Though the injured Earthmane Boar reacted to her presence, Remilia hypothesized that somewhere in that bestial mind, it figured that its best tactic right now was bluffing. It was agitated due to its injuries, but also due to those same injuries, it couldn't really afford a fight right now. Indeed, she'd call its bluff and instead focus on planning with Lewa. "I suppose so." She quipped with a small shrug, but she did promise that she'd let him at least try to solve the issue without killing the rahi.
Thus, the moment Lewa decided on a plan of action, Remilia hovered back a few inches, letting the Toa of Air perform supernatural feats befitting of his title. Though the Scarlet Devil watched in respectful silence, she couldn't help but wonder about an interesting pattern, I wonder if there's a connection between aeromancy and being green...? between Sanae and Lewa, Then again, that nosy Crow Tengu is anything but green... Just a coincidence then, or Aya could be the exception that prove the rule, either way, more sample size was needed. Right now though, she subjected herself to being an observer as the biomechanical guardian commanded the very winds with his breaths, creating a rhythmic pulse resembling that of a heartbeat.
Is this... essentially a meditation therapy...? Remilia mused, her hypothesis supported by the fact that the beast began to relax, its strained aggressive breaths calming down to a steady rhythm, just like the winds. Hooo~ peculiar, and convenient. I should introduce this aeromantic therapy to everyone at home, ...except Meiling, it'll just make her doze off even more that she already does.
With the boar pacified, Remilia quietly soared over Lewa and the beast, hovering a meter or so above them, then she closed her eyes with her arms slightly raised at her sides. "..." As usual, Remilia tapped into her haemomancy as scarlet mist began oozing from her petite frame, but unlike natural mist, it moved with purpose as it gently flowed down, covering the boar's body with denser pockets settling upon its wounds. If the beast let the vampiress do her work undisturbed, it'd feel a warm, comforting sensation as if being embraced; bruises would recede, lacerations would knit close, and even gangrene would regenerate into fresh, living tissue. It'd take some time due to its size and Remilia's impaired powers, but eventually, it'd no longer have to worry about any pain or discomfort ...with a less fatalistic implication than what the other boar experienced with Youmu.
Done with the whole mugger debacle, the pair of master and mentor - Ichor-Blessed and Paladin - continued on their way through the 11th District, resuming toward their original destination before that little backalley incident distracted them. Soon enough, they left the ditch of the 11th Outer District... only to enter a somewhat literal ditch that was the Underpass directly below the Royal Road section of District 11. A place of destitute poverty that'd make even the outer layers look like a patrician's palace.
Others might be affected by the sights, smells, and sounds that were the exact opposite of aesthetic, but to Frederika, this was her home for the first decade of her life, others might have adopted the beggary, but she was born in it, raised by it, if anything, there was a certain wave of nostalgia of 'returning to her roots'. As for the astrologist-turned-god, what lied before him were all temporary problems of fleeting mortality; none of these would matter once he transcended himself and the world into a higher existence, where there'd be no sickness, starvation, or suffering; utterly severing the pointless cycle of death and rebirth.
Right now, however, they weren't there yet, far from it, and though bothersome, they'd have to deal with these so-called mortal problems first, something the shorter of the duo put more thought into than her aloof mentor. "Hmmm... once we get to the Adventurer's District, pretty sure I can get us a steady revenue source by doing what I do best, Master." The dragonkin mused with her hand on her chin, having already removed her clawed gauntlets sometime after leaving the outer district.
"Hmm," Ah, revenue source, income, profits, all terms that his late parents - and then older brother - tried to instill into him, yet none of them stuck. Such... meaningless drivel, why bother meandering about with coins that you'd eventually lose upon the end of your mortal life? Fortunately, he could shift such burdensome matters to his apprentice here, "Pugilism, I suppose?"
"Bingo!" Rika flashed a quick thumbsup at the senior astrologist, "'sides, I need something-... no, someone to beat the shit out of right about now, I'll just imagine that thief-bitch's face when I do it, haaaa...~ now c'mon, those schmucks ain't gonna kick their own ass!" The brawler quipped as she renewed her pace through the subterranean passage.
"Understandable." Confirmed the astrologist as he maintained his steady, almost-floaty manner of walking.
Like a warhorse - or in this case, war-centipede - that had been given a sonorous warcry of a command by her 'rider', "GgRrAaAaAgHh!!" The Ōmukade... roared, which was something a centipede, or any insect really, shouldn't be able to do, but to be fair, if one was being charged at by a creepy-crawly the size of a schoolbus, pondering whether or not it should be able to roar would be hovering at the bottom of one's list of priorities. Spurred by Agent Murakami's directive, Teratoma did exactly that, galloping on a hundred legs as she tore a path forward, literally ripping and tearing anything that stood in its way; be it an ashigaru, a squad of ashigaru, tatami doors, or some random decorative fixture, nothing was spared from its insectoid wrath.
Not too far behind the Ōmukade, Agent Mae's exorcizing incense worked well at making sure the downed specters stayed down, or at the very least delaying their resurrection process enough for them to be a non-issue. Furthermore, the sengoku wraiths that did manage to revive at their backs were promptly dispatched by Agent Yūma. The collective effort of the two teams kept the scales in their favor, but at this point, it'd be folly to believe that they'd not succumb to a war of attrition. The wraiths were endless, and unlike living, breathing soldiers each with their own fears and willpower, these apparitions were mere extensions of a greater being; like clusters of white blood cells, they knew not fear, nor morale, they'd fight to the death, and when given the chance, live again to do the same, until the threat had been eliminated.
An outcome that Sefirot obviously wouldn't tolerate and the sentiment was shared amongst its agents, including the not-so-human ones. As yet another set of antique shoji doors fell victim to the carapace-clad youkai, Teratoma eschewed any sense of historical preservation over maintaining its momentum, its innumerable feet creating puncture and gash marks all over the tatami flooring and wooden beams. If whatever entity behind this considered the whole manor to be its "body", then it'd surely be writhing in agony right now.
The Fleshweaver could feel it, they were closing in on the enemy's heart, it wouldn't be too long now, wouldn't be too long indeed...
