VitaVitaAR

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

With the affirmative replies from her soldiers, many of them determined to bring justice to the cult that was lurking among the ancient graves and rocky outcroppings, Velvetica nodded to herself.

However, there were still others who had questions of their own.

Among them was the nem merchant, Lirrah, who had journeyed from the far south. As someone who had only rarely interacted with her kind prior, Velvetica had to admit it was easy to think of her as childlike and defenseless. But that wasn't exactly true. She was an adult, and did possess weaponry of her own, even if it wasn't exactly suited to full-blown combat so much as self-defense.

"You'd have to be an idiot to unnecessarily place a merchant and supplier directly into combat," she commented, with an idle wave of her hand, "With that being said, it would also be foolish not to take advantage of your eyesight. You'll be placed in the backlines, at a higher vantage point near our archers."

Not only would this keep her out of direct danger, but it would also capitalize on her excellent nightvision and allow her to keep the supplies out of direct combat as well. It also wouldn't require an escort.

"As for you, Lambert, I believe your skills will best be suited to the second phase of our assault," she replied to the assassin, "Which brings me to our plan of attack."

The blonde girl cleared her throat.

"While I am quite certain of our enemy's nature, it's worth noting that it would be discovered far more swiftly if they had been utilizing undead in their raids," she added, "Isn't it curious that a necromantic cult has not been doing as such?"

She clapped her hands together.

"Simply because they worship necromancy does not mean they are any good at it, you see, and I suspect they're not utilizing their undead for their raids for that reason," she continued, "The undead are likely being used exclusively as guardians for their camp, and for the purposes of labor in order to locate whatever it is that they're seeking. To put it another way, we can likely expect mortal resistance for the most part."

It was a hunch, admittedly, but for a cult that embraced necromancy so clearly, not to actually use any undead in their attacks was a curious choice. Going through the effort of collecting the bodies, but not using them for anything else, meant that there had to be a reason they chose not to.

"Our approach is thus to draw their defenders from their hole with a tantalizing prize: Strong and well-supplied soldiers in seemingly manageable numbers, carrying valuable materials. Bait, in other words. So close to their camp, it will be difficult for fanatics to ignore the new supply of high-quality dead, slaves, and necessary supplies."

Turning their raiding habits against them was the most logical choice to be made, especially given their seeming boldness.

"We will then ambush their raiding party and destroy it, before proceeding into their camp. As I mentioned, Lambert, once we've commenced our ambush, I would like for you to break off of our main force in order to seek out and slay the one raising the dead. The sooner they our slain, the quicker the possibility of raising their own dead is ended, as well as the threat of whatever undead they might possess."

@Raineh Daze@Rin@AzureKnight@Psyker Landshark@The Otter@VKAllen@Eisenhorn@Crimson Paladin@Conscripts@HereComesTheSnow@Octo@PigeonOfAstora

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

With her conversation with Sir Ethelred concluded, Fio bowed her head politely and focused on the Queen's words.

Assigning her as leader for a mission to seek out and converse with giants? Seeking the assistance of a giant smith, for that matter?

Well, Fio could hardly contain her approval of the choice of leader. She felt entirely confident in her capacity in such a position. She was, after all, quite mentally capable. Not to say that the others were stupid in her eyes, but when it came to certain kinds of intelligence she did believe she was a step ahead of any of the knights. And that made her extremely well-suited to leadership.

When it came to giants, Fio had never personally interacted with them. What research she had done of them was also not entirely clear on all the details. She knew some aspects of their culture, their nature, but when it came to how best find a Giant Smith... Well, she was confident she would be able to figure it out, but at the same time it was important to have a good starting point.

She had some idea of what to look for, but any information helped.

"Do you have any suggestions on where to start?" asked the Sword Witch, "Not that I don't know what to look for, but the faster a Giant Smith is found, the better."

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

"My, an oversized chicken is our opponent, now?"

If this was Kordelia's direct doing, it was almost hilarious. Almost. If not for the rest of the situation.

The icy translucent barrier that Aleksiya had conjured served well to protect her from the winds, and any undignified results that might have come from such an impact.

"How threatening. How utterly terrifying," idly commented the petite vampire, deconstructing her ice barrier into water and drawing it into her hand, where it froze solid once more, forming an icy spear of considerable length and thickness that drifted above her palm, "I'm shaking, truly."

