Skythikon

Kidnap the Princess?!?!

Name: Vivien Aurequais

Age: 25

Race: Human

Appearance:
- Stands at 1.80 meters tall
- Slender build
- Tanned, light brown skin.
- Rounded face with soft features
- Dark brown, almost black hair, cut just short enough to not get in the way.
- Green eyes.

Job: Drifter

Skills & Abilities:
- Skilled marksman with the crossbow
- Good with the sword and sword-breaker combination
- Capable survivalist; has adequate knowledge of hunting, foraging, tracking, etc, etc
- Knows how to play the fife

Inventory:
Weaponry
- Crossbow with collapsible limbs
- Quiver with 25 bolts
- Arming sword
- Sword-breaker

Armour/clothing
- Dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. Pants of the same colour.
- Calf-length boots
- Fingerless gloves
- Segmented leather armour with metal plates sewn into them for protection.

Miscellaneous
- Fife
- Flint for fire-starting
- Knives for fletching
- Assorted dried meats of questionable edibility.
- Water bladder
- Basic first-aid equipment. Or torture equipment, depending on application.

Personality: Vivien is a quiet person, though that does not mean that he is unfriendly. He simply does not see the point in speaking when he has little to say, and judging from his silence, that seems to be the case most of the time. When he does talk however, it is usually when he decides that something or other is unsatisfactory. Talking to people is simply out of his comfort zone, and those who have experienced his lack of tact and bluntness would thank him for that. He prefers to be in the background most of the time, disliking being in the limelight.

He is a very philosophical person, and can often be found sitting wherever is comfortable with a blank look on his face as he contemplates the meaning of life, the universe and everything. However, most of the time, he ends up falling asleep. Vivien is also a curious person, always more than willing to find out more about the world he lives in and always willing to try anything at least once. Within reason, of course.

He is touchy about his name, being well aware that it is considered to be a girl's name outside of his homeland. Making fun of his name would be the quickest and simplest way to earn his ire.

Bio: Vivien is the bastard child of a Duke of a land far to the west of Virnastia. He was born while the Duke had been on a military campaign, and while Viviene has no idea who his mother was, he was quite sure that the term 'Son of a Whore' was less of an insult and more of an accurate descriptor when used on him. Regardless, he was considered lucky as the Duke had a very strong moral compass. While he was far from willing to accept Vivien as a legitimate son, he was not about to abandon a baby while on the march either. Thus, Vivien was raised within the Duke's household, though he was treated more as a squire than as a blood relative of the Duke.

From the Duke's personal guard, Vivien learned how to fight, how to shoot and more importantly, how to survive on his own. His lack of tact, while not earning him any favours with the general population, made him rather popular with military commanders; they appreciated his willingness to point out overlooked errors, though Vivien did, at times, live only because he was considered a child and more importantly, he was under the Duke's protection.

By the time he was sixteen, and of a proper age to be kicked out of the Duke's household, Vivien was already a capable warrior on his own right, and knew enough general knowledge to survive on his own. It was also very fortunate that Vivien had developed a sense of wanderlust as he learned more about the world beyond his nation's borders and as such, when the time came for him to leave, Vivien was more than willing to hit the road. The Duke had gifted him plenty of equipment, most of them of rather good quality, though on the condition that Vivien never return to his lands or speak of his relation to the Duke. Knowing that it was no so much a request as an order, Vivien agreed.

He spent the first years of his life as an adventurer wandering around the neighbouring duchies, baronies and marches. During this time, Vivien decided to take the surname 'Aurequais', meaning 'of the land' in his native tongue. It fitted him well while not giving away too much of his less-than-proper origin. He drifted from village to village, working whatever jobs were available. Sometimes he was little more than a smith's assistant, other times he was a bounty hunter, though most of the time he found himself working as a mercenary, helping a village to settle a few scores with other settlements. It made Vivien good money, but it also made him plenty of enemies in the form of village elders or even nobles who found him meddlesome.

Thus, it was only a matter of time before he decided to leave his home nation out of safety. Virnastia proved to be an attractive location, with a wide variety of nations and kingdoms to explore. Also, the ship taking him there proved to be the cheapest.

