Yankee

Oh man, oh geez, oh goodness-

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Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Harriette Moore

^{@Mistress Dizzy@BCTheEntity}

^{? ? cell block : ? ? hours}
A dead end. It hadn't mattered what routes they took, those creatures had run them into a trap and now there was no way out. Harriette rested her fists against the wall, panting from the run and looking over her shoulder warily at the shadow and it's macabre posse. Were they actually going to die here? Be torn to shreds, like that bloody red eyed person? Was she going to let herself be killed? Harriette trembled, with fear, frustration, and anger. If she was going to die, she didn't want it to be in some dingy, optical illusion jail cell. But what could she do? There were so many, too many to try and fight even if they crumbled apart. And the other two, Jin and Alina - if she tried to make a break for it, could she forgive herself just leaving those two here? If it was for survival, maybe...

---

<sub>"It's riiiiight... here."

"Got it right this time?"

"Stop doubting me and just open the hole!"</sub>

---

^{∎̵͍̅͜∎̵̰̽̏͝∎̷̢̻̞̂∎̸̨̻̹̈∎̵̰͚̝͆∎̷̮̋̄̚ ̵͆ : ̷?̷ ̶?̷ ̷h̸o̴u̴r̸s̶}
Light suddenly cut through the dark, twisted room. Bright and pulsing, it shone at the trio's feet and curled around them in a wide arc, laced with glowing sigils and glyphs. In seconds a magic circle appeared beneath them, and before anyone could so much as think that it might be a bad idea to be standing at the center, it disappeared - taking a clean cut of the floor with it.

For the second time the three of them fell. Above them, shadows of the ashen corpses could be seen milling around the hole as it shrunk, and a glint of glowering red eyes until it closed completely. Below them, pitch black. It would have been hard to even tell they were falling, if not for the sensation itself and the gentle rush of wind. Harriette thought she might actually be dead this time, but after a few seconds of free fall a pinpoint of light appeared... and grew and grew until it engulfed the lot of them, and they landed on a bed of moss.

It wasn't a soft landing, but it was far from fatal. As soon as she got her bearings Harriette pulled herself to her feet and fought to catch her breath. She wanted to find out what fresh hell they'd been pulled into this time. Gone were the cold concrete walls and iron bars of the cell. No part of the prison remained, not the humans strapped to the machines, the cathedral, nor the courthouse. Instead, they found themselves in a large open cavern. Light filtered gently in from small openings in the cave's ceiling, varying colors of blue and gold. The cave's jagged rock floor was dotted with patches of green, small plants fighting to stay alive amongst their wilted cousins. Though heavy and humid, the air was much less oppressive in the cave than it had been in the cell with the shadow - and though it was enclosed, it featured a few dark passages that Harriette could only assume led to other cave openings.

Are we... underneath the prison? She never would have expected that there were tunnels beneath the area, but then again how could anyone expect it?

A few minutes passed, enough for Harriette, Jin, and Alina to regroup. They stood in the middle of the cavern.

"What now...?" The red haired woman asked, folding her arms in front of herself. Should they try to find a way back up? Or maybe there was an escape route somewhere down here in the cave system?

The stillness of the cave was disrupted by a shuffling sound nearby. Behind a large rocky outcropping, four antennae sprouted up - quickly followed by two sets of large inhuman eyes. There were two creatures, and they blinked at the humans for a few moments.

"...we did it!"

"Jackpot!"

The creatures jumped out from their hiding spot, revealing small thin bodies and bulbous heads. Each sported a pair of leathery wings on it's back, and their faces were spread with wide toothy smiles. They were tiny monsters, not more than two or three feet tall. Though their appearance called to mind little devils, neither made to attack the humans in front of them. In fact, one flapped its wings and flew up and away, heading to one of the holes in the cavern wall.

"Her Gloriousness will be sooooo pleased with us! I'm gonna go let her know!" It said, and then was gone, leaving it's partner behind. The little demon looked very content to lounge in a dead flower bed, watching the humans and snickering to itself every now and then.

Itiner: Heroes of Ardenfeld

Danyl Feytin: Not-So-Dashing Rogue

_{(original art)}

D&D Character Sheet

Who I Am

Despite everything he's been through and the current company he keeps, Danyl is an optimist at heart. He doesn't hold any blind faith in deities, and he knows that realistically some dreams can't become reality, but Danyl believes that with enough dedication and work most things are possible... and, sometimes, that work was of the underhanded kind. Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to achieve a dream - or even just survive. It is with this mind set that Danyl justifies his life as a thief, working among men that have much more storied rap sheets than him. Danyl isn't the type to hoard wealth, and anything he doesn't use to keep him fed from day to day is put back into his Guild - if not slipped into the pockets of those in need.

