Rultaos Member

Umm... Regarding one of your spells. I don't think you can use Luminosity to heal yourself. Laue said it was strictly an Anti-Magic tool. It has no properties other than negating Mana.

I'm sticking with it as long as at least as a couple other people are going for it. I haven't had a chance to flesh out my character in the story yet =)

Haha, Engineer and Medic are two of my favorite classes there (just underneath Pyro, as you can tell from my avatar XD). It's fun whenever I'm medic and healing someone, Spy comes up behind me for a backstab but fails, and he continues trying to do low damage stabs to kill me, meanwhile I just casually crack his head open with a couple Bonesaw whacks before returning to my patient. Never underestimate The Medics =)

If you play Team Fortress 2, I'd like to think of Darthalia as like a Medic there. As a newbie starting out, being heals-on-wheels is all you're good for. But with battle experience and knowledge acquisition and usage, you become just as dangerous as the next guy and will catch enemies by surprise because they underestimate your fighting ability (while still essentially being heals-on-wheels XD)

> Feel free to join. > > @Rultaos. All the raided outposts had been under construction. Pretty much just piles of stone/wood for eventual building under light guard. Might want to edit your post a bit. Oh I see. I was under the assumption that they were already protected with builders working under Paladins. Sorry about that, I'll edit now.

_"What could bandits possibly accomplish by stalling our expansion? If it's to halt our spread it won't do much. At best they're just stalling because there's no reason for us to not continue."_ Varkasan thought as their captain briefed them on their mission. It would be a reverse-ambush, with them attacking from surprise while surrounded. He didn't think it would be an issue however, considering the members that their unit had. Alicia Eternus in particular was quite an asset. While one might think of her as a fragile princess (as many recruits had on their first day) she was terrifying to fight against, though elegant when simply watched. Her speed and technique during their sparring was unmatched, and many recruits and instructors would be lucky to intercept even one of her attacks. Varkasan himself knew firsthand exactly how difficult it was to go against her, and felt pity for any foe at the receiving end of her twin blades and, what she called her _Sioretto Style._ If she had any weakness, it was that she tired a lot faster than most recruits during combat, which meant she wasn't suited for long battles. Another capable warrior was the Dwarf woman, Dys Bazgard. She was a loud and rough person, with a taste for ale. However, her advantage in battle came from her great strength (surprising, even as a dwarf) and resourcefulness. He remembered her partaking in arm wrestling matches among cocky recruits, and they very nearly ended up with broken wrists. She was also quick to think of ways to get through their survival training; a testament to the knowledge she kept in her head. Not to mention she was quick to cheer on recruits who were lagging behind in their tests. And by cheering on, Varkasan meant Dys shouting at them like a Drill Instructor who woke up on the wrong side of the bed until they were moving again A third person Varkasan knew in their training was the blonde Freiya Arkaos. That was someone nobody wanted to cross, and unfortunately it seemed that crossing her was very easy. She was also prone to drinking alcohol, but it didn't seem to affect her competence in the slightest. From their sparring matches, he knew Freiya's style of fighting was a suicidal onslaught of attacks. She uses all she has to bring down her opponent before they even realize what's happening, and it usually works. Varkasan noted that her berserker-esque attacks still had finesse in them, aiming and timing her assaults in a way that would quickly stun and incapacitate a slow enemy. Her demeanor and behavior in combat were all intimidating, and could make even a trained soldier think twice about going against her. There were other skilled Knights among their ranks, and Varkasan was confident that with such a line-up, they'd have no trouble dispatching simple bandits. Still, it would be wise to keep their guard up in case anything unexpected happened. That's what their instructors always did warn them about for when they were out on the field. _"Never assume everything will always go as planned"_ ------------------------------ It was not long after their briefing that the Paladins found themselves hiding behind crates in tight spaces, wearing their full battle armor. They wanted to speak to each other to pass the time, but they knew they could not risk being loud as they did not know how much further the toll-gate was. Varkasan clutched his sword and shield tightly. Despite all the training, the first real taste of life-or-death combat could never really be prepared for. He could feel some anxiety building up, but