Sniblet

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

This has probably...
No, it's certainly been the worst day of her life.

It's not that Private Brave couldn't have seen it coming. Every army instructor she's ever had to listen to had at least one message to share in common: when the day came that she had to face down a real Arms Master, she was going to learn a lot about her place in the world very fast.
Well. "Face down" is a funny turn of phrase. For... a few reasons, at the moment, but for a start she didn't see any faces. She didn't see anybody. One moment the sky was clear; then it was on fire. One moment the ground was one of the few stable things left in the world; the next, she was... in it.
Private Brave has never really been claustrophobic, but there's nothing irrational about this fear. She can't move anything. She's pretty sure she's on her stomach, but there's no way to know that. She's breathing somehow, but for all she knows she's just in denial and suffocating even at this moment.

There's time, now, down here, for regrets, if she has the patience and presence of mind to think about her past. She doesn't, now. Not yet. But given another minute or two, she might come up with a lot of regrets going back years.
What she has the patience and presence of mind to think about is OUT OUT GET OUT, but there remains the issue that she can't move. She can't hear her radio, can't reach her radio to try and transmit, and if it's not receiving anything it probably isn't going to get anything out anyway. This is the calm and rational recital of her thoughts that she might have if she ever lives to look at this moment with hindsight - in this moment, these thoughts read as NO ONE CAN HEAR ME FUCK I DON'T WANT TO DIE PLEASE.

Well.
What does it matter what she wants or doesn't? She knows, or she should know, because every instructor said it: she's as good as nothing down here, right now.
When the dirt begins to shift around her, she doesn't feel like nothing. She feels like the whole world is coming to a screeching end.
NO - NO - NOT ME - WHO ARE YOU? - PLEASE!
It only takes a few clumps to seal off her breathing hole. She's not an Arms Master. She's nothing. She does need to breathe, or she will die, very fast, unlike them.
WHAT WAS THAT?
This force, this being that she never got to see, must be feeling more merciful than usual. But that doesn't mean that it's nice. It doesn't wait for her to suffocate, but neither does it do her the kindness of spearing through her skull first.

Her thoughts are no longer possible to transcribe. We use letters to encapsulate words, and there are no words in her mind when the enemy's Noble Arm sets to leisurely work at grinding her into viscera. The eloquent part of her brain, the one that lead her through her education up to high school, the one that impressed her parents more than she felt she deserved and the one that enables her to think in words, isn't destroyed just yet. It's just been roughly shoved aside by the animal consciousness taking full control to madly and fruitlessly throw its strength this and that way in its last ditch to save the body, which never moves. Not now. And never again.
One body of fourty.
Another soldier presumed KIA.
Thank you for your service, Private Brave.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Alright, but sometimes target assessment is necessary.
Many people that Astreya's known have had a hard time remembering the simple fact that she isn't stupid...
...sometimes...
...and that, when something actually has her attention, it damn well has it. Her laughter dies down, that mad stupor of violence fading as she takes in the last few seconds in which she doesn't seem to have, actually, killed the big demon. Her eyes dart all across its mass, scanning for everything worth noting. Cogent thoughts form a group and set to a race through that handful of well-developed pathways in her brain.

Combat Observations Log #001 - big lava decapitated buffalo+hands looking thing

• This guy's tough! It bleeds, but not very much at all. It's like its skin is armor. Buckshot's not going to penetrate far. Doesn't seem to feel pain, either.
• This guy's hot! Anything that embeds in it seems like it's going to melt pretty fast, except for those knives for... some reason. Maybe look into tungsten rounds for next time?
• This guy's strong and heavy! All this combined caliber isn't even staggering it. Definitely don't get hit, if it's got the strength to hold itself up, it's got the strength to pulp you. And absolutely don't get grabbed.
• This guy's big! I mean, yeah, good catch there, but it means it's got a long stride. That together with nothing seeming to slow it down, means we're never going to have any luck outrunning it. Maybe try sidestrafing its charges?
• This guy's NOT DEAD! How do we kill demons again? Do they even have vital organs? No, hold on... we're supposed to just bind them, right?