His charity is not entirely altruistic, Danyl just has some issues surrounding gain and loss, as one might expect. He tends not to keep much of anything, let alone money, for fear of growing attached and then losing it. People are harder not to get attached to (and harder to just give away, as it were). The flip side means that Danyl fights tooth and nail to protect those he is close to. Two extremes, but to him it makes sense - either put the thing you love close enough to keep or cut it out of your life entirely.

In regards to people, it's a wonder that Danyl didn't close his heart off to others. Or maybe it's a flaw. He's grown a lot, learned a lot of hard truths, but he can take a joke and crack one too. He maybe be a bit blunt and rough around the edges, but he can still smile. He takes others at face value, and expects the same in return - even if it's just because he's practically an open book. Hey, he's a thief not a spy. He is also a young man, and like many he can be bullheaded. With a temper and a tendency to be stubborn and stick to his guns, Danyl has butt heads with others in his line of work, but seeing as it's not exactly smart to make enemies it usually doesn't last for too long. Danyl isn't the menacing type, but anything serious is subject to the classic philosophy of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Mostly, Danyl is just a regular guy. He's young and headstrong with a bit of a temper and one hell of a want for vengeance, but he's also hard working and trust worthy, though some might not think it due to his current 'profession.' He's a man that tries to put distance between himself and others and fails, and he always keeps his promises.

My Story

WThe Feytin family was a large and happy one. Town grocers; a thickly built husband, a plump and vibrant wife, and three healthy children with one more on the way. They lived in a large home that was always in need of some kind of repair, with an even larger garden that the whole household tended to. The patriarch held friendships far and wide through his dealings with merchants, and proof of his bonds filled the family home in the form of knick knacks and tapestry that enchanted his wife and children. It was a well loved and well lived in homestead, nestled deep in the hamlet of Ardenfeld.

One day it all went up in a blaze. For a long time after that Danyl, a boy of nine years at the time, wished that he had burned up too. The fire spread quickly through their house, collapsing pieces of the second floor and blocking the doors out - his older brother had fallen with it, the debris pinning him there. His parents had split up, his father trying to find a safe way down and his mother pushing his younger sister and he toward the second story window. One at a time she lowered them out of the opening as far as she could before letting them drop to the grass outside. Sister first, while the fire grew and cracked the wood it was engulfing, sending showers of hot splinters over him. Looking back it was strange, how some pieces of this memory were so clear while others were dull and spotty. Danyl remembered crying and fussing at his eye where something had gotten into it, his mother yelling out of the window at his sister to go somewhere safe, and then the flames suddenly grow brighter - and then he was outside on his back, where the cold earth did little to help his seared skin. Then, he was yanked up by his arm and hurried into a secure hold with other children from the village. His mother must have thrown him from the window when the fire got too dangerous. He had no idea where his sister was, could only hope she was safe somewhere. His consciousness drifted in and out, and behind his eyelids drifted visions of his family, the flames, and the symbol of the bandits who had put their home to torch.

Life at the orphanage could have been worse, but for children grieving the loss of their homes and families suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar city and made to live with unfamiliar people, it was a whole lot of awful. Every mention of the mere word 'orphan' just dredged up bad memories. Like many Danyl's attitude soured in the wake of the tragedy, but he tried to keep a spark of hope. The Ardenfeld survivors were together, and they had made a promise to meet again at that town. At least they would always have each other.

Until they didn't. Some were adopted, some ran away, and some aged out. No matter how they left, it felt like a loss all over again. For Danyl, he knew he wouldn't be chosen for a new home. During the walk to Sarinan and in the subsequent confusion of the establishment taking on so many new kids at once, his eye had gotten worse. Irritation, redness, blurry vision. By the time healers had gotten around to taking a look, it was too late to repair it. Eventually his vision in that eye would go completely, and no one wanted to adopt a child that had something wrong with them. As expected, after five years of making and losing friends, Danyl was released into the streets of Sarinan with no where to go and no possessions besides a raging fire in his heart. He was a teenager let loose, a mess of emotions. Sadness, worry, frustration, and a mounting anger. He'd gotten over his want to join his family in the next world over the years, and now his thought process was that he didn't live now in spite of everything, then his family died for nothing. So he did live, scraping by begging in the streets of Sarinan.

There was one stroke of luck for Danyl, in that one of his father's merchant friends passed through town a few months after he'd been released and living in the street. The man had no plan to look after the boy, but he could at least give Danyl a ride to the capital city, where surely opportunity awaited.

