Savo

*+. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Coldplay .+*

I considered keeping the musical reference in as well, but decided it wasn't completely necessary to keep it. Its your call over whether or not you want to add it at this point.

On another note, what's everyones opinions of each others stands so far?

*+. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Coldplay .+*

STAND MASTER: Ciaran Corrs

"Sorry, but I'm a bit busy right now... maaaaaaaaybe I'll spare you some time when I'm off work, but for now, ciao~!"

Profile

Name: Ciaran Corrs
Gender: Male
Age: 21

Appearance

Ciaran is a tall young man standing at 6' and 162 lbs, with a decently toned body, an average frame, and a mirthful smirk. He has a fair skinned complexion with no blemishes aside from the few freckles that dot his cheeks, with a few around his collar bone as well. Along with that, his nose is straight and sharp to a pint and he proudly displays a smooth angular chin. Furthermore, he has warm red eyes that seem almost on the glazed side most of the time, with an untamed mane of messy, messy hair.

Usually wearing whatever he finds to fancy at the moment, which is a code for what he considers stylish. What suffices for now is a simple black dress shirt with a thin white coat with extravagantly designed crosses that are not only around the cuffs, but act also as epaulets. Following that up is his own red scarf he knitted up that he wears like a feather boa. Finally, to finish it off, he also wears black silk gloves, dress pants and either shoes or high heels.

Personality

Ciaran is a character to say the least; while being a warm and outgoing person, he is neither outwardly modest or ostensibly urbane, living life in almost his own little world. Despite what expectations people set on him, he doesn't exactly care what people will legitimately think of him, to the point where he doesn't give a second thought about what he says. Often at times, this can make him come off as clueless, even with other actions displaying the contrary. Further more, he believe this allows him to get away with what he thinks is fun to him, such as flirting with anyone he comes across; he just loves seeing their reactions after all.

Beyond this eccentric masquerade, therein lies more issues with Ciaran and his life, primarily due to the fact that he neither knows what to make of it nor does he know how to create any sort of meaningful connections. To put it simply, his interactions are truly shallow and superficial, and at times, even if he sounds like he is taking it seriously, it is more or less disconnected in more ways than one. After all, there's always this creeping dread always following him around, that he'll never see this person again, so what is the point? To him, it's better to keep people at arms length, you can't feel hurt that way after all.

He still has his own peculiar mannerisms beyond the threshold of speaking his mind freely due to it not mattering in the end, he has a fondness for fashion, primarily womens clothing. That primarily comes to high heels and designer jackets that'll make him go gaga. Furthermore, he also displays quite the irrational hatred towards ice cream, to a very volatile degree. When offered ice cream, instead of politely declining, he'll probably just smack the cone or cup away before going to wash his hands with his gloves still on.

If not, Ciaran will probably go on some bizarre tirade about how ice cream is cold, sticky, and faintly tastes of liars, before seguing into more random bullshit that doesn't make any sense or pertains to ice cream whatsoever.

History

Stands always have been, and forever will be an intimate part of Ciaran's life, primarily due to his heritage and fate.

This extend far, far back to even before his birth, before even his own mother, Johanna Jollenbeck and her friends traversed across Europe and found themselves intertwined in a conspiracy that eventually lead to her to join with the rebranded Speedwagon Oil Company, known now as the Speedwagon Oil & Research Enterprises, through Ciaran's father and her future husband. It goes all the way back to after the Steel Ball Run, in which the Speedwagon Oil Company attempted to drill for oil under a Devils Palm. Suffice to say, a whole lot of their employees did not survive the ordeal and died in the process.

But the ones who survived would eventually pave the way to why Ciaran is in Florence today, as the young man has an Irish-German background. In any case, those who came back were blessed in a way with bizarre powers, as of which were previously unknown to the company. Curiosity drove them to not only research this phenomenon, but develop way to implement these powers into their work, and much more. This would be the foundation for their new sect and as years went on, would eventually lead to Speedwagon rebranding the company.

Coming back to the present though, Ciaran was born in the UK in the midst of an operation. The Enterprise was looking to not only test how Stands could function in society and influence the market, but they were attempting to draw and recruit stand users to their company. What they didn't expect was to be caught up in a strange case, in which a killer was emulating the infamous Jack the Ripper and his murders, though instead of targeting prostitutes, this ripper targeted married women.

While it was discovered that this person was a stand user, Ciaran's father was able to actually get a transfer out with his family and was assigned to work on a case in Turkey. During the Neo-Ripper case, the Enterprise finally developed a subsection of the research over stands, in which they would go about not only neutralizing threatening stands, but recording the combat capabilities of stands and sending reports in to scientist to analyze, with a few working in the field.

Ciaran's father and mother would be transferred to this new subsection and would work there due to their competencies and experience. This would be the basis for the child's life going forward and growing up, a never-ending spiral of living in a place for a few years before moving somewhere else with his family.

So suffice to say, Ciaran moved around a lot during his childhood.

And, well, the young boy didn't make too many friends during this time, or at all for that matter. Sure, he tried, but he never stuck around in one area for too long. Ciaran would make a few connections before they up and moved to a new area. He was more the able to see many parts of the world, more than the average person would ever see, learned about the stands at a young age, but it was a lonely road, if anything else. No friends, no connections, no nothing; at times, even his parents seemed alien to him when copious amounts of researchers would try to research the child since they had developed the technology to determine the potential to develop a stand.