A road trip, huh? The Barghest squad, all together, touring around this hellhole of a police state in a dingy truck, unsupervised, and considering their quirks, most likely also getting into all sorts of shenanigans, perhaps including those severe enough to get one - or all - of them sent to court martial. Hmm... an unwise idea, reckless even, and that was why when Lance and Justice sent the invitation and travel plans, Valerie accepted in a heartbeat. What? Surely these kids wouldn't expect Justice to handle their antics by her lonesome, 'Radar Girl' might be able to not let anything get by her unnoticed, but the 2nd Class was still no one-woman army, especially not when she would be coming too, reading something in the news about a smoking crater where a small town used to be wouldn't a very fun experience.
And besides, this might very well be their first and last road trip together, perhaps a few of them would be lucky enough to survive the war and go on a post-discharge adventure, but assuming all of them would return in one piece? That'd take a statistical miracle.
Fortunately, Valerie didn't need to pack much, allowing her enough time to make a quick visit to the monastery that raised her for the first decade of her life, and after that, onto the old truck she went. The thing looked like it could fall apart at any moment, hopefully no one would be expecting to use her mist-veins on it, thing's far too large, unless of course, they wanted to deal with a Full Burn Nephilim later. Yeah, guess not, huh? The designated driver better be someone who had proper driving etiq-... oh, it's Kalina, eh, at least she's not Silje or Tony. It'd still be a bumpy ride, but they would reach their destination in one piece.
Then, just after the shortest member of the squad climbed into the vehicle, she frowned as a silent groan escaped her throat. Tch... There was it again, the dull ache throbbing at her skull, the ever-so-slightly elevated heartbeat, minor tremors that were barely perceptible yet tangible, and just a little bit of cold sweats. Thank the Mother that her pupils were already (un)naturally narrow enough that any further constriction wouldn't matter. Now that her body had reminded herself of it, Valerie realized that it had been around three - maybe four - nights since she last dealt with this… chronic issue. Looks like it's due, huh? Maybe I can delay it a bit, just a few more hours...
Staving off the initial onset of withdrawal symptoms via breath control, Valerie flashed her comrades a small smile and a slight nod before she claimed a secluded little corner at the far back of the truck, she'd need that little space for the immediate future.
--Rassvet - En Route--
A few hours into the trip, Valerie had managed to use the time to make idle chatter with her squadmates, watching the scenery shifting away from urban landscapes into something more rural, enjoying snacks and beverages, and generally having a swell time with her second family. These were all enough to distract her from the abominable cravings constantly clawing at the back of her mind, whispering tempting words, and bringing her more shame than her disfigured body ever could. Try as she might to hold out as long as possible, it always ended the same way, the monster would eventually win the war of attrition.
Haaa... The moment that she could feel her chest tightening and her vision blurring out was when Valerie decided to throw the towel, fine, you win. She excused herself from the others, returned to her little corner, then flicked her hand, accessing her Mist Pocket to procure one of those damned hypodermic injectors. She stared at the small tube for a few seconds, "AR-Hypo", the label said, "CAUTION: RISK OF OVERDOSE AND ADDICTION. USE ONLY AS PRESCRIBED" said the other label. Yeah, no shit... At least they were telling the truth, she could definitely attest to that.
Flexing the fingers of her left hand, Valerie removed the injector's cover and safety cap, then - with her trembling right hand - jammed the sharp end of the thing into the inside of her left elbow. Gah-...!
A brief sting, and then, ... bliss, nothing but sweet, sweet bliss.
As the tranquilizer flowed through her veins, Valerie just had enough window to store the now-empty tube back into her astral pocket before she settled herself on her seat, leaning against the side of the truck, then just relaxed...
Out of the corner of her ears, she heard something... something about an imperial princess...? Peace talks...? Peace... yeah, that'd be nice...
A moment later, the full effects of the drug induced her into a deep coma-like slumber, nothing would awaken her for the next few hours; neither the pothole bumps, radio, idle chatter, nor landsurfing bullsharks, not even Silje's can-bomb prank. Right now, the shorter 2nd Class of the group might as well be considered KIA, at least temporarily. Fortunately for her though, everyone in the squad had already been informed of this chronic condition of hers so they should just leave her alone, respect her boundaries and simply pretend that she didn't exist would be most preferred. .......... ..... ...
--Rassvet - Sapple Springs--
... By the time Valerie came to, the truck had already parked at the former prospector town of Sapple Springs, nowadays, it was nothing but a ghost town, abandoned by all but the most loyal - or foolhardy - residents. "Nnngh..." The petite WARDEN got up with a stretch, popping and cracking joints like a senior who had sat down for too long, the sleep was nice, but she could never quite appreciate it, especially knowing why she did it in the first place. Regardless, now that this shit was over with, she should be good for the next half a week. I wonder if everyone have disembarked...?
Valerie got off the truck to find Justice and Gerard talking with a pair of local law enforcers. Wonder what was it about? Inspection? Seemed like their little group stuck out like a sore thumb in a town like this, huh? Well, couldn't fault the marshall for trying to do his job. Still not having the full picture of the situation, including the '60 Gils guffaw’ that started the whole thing, the horned WARDEN nonchalantly disembarked and walked over to the convenience store, or at least, the equivalent of one out here in the boonies.
...? It was then she noticed the... palpable tension hanging in the air, it wouldn't take a Justice Radar to notice the civilians and some of the Barghests being on edge, then there was Silje being Silje, but she was the exception that prove the rule. "Sigh... what did you guys do again? Geez... why can't we all just get along, live and let live, is that so hard?" Valerie murmured with a groan, had she knew, she would've taken her dose far earlier in the trip, Fuck me for trying to be less of a hopeless addict, am I right?
With a low exasperated growl, the four-foot-something young woman who didn't even manage to match Silje's height, nor stature, simply proceeded to browse what goods were available in the store, heedless of any stares directed her way. She was wearing a simple set of white shirt and blue denim shorts, but even the most common apparel couldn't offset her purple-veined black "horns" and - to a lesser degree - her snake-like pupils, nothing she could do about those unfortunately. Valerie would pick a single bottle of beer then return to the register, gently plopping the thing down as she faced the nervous cashier, "How much? And no, I'm not underaged, yes, I can give you my ID if you'd like." She declared with the step-by-step methodical eloquence of a salesperson on their one hundredth pitch of the day.