That opportunity, it turned out, was being picked up by a Thieves' Guild. They called themselves Palla Orchids, a slightly facetious name, and they fancied themselves as 'noble thieves' stealing only from those that could afford to lose. Upon recalling the day they'd met the guild's captain, a one Victor Mason, would say that while people watching one day he noticed the face of a new street urchin, with an ugly looking eye that cause common folk to turn away from him. It interested him that in being so determined not to focus on the boy, either out of disgust, pity or courtesy, passerbys tended not to focus on other things - like their coinpurses. This was common with all kinds of beggars, especially the marred, but this beggar was a kid. One they could make use of. So, Victor approached Danyl, put some coins in his cup, and offered him a deal: turn up his sob story, keep everything that kind people gifted him, and anyone that distracted themselves by not looking he'd lift the purse off of and donate some of the profit to Danyl. It wasn't very moral but it worked, and that night Danyl returned with the captain to The Orchids's base.

It wasn't a large guild, and their headquarters was more like a criminal hostel, but it became like home for Danyl after a little while. With some polish Danyl made a decent thief and burglar. The guild's motto of only stealing from wealthy folks was something Danyl repeated to himself a lot early on, helping to get over the initial aversion to stealing. Many of the older men subscribed to another motto that struck a cord with Danyl as well: why should 'they' have everything, wanting for nothing, experience no hardship, while 'we' have to fight to survive? It made sense. Plus they were taking money and trinkets, not lives or homes. Really, it was nothing compared what these people could be losing. So Danyl spent the next couple years living with the guild and developing his skill.

The guild would only ever be like home though, because most days he felt no where could ever really be 'home' again. Yes, after so many years he was still hurting. Victor, a shrewd man, could sense that even though Danyl hardly ever talked about his younger years.

"Hey, Danny," he called, waving the teenager over to him. "It hurts, huh?"

Danyl furrowed his brows, confused at first. "Huh? ...oh, what, the eye?"

"...er, yeah."

"I guess." It did hurt from time to time. In the mornings upon waking up it would throb until the afternoon brought it's distractions. In certain weather it would ache and itch. During a bad memory it would be particularly painful. Thinking about it now, Danyl reached a hand up to feel around it. The skin around the socket was dry and taut, but the organ itself had always been the issue. Milky red sclera, collapsed iris and pupil, it wasn't a pretty sight. Now that his brain was focused on it, pain began blooming again. He tried not to give it away, but all of the Orchid could tell when Danyl was hiding something. He must have had some kind of tell that they all kept to themselves. "...yeah, it hurts."

Victor nodded, a grim smile coming to his face.

"I figured. You carry 'round things like that they're always gonna hurt. Only one way to make 'em stop hurting."

This perked Danyl up, and he looked at Victor with a hopeful, if surprised, expression.

"You can make it stop?"

"Well..."

Victor produced a blade, one of many stashed on his person. He twirled it in his hands for a moment before catching it and offering it handle-first to the boy.

"It might hurt a little more at first, but the easiest thing to do is just get rid of whatever's painful, right?"

After they cut out Danyl's bad eye, true to Victor's word once the wound healed over there was no more pain, not even of the phantom kind. It worked, and it was a turning point in Danyl's psyche. It's what started his habit of giving things away, so he could get rid of anything before it was otherwise lost to him. It also was a revelation. If he could get rid of the source of the pain in his heart, eventually that would stop hurting too. He was sixteen when he thought the best way to do that would be to get revenge on those bandits from so many years ago.

The rest of his years were spent right there in Pallaviel, living and working as a member of the Palla Orchids thieves' guild. He eventually became a lieutenant, because he only concerned himself with a few things during that time: providing for himself, providing for his guild, and keeping his ear to the ground for any leads or rumors about a certain bandit group. It wasn't much, but it was life. Eventually, ten years had passed, and Danyl had prepared a small pack with which to make the journey back to the ruins of Ardenfeld. It had been a long time, and though he hadn't kept in contact with any of the other survivors, he still intended to return. Danyl prided himself on never breaking his promises - even ones from childhood. If he was nervous he would never admit it, even if his whole guild could tell. This was one of the few important things to him left, and no matter how it went he would see it through.

Going Forward

For Danyl, there is no moving forward until he can cut out the part of him that hurts. Obviously cutting his heart out would kill him, so he has to remove the next best thing: the bandits that caused the pain in the first place. He lives his life day to day, supporting himself and his guild, while always keeping and eye and ear out for leads. Once he completes his goal, he... doesn't know what he'll do. In his heart of hearts he's afraid to think about the future. He knows what he wants, but he isn't sure if simple hard work can get him there this time. A warm place to live, people he can trust. He thought he'd had that with the Orchids, but there's been friction lately between the guild's members, a lot of doubt going around. A change of pace for Danyl might be in order soon, but the guild had been his life for the past half a decade. Before them he was a homeless orphan, after them would be be the same? Or, now that he's a capable adult, could it be possible to stop surviving and start living? Even enjoy life again? Only time will tell.