It felt sterile, cold, and even the ice cream his father seemed to try and welcome him with after they had finished slowly began to disgust him, and he used to love the stuff. Despite having the potential, they never saw him manifest a stand, but none of them knew it was right beside him the whole time, hidden away as a shadow.

When he was about fourteen, Ciaran moved to New York due to an assignment his parents and other members of the organization had, and transferred to a new school. During this time, he made many new acquaintances, learned new things about this place, and continued drifting through with his life. However, slowly, he began to shed that exterior of his and began to open up to strange and different people he never would of considered companionship with, eventually being roped with them into his parents operation. They were warned to stay out of it and leave it to his parents, lest they might suffer some consequences.

Sadly, they didn't listen, and while ultimately succeeding in the task the Enterprise set out the do, came at the cost of some of their companions. This final fight broke him, left him feeling terrible, powerless, and debilitated, causing him to breakdown for about week, before seemingly coming to terms with it. However, there was something uncanny about him when continuing to interact with Ciaran, whether it be him treating this all as if nothing had happened or his off-putting, nihilistic humor.

It was jarring to say the least and only hit them when he cut off contact with all of them after taking a work-study program within the Speedwagon Oil & Research Enterprises group as a person working in the same subsection as his parents. While he has gone on to investigate minor infractions and disturbances, he never really did receive too big of a case and would continue his studies, not truly knowing what path was available for him, feeling like this was the only path he had to take, that it was a destiny he couldn't change.

Eventually, he was tasked with going to Italy after handling a job in Egypt, primarily in Florence, people disappearing. To him, this was no big deal, even though he had handled one missing persons case with the involvement of a stand, he had become numb to this sensation. Going through the motions, he packed his stuff, had the organization arrange for a temporary apartment there, and traveled to Florence.

Two weeks had passed since he has been there and there has been no headway. Usually these would be over in a month or two, with clues being identified around the fourth to seventh day before pursuing them fervently, yet he could find nothing.

At least, until being approached by a man named Diavolo.

Stand

Name: 「Nowhere Man」ACT1
Type: Close-Range
Obtained: Inherited

Destructive Power: N/A
Speed: E
Range: D
Durability: N/A
Precision: E
Developmental Potential: A

Appearance

「Nowhere Man」ACT1 is a peculiar stand of sorts; while it does take the shape of a humanoid, it lacks any sort of discerning characteristics at the moment. In fact, it could possibly be mistaken for Ciaran's own shadow by most other stand users. Its only traits are really the fact that it has a similar body shape and height to its user, as well as the fact that it looks like it lacks a neck and a chin. When it moves, it can come off as blob-like, almost being amorphous. Strangely enough, due to its state, it is completely invulnerable to attacks as most just phase right through it. This, however, has the side-effect of preventing Ciaran from defending himself.

Personality

Due to it being a shadow, it has no personality traits one can objectively detect right off the bat. It does tilt its head at times, almost quizzically, comically, or so on. Currently lacks a stand cry and a mouth for that matter.

Ability

Strangely enough, to activate this ability, Ciaran must pull out one of his hair follicles and phase it through his stand. While the follicle will swiftly grow back after a while, the piece of hair becomes encased or possibly transforms into a small, hardened orange, red, or white rod. The rod has a lifespan of thirty minutes and will dissolve upon usage; the limit on how many rods he can have at one time is dependent on how much hair he has on his head.

The stand cannot use the follicle themselves, leaving it up to Ciaran to use it by impaling someone, typically a human. The process is relatively painless and does no damage whatsoever, however, once the person has been impaled, it will be impossible to remove or destroy the rod. However, he doesn't need the rod to activate his stands ability, but a part of Ciaran must be touching the opponent to do so.

「Nowhere Man」ACT1's main ability is to drag people into Nowhere Land. Upon activation, the persons own shadow(actually「Nowhere Man ACT1」) latches onto the victim, dragging them downwards until they vanish from the world. The longest this process lasts is 10 seconds depending on how much they struggle, as it is beyond impossible to escape their clutches. While Ciaran can just touch the opponent, this isn't very effective when there's more than one, plus the stand the user has can still attack Ciaran during this time if he's too close, making the rods a much safer way to use this ability.

Upon being dragged off to Nowhere Land, the victim is stuck there for the next five minutes; Nowhere Land is a shadowy facsimile of the real world, so the location they were previously at will be reflected in where they are transported. At the end of the five minutes, the person is instantly transported back to the real world. However, depending on where they were in Nowhere Land will put them in the location of the real world equivalent.

「Nowhere Man」ACT1 can then give its user control over Nowhere Land by phasing into the users body, making it look like Ciaran is coated in a thin layer of shadows. Whenever this happens, Ciaran can peer into Nowhere Land and automatically locks on to the person stuck in Nowhere Land. While the world of Nowhere Land is at his command, there are some rules both the user and the person stuck there has to follow.

For one, time in Nowhere Land is constantly relevant, no matter what Ciaran or the person trapped there does. Further more, Ciaran can spawn anything he wants in this world, but has to abide by rules in real life. While he can't just spawn a dragon that moves at supersonic speeds that can burn the person to a crisp in an instant, he can spawn cars in that can run down the opponent, create police to fire at them, people to block their path, etc. While the person stuck in Nowhere Land can use the world to its advantage as well, Ciaran can make certain things he brought into the world vanish if he wishes it. However, this usually takes about fifteen seconds, giving some ample time for the person stuck there to use it.

