Shards of Twilight [Closed]

[The Warden]

Deus looked at is closely, and smiled. 'Such a wondrous gift for a servant of the saintess. You are surely the blade which will rend her enemies and the heretics' he marvelled. 'The saintess works mysteriously and grants her greatest servants the power they need to remove her enemies and to punish the heretics. Do not disregard her gifts, she works mysteriously, but with reason' he added. He then realised that his presence was called for and entered. After listenting to her words, Deus approached Cyndane. 'I am the former priest Deus Armityle, servant of the divine saintess. My reasons for uniting myself with the Amethyst order is quite simple, the senate has become corrupt and strayed from the path of the almighty saintess, as one servant of her will I cannot punish the heretics alone. Within the Amethyst Order, the heretics can be put to justice' he explained. 'As for my gift from the saintess, I shall demonstrate' he added and whistled with his eyes closed. There was a furious roar as from behind the velvet curtain a large tiger plodded in. It padded up to Deus' side and sat there.

[Saiba Aisu]

Cyndane swore loudly before springing back out of her seat and atop it, daggers glinting like starlight as they flew into her hands swiftly. Neither Deus nor the tiger seemed to notice; in fact, the great, striped beast yawned widely, baring terrible teeth as long and sharp as knives as it regarded her with feline contempt.

 

"Baltimer!" Cyndane commanded in a remarkably calm and ringing voice, perched upon her chair precariously. "Guards, to arms! I want that tiger dead!" She jabbed viciously at Deus and the tiger while she spoke, enunciating each word. The guards stepped forward slowly, confusion evident on their faces as their eyes swept the room, as if looking for something. Cyndane gave them an incredulous look and bit back an angry scream.

 

"Right here, you idiots!" she spat, pointing savagely with a dagger at the spot where the tiger crouched with an expression of supreme disdain on its whiskered face. Baltimer frowned and squinted at where she pointed. "But there's nothing there at all, my Lady," he exclaimed after a moment, "it's just the preacher!" Several of the other guards muttered their agreement.

 

"You're a passel of fools," she hissed, tightening her grip on both her daggers. "A passel of fools that never did an honest day's work in your lives!" Several of the men frowned at this; Baltimer merely looked worried. "My Lady?" he ventured. "Are you feeling ill?" He took a step forwards, his expression equivalent to what one would expect at a deathbed.

 

"Don't you come near me," Cyndane shouted as a form of reply. "If you fools think it's amusing to pretend that you don't see the tiger, then that's fine by me—after I skin the pelt off this monster, I'll have your heads!" And with a graceful movement, she sent her daggers spinning towards the tiger's throat. Cyndane's hands became a flurry of movement as she produced what appeared to be an incredible, never-ending stream of daggers which sank one after one into the tiger's white throat. The tiger regarded her amenably through green, feline eyes, not affected in the slightest, while the men shouted out in protest.

 

"Let's see how your pet kitten purrs when it's pumped full of ten different deadly poisons," she spat at Deus, who had still not moved. The man smiled, and the tiger stood and stretched, yawning once more as it did so and revealing her daggers lying in disarray on the floor. Cyndane's breath caught in her throat. "Wha—?" she began, her eyes moving from the priest to the tiger. Her eyes grew round as saucers.

 

"Oh."

[The Warden]

Deus smiled and nodded as the tiger vanished. 'At ease' he stated to the confused guardsmen. 'My gift from the goddess is ability to create illusions, to make the heretics truly see their crimes. It is of no question how your guardsmen reacted, as only I and those my illusions are affecting can see them. I do offer my supreme apologies for the tirade, but due to how my illusions work, to prove my power it had to be demonstrated on you. I have heard about you Lady Cyndane, you are quite cynical and disbelieving; if I had used my powers on a guardsmen, you would merely assume that something had happened to him, say a poisoning or some for of mental breakdown and thus charge me with assaulting a guard. No, to prove my point, it had to be you, and you alone' he explained, hiding a knowing smile that he broke perhaps one of the toughest women into hysterics.

