Sanguine Rose

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

@samreaper

Faye watched him carry on with a blinking wide-eyed stare. This guy couldn't be for real, could he? No one was honestly that pompous. It had to be just a some way to boost up low confidence - overcompensate that you are the best and maybe you really would look better? He had to be at least somewhat sympathetic to already have a Riolu, right? He didn't start off with one. Unless he was handed it like his torchic. She supposed that was always an option.

Sage and Tilia exchanged looks with each other while their trainer just watched in dumbfounded confusion as to why this guy would ramble on like he was gods' gift to Evig. After he finally shut up and started walking away without even the slightest hint of where she was going to head off, she burst out laughing at his inquiry. It was a solid minute of trying to quell that laughter before she finally recovered and swallowed it down in a few trickling chuckles. "Okay, yeah, whatever you think. I guess you have pokemon food and supplies for when your team gets hurt. Won't need any of my help..."

She started off, figuring if he was going to travel with her he'd just catch up. "I have an egg I need help identifying. Basil told me the daycare should be able to identify it, and Rosa said they were only a little ways down the road. That's the first stop. Then back to the forest we passed to get to the ranch. Supposedly it's a good source of fairy types and not many people have gotten any good pictures of it. I'm hoping to be the first to get decent evidence of life in the forest."

Regardless of whether the poser followed her or not, she was headed on her path. She had her game plan and she was going to try like hell to stick to it. Tristan ranting wouldn't derail her. She'd - at best - just ignore him. At worst, well - they'd be testing how skilled a trainer he actually was then (if she didn't just punch him in the face instead.) But that wasn't going to be the case. Not before they got to the Daycare to see an old man sitting outside.

A kind smile slid into place on her face. "Good morning. I was hoping you might be able to help me identify an egg I received." She knelt down and fished the egg case out of her bag before moving closer to let him have a better look. "I got this from Basil Rivens and he said you might be able to tell me what kind of mon it will hatch.

Rising Stars: A Fairy Tail AU

Astoria Ocenade

Theme:Alive by Sia | Rise by Katy Perry

Name: Astoria “Ria” Ocenade
Age: 18
Birthday: June 9th

Magic: Water and Water-Make
Magic Level: B

Spells

Support

- Water Bubble: The user creates bubbles of water with oxygen trapped inside that enable those who put their heads in the bubbles to breathe underwater.

- Water-Make (structure): This is mostly used as an unnamed spell. The user is able to create structures out of water, the top layer of which is condensed to be solid enough to support weight.

- Rejuvenating Waters: The user conjures a ball of water into their hand and offers it to the recipient. The person that drinks it will feel their magic restored like they rested, as well as minor injuries will be completely healed and they’ll feel generally well rested and relaxed; moderate to severe injuries are also healed to a degree, becoming less severe than previously, but it is not healed much. The amount of healing done by this spell is dependent on how much magic the caster directs into the water. This cannot be used on the caster.

- Rainstorm: The user summons up rainstorms. The duration, size, and strength depend on a lot of factors, not the least of which are the caster's magical capabilities and intent. It generally siphons - though if nature decides to keep the storm going, it can linger for longer naturally - from the user's magic and can allow for it to be shaped in size and power. Casters that aren't well versed in controlling the storm can only summon smaller ones that are barely useful for watering plants. The more practice that goes into it, the larger and more powerful the storm can be.

Defensive

- Water Lock The user creates a large sphere of water that can be used to attack their target while they are trapped inside it.

- Water-Make Decoy: User generates realistic looking facsimiles of a person/persons out of water. Decoy(s) cannot move or make sound, but can be generated in any pose. If physically interacted with, Decoy(s) will disperse into a puddle of water.

- Undertow Water thickens the air and pulls at the target(s) making it more difficult for the target(s) to move and stay upright. This can even affect the ability to cast magic, and at the very least slows the target(s) down.

- Water-Make Barrier: Whereas Water Dome is for camouflage, this spell creates a barrier out of water that remains in place and carries an extreme current. The current is strong enough to prevent weak magical attacks from penetrating it, and makes it extremely difficult for things to cross the barrier. It is not impossible to break through, and it requires dedicated magical energy to maintain. If the caster falls unconscious or runs out of magical energy, the barrier will fall. Barrier can be made into many different forms, but generally seen as a wall or dome.

- Obscuring Mist: Through concentrated focus on condensing the water molecules in the air, the caster creates a fog cover to obscure vision around them and their allies. Range grows with practice, use, and magical force applied and can vary from a 20 foot radius to a 50 foot radius. With effort, the caster can allow individuals the ability to see through the mist clearly, but it is extremely strenuous and exhausting to do so. Mostly used as a diversion to escape dangers.

- Water-Make Cage: User creates a cage out of water sized to trap the target(s). The bars are extremely high current water cycling around the structure, making it difficult to break out and can lead to injury if one tries to escape.

Offensive

- Neptune’s Dance: Two or more waves of water rotate around each other and form a helix that blast the opponent into the air with tremendous force.

- Water-Make (weapon): User concentrates water into the form of a weapon. Water weapon can deal damage like a normal weapon of that type, but only for as long as user has hold of the weapon (in the case of bow/arrows, user must continue contact on the bow). If contact is lost, weapon disperses.

- Geyser: User shoots boiling hot water from hands at target, which can hit to cause blunt damage and potentially scold the target.

- Water Slicer: By swiping their arm, the user sends scythe-like blades of water at their intended target, which are powerful enough to cleanly slice through solid rock. It can also be used as a form of defense to intercept an attack.

- Cyclone: The user forms a circular torrent of water in front of their hands and uses the cyclone of water to attack their target. The size and power of the cyclone is dependent on how much magical energy the user puts into the attack. Attack can knock the target off their feet, but is mostly aimed to do blunt damage.

- Tsunami: The user curls in on themselves, drawing water from the area around them, or just simply creating it themselves. After a few seconds, they unfurl, raising their arms up high. A wall of water rises before them and moves forward in a massive wave of destruction, knocking over and washing away anything in its path. This spell consumes a lot of magical energy and has the potential to level small towns.

History: Ria didn’t just grow up with just a family, or in a village. The village was populated by a single clan - the Ocenades. Everyone had a role to play in the village - from farmers and bakers to guardsmen that took shifts patrolling to make sure the village was safe. Those of the clan not born with magic were relegated to menial tasks such as being the farmers or seamstresses or craftsmen or educators of the clan, but everyone had a purpose. Children went to school and learned, and they helped their families with tasks when schoolwork was complete.

Her father was the head, the direct descendent of the original founding father of the clan generations ago. As such, it was expected his children would take over and lead when it was time. Born the older of two, it wasn’t a surprise that her brother was the one expected to fill this role. He was strong, smart, charismatic, and an ice mage like their father and mother - just like pretty much every other mage in the clan.

Except her.

Ria wasn’t just the female - and would have been passed over for leadership of the clan should her brother have been born second anyway - but she also couldn’t use Ice magic. While being gifted with water magic should have still been fine - she was still born a mage, after all - her father was disappointed, and thus her mother was too. She was raised to be prim and proper - the best thing she could do for the clan was to learn all she could about being a good wife and mother after all - in hopes she would marry another strong line of the clan and bear powerful offspring; it was the best her parents could hope for given the only blessing they had in her birth was that she did have a knack for magic according to many of the clansmen. Regardless of what the task was, she never performed it right as far as her parents were concerned. No matter how skilled she was at her magic, she would never be as capable as one of the others. She tried and tried to do better, to be what they wanted her to be, and every time kept coming up short. Never good enough no matter how much better at her lessons or her trials than the other children she was.

She struggled with a lot of issues as a child, and clung to validation wherever she found it. Thanks for melding most assuredly only temporary fixes to problems until one of the ice make mages or craftsmen could repair it more permanently, or an instructor telling her she had exceeded their expectations were manna from heaven when needed. It should have been that the daughter of the clan head was popular, but instead she was typically left on her own with only the ones required to socialize with her actually doing so. So as she grew older, she developed her own hobbies - ones she could do apart from the others - and flourished in those tasks on her own. Freetime was no longer spent trying to see what tasks she could do to help the village and seek the mediocre accolades she could, but in developing further on her other interests - painting, reading, gardening. But that was how she began to struggle to meet expectations. Her desire to find things that made her happy caused her to create an imbalance in maintaining the things she was previously performing properly. So she strove to apply herself better in the public tasks and the increased expectations of her as she grew older, while still trying to give herself time to do things she enjoyed in her diminishing freetime. Missteps and failure were more harshly critiqued, but she still desired the praise and continued her best, and eventually had to give up any attempts to do the things she enjoyed in the desire to regain her lost ground of approval.

Through it all, her brother did his best to support her. It was why she managed the free time she could, and how she continued without utter despair. He trained with her and it was only in matches with him she ever managed to not make a wrong move in the combat or fail to get the proper spell cast. She may have given up completely without her brother’s support. It was his support that drove her to make a believed to be an impossible move. The summer of her 16th year, they were coming back from a training session in the northern fields when they saw the village beginning to empty. The water had pulled back from the beach near the village and a colossal wave could be seen headed for the village. They couldn’t evacuate everyone in time, and the ice-maker mages were advising their wall was not high enough to negate the swell of water raging toward them. Despite her parents trying to stop her, she managed to get to the top of the ice wall built to defend the village. It was from there, she cast a counterspell and clashed her own massive tsunami with the one inbound. The wave that smashed back into the wall was enough to splash against her face like mist against a cliff, and the ocean settled back to its normal depths.

Only her brother had praised her effort, and noted her as the one to actually save the village. It was then Ria decided she could not remain there. Despite his best efforts to get her to stay, her brother resigned and sadly parted with her as Ria took her leave with few goodbyes. She had no direction when she first set out, until she saw the calls for Pergrande. She migrated there and helped with the small things they would let her - helping create rain for farmers in villages she passed through during a particularly dry growth period, and helping fill an irrigation pond for someone. Eventually she found her way to Rembrandt, and furthermore Rising Starborn, and found it to be the perfect place to settle and rediscover herself while still being able to help and feel rewarded for using her powers.

Personality: The first thing most people notice about her is that Ria tries to always be courteous and cheerful, loving to be around people almost as much as she likes reading. A fan of anything upbeat, she can often be seen dancing or heard singing to herself as she goes about her business, and generally moves with a skip in her step. She’s generally reliable, cares about the wellbeing of others regardless of whether she knows them or not, and is willing to do anything for her friends. She doesn't like to see people upset and will often go out of her way to try to cheer someone up.

