[IC] Myriad AoW Chapter 1 - Rise from the Cinders

[IntSys]

Bargus

Bargus noticed the kid's enthusiastic introduction. "Outgoing people are the best, easy to talk with and really gets the mood going!" He thought to himself and smiled a bit, only to frown at the latter introductions. The many words suppressed by seemingly plain sentences...he disliked working with such figures, these were people that would abandon their allies when things go south, and the people that believe the end justifies the means, and will barely ever cooperate with teammates.

He can't really say anything, though. Whatever mess of a group that involves spies and assassins don't get to start off with any decent cooperation...

At least, Vermillio was trying to lighten up the mood...

"It's a pleasure to work with such fine people, may we have great success, together!" Bargus said, loudly, emphasizing on the "together". Despite having to work with a group where only one other person is somewhat friendly, he tried his best to make the scene lively.

[Notus]

"Woah, woah, aren´t we a bit edgy today? Just as a reminder, Rifle, now should be the time to shoot the breeze, not each other´s heads." Vermillio smirked again "And besides, there ain´t no need for a co- *caham*, a barrel measuring contest at all; you´ll have plenty of time for that on the field."

Vermillio started to walk around the room, his piercing eyes staring straight at the other´s as he passed in front of them, equal to everyone.

"Yay, Bargus and Grandpa got the spirit. Welcome all, welcome all. So, guys and gals, you were all highly recommended to me by your superior officers or whatever equivalent you had, and I recognize all of you got some crazy skills.Though you just miiight be a bit rusty with the lack of combat in this past year, I´m not worried in that department, not at all, so what I´ll ask is..."

Now Vermillio faced Bom, placing his eyes at the same level as hers and his face a bit closer than the confortable distance. "How are you liking your peace time? Have you been missing the feeling of gutting your enemies? The thrill of the battlefield?"

[Felicity]

Jorgen contemplated flicking Karol's nose just to annoy her again but shrugged instead. Pushing things too far wouldn't help. She already had some sort of spiteful nickname for him already. Her phrasing indicated she had an issue with mankind specifically, if the issue was not with Jorgen individually then chances were he could prove himself to be an exception. Spiteful actions like flicking once more just wouldn't help that.

He still wanted to do it though, quite a lot.

He then turned to wave at Bargus with a big ol' smile. "Nice to meet you friend. Let's get along eh?"

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

Luna didn't say anything to Vermillo. All she did was raise an eyebrow. Crossing her arms together she just stared at him, a grin on her face. She couldn't put a finger on this one. He was strange. Very strange. He kept subverting her expectations for what he was. Perhaps a good thing. He managed to at least not be boring like the majority of demon kind. However she wasn't sure what his end game was. Perhaps to get her to talk, perhaps to discover more about her. He wouldn't learn more about her. She was content with being an enigma. After all, it was who she was at this point. Many didn't fancy meeting a Primordial One. Even with the new alliances between races. She was something much more than just a simple demon.

"A good question. But, also a bad one. You know the answer. It's pretty pointless asking something you already know. So, why ask it at all? That's the real question, isn't? Perhaps because the information on record isn't what you want and you hope I'll say something else. Perhaps there was nothing on my record to begin with and you actually truly don't know. Perhaps it's some sort of test... no matter though... if you truly knew who I was, you'd know your answer. So, do you, or do you not?"

[krim]

Raziel shifted uncomfortably on his bench at the sight of this huge demon hugging his newfound "allies". "Something...is very wrong here." he thought to himself. "Being friendly with a group of professional killers like this...there has to be a motive. There always is with demons. They aren't even friendly to their own kind...But what could it be...? Even the kid seems to feel it."

As a way to gather his thoughts, he quickly took a book out from a pocket sewn into the inside of his robes and began to read. Soon after, however he was addressed by the wingless angel. Sighing, he put the book down on his lap. "Well. At least he didn't ask me about myself like most angels would have. Without wings, he evidently hasn't been in our world for a while. At least he couldn't be anyone sent to watch me..." he thought. "Something...isn't quite right with this whole business." he said. "I've had experiences with plenty of demons from our "great" worlds "military experiences" and none have ever acted like this." He glanced around quickly and saw Vermillio talking with the woman from earlier. "I'm not quite sure what he's trying to get at though. More information probably."

