Scribe of Thoth

Of Blood and Magic

---

Max gave Eris a lidded stare and shifted his hand to rub at his neck as the vampire started eyeing him like a piece of meat. Was this why he was moody? He was hungry? The mage listened to the rest of the explanation with dwindling interest. Eris really wasn't giving him much to go on, most of it was speculation, and his plan sounded more like a bad excuse than a solid lead.

The ole' fuck them for information trick just didn't sound viable here. Cinnamon didn't seem like the type to spill his whole plan just because he got his dick wet. At least Eris seemed to have his head on straight now, so Max wasn't too concerned with him saying too much and ending up on some noble's hit list. Then again, all those overdramatic movies he's acted in could've taken a toll on his perception of reality, and he might expect some big dramatic reveal that he knew Varis' secret to be met with a love confession or something equally asinine.

And he was in charge of this issue now, great. What was he supposed to do? Look up magic moon tattoos online? Five hundred quirky goth girl blogs later and he still wouldn't have anything to go on.

"Oh you know me Eric, I'm such a gossip. With all my friends. Who I love talking to. Regularly," The mage groaned flatly with a roll of his eyes, "If Cinnamon really isn't who he says he is and this is some weird Sinnenodel plot, it's probably not in your best interest to let him know you know. Don't think you should let him see that mark."

He didn't think showing up at all was a good idea, honestly, but he'd probably have better luck arguing with the wall. Assuming that symbol actually meant something and Varis recognized it, he'd be asking way more questions than Eris had answers too, or worse.

---

@Hero

Of Blood and Magic

---

Max listened politely as Eris recounted the situation, taking Eris' stripping as an excuse to do the same - if way less racy. He dropped his disassembled vambraces on the floor unceremoniously and threw the hoodie he'd been wearing down on top of them shortly after. In retrospect, it probably looked like he wasn't listening at all, and the leech looked a bit distraught at that. Part of him believed Eris was blatantly misinterpreting everything he saw, but even so the situation sounded outside the norm of what he and Aaron had apparently seen during that test.

"Alright, let's dissect this." Max raised a finger as he spoke to accentuate his point. "Are you sure it was magic-magic? Your clone did some magical shit too - the area we were standing in was basically an extension of his consciousness. According to Aaron, mine probably was too, he just didn't bother using the environment." Probably some baggage in there about an internal versus external locus of control and lack of environmental help, but this was Eris' psychoanalysis and not his.

"Anyway, Clone-Eris had full control over it, I think. Like, we were on a stage; you were ordering extras around left and right, and they could look like whoever you wanted them to. That mage you saw him supposedly using magic on could've just been part of his 'stage'." That would explain the abilities, anyway; the tirade about history still didn't make sense. That didn't sound like a way of getting Eris to crack. Or... maybe it was, considering the vampire was currently having a meltdown in the middle of his dorm. The others seemed to focus on personal attacks though, but Eris didn't mention any of those.

"The weird part is, it sounds like Varis only wanted to talk about him, where the other clones seemed intent on avoiding that so they could talk about us. Which defeats the purpose of the test if he was just going to wax poetic about a paragraph he read in a history book and then hand over the coin. Or the weird bruise, for that matter. You think it was a clue for another optional test we just didn't bother with?"

Still, why leave it there after the test? Were they overthinking this and it would just heal on its own? Ryner was laughing at them somewhere, he could tell.

---

@Hero

Of Blood and Magic

---

Max rolled his eyes as Eris started talking. Did that moron really think Max of all people was keen to start having a shifty conversation - especially one that could potentially end up with feelings involved - in the middle of a crowd of Noila sycophants? Didn't help that Eris started stripping either. The leech really must've been losing it.

"I didn't say talk there, dumbass," He mumbled as Eris continued. He couldn't tell if the vampire was getting to the point or just finally having his breakdown.

The phone going off elicited a displeased grumbled from the mage, evidently as displeased as Eris was that he was being interrupted. Especially after he actually answered. Was this his excuse to duck the conversation? Max had seen him ignore calls even in a good mood, let alone now. He was pretty terse, but the content sounded like he was instructing an underling. Huh, maybe his text actually paid off.

When Eris showed Max his wrist, the mage actively moved closer to inspect it. That wasn't right. Aaron came out completely unharmed, and there was no way in hell even a shitty clone of him could be locked in a room with that jackass and not so much as lay a hand on him. Not to mention the Retriever's story was way too complex for a simple on the spot lie. It didn't seem like some kind of key either. Nothing in the test had mentioned any kind of magic bruises, and if it was needed for one of the other tests that they'd simply skipped, it likely would've disappeared when they left the forest.

