Edwards slows his walk as he takes in the room, it's been a while since he was anywhere quite this luxurious. "I can certainly forgive the wait if this is what we're looking forward to." With that comment to noone in particular, he pours a glass of berry juice, grabs a banana and sits in a very comfortable synthetic leather chair by one of the front windows. As he sips the juice he taps one of the balls on his belt, letting Ribombee out to sit on his shoulder, naturally she steals a chunk of fruit half her height. He looks over as Vitesse leaves, but speaks to the rest of the passengers rather than following,"Somehow I don't think she's off to let her mantine out for that competition, probably best to wait until we're out of port for anything exciting anyway." his tone makes its pretty clear he's not taking it seriously, "Oh and guard anything sweet, Ribombee here would fight a charizard for a bowl sugar."
Verinric quickly straightens up from his previous slouch against the wall, stretching as much as he is able in the packed cell, it sounds like the night may have found a way to get even worse. Idle as his mind is he can't help but muse on what he hears, so these riots aren't entirely the fault of that thrice cursed Arena, though the red robes and masks don't ring any bells. He stayed quiet as the Blades talked, even managing not to gasp when the Emperor himself strolled up to the cell and proclaimed the situation to fit a prophetic dream, though sadly didn't feel the need to tell anyone what exactly he foresaw. When the offer was made, well that was an easy choice, when would he get a second chance to see Prophecy in person, perhaps he might even be able to offer some help.
Verinric moves towards the rear of the cell, remembers to bow to the Emperor, and faces the Blade who pardoned them before speaking for the first time since entering this accursed place, "A most gracious thank you for that pardon, I too shall be taking the tunnel, perhaps I may even be of use." With that said, he casts a spell of Light upon himself and follows after Kiffar.
This was quite possibly the worst day of Verinric's entire life, definitely the worst evening. All tha time wasted at the Arena, a good meal ruined by drunks and then the guards just tossed him in a cell with them. The real problem's not the cell, he likes to think he could handle that, can't be worse than spending a night in a tent andthe guards will not doubt sort this all out by morning so one night is all it would be. No it's the company, the nord woman and bosmer are clearly on something stronger than alcohol, the Cathay-Raht is apparently strong enough to remove a cell door, even the well dressed Breton, one cellmate he may have had hope for, is apparently trying to impress a woman by failing to get the cooperation of a guard.
Of course he shares none of that, no he stands quietly in a rear corner trying not to get too near anyone. He's definitely not poiting out any of the ideas he's already had for getting out, if the Cathay-Raht can dismantle the doors then it's unlikely the lock would stand up to his personal locksplitter, he could probably snatch the keys with Telekinesis if he got a dremora to lure a guard over, or he could even try his luck with a Recall, he still hasn't got that one to work on other people, but the guards don't seem to have taken any precautions. After all, those might get him actually charged with something.
Either that girl is seriously overestimating her Mantine, or Edward's been rather misled about the length of his luxury yacht trip.
And now the captain is seriously giving them the 'Snorlax in the road' excuse, yup, he definitely overslept.
Edward shakes his head at the machamp and lifts his single piece of luggage, no doubt the other passengers have plenty of work for it already. "Edward Keys, got to say, I'm looking forward to this trip, should we make our way aboard?"
He then waves over at the girl, Tess, "We might not need a ride anymore, but if your Mantine can keep up with a ship and is big enough to carry this many people, you've gotta let it out once we're going, I don't think even Gyarados could quite pull that off!"
Name:Verinric Stieence Age: 35 Race: Breton Appearance: Verinric is on the taller side of average at 5'11 and while by no means muscular he has made an effort to stay in shape despite a largely sedentary career. He keeps his appearance neat if not particularly impressive, his black hair kept short and neatly combed, his face cleanly shaven and his small wardrobe of robes, largely dark blues and reds with silver or gold embroidery, is regularly professionally laundered. His dark brown eyes and black hair contrast notably with the pale skin spending most of his days indoors naturally causes.