Conclusion: Burrowing through this entity's center mass with sustained fire is not going to work fast enough, so focus on disabling it. It's a quadruped; it will need at least two of those to keep standing, and if it can't move, it doesn't seem like it'll be able to pose a threat. Its rear limbs are smaller, but less threatening, and it'll still crawl without them. Even if it tries to guard it body with its forelimbs, that must be a mistake on its part; shred those arms and it's as good as furniture.

Her laughter picks up again, this time starting as a low, devious giggle - she's got it figured out now, she holds all the cards! She shifts her aim to the greater beast's arms, looking for joints to lock in on.
Her laughter isn't alone anymore. She sort of notices the newcomer, peripherally, but it doesn't have her attention. It's another demon, probably. Deal with it later.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Target assessment isn't the fun part. Astreya takes a quick scan around at the creatures surrounding them, and doesn't exactly decide to delegate, but quickly picks where she wants to shoot and where she'd rather have someone else take care of it.
Somebody else can figure out the tactics. She points her big gun center mass at the big thing.

One spray of buckshot lets off, accompanied by a puff of steam from one of the more wildly angled pipes on her weapon, and it visibly staggers her. Keeping an eye on the beast's reaction, she adjusts her posture and fires another, then another, then another, getting faster, steam bursts chugging along at smaller and smaller intervals, empty belt feeding out the side. The sound is... louder than gunshots, for sure, but she doesn't seem to mind at all.
Of course she doesn't. She's laughing now. Cackling, actually, her tail swishing with wild energy. In a fairer contest, against any other opponents, she could possibly be the most disturbing thing on the block right now.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Seemingly unhurried but without hesitation, Astreya skips over to the railing to peer over while Myrilla is still talking. They’re allowed to murder here? Or is that just a command privilege?
Whatever becomes of the Kat, she’s still watching over the railing when Leoniya has to tap her for attention to hand off the supplies. Ammo, in Astreya’s case, is a belt of 12-gauge shells. Not a bandolier, a belt, in the sense of something belt-fed. She grins as she takes it.
“I’m gonna make a biiig mess,” she whispers, in Krysa.

After a short diversion to actually get her gun - she hadn’t really thought it was droptime when she was called up - Astreya runs up to the deck again and leaps overboard without pause, something very large and tubey and brassy cradled in her arms. Pulling her cord without dropping the thing is a bit of a messy affair, but those quick panicky moments of turning a corner and almost bumping into death aren’t out of place for her brand.

Astreya lands lightly, and settles heavily. She looks around, the grin still on her face - indeed, healthier than before - and something questionable in her eyes as she goes about slotting belt into feed by muscle memory. Her ears lightly swivel to track the various catastrophic noises abound.
“North to be too late to save people, east to meet a problem…”
Her attention lingering to the east, she hefts the weapon. It clinks and hisses, pressure shifting in unseen chambers as the first round is pulled into firing position. In her application, Astreya used the word “shotgun,” but apart from the ammunition it’s really a tough thing to stick that word to - asymmetrical and apparently so far from ergonomic one must think the designer was avoiding it, with all visible signs pointing to it using a bizarre and surely unnecessary synthesis - or at least amalgamation - of steam and gunpowder propulsion together. Supposing this doesn’t just explode on firing, one must dread to imagine the kick…

Astreya’s shoulders are shaking, not with strain from the weight, but with laughter. She is imagining the kick.

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

Hannie is dreaming...

and her darling child.

Lumimyrsky. Whiteout. This is what the world looked like when I was born.
Look around you. All the world is decorated in flecks and coats of white. The trees have such small leaves. The animals are all hidden away.
Do you remember these dreams? They brought us close. Very close. And then you strayed away. We have not been back in a very long time.
I wonder what brought you back, child?
...
Do you hear me?

I do.

Ah, there you are. Always so quiet. Do not let the wind drown you.
Do you remember? This snow, these trees - me?

I do.

You are... afraid?

I didn't want to dream of you.

Oh, child.

Her doppelganger stands beside her, looking pensively ahead. Its body is colored and textured like hers, but it is transparent and reflective like ice.