[Jory]

The butler returned to his position on the wall, silently watching the ongoing proceedings. 'Bom' was certainly making her presence known, contesting the host's every statement with skepticism and arrogance. Pride; a common characteristic of the demons, he thought to himself. Although she feels nothing like the others here. A strange presence, yet oddly enough more human than any of them. Jarvis focused on his breathing, remembering his master's training. Wait for the situation to play out. Don't move just yet. He continued on wordlessly, his face scarcely shifting at all through the acting and accusations.

[Cool Girl]

Misara was also waiting patiently at her seat while she was listening to more introductions. "Bom" certainly isn't interested in any of us. I'm sure that any of us could beat her, but especially me. I am the one who can beat everybody here right now. I'm sure she's underestimating me, but not only me. I think she is also underestimating the rest of us. That shall be her downfall, she thought while giving a nasty glare to "Bom".

Edited August 24, 2016 by Cool Girl

[Sutoratosu]

Lucille could not have helped but instinctively tense as things seemed to grow more questionable. Perhaps the others didn't think much or even notice the subtle undertones in Vermillio's voice, but it was plain as day to her that the demon'd been trying to instigate something despite the overly friendly gesture... and she had the feeling she was right, given not one of them rose to the bait. Hell, the exact opposite in fact, they seemed to eat it right up at face value, except for the youngest...or at least, youngest in appearance. She had seen and killed more than enough elves and humans to know their scent by heart; all of them had slightly differing ones, of course, though most of the time said differences were too subtle for anything but an animal to pick up, but generally all fell within the same basic olfactory range. The boy smelled like a mingled union of both races... but she knew something was off, almost stale... like his scent had lingered in the world far longer than any normal one of it's kind should've... whatever he was, he was probably far older than he looked, hell, the boy even went so far as to confirm it himself.

Regardless though, that was all trivial to her. All of this "shooting the breeze" crap was trivial to her, and she made a point to stay silent through the remaining introductions just to help the waste of time pass faster- the less she spent sitting in this glorified cage, the better. But of course, the rest of them were intent on socializing, and the demon's next instigatation was bounced like glue off rubber. She might've taken note of the fact that the raven haired woman had an off-scent just as the psuedo-child had, but at that point, she was done waiting for everyone to finish their diarrhea of the mouth...

"You know," she began, voice projecting loud and clear to all those in the space despite how softly she seemed to speak... agitated though she was, she kept it out of the mix- the point was to try to stop this nonsense and get to what mattered, not add to it. "Shooting the breeze and getting to know each is nice and all, but didn't you mention there being a reason we were all gathered here, aside from having a glorified house party in some dark basement?"

[Ragnar]

As the angels were talking, One particular introduction caught Jesse's attention that made him snort out an ample air through his nostrils. A bratty little girl who seems to wield a fancy rifle than him and has the nerve to call his weapon "a pea shooter". Being rude and has a sour demeanor? Yep, that's a sign of overcompensating if I ever saw one, I would think of a comeback, but i'll let it slide for now, you win this one, sleepy girl. Jesse thought to himself, as pays no attention to it. Jesse is childish in a way but is nowhere near compare to this brat. He crossed his arms like nothing happened and continues to listen to Raziel.

"Something...isn't quite right with this whole business.I've had experiences with plenty of demons from our "great" worlds "military experiences" and none have ever acted like this"I'm not quite sure what he's trying to get at though. More information probably."

"Demons, amirite? cunning enigmatic creatures they are" Jesse nodded in agreement.