The fact that the beastly avian had chosen to drop and screech its presence as if there was any true gravitas to its entrance was, in all honesty, even more amusing to Aleksiya. The bird had a sense of self-importance, perhaps? It thought it had earned such a dramatic entrance? Or perhaps it was so mindless with rage and fury that it had to voice its anger? Or it was perhaps a display, in an attempt to threaten them?

It truthfully didn't matter in the slightest. The outcome would be the same. It would always be the same.

Her enemies would die.

Sooner or later, all of them would.

"But I've grown tired of loud noises, so would you kindly shut that beak of yours?"

With that, the child-like vampire snapped her fingers, sending the thick ice spear hurtling directly towards the bird's face.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

I Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game, But———?! (Now Accepting)

While most of Anne's mind was in a panic, attempting to analyze everything the Prince had said in order to isolate and defend against even the slightest chance of a flag, it wasn't as if she entirely failed to realize the situation.

Even if she hadn't played the game before, Lilian's feelings for the Prince were entirely obvious. Her treatment in the Prince's route was one of the reasons it hadn't been her favorite, for that matter. Certainly, she wasn't very nice, but it felt rather harsh for someone who wasn't particularly a genuinely bad person.

Anne took a deep breath.

"U-um, maybe you could catch up?" she suggested, awkwardly, "S-since it's... er..."

She trailed off after a few moments. What did she even say here? Playing matchmaker wasn't her strongsuit at all! Doing it in real life was vastly different from doing it in SRPGs!

"Er... and... we can... go let you do that!"

As odd as Serrica was acting, it was at least a potential out from a dangerous situation!

@PKMNB0Y@Pyromania99

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Erich Cazt.

It had been early in Thaln's history when a monstrous demon had, for reasons beyond human understanding, chose to become the country's enemy. Perhaps it was his own amusement. Torture. Murder. Brutality. That was the demon's delight.

Erich Cazt stood and challenged him.

Erich Cazt defeated him.

He broke the demon, slew his body, and sent his spirit fleeing from the gates of Aimlenn, in terror.

And now the Demonbreaker was their enemy. His body, yes, but it was the corpse of a hero nonetheless. He had cast Dame Serenity with ease, and now stood in combat with Sir Gerard.

Fanilly had to catch her breath. She had to steady herself. It was one blow after another. First that monstrous undead, now a fallen her turned into a weapon. A legend made into a tool for a necromancer.

And yet alongside the fear, anger burned in her heart. To take the body of a man who had done so much for their country and its people, to use it as nothing more then a puppet to defend himself. The true Erich Cazt would never have stood for such a thing.

Her grip on her blade tightened.

The necromancer was the true target. Not only that, but with his defeat, so to would fall all of the undead he had created.

But Erich was bearing down on Sir Gerard. That blade gleaming as it was readied to strike once more.

Fanilly was already in motion. With the necromancer shielded, that meant that the danger one of her knights was in was far higher in priority.

She was certain that her attack wouldn't kill. This wasn't Jeremiah. The undead felt neither pain, nor concern for their own wellbeing.

But if she could find a gap...!

Fanilly skidded to a halt beside Erich, twisting her body and thrusting her blade upwards with both hands. Her aim was to slip it beneath his arm as he swung, thrusting into a gap in his armor, piercing his arm, and disrupting his swing. She knew it wouldn't do enough damage to impact the undead in any considerable way, but if she could stop his blow then Sir Gerard would have a moment or two to follow up!

The Necromancer simply smirked. Erich Cazt was a legend. Even without his capacity as a mage restored, his skill as a warrior was more than enough.

This was a dangerous time for him, but he hardly cared what happened to anyone else in the mausoleum, as long as he survived. His barrier, and his hostage, would make him no easy target.

But his smirk faltered when he saw the figure that had appeared on the opposite end of the room.

Gripping a basket of nuts, having spoken in a sultry, yet casual tone, was the slim figure of a girl, not too different in height(or perhaps slightly shorter) than the knight-captain. Her features were slight, perhaps endearing to some, but the horns that curled form her head and the black that surrounded her orange irises were enough to indicate her true nature even without taking into account the redness of her skin. If not for her demonic nature, the fact the clothing she was wearing was too large for her and far more masculine then one would expect would be comical.