Persona - Soldiers of Fortune

Harriette Moore

^{? ? cell block : ? ? hours}
It spoke. That red-eyed being that Harriette couldn't tell if it was monster or man, or both, just started speaking to them. She supposed it was better than immediately attacking. Harriette stayed put right where she was, half curled in on herself, coiled tight like a spring, as it approached. It looked like another corpse, though instead of being burnt and charred it was torn and bloody... and moving. It was actually chiding them.

Harriette narrowed her eyes. Mounting confusion, fear, and frustration was beginning to take it's toll. Her head was pounding. And just what did this thing think it knew about her anyway? Though she wanted to refute it's words, her throat was dry and she couldn't seem to muster her voice. It was probably the hundredth time since they'd bee dropped into this world that Harriette wondered to herself about just what the hell was going on and what was going to happen to them when she felt the bars at her back give way.

She stumbled slightly, catching herself before she fell over. A glance over her shoulder showed that the interior of the cell had changed. Significantly.

She looked forward again, pale and worried, at the ashen bodies slowly getting to their feet. Both Jin and the red-eyed being told them to run, and though sore and exhausted Harriette heeded their instruction. She, Alina, and Jin took off, away from the danger as fast as they could go. But they were flagging, and as they moved the area twisted and grew confusing. Harriette's eyes were constantly on the move, checking every mysterious doorway and paradoxical stairwell that appeared around them.

Where were they supposed to run to? What were they supposed to do? Before the situation overwhelmed her, Harriette tried to put her brain into overdrive and think of someway out. While the three of them ran she breathlessly voiced what little thoughts she had. "We can't... keep running forever. If we can duck into somewhere, just get a chance to... to think of a plan..."

Unbeknownst to Harriette, while Alina and Jin were contemplating splitting up for various reasons, the red haired teaching assistant was growing all the more desperate to keep everyone together. She considered trying to navigate the stair ways, or try to barricade a door somehow - even turning to fight the burnt up monsters, hoping they were still as fragile as they were while they were lying prone. If only they were presented with some kind of opportunity..!

Hi there - returning user

Welcome back!

World of Light

Word Count: 1342 (+3 exp)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 20/80
Location: Edge of the Blue - The Maw

"You didn't think you were going on a solo meowssion, did ya?"

Glad to see that she hadn't gotten into trouble in her haste, the Cadet readily returned the gesture. It was a nice little bump of optimism, in spite of everything. With the others not having followed just yet, it seemed it would just be the two of them again - and there was no time to lose. Nadia gave her findings, and the Cadet nodded.

"It'll be hard getting around them, if it's even possible." That left going above or below, and as the feral pointed out going up top seemed the more dangerous route. With their eyes glazed over and their mouths constantly swallowing anything that could fit inside, it was easy to imagine either one of the children being grabbed up and eaten by the guests. But the slovenly slurping and chewing all around them was an inescapable reminder of the predicament their friends found themselves in, so which ever route they had to brave they had to do it quickly. Nadia led the way towards the dark underside of the tables, but not before she mentioned she was glad she stopped before the food curse changed her to be one of those gluttonous guests. Ace Cadet paused for a moment with a grimace on his face before he followed her.

Though it had been a good idea, unfortunately it looked like the low road wouldn't be traversable. There were almost as many guests on the floor as there were at the table, crawling around to pick up scraps. Cadet regarded them with a growing pity, but it still didn't stop him from letting out an audible "bleh" when seeing the gluttony up close. It wasn't only the food delivered to them nonstop, they didn't have any qualms about gulping down dirtied and pre-chewed morsels either. "Well, up we go."

Although the tables were littered with food, dotted with fork-like waiters, and lined with ravenous people that weren't picky at all with what they put in their mouths - it offered a relatively straight shot in getting closer to their goal. A simple, if dangerous, path. Nadia pointed out the stairwell and he gave her a nod of understanding. The two set off, hopping over plates and piles of all kinds of cuisine. Though food practically surrounded them, they kept their mouths firmly shut, neither of the children wanting to stop when their friends were still in danger, let alone risk turning into one of the diners they saw around them. They moved with steady pace, hurrying while being careful not to get too close to a hungry mouth. If they tried to run through any faster they risked slipping - something they'd discovered firsthand when Nadia shifted a little too close for comfort toward one of the guests. It reached out to her and in her panic Nadia nearly went right off the table. The Cadet snatched her by the arm, hauling her back up toward him with wide eyes. She thanked him and he whispered back, "Don't mention it."