"You know..I have the ability to see beyond the mortal eye, beyond deceit even. I could probably take a gander at one of these demons and figure out what makes them so special." The sniper said, contemplating whether to use his x-ray ability just for kicks, while focusing his sights at the demons from across the room. "Or perhaps not," Jesse looks away and leans back in his chair. "Trust is what's important in a team, it would unethical to invade one's privacy." He said, turning his attention once more to his fellow angel.

"So anyways, your past experiences with the demons, are they a pleasant one I presume?" The angel asked Raziel.

Edited August 24, 2016 by Ragnar

[InnocentSerenity]

"Looks like I at least got a reaction from the Angel over there," she thought to herself. "Was hoping for something a bit more vocal, though." Most of the fun of insulting others came from their reactions, after all.

Karol looked at the people she'd be working with soon. "Quite the group we have," she thought to herself. "Though, I could do without having to work with them." Karol glared in the direction of the Human woman sitting nearby. "Ugh, I shouldn't waste my time glaring at a Human. Guess I'll play nice for now." Karol turned her eyes away, hoping that looking at Vermillio would distract her. "What's so interesting about that woman he's talking to, anyway?"

As much as Karol would love to provoke one of the many people in the room, she decided to save her retorts for another time. "Not like I actually know any of their names," she thought to herself, realizing that she slept through all of their introductions. "Eh, I'll figure them out later."

[IntSys]

Bargus

The cyborg waved at Bargus with a smile. "I can tell we're going to have a splendid time!" He replied to the cyborg, ending with a generous laugh. He then turned back to Vermillio.

"I must say, I miss the battlefields a bit, the days when this axe sank into living flesh. It's in my blood after all! Glad to see an opportunity to put it back to good use again." He drew the axe from his armor's back-strap, twirling it a bit before putting it back again.

He looked around, memorizing the looks of each and every single one of his teammates. There was something unusual about the "Bom" woman, but then again, everyone here was unusual one way or another, so he paid it no mind.

Edited August 25, 2016 by IntSys

[Cool Girl]

Everyone is looking at "Bom" as if she's the threat. Sooner or later, they're going to learn that I'm a threat. I may act like a brat and be arrogant and act cool, but on the battlefield, they shall learn that it's a completely different story! Misara thought

"So, I see you enjoy the thrill of the battlefield as well. Just don't get in my way." she said to Bargus smiling while spinning her demon sword around and then putting it back

Edited August 25, 2016 by Cool Girl

[IntSys]

Bargus

"Sure, sure." Bargus replied to the half-demon, shaking it off like a joke. What a runt, acting cocky before me, Bargus? Sigh, I'll let you off the hook this time.

It seemed that the half-demon was a sword-wielder...precisely why he didn't really fear her. He was trained to be the bane of swords, and this axe is the proof of it, smashing weak swords and dropping strong swords. Those who think they are superior to him simply because they have a more "elegant" weapon will pay dearly should they ever fight against him.

Edited August 25, 2016 by IntSys

[krim]

Raziel took a glance behind Jesse at his snort, and saw the little girl that had introduced herself as Karol earlier. With a small smile he thought to himself. "The demon has one thing right at least. Barrel measuring contest indeed."

"Trust is what's important in a team, it would unethical to invade one's privacy."

Lifting a hand to run it through his long hair, Raziel said "Trust is important, agreed. But do the others? I don't think I'm ready to trust any of you yet." "Or ever, really." he added silently.

"So anyways, your past experiences with the demons, are they a pleasant one I presume?"

"This group really is a funny one." he thought while almost smiling. "If you consider slaughtering hundreds of them and living over half your life leading campaigns against them pleasant. I've lost track of how many I've killed. The worst part? They never told me why. What those wars were for...probably profit. Not once did a demon ever strive for mercy or diplomacy, although I offered them the choice. Trickery and strength are all they cared for." His almost-a-smile faded quickly as he lifted his book once more."This is much the same. Do any of us know what we're here for other than to kill people?"

[Notus]

"A good question. But, also a bad one. You know the answer. It's pretty pointless asking something you already know. So, why ask it at all? That's the real question, isn't? Perhaps because the information on record isn't what you want and you hope I'll say something else. Perhaps there was nothing on my record to begin with and you actually truly don't know. Perhaps it's some sort of test... no matter though... if you truly knew who I was, you'd know your answer. So, do you, or do you not?"

