Randomguy

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

"You are a funny guy, let me tell you where we go from here." He spat before shouting like he was in delirium. "You will be dead, BLYATS! Don't you know who we are?! Oh, I think you do! Who sent you, hah? Those damn traitors? Or could be That witch in the mountain? Crone got some new lackeys I see."

To be fair, Carnatia did think that their side had started the escalation. She would have preferred the diplomatic route from the start, but in retrospect given the temperament of certain people in their group, Carnatia supposed it was to be expected.

Still...it would do them no favour to overtly concede that point. Perhaps if the soldiers were calmer instead of this erratic behaviour they exhibited. Considering their tone of voice and behaviour despite having been soundly beaten, Carnatia doubted they would respond well enough to concession, probably seeing it as a sign of weakness.

Carnatia addressed the sergeant, "While it was one of ours who initiated the conflict, when I attempted to deescalate, your response was to attack me, surely you cannot blame us for fighting back at that point. Now...you can continue your blathering, but I doubt it would do you any favour here, not with me and especially not with the..."

Carnatia gestured to Mirielle and Amaris, "'bolder' members of our entourage, shall we say."

She then continued "To clarify, the primary source of our disagreement—debates of what constitutes proportional retributive justice notwithstanding—was that the man you sought to execute claimed to have some information regarding our person of interest. It was not, as you have implied, specifically targeted at your group. We do not even know who you are, we have seen nary a soul since we arrived in this region. We also know not of who these traitors are nor this witch you were talking about. Now then, why don't you start by telling us exactly what you are speaking of? Who is the Ealdorman of this region you serve? And who are these traitors and witches you spoke of?"

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia clicked her tongue as the sergeant forced her hand.

Very well then. An old adage of diplomacy was that it only worked if each of the sides respected the 'threat' of the other side enough. After all, if they did not feel the other side was a threat, why negotiate instead of merely taking what they wanted?

The sentiment that people wished to talk to solve issues diplomatically was a kind gesture, but a naive one. The truth about negotiation was that the strength projected by each side was an integral part of a successful—and fair—negotiation.

A show of force, then, was necessary.

She glanced at Linceleste's drone, which was subduing the sergeant. It seemed that one was handled for now.

Carnatia then turned her attention to the rest of the soldiers, as she leaped towards them.

Still. She would like to avoid killing them if possible. Better to avoid further troubles with whoever control this part of Sielse before they get the lay of the land.

While keeping mind of incoming shots or attacks, her focus sharpened, entering her Zen Focus state. Carnatia looked for a vulnerable spots in one of their limbs, not to kill them but certainly to cripple them, possibly for the rest of their life.

They could have walked away, or take up her offer for parley, but now that it came to this, a show of force it was.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

As the group made their way through Sielse, Carnatia's face occasionally scrunched up in disgust. The province of Sielse was in poor condition. Whoever was charged in the province had failed utterly at upholding their duty. She cannot imagine what conditions the common people living here were facing. At this point, calling it a failed state was not an exaggeration. At the very least, it made her feel better should her actions here would indeed end up in Westernant annexing the province. Surely, life under Westernant cannot be worse than this for the people of Sielse.

If any even yet lived, that was, Carnatia thought as they travelled through the province with nary a soul in sight.

Eventually, however, they encountered natives of the province. A group of soldiers attempting to arrest a man. The man claimed that he had the information they were seeking, but then again, of course, a man on the verge of death would claim that, clinging to the hope that their group may be his salvation.

For a moment, Carnatia mused the current conundrum at hand. One side of the argument was to respect the 'laws' of the land. These soldiers claimed to be the authority here, and thus far, nothing Carnatia had seen betrayed that fact. This was definitely unlawful conduct, considering that this was in the middle of nowhere, Carnatia doubted that the man had been sentenced in court and was simply being executed here, however...this was still their land—for the time being—and thus it was their prerogative to enact such barbaric law enforcement.

On the other hand, the fact that such barbaric law enforcement was upholding might count toward the eventual argument Westernant would make that Sielse was a failed state and thus they needed to move in to restore order. Thus, as a noble of Westernant who had a duty to advance her country's agenda, it might be prudent to save the man as a witness to the barbarism of the ruler of Sielse.

That, coupled with the fact that currently the representative of the Church, meant that her duty would be to not tolerate such blatant wickedness...

Yes. Saving the man probably would be the correct choice. That being said, killing the soldiers of the land's ruler would be ill-advised as they would have enough trouble without being wanted by the ruler of the land.