*+. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Coldplay .+*

I think I'll just post my WIP here as well; just need to redo some of the backstory and personality and I should be as right as rain. Hopefully you don't mind me taking some creative liberties with the Speedwagon Oil Company and the Devils Palms.

Redid and reposted. Might of bleh'd during the backstory, but it's good for now I suppose.

*+. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Coldplay .+*

You thought you actually claimed the first post, but it was I, Savo!

*+. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Coldplay .+*

I'm a bit interested, as I've been waiting for some form of Jojos rp since the last two I were in died. Will say I'll probably start working on an application tomorrow, but I do have a few ideas for what I might do. Also, what year does this take place in?

Fire Emblem: Ashes of Sacrifice [Fall of the Empire]

Einar

Kingdom of Reynes || Outskirts of Galehaut || Morning

"It means you're up early of course~!" His toothy grin was larger than Bel's horse as he chuckled heartily as he winked, placing one hand on his hip while snapping and pointing at her with his other. With that all said and done, he dropped the arm like a sack of gold as it flopped to the side, Einar tilting his head as he sighed, "Glad to see you didn't get burnt to a crisp." His smile was a little more subdued as he looked down at the girl, observing and surveying her face. She was still easy to read, and to him, she was more worn than the rag of a maid; didn't help that he swore that there were bags starting to form under her eyes. "What is she troubled by," he mused before noticing her look pass him, prompting him to break his gaze and take a gander. At first, Einarwasn't exactly able to tell what she was staring at as slews of civilians an soldiers occupied his vision. It was only after he turned back when she saw her face slightly brighten and identified it for him and that's when he finally saw him - a young man, possibly a scout or a unit of the cavalry, was returning to camp on an ebony horse. He looked back to the girl who explained the situation before looking at him, non-verbally inviting him along with her. The mercenary merely responded with a nod and a smile, following behind the girl along as they weaved through civilians and soldiers alike. While keeping close to her, he squinted and frowned a tinge, pursing his lips as he analyzed the young man before blinking and shaking his head. Wasn't going to do much of that from afar. Eventually the two arrived upon the fringe of the camp, intercepting the young man as Bel greeted the man with a wave, whilst Einar replied with his own slight wave. Upon approach, he proceeded to lavish the girl with flattery before cutting to the chase. All in all, he kept silent, watching this little interaction transpire before she went onto introducing the two of them. Einar followed up with a nod, "Charmed I'm sure," before the other young man went into his own introductions. Kyran, huh? He was quite the chatty fellow as he went on to praising Bel before seguing into chatting about one of the dispatches. "Hm, a date? I knew my looks were that good but we hardly know each other," he lightly shrugged and chuckled, "though, I don't think three is a date, let alone seven." Einar pointed at Kyran, "You, Bel, a mage named William, Branna and her dragon of all things, some guy or gal named Trace, myself, and that beautiful exotic dancer we saw the other day, Sumire," he looked back over to Bel and waggled his finger, "I... think its the dancer. I mean, the name certainly sounds and looks as exotic as her."

_________________________ Status: Winning friends, influencing allies Information Class Page Inventory Iron Sword [3/3] Vulnerary [3/3] Experience 15/85 Stats END: D STR: D MAG: C DEX: C SPD: D DEF: E RES: E LCK: E Action N/A Supporting Bel (@Yankee) Kyran (@CriticalHit)

Fire Emblem: Ashes of Sacrifice [Fall of the Empire]