[Umbra]

Roland sat down outside the audience chamber, and closed his eyes. Seven days had passed since his arrival in New Antioch, and he had already seen more conflict than ever before. What's more important, this "Amethyst Order" seemed to have the upper hand judging by those in their service. He had stood by in the hallway outside when the youngling had shown his... ability to the priest. So different from his own... and to be used in a different way. The boy could become a useful tool in the future.

 

First, however, they needed a connection, and the boy seemed grim and depressed. Roland connected this thumb and right index finger, forming a circle. This was not really needed any more, as he had learned to master his skill without it, but it made him feel at ease. Soothing flare, fairy's ghost, elven soul. In order, three orbs of light no larger than a clenched fist materialized at the boy's feet - first a red one, then a green, and finally a blue. Dance of three. The incantations weren't needed either, but they made the orbs easier to control. He wouldn't have time to use them in combat, but this place seemed relatively peaceful.

 

Slowly, the orbs started to circle the boy, the three of them forming the corners of a equilateral triangle. They spun faster and faster, until the individual orbs were indistinguishable - all that could be seen was a white circle of light. Roland smiled, vaguely remembering how he had practiced this particular trick for hours in the forest

(burn, burn, they shall burn, these walls shall fall apart, they shall die and you shall live)

outside the burned ruins of his father's castle. What remained of his old life.

[encapturer]

Indeed, it seemed like Ashley came to the right place. She thanked the soldier before heading inside. She was summoned here, and keeping everyone waiting is not a good idea.

 

Ashley was rather surprised at the size and the scope of the High Lady's tent. She wondered how someone would even be able to pitch it. There must have been specialized tools invovled, she deduced. Regardless of it's size, it was what was inside what counted.

 

The High Lady, Niobe, was standing on a risen platform. It made everything seem more formal, more official. The way that the High Lady and her knights were positioned just made Ashley more nervous. Nevertheless, this was the path that she decided, so she will continue forth.

 

Her armor occasionally made loud clanking sounds as she walked forward. Due to her ability, she could get away with using it without maintenance for longer periods of time, but the wear and tear was finally getting to it. Ashley was embarrassed, but by then, she was already in the middle of the floor, all eyes on her. Figuring that she would let her new leaders speak first, she closed her eyes and bowed down, waiting for a response.

[Guest Ixigo]

The interior of the chamber was as quiet as a church, and the newcomer's arrival was like a tone of cacophony in the perfect silence. The eyes of the three Knights immediately jumped to her. Valerian's eyes glittered playfully. Rafael's seemed to bore holes in her, seeking out the depths of her soul. Alicia's were frozen ice.

 

In stark contrast to them, who seemed accustomed to making everyone else uncomfortable with their gaze, Niobe wore a welcoming smile as she looked at Ashley. Though looked was a figure of speech, as her eyes, covered beneath a thin linen bandage, had long lost the ability to see, Avalon's leader still addressed Ashley as if she knew exactly where she was standing.

 

"Welcome." She said. Her voice was smooth, but firm, and it exuded a quiet resolve that could put even the most suspicious character at ease, if he let it wash over him. "I am Niobe, leader of Avalon. Please make yourself comfortable." She waved over to the benches that were positioned on either side of the room. "If you please, would you introduce yourself to us while we wait for your comrades to arrive?" Though a few people were already sitting on the stone benches, more were clearly expected.

[Naimo]

A ditch. That was what it was. A deep, forgotten ditch, which raised the question of who constructed such a thing; nature or man? It was hidden from sight, under the shady protection of towering trees; unsuspecting animals and humans alike fell in the ditch, but only the most athletic of animals could possibly escape, thusly the bottom was lined with bones.

 

An unusual sound was emitting from within the ditch, a scraping sound. Any curious onlooker - though there were none present - may have shown startled sympathy at the girl's head sticking out of the ditch, before dragging the rest of her body out. Hyena took in her surroundings, her face, claws and the front of her dress was smeared with mud. She had sensed food at the bottom of the ditch, and to her satisfaction, she had been right, hence spitting out the bone of a then-living squirrel as she sat on the ground, flawlessly mirroring a real hyena.