It was the same clothing one of the Necromancer's conspirators had been wearing.

"Y-you..." he spoke, eyes widening, "... Were you inside that gem then? Hah, well, you'll have to get past the Demonbreaker too, if you want to challenge me."

Fierense ducked low, sprinting to the side, lightning trailing in her wake as she did. The arrows, aimed as they were ,careening towards her, were suddenly tilted just off-course, towards the trail of electricity behind her as opposed to the witch herself. It was likely arrows that had not been infused with Shael's power could be drawn away from their target in a similar manner.

"Is that so? I thought it was a compliment, you know," responded the witch, cocking her head, "A divine spirit is a divine spirit all the same."

Lighting tore from her fingertips, towards the archer knight, but it seemed oddly unfocused. Almost as if Fierense didn't particularly care if her blow struck or not, in spite of her prior behavior.

But it would definitely make it harder to shoot back.

@Rune_Alchemist@HereComesTheSnow@Raineh Daze@ERode

---

With the elder princess left to see the various relics in Candaeln's halls and guarded by both Iron Rose Knights and Crown Knights alike, it was likely she would be a difficult target even if there was another assassin or wicked spirit that figured out where she had gone.

Princess Maletha smiled slightly when Sir Fionn patted her head, before slowly following Tyaethe out of the room.

When they arrived at the room, well...

It was difficult to say what the Second Princess expected from a legendary knight's room. But it probably wasn't this, judging by the way in which her eyes widened slightly. Then again, she perceived that knight as a child like herself, so perhaps it was the presence of the more knightly aspects that had surprised her instead?

It was impossible to say.

But when she was introduced to Elei, she approached the theoretically-a-rabbit stuffed to, clutching Thrinax to her chest as she did.

She took one of the stuffed dragon's forelimbs in her hand, and raised it, slowly making it wave back and forth as if in greeting.

@Krayzikk@The Otter@Psyker Landshark@Raineh Daze

The Storm Cycle: Reclamation

Fio paused for a few moments to listen to the Queen, uncertain how to respond when she noticed her cheeks reddening upon looking at her, but soon enough she made her way to Ethelred. After all, she'd completed her research over the week with the intent of being able to deliver the information as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it wasn't as detailed as she'd hoped, but it would still shed some light on the nature of the strange stone all the same.

"Sir Ethelred," she began, stopping in front of him, "I did some research on the stone that little idiot gave you."

Reaching into her bag, she retrieved a sheet of her notes, handing it over.

"It's a fairy stone. You can think of them sort of like keys, thought not necessarily in the way you might understand one," she continued, "Sometimes they unlock objects, but other times they might dispel illusions or remove an enchantment, things of that nature. I tried getting more information out of her, all she'd say is she just picked it up."

The Sword Witch sighed heavily.

"Unfortunately, being a bad liar doesn't really matter if all you do is repeat that lie."

@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Still fuming from being called short, when she clearly wasn't, definitely, damn stupid tall people being so tall and stupid, Elizstrazia paused for a moment when the maid who had initially elected to refer to her as such decided to ask her about why she was helping.

"Because it wa-"

She didn't have a chance to complete her answer. There was a distant crack of gunfire, and then something hot grazed her cheek, sent spiraling off in another direction from the impact.

It hurt. While it didn't manage to injure her, it still marred her skin with a smear, and it still stung. The impact had caused her head to snap sideways, and she stumbled slightly to the side before managing to catch herself with one bare, clawed foot.

"..."

The one who had shot her was already approaching, having come down from her perch. She was drawing a sword.

"... Okay. I see how it is. I get it."

Her hands clenched tight as she slammed her foot down, her crimson eyes burning. From her back a pair of draconic wings erupted, thin membranes stretched between the fingers that composed them.

Elizstrazia reasoned, simply, that killing someone who opposed her contract with Livia openly enough to attack her was simply defending herself. Simply defending Livia's investment in her. Thus, no-one could complain when-

"I'm going to spill your guts out all over the floor you bitch!"

-she took action.

Leaning forward, with one foot sliding back into position, her claws gleamed as she prepared to lunge forward...!

