawned, the city woke, and the two-hundred-fifty bells of Ersand'Enise chimed to mark Shune giving way to Oraff:

Had anybody listened to Claresse Upta?

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Rules & Resources

Welcome to Mano e Mano, the final event of The Trials of DZ55 and your sophomore year at Ersand'Enise. While war looms on the horizon for the human nations and has already found their yasoi brethren, while refugees pile up at the gates, the commons stir with the threat of unrest and a strange new threat promises to close the portals and strand thousands of hegelans, we future leaders have altogether more important business to attend to.

This will be a multi-week PvP event, a first for The Hourglass Order. Unless expressly stated by myself or a Co-GM, all existing rules and guidelines are to be strictly adhered to. Fights will be conducted live on discord on dates when the majority both teams' members are available. Collectively, each team must post a summary of their previous fight to the forum before their next one may begin. If this takes more than a week without GM dispensation, they will forfeit that fight. Please remember that, while losses may be binding, character deaths aren't, due to the effects of temporal anchoring. All in all, the rule of thumb here is: please act in good faith if you enjoy this roleplay and respect your fellow roleplayers. You will probably lose at some point but that isn't an indictment against you or your character. You're still awesome.

On that uplifting note, please find all character combat profiles linked in the last two pages of the OOC. All relevant information and links for this event can be found in the document below. Be sure to read it in its entirety before asking questions as they are almost certainly covered there. If not, I'll be happy to answer them on discord. Good luck, and happy fighting!
_{Also, yes, I had to write in this eye-destroying colour}

Mano e Mano Rules & Regulations

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The Hourglass Order

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It was still dark, albeit barely, when a spot of purer blackness opened in the desert. For a moment, Yaxan's heart raced. This was a darkman! He had been so long without their sweetness that his head pounded and his lips were dry and cracked. He was already running for it - already halfway there - when it disappeared and, instead, there was... a yanii!?

The yasoi cast about desperately for his prize, but it was gone. Instead, the interloper whirled to face him. "Where is it!?" Yaxan demanded. "Where'd you make it go!?" he reached out for the yanii, only to find his hand slapped away with surprising force. "The... ab-bor-raysin!" He began to cast about for it. Had his mind been playing tricks on him? No, this yanii was up to something. No, this yanii wasn't real. Yaniis never showed up here.

"I can make another. Would you like that?" he offered, hand still raised in the same position it had slapped Jaxan's away.

"It's the least you can do," the yasoi grumbled. "You stole mine, after all."

"Ah, yes, I'm sorry about that," the yanii replied, and there was the feeling of a great welling of magic about him. Yaxan scarcely noticed. "Though I don't suppose you could do me a favour," he continued, and the yasoi nodded irritably. If it wasn't too big of a favour and he got his darkman, he hardly minded. Fancy running into some loopy yanii like this out between Carsocal and Ixanya, and such a useful one too! Why, Luumii and Dyron would never believe him! "Well, I was wondering if you'd seen any others like me?" he inquired as the magics built further. Yaxan fidgeted anxiously. He was certainly not in any hurry to make up for what he'd stolen! "You know, short, rounded ears, a girl, in the case of this one." A great black nothing appeared once more before Yaxan and he reached for it immediately to - THE POMPOUS FUCKING YANII SMACKED HIS HAND AWAY!!! - "That isn't your aberration," he explained, "It comes from there."

"I knew that!" Yaxan snapped. "I was just getting ready."

The yanii did not judge him. He merely watched in expectation as his counterpart indulged greedily in the otherworldly energy. Yaxan knew that many judged him harshly for such habits, but they did not understand the experience and just how divine it could truly be. To outsiders, it lasted a few seconds, for him, it was a joyous eternity, it was other realities experienced, other lives lived, sounds heard, and feelings felt. Surely it would overwhelm their tiny, narrow minds anyhow. Eventually, he came down from his high, eyes bloodshot, nose dripping, and hands shaking. He breathed: in and out.