How distant we have grown. I wonder how it is that I ever came to you. You have always been soft, but now you are afraid as well.
Afraid of what? Death, bloodshed, pain? And why? Are they not natural as well as necessary?

You never spoke to me before today.

You have only forgotten.

Your first words were telling me to die.

It is not the same when we die as when any other does.

You made me kill.
Her voice is quiet and dry.
Seconds pass. A minute. Two. Both of them look outward to the blank horizon.
Eventually, she puts her face in her hands. If she makes any sound, the wind takes it from between them.

Someday, we must come to understand each other.

She shakes her head. It will be better if she never understands.

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

I'll approve Nico as he is currently @Creative Chaos

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

Alright, more thorough power review.

Power: B = 4
Speed: C = 3
Range: C = 3
Persistence: D = 2
Precision: B = 4
Potential: D(S) = 2
Adds up to 18, divide by 6 for the average of all stats
3 = barely C

Mathematically speaking, Helios Rod is a low C-rank. Being able to access incredible A-rank Power at range for 2 hours each day should bump this to B for in-universe purposes, but in-game, it's not guaranteed that Nico's going to be fighting at noon very often at all - a competent enemy will certainly avoid challenging him at this time.
The fact that he can only fight in melee at any other time of day might limit him more than you expect. If you don't mind that, go ahead and keep it - it would line up with his personality - but if you think you might regret having an NA that necessitates getting in someone's face without being blown away on the approach, this is your warning. With a potential stat of D, this weakness is unlikely to get any better with practice.

The full effects of Sun Stoked and Sunsetter aren't perfectly clear to me. Do they boost Nico's own physical abilities, like letting him run faster and lift great weights, or does boosted speed and power mean in the sense of making Helios Rod more responsive and hotter? Both?
And what does greater defense mean - does Nico just get harder to harm? Does his usual regeneration get stronger? Does Helios Rod manifest a forcefield?
And greater precision - does this mean he can more reliably land "critical hits," or that Burning Edge will no longer harm his allies?
Does Burning Edge radiate heat, or does it only burn those who come in contact with the fire?

The bio and personality look alright to me, especially since Bee was willing to pass it.

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

I’ll look at this more in-depth in a bit, but for starters, you have potential S. There’s no precedent for S as a stand-alone rank, it’s a qualifier. C (S) means generally C with a strong but attached.
S on its own doesn’t mean much, unless you’re trying to say that his power’s adaptability and growth is all over the map.

Noble Arms - The ASEAN War [Moved to New Thread]

Double's Characters, currently NPCs

Alain and Ari are a brother-sister pair with complementary abilities. Alain wields a sword, and Ari a shield.
I didn't salvage their personalities or bio, but I did update their sheet with the modern stat system.
Specifics of their abilities may be bent from this version of the sheet. For example, there's no intention to use Devouring Darkness as an instant kill, like it's stated to be capable of.

Alain - Claimh Solais (RIP)

NA Rank: B+

Oathsworn:
Power: B
Speed: B
Range: B
Persistence: B
Precision: C
Potential: B
3.833 - B

Oathbreaker:
Power: A
Speed: B
Range: C
Persistence: D
Precision: D
Potential: B
3.33 - B

Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee. Close/Mid/Wide Range. Light/Dark.

~Noble Arm Abilities~

Passive

Oathsworn: Gives the blade a bluish-white glow around its edge. Believed to empower the blade with holy light for the purpose of vanquishing darkness. It also gives the blade a lighter weight allowing its Master to swing it with greater ease than the sword's size would suggest, in addition to empowering the strikes with the element of Light and giving it tremendous cutting power to the degree of cleaving armored vehicles and building walls with ease. This light energy can be expanded by Alain to a certain degree, effectively giving the Claimh Solais an increased length and width for wider swings and better guarding capabilities. The sword's light also appears to gives it an edge over darkness, giving it the capability of taking or deflecting dark energy with only minimal effort.