Personality: Verinric is always polite, but often fails to hide the fact that he'd rather be alone with his research than talking to you as well as he thinks he does. He gets more enthusiastic when talking with fellow scholars of the Mage's Guild, particularly when debating. While it's usually about some magical theory or other, the truth is he'll argue most things if he thinks you're wrong, and that attitude has not done him any favours. He is not a particularly ambitious man, preferring to quietly get on with his personal research projects rather than trying to climb the ranks, or at least that's what he insists, in truth he would very much like to rise to a position of power.
Scholar:Verinric is at his heart a scholar, years of study and curiousity have made him very well read, he's read and can quote from all the major tomes on magicka and metaphysics, from the Art of War Magic and Breathing Water to the Sermons of Vivec (though he doesn't claim to actually understand those).
Alchemy:No study of magic is complete without at least a basic level of alchemical study. It's far from his speciality, but he can work the various apparatus and knows the common ingedients for basic restorative potions. Daedric Knowledge: Like any good conjurer, he can read daedric script and know the many forms of Daedra.
Magicka: His greatest strength, as breton born under the Mage he had a natural advantage, he's practiced since childhood and had ample opportunity for improvement as a professional magickal scholar in the Guild. Never really clicked with Destruction though.
Enchanting: He knows the theory well, but has only ever enchanted a handful of items, and that with the aid of the Arcane University's state of the art Altar. He does however spend a fair amount of time recharging items.
Mysticism: His primary area of focus, its combination of highly useful effects and esoteric philosophy that always appealed to him. He commands Telekinesis, Detection, Absorption, Reflection, Soul-Trap, Dispelling, Mark and Recall. He never loses his keys, can grab books from the top shelf on the other side of the room and only walks home when the weather is pleasant.
Alteration: The more physical counterpart to Mysticism, and equally as interesting, who could read Breathing Water and not want to study it? Verinric can use Water Breathing, Water Walking, Shield, Feather, Slowfall, Elemental Shields, Lock and Open (so he wouldn't technically need those lost keys). He really wishes he could levitate, indeed he's thoroughly confused that there's so much pushback on Trebon's pet Necromancy Ban, which is downright useless (daedra are so much more sanitary) yet this was succesfully banned.
Conjuration: Not something he uses as often, but he can summon Scamps, Flame Atronachs or Dremora.
Illusion: He knows both Night-Eye and Light spells, preferring conjured light to the unusual hues of night eye, he can also briefly become invisible.
Restoration: He knows how to heal wounds, purge poison and restore stamina, though not especially fast.
Personal Items: -His current outfit: a comfortable dark red robe with black cuffs, a silver belt and some simple leather boots. -A mostly empty coinpurse which held his spending money for the evening.
The Lock Box:Just a simple silver dagger.
Stored Items: A Mage's Staff of Paralysis, 2 lesser soul gems containing Scamp souls, a leather backpack with a constant Feather effect, a set of Journeyman alchemy equipment, two potions of restore magicka, mundane changes of clothes and some more gold.
Background: Verinric spent his early years in High Rock, in the port town of Aldcroft, where his parents made their wealth as merchants. In his 10th year the family moved to Cyrodil after a few bad deals soured their local reputation. Thus he spent the remainder of his childhood in Anvil. Displaying a natural inclination to magic from a young age, he was quickly apprenticed to a local Mage and was an Associate of the Mages Guild by the time he turned 18, he found himself enthralled by magic, taking well to the strange mix of practical skill and unusual philosphy that makes up both Alteration and Mysticise. Initially he was keen to rise through the ranks. Travelling from guildhall to guildhall and earning recommendations from their leaders was an interesting change of pace, and felt very much like the Quests that he grew up hearing endlessly of back in High Rock, he got into a few scrapes, whether travelling the Empires ever neglected roads or when a few of the 'simple tasks' turned out to be rather more dangerous than he was told. Unfortunately he quickly realised that rather than simply being a way to test newcomers, the entire Guild seemed to run on favours and rank was tied as much to which of the higher ranked mages liked you as to your skill and knowledge. He stalled out at the rank of Evoker, entirely unwilling to play the ladder cliimbing game. Still, that's sufficient rank to have access to the Mystic Archives for all his research needs, and to provide various magical services to the citizens of the Empire, so long as the Guild get their dues, so that's what he's been doing ever since, he largely sticks to research, but offers his services to those with coin, recharging enchanted items (the trick is to charge more than the cost of a lesser soul gem and simply fill them with summoned scamps), selling spells or occasionally finding lost objects with Detect spells. That brings us to this fateful Morndas, Verinric is not usually a patron of the Arena, he's never really got what's so thrilling about two people trying to stab each other to death that people pay good septims for it, but an aquaintance, who seemed to take the news that he'd not visited the Arena once since moving to the Imperial City personally, had purchased him a ticket for the exhibition match, insisting it would be "A display of pure martial skill". It certainly didn't impress, but he'd figured he'd at least try the food at the bar he'd been recommended. He was half way through his steak when the fighting started and elected to try and finish the excellent meal before leaving, the patrons were certainly putting on a better show than the Arena had. And now he's stuck in a prison cell full of drunks, wondering whether he should try to charm the door open when his fellow inmates are asleep or just hope this all gets sorted by the morning.
