MidnightRose

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@Exit and we're off like a herd of turtles!

A Walk in the Desert - An Avatar Roleplay

Collaboration with Exit ThirdHour and MidnightRose

We open as a team of some of the best RSF officers are in transit toward Yue Outpost. This team is lead by Cypher and Koeska and has brought along their newest recruit and top of her class Maya Koyanagi. The outpost looms into view ahead of them all and before they stop, Cypher stands to address the team. He stares at the group and takes note of the appearance of each of his men. The RSF (including Maya) are outfitted in clothing reflecting the importance of protection against the harsher environment of the wilds. Underneath this layer of protection is the standard RSF garb. At first glance, they look like simple bounty hunters and can easily blend into the populace of the outpost.

They are currently traveling in a large armored vehicle or mobile HQ not unlike that of a trailer. Not far behind them is a large specially outfitted prisoner transport bus made to temporarily incarcerate men and women of the bending type.

“I can’t stress to you enough the importance of low key.” Cypher began, his right hand held up to his chest in a slow descent to give his words physical representation. “We don’t want to scare the people going into the city. We don’t want to scare the people of this outpost. We just want to apprehend the benders and get them back home. This mission is about safety. Safety for the people. Safety for this team.” He glanced over at Maya. The RSF’s pride and joy on a trial run before she was moved to bigger things. It was just as important for him to get her back home as it would be for the girl herself.

“We will identify our targets, engage peacefully and only use force should they try to escape or resist. And try not to over do it and cause a panic. We already did that at the City and we don’t need to clean up another one.” He paused, slamming a fist into the roof of the vehicle to drop a monitor. He tapped on the screen and an image flickered into view.

“This man is our main target. Known to have been a bender before the incident and is thought to be one of a few in charge of these terrorist attacks. One Lee Shen. We apprehend him with whatever means necessary.” He paused again as he looked from one team member to the next, searching their eyes for the understanding he knew was there. “Any questions?”

Koeska watched Cypher as he explained the details of their mission. Occasionally she would glance at Maya. Koeska was skeptical of any new recruit joining their endeavors, especially one so young and fresh out of training. As Cypher continued talking she decided to clean her pistol, taking it apart to clean each piece.

When Cypher showed Lee Shen’s picture she grinned mischievously, “He’s kinda cute. It's a shame I'll probably have to break his nose,” she said before she began reassembling her weapon. When Cypher asked for questions she looked to Maya, “You ready for this kid? Training doesn’t come close to what we're about to do.” She loaded a clip into her pistol with a snap, keeping eye contact with Maya.

Maya glanced around at all the RSF officers around her, trying to ignore how uncomfortable the metal seat under her was. She shifted, and continued paying attention to Cypher’s address. At this point, she was used to the looks she got. One particular man seemed to find interest in watching her for an extended period of time. It took everything within her to restrain from asking if the man had a problem or something.

Maya smiled lightly at Koeska’s remark on Lee, and watched her rebuild her gun until she asked her a question. Was she ready for this? Tough question, honestly. Physically? Yes, without a doubt. She was in peak condition and definitely youthful, she had advanced training and was quite confident in her abilities. Mentally though? Who knew? You never know what you’re made of until you’re put in the situation. Sure, Maya’s gone through various simulations and tests, but according to Koeska, what was about to happen was nothing like that.

Were things really that bad outside of the Republic? Actually, this was the first time she’d ever been out of the walls of the city. She’d had no need to come out there and from what she’d seen through the windows of the vehicle it wasn’t anything too special. She’d seen pictures in school and of course knew the history of how it got to be that way, but in person it was so much more real.

Getting out of her head finally, Maya turned to Koeska and smiled confidently, fake it ‘til you make it. “Ready? I always am.” With that, she too checked the pistol she was given and made sure she had extra magazines on her person.

Koeska smiled apparently pleased by Maya’s response. “Good answer.” Then without changing expression or looking away from Maya she aimed her pistol at the team member who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off Maya.

“and shithead,” Koeska began glancing at the man as she cocked the gun, “save your sick fantasies for your bunk. We've got work to do.” She said all this with a cheerful smile but the gun in his face made the gentleman think twice about replying.

The man shrunk into the wall and flinched away from the gun. “S-sorry Sir-err Ma’am!” He stammered helplessly. The other men stifled their laughter and tried in vain to keep the corners of their mouths from turning. The officer on the man’s left didn’t even fight it. He turned to Maya with a wide grin, though his eyes were sincerely apologetic.

“Apologies Koyanagi. Ken means well, he’s just never put his dick in anything but the…” He choked on a piece of laughter that threatened to come out. “...the hole in his pillow.”