"I´m not as arrogant as to say I truly know you... Or anyone else for that matter. Also, when you get to the top you eventually discover army intel is way less detailed than it would be desirable... Either that or I just became one of those picky bosses I always hated." Vermillio shook his head and backed off from Bom. "I´m a very imaginative guy though, miss Bom, and we both don´t have any way to know how much of my guesses are actually acurate." after a brief pause looking serious, his smirk returned to his face " I did guess your eyes look beautiful up close by the way, so that´s a point for me."

"Shooting the breeze and getting to know each is nice and all, but didn't you mention there being a reason we were all gathered here, aside from having a glorified house party in some dark basement?"

"Yeah getting there, hold your dire horses a little bit more lady. Soo, I see some of you still have that nice and healthy bloodlust into you, that´ll come in handy. Well, maybe I´d be more happy if you were enjoying fully those peaceful times, you have no idea how much work it was to set this shit up. Not to mention maintaining it, it´s a royal pain I tell you. Mountains of paperwork ugh. Aand I´m getting sidetracked." Vermillio kept talking nonchalantly.

" ´Thing is, there are some... troublesome people who have been gathering over this last few months, people who have a biiit too much bloodlust for this world´s health. So the what I propose is that you guys kindly see them out of it. Simple elimination mission right? Well, as you´d probably be expecting, not quite. I hope some of you read the papers?"

"Last month, an Angelic representative was killed while in a conference organized by the Alliance, in Shadow Veil. You can imagine the ruckus: people saying it was orchestrated, others claiming demons should be kicked out of the Alliance, demons actually arguing it would be best to do exactly that... While we managed to calm everyone down, that did leave a sizeable scar on our relations with angels."

Gradually, the demon´s semblance started looking more serious, for the first time since they entered the room.

"Less than a week ago, a Lich - of all things - representing the Monstrous Races managed to get itself killed during a meeting right here in The Thousand. You might not have seen much trouble rising here yet, after all that´s how much Humans usually care about Monsters, but outside the polemic is starting to raise as well. In both cases, the ones responsible for the security of those events were highly capable and, in the last one, I checked the preparations myself. In both cases the murderer got away. The timing is also too perfect to inflict a blow in the Alliance, so I doubt both are disconnected."

"So long story short: we´re dealing with very skilled people pulling the strings behind this show and, by the looks of it, someone wanting to straight out start a war amongst us. Your mission is search and destroy the rats who are doing this. Are you in?"

*Cultural note: Shadow Veil, a huge fortified city far to the southeast, is the capital of the demonic clans and domains in Myriad. It is also one of the few that have a permanent Portal to other worlds within it´s frontiers, thus having the title of "Gate City". The Thousand is also a Gate City, having a Portal in it´s very center.

[Chevaleresse]

Gabriel nodded, glad that things seemed to have moved on - though he was still somewhat irritable at not being taken seriously, even if it was expected. I suppose that's why I'm here. I'll have a knife in your back and you'll never expect it. . . He nearly imperceptibly shakes his head at the thought. "Of course. I am familiar with such work, after all. Though, I must ask. . . why bring professional soldiers to such a mission as well?" He gestures with one hand forward, palm up. "If this is to be gathering intel on a target and then silently dispatching them, surely bringing someone specialized in direct combat will only serve to drive our prey into hiding." It was almost unnerving, hearing and seeing what looked like a child speaking of such matters with such familiarity.

[Cool Girl]

"I'm in. Now allow me to ask a question to you: Shall we use whatever means necessary to get rid of them?" she asked Vermilio

Misara was getting excited, but does not show that to the others. After asking her question, Misara sits back down, waiting for an answer.