Yes, running along the table was dangerous, but they still needed to make tracks. It wasn't long before Nadia really did go off the table - the this time with intent. She hopped from diner to diner, making the trip much shorter for herself without warning. The Cadet almost panicked, thinking the worst, but he soon realized what her strategy was.

He couldn't blame her. The longer it took to reach Sakura and the Abyssals, the more likely it was that harm had come to them. Not to mention they had no idea how the boys, Mirage, Link and Geralt were faring. They could have saved the girls by now - or they could be stuck in a predicament of their own. Speed was crucial; the Cadet only wished Nadia wouldn't go where he couldn't follow. He took a deep breath and prepared to meet her at the goal.

Ace Cadet scooped up as much food as his arms could carry: bundles of grapes, slices of cheese, pieces of sushi. Then he booked it as fast as he could go across the table tops. The movement drew the eyes of some of the guests, and they stretched their hands toward him. When they got too close comfort the Cadet tossed one of the pieces of food he had in his hand. The guests' eyes - and mouths - would follow the food's arc until it landed, where they would either grab it up or lament that it was too far out of reach. It wasn't a perfect strategy, but it was working so far. Run, dodge, toss, run, and repeat. He was getting close to the exit where the stairs led down a level. The Cadet swerved around a Volbonan, tossed a few fruits ahead of him to draw away the roaming hands of the diners, and then his path was clear! Just barely suppressing a relieved laugh he pressed on - and then leapt from the end of the table.

He did not expect there to be a couple of guests on the ground, vacuuming up spilled sushi into their maws. There was just enough time for him to think Oh, crap. before he fell right onto the back of one of the men. What remained of the food he'd collected went flying, adding to what already littered the floor. The Cadet bounced off of the guest's round body, landing on the wooden floor. He scrambled up, eyes on the stairwell. As soon as he made to moved the Cadet found himself on the ground again, falling over when something tightened around his ankle and pulled.

He already knew what he would find when he turned back, and sure enough one of the slobbering diners had their fingers curled around his leg and was pulling the boy closer. The guest clacked his teeth together in anticipation, and though his pull was weak his grip did not let up, no matter how vigorously the Cadet shook his leg.

"Let go! Let go you Kecha-wacko!" He said, looking around for anything he could use to get himself out of this. A weapon would be great, but no such thing presented itself. He threw every piece of food within reach into the guest's waiting mouth, and though he happily ate it up he did not release the little monster hunter. As the fate of being eaten alive drew closer and closer, the Cadet raised his arms, ready to fend it off by whatever means necessary. He would have beat at the guest's face or poked his eyes out, but it didn't come to that. When the red head shoved his arms out to push the guest away, the pores he'd seen open up before started manifesting again. The sea foam reappeared, and then a torrent of water sprang forth from his palms. The force separated the Cadet and his captor violently, washing both of the fallen guests and the poor waiter away and pushing the Cadet in the opposite direction. The stream of water disappeared and the Cadet tumbled backward down the stairs, landing on his back. The pores on his arms were already closing up, but the moisture and smell of salt remained.

Alright, so he was definitely for sure cursed - it wasn't just a hallucination. He could make this work though, until they escaped or he succumbed then he could keep the diners off of them as a living hose. He'd be able to stop the chefs that held the girls captive too, as long as they made it there in time.

The Cadet had been blinking up at Nadia from his spot on the ground, but he sprang up onto his feet with a renewed resolve. He wasn't sure how much of that Ms. Fortune saw, if any, but it didn't change the mission they had to complete. They just had to watch out for any other symptoms. He sure hoped they'd get through this before he tried eating his own friends.

"Let's go!"

Itiner: Heroes of Ardenfeld

There we go. I hope this is coherent. Kind of leaned harder into the traumatic backstory and the driving goal. The D&D sheet is a WIP, but slowly working on it.

lvl 1 Human Rogue

_{(original art)}

D&D Character Sheet (Still in Progress)

Who I Am

Despite everything he's been through and the current company he keeps, Danyl is an optimist at heart. He doesn't hold any blind faith in deities, and he knows that realistically some dreams can't become reality, but Danyl believes that with enough dedication and work most things are possible... and, sometimes, that work was of the underhanded kind. Sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to achieve a dream - or even just survive. It is with this mind set that Danyl justifies his life as a thief, working among men that have much more storied rap sheets than him. Danyl isn't the type to hoard wealth, and anything he doesn't use to keep him fed from day to day is put back into his Guild - if not slipped into the pockets of those in need.