Therefore, diplomacy should—

Just as Carnatia came to her conclusion, however, Mirielle charged.

'That hothead...!' Carnatia thought.

Carnatia put herself between Mirielle and the soldier.

"Hold, Mirielle. Best we pursue diplomatic avenue further!" she shouted, her rapier drawn and enhanced with magic, her senses sharpened to sense any incoming attack with her prescient defence, just in case Mirielle did not incline to reason or the soldiers attacked anyway.

Then, she added toward the soldiers, "We clearly have conflicting interests, let us parley with your lord. That is the only scenario in which this won't end poorly for you. If you refuse, then we have to fight, and this is not a fight you'd likely win."

Gesturing at Amaris, she continued, "This Sarkaz is the infamous 'witch' who massacred an entire town. I'm sure you've heard the rumours of a border town between Varenhaim and Westernant being destroyed by a single witch.

Then, gesturing at herself, she added, "Even if you somehow win, it will not end well for you. For I am a daughter of Westernant's Ducal House, de Luson. Killing me is ground enough for Westernant to declare war. You will be known as the soldiers who invoked the wrath of Westernant, probably causing a war. I'm sure your lord won't look kindly at that."

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia picked up the utensils before starting to eat the food she had ordered.

...It was quite good actually. This was the first time she had eaten this particular combination of Sauerkraut, Schweinshaxe, and knödel so she did not have an exact frame of reference, but if, for instance, she compared the Schweinsaxe with other pork dish, she would say it ranked quite high. Not the best she had ever tasted, but if she were to give a numerical ranking, she would say it was in the 80s out of 100. Which, given the suddenness of her request and the fact this was no fine-dining establishment, meant that it was even more exceptional for the chef to have delivered this much.

She definitely would tip well.

After finishing the apfelstrudel as the dessert, Carnatia walked over to the bar.

This might not be fine dining establishment, but if they rose up to the task and gave her a fine dining worthy experience, than it was only proper and dutiful for Carnatia to give a proper review.

"It was an exquisite dish. The Dunkel in particular paired well with the Schweinsaxe. The Dunkel's caramel and nutty undertones of highlight the roasted flavours in the meat. Furthermore, though the juicy and flavourful meat of the pork's roasted crust was very tangible, it would risk being too overbearing, diminishing the taste of the side dish and the apfelstrudel dessert. However, you even compensated by giving a Dunkel brew with more bitterness, helping cleanse the palate and connecting the dishes. Mycompliments to the chef. If you wish to open a branch or relocate to the Vauclair Barony up North, I would welcome it. As the Baroness, I might even be inclined to set aside some funding.

She then took out a gold coin from her pouch, putting it on the counter, "The tip. More than deserved considering my admittedly rather outrageous request.

Returning to the table, she turned to Carmen, "I'd say it's about time we wrap up our soiree, no? But before that, is there anything important you found out from the Castellan?"

Danyel In The Den Of Lions

_{^D.O.B. Dec 13 | ^Age 20 ^y.o | ^Sato Konoha [Formerly Kiri] | ^Region Mainland | ^Rank Chūnin}

N A M E
Yuki Akane

C O R P
ANBU

G R A D E
A

Y O R E
Yuki Akane was born in Kirigakure into the Yuki Clan as the granddaughter of Yuki Samanosuke, the Fifth Mizukage. As part of a clan that traditionally is counted among the highest caste in Kiri, the Aokiri, prior to the reform, she would be born into a high noble family in the Land of Water. Since she was born after the reform, her first memory was not of a mansion in the upper-class Mizuhana District in Kirigakure, but of the gilded walls of the Enclave, the name given to the residential district in Shiomori Island—formerly the Land of Whirlpool—specifically for Kekkans, those that submitted, in any case.

When the rebellion over the Enclave project broke out, like many in the Yuki Clan, Akane’s parents chose to stay loyal to Kiri in order to honour the Fifth Mizukage's wishes. As a result, Akane grew up as part of the Kekkanjutsu users who remained loyal to Kirigakure, sequestered away from the rest of the population, marked by a cursed seal that can be activated to kill her. While serving as a ninja is not required for the Kekkan, there was little else to do in the Enclave, and so, just like all the other children within the Enclave, Akane enrolled in the academy, before participating in the infamous Brood Feast graduation exam, where she had to kill one of her fellow students, a boy from a civilian family she was sure had a crush on her.