Einar

Kingdom of Reynes || Outskirts of Galehaut || Morning

Shnk. Shnk. Shhhhnnnk. Einar whistled, the sound of his whetstone grinding against the edge of his blade, eyes locked on his handiwork as he continued this for a couple of minutes. Despite his fixation on his current task, he always kept a keen eye when he was scouring over the sizeable encampment they set up. He peered up for a second, briefly watching as three children hopped over the small, charred fire-pit he had put out before heading to sleep. He didn't bother to scold or reprimand them for playing around this place, but he looked at them with a puzzling curiosity, eyes drifting every couple of seconds whenever they shouted or giggled, resulting in him tearing his eyes away from his current task. Different. That was the word as he pondered on the conversation he had with Bel a week ago, about having a relatively dull and average life, "Obviously hiding something, although..." Einar's thoughts went back to an average life, something he always tended to ponder about after a long journey, the what ifs and what nots, before musing about his own past. He stopped sharpening his blade, instead leaning it against him as he stared glassy eyed into nil, through the children, through the horses, through the men who were chattering about the current predicament. "Can't help but wonder if I was a farmboy, or maybe something grandeur like a Prince from a foreign land! Heh, that would be a treat." He sniggered, snapping himself out of his reverie before going back to work, shnk. Shnk. Shhhhnnnk. As much as he wanted to drift in dreams, or at least seek a link to his bloodline, part of him did doubt he would find it here, but yet there was always a small chance. However, that would have to wait, as he was assigned some jobs, three in fact!... though the third was more of his own volition and curiosity. Einar stopped, tossing the stone back into his tent with the rest of his items before holding the sword up, carefully examining it for any signs of cracking, rusting, or dulling. His nose was but a mere centimeter away from the blade as he went from tip to hilt, like a fine connoisseur of weapons. Smiling widely he held the blade up high and gave it a brief twirl before holstering it with a deft SHNK on his scabbard and sighed with a confident smirk. "Time to get to wo-" His stomach growled, his abdomen mimicking a ravenous beast, causing those kids from before to shriek and run off into the encampment, getting lost in the forest of tents, horses, and people. "-rrsssome breakfast. Right, that," he winced blushing slightly as he cleared his throat and looked around, praying no one saw that before snapping his fingers and resumed his confidant bravado with a toothy grin and began walking. He passed on by different people, some bartering, others mingling, arguing, and interacting, though he didn't give them the time of day as he was busy organizing his own schedule, "I'm going with some people called Thom, William, couple others, the foreigner, and B-" Speaking of the devil herself, Einar broke off that thought the moment he caught a glimpse of a familiar pink hue amidst the clutter and rabble, moving swiftly as he held up a hand, waving at the little lady, "Greetings Bel, you're up quite early! That can only mean one thing," he boldly stated with a chipper voice, keeping that same affable appearance he had the first time he encountered her. In another time, in another place One week ago... Einar stood there, resting by the tavern door as he observed the flock of people, rubbing his chin and furrowing his brows as he examined those who stood out to him as if they were a farmers prized cattle. Of course, he did pick out a few outstanding individuals to him, wryly smiling at each of the prospects. After waiting there for a couple of seconds, he grunted and pushed himself off the side of the tavern, whistling as he flowed with the crowd. His eyes darted about, continuing to survey each and every member, whether they were departing or traveling from Garleton, with most being of the latter. For the most part, he kept to himself, displaying a happy-go-lucky facade as he walked with a beat in his step, though leaning away from people any time he suspected that he was being targeted by someone to pickpocket. The young man didn't bother shooting nasty glares or anything and kept to himself, always watching, even extending into when he entered the city, with the potential targets to swindle out of some gold through a stacked game increasing. As he entered, he struck up a conversation with what looked to be a couple of travelers, a couple of commoners from the looks of it with basic infantry weapon and barely a scrap of armor. While he chattered about, he kept his eyes drifting, resulting in a few interesting characters, such as a lovely lady with pink hair and an exotic dress. His gaze, caused the other two to divert their attention, before being transfixed on the girl, whispering to themselves about trifling matters. However, Einar on the other hand was profiling her, "Early twenties, looks like a foreigner, probably a noble or a performer of some sort, full of herself..." Her body language gave most of it away to him, but what was more fascinating was observing the other two accompanying her. The minstrel was definitely from around here, as his clothes were Lothian in design, but the darker-skinned male that he couldn't get a complete read on, outside of guessing he possibly hailed from Themyscira. Outside of that all was his posture, which told Einar everything he needed to know not only about his occupation, but the relation to the girl. "Damn, well there goes that idea." Einar would continue to scan over the masses, even after his "companions" left him to gather with the rest of the gathering mob of people, looking to watch this lass perform. "Interesting," he murmured to no one in particular. While he did watch the show, the main thing he noted was that, like her garments and physical features, the way she danced was completely different than dancers from Zion or Lyonesse. He would, at the very least, keep an eye on her and the much younger individual as well that was protecting her. The mercenary's eyes swayed to the beat as he began sifting through the crowds, picking more and more people out, though he did always notice a few stragglers as well, such as that lady on the sidelines dressed in a black garb and a large cone hat. While she did look quite pretty, he also brushed her off as a potential target, figuring that she would most likely see through his ruse quite quickly. "Hmm?" Out of the corner of his eye, Einar saw her, the perfect target. Her clothing, while modest was somewhat eloquent; a little bit beaten, but nevertheless had a lavish design to it all. Furthermore, the way she ambled around and her hold body language as she lead her steed made her look completely green to Einar! There was no way she had fought before, let alone travel anywhere, especially since she left her horse behind, causing the mercenary to make mental gymnastics figuring out her thought process for that sort of action. Clearing his throat and putting on a broad, affable smile that he was certain enough could warm the lass, he strolled through the crowd, keeping a keen eye on the shorter girl all while pretending to be curious in witnessing more and more of the foreigngirl's performance, moving through the crowd before crashing into the girl of the hour. "Bingo~." Grunting and feigning a wince, he took a small step back, bumping into another bystander before taking another step