Kidnap the Princess?!?!

Gonna be late with the CS. ><'' Electrical fault at home, something's tripping the main breaker at random so I can't even save my half-done CS before the power cuts.

Adventurers of Lemea (Lands of Lemea RS)

Kayetan blinked several times after hearing the deluge of information from Aerrea. "Right," He said numbly, his mind still processing everything. The one thing he had picked up, aside from what she had said about her reason for being in Kaymari, was the part about his father and another attempt by the Geworians to invade and crush the Yaes Numir Seyur. He did not know much about these Leamors, but he was not surprised to hear that they had been defeated. The Svekkern and Vastermannen had faced just about every single race or species the Geworians had thrown against the Yaes Numir Seyur, and even in defeat the Commonwealth proved to have the superior warriors.

"Glad to hear that my family is safe," Kayetan said. "Good thing for the Geworians. They have been facing mainly Svekkern and Vastermannen armies so far. Had they invaded Commonwealth territory or even entered Commonwealth territory, we might have had to use the tribal auxiliaries and militias." He said and felt and involuntary shudder run down his spine. There was a reason most of the soldiers at the front were Svekkern, Vastermannen or at the very least from a tribe that had been part of the Commonwealth for at least three generations. Most of the newer members of the Commonwealth still fought using their tribal methods; heavy emphasis on scaring the enemy so badly that they run with their tails between their legs and never come back to bother you. They fought well, but they would have given the Commonwealth a bad name had they been at the front.

As for everything else Aerrea had said about the rest of the world, he did not care. Those lands were much too far away to have any effect on the Commonwealth. "So, in summary," Kayetan said and cleared his throat, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. "You are looking for a well that might not exist, which your superiors apparently do not, and to find a nation that might not exist. In other words, you are chasing an illusion." He said, perhaps sounding a bit harsher than he had intended, but she was the one who wanted to work with him, so she had better get used to his bluntness. "I cannot say that I am confident about that...Idea, but it is intriguing, and it would give me the adventure I seek."

He leaned back and looked at the doorway he had came through earlier. "I think you should tell Zinzie what you told me, just for fairness." He said, then looked back at her, doing his best to keep his eyes on her face and not her body. He lambasted himself mentally for having such little self-control; he was no scoundrel who would be so distracted by the mere sight of the naked female form, he was a soldier, and he had much more discipline than that. Kayetan cleared his throat again and looked back at the doorway. "Speaking of which, I thought he would have joined us. Shall we call for him?"

Kidnap the Princess?!?!

Is this still open? I'd love to take part in something light-hearted and humourous for a change. ^^

Lords and Ladies of the Court (A medieval politics roleplay)

So I thought I'd work on my CS. Ended up rewriting the whole thing, so figured I'd put it here to see what you all think about it.

Vesa Svensson Nylund

Name: Vesa Svensson Nylund
Alias(es): The Peasant Knight
Title(s): Markgreve (Margrave) of Västergötland
Allegiance(s): The Kingdom of Sweden, Kalmar Union (By obligation)
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Family:
- Sven Nylund (Father, deceased)
- Vuokko Nylund-Virtanen (Mother, alive)
- Annika Svensdotter Nylund (Younger sister, alive)

Appearance:
- Stands at roughly 1.78 meters tall
- Slender build; slim appearance belies physical strength
- Angular face; looks as if he has constant, minute grin on his face.
- Pale skin
- Chestnut brown hair; cut just short enough to not be a nuisance. Still licks at the collar of his shirt and his ears. Fringe falls just shy of touching his eyebrows.
- Bright blue eyes

Bio: Unlike most nobles, Vesa and his sister do not boast any noble blood in their veins. Their father had been a regular footman in the Kalmar army, and their mother was a Finnish seamstress. Neither were they considered to be among the upper echelons of the common people; they lived in a small house situated in an out-of-the-way village in the southern regions of Swedish Finland, along the border with the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Vesa was first exposed to the realities of warfare at the tender age of three, when the Swedish-Russian war of 1497 broke out. His father had been sent to the front to defend the Finnish frontier, but the Muscovite armies, striking first, were able to penetrate deep into Swedish Finland. Thankfully, Vesa and the rest of his family had managed to secure passage further north and away from the rampage of the Muscovites.

