Scout

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

Tracking on all that. I might have questions later but for now it sounds good :)

A Grimm War (a RWBY 1x1x1)

Josephine rubbed her temples before the mirror of her inn. Vale was such a huge kingdom and, once she had arrived, it had seemed even larger. Truth be told, her sense of direction was not her strong suit and she had very few ideas of where to go to begin with. After leaving her master's home, most of her time was spent rooting out places vulnerable to Grimm or that had seen spikes in activity. Vacuo was a rather easy job - they were everywhere, the towns were more disorganized, but their vulnerability had built a hardiness among her people. Vale had a different problem - everywhere she tried to look, it seemed the Church had its fingers in the affair of hunting. It was present in Vacuo, but not nearly so pervasive as it was here.

She found herself in a ramshackle town, only distinguishable from the slums of Vacuo for its hospitality and greener landscapes. Vale was gorgeous, Josephine knew, but traveling it alone was strange. She had never left Vacuo without her mentor, and even then it was usually by cover of night. The people here seemed rather content, even cheerful. Did they know that their lack of reinforced fences and security was endangering them all? Were they unbothered by it? Did they resign to accept their fate and enjoy their days, or were they simply ignorant? It didn't feel natural, but hardly mattered seeing as Josephine wasn't here to shatter anybody's confidence or happiness by doomsaying about the Grimm. They were just beasts, and they could be slain. True, they had a tendency to appear more often in places of evil or unrest, but it was already evident to her that the Church closely monitored those kinds of places.

The moon shone brightly over the inn as she fastened her light blue cloak over her shoulders and pulled her hood over her head. One hand resting on the hilt of her sword, Orphan's Rancor, as she departed. There would be time for sleeping later, she rested earlier in the day. The woman passed her horse at the stables and decided to leave him fastened there. It drew a lot of attention, galloping around in the dead of night, and she wasn't looking to cause a ruckus if it wasn't necessary. She just wanted to see if there really were any signs of Grimm in this area. Since leaving Vacuo, she hadn't had a chance to really sink her teeth into one, so to speak. She strode with purpose, leaving her hood over her head as she wove through the streets of the small town, wanting to be sure that the night life was as quiet as the day was peaceful. It seemed to be, though the number of guards even at night was nothing impressive. It wasn't until she was approaching one of the roads out that a rather tired-looking man looked her over and furrowed his brow.

"Ay, where d'ya think you're going?" He asked groggily, crossing his arms, "'S dangerous out there this time o' night. Could have all sorts of shady characters walking about. Y'know, like you?" The man gave a small chuckle, waving his hand, "No, but seriously, can't have you leaving without a real good reason, for your own safety, yeah?"

Josephine sighed. My own safety? Get some perspective... She thought to herself, rolling her eyes under her hood, "I understand. But I can handle myself well enough, sir, if you could just move."

The man staggered for a moment, "Oh, miss," He seemed to realize suddenly, despite the effeminate color of her clothing. "I'm sorry. It's kinda dark and it's just been a long day." His attempt at covering his surprise left Josephine feeling less than impressed and a little red.

She shrugged and opened her cloak slightly to reveal her blade on her hip, "Again, I think I'll be okay, sir. Now, please move?" She requested one more time, remaining as polite as she could.

He shook his head, "Can't do it. There's Grimms and thieves and all the bad stuff comes out; I'm sure you're just fine with a sword, but unless you're a proper Huntsman, I can't let ya through." She rolled her eyes, 'proper Huntsman.' What a stupid concept. Really, and such an inconvenience too. Muttering something unintelligible under her breath, Josephine snapped her fingers.

"Of course, sir, sorry for bothering you. Have a safe night," She said as she passed him, apparently unseen, and left the city. He watched as her figure walked away, defeated. Once she was certain he wouldn't see her anymore, Josephine broke the illusion and her knee gently hit the grass. "Really, not energy I was looking to expend tonight..." She muttered under her breath, shaking her head as she caught her breath. At least it wasn't anything too complex - the man was tired and she didn't need to make a detailed version of herself to fool him. Drawing Orphan's Rancor from its sheath at her hip, she headed for the woods nearby, pointless though it felt.

A Grimm War (a RWBY 1x1x1)

Name: Josephine of the Sand
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Race: Dimuran

Weapon: "Orphan's Rancor." A medium-length cutlass with a mechanism that allows a specially-made dagger to lock into place beneath the hilt.