forward and looked at the pink haired girl. Brushing his chest off, he sighed for a second before looking at the pink-haired lass who recoiled and began rubbing her face, but not after apologizing. "Ah, sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention, aha," he chuckled, beaming brightly at the shorter lass as he rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and placed the other on his hip. Looking over the crowds at the other girl in the midst of it all, he looked back to the other who was still collecting her bearings. "Was jus' tryin' to get a better view of her dancing," he rolled his head and and jabbed a thumb at the dancer as he idly glanced in her direction, "her style is a lot different than the way Lyonesse and Zion dancers move, but it is nevertheless mesmerizing, wouldn't you agree?" Bel forced her eyes not to water from the impact as she looked up at the young man. Young, certainly, but not much older than herself she guessed. Thankfully, the man didn't seem upset by their collision. "No, no, it was my mistake. I was rushing, I should have watched where I was going," she said. She studied him more as he spoke, and when he mentioned the other countries she was assured that he was indeed a mercenary, and apparently well traveled. She smiled wearily at him, and nodded. After just a moment, she shook her head instead. "I was trying to get a look as well. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see her performance..." she sighed, crossing her arms in front of her. "I find dancers very inspiring and was hoping to watch, but..." she trailed off, her gaze sinking to the ground as she wondered: why was she even talking to his man? She should be getting back to Sunbeam now that she'd missed the performance. No, that would be rude of me. I did bump into him and... her eyes flitted back up to the smiling man. He seems nice enough. "You seem to know some about foreign dancers. Do you hail from the Empire?" she asked. She had already met one friendly and capable man on her travels, perhaps this apparent mercenary might share some insight with her as well? Einar looked over the girl, tilting his head as he raised an eyebrow, "Sorry, but I'm not from the Lothian Empire lass," despite the seemingly apologetic answer, he still remained upbeat before briskly raising the hand from his neck and shrugging nonchalantly. "Nor do I hail from any other nation, really," he threw his other hand up and lightly shook his head before wryly smirking, "unless you count the roads as one. After all, they are a part of a destination." "I'm Einar by the way," he chuckled at what he considered to be a terrible pun, still ever so smiling as he looked at the girl and extended a hand out to her. Bel stared at the man's smirking face for several moments. Did he just... did he just make a pun? If it weren't for his simple, informal way of speaking and the sword at his hip, she might have thought he was a traveling jester attempting to make a fool out of her. And did he really call her lass? Bel was still stricken by the pun to be properly annoyed by his words, and besides - she had shed her noble persona in pursuit of becoming a soldier. She shouldn't get herself worked up over things like this. "Oh, um, yes," she stammered, coming to her sense and giving the man - Einar, apparently - a small smile. She took his hand. "Nice to meet you, Einar. My name is Bel. I'm from the Empire myself, so forgive my presumptions." She discreetly gave Einar another once over, reappraising him. He seemed to be in a good mood, it was like a smile was ever present on his face. Although he seemed silly, his posture was impeccable. It was a form she'd seen on many an imperial guard even when they were on break. The make of someone skilled with the blade. "Pleasure t'meetcha and it's fine, no harm in asking questions, can’t learn anything if y’don’t," upon taking her hand, gave her a firm shake before letting go and placing his hand back on the side of his hip. He paused for a second, giving her one more look over, taking note of her weapon of choice before eyeing the slowly dispersing crowd. Some went back to their daily lives, mingling either about the dancer or other miscellaneous topics. Taking a quick glimpse to the side, looking at the direction of the stronghold before returning his open gaze to the little lady. ”Anyways, you mentioned that you’re from the Empire… which means you’re here t’join Alnard’s cause, aye?” Bel followed Einar's gaze back to the crowd, and the reminder that she had missed the dancer's performance dampened her mood yet again. There was a woman's shout from the general area the dancer was in, but nothing seemed dangerous. Soon enough the people had moved on. Her eyes lingered, unseeing, before Einar's question brought her attention back to him. "Prince Alnard," she corrected him. Although she would prefer people to use his full noble title, she doubted that Prince Alnard himself would like to be addressed as that. Still, Alnard was not only one of the Imperial Princes of this nation, but he was also her cousin in one way or another - she would see to it that he was respected. Her correction wasn't bitter though, if Einar was not from the Empire she could forgive a mistake like that once or twice. "Yes, I've come from the capitol to join up with his forces... I'm... a little inexperienced though," she said, which was a massive understatement. Just days into her trip she'd met that hunter and nearly shot him while practicing her aim while on horseback. "But! I'm devoted to the cause! I think any help they can get is good, right?" Her voice trailed off toward the end. She was indeed devoted to seeing peace come to the Lothian Empire, but she didn't want to get in the way. "They are accepting even unskilled men who wish to serve, so I thought I would... oh, well, the point is I'm here," she sighed and crossed her arms. "I take it you are a mercenary looking to be hired? You're awfully friendly, different from other mercenaries I've run into." Though it wasn't many, still two friendly folk seemed a low number. "Aye, though I've already signed on four or five days ago, heard the pay was pretty sustainable," Einar interlocked his two hands and stretched them high towards the sun, both beaming as blindingly as ever, "also, you've probably ran into merc's while they were on the job or somethin'; usually don't like bein' distracted when working." Letting both his hands fall back down to both of his sides with a silent plop. "Also, you shouldn't worry about your inexperience, everyone is wet behind the ears at some point in their life," he gave a hearty chuckle before snapping his fingers to the side and jabbing a thumb to his chest, "I might be a damn great swordsman, but I wouldn't be half the man I was today without my dad, so don't sweat it... at least for right now." After his words of encouragement, Einar pivoted around and gestured in the direction of the stronghold, "Anyways, how 'bout we walk, talk, and go getcha' signed up? After all, you're here to join his army after all, not jabber all day with yours truly," he pressed his other hand flat against his chest, as if to either emphasize his words or add a bit of dramatic flair to an action so mundane. Bel listened as Einar spoke, nodding along as he talked about mercenaries and his father. He seemed relaxed, and had certainly proved himself friendly, she had no inkling of any plan or scheme he may have had in mind before running into her. "Oh, yes, let's!" She replied with a smile. Einar's words had worked to cheer her back up. Feeling a little