 

"Nothing left," she said, as if there was another person present. She had a high pitched voice - like that of a person speaking after inhaling helium - entangled with the tone of wildness which lay within her heart. She suddenly cackled menacingly, before she began to walk, on her hands and knees, through the forest, as she continued to laugh.

[Otaku-sama]

OoC: You people should sleep at night...

 

IC: Paradox walked towards to the military camp on the hill along the dirt path. He was particularly in a good mood today, hoping that such an attitude would leave a good impression on the leaders. Giving the guards a happy hello, he entered the camp. The camp was much more...simply built than he expected. The tents were haphazardly assembled without much consideration for organization. Paradox found this chaotic assembly aesthetically pleasing, but decided that he had little time to appreciate it.

 

Continuing into the centre of the camp, the tents became ordered and the people bustling around looked more matured and much more busy. Paradox eventually reached what seemed like the head tent. Entering, a group of what looked like high ranking knights sat on lofty chairs.

 

"Greetings! I am Paradox the sage. I am glad to make your aquantance."

[Saiba Aisu]

Cyndane frowned at Deus, while her guards edged warily back to their posts, all of them relieved that there was in fact no danger. She tossed the priest an appraising glance; it was as if he knew exactly which words to use in order to comfort her without destroying her authority in front of the others.

 

She hated him for it.

 

"That is quite an ability, Deus," she said softly, seating herself once more and patting down her skirts in an attempt at a semblance of composure. With a quick gesture, Baltimer was sent to retrieve her daggers from the floor. "In all the years the Amethyst Order has flourished within these walls, I have never seen anything remotely like it. With careful training, your 'gift from the goddess' could become an extremely valuable weapon—torture, incapacitation, seduction—all of these would be within a simple hand's reach for you."

 

Although her tone was calm, inside she battled fiercely between a desire to have Deus killed for his impudence and a hot, bubbling pleasure that she had found such a promising talent so quickly among the recruits. While she would have enjoyed torturing that smug smile off of Deus' features with some well-administered poison, she realized that even if she did have him killed, the guards would still talk of his ability, and word would spread—meaning that the Leader would certainly hear about it and come after her. There were too many witnesses to consider her killing the priest, and she would rather avoid a confrontation with the Leader, if that were at all possible. Sliding her daggers back into place at her waist, she came to a decision.

 

"Very well, Deus," she said coolly. "I will not sit here and pretend to draw the rags of dignity around me; such an act would be pointless, as we both know, due to my reaction." Reassuming her businesslike command, Cyndane tossed a strand of hair back from her face. "I am placing you under my direct command as an Advisor," she continued. "You will report only to me and those above me—in this case, that means the Leader."

 

The buxom woman gave him an erstwhile glance. "Normally I wouldn't advise raising a recruit through the ranks so quickly, since it often swells their pride and makes them even bigger fools than usual," she muttered bitterly. "However, the strength and nature of your ability are too much to ignore; it would be foolish, in turn, to leave you among the masses where you could be killed all too easily."

 

She sighed, promising herself that one day, when the war was over and Deus not needed, she would slip a few drops of Lilith's Kiss into his drink. "So, Deus," she concluded. "What do you think?"

[Naimo]

It took a while, but Hyena eventually reached Avalon camp. It was not unusual for many looks to be drawn her way, or indeed people immediately stabbing their fingers into their ears, in fear of her suddenly laughing. As Hyena crawled through, she noticed the looks and a wide, lopsided grin spreaded on her face. She cackled slightly as people began jumping out of her way, suddenly looking afraid; this only caused Hyena to break into more laughter, causing more panic amongst the people. Her eyes rolling in all directions, out of synchronisation with each other, Hyena eventually reached the head tent, still chuckling madly at the amount of stares she was attracting per usual.

 

Before she stepped into the tent, Hyena got up onto her legs; no matter what, she felt it was always proper to walk like a fellow human being into a tent where the leader of the very fraction was. With a slight air of unstability, she half-stumbled half-stepped into the tent, and gave a clumsy bow to Nioble. The way she walked and held herself now and performed any action made her look drunk; in truth, having spent a few years acting like an animal, she found it more difficult to stand on both legs than go about her daily business on all fours.