As a genin, Akane started doing missions. Unlike the D-ranks missions given to genins in more ‘peaceful’ villages such as Konoha, for instance, Kiri genins see combat and are expected to kill or be killed. A talented genin with a Kekkei Genkai like Akane, even more so. One day, in a C-rank mission, a group of masked shinobi ambushed her team, killing everyone except for her. Rather than finishing her off, however, the group deactivated her cursed seal and brought her to the Land of Fire, specifically, Konoha.

She later found out that this was due to her father’s request. Her father had secretly been in contact with the former Third Hokage of Konoha, Shimura Danzo whom he had known in the war due to the former Hokage and his father, the Fifth Mizukage worked together as allies. Her father's request to Danzo was to take Akane away from Kiri and allow her to live in Konoha. Even back then, Akane already expected that Konoha would have her serve as their kunoichi, what she did not realize, however, was that her cursed seal was not deactivated but merely transferred ownership to Danzo.

Fulfilling the agreement only in technicality, now being the one holding Akane’s proverbial leash, Danzo conscripted Akane into his personal black ops unit, the Root under the codename of Yui. Under Root, Akane was sent on many missions, typically assassinations, her ice release made it convenient to blame the assassination on Kirigakure rather than Konoha. After Uchiha Sasuke killed Danzo, like many Root agents, Akane was reassigned to ANBU under the mask of an owl, where she remained until today.

S E L F
As a member of the Yuki Clan in post-reformation Kiri, Akane is used to having a stigma. In order to offset it, she has long since learned how to adopt a specific persona to fit in better. A social chameleon, so to speak. This does not necessarily mean that Akane would actively try to deceive people outside of missions, but her first instinct in social situations was to fit in the best she could. Her real personality is the quiet, introverted sort, preferring reading books at home rather than going out on to drink.

Likes: Books, Kenjutsu training, debating
Dislikes: Unprofessionalism, people who just moan about how bad their lives are without doing anything.
Dreams: None in specific, but if pressed...Killing Yagura, the Sixth Mizukage

P O W E R S
_Class
ANBU

^Specialty
Silent Killing

_Affinities
Water, Wind, Ice
_Fukajutsu
• Henso • Inpei • Shunshin • Kawarimi • Raiken

_{Kekkei Genkai}
Ice Release
^Kekkanjutsu
•Earthen Consecutive Chains of Ice
•Shattering Ice Spear
•Glacial Void Dome
_Hiden
Demonic Reflection
By entering a chakra-infused reflective surface, the user can move between mirrors almost instantaneously, creating the illusion that they are present in all of them at once. This allows them to launch attacks from any reflective surface, overwhelming their opponents with strikes that appear to come from every direction simultaneously. Technically can be used on any reflective surface, but entering reflective surfaces that are not mirrors created through the user's ice release takes too much chakra and is useless in almost all scenario.

^Hijutsu
• Demonic Ice Mirror

_Tokuchūwaza

Ice Clone
_{B-rank • Shortrange}
The analogue for the various bunshin techniques using Ice Release. The created clone is made out of ice and can be moulded by the user into various other Ice Release jutsu.

Hiding in the Mist Technique
_{D-rank • AOE}
The signature technique of Kirigakure ninja. The User fills the air with mist and control its thickness with their chakra, reducing visibility. A variant of the technique, Hiding in the Frost can also be used, the chilling atmosphere making the enemies more susceptible to Ice Releases and freezing water in the area.

Water Severing Slash
_{A-rank • midrange}
The user kneads chakra in their stomach and converts it into water before expelling it as a jet of high-pressure stream of water. The intensity of the pressure can be controlled by the user, ranging from just enough to knock the target down or to slice through the target.

Vacuum Blade
_{B-rank • shortrange}
An advanced form of chakra flow using the wind element, the user exhales wind-infused chakra onto a weapon in order to increase its sharpness, range and lethality.

Hair Needle Senbon
_{B-rank • short to midrange}
The user hardens their hair into sharpened point of senbon. The technique can be used as a projectile, by shooting the hardened hair or as spear-like implements using the derived jutsu of Sharp Hair Spear Technique.

Frostbloom Cascade
_{S-rank • AOE}
The user infuses water molecule in the air with their chakra, freezing them and creating hail. The icicle falling on an enemy will then latches into the flesh of the target, sapping their chakra before blooming into icy flowers. The icy flowers continuously sap chakra as it grows bigger, encumbering the target and freezing them until they die.

_Jukuren
•Kenjutsu
A skill rather common for shinobi in Kiri, popularized by the Third Mizukage as well as the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. After joining Konoha, Akane continued to hone the Kenjutsu technique she learned in Kiri.