Ambition: He seeks to attain sufficient skill in magic that the Guild has no choice but to promote him, then campaign against the ban on Levitation.
Name:Verinric Stieence Age: 35 Race: Breton Appearance: Verinric is on the taller side of average at 5'11 and while by no means muscular he has made an effort to stay in shape despite a largely sedentary career. He keeps his appearance neat if not particularly impressive, his black hair kept short and neatly combed, his face cleanly shaven and his small wardrobe of robes, largely dark blues and reds with silver or gold embroidery, is regularly professionally laundered. His dark brown eyes and black hair contrast notably with the pale skin spending most of his days indoors naturally causes.
Personality: Verinric is always polite, but often fails to hide the fact that he'd rather be alone with his research than talking to you as well as he thinks he does. He gets more enthusiastic when talking with fellow scholars of the Mage's Guild, particularly when debating. While it's usually about some magical theory or other, the truth is he'll argue most things if he thinks you're wrong, and that attitude has not done him any favours. He is not a particularly ambitious man, preferring to quietly get on with his personal research projects rather than trying to climb the ranks, or at least that's what he insists, in truth he would very much like to rise to a position of power.
Scholar:Verinric is at his heart a scholar, years of study and curiousity have made him very well read, he's read and can quote from all the major tomes on magicka and metaphysics, from the Art of War Magic and Breathing Water to the Sermons of Vivec (though he doesn't claim to actually understand those).
Alchemy:No study of magic is complete without at least a basic level of alchemical study. It's far from his speciality, but he can work the various apparatus and knows the common ingedients for basic restorative potions. Daedric Knowledge: Like any good conjurer, he can read daedric script and know the many forms of Daedra.
Magicka: His greatest strength, as breton born under the Mage he had a natural advantage, he's practiced since childhood and had ample opportunity for improvement as a professional magickal scholar in the Guild. Never really clicked with Destruction though.
Enchanting: He knows the theory well, but has only ever enchanted a handful of items, and that with the aid of the Arcane University's state of the art Altar. He does however spend a fair amount of time recharging items.
Mysticism: His primary area of focus, its combination of highly useful effects and esoteric philosophy that always appealed to him. He commands Telekinesis, Detection, Absorption, Reflection, Soul-Trap, Dispelling, Mark and Recall. He never loses his keys, can grab books from the top shelf on the other side of the room and only walks home when the weather is pleasant.
Alteration: The more physical counterpart to Mysticism, and equally as interesting, who could read Breathing Water and not want to study it? Verinric can use Water Breathing, Water Walking, Shield, Feather, Elemental Shields, Lock and Open (so he wouldn't technically need those lost keys). He realy wishes he could levitate, indeed he's thoroughly confused that there's so much pushback on Trebon's pet Necromancy Ban, which is downright useless (daedra are so much more sanitary) yet this was succesfully banned.
Conjuration: Not something he uses as often, but he can summon Scamps, Flame Atronachs or Dremora.
Illusion: He knows both Night-Eye and Light spells, preferring conjured light to the unusual hues of night eye, he can also briefly become invisible.
Restoration: He knows how to heal wounds, purge poison and resotore stamina, though not especially fast.