“Fuck you.”

“In all seriousness. We have your back. The names Bo.” He held out his hand.

Maya smiled awkwardly, men were weird, weird creatures. “I’m Maya,” she introduced herself, grasping the offered hand. She made sure her grip was firm, she didn’t want to seem like a pushover, first impressions were always important. She could almost hear her father’s voice giving her advice. Cut off before she could initiate some small talk, Maya looked over to her boss.

“Yes... “ Cypher began, arms crossed and eyes deadpan as he watched men of the RSF try their luck with the only two women on board. “...Let’s introduce ourselves.” The delivery was deliberately montone. Now was not the time for fraternization and he was beginning to second guess his request for backup.

The bus pulls to a stop a few hundred yards outside the outpost. It’s still quite early in the day so the town is sparsely populated. Buildings cast long shadows. Wind is kicking up clouds of dust that hang around the ankles. The air through the window is cool yet heating quickly.

Koeska gently holstered her gun, satisfied with the man's response to her threat. She glanced to Maya before smirking at Cypher’s monotone comment. She knew he hated any time wasting when they were on a job. He was a hard working, dedicated leader to say the least.

When the bus pulled to a stop Koeska stood up, “All right, princesses. Time to get to work. Remember the objective is capture. Try not to fuck anything up and don't screw with civilians.” She yelled loudly as the team embarked from the bus. Koeska followed Cypher off the bus, putting on a pair of sunglasses to combat the glaring desert sun. She then popped a piece of gum into her mouth as she looked around scanning the area. “I hate sand. It makes everything blurry,” she grumbled to Cypher before blowing a bubble with her gum. Cypher smiled.

Wind whipped at Maya’s face, carrying stinging sand, so she lifted her bandana over her nose and lowered the dust goggles that were sitting atop her head over her eyes. The young trainee made sure she stayed close to Cypher and Koeska, mostly ‘cause she trusted their skills the most.

Her first mission, just the thought sent adrenaline pumping, sweat glistened on her forehead. Every nerve in her body was ready to fire, every sense was on high alert. With this success you’ll be promoted in no time! She told herself, hoping it would motivate herself further. Maya took in her surroundings, the Yue Outpost. It seemed like a relatively quiet place, not many people, obviously. She wondered how they even ended up here, the Republic was a place of opportunity, why not try their luck there? Maybe she was just being naive, after all, this was her first time out of the High-Middle class society she was raised in.

Maya once more checked her gun, an anxious tic, as well as the boot knife she had sheathed by her ankle. Everything was in order, she waited for Cypher’s commands, kicking dust up with her boot absentmindedly.

Cypher moved ahead of the group. “Spread out. Keep on comms.” He turned to look at Maya and Koeka, walking backwards now toward the outpost. “Maya and Bo with me. K…” He lifted a finger toward the sky. “Stay off the sand. You’re no use to me blind.” He smiled. It was his attempt at a jab. He wasn’t particularly good at being humorous yet but that’s why he had her. “See what you can see from up top. Everybody else...” He put on his own pair of aviators, his a few shades lighter than Koeska’s.

“... Well let’s go.”

“Let me just grow a pair of wings real quick,” Koeska countered sarcastically with a smile as she followed after Cypher. “Oy shithead!” she hollered over her shoulder, referring to the gentleman she had threatened earlier, “Get me a sniper rifle.” If she was going to be their eyes in the sky she was going to need the right weapon. In less than a minute a sniper rifle was placed in her outstretched hand. “What do you know, you're not totally useless!” Koeska said cheerfully admiring the weapon. She snapped her gum before looking to Cypher. “I've got your back,” she assured him with a bright smile. She then broke from the group to get to the nearest rooftop she could reach.

Maya clicked on her comm and filed in next to Cypher and Bo. She wondered what kind of intel Cypher gathered to get the general location of the wanted benders. Their scanners should be able to weed them out. They’d have to move fast and make sure none slipped through. This was time for her training to kick in, there was no time for daydreaming…

The new recruit thought about brandishing her own scanning device but thought better of it, she didn't want people to recognize the device and become suspicious.

A Walk in the Desert - An Avatar Roleplay

Name: Mizuko

Age: 19 years

Sex: Female

Element: OMITTED

Home: Upper Ring

Profession: Herbalist

Appearance: Standing at only 5'1" with a petite build, Mizuko is a small, delicate young lady. Her hair is a silvery grey, unique for her age, often pulled up away from her face and pinned with a hair ornament or flower. Her bright amber eyes are the most defining of her slender facial features. Her eyes are always clear and appear to look right through you. On a typical day she wears a traditional kimono, preferably with a flower pattern.