•One-handed seal
The ability to form seals with one hand, allowing the user to keep the other hand free while casting jutsu. A vital skill for any shinobi who wants to seriously pursue Kenjutsu without forgoing other shinobi skills.

•Corpse Manipulation
Various techniques and skills used to manipulate corpses to obfuscate the circumstances around their death. As an assassin, this is a vital skill to make the death looks accidental or even to make the corpse died from certain jutsu.

Tales Of Endoroth (A Slice Of Life MMO Roleplay) (CLOSED)

Robert/Claudia

---

Now that Spirit Guardian was active, slowing the enemies speed, Claudia could afford to cast another buff on herself. Ideally, a buff should be cast before the fight, but this was not the type of buff that could be cast for long term, as the duration was pretty short. Technically, Robert could have cast the buff back when they were entering the room, since from a meta-design perspective, it looked like a boss room or at least a special room where the developers would put strong enemies, but that was metagaming, a knowledge Claudia wouldn't have, so Robert refrained.

Activating Tendrils of Protection, black shadowy tendrils sprouted from his avatar, giving a buff to defences. The evil aesthetic-coded tentacles create a stark contrast with Claudia's angelic wings and noble visage.

Robert then cast the spell eldritch blast. Four dark beams, crackling with otherworldly energy left Claudia's hand, each aimed at the summoned enemies Goibnu was shooting at.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

The cook, a young man with afro hair winked. His voice was smooth. "I can make your order, miss, but the preparation would take a while."

@Mas Bagus

Carnatia nodded, "Certainly. I shall wait with bated breath."

She did not truly expect them to actually serve her order. She mostly asked because Carmen had mentioned the possibility of a custom order and that she might as well ask.

That they would actually go out of their way to serve her order though, merit at least a token of appreciation. Yes, she would tip generously, if nothing else, especially if the food turned out to be delicious.

As from what she heard from Carnatia. Linceleste shook her head gently and slowly and said, "Don't worry about it. I can cover it." and gave the baroness a smile.

@Soldat Elf

"I will leave it to you then," Carnatia remarked.

No sense in arguing. Decorum dictate it would be rude to reject such an offer, in any case. Perhaps if she were another noble, Carnatia might have insisted. After all, among nobles such gesture was part of a 'game' of the sort that they play in high society, as a 'battle of status', and so, if one were to maintain respect in high society, easily relenting would be seen as a sign of weakness, perhaps even inviting gossip and rumours regarding one's financial status—or lack thereof.

It was not a game Carnatia enjoyed playing, but nevertheless a necessary one to play. Linceleste, while coming from an affluent family, was not a noble nor was this a high-society soiree. Therefore, at this moment playing such a game was—fortunately—unnecessary.

『 Ludvig 』 "Even now, I can still feel this growing mass of selfish desires inside of me, and all it wants to do right now is to know everything about you... and that's just not what either of us need right now.
You need to earn your freedom, I need to protect you all from harm, the team collectively has this... mission, we don't need distractions.
Although it seems a bit late for that."
^{『 Ludvig 』} "Mm... Yep.
By the way I'm alright, as you can see... so.
Thanks for... repeatedly asking the others to check up on me.
Honestly I'll be fine if you did stab me intentionally, even a hundred times.
And you can take that as an invitation."

Glances at Amaris and winks.

@Cale Henituse

'Was that supposed to be his idea of courting?' Carnatia thought.

How droll.

It was such sappy exaggerated lines one might find in lowbrow smutty literature designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator...which her sister enjoyed—and made Carnatia read, recently.

In any case, perhaps Ludwig was the type to coast by merely on his looks alone, which was fair enough, he definitely had the look for it. His romantic lines...not so much.

Though she probably best keep that to herself. Hardly proper to nitpick such a thing, especially when the subject in question was a teammate.

"I shan't judge you over your choice of breakfast," The W word was at the tip of her tongue, but she switched it seamlessly enough. "Miss Amaris. But there is wisdom in avoiding overindulgence."

@A5G

"But life is full of wonders, shouldn't we try and appreciate them as much as possible?"

@Deide

"Very true. Lady Mirielle, temperance is a virtue, alas, it is not quite abstinence, no? Temperance meant moderation in action after all, which means it should be all right as long as we do not go overboard. While we are in this area, it would be a shame to miss out on dunkel based on what my brother had told me. Apparently, it is made with a technique called decoction mashing, which involves taking a portion of the grains, boiling them, and then adding them back into the mash to increase the overall temperature. This boiling process helps extract more starches from the grains, giving it a malty aroma, with notes of caramel, toasted bread, and a touch of chocolate or coffee. Its flavour profile is supposed to be smooth and mellow, accentuating the sweetness from toasted malt mixed with a slight bitterness from the noble hops used. Are you sure you do not wish to indulge?