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This@AzureKnight

The Lion's Banner: A Fire Emblem-Inspired Anime Fantasy RP

Velvetica quietly ground her fingers to her chin, contemplating the information she'd been given. Certainly, there were some proposals that could possibly explain these actions in isolation. The ancient tombs in the borderlands were often stocked with all manner of wealth, so robbing them could be a route to profit for the average bandit. Using human remains to adorn their camp could be a method of intimidation rather then ritual. To make those who would approach fearful, rather then worship any profane entity.

With all that said, however, when combined with the actions of the supposed bandits it simply didn't add up. If they had been taking exclusively the living as prisoners, then it would still be explainable.

But they were taking the dead as well.

"Effigies using human remains and disturbed earth, then..." she paused for a moment, "In that case, I'm certain I know precisely what we're up against, now. Hiding behind the veil of mere bandits was a foolish idea given their proclivities."

A smile crossed the Steel Princess's lips.

"They're going to regret it."

It was a short time later, once her requested soldiers had largely been gathered, that she prepared to give her briefing.

The table-sized map now had a black marker placed on it, highlighting the likely location of the enemy camp.

"Our scouts' efforts have determined not only the location of the enemy camp, but also provided valuable evidence of the nature of our enemy," she began, "Taken in isolation, only the claiming of the dead is unusual for bandits. Disturbing the earth could be explained by hunting for treasure in tombs. Prisoners can be taken as hostages or slaves. Effigies made of human remains can be used for intimidation rather then ritual."

Placing her hands on the table, Velvetica leaned forward.

"But our enemy is guilty of all of these crimes, plus collecting the dead," she continued, "Quite unusual, is it not? Expending effort to cart off corpses is strange even if you're attempting to pretend to be something you're not. That is, of course, because our enemy is not simply bandits. Nor is it Ithillin's dogs, trying to portray themselves as such."

She straightened.

"But it's certainly a group that stands to profit from the situation. I'm certain at least some of you are familiar with the cults that worship wicked spirits and the ancient dark lords, correct?"

She regarded her assembled forces.

"Those who indulge in slavery and necromancy. Those who defile the dead in the name of their rituals, to make symbols from their bodies. Sins against the goddesses and all who follow them," she added, "Those who worship wickedness and evil. That, I am nearly certain, is our opponent. I suspect they're seeking a specific tomb, and forcing prisoners living and dead into labor for them. There's no way to guess what profane entity they worship based on our current information, but it will make little difference: They shall be wiped out all the same."

@Raineh Daze@Rin@AzureKnight@Psyker Landshark@The Otter@VKAllen@Eisenhorn@Crimson Paladin@Conscripts@HereComesTheSnow@Octo@PigeonOfAstora

Strange Gospel: A Heavily Persona-Inspired Urban Fantasy RP

"All you need to know right now is it's a monster!" asserted Nozomi, immediately. On the run, there really wasn't any time to explain anything involved. Right now she had to try and get to the others as fast as possible. At the moment they didn't have anyone to spare, so the people at the convenience store were in even more danger then Nozaki was.

Hopefully they'd at least stay hidden.

They weren't that far, either. Just a little bit more, and they'd not only be there but also in a far more open area.

She could still hear that thing crawling behind them, its limbs scraping up against the sides of the alley.

There! The alleyway opened up there! Now-

Another set of lengthy limbs crawled into view from around the corner, the pale masks swinging into vision as a second of the spider-like creatures emerged, crimson tongues hanging from the white masks.

"... I guess this is it, huh?"

Nozomi took a deep breath, reaching into her bag.

"I can do this. I've got this. I can do it."

From it, she pulled something that almost looked like a boxcutter, if one wasn't to look very closely at it.

"You can do it, Nozomi," she said to herself, again, "You can do this. This time nothing's here to stop you."

She extended her right arm, spun the object around, and brought it down into her wrist. She winced, gritting her teeth as the object seemingly penetrated her skin and bit deep.

But there was no blood.

"Hecate!"

Even paying close attention, what happened next was difficult to understand. Suddenly, as if assembled from mist, a figure seemed to construct itself from thin air, floating behind Nozomi. As the dark matter that seemed to build it from nothingness faded and took on colors, a strange shape was revealed.