As the thieving trio rapidly closed the distance to the so-called Queen of Thieves… then past them, Frederika yet again found herself in indignant disbelief, W-w-w-whaaat?! Did she just let them go?! Yes, yes she just did, even though she had no less than five lackeys at her beck and call. But, why? why? It didn't make sense, at all, they could've easily overpowered those three idiots, even if they had no intention of giving the stolen gold back, at least there'd be some schadenfreude at seeing those goons get their balls wrecked in well-deserved karma. As it stood, only one pair of balls was wrecked and the three stooges got away scot-free.
Thief Queen? More like Coward! Frederika snarled in her mind, then began snarling for real the moment Talia started approaching the other end of the alley. The dragonkin's slitted eyes never left the violet-haired wimp, and even if there was an iota of respect left in the horned girl, it crumbled into nothing the moment Talia had the gall to demand payment for doing jack-shit! "Y-y-y-you..." Freddy was so livid, her cheeks started to match her eyes and horns in hue, "You got some fucking nerve to be demanding something, ANYTHING, after what you just did! You brought five lackeys with you and for what?! Standing around looking ugly?!!" Freddy practically roared at the notably-taller woman, not caring if any of her bilge rats got provoked into attacking her, hell, she hoped they would, just so she'd have an excuse to crush their spineless spine in "self-defense".
Meanwhile, unlike his Paladin, the Master of Stars remained stoically aloof as ever, he even assisted the white-haired lad when he tried to stand back up, "Understood." There was no reason to deny his words, if Voi said he'd be fine, then he'd be fine. At his prompting though (and also because Rika was making a scene), the senior turned at the third Ichor-Blessed among them, the current focus of his Paladin's ire. Truth to be told, aside from the divine spark within her, Almagest had little to no business with her, thus, he let Voi and Talia settle things among themselves while he went over to his adoptive daughter instead, "Rika, save your strength for something more fruitful."
"B-b-but, Master! She-!"-just called me short! Frederika's jaws clenched hard, finding herself at a loss for words due to all the sheer rage and disbelief, but her mentor was right, she shouldn't waste anymore time, nor energy at this whore who was all curves and no brains, "Haaa..." After a harsh sigh, she turned toward the other end of the alley, the spot where she last saw the fleeing thieves, "Should we...?"
Almagest slowly shook his head, "The victim is safe, our goal was achieved, let us go."
"But what about the coins-?"
"We forfeited our right for coins when we failed to prevent him from losing his." Almagest said dispassionately, his interest in the whole matter rapidly dwindling down, then he spared a brief glance at Talia, "Appreciated, but we'll find other opportunities." The senior couldn't care less at this point, unlike his family, he never had any strong attachments to material wealth; coins are temporary, stars are eternal.
"..." Frederika frowned, her mind could immediately find ways to argue against Almagest's decision, but after the cathartic explosion of emotions, she erred on the side of not wanting to bother, especially when her mentor had no further business with this whole mess, And besides, not sure how much further can I tolerate this bitch's smug mug, Master's right, it's not worth it. Ergh..."Fine..."
With that, the pair of Human and Dragonkin left through the other end of the alley, opposite of Talia and her merry band, leaving Voi to decide on his next move by himself.
Standing at a meager 145cm (4'9") with a petite, waifish build, one will be wholly justified to assume that Valerie is a young girl who's only a few summers into her adolescence period. Indeed, it may be true depending on one's perspective as it's an established fact that Valerie's growth began to stagnate at around half a decade into her WARDEN education, until eventually, she simply ceased to physically develop, leaving her a grown woman in the body of an adolescent with below-average height, an unfortunate tragedy that she has never quite gotten over.
Furthermore, if someone already knew Valerie from before her enrollment into the Citadel, then they'll be hard-pressed to recognize her current self. Once, she possessed silky hair as dark as a raven's feather, now only bleached gray locks hung from her scalp. Once, the young girl's visage hosted a pair of bright baby blue eyes, now they had mutated into eerie violet irises housing pupils so narrow, they may as well be serpentine slits. All these without even mentioning the "horns" growing from the sides of her skull, in actuality a mutated mass of keratin with horn-like shapes, though they're fortunately benign... so far at least.
In addition, when Valerie engages her mist-fueled personal barrier - with or without the presence of an Aegis device - her body will manifest bio-projections bearing the shape of a halo of thorns above her head and a pair of devilish wings sprouting from her lower back. All of these traits, when combined, gives off the image of a demonic angel (or an angelic demon), earning her the epithet "Nephilim", the offspring born from an unholy union of the divine and the profane. Considering her history, Gaia must've had a twisted sense of humor.
Lastly, when examined under close scrutiny, an observer will be able to see veins with purplish hue underneath Valerie's skin, spread all across her body, including her 'horns'. These very same veins will begin to glow when she uses her Mist-based abilities, the intensity being directly proportional to how far she's exerting herself. On the flipside, they become completely imperceptible in a mistless environment.
As for clothing, Valerie may be many things, but being fussy about fashion isn't one of them. Due to the nature of her powers, the gray-haired WARDEN will wear almost anything as long as it's not harmful to her; a full combat uniform? Sure, casual day-to-day clothes? Fine, a dirty brown rag that'll fit the empire's forced laborers more than a WARDEN? No problem. Really, for Valerie, being rendered Mistless is far more debilitating than a lack of adequate apparel.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Calm and stoic even under great pressure, Valerie is in someways similar to her fellow WARDEN 2nd Class, Justice, yet distinctly different in other aspects. Unlike the sardonic and rabble-rousing WARDEN, Valerie gives off the image of a maternal figure, preferring to guide with a firm but gentle hand. She's the type to lace her words with some form of sugarcoating if she thinks it'll deliver her message better and consider white lies aren't necessarily always bad, sometimes it's simply not the right time to tell someone the whole truth. Perhaps it's the Maiden in her that never quite left even after all the grueling training, perhaps she has always been predisposed to be this way, regardless, Valerie believes that her methods are as valid as Justice's. After all, one correct answer doesn't always mean all others are wrong.
Often acting as the gentler, more soft-spoken counterpart to the group's de facto squad leader, Valerie serves as the other side of the coin to Justice's drill sergeant-esque approach to leadership. Together, the two serve as the glue that keeps the squad from falling apart, due to petty squabbles or otherwise.
Deep inside, even though Valerie may not even realize it herself, a part of her is motivated by pure, undiluted spite. Spite against the parents who abandoned her, spite against the warmongering empire that forced her homeland to take desperate measures, and most of all, spite against herself and her existence as a whole, a mockery of who she once was, a 'demonic monster' masquerading as a person. Even against everything that life has thrown at her, she'll rise above it all, for the sake of her loved ones. And if she must perish one day, then she'll be sure to unleash the dark divine fury of the Nephilim upon the empire first.