Active

Oathbreaker: A dangerous power in which the Arms Master forsakes Light in order to embrace Darkness. The bluish-white glow is replaced with a deep, dark purple one that can be utilized in an identical matter. This converts all previous abilities into Dark versions capable of greater damage and destructive power at the cost of gradual bodily degradation the longer the form is used. In addition, the powers themselves cost twice as much stamina to use. The degradation can be recovered over time, but cannot be healed by magic unless it is the magic of another Arms Master other than themselves. Cleansing Light becomes Veil Of Darkness, while Mending Light becomes Devouring Darkness. The degradation combined with the extra stamina costs result in this form only being usable for anywhere between 1-3 attacks before the user collapses from the drained stamina and degradation incurred by it. They must then take whatever time is needed to rest and recuperate before being able to call on this power again.

[OS]Cleansing Light: An appropriately named ability that comes from charging the blade with more Light, followed by thrusting its tip into the ground. Upon impact, the sword's light explodes outward for a light elemental blast that burns enemies with pure burning Light. Oddly enough, the Light doesn't seem to incur much structural damage to buildings or vehicles, instead damaging primarily living targets. The range of the radius is controlled by the user, and can be expanded up to the size of a city block at the cost of being more taxing on the user. Alternatively the Light can instead be focused into a single direction, producing a single long ranged blade beam whose width can be similarly controlled, up to a maximum of 60 meters. And unlike the burst, the blade beams are capable of slicing into and destroying vehicles or structures. Finally, Alain is capable of controlling who is damaged by the Light, reducing the risk of any friendly fire. Strangely the power is incapable of harming Ari no matter what the circumstance, likely having to due with their sibling bond.

[OS]Mending Light: A unique power that channels light not through the blade, but through the wielder's hands. They can use this light to instantly heal severe wounds and injuries of any person they touch.

[OB]Veil of Darkness: The Dark form of Cleansing Light. It used in very much the same way, but its maximum radius is doubled to 2 city blocks. Meanwhile, the blade beam form of the attack is also doubled, with a maximum width of 120 meters. The doubled range and power of the attacks naturally incur a doubled stamina cost for using them. Unlike Cleansing Light, Veil of Darkness can cause serious damage to both people and structures alike, regardless of whether it's the burst or the blade beam. Also unlike Cleansing Light, Alain is incapable of controlling who is damaged by the Darkness with Ari once again as the sole exception, and so the attack is reserved only for scenarios in which Alain is facing a large enemy alone.

[OB]Devouring Darkness: The Dark form of Mending Light. Rather than heal, this instead acts a spell for inflicting wounds. It similarly must be used via touching the intended target. Once this is done, the victim is inflicted with a bodily degradation similar to Alain's own. But theirs is instead much more rapid, if not outright instantaneous should Alain pour enough stamina energy into it. At minimum, a victim of this attack will be dead in approximately 4-5 seconds if they are not rescued or are unable to escape Alain's grasp. Ari is the one and only person with immunity to this attack.

Ari - Adamantius

Ari - Adamantius

NA Rank: B+
Oathsworn:
Power: B
Speed: C
Range: B
Persistence: B
Precision: C
Potential: B
3.66 - B

Oathbreaker:
Power: A
Speed: C
Range: C
Persistence: D
Precision: D
Potential: B
3.166 - B

Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Support/Defense. Close/Mid/Wide Range. Light/Dark.

~Noble Arm Abilities~

Passive

Oathsworn: Gives the shield a bluish-white glow around its edge. Believed to empower it with holy light for the purpose of reflecting darkness. Mainly it also gives the shield a lighter weight allowing its Master to carry it with greater ease than the shield's size would suggest, in addition to empowering its ability to defend against other Noble Arms.

Active

Oathbreaker: A dangerous power in which the Arms Master forsakes Light in order to embrace Darkness. The bluish-white glow is replaced with a deep, dark purple one that can be utilized in an identical matter. This converts all previous abilities into Dark versions capable of twice as much power and range at the cost of gradual bodily degradation the longer the form is used. In addition, all powers also cost double the stamina to be used. The degradation can be recovered over time, but cannot be healed by magic unless it is the magic of another Arms Master other than themselves. Wall of Light becomes Wall Of Darkness, and Mending Shield becomes Decaying Darkness. The degradation combined with the extra stamina costs result in this form only being usable for anywhere between 1-3 power uses before the user collapses from the drained stamina and degradation incurred by it. They must then take whatever time is needed to rest and recuperate before being able to call on this power again.