A demon, huh? I wonder who that is. No matter, I hate demons anyways, but I have no choice. I have to work with them....for now. However, I could not say that aloud, I am a half-demon after all. That is my destiny now, to fight to the end.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Cool Girl

[Felicity]

Jorgen spoke up. He had questions. "Why are you heading things then? Wouldn't having a demon lead the efforts to snake out the people who killed an angel make failure a higher risk? It's that much easier to cry conspiracy if we fail, which is a very real possibility to be frank. Or are you not the head honcho for this task?" And how could they trust Vermilio? It would be a stroke of genius to have the guy in charge of finding you in your pocket, ready to fail spectacularly and in your favour. Jorgen didn't dare blurt this out though, alerting Vermilio to his suspicions would have been beyond stupid if he had no confirmation. Politics and subterfuge were tricky businesses that Jorgen didn't particularly like anymore. Especially when people got hurt...

[Sutoratosu]

An audible snarl escaped the blind girl's lips at the mere mention of a lich, canines prominent as she ground her teeth. As much as she had to say about those who willingly toyed with and disregarded the natural laws of life and death, there was a time and place for disdain, and it wasn't here...

"So that's what they dribbled on about so cryptically in the note... why couldn't those fools just have outright said that to begin with, instead of making me come all the way to this gods forsaken place to hear it? Their damn pride probably...too ashamed to admit vulnerability or failure. I guess that's part of the reason Old Fox always dreaded hearing from them..."

"Fine..." She said aloud, finally catching herself and attempting a more... civil tone. "You've given me a valid reason... my claws are yours, but I'm gone the moment this is all over." Of course though, the only reason she agreed to stay at all was because she'd rather be proactive about stopping another bastard like Vongth from happening. The work wasn't even that different than the war- the targets were less, but the general game stayed the same. But alas, Despereaux in all his infinite wisdom, decided it was best to show her a captured scene or two from that very fight years ago, just as a subtle reminder that Old Fox wouldn't be around to save her this time... a draconic glare from her was enough to shut him up and send him back into hiding.

She was ready, both to get out of this glorified closet and get this mess over with...but of course the rest of them wanted to ask their questions. The why of it should've been painfully obvious; to find and eliminate highly skilled killers, one needed highly skilled killers. It was the natural order of things- Gazelles don't take down lions. Other lions take down lions. It shouldn't matter if the bastards start hiding, it was their job to hunt them down in the first place. Furthermore the issue was larger than just something threatening the Angelic races, the metal fool was so daft he hadn't even considered the fact that the one standing before them wasn't just some lackey or pawn sent by higher ups, sent with instructions to sabotage things for the furtherance of some grand scheme... he was one of the founders of the damn Alliance to begin with; Yes, even in her forest territory, so far from here, she still heard most of the important things in the world... just as the demon had said, this sudden age of peace hadn't been pulled out of some giant's ass. And even if the one before them hadn't of been such rank and standing, what sense would it make for the demons to have sole input on this- by all the bloody odds, this very group was more likely formed as a collaborated agreement by all sides...it defeated the one of the very basic points of an alliance otherwise.

But she voiced nothing to them beyond that initial agreement of aid, just sat there in all her silence waiting for this charade to finally be over with...and by the gods, did she hope it would be soon, for she envied Bora's freedom far too much...

[M_Cowher]

Rhaeza had been silently observing the conversations going on around the room, which is something that he had gotten quite good at in his line of work. Once Vermillio began to get serious Rhaeza felt that the topic of the actual mission was about to be broached and he focused his attention. After Vermillio was finished explaining the purpose of this "task force" people already began bombarding him with questions.

"If this is to be gathering intel on a target and then silently dispatching them, surely bringing someone specialized in direct combat will only serve to drive our prey into hiding." Rhaeza looked at the little boy, who was instantly recognizable as a vampire to him. He actually felt comfortable, having lived among vampires for most of his life.

"That is why we have a variety of talents in our special group here. The people who know how to be quiet and 'not drive our prey into hiding' take point. Then we have our bruisers in the back ready to attack when we find a suitable reason to engage the enemy." Rhaeza said, crossing his arms and standing with his weight on one his left leg like he normally did, so he was free to react quickly. "This is the kind of work that I specialize in."