B A C K G R O U N D
An orphan of unknown circumstances, little is known about Valerie's early life other than she was left at the doorstep of a local Maidens of the Mother nunnery at rural Rassvet, the very same cloister that a certain bombastic white-haired girl would find herself in the next few years. As for Valerie, it was rather common for infants unwanted by their parents to be handed over into the care of the church, the lesser of two evils compared to... other alternatives, as such, as far as the brunette knew, the Maidens were her family and the Order her home.
Growing up, Valerie was a child who could be described as a 'good girl'; obedient, diligent, and compassionate, she was a model maiden-to-be, a great contrast to the cloister's resident troublemaker, an explosive - in both figurative and literal sense - girl named Silje. In fact, during their years in the monastery, Valerie would often be assigned to keep watch over the older girl when the nuns were busy. A task that she did without protest, however, despite her best attempts, Silje could never be tamed, even managing to escape after multiple attempts. Such a pair of polar opposites, the notion of the two having a career together was unthinkable, surely a delinquent like Silje would never qualify as a Maiden, unlike herself.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans, one that unraveled when Valerie and Silje were ten and twelve summers old respectively.
As it turned out, the two girls were amongst the hundreds of children qualified to be inducted into the Citadel to temper and shape them into the Rassvet's finest warriors, to become WARDENs. Taken away from what Valerie considered to be her family, she was reluctant at first, but one of the sisters asked her to take care of Silje and told her that after a 'mere' decade, she could return. It was enough to convince the brunette to bear with it, she was doing a good cause, to protect the innocent from the warmongering, genocidal empire. It was her solemn duty...
...only she never truly expected what becoming a WARDEN would demand from her. After several tests, it was discovered that Valerie too held considerable yet unpolished talent at wielding the Mist. Whereas Silje's arcane might projected outward in the form of unleashing elemental barrages like a magical cannon, the opposite was true for Valerie, the brunette's had a knack for using Mist to empower herself and her 'domain', the latter consisting of anything she physically touched via her mist, which manifested in the form of creeping purple vein-like growth.
In practical terms, aside from enhancing her own body well into superhuman territory, she could extend this mist-fueled augmentation to any object she was currently holding, and in most cases, it'd be some form of weapon. Through this ability, she could turn the mundane into magical, pushing them to break their limits; a run-of-the-mill pistol could now fire arcane projectiles, a common steel combat knife into a razor-sharp magical blade capable of cutting through steel with ease, etc. Valerie was ecstatic to discover an aspect of herself that she never knew she had, but over the next half a decade of continuously being subjected to mist-related experiments and exercises, she'd learn that there was a price, there was always a price...
It started subtly at first, an odd lock of white hair here and there, a few tiny specks of violet in her eyes, a minor dull ache on her head, and the strange trend of being physically outgrown by most of her peers, surely all in due course due to the grueling training she had to endure, surely they were nothing more than minor side-effects, nothing that a good night's rest and some medicine wouldn't cure. Oh, how wrong she was.
Before she knew it, years passed, and the... thing facing her from beyond the mirror was supposed to be her reflection. Violet eyes with inhuman pupils, a crown of thorns sprouting from her skull, and locks of bleached gray as if she was a woman well into her senior years, yet juxtaposed against the body of a-... Going by the calendar, she was supposed to be nearing the end of her growth spurt, yet she looked no different than a child in the middle of adolescence, no, not a child, a demon, a monster bearing the facsimile of a person.
Horrified at what she had become, Valerie fell into depression for close to a year, until she decided that enough was enough, she might look like a monster, but it didn't mean she had to act like one. She could still use her powers for good. Fueled by newfound determination, the now-white-haired girl pushed herself to be the very best that she could be, resulting in excellent grades across the board. Even though her body appeared to be stuck from developing further, she found out that she could easily compensate for such mortal limitations with her powers, even surpassing what even the best, but otherwise mundane soldiers could do. As such, when graduation came, being christened as a WARDEN 2nd Class came to no surprise for her.
Now a full-fledged WARDEN after a decade of relentless training, the Nephilim figured she and her peers deserved some respite before they'd be deployed to the frontlines. When the idea came for a short vacation, she wholeheartedly accepted, besides, someone still had to watch over Silje, especially now that the excitable girl could turn a whole block into a smoldering crater, literally.
C O M B A T
Combat Class: Vanguard / Combat Support (Walking Arsenal)
Combat Style:
Taking the form of an HMG-esque weapon longer than she's tall, Haylel is a custom-made armament specifically designed and manufactured to be used by the Nephilim. Unlike normal weapons, Haylel can't function without being infused by Valerie's mistborne power (perhaps aside from using it as a crude bludgeoning stick), but when it is, its true potential is revealed to all. Practically, it's a multi-role magical ranged weapon that can be used for indiscriminate widespread destruction all the way to precision marksmanship. It's as much a mounted machinegun as it is an anti-materiel rifle. Regardless of its current usage, several things remain constant: Haylel fires arcane beam-esque projectiles instead of mundane ballistics and it never needs to be reloaded since it directly feeds off mist infused into it by Valerie to form said projectiles within its meticulously-crafted mechanisms.
Meaning "Lightbringer", Haylel is indeed the bringer of light to all, now whether it's the light of shining hope or divine retribution depends on whether one is on the receiving end of its spinning barrel or not.
Imagine a mighty suit of power armor, everything from its array of weapons to its sturdy armor, then visualize putting all of those properties - weapons, armor, and all - into the figure of a four-foot-something girl. It sounds quite ridiculous at first glance, a hilarious joke even, but no one would be laughing when they found themselves at the receiving end of the Nephilim's unholy wrath. Tis' Valerie in a nutshell, a veritable living, breathing arsenal holding enough firepower to level a city block, with the durability to match. Despite what her diminutive size may suggest, she's no glass cannon, nay, she's a mighty avalanche who’ll roll over her foes in an unstoppable mist-fueled onslaught.
Valerie's mistborne abilities take the form of glowing purple veins that she can command to cover either herself or other objects within her arm's reach. Upon being swarmed, the object is considered to be in her 'domain', within her sphere of influence, these objects can then be subjected to enhancements and modifications, the degree in which is limited by the object's original form.