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia arrived in the tavern in a rather good mood. The establishment was, of course, not completely up to her usual standard, but she had seen worse during her time as an adventurer.

She only hoped that the chef here could serve the local dish she desired.

"Oy mate! We've got beer, and if yew ain't want beer you ain't buying!"

@Mas Bagus

"Beer? This early in the day? Then again I've heard that it would pair well with some of the dishes served in this region.

Specifically, she heard from her older brother that Schweinshaxe paired well with Dunkel, a type of lager created through a technique called decoction mashing. And she would be remiss if she did not take the chance to taste the infamous black lager of the region

"Very well, a mug of your finest dunkel, then. As for the dish, I would like sauerkraut as the appetizer, Schweinshaxe as the main dish, knödel as a side dish, and apfelstrudel as dessert."

Then turning to Linceleste, she added "Lady York, I realize that a full-course meal might not what you have in mind when you offered, but I am willing to pay for myself if it's too much trouble, no offence intended, of course. I did not wish to slight your gracious offer, merely making a clarification on my own end.

Absolved Will Be the Saviors

Carnatia de Valmont

---

Carnatia sighed as they approached Dragon's Maw.

They had stopped by here and there along the road, but it was mostly to resupply and a large chunk of their time was spent on the road, Dragon's Maw was definitely the more thriving and developed settlement they had stopped by en route to Tretagor. Finally, maybe she could have some decent accommodation, Carnatia thought.

It wasn't as if Carnatia was entirely unfamiliar with life on the road, eating from rations or what makeshift cuisine—if campfire meals can be called that—and her body did not reject it as much as when she first struck out on her own, where she had a visceral reaction eating ration food, but it was still a conscious effort to eat them.

And that's not to mention sleeping on the ground, and other facets of life on the road. Truly, the lack of proper accommodations that were at least adequate to her standard was the thing she dreaded the most, but duty was duty. At least before they head into Tretagor proper, she could take the chance to have a decent rest and maybe taste some local gourmet delicacies.

Yes, she heard that in these parts of Westernant, there are several local recipes that had been refined for splendid fine dining experiences. In particular, she had been interested in Schweinshaxe with sauerkraut and knödel. It's supposedly a quintessential dish around these parts.

"Amigos, we will replace our horses here and resupply. Accommodations for you have been booked in the inn we passed earlier. Feel free to check it out, or stroll around the city if you please. But don't forget to get enough rest. We will leave tomorrow morning by horse. The carriage will have to stay here for security reasons. Any questions?"

"I've known of Dragon's Maw but this is the first time I've visited. You seem to know quite a bit about this place, what are the places of interest? Some good restaurant for fine dining before we depart to Sielse, for instance? I've been meaning to try some pork knuckle, namely Schweinshaxe with sauerkraut and knödel."

Tales Of Endoroth (A Slice Of Life MMO Roleplay) (CLOSED)

Robert/Claudia

---

The creature's shadow could be seen against the wall of the room. As the creature moved closer, it made a wet squishing sound. The group could see long tentacles gripping the room's floor and walls as it came around the corner. The creature made another loud screech as it fully came into view. The beast was huge, and its head seemed to touch the ceiling. It was coming towards them, baring its many open mouths at the players. Flinging some lumps of flesh that landed on the floor, spawning little copies of the monster. Coming closer while trying to crush them with its tentacles.

@Eviledd1984

Summoning minions was a common enough mechanic in a boss fight, enough that Robert felt it would not be a 'meta-knowledge' for Claudia to have enough experience in order to surmise that the minions of the bosses usually shared a similar 'theme', meaning most likely they were also undead, especially since they spawned from the creature's lumps of flesh. Also, there were times that killing the minions haphazardly resulted in the boss gaining buffs, meaning, rather than an AoE to kill all of them, activating all the buffs on the boss, crowd control was the optimal choice.

Besides, casting an AoE nuke before the tanks draw the aggro was looking for trouble. So instead of activating the Flame Strike spell, he cast Spirit Guardians once more, as the same angelic spirits manifested around Claudia in a 15-foot radius, bestowing the same defensive buffs to the party as before while dealing radiant damage to the enemies as well as slowing their speed.

Claudia then shouted, "Let us focus our attack on one of the monsters that spawned from the creature, so we may test whether we can kill them safely without benefitting our quarry!"