She often seems like a bit of a ditz - forgetful, aloof, and perhaps even a bit naive. There are still simple things that are common sense to others she often overlooks - like privacy and personal space; some see it as her ditzy ways, but it’s more the childish naivety of not understanding other people may have different comfort levels than her, and her desperate desire to be around others. While not everyone gains automatic trust, Ria seeks to find the good in people and will often trust those that are shown kindness/trust from those she is friends with. She tends to give chances to people that many don’t believe should get chances, and has been led astray by kind words and gestures even if they are given with ill-intent.

Guild and guild mark location: Rising Starborn, Right tight - Turquoise
Team Members: --

Three Strengths:

Hydromancer: Her water magic allows her to manipulate water around her as well as magically generate water. That is not the sum of it though. There are a few water spells that come naturally to her, casted like flexing a muscle. Spells of note for this are mostly just self-impacting ones, that help her swim deeper and stay under for extended periods of time. Water responds a bit more fluidly to her than other water casters, and with a bit of studying of the mage’s spells she can eventually manipulate water cast by others too; she hasn’t had the opportunity to see if she can manipulate Celestial’s or Dragon’s water magic, but she’s interested to see if that’s the case too.

Friendly: Ria loves to make friends, and just generally be around others. Whether it’s seeing someone looking down and wanting to cheer them up, or just giving them a person to be with, she doesn’t like seeing others alone. She likes to do things for others, and generally enjoys participating in whatever activity friends or those she chooses to associate with at the moment are doing.

Supportive/Helpful: She likes to help others, whether it be with supporting them in difficult decisions or sticking to getting better with spells. Despite her ditzy/aloof appearance, she understands a lot about the core concept of how different types of magic work, and techniques to make a particular type of magic work better. She’s not as effective at teaching, say, a wook-maker mage at casting as another wood-maker mage might, but she certainly knows enough to help the other wizard improve.
She also just generally likes helping out and working with others, whether it’s just dealing with day to day things or a job or whatever. She feels it’s everyone’s job as part of the guild to help one another out, and it’s just being a good citizen to help when help is needed.

Upbeat/Positive/Cheerful: Believe it or not, like it or not, Ria is a metaphorical ray of sunshine. It isn’t just being friendly. She rarely is seen without a smile on her face or a bounce in her step. She always tries to look on the bright side of things even in the most dire of circumstances. This energy she does try to share with others, and is ever willing to help with figuring out what’s good about a bad experience.

Skilled Combatant: Trained for many years to fight alongside her family, Ria is just as skilled in hand to hand as she is with weapons and magic. She can improvise weapons based on her environment, use the terrain to her advantage, and is quite skilled in using her lithe and agile figure to her advantage. This skill allows her to strike fast, in vulnerable locations, and use her opponent’s attacks and mass against them in her own attacks, dodges, and counterattacks. As a molding mage, she’s developed upon this further to create a fighting style mostly unique to her and her creative style of magic.

Three Weaknesses:

Ditzy/Trouble Focusing: She appears to be an airhead. She generally has a lot of things going on in her head, that she can be a bit forgetful. She means well, and definitely doesn’t want to forget important things, but some things just slip through the cracks. Not just dates and times of important things, but maybe not paying attention to her surroundings (not necessarily to trip, but not notice someone flirting, or being uncomfortable because she got too close, etc). She usually apologizes, but it doesn’t keep it from happening again. So she leaves notes to herself, and - while there is an organizational system for everything she writes down - it kinda looks just as chaotic as her thoughts.
While she does know a lot about a lot of topics given how much she reads, it’s not always reliable for her to relay the information she has stored in her head. Most of the time it just seems like she’s full of useless or unrelated information when she offers up things that come to mind during a particular topic she didn’t realize people had moved on from - or connected in her own head without when it apparently didn’t seem to connect to anyone else. When she’s on a roll with a topic that she’s interested in, if no one keeps the conversation focused, there’s a chance she’ll lead whomever she’s talking to on several different tangents before getting back on topic. Then there’s times where it seems like she can’t pull a thought from her head, despite having talked about something with a person already.

Insomnia/Nightmares: She doesn’t like to talk about it, to the point of refusal if someone won’t allow her to just brush off the concern, but she has trouble sleeping. She’s always had trouble sleeping ever since she was little, and Ria avoids dealing with it - chalking it up to something she will eventually grow out of rather than face the root of the problem head on.

Repress the Bad: Negative emotions and misbehaving wasn’t acceptable from her; she had to be the good child, the quiet one, the one that no one had to think about twice. Good wasn’t because people were looking at her, good was because the focus was somewhere else and there wasn’t time to deal with a child being a child. So she suppressed sadness. She made herself believe that she was happy. She won’t let herself dwell on the negative and buries anything that makes her feel anything but happy beneath layers of telling herself it’s fine. It’s second nature to her at this point, to shrug off a wrong done against her with a smile and a carefree “don’t worry about it”; what’s one more thing buried deep down?
Because of this, she doesn’t allow herself to cope with her own negative feelings. Whenever something starts to creep up, feeling angry or sad, she shoves those feelings down into the “doesn’t bother me” zone. There, all the bad feelings go to - well most would hope - die, but really they just fester. Sure, one day they may break through the carefully crafted cage, but for now - it’s holding strong so no need to try to process the bad.

Workaholic: Perhaps workaholic isn’t the proper term, but Ria doesn’t like to sit idle. She constantly pushes herself to stay busy, whether it’s helping a neighbor or friend, gardening, drawing, reading, cleaning...she tries to always be doing something.

Selfless/Low Self-Worth: While some would find being Selfless a strength, she understands it’s not. She puts others before herself, and sometimes (okay, most times) neglects her own wellbeing while being concerned over how someone else is doing. Whether it’s making sure everyone else has eaten before she finally serves herself, or helping someone even if she really should probably sit and rest, or pushing herself beyond her limits to stop someone else from getting hurt. Some of this reckless behavior could be mitigated from others noticing what she’s doing and convincing her to think of herself first, but it’s been a long time since anyone’s noticed. But if she smiles, it means she’s fine, right?

The Yips: For as skilled as she is, all her other weaknesses tend to creep up on her and as the fight continues, she starts to lose touch with her ability to function in combat. This is most common when she is fighting in front of a group or knows there is some level of judgment involved, even in life and death situations. The more she fails, the worse it can get. It isn’t consistent, as she has had instances of sheer gut instinct pushing her to thrive, but it is common enough she will eventually have to face her demons to overcome this.

Appearance: 5’3
She prefers skirts and dresses to pants; in fact, she only has two pairs of pants and two pairs of shorts in her entire wardrobe. Everything else is skirts, dresses, and nice blouses/tops to go with them. She generally avoids dark colors, but not to the point of exclusion.

Additional Details: She collects shiny stones.

She loves gardening, especially for growing fruits and vegetables. Her favorite food is strawberries.

She likes to paint and draw, and enjoys reading. She will read virtually anything to help deal with her insomnia.

Rising Stars: A Fairy Tail AU

Markovis Penderghast, "The Void"

Theme Song: Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold | Rx by Theory of a Deadman

Name: Markovis Penderghast
Age: 19
Birthday: August 6th

Magic: Thermodynamic Conversion & Abyssal Body
Magic Level: A

Thermodynamic Conversion

A magic that is designed to affect the temperature of targeted things - be it an area, a person, or an object. Because of this, there’s a neutral balance in the air directly around those that are skilled users and makes them immune to hot and cold environments. Those that use this magic tend to make do using only a handful of spells with varying degrees of precise applications to utilize it to its highest degree.

Spells

Chilling Touch: This spell removes all heat from the area around the caster’s hand. When the caster touches an object, this spell acts as a vacuum for the heat in that object, pulling it into the space around the caster’s hand to instill a “chilling” factor. When used on an item, it runs the risk of freezing the object. When used on a living being, it lowers the body temperature to potentially dangerous levels; living beings tend to reach with much the same way as being out in freezing temperatures - feeling sluggish, sleepy, with reduction in strength and mobility from muscles condensing from the cold. This feeling will last until the body is brought back up to proper temperature, either by the addition of heat or over the course of time in a warmer environment.

Encompassing Freeze: Caster extends their hand toward a target, and encompasses them in a nearly invisible sphere of air in which all heat has been removed. Those that do become trapped in it will instantly experience a reaction to the extreme cold environment and suffer from the usual effects of the lack of heat the longer they are in there, ultimately putting the target into a stasis like state that can be reversed by warming the target back up to standard temperature. This spell has a natural limit of a few minutes when cast, but can last longer if the caster maintains concentration on it.

Burning Touch: The opposite of Chilling Touch, this spell increases the amount of heat in the area around the caster’s hand. When the caster touches an object, this spell causes the object to act as the vacuum for the heat, pulling the heat from around the caster’s hand to cause a “super heated” factor. When used on an item, it will leave a burn mark and runs the risk of setting the object on fire. When used on a living being, it raises the body temperature to dangerous levels; living beings tend to react with much the same way as if they had spiked a fever - sweating, potential delirium, and trouble concentrating. This feeling will last until the body is brought back down to proper temperature, either by the removal of heat or over the course of time in a cooler environment.

Encompassing Heat: Caster extends their hand toward a target, and encompasses them in a nearly invisible sphere of air in which heat has been increased drastically. Those that do become trapped in it will instantly experience a reaction to the extremely hot environment and suffer from the usual effects of being in excessive heat the longer they are in there, ultimately causing the target’s organs to start shutting down. This is a far deadlier version of Encompassing Freeze as the actual effects can only truly be reversed with healing magic, though can be lessened by removing the target(s) from the extreme heat. This spell has a natural limit of a few minutes when cast, which will not inherently do much more damage than making someone experience heat exhaustion, but can last longer if the caster maintains concentration on it and thus will cause worse effects.

Thermal Blast: The caster increases the heat around one hand, and decreases the heat around their other hand. After they’ve reached a proper imbalance between the two temperatures, they slam their hands together to create a sudden vacuum of negative pressure that ultimately will create a shockwave out away from the caster. Shockwave will travel for up to 20 feet before fully dissipating, getting weaker the further from the caster it travels; within a foot or two it is strong enough to send someone flying back away from him.

Thermal Shift: This spell allows the caster to either increase or decrease the temperature of the area surrounding them, up to a 100’ radius from the caster. How hot or cold depends on the caster’s target, but is generally used as a utility spell to help negate negative effects from being stranded in extreme conditions.

Thermal Reaction: The caster reactively adjusts how much heat, or the lack thereof, is in a 5’ radius of them in order to stave off an attack. The heat increase is generally done to an extreme, which is likely to cause 3rd degree burns if the attacker tries to get closer; conversely the heat decrease is generally to an extreme, making the attacker feel sluggish and start to freeze up to not be able to press the attack further. It’s an innate defense practitioners of Thermodynamic Conversion have, as this magic doesn’t lend itself to defense very well.