better now, she motioned with her hand for Einar to follow her as she walked back to the edge of the plaza. With the dancer's performance over and most people having moved on, it was a much easier walk. "Thank you, Einar. You've made me feel better about all this. I just have to collect my horse," she explained, and as they moved the large animal came into view soon enough. He was grazing on the plants near the plaza, chewing up someone's flower bed. Bel let out a short whistler to get the horse's attention and he lifted his head up to look at the pair. His coat was well maintained, smooth and dappled gray. His mane was similarly kempt, and flowed in waves. A pink ribbon was tied around the base of his tail. Despite his majestic appearance, the animal seemed to have a nasty look in it's eye as it stared down the unfamiliar person with Bel. "Are you close with your father?" She asked the mercenary. She had always liked hearing what commoner families were like. "My father eh," he uttered as he traversed through the plaza; he still had his smile, but instead of being a blindingly large one, it transitioned to a much smaller, softer smile as he recalled a few of the fond memories he had with the older man, remembering the smile that only a proud father could have. "Well, he's a pretty great man I must say, probably old enough to be your Grandfather at this ah-," just as he was pointing his finger at Bel, he caught the dappled horse out of the corner of his eye lunging forward, attempting to bite his finger. Einar, being a tad swifter, pulled his hand up, causing the horse to bite at nothing but thin air, eliciting a slight frown and one of his eyebrows to rise, "-ge. Kind, caring, though a bit strict, taciturn, and even somber at times. I can remember one of the times he indulged me in a play fight when I was pretty young... and he had a horse like yours, though more robust, experienced, and less prone to try and tear my finger off when pointing." He teased at the horse with a larger than life grin, only to swear that the animal was glaring daggers at him as he felt its hot snort on his face. "What about you Bel? What're your parents like?" Bel listened as Einar spoke about his father, taking note the change in his smile. His bright toothy grin from earlier had certainly made him look friendly, but the smaller warm smile he now wore seemed to fit him much better. It made him look handsome, even. The young noble had a mind to tell him he should tone down his flashy smiles in the future when Sunbeam lunged at him. "Sunbeam!" she gasped, pushing the horse's large face away from the mercenary. "Sorry, he's... he's a grumpy steed, but he usually doesn't bite," Bel said, stressing the last two words as she fixed the horse with a stern look. She would chastise him later. As strange as it may be to berate a horse out loud, she found talking to him to be comforting for her, even before she'd left home. "It was nice to hear about your father, he sounds like a good man," she told Einar once Sunbeam had huffed and backed off. It never even occurred to Bel that perhaps Sunbeam had sensed something in the man that made him react like that. "My parents are..." she hesitated, wondering what exactly she should say. They were wealthy, powerful nobles that enjoyed their position in life and had tried hard to keep their daughter safe and home to enjoy it with them. Yet here I am... she thought. "They are nice," she said, and didn't expand at all. She supposed it was true, as far as noble families went they were pretty nice. They didn't push her into anything she didn't want to do, though that may have just because she was their only daughter - not a son. "Normal parents." She finished. It wasn't that she didn't love her parents, but as long as she was keeping a lid on her identity she would prefer to not talk about them, and that was evident in her clipped words. She took Sunbeam's reins and gave Einar a quick smile. "Let's get over to the registry. Would you lead the way, if you don't mind?" Einar raised his eyebrow for a split second, giving Bel a quick sideways glance with his smile unnoticeably wavering for a second before his facial features returned to the same affable characteristics as before. "Must of been a relatively dull life before coming here, hunters or farmers I'm guessing," he mused out loud, feigning ignorance as he tapped at his chin before waving his hand, "ah never mind that, as you said, what matters is you're here now." With that said and done, they walked down the towns paths, Einar decided not to point his finger in Sunbeams direction again, instead snapping and pointing down the path before weaving and waving his arms, "the path up here turns and weaves a bit, but we should be able to make it to the keep in a few minutes to get you signed up." "Hm," after he finished describing it all, he dropped his arm back to his side and was a little silent in the meantime, looking at the chastised horse as it turned its head to look briefly at him again before looking back to its owner. "I'm guessing your experience lies in handling horses as opposed to bows?" Dull indeed, Bel thought as she followed the young mercenary. It had been a life of learning, that she had very much enjoyed, but there wasn't much more to it. Studies, games, idly chatter at a meal then bed. The times when she got outside to practice riding was always her favorite pastime. And to think it would come in handy in such a way... As the two moved through the streets, she kept a close eye on Sunbeam so that he wouldn't assault anyone else, and hopefully not Einar again. The horse was strong of will, but maybe Bel's nerves were getting to him as they got closer and closer to the recruitment area. It wasn't as crowded as the plaza, but there was still a great amount of people looking to enlist. This gave the young noble some mixed feelings. She was happy to see so many people - whether they be citizens or mercenaries - looking to help the Empire in this trying time... but with so many people, did they really need her? Ugh! Bel physically shook her head to clear her mind and realized Einar had stopped talking for a moment. She'd gotten kind of used to his voice pointing things out as they traveled the short distance. "I am good with a bow!" she said quickly, but she realized it sounded like empty words and she could feel her face heat up slightly. "Well, you're right in that I have more experience riding. Calming and caring for horses is just as important as learning to guide them while you're riding them, and I like to think I'm pretty good at it. However, I've also trained a lot in archery. I am confident in my ability to hit a target." She neglected to mention that she was much better at hitting a stationary target, as the art of bowmanship she'd learned was for recreation, but she decided Einar probably didn't need to know that. She really wanted to avoid embarrassing herself any further today. "Feel free to watch when I demonstrate to the recruiters!" she said, trying to muster as much confidence as possible and smiling at Einar. "But~ it's always nice to have options. Maybe you could give me some pointers about handling a sword?" "Hmhmm, I wouldn't mind teaching you a bit and giving you some pointers, as my skills are second to none after all," he asserted boastfully with a mischievous, toothy grin, chuckling as he gazed over the little lady, "but only if you can show me how good you are with your bow.” He winked, placing a hand on his hip as he playfully ribbed the greenhorn, before waving her off. "Go on, don't wanna keep em' waiting."