Personal Items: -His current outfit: a comfortable dark red robe with black cuffs, a silver belt and some simple leather boots. -A mostly empty coinpurse which held his spending money for the evening.
The Lock Box:Just a simple silver dagger.
Stored Items: A Mage's Staff of Paralysis, 2 lesser soul gems containing Scamp souls, a leather backpack with a constant Feather effect, a set of Journeyman alchemy equipment, two potions of restore magicka, mundane changes of clothes and some more gold.
Background: Verinric spent his early years in High Rock, in the port town of Aldcroft, where his parents made their wealth as merchants. In his 10th year the family moved to Cyrodil after a few bad deals soured their local reputation. Thus he spent the remainder of his childhood in Anvil. Displaying a natural inclination to magic from a young age, he was quickly apprenticed to a local Mage and was an Associate of the Mages Guild by the time he turned 18, he found himself enthralled by magic, taking well to the strange mix of practical skill and unusual philosphy that makes up both Alteration and Mysticise. Initially he was keen to rise through the ranks. Travelling from guildhall to guildhall and earning recommendations from their leaders was an interesting change of pace, and felt very much like the Quests that he grew up hearing endlessly of back in High Rock, he got into a few scrapes, whether travelling the Empires ever neglected roads or when a few of the 'simple tasks' turned out to be rather more dangerous than he was told. Unfortunately he quickly realised that rather than simply being a way to test newcomers, the entire Guild seemed to run on favours and rank was tied as much to which of the higher ranked mages liked you as to your skill and knowledge. He stalled out at the rank of Evoker, entirely unwilling to play the ladder cliimbing game. Still, that's sufficient rank to have access to the Mystic Archives for all his research needs, and to provide various magical services to the citizens of the Empire, so long as the Guild get their dues, so that's what he's been doing ever since, he largely sticks to research, but offers his services to those with coin, recharging enchanted items (the trick is to charge more than the cost of a lesser soul gem and simply fill them with summoned scamps), selling spells or occasionally finding lost objects with Detect spells. Ambition: He seeks to attain sufficient skill in magic that the Guild has no choice but to promote him, then campaign against the ban on Levitation.
Edward was in an excellent mood as he stood on the pier enjoying the coastal breeze, the weather is fantastic, the salty air in his lungs is refreshing and his coat is flapping in the breeze. It felt like a good day for adventure, a little more civilised than normal, certainly, but everything from the fancy yacht, looking far more impressive than the small vessels he usually charters, to the destination and his fellow passengers promise to be a new experience.
He looks over to the passengers, turning away from the sparkling sea and is surprised how many faces he recognises. Kaison and Syl are a given, he doesn't usually have time to watch live, but he always catches up on the latest championship bouts between travels, he's also pretty sure these particular champions were as keen to do the actual job as he was. The silver haired man in overalls looks familiar, but it's not until he introduces himself as Auggie that Edward remembers watching a video of him trying to make sense of the Ruins of Alph. He recognises Sophie from a few thumbnails he's seen of her posing with some rare pokemon or other, he couldn't tell you what she actually does though. He doesn't know the rest, though the name Bat Standifur rings a bell for some reason and does not miss that the young girl is seemingly the one person who doesn't actually want to be here.
Edward steps forward at the mention of their missing captain, joining the conversation with a smile "Of course the captain's fine, the water's far too calm for an experienced sailor to fall in, perhaps he overslep."
I definitely share what seems to be the general sentiment of preferring more moves, but being ok with the limit, but I've had too ideas: 1) What would people think of a limited movepool that's a little bigger than four (6, 8 or 10 perhaps), that leaves a little more room but still wouldn't let anyone have an answer to everything. 2) If hitting supereffectively too easily is your real issue, limiting the number of damaging types we can have.