Thermal Activation: Supercharging the heat property of the air around an object will drive the heat into the object, thus causing it to glow - or, in the case of flammable objects, catch fire - from the thermal radiation.

Abyssal Body

Abyssal Body draws on the properties of Dark Matter, a corrosive substance that is visible to the naked eye as a mass of swirling black and indigo, as well as powers from an extradimensional realm known as the Abyss. This magic is not just an unnatural magic, drawing on dark powers thought to be beyond the reach of Earthland - or its sister dimensions, - but is one that is thought to be a lost magic, forgotten for its potentially dangerous and uncontrollable properties.

Spells

Abyssal Sight: A body enchantment, this allows the caster to allow others to see in pitch darkness. It can be cast on multiple people at once, with each additional person costing more energy to cast. Requires the caster to physically touch the target’s forehead. Enchantment lasts for an hour, unless dedicated focus is to holding it longer.
Exposure to bright light while this enchantment is in place will temporarily blind the users.

Consuming Abyss: Caster raises a hand - palm flat - toward a target, and summons up a sphere of total dark matter, snuffing out all light and holding the target immobile. The air within the sphere gains weight, to feel a bit oppressive and give a sense of claustrophobia, dread, and abandonment to the target by shutting out all ability to sense the world outside the sphere. This spell can be held for longer than the normal end time, which can cause the corrosive nature of the dark matter to start eating away at clothing and organic matter within the sphere. Will last for up to 5 minutes (unless held longer by the caster), though it can be dismissed by the caster, or overpowered either from the target trapped within the sphere (via magically attacking the sphere) or a magical light strike against the sphere from an exterior source. (An exterior force attacking the sphere will not damage the target trapped within. Simply dissipate the sphere itself.)

Abyssal Reach: Caster thrusts a hand toward the target. Tendrils of dark matter shoot out at the target, and despite their apparent weightlessness and translucency they are quite tangible; these tendrils can be cut and otherwise blocked by solid objects. They can be used to attack a target, striking an opponent with fast and powerful strikes over the course of several minutes - or for however long the spell is concentrated on - and delivering painful caustic burns in addition to any blunt damage when they come into contact with bare skin.
These tendrils can also be manipulated to be used to pick up and move objects out of reach. They can squeeze into small spaces and be used to manipulate objects - such as slipping under a door and disengaging a lock - so long as the user knows where the tendrils are moving unseen. The tendrils can only lift and move things that the caster would be able to move - so objects the caster could not lift cannot be lifted, but could be pushed - similar to other forms of interaction with objects.
In any capacity, the tendrils have a maximum distance they can reach, which is roughly 100 feet.

Abyssal Imprisonment: Caster summons up several tendrils of dark matter, shooting up from the ground - or from behind - to wrap around the target (depending on if they are standing on the ground or flying). These tendrils shoot up and latch around the limbs and body of the target, restricting movement and restraining the target. They can be cut, or destroyed with the application of magic. They also will cause caustic burns that will slowly start to eat away at the person should any of the tendrils touch bare skin.

Leeching Abyss: Caster extends their hand toward the target. A multitude of dark matter tentacles race forth, forming hands that attempt to grasp the intended target. These tentacles will attempt to restrain the target, and should any make a solid grasp against the target’s bare skin or a source of magic (lacrima infused item and/or holder item) will slowly drain the ethernano from the target and transfer to the caster. While they may seem intangible due to the translucent nature, much like other Abyssal Body spells they can be deflected with weapons and other solid objects, as well as destroyed. The more skill the user has, the faster the tentacles move and respond to adjustments in the target's position, as well as the more tentacles are summoned.

Abyssal Destruction: Caster forms a sphere of dark matter in their hand that is then released at the target in the form of a large beam, or thrown as a destructive orb that explodes upon contact. The destructive capability depends on how long it is charged up for - a few seconds is weak compared to ten minutes which could level a mountain - and the longer it charges, the larger the diameter of the attack (beam or sphere) is.

Into the Void: Caster becomes intangible to magical and physical attacks, disappearing from sight and able to reappear at a different location, or in the same location after the attack being avoided is finished. Unable to spam this attack, as it wears on the caster the more it is used.

Void Step: An evolution to Into the Void, this spell allows the caster to take others with them. How many depends on how experienced and powerful the caster is, and starts with only being able to take up to 2 people that they are touching with them to a new location. The new location can be anywhere, so long as the caster knows of it and can picture it clearly. As the caster progresses in both experience and power, they can take more people and will not need to actually be touching the individuals traveling with them.

Fury of the Abyss: Caster gains a swirling haze of a black and indigo glow. While using this spell, caster is able to move at incredible speeds that allow the user to land powerful melee attacks. The speeds are generally fast enough that it can be difficult to trace his trajectory and thus difficult to defend against. There are traces of heat left in the wake of the caster’s movements, heating up the area more and more. Users cannot cast other spells while this is enabled.

Crushing Void: Caster crosses their arms above their head to begin casting the spell. A sphere of dark matter swirls into being, pulling light into it as it grows in size - to a maximum of a 6 foot diameter. Caster then unleashes the orb toward the target, with the same apparent gravitational pull as a miniature blackhole. The pull has the potential to suck light objects into the dark matter vortex - destroying those objects instantly - and can cause balance issues for heavier ones (including people) as the pull tries to suck them in as well. The swirling vortex also will start to suck in light sources, dimming the room. The sphere will disperse when it impacts either the target (dealing blunt damage, knocking the target backward, and dealing caustic damage to skin and corroding inanimate objects), or the first solid object (such as a boulder or wall or other object at least 3 feet in height and 2 feet in width - said object may be destroyed or partially corroded, depending on what it is made of.) Smaller objects in this path may be destroyed in the process.

Hex of the Abyss: Caster thrusts a hand out toward a magical source. An invisible force pulses out from the thrust hand forward toward the source, dispelling any spells that may be in effect by the target. This attack is typically used to target an opponent in battle, and can dispel magically equipped armor/weapons that are summoned up from Requip, or temporarily nullify the magical properties of holder items; when dispelling caster magic it is instantaneous, but items unequipped in this manner - as well as holder items that are nullified - cannot be reequipped or have that magical property reactivated again for a few minutes.
This spell can also be used against static magical effects, such as magical barriers or traps, to dispel the magic in place. Against sentient magical items, it acts more or less like a stun attack, temporarily causing the item to be in a semi-conscious state and partially unresponsive.

History: One would expect someone like Markovis to have some isolated and gloomy upbringing to create such an emotionally void individual. That was not the case. While, yes, he was an only child, his parents were neither too busy to bother with him nor overbearing. They supported him in whatever interests he wanted to pursue when younger, gave him his freedom to pursue them at his own pace, and even never pushed him to do better than he wished. But he wasn’t happy with just being mediocre when it bored him. He skipped grades and was seen as a bit of a prodigy in his youth - gaining a great understanding of Thermodynamic Conversion magic quicker at a younger age than many believed would be able to master such a rare magic, and furthermore graduating at a very young age.

The drive for it was all his own. It wasn’t exactly an external force from his parents, but the accolades of the achievements from those around him - relatives, teachers, the ire of fellow students that were older and placing lower in the class than him - that truly drove the desire to excel. He pushed himself to keep achieving bigger and better, looking into various other magics that eventually led to finding an ancient tomb from which he learned Abyssal Body, as a way of distracting from others around himself. This led to him also entering university on full scholarship at age 14. But upon completing his first year, he found he was losing his drive, despite focusing on theoretical magics and magical applications. He was very capable of exploring the new magic and still making time for his studies, but ultimately found he had no clue what he wanted to do with himself, and professions that require a degree were starting to seem more and more like just attempts to continue receiving accolades instead of something that interested him.

Halfway through his second year, he finally decided it wasn’t worth it. The only thing he did enjoy in all of it was magic and figured that was the better pursuit. He dropped out and decided to focus entirely on developing his magic. The guilds in Fiore held no draw for him, mostly focused on gearing toward particular skill sets that he felt would limit his expansion and exploration. So he looked to other nations, which is how he found Pergrande. While it didn’t seem to boast the same hospitality toward mages as other nations seeking them, it certainly presented its own form of challenge that melded well with his current interests. He spent a while traveling the land on his own, trying to find challenges to his magic but continually falling short on any willing to employ him for such ventures. Eventually, he came across the Rising Starborn guild and settled in with them. While he continued to fall short of things he felt were a challenge, at least he could put other interests to use and be around fellow mages.

Personality: Generally stoic and impassive, Markovis doesn’t generally rise to the occasion for most things. It’s not an easy task to incite anger or sadness, or even a smile, out of the man. He prefers being task oriented, focusing on work and keeping to himself when there isn’t a job of interest on the board. While he may not train to become stronger, he does enjoy challenges and often takes jobs that can be difficult for a single person to do by himself.
Deep within this mask of impassiveness is someone that does care. But he doesn’t quite understand how to show it. So, he doesn’t bother. It’s far easier to work if you don’t have the bothersome voice of compassion whispering in your ear. This causes him to not try to pursue close connections with anyone, and generally views anyone as an associate or an acquaintance with no real feelings of familiarity toward any one individual beyond that.

Guild and guild mark location: Rising Starborn, Right pectoral - dark gray

Three Strengths:

• Large Magical Reserves: Markovis started training his magic young, and has learned to build up even larger reserves for his magic to cast more spells or continue casting after using a high consumption spell. He tends to recover his energy faster being in darkened conditions, and benefits from the fact that he acts with restraint - preventing him from expending power he doesn’t need to.
• Fearless: That’s not to say he doesn’t have anything he’s afraid of, but when faced with death or torture, or even the same of his allies, he is unyielding and unblinking in his position. He’s not looking to sacrifice himself or others, but he will not bend his position or even break just to see no suffering befalls anyone. The same is said for his pursuit to complete a job, willing to push himself past the limit and risk his very life to ensure the task is completed.
• Intelligent: Let it not be said that one who holds their tongue be proven ignorant. It is clear from the look in his eyes and the words he chooses when he speaks that he is far more intelligent than many give him credit for. He understands finer nuances of conversations even if he lacks the emotional wisdom to feel their impact, and can be quite manipulative if he desires; it usually isn’t the case as he sees most interactions with others as a means to an end. Most jobs end up as simple games of chess to him, mapping out the moves of himself (and often able to predict the moves of partners he chooses to accept) and the opposition before the job is even underway.