_________________________ Status: Pretty good shape Information Class Page Inventory Iron Sword [3/3] Vulnerary [3/3] Experience 55/55 Stats END: D STR: D MAG: C DEX: C SPD: D DEF: E RES: E LCK: E Action N/A Supporting Bel (@Yankee)

The Promised Children : Eat, or Be Eaten

Nine

Berlin, Germany || ??? || January 24, 1:15

"Understood" he yawned out, groaning and stretching his limbs, as if he were a cat sunbathing before standing up. He was constantly absorbing the information as he took a few steps forward before sitting back down, this time onto the floor. Slowly, steadily, Nine began to recline onto the floor, before he was lying on his back, still staring into not only the inky nothingness, but the same vivid collections of his victims consciousness. While he did figure out how to maintain both a state of being asleep and awakened a while back, it took more energy than needed to do so, making it more than a waste of time, "Close enough... I guess." As he sat there, disconnecting and reconnecting each thin neuron strip, having a complete map of the area built less than fourteen minutes ago, with the rest of the time dedicated to analyzing different routes, to utilized, specimens that could act as pawns, etc. While he was busy running probable scenarios through his head, he suddenly opened his mouth and began speaking in a tone of voice that was foreign to his handler. "Make sure that the shipment paperwork gets done by the end of the month. Less than a week Theodore, that's all you have, and if you don't get it done- your weapons will be dispersed among the people of Germany and that is all," instead of that same flat pitch, Nine spoke with a very feminine voice, articulating every syllable, mimicking a particular accent and displeased tone of voice. "Y-yes ma'am. Though, I am confused why the Americans wish for this technology anyways- I understand they plan to begin assisting the Russians soon, but don't they have their own weapons they are hoarding for themselves?" "You know how Americans are. They'll steal ideas from whoever they can." And with that said and done, his mouth shut as no more words were spoken from the duo. If anything else were to be said, he would extract and deliver it to his handler without even blinking an eye or yawning. This was the only time he ever had any emotion in his voice, but it was at the behest of borrowing those from others. But now, the true mission began. With all this information he had at his disposal, he set his plan into motion, sending impulse after impulse through his neurons, straight to each and every specimen he was manipulating. All would obey his orders, all would obey his commands. ... ... ... "... she's dead. I'll deposit her in one of the nearby buildings for retrieval." And just like that, it was over in an instant. There was no fanfare, no dramatic tension that lingered in the air for a few seconds, it was over and everything was just as still as her unmoving body. The other specimen occupying the same space were no more comparable to lifeless dolls, making them go through the motions just as he made instructed the Chancellor to forcibly grab her own neck and twist it until it snapped like a twig. Elimination was a minute part of this operation, with the major portion involving where to deliver and store the body. Thankfully though, Nine could still manipulate her vitals and take control of the deceased body. This would be more than enough to fool anyone into believe she was still alive. While this seemed insane, especially with her snapping her neck in the darkened vehicle, the windows were one way, meaning that it was impossible to discern what was going on in the convoy vehicle, let alone knowing of what had transpired. Regardless, they would act as he programmed them to, acting like the Chancellor was alive, forced to believe that their mission still had some tangible meaning. That was what they saw and thought as Nine began altering their memories as they drove to some deigned location he reported to the handler following the 'suicide.' While it didn't matter to him, maybe it would be of some significance to the Church, or maybe it wouldn't. "While I'm rewriting and implanting some memories, what do you want me to do with the other specimens in the vehicle, especially the French one; are his services still required?"

Objectives ::: Eliminate Chancellor Cheska Ridenour. ::: ::: Bring home some takeout for Eleven to cook. ::: Status ::: Sleepy; feeling a bit "exotic" ::: Interacting ::: Classified (@Haruharara) :::

~ Phantom Thieves of London: The Calling ~

Alexander Furst

---

Confidants:: Ava (@addamas), Hakuro, Raven (@FalloutJack))
Whereabouts:: The Metaverse
Day:: Friday Afternoon

---

Alex was dumbstruck at the figure, eyes slowly widening as he bit his lower lip; currently just a silhouette in the sickly green fog, it did nothing to diminish the terror of the unknown with its strange, bizarre shape that was paradoxical and alien to them, something that should exist outside of reality. Befitting for a place such as this as Alex began to tremble just a bit, "Yeah, and I think we found the reason why."