"What do you mean it wasn't a clone? I thought you ran into Varis in there? Stop talking in riddles and just tell me what happened." As much as he disliked untruncated explanations, the play-by-play would be very useful here. Or at least more context than 'it was weird'. Though, he was right, it did sound weird. Why would the test suddenly change parameters? Did the vampires have a different challenge than the mages? Why lead them on otherwise, then? What the hell was Ryner's game?

---

@Hero

Persona ~ The Beholder

@Mistress Dizzy Chariot, Justice, and Devil (and maybe Hierophant?)

Of Blood and Magic

---

Oh, good, Aaron left. Max was in the clear for the rest of the night, pending Eris having a breakdown. The leech was keeping his composure well enough by now, at least as far as Max could tell from a quick glance over, but he was talking to Ryner, and there was no telling how he'd crack behind closed doors. So annoying. Max had to actually talk to him too, because trusting Eris' judgement alone on the matter seemed like a recipe for disaster. Best case scenario, Varis secretly thinks Eris is a mere eight out of ten and Eris was overreacting. Worst case, Cinnamon has some master plan to fuck Eris - and worse, Max by extension - over.

Once Ryner vacated the scene, Max calmly returned to Eris' side, announcing his arrival rather bluntly by disassembling the gauntlet still wrapped around the vampire's forearm and levitating it back to himself. He shifted his arm a bit to test the new weight once it clicked back into place. One of the bolts was off. Max flashed a quick scowl as he pressed it correctly into place with his thumb. He was slipping - maybe he was more tired than he thought.

"What's the plan? I think your hot date just took off," Max thumbed toward the departing car offhandedly as he spoke, "so I take it you're headed to the dorm with me. You gonna change into your nice red panties to chase after him and ignore the elephant in the room or are we gonna talk when we get there?" He leveled a solid gaze at Eris to get his point across; he didn't particularly want his - concern was too sentimental of a word, but it was what he had to work with at this point - to be blown off as apathetic commentary.

---

@Hero

Persona ~ The Beholder

@Cojemo
Yeah, but Hanged Man's taken if that's what you meant. Hierophant, Chariot, Devil, and Tower are open.

Persona ~ The Beholder

Leo Gremminger - The Sun

---

---

Name
Leo Gremminger

Gender
Male

Age
20 - May 24

Sexuality
Homogay

Nationality
Swiss

---

Appearance
Leo is a narrow-shouldered and unimposing boy with a lithe frame and below-average musculature. His dirty blonde hair is tussled into a deliberate bedhead in all but the most formal of occasions and he usually has a blank, innocent look on his face, as if completely unbothered by his surroundings at all times. Trying to call his attention to something will typically elicit a futile squint on his part, and as such he typically adopts a pair of rectangular-framed glasses while in class or when painting, though they're strictly absent in most other contexts. He dresses in expensive, but simplistic clothing, preferring plain colors and quality fabrics to anything explicitly flashy. His attire isn't very formal outside the relevant occasions, favoring mundane long-sleeved T-shirts or even tracksuits despite him being far from athletically active.

Height
5'10"

Personality
Leo generally maintains a sunny and affable demeanor to those around him, with an infectious excitability about his hobby - namely painting - that he tries to spread to anyone who will listen; willing or otherwise. He has a particular fondness for painting sunsets, but he's constantly hoping for new muses to catch his attention, and he has no problem pestering people that he's formed even the bare minimum of a relationship with to help him seek them out. Ironically, he often misses these scenic vistas he'd otherwise enjoy painting by sheer lack of attention. He's sociable and friendly, though it's usually evident that he wants himself and his interests to be at the forefront of the discussion at all times, and extended conversation can quickly reveal traces of typical upper-class personality flaws and general obliviousness to how the world works. Likewise, this naiveté can make him come off as very inattentive or careless, especially when coupled with his tendency to be astoundingly unobservant of his surroundings. Unless he's actively focusing on or interested in something, it may as well not even exist to Leo; which is at least partially a consequence of him being fairly nearsighted yet rarely deigning to wear glasses.

Underneath all the layers of optimism he outwardly portrays, Leo is a deeply torn individual, caught between the expectations of his father that he doesn't find appealing and hobbies that he's been taught to consider frivolous as much as he does interesting. He's unwilling or unable to accomplish all that his father asks of him, and he selfishly refuses to compromise or deal with his issues, instead simply ignoring them in false hope they'll just go away in the end with no effort on his part.

---

Persona

Sol

Arcana
The Sun

Skill
Fire

Equipment
Renaissance Era Saber - You know what they say, 'When in Rome...'
SIG Sauer P220 Pistol - Standard sidearm of the Swiss Army and a symbol of yet another obligation Leo is avoiding.