Three Weaknesses:

• Dispassionate / Emotionally Inept: While there is a part of Markovis that does care about others, he has difficulty not only showing it but also acknowledging it in himself. This especially is seen in the middle of dangerous jobs, should someone get hurt - they should have thought better about what to do to prevent it, or not come on the job to begin with, because an injured partner isn’t something he can allow to interfere with completing a job. He also appears a bit listless and with no true preference over what job type he takes. Though he can be found reading and fond of it, it’s not like there’s a particular focus to anything he does and it shows through with generally a very vacant expression and distant tone.
  
  This all mostly comes from the fact he doesn’t quite grasp emotions. Either his own or others. They aren’t tools, they aren’t generally helpful, and - more specifically - they generally get in the way. He often doesn’t understand humor of others, which generally either kills the joke or fails to deliver on the perceived outcome (not to say humor being made at his expense to laugh at how he failed to grasp it is not the desired outcome) which ultimately will result in him disengaging from the conversation in lue of better prospects.
• Task Oriented: When it comes to taking a job or doing work, he doesn’t allow himself to get distracted. It also tends to mean he has trouble switching gears if necessary. The job comes first, and he will see it through whether it means his partner is injured and he must continue on alone or not. While he does take in information from his surroundings, and will weigh someone’s advice or thoughts on a topic, he generally will demand they follow the most efficient means of completion rather than let the job potentially get botched because of using a plan that may reduce risk of injury.
• Poor People Skills: While self-evident, despite an intelligence to help him get through difficult tasks, the one thing he cannot always work out is how to be delicate about someone’s feelings. He prefers succinct conversations that end quickly to be able to continue on his day, and can oftentimes curt to ensure the interaction ends if necessary.

Greatest Love: His gray tabby cat, Penelope
Motivation: To find something he is truly passionate about

Additional Details: He dislikes nicknames, but not enough to complain should someone insist on using one for him. He will correct once and then just ignore any future improprieties should they arise.

He prefers his personal space, and has issues with people being within arm’s reach. He gets defensive, sometimes tensing up, if touched by most people; it can completely derail his train of thought and will shut him down in a conversation if touched.

Markovis is quite fond of animals and plants. He has led him to foster several stray cats and even nurse a pigeon back to health, though he only kept the one cat. He also has several houseplants - all of which are pet safe should his cat decide to eat them - which he tends to as well. He can name many plants without more than a single glance, and is quite content for long strolls in the park to see the flowers cultivated in the gardens.

Theoretical magic and magical theory, as well as other intellectual ventures of all kinds spark an interest even if he may not seem like it does. Even in college, he enjoyed his classes regarding magical research and theoretical application of lost or ancient magics.

While he isn’t exactly going to always accept a drink, Markovis is also rarely seen without something alcoholic nearby. He argues he’s not an alcoholic, despite the fact his blood is likely 90 proof (or higher). Perhaps that is why there are times he becomes a bit short on longer missions,

Markovis’s love of consumables isn’t just limited to liquor, and is quite fond of cooking as well. While it is easier to simply use the appliances provided to cook, there are times he uses his Thermodynamic Conversion magic to cook.

While he may not look like much, or even really rise to the occasion often, Markovis is a skilled fighter both with weapons and without. He doesn’t “fist fight” per say but does have a great deal of skill in countering opponents' attacks by using their momentum and strength against them. He is a talented swordsman, knowing how to utilize multiple different sized blades from daggers to long swords and even glaives in various sword fighting styles; it seems his most comfortable form is glaive fighting which he uses both at full length and choked up to utilize as a sword. All his movements tend to be much more fluid than strength based with a focus on dodges, counterstrikes, and feints that have him moving like a dancer.

Astoria Ocenade

Theme:Alive by Sia | Rise by Katy Perry

Name: Astoria “Ria” Ocenade
Age: 18
Birthday: June 9th

Magic: Water and Water-Make
Magic Level: B

Spells

Support

- Water Bubble: The user creates bubbles of water with oxygen trapped inside that enable those who put their heads in the bubbles to breathe underwater.

- Water-Make (structure): This is mostly used as an unnamed spell. The user is able to create structures out of water, the top layer of which is condensed to be solid enough to support weight.

- Rejuvenating Waters: The user conjures a ball of water into their hand and offers it to the recipient. The person that drinks it will feel their magic restored like they rested, as well as minor injuries will be completely healed and they’ll feel generally well rested and relaxed; moderate to severe injuries are also healed to a degree, becoming less severe than previously, but it is not healed much. The amount of healing done by this spell is dependent on how much magic the caster directs into the water. This cannot be used on the caster.

- Rainstorm: The user summons up rainstorms. The duration, size, and strength depend on a lot of factors, not the least of which are the caster's magical capabilities and intent. It generally siphons - though if nature decides to keep the storm going, it can linger for longer naturally - from the user's magic and can allow for it to be shaped in size and power. Casters that aren't well versed in controlling the storm can only summon smaller ones that are barely useful for watering plants. The more practice that goes into it, the larger and more powerful the storm can be.

Defensive

- Water Lock The user creates a large sphere of water that can be used to attack their target while they are trapped inside it.

- Water-Make Decoy: User generates realistic looking facsimiles of a person/persons out of water. Decoy(s) cannot move or make sound, but can be generated in any pose. If physically interacted with, Decoy(s) will disperse into a puddle of water.

- Undertow Water thickens the air and pulls at the target(s) making it more difficult for the target(s) to move and stay upright. This can even affect the ability to cast magic, and at the very least slows the target(s) down.

- Water-Make Barrier: Whereas Water Dome is for camouflage, this spell creates a barrier out of water that remains in place and carries an extreme current. The current is strong enough to prevent weak magical attacks from penetrating it, and makes it extremely difficult for things to cross the barrier. It is not impossible to break through, and it requires dedicated magical energy to maintain. If the caster falls unconscious or runs out of magical energy, the barrier will fall. Barrier can be made into many different forms, but generally seen as a wall or dome.

- Obscuring Mist: Through concentrated focus on condensing the water molecules in the air, the caster creates a fog cover to obscure vision around them and their allies. Range grows with practice, use, and magical force applied and can vary from a 20 foot radius to a 50 foot radius. With effort, the caster can allow individuals the ability to see through the mist clearly, but it is extremely strenuous and exhausting to do so. Mostly used as a diversion to escape dangers.

- Water-Make Cage: User creates a cage out of water sized to trap the target(s). The bars are extremely high current water cycling around the structure, making it difficult to break out and can lead to injury if one tries to escape.

Offensive

- Neptune’s Dance: Two or more waves of water rotate around each other and form a helix that blast the opponent into the air with tremendous force.

- Water-Make (weapon): User concentrates water into the form of a weapon. Water weapon can deal damage like a normal weapon of that type, but only for as long as user has hold of the weapon (in the case of bow/arrows, user must continue contact on the bow). If contact is lost, weapon disperses.

- Geyser: User shoots boiling hot water from hands at target, which can hit to cause blunt damage and potentially scold the target.

- Water Slicer: By swiping their arm, the user sends scythe-like blades of water at their intended target, which are powerful enough to cleanly slice through solid rock. It can also be used as a form of defense to intercept an attack.

- Cyclone: The user forms a circular torrent of water in front of their hands and uses the cyclone of water to attack their target. The size and power of the cyclone is dependent on how much magical energy the user puts into the attack. Attack can knock the target off their feet, but is mostly aimed to do blunt damage.

- Tsunami: The user curls in on themselves, drawing water from the area around them, or just simply creating it themselves. After a few seconds, they unfurl, raising their arms up high. A wall of water rises before them and moves forward in a massive wave of destruction, knocking over and washing away anything in its path. This spell consumes a lot of magical energy and has the potential to level small towns.

History: Ria didn’t just grow up with just a family, or in a village. The village was populated by a single clan - the Ocenades. Everyone had a role to play in the village - from farmers and bakers to guardsmen that took shifts patrolling to make sure the village was safe. Those of the clan not born with magic were relegated to menial tasks such as being the farmers or seamstresses or craftsmen or educators of the clan, but everyone had a purpose. Children went to school and learned, and they helped their families with tasks when schoolwork was complete.

Her father was the head, the direct descendent of the original founding father of the clan generations ago. As such, it was expected his children would take over and lead when it was time. Born the older of two, it wasn’t a surprise that her brother was the one expected to fill this role. He was strong, smart, charismatic, and an ice mage like their father and mother - just like pretty much every other mage in the clan.

Except her.

Ria wasn’t just the female - and would have been passed over for leadership of the clan should her brother have been born second anyway - but she also couldn’t use Ice magic. While being gifted with water magic should have still been fine - she was still born a mage, after all - her father was disappointed, and thus her mother was too. She was raised to be prim and proper - the best thing she could do for the clan was to learn all she could about being a good wife and mother after all - in hopes she would marry another strong line of the clan and bear powerful offspring; it was the best her parents could hope for given the only blessing they had in her birth was that she did have a knack for magic according to many of the clansmen. Regardless of what the task was, she never performed it right as far as her parents were concerned. No matter how skilled she was at her magic, she would never be as capable as one of the others. She tried and tried to do better, to be what they wanted her to be, and every time kept coming up short. Never good enough no matter how much better at her lessons or her trials than the other children she was.

She struggled with a lot of issues as a child, and clung to validation wherever she found it. Thanks for melding most assuredly only temporary fixes to problems until one of the ice make mages or craftsmen could repair it more permanently, or an instructor telling her she had exceeded their expectations were manna from heaven when needed. It should have been that the daughter of the clan head was popular, but instead she was typically left on her own with only the ones required to socialize with her actually doing so. So as she grew older, she developed her own hobbies - ones she could do apart from the others - and flourished in those tasks on her own. Freetime was no longer spent trying to see what tasks she could do to help the village and seek the mediocre accolades she could, but in developing further on her other interests - painting, reading, gardening. But that was how she began to struggle to meet expectations. Her desire to find things that made her happy caused her to create an imbalance in maintaining the things she was previously performing properly. So she strove to apply herself better in the public tasks and the increased expectations of her as she grew older, while still trying to give herself time to do things she enjoyed in her diminishing freetime. Missteps and failure were more harshly critiqued, but she still desired the praise and continued her best, and eventually had to give up any attempts to do the things she enjoyed in the desire to regain her lost ground of approval.