[Saiba Aisu]

Cerce strode purposefully through the Avalon camp, his tattered green cloak fluttering behind him in the invisible breeze, as if tugged by ghostly fingers. With a lazy, careless movement, he threw back the hood of his cloak, revealing himself to be a dark-haired young man with startling green eyes. A single golden band glinted dully at his ear in the wan light of the rising sun, and in one hand, he clutched a long carved wooden staff with an air of command.

 

Around him, the camp slowly came to life under the sun's rays; the wives of soldiers put out their laundry to dry, while men marched regularly across the various streets and pathways in military formations of varying neatness. Cerce frowned—while he had been to the Avalon encampment once before, he had never visited the High Lady Niobe's tent. Still, assuring himself that he was bound to find it if he kept looking, he continued forward, the wind tugging at his heels. Sure enough, he soon spotted some sort of ghastly woman-creature crawling along on all fours, bedraggled, who kept emitting odds shrieks of high-pitched laughter that sent even the most steely-looking of men reaching for their weapons and wiped the smiles away from passerby.

 

Cerce followed in the woman-creature's wake, nodding serenely at the countless people she had left dumbstruck and unnerved. From ahead, a massive silken confection rose against the sky, more like a manor than a mere tent—the quarters of the High Lady Niobe. At its pinnacle, a blue banner bearing the standard of the Crusade of Avalon fluttered gently in the breeze, the sunshine catching the figures of the golden lion, red rose, and white cross emblazoned upon it. Still following the woman-creature, he watched impassively as she assumed a sloppy, upright stance and stumbled into the tent. Sighing to himself, he ran a hand through his bangs briefly. After a suitable interval of time had passed, Cerce strode forwards, identified himself with the guards, and stepped inside.

[Naimo]

Hyena saw Cerce enter not long after her. She had been aware of another person following her, and Cerce seemed to confirm it. She walked over, now back on all fours, and sat in front of Cerce, with some distance between them. She grinned manically, and said, "It's not good to follow people, you know." She got up again and approached closer. She approached at a slow speed, stopping not in front of Cerce, but behind him. She suddenly leapt up, like a dog leaping onto its hind legs, and landed her clawed fingers on his shoulder. She stuck her grinning face by him, her grin spreading even wider, her eyes growing bigger.

[Tempest Dahlia]

Reserved...

[Saiba Aisu]

OoC: Reborn, reservation accepted. Good luck coming with a good character to add to the RP!

 

IC: Cerce frowned at the girl around his shoulder, which was difficult as her entire weight was upon him. "Whoever trained you certainly did a poor job of it," he remarked coolly, his green eyes lingering upon her unkempt face with its wild expression.

 

"Now, will you kindly get off me? I generally don't allow wild animals to hang off me like that."

[Otaku-sama]

Paradox noticed that two more recruits had joined him. One had a smile that oozed of unstability and insanity, and indeed, her stance made her seem drunk. The other seemed serene and collected. Paradox looked towards both.

 

"Ah hello! I assume you are also here to meet with Avalon? I am Paradox, and you are?" Paradox greeted while giving a deep bow.

[Saiba Aisu]

Cerce turned slightly at the sound of a new voice, which was difficult as the wild girl was still trailing off of him, only to deepen his frown as he gazed upon what could be very well the most eccentric-looking person he had ever seen in his life.

 

Dressed in a full-body robe with a mirrored quality to it, the person who had spoken seemed almost genderless, although Cerce hazarded a guess that it was a male, due to how the voice had sounded. Above the throat of the man's cloak, a black cloth obscured most of his face, except for a few indents indicating a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.

 

A 'Paradox', indeed, he mused briefly, before realizing that the man had introduced himself and seemed to be expecting a forthcoming reply. "My name is Cerce," he said hastily, pressing his hand against himself gently for emphasis. His voice trailed off as he grimaced slightly and indicated the feral girl clutching his back tightly with inhuman strength. "And I haven't had the pleasure of learning this charming young woman's name just yet..."

[encapturer]

Ashley stood back up, staring directly at Niobe, now that introductions are in order. "I am Ashley, once a wandering warrior," She said. Immediately after, she walked over and sat down on a bench to the side, watching some of the other recruits there. She didn't say anything as she waited, just watched.