Then, he remembered the yanii.

"How!?" he demanded. "How did you do that!?" He reached out to shake the young man but then thought better of it, having been trained by the last two times he had acted carelessly with his hands. "Is it some secret magic!?"

A pair of angelic blue eyes regarded him evenly and he remembered, vaguely, that he'd been asked a question before his voyage. What trivial matters, to find someone. One person was very much like another, weren't they? "Oh yes!" Yaxan chirped, thinking. "Another yanii," he considered, "Another yanii..." He tried to think and found it hard to separate this reality from others. "A girl, about my age, very short."

Before long, there was only one conclusion: he'd have remembered something so distinct as a yanii in Yarsoc. Why, in his entire twenty-six years of life, Yaxan had seen only perhaps a half-dozen. Regretfully, he shook his head. "Sorry," he replied, with a bit of genuine abashedness, about to come clean, but then it occurred to him: this was a really good deal! This kid could just make darkmen out of nothing, and he seemed to be the one desperate for something. "I'm having some trouble remembering. That's my first ab-bor-raysin in a month. Brain's foggy until I've had a bit more."

The boy with the Angel Eyes turned and started walking, and Yaxan's heart caught in his throat. "Wait!" he hollered, running after him, arms outstretched. "I know where she is. It's... on the tip of my tongue. I just need -"

He was met with a savage backhand that laid him clean out. Dimly, the yasoi felt himself hit the dirt. Pain spread down the side of his face and neck and radiated across his shoulders, back, and chest. "You're lying," the yanii said. "I shall seek my answers elsewhere." With that, he left.

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The Hourglass Order

@Ti
Folllowing a couple of the adjustments that we made, you're good to go! Excellently written. In terms of Ashon's fruit use, just be aware that you're expected to choose either fortune or misfortune before a given fight begins.

@Emeth
Both of yours are approved and very well done. Small addendum: I'm assuming that the ones blacked out from Raffi's sheet won't be coming into play. If you'd like to, for some reason, clear it with me and your opponent first, please!

@YummyYummy
All approved, though I'll note that the wording on a few of your sheets regarding Yuri's Special Sauce makes it sound a bit like it's being used twice on each other food item. Might ask for some clarification on Pluurii's first item as well.

@BlackRoseSiren
Esmii's looks good, but I might add that Chuck's Wand will never deal more than significant damage. For Lunara, this description of Thunderchild is too vague: 'Mechanical effects: Raises the RAS of the caster for rolls.' Please include its full effects.

@Th3King0fChaos
Maybe just a note, for your information: if Desmond gets a particularly good sip o' the Prime, he can hold onto that for up to three rounds as long as he's not stacking it. I also made some changes and clarifications to the burrito and pescoberry tablets as well as Billium and Coldfire. Best of luck!

The Hourglass Order

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"You always kept up with us, you know." Jurgen was out of uniform, walking slightly ahead of Marci as he spoke. "Despite being..." he trailed off and she glared. "Younger." Marci let out a snort and rolled her eyes. If there was a smile, he did not show it. She had learned that he was good at controlling his face, to whatever end he wished. "Well, I should hope so," she replied after a moment, "You don't look very quick." There were times when she still wasn't quite sure of her Kerreman. It was hardwired into her as the first language she'd learned, even though she did not explicitly remember it. Yet, she'd spent nearly five years at the refuge communicating in Avincian and Torragonese.

They'd made their way to one of the open-air biergartens along Tendel Road in the Merchants' Quarter and were promptly seated. They ordered a nice pretzel each, in the Rovarian style, and a great stein of the house helles. Then, it was time to speak in earnest. "So, be honest: how are you, Marci?"

She shrugged. "You look like you've just eaten a chili pepper when you say my name."

He returned the gesture. "My head still automatically tells me you're Nina. I have to override it."

"You'll adjust, in time, as I did."