managed to push them away when he reminded himself of just how capable everyone was. _"We can all take care of ourselves. I shouldn't worry too much about the others and just focus on what unfolds before us"_ He told himself. Eventually, the carriage stopped, and he heard their captain conversing with someone outside. Then, there was the telltale sound of sword piercing skin, and everyone knew the battle was on. Varkasan burst out of hiding with the rest of the Paladins as they flung the crates at the bandits waiting outside, and while they were stunned, The Knights jumped out and drove their weapons clean through them. Once outside, Varkasan quickly scanned the area. The bandits were beginning to realize the deception and started coming out of their hiding spots in the trees surrounding the road. The other carriages started having boxes and Paladins flying out of them as bandit bodies hit the ground. Alicia was the first of the people in Varkasan's carriage to charge into the bandits emerging from hiding, cutting her way right into the thick of them. She was a blur of blades as she struck them down. "Wait! Don't charge in there without assistance!" Varkasan shouted, knowing she didn't have the energy to take on all of them. However, it didn't seem as if she heard him, so he followed after her. The other bandits who noticed Alicia's attack started trying to regroup and consolidate their broken line, but Varkasan was already getting to work on them along with the rest of the Knights in their carriage squad. He didn't really need to analyze their enemies much, they all fought the same way: instinctive, obvious, and undisciplined. The simplest of counterattacks could bring them down. A bandit came from his right and he had to quickly beat him back with a shield, stunning him, before finishing him off with a clean stab through the chest. Another bandit assaulted him from the front, a wooden club held high to bash him. Varkasan brought up his blade and held it horizontally to intercept the attack, causing the low-quality club to crack. He then kicked the assailant straight at the stomach, following up with a shield bash to knock them to the ground, and then stabbing the fallen bandit in the chest. His allies were taking care of the other nearby bandits so he used his breathing space to head towards Alicia who was already weakened from her initial onslaught. Just in time too, because a female bandit tried to stab Alicia from behind with twin daggers. He managed to reach them quickly enough and sliced the enemy in the back, causing her to fall to the ground as he finished her off with another stab to make sure she wouldn't get back up. "You shouldn't spin around so much Alicia, you always get dizzy afterwards." He told her as both a joke and a warning. The rest of their squad had already arrived and were eliminating the bandits as they took advantage of the opening Alicia made. "Stay close and watch each other!" He said, returning to a serious tone as he intercepted another bandit charging at them with a spiked bludgeon. Varkasan kept his shield up with his sword hidden behind it, before he proceeded to quickly put aside his shield and drive his sword forward before the bandit could bring the weapon down. He used his foot to kick off the body from his blade, and saw another one charging at him as the previous bandit's body hit the ground. Varkasan backed away a bit for the new bandit was brandishing a long wooden spear with a metal tip. One thing odd he noticed was the spear-bandit literally stepped over the body his dead ally as he attacked him, with a face that was blank of all expression. No fear, no anger. It was unnerving and strange. He didn't have much time to think on it before he pushed aside the spear using his shield to keep the tip away from him, and then horizontally slicing them in the stomach to kill them. Varkasan knew bandits were people with almost no moral compass, but he also knew that they treated their clan members like family, and to show such indifference to the slaughter of their allies was highly unusual. Now that he thought about it, it was surprising that their leader didn't call for a retreat as soon as they revealed themselves as Paladins and inflicted heavy casualties upon them. There was something wrong here, but the battle didn't afford him much time to think about what. He glanced around to make sure his allies were still alright before scanning around for more incoming enemies. He had given himself the role of squad protector, and his duty was to make sure no one got into their team's blindspots, and engage any enemies that wandered too close to them. He'd leave the main offensive to his squad.

No problem Laue ^_^ I'm working on my post now. I hope you Paladin players don't mind if I take some creative liberty in describing your characters (memories and things from training and all). I'll try to keep it in character based off of their CS'es. But let me know if you don't want me to. I could also edit it if ever I already posted it by the time you disagreed.

