Mystics Apprentice

The dragoon shot Iseult a critical glance. She seldom knew the elf, but she was well respected within the Haven. Often the two would embark on missions that didn't seem to involve one another. Regardless, Iseult spoke words of wisdom, and Rhiannon eventually lowered her spear to take them in. It was a good thing that she had, especially when the true village leader came to the forefront. She hung her head slightly, ashamed that she was so hesitant to place her trust in them, and most especially her allies. From behind her Kolm lifted Galla if she permitted it, arm under her knees and another supporting her neck, head resting against his chest. "Yes, we need information about this dragon's lair and the dragon itself," Kolm voiced, gaze hard upon the true chief. "But not here. We need to get her in a more comfortable location, one out of these blasted suns if that is an option." Sweat rolled down his cheek as he said this. Such weather was truly not ideal for a cold mage such as himself.

The sickening crack of the Rakshasa's spear caused Rhiannon to smile in a satisfied manner, only to be caught off-guard when he wasted no time in retaliating moments after her victory. Before she could react the dragoon was knocked off her feet, being pinned down to the dry parched earth as she struggled to break free. "Let . . . me . . . go!" she growled, tearing one arm free and working on the other. After a fair amount of squirming and cursing the young woman finally broke free, readying her spear to toss at Rakshasa 1 when a surrender was declared. Rhiannon still held her spear high, though she didn't strike as she had once intended. "Oh, really?" she mocked. "And how do we know for sure that you will keep your word this time, hmm? After tricking us to come here only to ambush us I can't help but assume that this is another ruse. Why should we believe you now?" Meanwhile, Kolm was still working on stabilizing Galla, though it seemed that the necromancer would not wake. He held her limp form in his arms, glancing over toward the commotion with the others. Perhaps with luck this would be resolved quickly.

Confusion knit Kolm's brow as Galla reached for his arm. Normally the necromancer hated being near others, much less actually making contact for them. "What are you doing?" he blurted, but all became clear with Galla's latest summon. He felt the aftereffects of his magic being consumed, a rushing sense that made his fingers tingle. The result had a greater impact on Galla, however, who collapsed to the ground and did not get up. "Oh, for the love of–!" With an exasperated sigh, Kolm scooped Galla up, deftly moving her toward the sidelines of the war zone before things got even messier. He rubbed his palms together, extending them before the woman as an unearthly green light began to emit from his hands. His face contorted in concentration, while his aqua-blue eyes fixated on the unconscious necromancer. Something about this image reminded him all too much of his dream that he had prior, and he certainly was not going to let her die as she had then. Please, please wake, he thought numbly, glancing toward the skeleton king and wondering how long he would hold up without its master. Meanwhile, Rhiannon charged Rak 1, spear extended and aiming for the Rakshasa's own spear. Great force would shake and potentially shatter the Rakshasa's spear upon impact, utilizing her shatter weapon ability. She would then bring the butt end of her spear up to strike the rakshasa in the chin before leaping a few feet away from her target, if successful.

These are really incredible. I am especially fond of Aqua's design resembling Yuna, as well as the last image with Vanitas and another dark-haired woman. Nice work, Yessie!

Kolm snickered at Hogarth's suggestion. "You call that friendly? I would hate to see one of them be hostile, if that is so." Pang further went on to explain how the Rakshasa normally handled guests, which did lead to suggest that this one's reception was surprisingly positive. Kolm shot Galla a glance over his shoulder as he noticed her shrink behind him, and he nearly wanted to sidestep behind Pang when the apparent chief stepped out with his bodyguards. They were tall and menacing, but Kolm continued to stand his ground. No good would come from showing the Rakshasas fear. Rhiannon gave a small bow to the leader when entrance was granted. "We thank you, good chief! We promise to respect your territory." Too friendly and subservient, Kolm thought with a frown, watching as both Jerod and Rhiannon seemed inclined to pay so much respect to the Rakshasa leader. He felt that placing the Rakshasas too high on a pedestal was a dangerous idea. Respect can be reciprocated when both parties had something desirous and to fear, though if the stage were set that they were but servants . . . that could get messy quickly, in his opinion. Both followed the group as they were lead into the village, Rhiannon marveling at the unique structure of the village. They hadn't trudged along long, however, when Hogarth's warning rang in their ears, calling attention to both dragoon and cold mage, Kolm readying his weapon long before Rhiannon did hers. "Hold it, what is this?!" she demanded, holding her spear firmly but not raising it against the Rakshasas. "We trusted you for a discussion! Do you not wish to rid your lands of this dragon once and for all?" Meanwhile, Kolm did not even attempt a diplomatic approach. He'd smelled a rat when first even discussing the giant village, and such an action was not particularly of surprise to him. He uttered an incantation and moved his left hand in a rotational pattern, the air dropping in temperature rapidly around them. A cold gust would surround the chieftain of the Rakshasas, which would hopefully cause it to grow cold and, potentially, weaken. He did not think of the possibility of lessening Galla's fireball attack, though hopefully it would remain unaffected. (I apologize; it shouldn't have taken me this long to post.)

It pleased Rhiannon that the group was going to listen to the voice of reason and proceed in seeking knowledge on how to combat the dragon as opposed to battling the dragon outright. She jabbed the butt of her spear into the dry cracked ground and started to move on toward the front of the party, yet behind Hogarth who chose a head start. Thankfully the village was not far, as Kolm was already starting to feel fatigued from the torrid environment. His throat was parched and mouth dry, and he felt that his magic couldn’t have been farther out of reach. Water and ice fueled his energy, and there were not particular stores of such anywhere that he’d seen. Would he be rendered relatively useless against this dragon? He certainly hoped not. The giant loomed overhead at a sheer thirteen feet, their voices loud, unpleasant, and unfriendly as they demanded to hear the party’s business. Rhiannon looked at them sheepishly, cheeks flushed, both struck numb with fear and uncertain of how to best phrase their business. Thankfully she did not have to do the talking, as Iseult did it for her. The woman was much better with words than she could ever be. It surprised her, however, when Kolm spoke out from behind them, especially since he likely was among the smallest and least-intimidating there. His voice was clear and unwavering, obviously not concerned about the giant eating them for supper. “We also would be grateful for any provisions that may aid us on our journey into the dragon’s lair,” he said. “Since we are helping your kind with a problem that you have endured, I think setting us out with what we need should be something you could accommodate."