If she is traveling or doing particularly strenuous work she changes her attire to a simple yukata cut above the knee, a leather corset cinches her waist with two belts to carry supplies. Instead of geta she wears boots up to her knees. However she will often keep her hair pinned up with a decorative ornament no matter where she is.

Personality: Mizuko is not an emotional woman. Much of the time she is unphased by her surroundings, her wide eyed face remaining expressionless like a porcelain doll. She is ever calm and might be mistaken as cold or unfeeling. Though she doesn't passionately express emotions, she does have things she cares about. She is a woman of few words choosing instead to observe her surroundings with her clear amber eyes. Her voice is quiet and soft on the rare occassions when she does choose to speak.

Stance on Benders?: Mizuko believes bending is an interesting evolutionary development that warrants studying. She also believes that bending could be useful for furthering scientific developments. She believes bending when combined with her knowledge of herbs and minerals could be used to create poisons, healing poultices, and truth serums.

History: Mizuko was born to a fairly wealthy herbalist and his wife and was raised in the Upper Ring. When she started school it quickly became apparent that she was gifted with intelligence. She completed her curriculum with ease and even moved on to lessons years above her. When she was around nine years old the LSF took an interest in her intelligence and decided to test her to see if she might prove useful. She passed their initial test and went through their training specifically focused on healing. She also specialized in poisons and truth serums drawing from an extensive knowledge of herbs and minerals. She soon became their best and youngest healer at the age of sixteen.

A Walk in the Desert - An Avatar Roleplay

Also wanted to introduce another player that was not a part of the interest check but is helping me out by taking over a few of my characters. @MidnightRose is an amazing writer and I'm super lucky to have her on board. She'll be playing the roles of Koeska and another character who is yet to be introduced.

@Exit

Hello friends! Exit definitely oversold me but I'm happy to be here! I'll be posting my character today. And as Exit mentioned I'll also be playing Koeska.

A Couple of Ideas (18+)

I appreciate the creativity of your bumps good sir

Wishing Star - A Frontier Adventure

Lara (Jack's Bodyguard)

An hour or so prior to the scuffle in the bar Lara was leaning against the back wall resting her right arm on the end of the bar casually. Her black hood was up concealing all but a few stray locks of her raven hair that peaked out. Her icy blue eyes were locked onto Jack; the man current passed out on the bar. Lara sighed remembering his drinking last night. She had tried to warn him to take it easy but when did he ever listen to her? He seemed to be having a difficult time with this traveling lifestyle they were living. She wondered if he ever thought of running home... No. That was out of the question. Regardless, Lara had been quite enjoying their expedition. She had been trained to survive in multiple environments and enjoyed the change of scenery.

Of course currently the scenery involved smoking, drinking gamblers and idlers lounging in the bar even this early in the day. Lara's gaze left Jack for a moment to scan the bar glancing over the patrons. No one in here looked particularly troublesome except perhaps for one loud drunk with a hatchet at his hip. However he was loudly talking to some gentlemen so she doubted she had to worry about him. She remained in her watchful position for a bit longer before deciding to move. She looked up to the bartender and straightened up. She tapped the bar once to get his attention before saying quietly, "Scott, I'm going out for a moment. I apologize for him, but he'll pay you very well for his drinks once he comes to."

She glanced at Jack before walking through the room and out the front door. Her hood and black leather clothing shielded her from the bright sunlight as she walked into the street. She walked down a couple blocks to the Monde Trade Company. Once inside she found some mint leaves and selected a small bunch. She payed for the herb and put it in a small pouch before tucking it into her jacket pocket. With her task done she immediately headed back to the Sleeping Bear. She stopped in the road in front of the establishment in time to hear a light thud from inside. She had no clue that was the drunkard hitting the wall. Still as she had left Jack alone in there she needed to quickly investigate so she stepped up to the door and pushed it open. She walked inside just in time to witness Jack's ever so graceful fall to the ground.

Lara shook her head and stepped up to Jack. She couldn't contain a small smile of amusement as she studied his groggy expression. Of course he had earned this hangover after all his drinking last night. Even if it was her job to protect him, she couldn't protect him from himself. "Good morning." She removed the small pouch of mint from her pocket and handed it to him. "Chew on this. It'll wake you up and help your headache."

Wishing Star - A Frontier Adventure

Post will be up today!