Through it all, her brother did his best to support her. It was why she managed the free time she could, and how she continued without utter despair. He trained with her and it was only in matches with him she ever managed to not make a wrong move in the combat or fail to get the proper spell cast. She may have given up completely without her brother’s support. It was his support that drove her to make a believed to be an impossible move. The summer of her 16th year, they were coming back from a training session in the northern fields when they saw the village beginning to empty. The water had pulled back from the beach near the village and a colossal wave could be seen headed for the village. They couldn’t evacuate everyone in time, and the ice-maker mages were advising their wall was not high enough to negate the swell of water raging toward them. Despite her parents trying to stop her, she managed to get to the top of the ice wall built to defend the village. It was from there, she cast a counterspell and clashed her own massive tsunami with the one inbound. The wave that smashed back into the wall was enough to splash against her face like mist against a cliff, and the ocean settled back to its normal depths.

Only her brother had praised her effort, and noted her as the one to actually save the village. It was then Ria decided she could not remain there. Despite his best efforts to get her to stay, her brother resigned and sadly parted with her as Ria took her leave with few goodbyes. She had no direction when she first set out, until she saw the calls for Pergrande. She migrated there and helped with the small things they would let her - helping create rain for farmers in villages she passed through during a particularly dry growth period, and helping fill an irrigation pond for someone. Eventually she found her way to Rembrandt, and furthermore Rising Starborn, and found it to be the perfect place to settle and rediscover herself while still being able to help and feel rewarded for using her powers.

Personality: The first thing most people notice about her is that Ria tries to always be courteous and cheerful, loving to be around people almost as much as she likes reading. A fan of anything upbeat, she can often be seen dancing or heard singing to herself as she goes about her business, and generally moves with a skip in her step. She’s generally reliable, cares about the wellbeing of others regardless of whether she knows them or not, and is willing to do anything for her friends. She doesn't like to see people upset and will often go out of her way to try to cheer someone up.

She often seems like a bit of a ditz - forgetful, aloof, and perhaps even a bit naive. There are still simple things that are common sense to others she often overlooks - like privacy and personal space; some see it as her ditzy ways, but it’s more the childish naivety of not understanding other people may have different comfort levels than her, and her desperate desire to be around others. While not everyone gains automatic trust, Ria seeks to find the good in people and will often trust those that are shown kindness/trust from those she is friends with. She tends to give chances to people that many don’t believe should get chances, and has been led astray by kind words and gestures even if they are given with ill-intent.

Guild and guild mark location: Rising Starborn, Right thigh - Turquoise
Team Members: --

Three Strengths:

Hydromancer: Her water magic allows her to manipulate water around her as well as magically generate water. That is not the sum of it though. There are a few water spells that come naturally to her, casted like flexing a muscle. Spells of note for this are mostly just self-impacting ones, that help her swim deeper and stay under for extended periods of time. Water responds a bit more fluidly to her than other water casters, and with a bit of studying of the mage’s spells she can eventually manipulate water cast by others too; she hasn’t had the opportunity to see if she can manipulate Celestial’s or Dragon’s water magic, but she’s interested to see if that’s the case too.

Friendly: Ria loves to make friends, and just generally be around others. Whether it’s seeing someone looking down and wanting to cheer them up, or just giving them a person to be with, she doesn’t like seeing others alone. She likes to do things for others, and generally enjoys participating in whatever activity friends or those she chooses to associate with at the moment are doing.

Supportive/Helpful: She likes to help others, whether it be with supporting them in difficult decisions or sticking to getting better with spells. Despite her ditzy/aloof appearance, she understands a lot about the core concept of how different types of magic work, and techniques to make a particular type of magic work better. She’s not as effective at teaching, say, a wook-maker mage at casting as another wood-maker mage might, but she certainly knows enough to help the other wizard improve.
She also just generally likes helping out and working with others, whether it’s just dealing with day to day things or a job or whatever. She feels it’s everyone’s job as part of the guild to help one another out, and it’s just being a good citizen to help when help is needed.

Upbeat/Positive/Cheerful: Believe it or not, like it or not, Ria is a metaphorical ray of sunshine. It isn’t just being friendly. She rarely is seen without a smile on her face or a bounce in her step. She always tries to look on the bright side of things even in the most dire of circumstances. This energy she does try to share with others, and is ever willing to help with figuring out what’s good about a bad experience.

Skilled Combatant: Trained for many years to fight alongside her family, Ria is just as skilled in hand to hand as she is with weapons and magic. She can improvise weapons based on her environment, use the terrain to her advantage, and is quite skilled in using her lithe and agile figure to her advantage. This skill allows her to strike fast, in vulnerable locations, and use her opponent’s attacks and mass against them in her own attacks, dodges, and counterattacks. As a molding mage, she’s developed upon this further to create a fighting style mostly unique to her and her creative style of magic.

Three Weaknesses:

Ditzy/Trouble Focusing: She appears to be an airhead. She generally has a lot of things going on in her head, that she can be a bit forgetful. She means well, and definitely doesn’t want to forget important things, but some things just slip through the cracks. Not just dates and times of important things, but maybe not paying attention to her surroundings (not necessarily to trip, but not notice someone flirting, or being uncomfortable because she got too close, etc). She usually apologizes, but it doesn’t keep it from happening again. So she leaves notes to herself, and - while there is an organizational system for everything she writes down - it kinda looks just as chaotic as her thoughts.
While she does know a lot about a lot of topics given how much she reads, it’s not always reliable for her to relay the information she has stored in her head. Most of the time it just seems like she’s full of useless or unrelated information when she offers up things that come to mind during a particular topic she didn’t realize people had moved on from - or connected in her own head without when it apparently didn’t seem to connect to anyone else. When she’s on a roll with a topic that she’s interested in, if no one keeps the conversation focused, there’s a chance she’ll lead whomever she’s talking to on several different tangents before getting back on topic. Then there’s times where it seems like she can’t pull a thought from her head, despite having talked about something with a person already.

Insomnia/Nightmares: She doesn’t like to talk about it, to the point of refusal if someone won’t allow her to just brush off the concern, but she has trouble sleeping. She’s always had trouble sleeping ever since she was little, and Ria avoids dealing with it - chalking it up to something she will eventually grow out of rather than face the root of the problem head on.

Repress the Bad: Negative emotions and misbehaving wasn’t acceptable from her; she had to be the good child, the quiet one, the one that no one had to think about twice. Good wasn’t because people were looking at her, good was because the focus was somewhere else and there wasn’t time to deal with a child being a child. So she suppressed sadness. She made herself believe that she was happy. She won’t let herself dwell on the negative and buries anything that makes her feel anything but happy beneath layers of telling herself it’s fine. It’s second nature to her at this point, to shrug off a wrong done against her with a smile and a carefree “don’t worry about it”; what’s one more thing buried deep down?
Because of this, she doesn’t allow herself to cope with her own negative feelings. Whenever something starts to creep up, feeling angry or sad, she shoves those feelings down into the “doesn’t bother me” zone. There, all the bad feelings go to - well most would hope - die, but really they just fester. Sure, one day they may break through the carefully crafted cage, but for now - it’s holding strong so no need to try to process the bad.

Workaholic: Perhaps workaholic isn’t the proper term, but Ria doesn’t like to sit idle. She constantly pushes herself to stay busy, whether it’s helping a neighbor or friend, gardening, drawing, reading, cleaning...she tries to always be doing something.

Selfless/Low Self-Worth: While some would find being Selfless a strength, she understands it’s not. She puts others before herself, and sometimes (okay, most times) neglects her own wellbeing while being concerned over how someone else is doing. Whether it’s making sure everyone else has eaten before she finally serves herself, or helping someone even if she really should probably sit and rest, or pushing herself beyond her limits to stop someone else from getting hurt. Some of this reckless behavior could be mitigated from others noticing what she’s doing and convincing her to think of herself first, but it’s been a long time since anyone’s noticed. But if she smiles, it means she’s fine, right?

The Yips: For as skilled as she is, all her other weaknesses tend to creep up on her and as the fight continues, she starts to lose touch with her ability to function in combat. This is most common when she is fighting in front of a group or knows there is some level of judgment involved, even in life and death situations. The more she fails, the worse it can get. It isn’t consistent, as she has had instances of sheer gut instinct pushing her to thrive, but it is common enough she will eventually have to face her demons to overcome this.

Appearance: 5’3
She prefers skirts and dresses to pants; in fact, she only has two pairs of pants and two pairs of shorts in her entire wardrobe. Everything else is skirts, dresses, and nice blouses/tops to go with them. She generally avoids dark colors, but not to the point of exclusion.

Additional Details: She collects shiny stones.

She loves gardening, especially for growing fruits and vegetables. Her favorite food is strawberries.

She likes to paint and draw, and enjoys reading. She will read virtually anything to help deal with her insomnia.

Rising Stars: A Fairy Tail AU

Markovis Penderghast, "The Void"

Theme Song: Numb Little Bug by Em Beihold | Rx by Theory of a Deadman

Name: Markovis Penderghast
Age: 19
Birthday: August 6th

Magic: Thermodynamic Conversion & Abyssal Body
Magic Level: A

Thermodynamic Conversion

A magic that is designed to affect the temperature of targeted things - be it an area, a person, or an object. Because of this, there’s a neutral balance in the air directly around those that are skilled users and makes them immune to hot and cold environments. Those that use this magic tend to make do using only a handful of spells with varying degrees of precise applications to utilize it to its highest degree.

Spells

Chilling Touch: This spell removes all heat from the area around the caster’s hand. When the caster touches an object, this spell acts as a vacuum for the heat in that object, pulling it into the space around the caster’s hand to instill a “chilling” factor. When used on an item, it runs the risk of freezing the object. When used on a living being, it lowers the body temperature to potentially dangerous levels; living beings tend to reach with much the same way as being out in freezing temperatures - feeling sluggish, sleepy, with reduction in strength and mobility from muscles condensing from the cold. This feeling will last until the body is brought back up to proper temperature, either by the addition of heat or over the course of time in a warmer environment.

Encompassing Freeze: Caster extends their hand toward a target, and encompasses them in a nearly invisible sphere of air in which all heat has been removed. Those that do become trapped in it will instantly experience a reaction to the extreme cold environment and suffer from the usual effects of the lack of heat the longer they are in there, ultimately putting the target into a stasis like state that can be reversed by warming the target back up to standard temperature. This spell has a natural limit of a few minutes when cast, but can last longer if the caster maintains concentration on it.

Burning Touch: The opposite of Chilling Touch, this spell increases the amount of heat in the area around the caster’s hand. When the caster touches an object, this spell causes the object to act as the vacuum for the heat, pulling the heat from around the caster’s hand to cause a “super heated” factor. When used on an item, it will leave a burn mark and runs the risk of setting the object on fire. When used on a living being, it raises the body temperature to dangerous levels; living beings tend to react with much the same way as if they had spiked a fever - sweating, potential delirium, and trouble concentrating. This feeling will last until the body is brought back down to proper temperature, either by the removal of heat or over the course of time in a cooler environment.