Magic: Distortion - primarily good with illusions, not a poor teleporter

Appearance:
Josephine's irises, as with all Dimuran, are a deep crimson red. Black scales stretch along her pale, slender calves and shins to behind her knees, intricately wrapping around to just below her thighs. A similar pattern runs from the center of the palm of her hand to her forearm and around to her elbow, just below her biceps. Along her neck, the black scales form a patten much like an impressive necklace or choker, covering the patch of flesh entirely and stretching about halfway over her collarbone and up along her jaw.

Josephine

History - Spoilers!

History: Josephine was born to a nameless family in one of Vacuo's industrial slums, surrounded by shady characters and black market dealers. The settlement's rag-tag security outfit was almost entirely focused on the fabled Dust mine - off-limits to all citizens by long-standing decree of the Church. She spent her early formative years in an orphanage which employed all of its children at one of the town's workshops, assembling devices and tools that she probably couldn't recognize if she tried. By the time she was in her early teens, Josephine had ousted herself as a rather precocious youth. She was manipulative at best and more opinionated than made the adults around her comfortable.

One day, a man came to town seeking a respite on a long journey. She met him when he intervened on her heated argument with a man thrice her own size about something that she claimed he had stolen from her. The two were just coming to blows when the stranger stepped in, throwing them both unceremoniously on their asses to ask for directions, only noticing her age as an afterthought. He seemed at least somewhat impressed by the state of the larger man, even if he was going to be the clear victor of the fight. Armored and carrying a curved sword inside the most beautiful sheath she had ever laid eyes on, Josephine began asking questions that would be rude in the eyes if coming from anything but a child. Begrudgingly, he told her that he was going to the next city over to hunt a recent Grimm outbreak.

His name was Edmund, and despite his rough exterior, he was kind. By the next day, she had convinced him to teach her to fight for herself and live independently. She couldn't live under the orphanage's thumb anymore - if he didn't, she would run away and likely die in the desert. Or at least, that's what she implied, and he finally allowed her to join him. Not wasting a minute, her first day under his tutelage was to follow him to the fight against the Grimm. He taught her to be a Magi, surprisingly unimpressed at the fact that she actually could wield magic. Edmund had her train with a few simple weapons before finally deciding she was ready for one of the many specially-designed ones in his arsenal. He instructed her to name it and she decided Orphan's Rancor was fitting.

Apart from trips to hone her skills, Josephine lived with Edmund in what often felt like hiding. She did not learn under the church or involve herself in politics or the state of the world, for she had one job; hunt down and slaughter every Grimm she could. They must be the source of evil in the world and were it that they were destroyed, perhaps it would in turn eradicate corruption. Recently, she's discontinued her service as Edmund's charge, it's time for her to make her own way. Not to mention, she started to realize as she grew more able as a Huntress, she had been living a rather isolated life.

A Grimm War (a RWBY 1x1x1)

This is something of a reboot thread based on an old 1x1 between Vena and I. Fear was brought in for practice - placed it in 1x1 as it's still a closed/private RP.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy I think about this too much and come up with too few, inconsistent solutions to the issue. No fire... Means no combination. Ether makes heat, but what causes propulsion and launching if it's more powerful than simple mechanical creations?

What if we didn't have cannons and there was more of a railgun system? Ether and magnetics wouldn't be affected by a lack of fire, so in order to work around a lack of fire in this world, they would have progressed around it, producing technology both far, far ahead of their own time as well as remaining shockingly primitive.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

Okay! I am back into the routine. Also, I built a PC this weekend, so... I'm discovering the wonderfully satisfying sound of my mechanical keyboard and I'm excited to post when my turn is up! I think I'll attach Viveca's spying onto the beginning of my post-prologue intro, as she won't be confronting anybody about it that night. :)

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Lovejoy and everybody else! My flight home is tomorrow. I'll be in after midnight so I wouldn't expect me to available until the week some time, but I'm back for now!

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

News. I'm deploying next week. It's supposed to be really short and pretty wasteful. But these things change quickly and often, you know the drill :) once I'm gone, I can't post till I'm back.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

Might do a postfor Viveca's spying. Thanks for including her :D I'm deciding how she's going to approach the situation - she's not fond of Galahad if I'm remembering characters correctly.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@CollectorOfMyst Gotta roll percentile, obviously. XD