Offensively, she can turn a kitchen knife into a magical blade capable of slicing through steel or a standard-issue assault rifle into an arcane carbine able to launch photonic projectiles strong enough to penetrate through light combat vehicles.
Defensively, she can augment her own body or any gear she currently wears in the same vein as her weapons, boosting their capabilities beyond their original scope. As such, it doesn't matter whether Valerie is wearing a full combat uniform or tattered rags, as long as she has access to mist, a wise enemy should regard her as if she's wearing a suit of power armor. If Valerie currently has access to an Aegis device, then she can perform a symbiosis with the gadget, conjuring a mighty barrier with robustness that's more than the sum of its parts.
Supportively, Valerie can - technically - exert her influence over a whole vehicle, enhancing them much like her weapons and armor, although it's ill-advised due to the massive constraint the feat will put on her body. If it must be done, the (barely) safe limit is a sports bike or a small car, anything beyond that will most certainly push her into mistburn territory, the degree of which is directly proportional to the size of the affected vehicle.
No matter how Valerie uses her power, one principle remains true, she essentially turns the objects under her mist's influence into an extension of her own body, allowing her to be proficient in using them, regardless of her original proficiency (or lack thereof). For example, though unlikely due to her extensive weapons training as a WARDEN, on the off chance that Valerie encounters a weapon she has no experience in, she can circumvent her lack of skill by exerting her influence upon said weapon.
On the flipside, as with all mistborne powers, caution is always advised. The longer she has to maintain her influence and the larger the object, the more mist she has to manipulate and thus, the more strain she'll have to endure. Mistburn is always a risk even among the best of Wardens and underestimating its dangers is a gross negligence that should never be tolerated.
R E L A T I O N S H I P S
❖ Gerard: A spoiled child in the body of a grown man with hubris so deep, it can fill a whole ocean. That much is fact about the noble socialite-turned-WARDEN, but it's also a fact that behind all that arrogance is a well-meaning loyal friend with a heart of gold... except that gold is covered in many layers of snark. Although Valerie is able to see through the muck for the glimmering pearl within, it'll be many years before Gerard can truly learn to no longer hide his feelings behind a mask of ego, if he ever does. Nevertheless, he's still a WARDEN and an invaluable member of the team. She'll attempt to guide him, but ultimately, the decision to change for the better lies with Gerard himself.
❖ Kalina: In a peculiar way, Kalina reminds her of Silje despite the two being polar opposites on the surface level. Beneath the superficial quirks, Valerie can see that both of them are socially-awkward individuals who're not quite adept at expressing themselves. However, whereas Silje expresses that awkwardness by just pressing every button and hoping for the best, Kalina prefers to not even try pressing any. Still, as long as the golden-eyed woman is content with herself and capable of following orders when the time comes, then there's no reason for her to be something that she's not. Having self-contentment at being who you are, that's a boon that many take for granted, Valerie can definitely say that.
❖ Lance: If Gerard is someone who hides his gentler side behind a self-imposed 'tough' mask to not appear weak, then Lance feels like someone who has several masks of lies nailed onto his face. He tries to be a model soldier; hard-working, loyal, agreeable, and brave, and while all of these traits may be who he actually is, Valerie can't help but feel that there's a certain air of impostor syndrome with the ginger, he desperately tries to prove himself to others because he can't do it to himself. As a former nun trainee (who took her duties seriously, unlike Silje), Valerie often volunteered to assist with Order-related tasks in the Citadel, and several times on a regular basis, she saw Lance in deep prayer. She didn't eavesdrop for obvious reasons, but it'd be a lie to say that she never wondered just what deep, dark secrets this 'model soldier' keeps inside.
❖ Justice: A fellow 2nd Class and the group's de facto leader. Valerie respects Justice for her no-nonsense attitude when the situation calls for it, as she knows that it's actually harder to be at the top of the pecking order than otherwise, still, no one's perfect and as good as Justice is, her quirks might rub some of her subordinates the wrong way, and a weak chain of command is a literal death sentence in combat situations. Therefore, as Justice's 'vice-commander', Valerie tries her best to cover for the dark-haired woman's shortcomings; together, they'll amount to more than the sum of their parts.
❖ Silje: The closest thing to a childhood friend that Valerie has amongst the group, amongst the whole Citadel even. Though Valerie technically arrived first in the monastery, she could barely remember a period in her early life where Silje wasn't in it. Between her arrival only a mere few years later, her attention-grabbing antics, and the fact that Valerie was the (un)fortunate acolyte often assigned to look after the hyperactive girl, despite the latter being older by two years. Valerie has to admit that she at times muse about an alternate timeline where they fail the aptitude test, or barring that, the war and the WARDEN program not existing in the first place. Where would life take them? So many possibilities, but out of those endless paths, reality picked the one where both of them must be soldiers, to fight for the greater good of all, yes, but no one in their right mind would prefer this life over a peaceful one.
❖ Morden: While Valerie respects the Mist-powered Juggernaut's loyalty to his comrades and devotion to his country's cause, she can't help but feel... conflicted. There are no tusks without cracks, nothing is perfect, and while she can look at herself for the price the WARDENs had to pay for their superhuman prowess, she'd mostly be referring to physical effects, while Morden's case is an example of the toll imposed on their minds. All WARDENs received mental conditioning as part of the program, to make them fearless and loyal soldiers, but it might have gone horribly right for Morden. The giant soldier's utter devotion to Rassvet's cause borders on blind loyalty, and Valerie's concerned that if he's ordered to massacre a group of imperial citizens - innocent civilians by all rights - he'll still do so without a shred of hesitation.
M I S C / T R I V I A
❖ Though she tries her best to ignore it nowadays, the fact remains that Valerie has a complex regarding her mutations, and seeing fully-grown men and women (leaning more into the latter), especially those with well-developed physique, always reminds her of what could've been had she never qualified for the WARDEN program in the first place. A keen observer will be able to notice the tell-tale signs of subtle envious stares, especially in situations where people are expected to wear revealing clothing, such as a beach party.
❖ Along with the initial signs of physical mutations, Valerie also began to develop an addiction to Mistburn-suppressant drugs, one that steadily got worse over the years up until she fully "transformed" into her current state. As of now, she can be classified as a high-functioning addict, able to function day-to-day with little to no issues as long as she receives a dose of Astral Reducer every few days. Ignoring this will result in withdrawal symptoms that'll gradually progress from mild annoyances to life-threatening. There’s no permanent cure, only temporary control measures. Valerie is very self-conscious of this affliction, more so than her stagnated growth and 'demonic' traits, and mocking her about it is a foolproof method of burning bridges with her.