It was when he saw his village being burned to the ground by the Russians did Vesa decide that he wanted to be a soldier like his father when he grew up. Of course, being only three when came up with that idea, his dream to be a soldier was fully linked with his desire for revenge against the Russian troops, but over the years, that would soon morph into a general dislike for both the Grand Duchy of Moscow - for being the ones directly responsible for the destruction of his home - and the Kalmar Union, for having instigated the war in the first place.

While Vesa did not know the exact details of his father's exploits during the war, he simply believed that they must have been extraordinary, as a representative of the Swedish Privy Council approached his mother soon after the war to inform them that she had inherited a sizeable patch of land and the title of Markgrevinna as a result of his father's death during the war. Even the representative of the Council did not know what Vesa's father had done to earn such a hefty reward, but the name 'Svante Nilsson' had come up a few times during the conversation, and Vesa knew enough to know that Svante Nilsson had been the one to capture Ivangorod during the war.

With no home to go back to, and with their March being located in the Swedish heartland of Götaland, Vesa's mother accepted the title of Markgrevinna despite having absolutely no experience in leading anything. However, it did help that their march was located in Västergötland, on the border between Denmark and Sweden but far from any international borders. From 1500 to 1513, Vesa's mother ruled as Markgrevinna while he and his sister lived as normally as they could, though Vesa had made good on his promise to become a soldier; he trained with the sword incessantly, and when news reached Sweden of a new weapon - the musket - he begged his mother to acquire one for him to practice with. While Vesa focused heavily on the soldierly arts, his sister had devoted more of her time to learning how to govern and lead, using their mother's successes and failures as learning points.

Thus, when their mother stepped down as Markgrevinna in 1513, citing the stresses of leading as the reason, Vesa and his sister decided that they would split the responsibilities among themselves. As the elder sibling, Vesa was the one who would inherit the title of Markgreve, but he was content with simply forming and leading the army of their march while his sister did all of the actual ruling. It was around this time when he earned his moniker, 'The Peasant Knight' for his general friendliness towards even the lowest ranking soldiers and his own humble beginnings. He fought alongside them and earned their respect through his fair judgement and his policy of promoting people for their skill and not their blood.

However, it was also when he was the Markgreve of Västergötland did he see the fracturing of the Kalmar Union for himself. For years, the Danish crown had waged wars on the European mainland without considering the desires of the other members of the Union. Swedish trade was disrupted by the wars and the Swedish Privy Council was thus greatly dissatisfied with the Danish crown. The Danes, wanting to reiterate their control over Sweden, routinely sent their own forces into Swedish territory to remind the population that they were under the rule of the Danish Royal Family. Västergötland, being on the border, was a frequent target for such expeditions. While there was no official declaration of war, there were often plenty of skirmishes with losses on both sides. Vesa, having realized the importance of the musket and the necessity of a powerful army, drilled his men incessantly and made sure they were always ready to respond to a Danish incursion at a moment's notice.

This carried on for years, and Vesa and his sister were on the verge of requesting that the Swedish Privy Council do something about the Danish incursions when the Council decided to send a message to the Danes. News had reached Scandinavia of some sort of royal even happening in England and it was almost a dead certainty that the Danes would have someone from their own royal family there, no doubt claiming to represent the Kalmar Union as a whole. Perhaps Norway was too cowed by the Danes, but Sweden was going to remind Denmark that the Kalmar Union was just that: A union. Not the subjugation of Sweden and Norway by the Danes, but a unification of three equal states under a common royal family.

Thus, it was originally decided by the council that Vesa's sister would be sent, but after being informed of her duties by Vesa himself, they changed their minds and ordered Vesa to England. It might even look better; he would be there as a Markgreve of Västergötland, not a major noble by any means, but definitely one in control of a region considered to be part of the Swedish heartland and on the frontier with Denmark. The message would be clear: Either treat Sweden as an equal or Sweden will treat itself as an equal.