It resembled a young, slender girl, though in actual size it was larger then Nozomi herself. It was mostly silver, its body clad in what appeared to be a minidress of similar color to was as most likely its skin. Its arms were unattached to its body, instead floating at its sides in the form of two long, flat, ribbon-like structures hanging from a pair of spheres. Its head was mostly human-shaped, proportioned much like that of a young girl's with suitably youthful features, but its eyes were pure, bright blue. Lengthy silver hair poured down its back, past its hips, and it wore a large hat with two points projecting from the sides. Each point was adorned with a gold medallion shaped like an odd wheel.

Its ribbon-like arms raised immediately, twisting around one another and gathering light between them, which quickly coalesced into a sphere of white. From the mist pouring off of it, it was evidently quite cold, and before the first of the monsters could draw closer it was sent hurtling towards it, careening into it head-on and slamming into one of the masks. A shard of porcelain(or at least what appeared to be porcelain) was sent spiraling into the air as the creature was knocked over entirely, trailing black ooze as it hit the ground.

Without pausing, Hecate spun, wrapping one of its ribbon-arms around the other spider creature's leg and swiftly upending it, tipping it onto its back and making room for their escape.

"Let's go!"

Without pausing to explain what had just happened, Nozomi was already dragging the boy along, the drifting form of the entity she had summoned following behind them.

@Bartimaeus

---

Resistance had been the las thing the oozing, masked creature expected. Especially no this powerfully.

It wobbled, reeling black, spewing black fluids as Belial's claws tore through its body, spattering oil-like liquid onto the ground. Several of its flailing limbs were severed, spiraling off and melting as they flew, splattering onto the dark backdrop and dripping down to meet the blood already staining the ground.

The blow to its side rocked through its entire body, as well, shredding through its goo-like flesh and causing it to writhe more intensely.

It was something like a dying worm, now.

But it wasn't done yet, as more arms rose from its back, grasping at the demon-like Echo and reaching for its summoner.

@Pitsuji@Psyker Landshark

---

As the boys spoke amongst themselves, trying to figure out how to escape from this dire situation, they likely didn't notice what was happening to the body outside.

He was sinking deeper into the black puddle. More and more of his body was breaking down. First it had been his mind, almost certainly the reason for the black liquid that poured from his eyes and nose. But now his entire body was melting, liquifying, turning into more and more of that black ooze.

And it was starting to move.

As the body completely liquified, something rose from it.

It had a feminine shape, hourglass-like, its head adorned with a simplistic white mask portraying a distressed expression. From its head, the hair it appeared to possess ended into small, grasping hands.

One of these hands reached around, seeming to plunge into the creature's torso, before drawing out a spike of silvery metal.

Then it drew it back...

And hurled it towards the convenience store window.

@AThousandCurses@hatakekuro@DarckLeon

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

"Tch."

Earned? Her very existence was something to be admired. Her beauty, her loveliness, that was something to be admired. She was like a work of fine art, wasn't she?

It was proof that she'd never be marred, to be admired.

"Well, I suppose you'll just have to learn," replied Elizstrazia, entirely ignoring the comment about 'funny business' from one of the maids in preference of addressing the assertion that she'd have to earn her admiration, "Anyway, I guess I'll follow you if I mu-"

Smaller.

'Smaller than I imagined'.

All other thoughts in Elizstrazia's mind, for a moment, ceased, as she grasped that phrase and analyzed it over and over again in her mind.

'Smaller than I imagined'

"I'm not short," the girl the size of a child snapped, stepping forward, "I'm... I'm-I'm beautiful! I'm a beautiful, admirable scale demon, utterly gorgeous and impossible to ignore and I'm not short or small or anything like that, got it?! If... if I were then..."

She trailed off for a moment, her tail rapidly swishing back and forth with irritation, her hands curled into fists at her sides. The sheer indignation in her expression, her tone of voice, was practically making the air vibrate around her. How dare anyone call her small? How could anyone see her and think something like that? She definitely wasn't! She totally wasn't! Just because she had to look up at almost anyone here and damn it why did they have to be so tall why didn't-

The point was that it was wrong to say that!

"... I'm not! That's it! Got it!?"

In some people the desire to ignore reality really was quite strong.

@Click This@AzureKnight@Rune_Alchemist