❖ During her life in the monastery, the nuns discovered that Valerie has latent musical talents, particularly in singing and playing the piano, though they're never developed further after her recruitment into the WARDEN program.
❖ She has a sweet tooth and her favorite dessert is a slice of mille crepe layered cake.
Standing at a meager 145cm (4'9") with a petite, waifish build, one will be wholly justified to assume that Valerie is a young girl who's only a few summers into her adolescence period. Indeed, it may be true depending on one's perspective as it's an established fact that Valerie's growth began to stagnate at around half a decade into her WARDEN education, until eventually, she simply ceased to physically develop, leaving her a grown woman in the body of an adolescent with below-average height, an unfortunate tragedy that she has never quite gotten over.
Furthermore, if someone already knew Valerie from before her enrollment into the Citadel, then they'll be hard-pressed to recognize her current self. Once, she possessed silky hair as dark as a raven's feather, now only bleached gray locks hung from her scalp. Once, the young girl's visage hosted a pair of bright baby blue eyes, now they had mutated into eerie violet irises housing pupils so narrow, they may as well be serpentine slits. All these without even mentioning the "horns" growing from the sides of her skull, in actuality a mutated mass of keratin with horn-like shapes, though they're fortunately benign... so far at least.
In addition, when Valerie engages her mist-fueled personal barrier - with or without the presence of an Aegis device - her body will manifest bio-projections bearing the shape of a halo of thorns above her head and a pair of devilish wings sprouting from her lower back. All of these traits, when combined, gives off the image of a demonic angel (or an angelic demon), earning her the epithet "Nephilim", the offspring born from an unholy union of the divine and the profane. Considering her history, Gaia must've had a twisted sense of humor.
Lastly, when examined under close scrutiny, an observer will be able to see veins with purplish hue underneath Valerie's skin, spread all across her body, including her 'horns'. These very same veins will begin to glow when she uses her Mist-based abilities, the intensity being directly proportional to how far she's exerting herself. On the flipside, they become completely imperceptible in a mistless environment.
As for clothing, Valerie may be many things, but being fussy about fashion isn't one of them. Due to the nature of her powers, the gray-haired Warden will wear almost anything as long as it's not harmful to her; a full combat uniform? Sure, casual day-to-day clothes? Fine, a dirty brown rag that'll fit the empire's forced laborers more than a Warden? No problem. Really, for Valerie, being rendered Mistless is far more debilitating than a lack of adequate apparel.
P E R S O N A L I T Y
Calm and stoic even under great pressure, Valerie is in someways similar to her fellow Warden 2nd Class, Justice, yet distinctly different in other aspects. Unlike the sardonic and rabble-rousing Warden, Valerie gives off the image of a maternal figure, preferring to guide with a firm but gentle hand. She's the type to lace her words with some form of sugarcoating if she thinks it'll deliver her message better and consider white lies aren't necessarily always bad, sometimes it's simply not the right time to tell someone the whole truth. Perhaps it's the Maiden in her that never quite left even after all the grueling training, perhaps she has always been predisposed to be this way, regardless, Valerie believes that her methods are as valid as Justice's. After all, one correct answer doesn't always mean all others are wrong.
Often acting as the gentler, more soft-spoken counterpart to the group's de facto squad leader, Valerie serves as the other side of the coin to Justice's drill sergeant-esque approach to leadership. Together, the two serve as the glue that keeps the squad from falling apart, due to petty squabbles or otherwise.
Deep inside, even though Valerie may not even realize it herself, a part of her is motivated by pure, undiluted spite. Spite against the parents who abandoned her, spite against the warmongering empire that forced her homeland to take desperate measures, and most of all, spite against herself and her existence as a whole, a mockery of who she once was, a 'demonic monster' masquerading as a person. Even against everything that life has thrown at her, she'll rise above it all, for the sake of her loved ones. And if she must perish one day, then she'll be sure to unleash the dark divine fury of the Nephilim upon the empire first.
B A C K G R O U N D
An orphan of unknown circumstances, little is known about Valerie's early life other than she was left at the doorstep of a local Maidens of the Mother nunnery at rural Rassvet, the very same cloister that a certain bombastic white-haired girl would find herself in the next few years. As for Valerie, it was rather common for infants unwanted by their parents to be handed over into the care of the church, the lesser of two evils compared to... other alternatives, as such, as far as the brunette knew, the Maidens were her family and the Order her home.
Growing up, Valerie was a child who could be described as a 'good girl'; obedient, diligent, and compassionate, she was a model maiden-to-be, a great contrast to the cloister's resident troublemaker, an explosive - in both figurative and literal sense - girl named Silje. In fact, during their years in the monastery, Valerie would often be assigned to keep watch over the older girl when the nuns were busy. A task that she did without protest, however, despite her best attempts, Silje could never be tamed, even managing to escape once. Such a pair of polar opposites, the notion of the two having a career together was unthinkable, surely a delinquent like Silje would never qualify as a Maiden, unlike herself.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans, one that unraveled when Valerie and Silje were ten and twelve summers old respectively.
Together, the two girls were amongst the hundreds of children qualified to be inducted into the Citadel to temper and shape them into the Rassvet's finest warriors, to become WARDENs. Taken away from what Valerie considered to be her family, she was reluctant at first, but one of the sisters asked her to take care of Silje and told her that after a 'mere' decade, she could return. It was enough to convince the brunette to bear with it, she was doing a good cause, to protect the innocent from the warmongering, genocidal empire. It was her solemn duty...
...only she never truly expected what becoming a Warden would demand from her. After several tests, it was discovered that Valerie too held considerable yet unpolished talent at wielding the Mist. Whereas Silje's arcane might projected outward in the form of unleashing elemental barrages like a magical cannon, the opposite was true for Valerie, the brunette's had a knack for using Mist to empower herself and her 'domain', the latter consisting of anything she physically touched via her mist, which manifested in the form of creeping purple vein-like growth.