The twin suns baked Kolm through his thick dark trench coat. He wasted no time in peeling it off, shooing it back through the portal whence they came, leaving him in a v-neck cap-sleeved shirt and pants. The lands that he heralded from were predominately ice and frigid. The warmer climates were both unfamiliar and unwelcome to him. Fair skin growing pink from the sun, Kolm listened to the discussion among his comrades, debating on whether to charge straight in or gather further information. "I think we should just try to find this dragon," Kolm suggested. "As Galla mentioned, we don't want to burn our bridges, and if these folks aren't the most friendly it may be in our best interests to just move on. Besides, our provisions are limited. If we can't rely on aid from the residents here we may find ourselves in a complicated situation unless we move swiftly. Meanwhile, Rhiannon gagged as she watched Hogarth's eyes distend from their sockets for surveillance. Though she had seen it before, she would never be able to get used to it. "I think we need to find out as much as she can." She shook her braid free of her armor. "Dragons aren't anything to mess with, and it will really help us if we go in knowing what to expect."

She sounds interesting, and I would indeed welcome another mage into the Somnum court. Accepted!

That sounds perfect! Hopefully this parrot doesn't command that we walk the plank as some pirate parrots do. No problem, and thanks for being so understanding. I'm actually here quite a bit more than Discord, but I'll keep tabs on the sheet as much as I can.

My apologies there. I stared at this a while trying to figure out how to make this work (or plot relevant), and sadly I'm just finding the concept of the gems not fitting with how magic works within the universe. If you'd like, the gems could be reworked so that they kind of work like an arcane focus, or aid Laguna in channeling her magic because it is difficult for him to control it otherwise. Or if you would rather rework Laguna's magic that would work, too. I don't think the character would need a complete overhaul, though I am sorry to have you rework even the gem aspect. This was a cool idea, and I'm saddened that I have to turn it down.

Ooh, I really love the mystery that shrouds Laguna and the ambiguity of him or her. This looks like a really promising character. The gems, however, do not quite work with the setting, unfortunately, as a person is either born gifted with magic or they are not. There are some magical trinkets that are Itika-enhanced and whatnot, though in this universe magic comes from a specific source, and I'm afraid that the legendary gems wouldn't quite work out. Perhaps these gems were made so that Laguna could channel her/his magic a certain way, and without them Laguna's magic is either unruly or nonpresent? Would something like that work?

I knew that there must've been a secret mental reason that I put the Ignis court, that consists of a ton of fire mages, by the ocean! XD. Now to see if they will sink or swim.

I think metal manipulation would be a unique ability. It can be advantageous in some areas, and I trust that it would be used fairly and within reason. I mean, we could also be concerned about our fire mages melting metal and weaponry as well, so I do not see a great difference between those with fire magic and metal manipulation. Metal manipulation is just a little more specific. Saffron is accepted! Also, I am doing research on RPs with guns and a good system to use, and between some articles that I've read (in addition to some great feedback from you guys), I should have a working guideline on that front soon. Essentially it is really going to be up to the player's discretion, but faster bullets will have less accuracy, slower bullets will have more, and there will be a limited amount of ammo that can be used before having to reload your gun. For magical guns, there will be limits to how much ammo you can use before it deteriorates your gun. And there is also the fact that guns would be a ranged weapon rather than a melee one. I'm trying to make it so that there are pros and cons to them. While a gun is very lethal and far faster than any magic spell, I'm trying to balance it so that it has its drawbacks, too. More on that to come soon, I hope. If all goes according to plan, I'm hoping to have this ready to launch this Friday. Does that sound like a good starting time for everyone?

A couple of quick notes: I am probably going to be running most of my characters in an NPC fashion, to focus more on the plot and your guys' characters. This won't really change much for you, though my posts may be in an odd format since I will be focusing primarily on your guys. Second, I will be giving Daruk, the Maester of the Ignis Court, over to Vaude to control. He is very good at playing this particular role, and I'm sure that he'll give our muscular Ignis Maester more justice than I could. Lastly, I'm working on combat rules between players as opposed to NPCs. Because guns are permitted in the RP there will have to be some limitations on this when fighting other players, though I am not sure what to place on this just yet. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions I welcome you to bring them to the table. Otherwise I will see what I can come up with, or we can just handle it as it comes up. @Vaude, @Nero Kunivas, @Stardustblade358, @rikunobodyxiii, @Endless Thundaga, does Pali, Eleanor, Arkane, Gerik, or Morpha come from a lineage of Umbra mages? This will affect some things, so I was just curious to know how to set you up. I'm thinking that Gerik, Morpha, and Arkane do not given their backgrounds, but I just wanted to make sure. I know that Eclaire's mother comes from the Umbra Court @Saber Lily, so I am assuming that Eclaire does have a lineage from the Umbra mages. I saw your updates and it looks good! Thanks for the heads up! Accepted! Also, if you wanted you could have her interpreter be an NPC, so that way you don't have to create a full-fledged character for this person unless you choose to do so later down the road. Whichever works easiest for you. There is still room for another character, if you did want to add on another.

Accepted!