---

Education
Second Year Finance Major

Biography
As the sole heir of a wealthy Swiss financier, Leo lived a fairly privileged childhood. He grew up in an upper class area in northern Switzerland, attending prestigious schools for almost the entirety of his educational career. Despite this, typical academic pursuits didn't interest him. His father owned a modest art collection, an eccentricity the man cultivated as a status symbol he could subtly boast about, and it had always captivated young Leo. When he was eight, his family took a vacation to Rome, which Leo found even more fascinating than the oil paintings hanging around his house. Every grand mural and impressive work of sculpture was a talent he hoped to match. He wanted to be a painter like all the famous Renaissance people and artists of antiquity. When he got home, it took little time before Leo was signed up for art classes and practicing regularly. His parents were about as supportive of the interest as any parent is in their child's passing fancy, though his father continued to dismiss Leo's hobby as a pointless diversion no matter how committed or interested he was in it.

It was made very clear he'd be expected to inherit the family fortune and that business schooling should be his primary concern, which initially didn't bother Leo in the slightest. After all, he could certainly maintain a mere hobby alongside cultivating his family's wealth. Though, as he grew older, he became less and less enchanted with the idea. Obligations of how to behave, who to associate with, what he needed to do with his life, not to mention a wife and kids; it was stifling, and yet Leo had no alternative. Art wasn't exactly a lucrative career path, and he could only skirt by on his inheritance for so long. After deliberating on what he really wanted for so long, it eventually grew to the point where he didn't want to do anything. Everything in his life thus far had been handed to him on a silver platter, and the notion of having to put genuine effort toward something he didn't want to do offended his spoiled sensibilities. Thus, he chose to selfishly cling to an illusion of always getting everything he wanted.

To that end, he simply chose to put as much distance between himself and his problems as he could in hopes he could ignore them forever. Outside the country, his parents wouldn't be as overbearing, no one would be hawkishly watching his decisions, and nobody would be trying to conscript him into the Swiss Army. Leo applied to foreign universities, knowing his father would fund it regardless as long as he was studying in a field he approved of, and was eventually accepted by Thames' Edge. In his first year, Leo came to embody the essence of 'ignorance is bliss'. He was never a very perceptive boy when he wasn't trying to paint something, and it was only a short leap from there to shutting out anything he didn't want to hear. Problems, people; he wanted nothing to do with anything that threatened his optimistic delusions. As far as Leo was concerned, he was perfectly content skating by as an average student and gaining cheap validation from Twitter comments about his posted art.

Affiliations
Berhtram Gremminger - Leo's father, a wealthy Swiss businessman from a line of old money. While he does have very strong ideas about how his son should conduct himself, he's not truly as uncompromising and cold as Leo might describe him as and merely wants the best for the boy. He sees steering Leo into a career in finance as the easiest and best life he could provide for his son, as he'd have a comfortable job at Berhtram's firm and be more than prepared to inherit the company.

Anna Gremminger - Leo's mother, an upper class woman from the canton of Schwyz, was more engaged in Leo's life than his busy and somewhat distant father, as Berhtram was easily rich enough to allow her to not work a day in her life after they married. As such, she spent her days at home watching little Leo's art projects and encouraging him as any good mother would do, though she still ultimately sides with his father on matters of Leo's prospective career path.

Relationships
TBA

Persona ~ The Beholder

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

---

---

Name
Leo Gremminger

Gender
Male

Age
20 - May 24

Sexuality
Homogay

Nationality
Swiss

---

Appearance
Leo is a narrow-shouldered and unimposing boy with a lithe frame and below-average musculature. His dirty blonde hair is tussled into a deliberate bedhead in all but the most formal of occasions and he usually has a blank, innocent look on his face, as if completely unbothered by his surroundings at all times. Trying to call his attention to something will typically elicit a futile squint on his part, and as such he typically adopts a pair of rectangular-framed glasses while in class or when painting, though they're strictly absent in most other contexts. He dresses in expensive, but simplistic clothing, preferring plain colors and quality fabrics to anything explicitly flashy. His attire isn't very formal outside the relevant occasions, favoring mundane long-sleeved T-shirts or even tracksuits despite him being far from athletically active.

Height
5'10"

Personality
Leo generally maintains a sunny and affable demeanor to those around him, with an infectious excitability about his hobby - namely painting - that he tries to spread to anyone who will listen; willing or otherwise. He has a particular fondness for painting sunsets, but he's constantly hoping for new muses to catch his attention, and he has no problem pestering people that he's formed even the bare minimum of a relationship with to help him seek them out. Ironically, he often misses these scenic vistas he'd otherwise enjoy painting by sheer lack of attention. He's sociable and friendly, though it's usually evident that he wants himself and his interests to be at the forefront of the discussion at all times, and extended conversation can quickly reveal traces of typical upper-class personality flaws and general obliviousness to how the world works. Likewise, this naiveté can make him come off as very inattentive or careless, especially when coupled with his tendency to be astoundingly unobservant of his surroundings. Unless he's actively focusing on or interested in something, it may as well not even exist to Leo; which is at least partially a consequence of him being fairly nearsighted yet rarely deigning to wear glasses.