 

A few moments later, someone well aged entered the room and introduced themselves. He identified himself as Paradox, and he seemed much more confident about approaching the High Lady and her knights than she was. And as if they received a signal, two more recruits entered the tent. The first was a... strange girl. She seemed to sway when standing upright, as if she could fall over at any moment. Fortunately, she was more stable walking on all fours. The second was a man, who would later call himself Cerce. Ashley pegged him as a traveler like herself, or maybe a warrior with an unconventional fighting style.

 

The three newcomers' interaction with each other amused Ashley. Of particular interest was the girl, who was way more flexible than a human being should be. Although Ashley tried to hold it in, that girl's antics, and Cerce's comment about her, made her giggle.

[galesonic]

[spoiler=Jack Frost]NAME: Jack Williams AKA "Jack Frost"

 

AGE: 16

 

GENDER: Male

 

APPEARANCE:

 

- HEIGHT: 5 foot 7

 

- WEIGHT: 160lbs

 

- FIGURE: In between athletic and regular.

 

- HAIR COLOR: Black

 

- HAIR STYLE: cut short, but a bit spikey

 

- EYE COLOR: Dark brown, but wears glasses with gold frames

 

- COMPLEXION: Pale, but gaining color

 

- CLOTHING: A simple red tunic with black trousers and black and red shoes that look comfortable to run in. He also wears gloves with an insignia on the palms.

 

 

FACTION / POSITION: Avalon/Recruit

 

POWERS / ABILITIES: Art of Cryo-technics: The user has access to ice from either the moisture in the air. He can use the ice to either attack using ice projectiles or create a small shield, protecting him from most attacks.

 

 

Because of this power, his body temperature is lower than normal, making him a bit more prone to diseases than normal people. Also, his ability is weakened when his body heat goes up (he cannot use it when he has a fever).

 

STANDARD EQUIPMENT: A small bag of water with a dispensable tube on his back for easy access to ice projectiles in case of moisture not being in the air. He also carries a bag of mint in order to keep his mouth from getting too cold.

 

PERSONALITY: Jack is shown to be a quite intelligent person, shown to think of doing things before he acts. He is usually fighting along side a team, and is usually the one to keep them alive as long as he possibly can, making him risk anything he has.

 

BIOGRAPHY: Jack was born in a town that was in a very cold region. He hated the cold ever since he was a kid. He was taught basic fighting from his father as well as surviving the greatest odds. However, when the Ethereal Twilight struck, his father mysteriously dissapeared from the village and he felt himself becoming solder than usual as well as getting sicker. Not only that, he somehow made most of the water in the river turn to ice, ith just the movement of his hand. Through the years he managed to control some of this ability enough to control at will. He is currently looking for his father and what happened to him when the Ethereal Twilight hit.

 

 

Saiba told me to post my app on the thread.

[Guest Ixigo]

Alicia strode forward, and immediately, the atmosphere got heavier. Her eyes, full of contempt, focused on the half-insane girl that had found her way into the tent. No - not mere contempt. Killing intent.

 

"My lady, should I purge this creature from our presence?" She said, and though her voice was low and cool, the words made it that much more frightening. Her hand made no move to grasp the two-handed sword on her back - she looked to fragile to be able to use it, anyway - but that only made the danger worse.

 

Niobe, though, shook her head. "No." She declared. "I can see the girl's pure heart. Unrefined, but good-willed. I approve of her." Reluctantly, Alicia took a step back, resuming her original position. Valerian laughed out loud, but neither Niobe nor the other two Knights looked at him.

 

The High Lady then turned to the others. "The same can be said about all of you. I can see much in your hearts, but your souls are pure." She smiled gently, then walked over to the group. The three Knights took a step forth in unison, but she waved them back, though they cringed almost visibly when she reached the animalistic girl. She was taller than Niobe, and looked considerably more intimidating, but Avalon's leader did not seem to mind. She rose to her toes, and placed her hand on the child's messy hair.