Encompassing Heat: Caster extends their hand toward a target, and encompasses them in a nearly invisible sphere of air in which heat has been increased drastically. Those that do become trapped in it will instantly experience a reaction to the extremely hot environment and suffer from the usual effects of being in excessive heat the longer they are in there, ultimately causing the target’s organs to start shutting down. This is a far deadlier version of Encompassing Freeze as the actual effects can only truly be reversed with healing magic, though can be lessened by removing the target(s) from the extreme heat. This spell has a natural limit of a few minutes when cast, which will not inherently do much more damage than making someone experience heat exhaustion, but can last longer if the caster maintains concentration on it and thus will cause worse effects.

Thermal Blast: The caster increases the heat around one hand, and decreases the heat around their other hand. After they’ve reached a proper imbalance between the two temperatures, they slam their hands together to create a sudden vacuum of negative pressure that ultimately will create a shockwave out away from the caster. Shockwave will travel for up to 20 feet before fully dissipating, getting weaker the further from the caster it travels; within a foot or two it is strong enough to send someone flying back away from him.

Thermal Shift: This spell allows the caster to either increase or decrease the temperature of the area surrounding them, up to a 100’ radius from the caster. How hot or cold depends on the caster’s target, but is generally used as a utility spell to help negate negative effects from being stranded in extreme conditions.

Thermal Reaction: The caster reactively adjusts how much heat, or the lack thereof, is in a 5’ radius of them in order to stave off an attack. The heat increase is generally done to an extreme, which is likely to cause 3rd degree burns if the attacker tries to get closer; conversely the heat decrease is generally to an extreme, making the attacker feel sluggish and start to freeze up to not be able to press the attack further. It’s an innate defense practitioners of Thermodynamic Conversion have, as this magic doesn’t lend itself to defense very well.

Thermal Activation: Supercharging the heat property of the air around an object will drive the heat into the object, thus causing it to glow - or, in the case of flammable objects, catch fire - from the thermal radiation.

Abyssal Body

Abyssal Body draws on the properties of Dark Matter, a corrosive substance that is visible to the naked eye as a mass of swirling black and indigo, as well as powers from an extradimensional realm known as the Abyss. This magic is not just an unnatural magic, drawing on dark powers thought to be beyond the reach of Earthland - or its sister dimensions, - but is one that is thought to be a lost magic, forgotten for its potentially dangerous and uncontrollable properties.

Spells

Abyssal Sight: A body enchantment, this allows the caster to allow others to see in pitch darkness. It can be cast on multiple people at once, with each additional person costing more energy to cast. Requires the caster to physically touch the target’s forehead. Enchantment lasts for an hour, unless dedicated focus is to holding it longer.
Exposure to bright light while this enchantment is in place will temporarily blind the users.

Consuming Abyss: Caster raises a hand - palm flat - toward a target, and summons up a sphere of total dark matter, snuffing out all light and holding the target immobile. The air within the sphere gains weight, to feel a bit oppressive and give a sense of claustrophobia, dread, and abandonment to the target by shutting out all ability to sense the world outside the sphere. This spell can be held for longer than the normal end time, which can cause the corrosive nature of the dark matter to start eating away at clothing and organic matter within the sphere. Will last for up to 5 minutes (unless held longer by the caster), though it can be dismissed by the caster, or overpowered either from the target trapped within the sphere (via magically attacking the sphere) or a magical light strike against the sphere from an exterior source. (An exterior force attacking the sphere will not damage the target trapped within. Simply dissipate the sphere itself.)

Abyssal Reach: Caster thrusts a hand toward the target. Tendrils of dark matter shoot out at the target, and despite their apparent weightlessness and translucency they are quite tangible; these tendrils can be cut and otherwise blocked by solid objects. They can be used to attack a target, striking an opponent with fast and powerful strikes over the course of several minutes - or for however long the spell is concentrated on - and delivering painful caustic burns in addition to any blunt damage when they come into contact with bare skin.
These tendrils can also be manipulated to be used to pick up and move objects out of reach. They can squeeze into small spaces and be used to manipulate objects - such as slipping under a door and disengaging a lock - so long as the user knows where the tendrils are moving unseen. The tendrils can only lift and move things that the caster would be able to move - so objects the caster could not lift cannot be lifted, but could be pushed - similar to other forms of interaction with objects.
In any capacity, the tendrils have a maximum distance they can reach, which is roughly 100 feet.

Abyssal Imprisonment: Caster summons up several tendrils of dark matter, shooting up from the ground - or from behind - to wrap around the target (depending on if they are standing on the ground or flying). These tendrils shoot up and latch around the limbs and body of the target, restricting movement and restraining the target. They can be cut, or destroyed with the application of magic. They also will cause caustic burns that will slowly start to eat away at the person should any of the tendrils touch bare skin.

Leeching Abyss: Caster extends their hand toward the target. A multitude of dark matter tentacles race forth, forming hands that attempt to grasp the intended target. These tentacles will attempt to restrain the target, and should any make a solid grasp against the target’s bare skin or a source of magic (lacrima infused item and/or holder item) will slowly drain the ethernano from the target and transfer to the caster. While they may seem intangible due to the translucent nature, much like other Abyssal Body spells they can be deflected with weapons and other solid objects, as well as destroyed. The more skill the user has, the faster the tentacles move and respond to adjustments in the target's position, as well as the more tentacles are summoned.

Abyssal Destruction: Caster forms a sphere of dark matter in their hand that is then released at the target in the form of a large beam, or thrown as a destructive orb that explodes upon contact. The destructive capability depends on how long it is charged up for - a few seconds is weak compared to ten minutes which could level a mountain - and the longer it charges, the larger the diameter of the attack (beam or sphere) is.

Into the Void: Caster becomes intangible to magical and physical attacks, disappearing from sight and able to reappear at a different location, or in the same location after the attack being avoided is finished. Unable to spam this attack, as it wears on the caster the more it is used.

Void Step: An evolution to Into the Void, this spell allows the caster to take others with them. How many depends on how experienced and powerful the caster is, and starts with only being able to take up to 2 people that they are touching with them to a new location. The new location can be anywhere, so long as the caster knows of it and can picture it clearly. As the caster progresses in both experience and power, they can take more people and will not need to actually be touching the individuals traveling with them.

Fury of the Abyss: Caster gains a swirling haze of a black and indigo glow. While using this spell, caster is able to move at incredible speeds that allow the user to land powerful melee attacks. The speeds are generally fast enough that it can be difficult to trace his trajectory and thus difficult to defend against. There are traces of heat left in the wake of the caster’s movements, heating up the area more and more. Users cannot cast other spells while this is enabled.

Crushing Void: Caster crosses their arms above their head to begin casting the spell. A sphere of dark matter swirls into being, pulling light into it as it grows in size - to a maximum of a 6 foot diameter. Caster then unleashes the orb toward the target, with the same apparent gravitational pull as a miniature blackhole. The pull has the potential to suck light objects into the dark matter vortex - destroying those objects instantly - and can cause balance issues for heavier ones (including people) as the pull tries to suck them in as well. The swirling vortex also will start to suck in light sources, dimming the room. The sphere will disperse when it impacts either the target (dealing blunt damage, knocking the target backward, and dealing caustic damage to skin and corroding inanimate objects), or the first solid object (such as a boulder or wall or other object at least 3 feet in height and 2 feet in width - said object may be destroyed or partially corroded, depending on what it is made of.) Smaller objects in this path may be destroyed in the process.

Hex of the Abyss: Caster thrusts a hand out toward a magical source. An invisible force pulses out from the thrust hand forward toward the source, dispelling any spells that may be in effect by the target. This attack is typically used to target an opponent in battle, and can dispel magically equipped armor/weapons that are summoned up from Requip, or temporarily nullify the magical properties of holder items; when dispelling caster magic it is instantaneous, but items unequipped in this manner - as well as holder items that are nullified - cannot be reequipped or have that magical property reactivated again for a few minutes.
This spell can also be used against static magical effects, such as magical barriers or traps, to dispel the magic in place. Against sentient magical items, it acts more or less like a stun attack, temporarily causing the item to be in a semi-conscious state and partially unresponsive.

History: One would expect someone like Markovis to have some isolated and gloomy upbringing to create such an emotionally void individual. That was not the case. While, yes, he was an only child, his parents were neither too busy to bother with him nor overbearing. They supported him in whatever interests he wanted to pursue when younger, gave him his freedom to pursue them at his own pace, and even never pushed him to do better than he wished. But he wasn’t happy with just being mediocre when it bored him. He skipped grades and was seen as a bit of a prodigy in his youth - gaining a great understanding of Thermodynamic Conversion magic quicker at a younger age than many believed would be able to master such a rare magic, and furthermore graduating at a very young age.

The drive for it was all his own. It wasn’t exactly an external force from his parents, but the accolades of the achievements from those around him - relatives, teachers, the ire of fellow students that were older and placing lower in the class than him - that truly drove the desire to excel. He pushed himself to keep achieving bigger and better, looking into various other magics that eventually led to finding an ancient tomb from which he learned Abyssal Body, as a way of distracting from others around himself. This led to him also entering university on full scholarship at age 14. But upon completing his first year, he found he was losing his drive, despite focusing on theoretical magics and magical applications. He was very capable of exploring the new magic and still making time for his studies, but ultimately found he had no clue what he wanted to do with himself, and professions that require a degree were starting to seem more and more like just attempts to continue receiving accolades instead of something that interested him.

Halfway through his second year, he finally decided it wasn’t worth it. The only thing he did enjoy in all of it was magic and figured that was the better pursuit. He dropped out and decided to focus entirely on developing his magic. The guilds in Fiore held no draw for him, mostly focused on gearing toward particular skill sets that he felt would limit his expansion and exploration. So he looked to other nations, which is how he found Pergrande. While it didn’t seem to boast the same hospitality toward mages as other nations seeking them, it certainly presented its own form of challenge that melded well with his current interests. He spent a while traveling the land on his own, trying to find challenges to his magic but continually falling short on any willing to employ him for such ventures. Eventually, he came across the Rising Starborn guild and settled in with them. While he continued to fall short of things he felt were a challenge, at least he could put other interests to use and be around fellow mages.

Personality: Generally stoic and impassive, Markovis doesn’t generally rise to the occasion for most things. It’s not an easy task to incite anger or sadness, or even a smile, out of the man. He prefers being task oriented, focusing on work and keeping to himself when there isn’t a job of interest on the board. While he may not train to become stronger, he does enjoy challenges and often takes jobs that can be difficult for a single person to do by himself.
Deep within this mask of impassiveness is someone that does care. But he doesn’t quite understand how to show it. So, he doesn’t bother. It’s far easier to work if you don’t have the bothersome voice of compassion whispering in your ear. This causes him to not try to pursue close connections with anyone, and generally views anyone as an associate or an acquaintance with no real feelings of familiarity toward any one individual beyond that.