Everything in his body was telling him to move as the incongruous, strangely shaped horror drew near, smashing a similar, fleeing shape that he saw earlier into a fine mush just a couple of meters away from him. Alex tensed up as the way he heard that creature squish was nauseating and splattered a bit onto his shoes.

A knot was forming in his stomach as the boy finally took a step back in tandem with the creature who retracted its ghastly limb, before its full body pierced through the fog. That semi-unfettered boy who entered into this strange world was now full on shaking, flustered by this shadowy creatures appearance as his heart beat erratically.

"Oh FUCK this!" Yeah, the Raven didn't have to tell him twice as a shadow appeared overhead as he pivoted around, tightly grabbing Ava's wrist before giving rough tug to pull her along, yanking her and taking himself out of the danger zone as a malformed hand with faces on its fingers crashed down where they once stood. With that done, he began booking it with the other two, letting go of the younger girls wrist once he felt she was fleeing an not stunned from the scene.

While they were back to scrambling and running away, Alex always kept his eye on the alien being, always watching the way it squirm, each twisting tendril of a limb and way the faces contorted, well, lets just say they weren't supposed to look that way. It was something that constantly inspired fear in his heart and kept him running with the others for what felt like an eternity, even though it was most likely less than a minute.

Suddenly, the bird scrawked instructions for them, to head down this alleyway and take some stairs down. Despite how frantic this situation was, he was able to connect that she was directing them down into the depths of a metro station. What he couldn't do was retort right now, nothing snarky or thought provoking, stating his distrust, nothing of that on his mind.

Alex, in his panic, didn't even think, just did, and funneled into the alley with the others as the beast closed in behind them and the bird departed on her own. From the outset, it looked like they were home free.

But the figure standing at the end showed them otherwise as it slowly began to melt and disfigure into small, teardrop blobs that splattered onto the pavement with an eerie plop before levitating a little off the ground before distorting. All of them had a mish-mash of human features that looked out of place, wherever they were.

As they came to a pause, Hakuro made some comment about parkour or some shit, but Alex just blocked that out and began scanning for something he could use, anything.

And then, he saw it. An opportunity. Bending his knees, Alex kept keen eye on one of the trashcans off to the side "We don't have time for maybes, only absolutes! If we can't get around them, then-"

Alex broke into a sprint, leaving the two behind him, straight on a collision course with those ominous, patterned slimy drops, "I'll just make a way for us!" If anything, Alex would probably consider this a stupid plan later and attempt to think up better things to do, but right now, he only really saw this as their best option.

He had to take this into his own hands as he snatched up a lid and held it up like a shield, staring down those blobs with a fearsome mien, gritting his teeth as his eyes grew sharp and burned. "Out of our way," he roared, slamming into two or three of the blobs that swarmed the area like wasps, causing a few of them to back off before looking to descend upon him.

While he did manage to break through and open the way up, this offered a new can of worms - the fact that he was surrounded by these things. More over, while his senses were still heightened, backing up would probably cause him to bring these things to Ava and Hakuro. Even more so, it looked like he only really provoked them and not harm them too much, as evidenced by those three blobs sloughing off his now bent makeshift shield and reforming.

...!

Alex blinked.

A sharp pain cascaded through abdomen and to the rest of his body as he felt the air being knocked out of his lungs, followed by a hard thud to the ground. His head was shaking as he was surrounded by these swarm of blobs, hovering around him like hornets. Dizzy. He was shaking even more profusely as he struggled to get up a bit, only to see some of these things slobbering tongues and the fact that one of them had attached to him.

He clicked the roof of his tongue and grit his teeth, "Get the hell off of me!" His other hand shot towards the blob, sinking in as his fingers dug into it. Using the strength he could, he worked to wrench the thing off and toss it to the side, but it was ineffective as a few more rushed in. He couldn't think right now and his instincts took over, adrenaline gushing through his arteries and veins as he quickly rolled over, nearly avoiding getting doggy piled on as a few of the swarm instead slapped and slammed onto the street.

The entrance to the metro station became clearer, yet so far away as he began getting his thoughts somewhat straight, "Bloody hell, I wish I had a gun, weapon, something, anything right about now!"

As he looked up, more of the swarm was looking too assault him as they buzzed and shot themselves towards the downed Alex, who instead rolled backwards to avoid them and to try and regain his footing, only to stumble back a bit once was on his own two feet again, but that wasn't enough as another rushed him down. On reaction, Alex went to swat it away, only to watch as what he countered with wasn't the dented trashcan lid and instead the barrel of a Thompson submachine gun.

This left him more confused, befuddled than anything right at this moment, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially right now when he was under attack. Taking aim at the swarm, Alex pulled the trigger.

TATATATATATATATATATATATA!

And the bullets flew, some missing, others penetrating, but it was enough to cause some of these things to hiss and groan before backing off; a few even began merging back with one another. However, Alex, in this moment didn't bother questioning anything else, didn't bother commenting on the absurdity of this all. The pain felt real, what he felt was real, this gun despite being lighter than what he went out to shoot with for some strange reason felt real.

And what was especially real was the fact that these creatures were completely distracted by Alex at the moment, as he continued to spray and pray.

Fire Emblem: Ashes of Sacrifice [Fall of the Empire]

Say, Enalais and Expolar, you two going to join the discord?