Underneath all the layers of optimism he outwardly portrays, Leo is a deeply torn individual, caught between the expectations of his father that he doesn't find appealing and hobbies that he's been taught to consider frivolous as much as he does interesting. He's unwilling or unable to accomplish all that his father asks of him, and he selfishly refuses to compromise or deal with his issues, instead simply ignoring them in false hope they'll just go away in the end with no effort on his part.

---

Persona

Sol

Arcana
The Sun

Skill
Fire, Nuclear

Equipment
Renaissance Era Saber - You know what they say, 'When in Rome...'
SIG Sauer P220 Pistol - Standard sidearm of the Swiss Army and a symbol of yet another obligation Leo is avoiding.

---

Education
Second Year Finance Major

Biography
As the sole heir of a wealthy Swiss financier, Leo lived a fairly privileged childhood. He grew up in an upper class area in northern Switzerland, attending prestigious schools for almost the entirety of his educational career. Despite this, typical academic pursuits didn't interest him. His father owned a modest art collection, an eccentricity the man cultivated as a status symbol he could subtly boast about, and it had always captivated young Leo. When he was eight, his family took a vacation to Rome, which Leo found even more fascinating than the oil paintings hanging around his house. Every grand mural and impressive work of sculpture was a talent he hoped to match. He wanted to be a painter like all the famous Renaissance people and artists of antiquity. When he got home, it took little time before Leo was signed up for art classes and practicing regularly. His parents were about as supportive of the interest as any parent is in their child's passing fancy, though his father continued to dismiss Leo's hobby as a pointless diversion no matter how committed or interested he was in it.

It was made very clear he'd be expected to inherit the family fortune and that business schooling should be his primary concern, which initially didn't bother Leo in the slightest. After all, he could certainly maintain a mere hobby alongside cultivating his family's wealth. Though, as he grew older, he became less and less enchanted with the idea. Obligations of how to behave, who to associate with, what he needed to do with his life, not to mention a wife and kids; it was stifling, and yet Leo had no alternative. Art wasn't exactly a lucrative career path, and he could only skirt by on his inheritance for so long. After deliberating on what he really wanted for so long, it eventually grew to the point where he didn't want to do anything. Everything in his life thus far had been handed to him on a silver platter, and the notion of having to put genuine effort toward something he didn't want to do offended his spoiled sensibilities. Thus, he chose to selfishly cling to an illusion of always getting everything he wanted.

To that end, he simply chose to put as much distance between himself and his problems as he could in hopes he could ignore them forever. Outside the country, his parents wouldn't be as overbearing, no one would be hawkishly watching his decisions, and nobody would be trying to conscript him into the Swiss Army. Leo applied to foreign universities, knowing his father would fund it regardless as long as he was studying in a field he approved of, and was eventually accepted by Thames' Edge. In his first year, Leo came to embody the essence of 'ignorance is bliss'. He was never a very perceptive boy when he wasn't trying to paint something, and it was only a short leap from there to shutting out anything he didn't want to hear. Problems, people; he wanted nothing to do with anything that threatened his optimistic delusions. As far as Leo was concerned, he was perfectly content skating by as an average student and gaining cheap validation from Twitter comments about his posted art.

Affiliations
Berhtram Gremminger - Leo's father, a wealthy Swiss businessman from a line of old money. While he does have very strong ideas about how his son should conduct himself, he's not truly as uncompromising and cold as Leo might describe him as and merely wants the best for the boy. He sees steering Leo into a career in finance as the easiest and best life he could provide for his son, as he'd have a comfortable job at Berhtram's firm and be more than prepared to inherit the company.

Anna Gremminger - Leo's mother, an upper class woman from the canton of Schwyz, was more engaged in Leo's life than his busy and somewhat distant father, as Berhtram was easily rich enough to allow her to not work a day in her life after they married. As such, she spent her days at home watching little Leo's art projects and encouraging him as any good mother would do, though she still ultimately sides with his father on matters of Leo's prospective career path.

Relationships
TBA

Persona ~ The Beholder

@AwesomeZero5
Open ones rn are Hierophant, Chariot, Justice, Strength, Devil, Tower, Moon, and maybe Judgement depending on how the GM feels about that one.

Persona ~ The Beholder [Interest Time!]

I’m interested.