In practical terms, aside from enhancing her own body well into superhuman territory, she could extend this mist-fueled augmentation to any object she was currently holding, and in most cases, it'd be some form of weapon. Through this ability, she could turn the mundane into magical, pushing them to break their limits; a run-of-the-mill pistol could now fire arcane projectiles, a common steel combat knife into a razor-sharp magical blade capable of cutting through steel with ease, etc. Valerie was ecstatic to discover an aspect of herself that she never knew she had, but over the next half a decade of continuously being subjected to mist-related experiments and exercises, she'd learn that there was a price, there was always a price...
It started subtly at first, an odd lock of white hair here and there, a few tiny specks of violet in her eyes, a minor dull ache on her head, and the strange trend of being physically outgrown by most of her peers, surely all in due course due to the grueling training she had to endure, surely they were nothing more than minor side-effects, nothing that a good night's rest and some medicine wouldn't cure. Oh, how wrong she was.
Before she knew it, years passed, and the... thing facing her from beyond the mirror was supposed to be her reflection. Violet eyes with inhuman pupils, a crown of thorns sprouting from her skull, and locks of bleached gray as if she was a woman well into her senior years, yet juxtaposed against the body of a-... Going by the calendar, she was supposed to be nearing the end of her growth spurt, yet she looked no different than a child in the middle of adolescence, no, not a child, a demon, a monster bearing the facsimile of a person.
Horrified at what she had become, Valerie fell into depression for close to a year, until she decided that enough was enough, she might look like a monster, but it didn't mean she had to act like one. She could still use her powers for good. Fueled by newfound determination, the now-white-haired girl pushed herself to be the very best that she could be, resulting in excellent grades across the board. Even though her body appeared to be stuck from developing further, she found out that she could easily compensate for such mortal limitations with her powers, even surpassing what even the best, but otherwise mundane soldiers could do. As such, when graduation came, being christened as a WARDEN 2nd Class came to no surprise for her.
Now a full-fledged Warden after a decade of relentless training, the Nephilim figured she and her peers deserved some respite before they'd be deployed to the frontlines. When the idea came for a short vacation, she wholeheartedly accepted, besides, someone still had to watch over Silje, especially now that the excitable girl could turn a whole block into a smoldering crater, literally.
C O M B A T
Combat Class: Vanguard / Combat Support (Walking Arsenal)
Combat Style:
Taking the form of an HMG-esque weapon almost as tall as she is, Haylel is a custom-made armament specifically designed and manufactured to be used by the Nephilim. Unlike normal weapons, Haylel can't function without being infused by Valerie's mistborne power (perhaps aside from using it as a crude bludgeoning stick), but when it is, its true potential is revealed to all. Practically, it's a multi-role magical ranged weapon that can be used for indiscriminate widespread destruction all the way to precision marksmanship. It's as much a mounted machinegun as it is an anti-materiel rifle. Regardless of its current usage, several things remain constant: Haylel fires arcane beam-esque projectiles instead of mundane ballistics and it never needs to be reloaded since it directly feeds off mist infused into it by Valerie to form said projectiles within its meticulously-crafted mechanisms.
Meaning "Lightbringer", Haylel is indeed the bringer of light to all, now whether it's the light of shining hope or divine retribution depends on whether one is on the receiving end of its spinning barrel or not.
Imagine a mighty suit of power armor, everything from its array of weapons to its sturdy armor rivaling that of panzers, then visualize putting all of those properties - weapons, armor, and all - into the figure of a four-foot-something girl. It sounds quite ridiculous at first glance, a hilarious joke even, but no one would be laughing when they found themselves at the receiving end of the Nephilim's unholy wrath. Tis' Valerie in a nutshell, a veritable living, breathing arsenal holding enough firepower to level a city block, with the durability to match. Despite what her diminutive size may suggest, she's no glass cannon, nay, she's a mighty avalanche who’ll roll over her foes in an unstoppable mist-fueled onslaught.
Valerie's mistborne abilities take the form of glowing purple veins that she can command to cover either herself or other objects within her arm's reach. Upon being swarmed, the object is considered to be in her 'domain', within her sphere of influence, these objects can then be subjected to enhancements and modifications, the degree in which is limited by the object's original form.
Offensively, she can turn a kitchen knife into a magical blade capable of slicing through steel or a standard-issue assault rifle into an arcane carbine able to launch photonic projectiles strong enough to penetrate through light combat vehicles.
Defensively, she can augment her own body or any gear she currently wears in the same vein as her weapons, boosting their capabilities beyond their original scope. As such, it doesn't matter whether Valerie is wearing a full combat uniform or tattered rags, as long as she has access to mist, a wise enemy should regard her as if she's wearing a suit of power armor. If Valerie currently has access to an Aegis device, then she can perform a symbiosis with the gadget, conjuring a mighty barrier with robustness that's more than the sum of its parts.
Supportively, Valerie can - technically - exert her influence over a whole vehicle, enhancing them much like her weapons and armor, although it's ill-advised due to the massive constraint this maneuver will put on her body. If it must be done, the (barely) safe limit is a sports bike or a small car, anything beyond that will most certainly push her into mistburn territory, the degree of which is directly proportional to the size of the affected vehicle.
No matter how Valerie uses her power, one principle remains true, she essentially turns the objects under her mist's influence into an extension of her own body, allowing her to be proficient in using them, regardless of her original proficiency (or lack thereof). For example, though unlikely due to her extensive weapons training as a Warden, on the off chance that Valerie encounters a weapon she has no experience in, she can circumvent her lack of skill by exerting her influence upon said weapon.
On the flipside, as with all mistborne powers, caution is always advised. The longer she has to maintain her influence and the larger the object, the more mist she has to manipulate and thus, the more strain she'll have to endure. Mistburn is always a risk even among the best of Wardens and underestimating its dangers is a gross negligence that should never be tolerated.
R E L A T I O N S H I P S
❖ Gerard: A spoiled child in the body of a grown man with hubris so deep, it can fill a whole ocean. That much is fact about the noble socialite-turned-WARDEN, but it's also a fact that behind all that arrogance is a well-meaning loyal friend with a heart of gold... except that gold is covered in many layers of snark. Although Valerie is able to see through the muck for the glimmering pearl within, it'll be many years before Gerard can truly learn to no longer hide his feelings behind a mask of ego, if he ever does. Nevertheless, he's still a WARDEN and an invaluable member of the team. She'll attempt to guide him, but ultimately, the decision to change for the better lies with Gerard himself.