His charity is not entirely altruistic, Danyl just has some issues surrounding gain and loss, as one might expect. He tends not to keep much of anything, let alone money, for fear of growing attached and then losing it. People are harder not to get attached to (and harder to just give away, as it were). The flip side means that Danyl fights tooth and nail to protect those he is close to. Two extremes, but to him it makes sense - either put the thing you love close enough to keep or cut it out of your life entirely.

In regards to people, it's a wonder that Danyl didn't close his heart off to others. Or maybe it's a flaw. He's grown a lot, learned a lot of hard truths, but he can take a joke and crack one too. He maybe be a bit blunt and rough around the edges, but he can still smile. He takes others at face value, and expects the same in return - even if it's just because he's practically an open book. Hey, he's a thief not a spy. He is also a young man, and like many he can be bullheaded. With a temper and a tendency to be stubborn and stick to his guns, Danyl has butt heads with others in his line of work, but seeing as it's not exactly smart to make enemies it usually doesn't last for too long. Danyl isn't the menacing type, but anything serious is subject to the classic philosophy of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'

Mostly, Danyl is just a regular guy. He's young and headstrong with a bit of a temper and one hell of a want for vengeance, but he's also hard working and trust worthy, though some might not think it due to his current 'profession.' He's a man that tries to put distance between himself and others and fails, and he always keeps his promises.

My Story

WThe Feytin family was a large and happy one. Town grocers; a thickly built husband, a plump and vibrant wife, and three healthy children with one more on the way. They lived in a large home that was always in need of some kind of repair, with an even larger garden that the whole household tended to. The patriarch held friendships far and wide through his dealings with merchants, and proof of his bonds filled the family home in the form of knick knacks and tapestry that enchanted his wife and children. It was a well loved and well lived in homestead, nestled deep in the hamlet of Ardenfeld.

One day it all went up in a blaze. For a long time after that Danyl, a boy of nine years at the time, wished that he had burned up too. The fire spread quickly through their house, collapsing pieces of the second floor and blocking the doors out - his older brother had fallen with it, the debris pinning him there. His parents had split up, his father trying to find a safe way down and his mother pushing his younger sister and he toward the second story window. One at a time she lowered them out of the opening as far as she could before letting them drop to the grass outside. Sister first, while the fire grew and cracked the wood it was engulfing, sending showers of hot splinters over him. Looking back it was strange, how some pieces of this memory were so clear while others were dull and spotty. Danyl remembered crying and fussing at his eye where something had gotten into it, his mother yelling out of the window at his sister to go somewhere safe, and then the flames suddenly grow brighter - and then he was outside on his back, where the cold earth did little to help his seared skin. Then, he was yanked up by his arm and hurried into a secure hold with other children from the village. His mother must have thrown him from the window when the fire got too dangerous. He had no idea where his sister was, could only hope she was safe somewhere. His consciousness drifted in and out, and behind his eyelids drifted visions of his family, the flames, and the symbol of the bandits who had put their home to torch.

Life at the orphanage could have been worse, but for children grieving the loss of their homes and families suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar city and made to live with unfamiliar people, it was a whole lot of awful. Every mention of the mere word 'orphan' just dredged up bad memories. Like many Danyl's attitude soured in the wake of the tragedy, but he tried to keep a spark of hope. The Ardenfeld survivors were together, and they had made a promise to meet again at that town. At least they would always have each other.

Until they didn't. Some were adopted, some ran away, and some aged out. No matter how they left, it felt like a loss all over again. For Danyl, he knew he wouldn't be chosen for a new home. During the walk to Sarinan and in the subsequent confusion of the establishment taking on so many new kids at once, his eye had gotten worse. Irritation, redness, blurry vision. By the time healers had gotten around to taking a look, it was too late to repair it. Eventually his vision in that eye would go completely, and no one wanted to adopt a child that had something wrong with them. As expected, after five years of making and losing friends, Danyl was released into the streets of Sarinan with no where to go and no possessions besides a raging fire in his heart. He was a teenager let loose, a mess of emotions. Sadness, worry, frustration, and a mounting anger. He'd gotten over his want to join his family in the next world over the years, and now his thought process was that he didn't live now in spite of everything, then his family died for nothing. So he did live, scraping by begging in the streets of Sarinan.

There was one stroke of luck for Danyl, in that one of his father's merchant friends passed through town a few months after he'd been released and living in the street. The man had no plan to look after the boy, but he could at least give Danyl a ride to the capital city, where surely opportunity awaited.