Wishing Star - A Frontier Adventure

Lara aka Jack's Body Guard

Name: Lara
Race: Yaroi Republic
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 145lbs
Age: Appears to be in her twenties.
Occupation: Guard for the Magarius Family
Personality:
Lara's personality is a little hard to grasp. For a woman with a very singular drive, she displays a wide range of emotions, putting on skins as needed to get the job done. In this way, she has no real set of personalities. However, June is the one constant in her life. Perhaps its the job at hand and the binds of her contract but she puts priority of his protection over everything else. She'll interject when she believes he's making the wrong decision and give insight into situations that are beyond his perception. Beyond that, others find it difficult if not impossible to understand exactly who she is. It seems she keeps most of this close to her chest.

History:
Lara hails from the Yaroi Republic. Her time before her employment as guard for the Magarius Family is shrouded in mystery. Those who rule over are the few that know the truth and that does not include June's family.

Other:
She doesn't have a favorite sauce.

Combat section
Weapons:
Pistol
Not unlike June's equipped with a six shot cylinder.
Rifle
Can fire both standard munitions (effective at 100 yards) and bullets infused with the energy given to it via runes. This is done in two ways. The first of which, and by far the most accessible to anyone, is by loading specially shaped runes into the rear of the rifle. Once a rune with a specific element is fixed in place, a single round is pushed into the chamber and the hammer pulled back. At this point, the rune feeds the bullet a specific type of energy, depleting it of it's charge and changing the properties of the receiving munition. It's effects change depending on the chosen rune and all effects are detailed in the hider below. Once the rifle is fired, the rune must recharge resulting in a wait time of around 5 minutes.

The second method is by feeding it arcane energy from an outside source not unlike a sponge. It's current and most immediate source are the elemental runic scripts that have been tattooed around Lara's wrist. They function in the same manner as their portable counterparts. Only difference is when used, the scripts disappear until it is ready to be used again.

Rune Elements and Effects

Fire
Incendiary: 50yrds
Rounds hit target and burn white hot. Can melt through metal.
Water
Ice: 50yrds
Freezes non-biological and lesser creatures on contact. Can slow other biological creatures.
Earth
Stone: 50yrds
Turns a lesser creature into stone on contact. No effect on non-biological objects.
Wind
Air Blast: 25yrds
Fires a concentrated ball of air at a target down range. Can knock the target off it's feet.
Lightening
Bolt: 50yrds
Fires a streak of intense lightening.
Dark
Confusion: 100yrds
A shot that attacks the senses creating a general sense of disorientation or confusion. Can be accompanied by visions depending on how susceptible the target is. Lesser creatures will automatically attack anything or itself.
Light
Flare: 25yrds
Shot into the air. Used to light a given area, send a message, blind or cause intense damage to undead and vampires alike. The flash is just as intense as real sunlight and last for 1 minute.

Bow
Simple bow to be paired with any number of arrows. When she's run out of all other options, she'll use these last.
Pair of Daggers
Strapped to her waist both for engagements in close quarters and for ranged attacks.
Armour:
Lara boasts an outfit that is both durable to the elements and light enough to move swiftly in. Most of the material is made of a thick leather that is both stiff and still slightly flexible. It's strong enough to deflect bladed weaponry and bullets that are just close enough to kiss the skin.
Leather Corset
Wraps around the upper waist and hips, hugging the form up to the bust and ending there. It covers most vital organs and provides the perfect balance between protection and movement. This is supplemented by guards along the forearms, leather lined gloves and a pad covering her right shoulder.
Leather Pants
Form fitting and still utilitarian in it's design. It's a deep black color much like the rest of her attire and does an acceptable job of keeper her lower limbs protected from all manner of dangers be they natural or man made.
Leather Boots
Made to match the rest of her attire and functioning exactly the same. Their durable enough to remain intact long after her journey should be over... and comfortable enough to feel as though they're not even there.

Magic: She draws energy from the rune provided by June and that is essentially all the dabbling she does in the arcane arts. Beyond that, she simply loads different runes into her rifle to spit death down range.
Fighting style:
Fast and effective. She is well versed in multiple forms of combat and her situational awareness is meant to be unprecedented. Of course she doesn't have much in the way of real world combat experience in the Frontier. Most of her encounters have been small and sporadic security concerns in and around the Magarius Family home so she has yet to test her abilities.

She's handy with her guns, slightly better than June himself and knows her way around any number of ballistic firearms. When a fight moves to close quarters, she usually both her fists and her daggers with deadly precision. Coordinated, almost practiced lethality is her MO though more often than not, and under June's careful eye, she tries for the temporarily incapacitated approach as opposed to the more permanent solutions.

Miscellaneous Stuff
Inventory:

On Her Person

-Munitions
12 Pistol Rounds
24 Arrows
2 Rifle Rounds
1 Rune (Light)
1 Explosive Device
-Lockpicking kit

Money: 0g