Guild and guild mark location: Rising Starborn, Right pectoral - dark gray

Three Strengths:

• Large Magical Reserves: Markovis started training his magic young, and has learned to build up even larger reserves for his magic to cast more spells or continue casting after using a high consumption spell. He tends to recover his energy faster being in darkened conditions, and benefits from the fact that he acts with restraint - preventing him from expending power he doesn’t need to.
• Fearless: That’s not to say he doesn’t have anything he’s afraid of, but when faced with death or torture, or even the same of his allies, he is unyielding and unblinking in his position. He’s not looking to sacrifice himself or others, but he will not bend his position or even break just to see no suffering befalls anyone. The same is said for his pursuit to complete a job, willing to push himself past the limit and risk his very life to ensure the task is completed.
• Intelligent: Let it not be said that one who holds their tongue be proven ignorant. It is clear from the look in his eyes and the words he chooses when he speaks that he is far more intelligent than many give him credit for. He understands finer nuances of conversations even if he lacks the emotional wisdom to feel their impact, and can be quite manipulative if he desires; it usually isn’t the case as he sees most interactions with others as a means to an end. Most jobs end up as simple games of chess to him, mapping out the moves of himself (and often able to predict the moves of partners he chooses to accept) and the opposition before the job is even underway.

Three Weaknesses:

• Dispassionate / Emotionally Inept: While there is a part of Markovis that does care about others, he has difficulty not only showing it but also acknowledging it in himself. This especially is seen in the middle of dangerous jobs, should someone get hurt - they should have thought better about what to do to prevent it, or not come on the job to begin with, because an injured partner isn’t something he can allow to interfere with completing a job. He also appears a bit listless and with no true preference over what job type he takes. Though he can be found reading and fond of it, it’s not like there’s a particular focus to anything he does and it shows through with generally a very vacant expression and distant tone.
  
  This all mostly comes from the fact he doesn’t quite grasp emotions. Either his own or others. They aren’t tools, they aren’t generally helpful, and - more specifically - they generally get in the way. He often doesn’t understand humor of others, which generally either kills the joke or fails to deliver on the perceived outcome (not to say humor being made at his expense to laugh at how he failed to grasp it is not the desired outcome) which ultimately will result in him disengaging from the conversation in lue of better prospects.
• Task Oriented: When it comes to taking a job or doing work, he doesn’t allow himself to get distracted. It also tends to mean he has trouble switching gears if necessary. The job comes first, and he will see it through whether it means his partner is injured and he must continue on alone or not. While he does take in information from his surroundings, and will weigh someone’s advice or thoughts on a topic, he generally will demand they follow the most efficient means of completion rather than let the job potentially get botched because of using a plan that may reduce risk of injury.
• Poor People Skills: While self-evident, despite an intelligence to help him get through difficult tasks, the one thing he cannot always work out is how to be delicate about someone’s feelings. He prefers succinct conversations that end quickly to be able to continue on his day, and can oftentimes curt to ensure the interaction ends if necessary.

Greatest Love: His gray tabby cat, Penelope
Motivation: To find something he is truly passionate about

Additional Details: He dislikes nicknames, but not enough to complain should someone insist on using one for him. He will correct once and then just ignore any future improprieties should they arise.

He prefers his personal space, and has issues with people being within arm’s reach. He gets defensive, sometimes tensing up, if touched by most people; it can completely derail his train of thought and will shut him down in a conversation if touched.

Markovis is quite fond of animals and plants. He has led him to foster several stray cats and even nurse a pigeon back to health, though he only kept the one cat. He also has several houseplants - all of which are pet safe should his cat decide to eat them - which he tends to as well. He can name many plants without more than a single glance, and is quite content for long strolls in the park to see the flowers cultivated in the gardens.

Theoretical magic and magical theory, as well as other intellectual ventures of all kinds spark an interest even if he may not seem like it does. Even in college, he enjoyed his classes regarding magical research and theoretical application of lost or ancient magics.

While he isn’t exactly going to always accept a drink, Markovis is also rarely seen without something alcoholic nearby. He argues he’s not an alcoholic, despite the fact his blood is likely 90 proof (or higher). Perhaps that is why there are times he becomes a bit short on longer missions,

Markovis’s love of consumables isn’t just limited to liquor, and is quite fond of cooking as well. While it is easier to simply use the appliances provided to cook, there are times he uses his Thermodynamic Conversion magic to cook.

While he may not look like much, or even really rise to the occasion often, Markovis is a skilled fighter both with weapons and without. He doesn’t “fist fight” per say but does have a great deal of skill in countering opponents' attacks by using their momentum and strength against them. He is a talented swordsman, knowing how to utilize multiple different sized blades from daggers to long swords and even glaives in various sword fighting styles; it seems his most comfortable form is glaive fighting which he uses both at full length and choked up to utilize as a sword. All his movements tend to be much more fluid than strength based with a focus on dodges, counterstrikes, and feints that have him moving like a dancer.

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

The dinner was absolutely delicious. Faye hadn't expected it to taste awful by any means, but it tasted even better than it looked - and it had already looked very delicious to begin with. After many compliments to the chefs, Faye figured it might be good to set out. But her only stop was the Daycare, and it was getting late. When did it close?

She realized more and more quickly she'd done it again. She'd headed off on a journey without actually properly figuring everything out. So now she'd gotten sidetracked from her task and set back. If she left now, they'd probably be locking up by the time she got there. So she'd be camping out pretty much outside their house.

Welp, that kinda settled it. As much as she was interested in finding out about the nightlife around these parts, she supposed her team needed a bit more rest after today. Might not be best to do without properly rested pokemon and - shoot! - more pokeballs.

So, with little other choice, Faye accepted the offer to stay the night. She offered to help clean the dishes from dinner and otherwise help out with anything else they'd let her help out with to repay for letting her spend the night. At first light, she'd set out on the road to hit the daycare - offering to Tristan for him to travel with her so their pokemon could continue to socialize.

@samreaper

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

The computer wasn't quite like Faye's - the keyboard and mouse felt completely foreign in her hands instead of comfortable, which would be a bigger problem if she weren't just copying pictures and emailing them to herself. But she hated keyboard keys that stuck and this one seemed to need a little more effort to push down some of the keys than she was used to. Given it was older, and the person that typically used it had hands the size of her head, she wasn't surprised in the least though. It just took a bit more time for her to navigate the unfamiliar setup and get the pictures copied over to the right locations.

"I'm going to leave a copy of all the pictures I took on this computer for you guys saved under a file marked 'Faye Wrexlyn photo shoot' in case any of the other kids ask for a copy. I took a few of everyone in the multiple attempts to get the group picture, so hopefully some of them are ones the kids or their parents would like to see." She worked to find the printer - navigating to the right location once Rosa pointed it out - to print off a few choice pictures of the group and Lisa.

She was working on getting the files copied over to send to herself when Neil popped in. The photographer looked over her shoulder and was about to open her mouth when Rosa interjected with a sassy comment of her own. She glanced at the rancher girl beside her before looking back at the giant man in the door. Not that she wasn't one for snappy comments, but in the home of someone she had offered to help - albeit late - and might potentially score a client...she preferred not to kick things off with sass if she could. It seemed to work out just fine though and the man was on his way before she could actually show him one of the pictures that printed.

Oh well, there was always dinner.

Speaking of which, the smell of the cooking slowly filled the room. Her stomach rumbled when she finally realized what she was smelling. "Eev eevee ee eev," Sage yipped as he trotted in. Tilia landed on Faye's shoulder and just ruffled her feathers.

"You two are hungry too, huh?" The shiny bird on her shoulder ruffled its feathers in a shrug and chirped, ""Hoot hoot-hoot." Faye smiled and nodded. "I figured as much. You two had quite the fight. We can see if they have anything for you guys, but if not I have some food in my pack for you."

The photographer closed everything out properly the way she found it and grabbed the pictures from the printer, offering the best picture focused mostly on Rosa to the teen. "Like I said, I emailed them to myself so I can do touchups and get a better print quality for you, if you want. But they still came out great without needing any editing."

She let Sage lead the way out of the room and was set to follow him into the dining room when she spotted Tristan laying on the ground staring under the couch, and his Murkrow and Riolu were just as fascinated with whatever was beneath it. His torchic maybe? She shrugged and slung her backpack around to quickly - carefully - dig through it. She pulled out a small baggy of pokemon food her father had helped her prepare and offered it to Tristan. "Here. Might be able to lure it out with this. Wait, hold on." She double checked the label then offered it again. "No, yes, this is the right one. Generic mix, but designed for Pokémon with beaks instead of muzzles. I'm sure it'll get used to you eventually." After placing the bag next to him, she turned and headed off to join the others in the dinning room.

"Dinner looks and smells wonderful, Mrs Andersen. Thank you very much for letting us be able to eat with you. I took some photographs of your daughters and Lisa's friends after a little practice Pokémon tournament we had earlier today, and printed them out for you to have; I left the files on your computer for you to have as well, in case you want to make extra copies." She offered Lisa a close up picture she took of the girl and her Nickit, then offered one of the group pictures to Neil and the other to Frida. "Do you mind if Sage and Tilia eat with us too?"

Conversation over dinner can be skipped if desired. No real opinion.

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

@samreaper

Well, those hopes that she was wrong about the haughty pretty boy were quite swiftly dashed. Faye wasn't sure if she was disappointed she was right, or disappointed he seemed so eager to prove her reassessment wrong. It made the fact he had a riolu already all the more confounding to her. This had to be a show then. That was the only way it made sense. But, if this was all just a show, then why - ugh. She had to stop trying to riddle him out right now or her brain would melt. Right now the point was just getting these two dolts back to the farmhouse.

She rolled her eyes at Tristan's snide remark. Sage growled softly at him before Faye scooped him up in her arms and stroked behind his ear. "Don't let him get to you. You remember his speech from the lab." Sage calmed at that, and turned a bit to lick Faye's cheek. She let him jump down, and let Sage take the lead. Faye followed alongside Robbie in case he needed to lean on someone to help him navigate the uneven terrain back to the farmhouse.