Edward was born and raised in Rustboro city, where his parents worked in R&D at the famous Devon Co.. As a result he grew up comfortable and well educated, though with little parental supervision owing to their long work hours, indeed he probably spent more time supervised by his father's old Chimeco and mother's pet Mightyena than than with his parents. He's never really held it against them, indeed he thinks he turned out all the better for it. When the time came for his journey his parents managed to secure him one the year's coveted Torchic brood, leveraging his good education and a favor from one of Birch's assistants. That year wandering the region with just his pokemon at his side was quite the formative experience, Edward found himself greatly enjoying his time exploring the less well trod paths, met some wonderful pokemon and even reached the semi finals, though his relatively small team and inexperience saw him go no further. He spent the next year travelling abroad, visiting some cousins in Alola and touring the islands, he didn't actually register for their official league, just spent a lot of time wandering the wonderfully preserved wild spaces with his pokemon, picking up a few more team mates as he did. He did eventually stumble upon their battle tower while exploring the relatively untamed Poni Island, and to the surprise of both himself and some of the veteran trainers there, he did rather well, more importantly he met a holidaying Galarian businessman who particularly enjoyed his aggressive style and offered him a sponsorship for his native Galarian League, knowing how few foreigners ever make the right connections to try, Edward accepted. His next year was in some ways a mixed bag, he'll always fondly meeting the Dreepy that would go on to become his final teammate, but the simple routes and curated wild area simply didn't have the same appeal as wandering off the beaten path, never sure what he'd find. Of course the most important part may well be the final tournament itself, where he swept aside all competition, ousted the reigning champion and claimed both a rather sizeable prize and a fair bit of fame. He was bored within a month, abdicated the title and left the region entirely, he's still a little controversial there. Galar had made him realise what really drew him to training, the travel, climbing a mountain to see hundreds of Minior rain from above, pushing through a sandstorm to climb an ancient tower that wasn't there the day before, or spending a week in a forest with noone but his pokemon for company. He wanted to explore, and he had both the funds to make it happen and the pokemon to make it back. He spent a while exploring the outer edges of Hoen, pushing further into the jungles where few travelled than anyone had in years, but it was his expedition to Mirage Island, which despite persistent rumours had yet to be properly documented that really put him back in the public eye, the footage of him riding towards it on his Gyrados, was the first actual recording, and was shared widely. He mostly just wanders the wilderness without finding anything, occasionally posting about his exploits online, but every so often he'll find some cool ruins or rare pokemon that get him back in the spotlight. Not that he's neglected his training, he's never taken on another league, but is a member at a number of battle towers, stadiums and similar facilities across the globe, getting in a few matches when he passes by. Publicity work for a resort is a bit unusual for him, but a battle resort sounds fun and he's not likely to get many other offers to ride a luxury yacht full of famous trainers.
[ ❇ ] P E R S O N A L I T Y
Edward is friendly in a very casual way, he'll greet anyone with a smile, and is open to sharing stories, advice or just a campfire. On the other hand he's not one for formalities and doesn't have many true friends, he usually makes a good first impression, but often doesn't stay in one place long enough to make a second one. He's an honest man, which is fortunate because he's a terrible liar. He's a very laid back man most of the time, the exception being pokemon battles, where he focuses on speed and aggression. He actively avoids being responsible for anyone but himself and his pokemon and is not particularly good at leading other humans. He still helps those who need it when he bumps into them, after all his pokemon would be disappointed in him if he didn't.
[ ❇ ] P O K È M O N
1 Blaziken, his starter.
2 Alakazam, caught as an Abra not long after he first left Rustboro.
3 Metagross, tracked down with great difficulty as a beldum in Hoen.
4 Gyarados, met while sailing to Alola.
5 Ribombee, accidentally lured over by Edward's syrup coated dessert in Alola as a cutiefly, bravely continue to try to steal a sip even after he released Blaziken.
Ryik
Quest Abandoner
op2024
Alfhedil
A Moody Writer
Carlyle
VitaVitaAR
Raineh Daze
NoriWasHere
LYNN4EVER
Blaziken, his starter.
Alakazam, caught as an Abra not long after he first left Rustboro.
Metagross, tracked down with great difficulty as a beldum in Hoen.
Gyarados, met while sailing to Alola.
Ribombee, accidentally lured over by Edward's syrup coated dessert in Alola as a cutiefly, bravely continue to try to steal a sip even after he released Blaziken.
Dragapult, the best thing to come from Galar