 

"So much sadness, so much pain." She whispered, probably too softly to be heard by anyone else except the young woman standing in front of her. A tear escaped her eye. But she didn't say another else, and again walked back to the dais. Though she had had no trouble descending it, now she almost tripped on the elevated step, as if she was distracted. Alicia all but leaped at her, but Niobe waved her back again, before resuming her position. By the time she had reached the pavillion, her face was smooth again.

 

"I welcome you all to Avalon." She spoke. "The Knights will see to it that you are settled comfortably, and introduce you to our order. Remember that you can come and talk to me for whatever concerns you." She smiled brightly at them. In the meantime, Valerian had leaned close to Rafael, whispering to him. Alicia was still glaring daggers at the shoddy girl.

 

"Monkey girl, and you two 'warriors'." Though his voice was serious, his tone at that last word indicated more than a hint of cynical humor. "Follow me." He commanded as he left the tent, heading to the back of the encampment. Without a word to see if they had obeyed, he walked towards an open ring, like an arena. A low stone wall indicated its boundaries, and it was filled with sand, presumably to allow for training. Quite a few practice targets and training dummies were set up near the edges, though the middle was a large open space. This was Avalon's training ground, the Ring of Templars. It was currently empty, though a few warriors, all clad in the standard uniform, had gathered around. Apparently, word had travelled of the arrival of the new set of recruits.

 

Back in the tent, Valerian locked eyes with the man called Paradox. The Knight was still smirking, as if he was amused by something invisible.

 

"Show me." He commanded, though his tone was a lot lighter than the one Rafael had used. "Your power, show it to me." He waved vaguely around the room. One could see spears, swords and even axes hanging by the walls. Despite the fact that it was the High Lady's tent, noone could ever miss the militaristic feel of the encampment even here. Niobe sighed softly, and settled back.

 

Sometimes, peace has to be wrought by the sword.

 

======

 

OoC #1: Niobe's powers include being able to detect the presence of people and identify their feelings and emotions, as well as catch glimpses of their soul. Valerian's power is, as you may have guessed, the ability to identify other powers. You'll learn a lot more about these powers and their limitations over the course of the RP.

 

OoC #2: The "recruitment" is over for now, so whoever wants to join Avalon needs to PM me in order to discuss a different way of introducing his character.

 

OoC #3: Gale, your character is approved. Please read the posts concerning the occurences in Avalon, and then PM me so we can discuss your introduction.

[Tempest Dahlia]

Username-820reborn

Name- Elisabeth Soleigami

Age-28

Gender- Female

Appearence - 5'5. 140 lb. Regular figure. Black hair, neatly combed down her back with curls at the end. Ruby red eyes. Fair complexion. An elegant, black bell-dress with the back exposed, and black heels.

Faction- Amythyst Order

 

The other part of the app will be sent via pm tomorrow or tonight, if that's fine.

[encapturer]

Ashley stood up and followed Rafael outside and into the Ring of Templars. He seemed unimpressed with the recruits that had entered, and perhaps he wished to test them. She gripped her scarf that was around her waist, and tightened it as she walked. She didn't want it disappearing when she needed it.

 

Of course, what Ashley was really worried about was her armor. The noise it gave off as she walked revealed that it was in a state of disrepair. She got herself into a few fights before coming here to Avalon. Common thieves existed, even today, and she was often marked when she walked around without her armor. She did some emergency work to make sure it can still offer some protection, but she will have to switch back to her clothes if her armor becomes unusable.

 

Once at the ring itself, Ashley found herself gripping her scarf with her right hand. She was most comfortable using her sword, after all. She watched Rafael silently, waiting for the next instructions.

[galesonic]

In the supposedly calm part of the forest, a boy that looked around 16 or 17 was running through the thick trees and bushes. He wore a red tunic and black pants. His glasses were fogging up with each passing breath he took. He looked behind to find out what was chasing him. There was a pack of white wolves chasing him.