Her flashlight certainly came in handy before long. It was already dark enough the lights in the distance helped light some of the day - so having the readily available light to keep the shadows from dancing too much and hiding potholes. She stopped Robbie once, navigating him around a spot that would likely cause the limb to get worse, on their walk back. Bad guy or not, he didn't deserve a twisted ankle to go along with a prison cell. When they got close enough, she saw Tilia perched on a fence post not far off. Whether the rowlet delivered the note or not, at least she was waiting for them to return. That certainly made it easier than hunting the grass bird down.

While the scene played out between the farmhand and the rancher, Faye turned her attention to the rowlet. She whistled and held out her arm. Tilia flew over and took a perch on the offered appendage. "Thank you for your help. Want to stay out? There's a little girl inside that would like to meet you." Tilia brustled in what looked like a shrug with an impartial hoot.

She returned as it all seemed to wrap up and the officers were departing with the thieving ranch hand. While the giant of a man didn't seem too pleased with how everything turned out, Faye offered him a gentle smile. "Thank you for your hospitality." She didn't give Tristan much of a second glance and headed off after the woman - Frida - with Sage at her side. She had told Rosa she'd catch up in a bit. This was more than a bit but at least she was keeping her word at returning. Upon entering the home, Faye's smile brightened as she looked to the woman. "You have a very lovely home, Mrs. Andersen."

Sage trotted over and sat next to Lisa to watch her playing with dolls. Faye's attention turned to Rosa when the teen spoke up. "Yes, kinda crazy. But helpful this guy wears such strong perfumes that even Tilia could have tracked him down. I'm sure the absolute last thing you guys need is some trainer and a thief twisting an ankle or worse on the walk across your pastures. Oh, hey, you said you had a printer I could borrow, right? I should print those pictures off for you guys before I completely forget. Do you mind showing me where it is? Otherwise, like I said, we can exchange some info and I can just forward you a digital copy or mail you a professional print when I stop home in King's Cross."

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

Overhead, Tilia hooted to let them know she saw something. Faye could vaguely see two people squaring off in what looked like a two on one fight, but she couldn't tell who was the aggressor or not. At the end of the day - as a figure of speech given it was the end of the day - it didn't matter so long as the culprit was apprehended and the stolen eggs returned. There was also the other side of the fact she was mostly just making sure the city boy didn't get himself lost on the ranch trying to help the Andersons, too. If he didn't need help in battling, she wasn't planning to get involved; Sage and Tilia weren't healed from their match and would need to rest before she could be comfortable in actually getting them into a fight. It was just good to know she had made the right assumptions and hadn't led her Pokémon astray on any of the information she provided them.

Sage and Faye slowed to a walk as they approached the edge of the ditch to really get a good view of what was happening. Tilia flew down and landed on Faye's shoulder when she put a hand on her hip. "Well, I wasn't exactly coming to get into a fight, but I certainly will end one if you aim to start back up." Faye kept an even, matter-of-fact tone and a straight face as she spoke. It was the honest truth. She didn't want to fight, but she'd aim to end it quickly if she had to get involved.

Now that she had a better look at the situation - and the fact the two Pokémon she could still see clearly belonged to Tristan while the other one was gone - she realized it was kind of a waste to come find him aside from just making sure they both got back to the main part of the ranch. Though it also gave her a chance to see what other Pokémon he had with him now. He caught a riolu? Maybe she underestimated how good a trainer he might actually be. He'd come off as a pompous ass, but if he could catch a riolu his first outing, perhaps that was all just a show. Whatever the case - she supposed it was wrong to let her base a lot of assumptions about him as a trainer on his little speech in the lab.

She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from her pocket and wrote a quick note: Tristan caught the thief. On our way back. She offered the paper to Tilia. "Bring this to Rosa's dad; he'll likely appreciate the update. We'll catch up shortly," she whispered to the green owl looking Pokémon still seated on her shoulder. The rowlet hooted again and took the paper in her mouth before flying off.

Faye's attention turned back to the pair in the ditch after Tilia was safely on her way back to the farmhouse. "Now, then - if you need help out I'll give you both a hand. Otherwise, climb on out. It's about time you two head back to full put this matter to rest." She even offered her hand out as a sign she meant what she said, but was cautious enough to make sure she properly braced her feet as to not so readily get pulled off balance in case either decided to be jerks about it. Sage, much for not having anything to do in this particular situation, just kept an eye on their surroundings to make sure no danger came upon them while the group worked to get moving.

Pokémon: There and Back Again

Faye Wrexlyn

Inventory

Pokédollars: 3,000
Egg in Egg Case
1x Potion
Camping backpack with a cold weather sleeping bag with a sleeping pad added to it, waterproof canvas tarp, 50 ft of rope, mess kit, extra clothes, a week of food (granola, jerky, a few canned soup, pokemon food for Sage, etc), water purification kit and canteen, compass and maps of the region, magnesium fire starter, multi-tool knife, and a camping saw.

Pokemon

On-hand

Sage

♂

Species: Eevee
Type: Normal
Level: 6
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Growl, Sand-Attack
Ability: Adaptability - Increases STAB from 1.5x to 2x
Held Item:

Tilia

♀

Species: Rowlet
Type: Grass/Flying
Level: 5
Status:
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage
Ability: Overgrow - Powers up Grass-type moves when the Pokémon's HP is low.
Held Item:

PC

Faye wasn't sure Mr. Anderson was going to accept her offer. He was right. Just walking onto the ranch gave a much larger scale than she was expecting. She'd gone to farms with her father, but they were far smaller; hell, she was starting to question whether they were actual farms or just homesteads just big enough to run as ranches. He was right. Without knowing where the priss might have run off to, there was no proper way to track him down aside from showing Tilia and Sage his picture, and hoping they could find him in a search.

But then he seemed to think of something. The young trainer blinked and watched him thud off to the house. He was in favor of her helping, so while he was gone, she knelt and dug through her backpack to fetch her flashlight. It wouldn't do to go tromping off and not be able to see if it got even darker before she could find him. Next she called Sage and Tilia from their pokeballs. "Alright you two. I know you're both probably still a bit tired, but I don't think we'll need to do much fighting. I just need you guys to help me find someone that may be a bit lost." She stood and fixed her pack back on as the mountain of a man came back out with fancy looking shoes.

At least her hunch was right. Unlike everyone else that had worn sensible footwear to go trekking off on foot from town to town and through the forests and mountains between - the boy from out of region had worn shoes barely fitting for walking around a mall in much less going hunting problems on a ranch. She'd stepped in Tauros patties before, it would suck but these were not new sneakers and she could clean them with a bit of elbow grease if need be.

Faye offered Mr Anderson a confident smile. "Now I'm more than sure we can." She pulled out her phone and scrolled back a few pictures before zooming in on a picture and showing it to Tilia. "This is the guy we're looking for - he has a shiny Murkrow so if you see signs of purple feathers we may know we're on the right track too. See if you can spot him from overhead. You'll be able to see further ahead of us but can follow Sage where he leads." She stood, then looked to Sage who had already gotten a good smell of the shoes. "Ready?"

Sage yipped and started smelling around to catch where the wayward trainer had gone. "We'll help make sure he isn't lost out there and help him finish what he's started. This is in good hands." The young trainer waved to the rancher as she started to follow her Eevee. Tilia flew up into the sky to help follow along overhead while watching for signs of the silver-haired trainer or his Murkrow.

FT: Rivals Unexpected Journey

The scowl on her face cut deeper lines, but she made pains to not actually wince. Even if her hands weren't bound together, Kali had no intentions of reaching toward the hand holding her hair and forcing her to look at him. That might just give him some level of satisfaction that he did, unfortunately, have control over the situation. She wasn't happy to have given up a single ounce of control, but this whole thing was one unexpected complication after another; it had been ever since the fucking village and her initial plan going sideways. It left her at his mercy - or lack there of, given the prick seemed to be enjoying this. That mercy brought her back to her feet with the pull of her hair and his hand pressed against her throat.

It took every micron of will she had to not turn away and flinch as he spat his words in her face. If it wasn't for her bracing her feet and his grip on her face, she'd have lost her balance as he roughly handled her restraints. He could smirk and smile and be confident all he wanted. He could think he held all the cards, but the only reason he had any winning hand here was the shackles on her wrists. The slimy fox may have been annoying, but he had been smart enough to take away her main advantage. They could go toe to toe until they were exhausted in a physical battle, but he wouldn't stand any more chance than the other chores that came after her if it wasn't for these. He may have been beaming with confidence, but even he had to understand his upper hand was only for so long. She would recover her fire, and she would get out of these cuffs. It was only a matter of time.

It was all long shots. The best she could hope for is summoning up enough strength to just break free of the cuffs and get away from him while he wasn't looking. The odds he'd let his guard down enough for her to strike a second time was dismal. At least he was suggesting she recover some magic to heal. That was about all she could do at that moment. Sit there, bide her time, wait for the inevitable.

At least her claims weren't all bluff. Something deeper in the forest's growing darkness roared to confirm her claim. A tiny smirk curled onto her face, barely an upturn of one corner of her lips, when he threatened to leave her to the mercy of the beasts awakening to hunt. It was amusing he thought some common Vulcan or wyvern would get the best of her. Maybe he would be lucky, but she liked her odds - even if he left her bound. Her smirk only grew as he dug his nails in to claw her cheek. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of making her wince just because he wanted to be a sadistic prick. "If you like going back as a failure - no scrapes to show for any effort to capture me - then by all means just leave me here to get eaten. I'm easy prey, right now, right?"

Kali bit it back, but a wince and grunt accompanied her hard landing on her ass when he shoved her. Served her right for being cocky, but whatever. She'd heal up eventually. She always did. Especially if the dumb fox was outright telling her to and offering to make a fire. The fire would certainly help her recover. Hopefully he knew how to make one. Whether it signaled to the more dangerous beasts and bandits in the forest to their location, or just staved them off would yet to be seen. She sighed, resting her back against a nearby tree to help support her upright. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the tree.

While it may have looked like the Firebird was letting her guard down, it was far from the truth. She simply shut off one sense to help focus on the others. The feel of the air around the area - reaching to sense any approaching magics that might come with Vulcan, Wyvern, or mages - was fine, for now. She didn't hear anything approaching - yet. Just the noisy way he gathered sticks. As pained as she was to admit it - and she certainly wouldn't do it aloud - he had the better hearing and was, currently, better equipped to handle any threats that came their way. She was determined to put up a fight, but for now. Fucking prick. Izu was right. She needed to just sit and rest to not hurt herself further. Play nice...as hard as it was for her. She'd rather sit in silence, anyways. The prick could do enough talking for the two of them for several lifetimes if he wanted to. She was more content on her own, and as loath as she may be to give him the satisfaction of getting his way, she'd rather not bother wasting any more breath trying to convince him she was being set up.