That opportunity, it turned out, was being picked up by a Thieves' Guild. They called themselves Palla Orchids, a slightly facetious name, and they fancied themselves as 'noble thieves' stealing only from those that could afford to lose. Upon recalling the day they'd met the guild's captain, a one Victor Mason, would say that while people watching one day he noticed the face of a new street urchin, with an ugly looking eye that cause common folk to turn away from him. It interested him that in being so determined not to focus on the boy, either out of disgust, pity or courtesy, passerbys tended not to focus on other things - like their coinpurses. This was common with all kinds of beggars, especially the marred, but this beggar was a kid. One they could make use of. So, Victor approached Danyl, put some coins in his cup, and offered him a deal: turn up his sob story, keep everything that kind people gifted him, and anyone that distracted themselves by not looking he'd lift the purse off of and donate some of the profit to Danyl. It wasn't very moral but it worked, and that night Danyl returned with the captain to The Orchids's base.

It wasn't a large guild, and their headquarters was more like a criminal hostel, but it became like home for Danyl after a little while. With some polish Danyl made a decent thief and burglar. The guild's motto of only stealing from wealthy folks was something Danyl repeated to himself a lot early on, helping to get over the initial aversion to stealing. Many of the older men subscribed to another motto that struck a cord with Danyl as well: why should 'they' have everything, wanting for nothing, experience no hardship, while 'we' have to fight to survive? It made sense. Plus they were taking money and trinkets, not lives or homes. Really, it was nothing compared what these people could be losing. So Danyl spent the next couple years living with the guild and developing his skill.

The guild would only ever be like home though, because most days he felt no where could ever really be 'home' again. Yes, after so many years he was still hurting. Victor, a shrewd man, could sense that even though Danyl hardly ever talked about his younger years.

"Hey, Danny," he called, waving the teenager over to him. "It hurts, huh?"

Danyl furrowed his brows, confused at first. "Huh? ...oh, what, the eye?"

"...er, yeah."

"I guess." It did hurt from time to time. In the mornings upon waking up it would throb until the afternoon brought it's distractions. In certain weather it would ache and itch. During a bad memory it would be particularly painful. Thinking about it now, Danyl reached a hand up to feel around it. The skin around the socket was dry and taut, but the organ itself had always been the issue. Milky red sclera, collapsed iris and pupil, it wasn't a pretty sight. Now that his brain was focused on it, pain began blooming again. He tried not to give it away, but all of the Orchid could tell when Danyl was hiding something. He must have had some kind of tell that they all kept to themselves. "...yeah, it hurts."

Victor nodded, a grim smile coming to his face.

"I figured. You carry 'round things like that they're always gonna hurt. Only one way to make 'em stop hurting."

This perked Danyl up, and he looked at Victor with a hopeful, if surprised, expression.

"You can make it stop?"

"Well..."

Victor produced a blade, one of many stashed on his person. He twirled it in his hands for a moment before catching it and offering it handle-first to the boy.

"It might hurt a little more at first, but the easiest thing to do is just get rid of whatever's painful, right?"

After they cut out Danyl's bad eye, true to Victor's word once the wound healed over there was no more pain, not even of the phantom kind. It worked, and it was a turning point in Danyl's psyche. It's what started his habit of giving things away, so he could get rid of anything before it was otherwise lost to him. It also was a revelation. If he could get rid of the source of the pain in his heart, eventually that would stop hurting too. He was sixteen when he thought the best way to do that would be to get revenge on those bandits from so many years ago.

The rest of his years were spent right there in Pallaviel, living and working as a member of the Palla Orchids thieves' guild. He eventually became a lieutenant, because he only concerned himself with a few things during that time: providing for himself, providing for his guild, and keeping his ear to the ground for any leads or rumors about a certain bandit group. It wasn't much, but it was life. Eventually, ten years had passed, and Danyl had prepared a small pack with which to make the journey back to the ruins of Ardenfeld. It had been a long time, and though he hadn't kept in contact with any of the other survivors, he still intended to return. Danyl prided himself on never breaking his promises - even ones from childhood. If he was nervous he would never admit it, even if his whole guild could tell. This was one of the few important things to him left, and no matter how it went he would see it through.

Going Forward

For Danyl, there is no moving forward until he can cut out the part of him that hurts. Obviously cutting his heart out would kill him, so he has to remove the next best thing: the bandits that caused the pain in the first place. He lives his life day to day, supporting himself and his guild, while always keeping and eye and ear out for leads. Once he completes his goal, he... doesn't know what he'll do. In his heart of hearts he's afraid to think about the future. He knows what he wants, but he isn't sure if simple hard work can get him there this time. A warm place to live, people he can trust. He thought he'd had that with the Orchids, but there's been friction lately between the guild's members, a lot of doubt going around. A change of pace for Danyl might be in order soon, but the guild had been his life for the past half a decade. Before them he was a homeless orphan, after them would be be the same? Or, now that he's a capable adult, could it be possible to stop surviving and start living? Even enjoy life again? Only time will tell.