❖ Kalina: In a peculiar way, Kalina reminds her of Silje despite the two being polar opposites on the surface level. Beneath the superficial quirks, Valerie can see that both of them are socially-awkward individuals who're not quite adept at expressing themselves. However, whereas Silje expresses that awkwardness by just pressing every button and hoping for the best, Kalina prefers to not even try pressing any. Still, as long as the golden-eyed woman is content with herself and capable of following orders when the time comes, then there's no reason for her to be something that she's not. Having self-contentment at being who you are, that's a boon that many take for granted, Valerie can definitely say that.
❖ Lance: If Gerard is someone who hides his gentler side behind a self-imposed 'tough' mask to not appear weak, then Lance feels like someone who has several masks of lies nailed onto his face. He tries to be a model soldier; hard-working, loyal, agreeable, and brave, and while all of these traits may be who he actually is, Valerie can't help but feel that there's a certain air of impostor syndrome with the ginger, he desperately tries to prove himself to others because he can't do it to himself. As a former nun trainee (who took her duties seriously, unlike Silje), Valerie often volunteered to assist with Order-related tasks in the Citadel, and several times on a regular basis, she saw Lance in deep prayer. She didn't eavesdrop for obvious reasons, but it'd be a lie to say that she never wondered just what deep, dark secrets this 'model soldier' keeps inside.
❖ Justice: A fellow 2nd Class and the group's de facto leader. Valerie respects Justice for her no-nonsense attitude when the situation calls for it, as she knows that it's actually harder to be at the top of the pecking order than otherwise, still, no one's perfect and as good as Justice is, her quirks might rub some of her subordinates the wrong way, and a weak chain of command is a literal death sentence in combat situations. Therefore, as Justice's 'vice-commander', Valerie tries her best to cover for the dark-haired woman's shortcomings; together, they'll amount to more than the sum of their parts.
❖ Silje: The closest thing to a childhood friend that Valerie has amongst the group, amongst the whole Citadel even. Though Valerie technically arrived first in the monastery, she could barely remember a period in her early life where Silje wasn't in it. Between her arrival only a mere few years later, her attention-grabbing antics, and the fact that Valerie was the (un)fortunate acolyte often assigned to look after the hyperactive girl, despite the latter being older by two years. Valerie has to admit that she at times muse about an alternate timeline where they fail the aptitude test, or barring that, the war and the WARDEN program not existing in the first place. Where would life take them? So many possibilities, but out of those endless paths, reality picked the one where both of them must be soldiers, to fight for the greater good of all, yes, but no one in their right mind would prefer this life over a peaceful one.
M I S C / T R I V I A
❖ Though she tries her best to ignore it nowadays, the fact remains that Valerie has a complex regarding her mutations, and seeing fully-grown men and women (leaning more into the latter), especially those with well-developed physique, always reminds her of what could've been had she never qualified for the WARDEN program in the first place. A keen observer will be able to notice the tell-tale signs of subtle envious stares, especially in situations where people are expected to wear revealing clothing, such as a beach party.
❖ Along with the initial signs of physical mutations, Valerie also began to develop an addiction to Mistburn-suppressant drugs, one that steadily got worse over the years up until she fully "transformed" into her current state. As of now, she can be classified as a high-functioning addict, able to function day-to-day with little to no issues as long as she receives a dose of Astral Reducer every few days. Ignoring this will result in withdrawal symptoms that'll gradually progress from mild annoyances to life-threatening. There’s no permanent cure, only temporary control measures. Valerie is very self-conscious of this affliction, more so than her stagnated growth and 'demonic' traits, and mocking her about it is a foolproof method of burning bridges with her.
❖ During her life in the monastery, the nuns discovered that Valerie has latent musical talents, particularly in singing and playing the piano, though they're never developed further after her recruitment into the WARDEN program.
❖ She has a sweet tooth and her favorite dessert is a slice of mille crepe layered cake.
I'm currently working on a RP that features a fair amount of world-building (specifically speaking background characters and creatures in the setting) and I'd like to compile them in a thread. Would something like the Character Sheets section be the place to put a thread like that?
So ultimately I maaaaaay have just realized I have written myself into a corner, and will need to in the end redo my noble idea from scratch.
My noble idea has come to revolve around the idea of a United Scandinavia under an empire, which to put it most simply and not get too wordy ended up with a really powerful absolutist royal family and basically powerless (politically) nobility. Etc. (Insert overthinking and overcomplicating things here because history is fun to learn about and look up). However, this all ended up being written in a bit of a vacuum mostly, due to work IRL and such going on and the like.
Thus I am only now just realizing that my ideas clash with background stuff in Esme's lore. And I am a silly goose who overthought the whole thing to a point that now I feel a little ridiculous. So I think I'm going to take the easier solution for me at this venture, as well as in hindsight, and just try for making a simpler idea for my Noble character. XD
But for the moment, as of writing this post, it is time to sleep. Maybe.
Dawwww, that's unfortunate, but alright then, if you think what's best for your PC is to redo their background, then go ahead. But remember, perfection is the enemy of progress. Good enough is hella lot more meaningful than nothing! As a perfectionist myself, these are the words I try to always remember whenever I'm creating something. For example: I didn't account for the whole of historically-accurate HRE for Millie's background, I'm just happy with Modern Day Germany, everything else is extra.
However, considering that you're aiming for a simpler idea now, I think you're on the right track.
Also, since Savant has decided to drop, Russia and France are open once more. Just throwin' it out there.
I shall wait and see how some of these other folks’ characters come in before I continue thinking through my potential secondary character; more folks have chimed in than I originally realized :)
I concur, real excited to see what everyone will come up with!
I'm a fuckin' weeb, but one of my great-grandparents was Japanese and a Japanese can't be a weeb by definition so...
[h3]7/8 Weeb[/h3]
...[s]kill me.[/s]
[sub][i]Avatar drawn by [url=https://www.patreon.com/vayreceane]Vayreceane[/url][/i][/sub]
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">I'm a fuckin' weeb, but one of my great-grandparents was Japanese and a Japanese can't be a weeb by definition so... <br><div class="bb-h3">7/8 Weeb</div><br>...<span class="bb-s">kill me.</span><br><br><sub><span class="bb-i">Avatar drawn by <a target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.patreon.com/vayreceane">Vayreceane</a></span></sub></div>
The Otter
Yankee
vietmyke
Raineh Daze
Majoraa
Estylwen
TheWendil
Cool Ghoul
Ivar