Personality: While Vesa is a friendly, affable person who has a predisposition towards witty remarks, his lack of social grace often ensures that he is left out of most conversations between nobles. His preference of using what is considered 'less-than-gentlemanly' language and the occasional slips into Finnish often made him a merely tolerated presence in the Swedish court, though few could disagree with the fact that he commanded one of the most well-trained and loyal armies of Sweden. As such, he is often seen as more of a General than an actual noble, and Vesa is quick to capitalize on this. His sister had once attempted to teach him the intricacies of political intrigue, and though she had failed in making him a proper noble, Vesa had picked up enough to know how to listen out for useful information.

Having spent most of his life as a peasant, one of the easiest ways to earn his ire would be to witness a noble mistreating their servant or any peasant, for that matter. While Vesa knows enough about social grace to keep his swords sheathed and his mouth shut when seeing minor grievances, more serious ones would see him challenging the offending noble to a duel at worst, and letting loose a string of Finnish and Swedish expletives at best.

Vesa is also a rather humble person, always more than willing to speak to anyone as an equal, rank be damned. This can also be somewhat attributed to his own relatively low rank, being only roughly on par with a Count, if not just ever-so-slightly higher.

Skills:
- Skilled swordsman
- Good shot with the matchlock musket
- Plays the violin

Adventurers of Lemea (Lands of Lemea RS)

"No, it is-" Kayetan began and looked back at Aerrea, but she had already left for the seawater baths. He let out a sigh that was a mix of both resignation and frustration. While he appreciated Aerrea's concern for his comfort, he would have preferred it if she just told him about her mission right then and there rather than having to move into another room. Still, he supposed that he had no one else to blame aside from himself; he had his chance to back out of the whole thing back at the tavern, but he had agreed to at the very least hear her out and that was what he was going to do.

Collecting his items in his arms, he stood up and cast a glance over to Zinzie. "Not sure if you heard, but we will be in the seawater baths." He told him and pointed in the general direction of the doorway. "Enjoy your bath. You definitely look like you need it."

Kayetan followed Aerrea's footsteps into the seawater baths and felt the difference the instance he stepped through the doorway. Gone was feeling of heavy steam clouds enveloping his body, it was replaced by a cooling sensation that he found to be rather enjoyable. He spotted Aerrea in a shallow part of the pool, isolated from whatever few people there were in the room. Walking around the perimeter of the pool, Kayetan walked towards her. As he approached her, he quickly noticed the lack of clothes on her. While he was no prude, it had been a very long time since he had seen a woman with so few clothes on. Furthermore, she was a stranger and that made Kayetan feel slightly more uncomfortable.

"So," He began and cleared his throat, clearing his head of all thoughts except for those with regards to Aerrea's mission. He took a seat on the bench behind her, not wanting to take a bath so soon after having crossed an ocean. The daily sea sprays had given him a year's worth of showers and baths over the course of a mere fortnight. "Can we talk now?"

Lords and Ladies of the Court (A medieval politics roleplay)

I have a CS ready, but I'll wait to see if y'all can find a temporary/replacement/co-GM.

Adventurers of Lemea (Lands of Lemea RS)

Kayetan tailed behind the other two as they made their way towards the bathhouse. He kept a hand near his sword and the other near his side-arm, the sword-breaker. He had not forgotten that Zinzie had apparently escaped from captivity, and there was always the possibility that his captors would be coming to retrieve their prisoner. Kayetan kept his head low as he scanned his surroundings, making sure that there were no threats around the three of them. While Kayetan was well-aware that any would-be attacker would be accosted by the city guard long before they would be in range to be a threat to the three of them, he figured that there was absolutely no harm in simply being cautious.

It did not take long for them to reach the bathhouse, and Kayetan was somewhat surprised that he had missed it earlier as it was close to the pier where he had disembarked. He could even smell the fragrant scents of soaps from the outside. The clean interior, coupled with the relaxing scents almost made Kayetan drop his guard, but it did not take long for him to remember that he was here for business and not leisure. He was rather dismayed that he needed to hand his weapons over, but he supposed that it was for the best. All that steam and water would not be good at all for the metal of his blades and the wooden stock of his gun.