Itiner: Heroes of Ardenfeld

I was planning on making my character a fire genasi, but I fear there might be too much overlap with Feyblue's cool tiefling so I might choose something else ^^;

@XxFellsingxX

Not to influence you one way or another, but since the party size is only 4-5 and there looks like there will be well over 4-5 character sheets submitted, there's gonna be some competition either way. Concepts are probably going to overlap. I think whatever your strongest idea is, go for it!

World of Light

Word Count: 883 (+2 exp)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 17/80
Location: Edge of the Blue - The Maw

The Ace Cadet slipped into the next room after Nadia and Kamek - almost literally, but seeing Nadia go down right in front of him gave the monster hunter some forewarning about the condition of the floor. Pressing a hand against the wall for balance (and giving it the same suspicious glances he'd been giving his limbs for the past few minutes), the Cadet slowly made his way further down the room's perimeter. Unsurprisingly it was another section of the huge kitchen area the Maw housed, a washing station. He eyed the various occupants in the room, more creepy-looking humanoids, koopas, and some sentient silverware - all so engrossed in their tasks that even the ones that did look at the little intruders ignored them in favor of going back to trying to make a dent in the mountains of dishes. At least they wouldn't have to sneak through the room. Though getting through it might be a bit difficult given the soapy water all over the floor.

It didn't seem to be an issue for the front runners though, as Nadia slid over the ground with her fan and Kamek used his shell to swiftly traverse the - oh, wait, he was coming back. He watched Kamek slide right back out the door, and from it the voices of the other koopas in their party. So they'd be coming through soon. Well, time to start making some headway!

Inching through while trying not to slip would be painfully slow. Instead, the Cadet braced his legs and then shoved himself away from the wall towards one of the washing stations. He slid across the floor almost like it was ice, with his arms thrown out to each side to keep himself on his feet. He slowed to a stop underneath one of the free standing sinks, and crept his way towards the sink's legs to latch onto.

"Not so bad," he said to himself, "like dealing with a Mizutsune." Except that the imminent danger was not a leviathan but several strange workers, though it still didn't seem like they cared much at the moment.

The Cadet's movement was still slower than Ms. Fortune's, so by the time he'd made it to the other side she was already up on the conveyor and out through the dish slot.

"Hey, Nadia, what's on the other side?" He tried to speak into the slot, once again balancing on the wall and standing on his toes. She didn't answer, but there also wasn't any other kind of commotion that would indicate she'd been caught. She must have continued moving on. Without a nifty boost he wouldn't be following her through the slot, though he doubted he'd be able to fit through in the first place.

The Cadet reached up to the nearby door handle, stretching his arm out for it, but it was just out of his reach. One of his feet slipped and he stumbled around dramatically until he managed to right himself. Maybe he could drag over one of those rubbery mats or something...

Once Bowser and company came through the door into the room and start shouting the Cadet looked around at those he was addressing - and those he wasn't. If this actually worked it would be awesome, but if it didn't then he'd just have to find a way to open the door up quickly. While the gleaming dish washers' attention was focused on the koopa king, the Cadet got a head start in seeking something to help him get up to the door's handle and open it. Something like... oh, one of those planks of wood might work - at least to stop the slipping!

Alright, let's go! Ace Cadet slid himself toward one of the unoccupied planks. It was heavier than expected, but he was stronger than the average... whatever-year-old he was now. Pushing the wood was slow going but it was possible! He shoved the plank against the wall, and once it sat solidly on the floor he stepped onto it. Perfect! Even slightly damp the wood wasn't slippery at all. With a little more effort the Cadet reached up to the door knob and turned it, popping the door open.

"Yes!" He pushed through the opening and arrived in a carpeted area, with the sounds of plates clattering and open mouthed slurping not far off. Before venturing on the Cadet and reached back through the door, grasping the wooden plank and propping it just inside the door frame to hold the passage open. He peeked back at the koopa troop, waving at them and mouthing this way! before going on. He followed the noise to a restaurant, filled with food and ravenous diners. Since his disturbing vision the Cadet had no desire to eat or drink anything else in Maw, but even if he had he doubted he'd have been able to swipe anything off that table. Food was gone in seconds, devoured by the restaurant's patrons. He didn't watch the buffet for long, there was a much more important task at hand. There had to be a way into the room the chefs had locked themselves into. He spotted the swishing tail of Nadia still ahead and darted after her, hoping she had a plan - she certainly looked like she did anyway.

Greetings

Welcome. There are plenty of romance roleplay checks in the "1x1" section, so you shouldn't have any problem finding what you are looking for. Have fun!