That last part was only half true. Rhaeza had a vast knowledge on how to tactically pin and engage enemies, sneak pas groups of enemies unseen, and kill groups of enemies unseen (depending on their strengths.) The only problem was that Rhaeza had taken to working alone, and for good reason. Most of Rhaeza's allies usually didn't survive, and he blamed himself for it.

Edited August 25, 2016 by M_Cowher

[krim]

Raziel gritted his teeth a bit at hearing of the dead angel. He supposed it'd be too much to ask for it to be the one that forced him into this. He didn't really care whether the angels and demons kept good relations or not, since he knew they'd eventually deteriorate anyways. Both sides of that coin had issues. Big ones.

Without getting up or even looking up from his book he said "It seems to me like you're going to need a mage for all this...and it appears that I am the only one here." Faintly sensing magical energies is something mages were trained in from birth. Nobody in this room was nearly as powerful magically as he was.

"You can count me in but...I have a bit of a...condition. I need unrestricted access to any all libraries and vaults containing books on magic and full access to magical artifacts that you've collected and hidden away. Don't tell me you don't have any. I do my research. Not only this, but I also need access to any we come across." then he gave what he imagined to be an uncharacteristic grin. "And. I get to loot their mages and possibly the angels when we have time to spare."

It had been a very long time since he had looted anything. Normally he held no fondness for the subject, but this was a matter of life and death. Any damning evidence on the sage would be one step closer to getting out of here.

He wasn't really expecting to get what he asked for, but he hoped that maybe if they complied he could find a cure. He was being forced into this anyways. Might as well get some use out of it.

[IntSys]

Bargus

"Count me in, I'm here to the very end!" Bargus said, loudly. He was clearly not the type to partake in Search and Destroy missions, but he was also not the type to chicken out simply because of a mission he didn't excel at. With that said, there was still an ounce of disappointment in his heart...

Shadow Veil...glad to have a chance to return there again. I know its streets like the back of my hand, but the impression I've given would probably put me to the cleanup crew. Darn shame.

Edited August 25, 2016 by IntSys

[Jory]

After observing her for some time and finding nothing too unusual, Jarvis turned his attention away from Bom and back to the demons in the room. All of them were powerful beings, most with blood on their hands in the past. The chilling aura could have come from any of them. With that in mind, the butler turned his attention to the task at hand. "Protecting more diplomats?" he asked. "I suppose I can help with that, seeing as it's my specialty. Plus, this should do a great deal for the prestige of the Masterson family."

[InnocentSerenity]

Karol's head began to fill with questions. "Who would do this? Why? What reason is there?" Her smirk began to fade as she continued thinking.

Karol shook her head. Now wasn't the time to wonder the motives of others. They needed someone that could fight. "I'll fight for ya." Karol stood up, swinging her rifle over her shoulder, a smirk returning to her lips. "A fighter's only as useful as their weapon, and you can trust this weapon to be the best there is." Karol snapped the pistol off her rifle, swinging it around her pointer finger. One of the benefits of being a gun's Weapon Spirit: The ability to safely spin your pistol around your finger.

Edited August 25, 2016 by InnocentBoy

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

"Don't stare into a woman's eyes too long Vermillo. That's how they steal your heart if old tales are to be believed." Bom said with a playful giggle. This demon... he was rather different from the others. Luna noted this for later. Vermillo, if he hadn't before, got his name firmly planted on the interesting list. She breathed in, excitement. Not an emotion she figured she'd experience today. It was one that rarely plagued her these days. She'd seen so much that it was rather hard. However... this one reminded her of what her offspring... demonkind once were. "Firepower, sometimes is just good to have around in case, good to diversify your options. I'm not so great at the whole infiltration thing myself... though I can make myself discreet enough. You'll understand in time. All in all, we might even be over-equipped for this mission. And yet... if it were something so simple... we'd not been the ones you called. It makes one wonder."