[OS]Wall of Light: A purely defensive wall of Light summoned by the Arms Master, creating a nearly impenetrable domed barrier around themselves. The size of the barrier is controlled by the Arms Master, and can be gradually increased to the size of a city block. The larger the barrier, the more taxing it is to maintain for long periods, and it weakens over time as the Arms Master grows tired and fatigued. An individual sized barrier (protecting only Ari) can be sustained for up to 30 minutes before mental taxation tires her out. Meanwhile, a full sized barrier (city block) can only be sustained for about 5 minutes before the strain becomes too much. The barrier can endure all manner of attacks and firepower, faltering only to something as large as an ICBM or greater. The barrier will slowly drain stamina in order to be sustained, but additional bits of stamina will need to be used to keep it steady as it is attacked or bombarded. And finally, the barrier only blocks from the outside. People and projectiles coming from the inside will be able to pass through harmlessly, but will be unable to go back through it unless Ari has already identified them as an ally. Alain seems to be the only exception to this rule, able to pass through freely at will, likely because of their sibling bond.

[OS]Mending Shield: The Wall of Light is given an enhanced shine, allowing those within to slowly slowly regain lost stamina and even slowly heal minor injuries. This does however increase the strain of maintaining the barrier by a factor of 50%. This likely won't have a noticeable effect on Arms Masters due to their built-in survivability. However non-Arms Masters that this is used for will certainly appreciate it giving them their own psuedo-survivability even it is only brief.

[OB]Wall of Darkness: The dark form of Wall of Light. Like any Oathbreaker power, it has double the range, power, and stamina cost of Wall of Light, though for the Wall this applies primarily to range and stamina cost. The power gradually summons a dark barrier whose size can be increased up to two city blocks. Unlike Wall of Light, Wall of Darkness does not keep things out. Rather it acts as a temporary prison to keep things trapped within. The inverted rules of Wall of Light apply here. People can freely enter from the outside, but are unable to leave once inside. Similarly, the stamina drain this incurs is proportional to the size of the barrier, about 20 minutes for an individual size, and roughly 4-5 minutes for the full size. Once again Alain appears to be the sole exception, able to pass through freely.

[OB]Decaying Darkness: The dark form of Mending Shield. This power inflicts a gradual bodily degradation effect on victims who have been caught in the Wall of Darkness. The degradation will even apply to weapons and other equipment that is not a Noble Arm. Unlike Alain's Devouring Darkness, Decaying Darkness only does damage slowly and over time and will only kill someone after they've been under its effect for a full 2 minutes. Similarly to Mending Shield, this power incurs a 50% increase on the stamina drain of Wall of Darkness while active. Like many of their other powers, Alain seems to be the sole person with immunity to its effect.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Astreya has been paying... maybe less attention than would be wise in her position. She's already seen what the deck looks like, but she's also already seen what Myrilla looks like, and assessed her at a glance as "some kind of authority person," so her behavior now is explainable and thus not interesting. She's been more focused on her peers. Though even that needs a qualifier - she's trying to "focus" on all of them at once.

Blue-haired cat, looks to be enjoying herself already. Oh-
Dark-haired girl (blue or black?) giving the cat a weird look, she was speaking foreign earlier too. Ah-
White-haired young lady with a plate of... those are called macarons, right? Uh-
Uh, an elf. Interesting. Anyway-
What a bright shade of pink!

Astreya is something of a sight with her attention darting around like this, her tail swinging left and right in an overstimulated wag. She barely catches the passing glare from Myrilla. She answers it with a grin, entirely out of the loop on why she might deserve that kind of venom.
"We don't know what went wrong-"
Oh, something went wrong? Anyway, that's got to be a dark elf, right?...

"-dead. Any questions?"
A few seconds pass without Myrilla saying anything. Astreya blinks, lets her attention shift to where it was supposed to be a minute ago. Well, she's never had a good enough reason not to ask a question when invited.
"Who's dead?" she asks.