Question, what exactly qualifies as a "positive" and a "negative" trait? Just so I know what we're supposed to be putting there

First IC post is finally up. I dont know if that's as good as my original one, but it gets us moving at least. I will now use Ctrl-C and have back ups ready in case anything happens. So hopefully nothing does, heh.

On one of the many cobblestone paths leading to the Altean capital of Meridian, a lone horse-drawn carriage rattled through the path in the direction of the great city. The driver looked around and enjoyed the scenic view of the quiet outlying villages and the cityscape in the distance as he whipped up the two horses. Meanwhile inside the passenger compartment, Varkasan Trenact and 3 other Paladins were seated within. they were all wearing their armor, though they had their helmets off and cupped them under their hands or on their laps. Varkasan had his helmet resting on his lap as he massaged his head. It was mildly aching, and the tight carriage and bumpy ride was not doing anything to help. He was trying to keep his mind off of it until they reached their destination. The Paladin seated next to him spoke up with a gruff voice. "Is your head still hurting Varkasan? Come on it's already been three days! Surely no one is that light of a drinker" He said jokingly. The other paladin had a thick bears and was wearing light armor and had his steel cap in his hands. "Zalfn, you seem to forget that we had decided to mix a Dwarven potion in our celebratory drinks to _'spice them up'_. You also seem to forget that you convinced me to have the first drink." Varkasan replied with a weak smile. "True true... If it makes you feel any better I wasn't expecting the effects to be _'that'_ serious. Why, the rest of the men wouldn't dare touch those drinks after what happened to you and I" Zalfn replied. "Ah yes, you took a glass of it too." Varkasan said. "Of course, it was my idea, so it was only fair. Though if I may say, I seem to have recovered much better than you did." Zalfn replied with a smirk. A Paladin seated opposite of them wearing heavy armor seemed amused at their exchange and merely shook his head. Varkasan continued massaging his forehead. Despite the head still feeling off, the sensation was much less than it was before, and he was slowly feeling better by the minute. He gave himself maybe an hour tops before he fully recovered from whatever that... concoction... did to him. To continue trying to get his mind off the aches, he thought back to the mission they had received. It was actually more of a summons than an actual mission. They received it the day after he and several other associates had their graduation celebration. 4 of them were ordered to head to their headquarters there to be assigned underneath a Captain and begin their official duties. The message also said they had a mission already assigned to them, but the details would only be given once they had gathered. Since 4 of them had received the same summons, they all decided to share the expenses to get a ride to Meridian. Varkasan didn't know what they'd be asked to do, but he had hears the rumors, about how Paladin outposts on the frontier started being lost and destroyed with no leads as to the perpetrators. So he had a feeling that their duties might become more serious soon. On the bright side, he knew he'd be seeing more of his fellow recruits once again after the unit is formed, and he was hopeful that they were people he had befriended or was associated with. If not, it did not matter as they would need to learn to trust each other if they wanted to survive out on the field. It was just a question of how long that would take. The Paladin seated opposite to them glanced outside the carriage window. "We're well into the city now, Headquarters shouldn't be too far" He said. "That's good to know Aradus, I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand being in here." Varkasan replied with a chuckle. A few more minutes passed by in silence until the carriage came to a halt, and the driver outside started talking. "This 'bout s'far as I go, lads. The Paladin building s'not far from here. Juss' follow the road." He shouted from outside. "Understood, thanks for the ride. Aradus said as the Luminous Knights began piling out of the carriage, and beheld the grand building down the road. The sides of the street were filled with people going about their daily business, but none venturing towards the headquarters of the Luminous Knights. "The place looks just as terrifying as it was on the first day of training!" Zalfn said out loud jokingly. "Don't ask where the bathroom is as soon as you enter, this time." Aradus responded. "Of course not! I've already memorized where they all are." Zalfn answered with a laugh. With that, the group of 4 headed towards their destination, wondering what their superiors had in store for them.