 

He started to feel tired as the forest was soon cleared with a lake nearby. The boy had a smirk as he jumped into the lake. As the water rose from the dive, it was iced over and became an ice ramp, connecting with the land. The wolves skidded into the ice ramp, but were flown into the farther part of the lake as the man swam out of the water. He felt really cold from the water, which he dispised. It was ironic because he had the power to create and manipulate ice. As he took a deep breath, the ice ramp turned back into water. He went back to the camp to find anyone that could help him become warm again. Everyone in the camp always calls him, Jack Frost because of his power of manipulating ice.

[Otaku-sama]

Paradox felt the cold and hard stare of the large knight, clearly doubting his abilities. Paradox sighed a bit.

 

"I assume that you would not settle with tales of my exploits and healings, so I will show you my defensive power..." Paradox said with a bit of reluctancy. Paradox held out his staff horizontally.

 

"Come forth! X, Y, Z! Defend your master!" Paradox said with an assertive voice. Three ethereal blue orbs burst from the three spheres from his staff. They flew artistically in formation, then phased themselves into some of the weapons laying about in the room. Each took control of a halberd and flew back to Paradox. They orbited Paradox, heads outward as if ready to fend off enemies. Paradox then held out his staff again.

 

"Strike!"

 

The halberds thrust forwards in opposite directions, aggressively thrusting and spinning their invisible targets.

 

"Defend!"

 

The halberd immediately came back to Paradox and planted the ends of the spear into the ground with the heads out like a professional anti-calvary pike formation.

 

"Return!"

 

The orbs left the halberds and returned to their spheres. Paradox's stance relaxed and he bowed.

 

"Although I can defend myself, I consider my greatest skill to be in aiding the wounded."

[Saiba Aisu]

Cerce sighed slightly in vexation, wishing that the Knights would set aside their tough-guy bravado and try and be a bit more welcoming for once—after all, they were here to dedicate their talents and lives to serving the White Crusade of Avalon, so there was no need for such suspicion and hostility. Anyways, it looked like Lord Knight Rafael intended to put them through their paces with training of some kind; if that was the case, he'd better hurry and follow him outside. It was a pity, though, since the High Lady Niobe had quite impressed him—she seemed everything a true leader should be; brave, compassionate, and wise. He would have enjoyed conversing with her, if only briefly, but something told him that was now was not the time.

 

Pausing only to spare a questioning and appraising glance at the wild-looking girl High Lady Niobe had touched briefly, Cerce nodded respectfully to Niobe and her cold-eyed female protector before tightening his grip on his staff and sweeping lightly across the room, past the Lord Knight Valerian and Paradox, and outside the silken, cream-colored tent into the sunshine. Catching sight of the woman who had introduced herself as Ashley and Rafael a little further away, he made his way towards them, entering the circular, low-walled space behind Niobe's quarters that served as the main training ground for Avalon's warriors—the Ring of Templars.

[Guest Ixigo]

Paradox' display was certainly impressive, by all standards. Falric, forgotten on his corner, whistled softly, ducking to avoid a halberd skewering him as it flew from its original position. Niobe, who had positioned herself on a throne-like chair in the back of the audience chamber, frowned slightly, and Alicia quickly bent close to her, whispering something; soon, the Avalon's leader nodded appreciatively, her face turned towards Paradox. Valerian, however, burst out in laughter.

 

"As much as we've enjoyed your circus act, I wasn't talking about that." Then suddenly he got serious, and took a step forward, wrapping his hand around the hilt of the greatsword that hung on his back. "I hope that display just now wasn't all you have."

 

"Valerian - !" Niobe said sharply, for the first time letting a hint of warning enter her tone. However, Alicia whispered something to her again, and she grew silent, though her pursed lips seemed to exude disapproval. She nodded imperceptibly.

 

"Here goes." Valerian said, and with astonishing speed, he drew his blade and charged towards Paradox, a strike meant to cleave him vertically in half.

 

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OoC #1: I'll take this chance to talk about combat a bit. Battles in the RP will take place turn-based style, with the combatants posting in order. Controlling the other character is not allowed, you should limit yourself to describing the actions of your own character, and letting your opponent react to them. Godmodding is not allowed, which means your reactions must be reasonable.

 

OoC #2: Gale, I am confused as to what exactly you intend to go for right now, since you never responded to my PM. Please clear that up before proceeding.