He nodded. "Now, no avoiding the question, sister." It was jarring to hear him call her that: this man whom she hardly knew. She sensed he was a creature apart from Manfred, but there was a bit of his kindness in there. He thanked the waitress as she delivered their order and winked. She rolled her eyes and giggled before walking away. Okay, Marci admitted to herself, Maybe quite a bit more than just his kindness. Jurgen's face was quickly serious again, however, even grave.

"Well, perhaps it is I who should be asking you first," she decided. "You knew him far better than I."

Her older brother's eyes searched her face, and Marci made a point of not shrinking away. There was something stern and authoritative about that gaze, despite his generally open manner. Abruptly, he tore off a piece of his pretzel, shoved it in his mouth and chewed. He washed it down with a hearty gulp of beer. "I am in mourning," he admitted, with a diffident shrug. "He was my little brother. I was supposed to protect him and I failed." He glanced away. "Like I failed you."

He had failed her. Otto and Manfred had been mere boys, but Jurgen, the oldest, could have said something when that witch of a woman had wanted her sent to a tethered refuge. It would have meant something. "You weren't there," she added neutrally. "What could you have done?"

He twisted back to face her and pursed his lips. "I could've been there," he replied in annoyance. "I could've demanded a stop to these stupid errands your Zenos send you on." He shook his head angrily as she started on her food. "You know they did it when I was there too, right?"

Marci regarded him soberly, chewing and swallowing. One of those 'stupid errands' had saved her from rotting in a tethered refuge for the rest of her short life. It had given her a new family of sorts, and a treatment for the tethering. She had never, thank Oraff, lost her ability to walk and, now, never would. She might live a normal, fulfilling life. "And yes, I know that you were found and rescued thanks to one of those," he added, as if he knew her thoughts. He was a chemical mage of some ability. Did he? He downed another gulp. "But could they not send Zenos instead of risking the lives of students?" He shook his head again, thumping the stein down on the table. "It's all very disreputable. You know, from my perspective, I have both gained a loved one and lost one because of these." He glanced off to the side, jaw clenched, and swallowed as if the act was painful.

"Did he leave you a letter?" Marceline asked calmly, reaching into the bag hanging from the back of her chair. Jurgen arched an eyebrow. "Well, there was one addressed to me, though it was written some time ago: the one that left me Fritz and Kurbis."

She paused. "Like a sort of will?"

He nodded, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. "It is the sort that every military man always has ready." There was something in his tone that seemed to say, 'you wouldn't understand'.

With a deft maneuver, Marceline's fingers switched what they were gripping. "I received something similar," she replied, pulling out a folded letter. "Though no animals to take care of."

"A shame," Jurgen remarked. "I find women are often better at that sort of thing."

"Perhaps," Marci allowed, not letting the slightly irksome nature of the assumption show, "But I'm so busy nowadays with Zeno Bucks that I'd scarce have time." Indeed, she'd hardly had time for little Domino, the baby ground octopus that Fiske had gifted her. He was a cute, goobery little fella, and she really should have.

"Ah, yes: your coffee thing with that... Virangish girl." He mostly kept the disgust from his voice. "I'll admit to not having tried any yet, but it's a good idea - serves a need." He raised his glass. "You may yet end up the wealthiest of us all, little sister."

Marceline glanced down and blushed, but raised her glass in thanks, taking a perfunctory sip. "I should hope for Dami's blessing."

Jurgen tilted his head and smirked. "Eh. You're far more of the Reshta type: a gambler, but a smart one, at least."

"I never take a bet I can't win."

"I know."

So it was that they sat there in a biergarten: a brother and sister who hardly knew each other, each mourning the loss of a third in their own, separate ways. That Marceline had entirely dodged answering his question was not lost upon Jurgen, for he was no fool, but she was well enough, a disreputable Huulisch suitor aside. That Jurgen was not someone she would ever be especially close with was not lost upon Marci, but he was not a bad man and maybe even a good one, in his own way. Still, when they parted ways some twenty minutes later, each left with their greater concerns allayed and their secrets intact.

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