"This might take a while," He muttered as he removed his sheaths from his belt as fast as he could and placed them on the counter. He removed the bandoleer he wore across his body and held it for a moment before handing it over to the attendant behind the counter. "Keep them dry." He said curtly and unslung his rifle before handing it over as well. "This too."

He moved off to follow Aerrea, but stopped short when he saw her enter the mixed changing area. However, his surprise only lasted for a few seconds before he realized that having them separate into the gendered areas would be counterproductive. Taking in a deep breath, Kayetan followed in after her and immediately felt his body being enveloped by a thick cloud of steam. His coat suddenly felt damp and very uncomfortable. Letting out a sigh, he undid his wasitbelt and removed his coat, draping it over his arm as he walked over to a bench and sat down. Warm baths were common in the cold north, but warmth, like many things, was relative. Kayetan was quite certain that what was considered warm in Lemea might very well be scalding hot to him.

Kayetan did not know whether Aerrea was going to change out of her clothes, and so he kept his eyes glued to the ground as he spoke. "So, Aerrea, care to elaborate on your plan and mission?"

Adventurers of Lemea (Lands of Lemea RS)

Kayetan snickered mentally at Aerrea's insistence of having a bath. Whatever road she had taken, it must have been a rough one. He stood up and slung his rucksack across his back and checked that all his weapons where secure, most important of which was his carbine. His sword and sword-breaker were simple items, little more than a single piece of metal hammered into the shape of a weapon and with leather wrapped around the handle. The firearm, on the other hand, had a lot of intricate mechanical parts within. While not as fragile or complicated as a wheellock, the snaplock mechanism still relied on a spring that could be knocked out of place if it was not secured properly during transport.

"Lead the way, then." He said to Aerrea. "I only just arrived via boat, but I cannot say I saw any of the bathhouses you mentioned while on the way here."

Task Force Hephaestus

Choppy seas and a small inflatable boat made for a rough ride, but Mischief did not complain until they started heading west towards the Faronaki Peninsular. As far as he knew, their job was to just eliminate the submarine as a threat and nothing more. He furrowed his brow but kept his mouth shut. Perhaps Huscarl had received information that was not supposed to be shared even among the squad until the very last minute. Maybe Huscarl was just receiving information and they would be briefed once they arrived at wherever they were going to. Mischief just hoped it was not going to be another locate-and-destroy mission; he was running low on explosives and whatever he had left was soaked from his little dive.

Mischief kept his mouth shut, even as Praetorian questioned their reason for being on the Peninsular. The two men Huscarl approached looked to be on friendly terms with him, and that at least allowed Mischief the luxury of letting his guard down ever so slightly. Still, he kept a hand close to the grip of his rifle and his eyes scanning the area around them. However, when Huscarl passed the information Athena had acquired to the two insurgents, Mischief felt the need to voice his concerns. However, as no one else seemed to be questioning this move, Mischief kept his thought to himself. Perhaps his late arrival had meant that he had missed something. Maybe this was all part of the mission and it had just slipped Huscarl's mind to inform him.

Mischief was so convinced of that that he did not even raise his concerns when Huscarl had the rest of the team wait outside the cabin.

Then, Praetorian spoke up, shattering any illusion of Mischief's that he was simply missing something. "I do not know either. I was under the impression that my late arrival meant that I missed something?" He said. Now he was beginning to get suspicious; as odd as it may have sounded, Mischief disliked cloak-and-dagger matters despite having been int he 601st. He was perfectly fine with just running in with guns blazing to get the job done, but there was something about subterfuge that left a bad taste in his mouth and a bad feeling in his stomach.

Huscarl soon exited the cabin and explained the situation to the squad. Apparently the CSAT and AAF forces had some form of superweapon that needed to be taken care of, and when it came to that, it would be them who would be carrying out the mission. There was something about the way Huscarl had said it that rubbed Mischief the wrong way; he was familiar with the vague-but-specific manner Huscarl had used when explaining the situation. There was something that Huscarl was deliberately keeping from the squad, but Mischief decided not to question him. There would be time for that later. For now, he just wanted to get back to base without any further hiccups.