A Blast to the Past: Legendary Druids of Stonehenge [Closed]

[Kumori]

	Siculus HP: 100% MP: 100%	"Caesar thinks he’s better than me, but honestly, I’m better looking and can beat him if I really wanted, I just never try when I fight him."
Equipment: -Nocturne in Shadow -Sword of Elsinore -Ophelia	Skills:	Quick Slot: -Twilight of Shadow -HP Potions x 10 -MP Potions x 10

He had obtained several Map Pieces from exploring Sarum. As soon as he got the final piece of the set, the pieces joined together, as if magnetized together when he placed each of the pieces on a table. With a little light show and oohs and ahs, what he held after they conjoined was some sort of scroll. On it, it marked a location and said: “A look at the past, from the past’s future, we see the present’s future,” and so he took the scroll and held it in his hands. Who was he going to invite? Well that was the big question. Since he was partial to his guild, he invited both @dindeen (Kyuu) and Shepard Dagon. They were both great helps in his quests, and they were high enough in level that he did not need to worry about them too much. Asking Recca to come along for a journey that was unknown was like asking her to come and die. He would not allow for that to happen. He was a guild leader who felt that death should be avoided, no matter the circumstance.

As he contacted Kyuu and Shepard, he had asked Kyuu to invite another person. Ryuu had invited @0x1dea as well. He told Kyuu she was in charge of inviting one last person (Scoria). He gave the coordinates to each of them, which would lead them to Stonehenge. There weren’t many monsters in that area, but there was plenty of green grass that was unique to the area surrounding it in the real world. It was an all too familiar sight for Ryuu, as he combed over the land with his eyes. Sheep would usually be running around, but the area was desolate of living beings other than the occasional monsters of Sarum. What surprised him, however, was that the monoliths still stood, tall and unaltered. They may have had some corrosion, but for the most part, the wonder stood tall and strong. While greenery began to invade the rock, there wasn’t much, and almost looked pristine. “This is it… Stonehenge,” he said as he knelt down. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. It was a reminder of the strength he needed to have, to continue living on in this world. He was a pillar of strength of those who needed it, and he was a pillar of hope for the others. “That is my duty,” he said with affirmation. No one was here yet, and so he did not have to explain his actions quite yet. As he stood onto his feet once more, he looked around to watch for oncoming travelers, more notably, his party. He jumped up onto the top of Stonehenge, making sure not to break anything or tip anything over. He knew that the architecture of Stonehenge was impossibly perfect, and the game reproduced it well, as nothing happened when he moved upon it. Finally, he would see the first arrivals.

At this time, they would simply talk, until all five members of his party were present. “Well, I have no idea what this is going to do, so I’ve enlisted all of you to help me because, I think we can face whatever we’re about to face,” he said. Ryuu took the scroll he had made with the 3 pieces of magnetized map fragments, and laid them upon the altar of Stonehenge. Light began emanate from the scroll, and soon, streaks of light began to pull in towards the scroll. Ryuu stepped back to retreat to ‘safety’. The lights began to move even faster, more streaks of light coming in, darkening the rest of the world with the clouds that formed overhead. “It’s ALIVE!” he would’ve said if he wanted to joke around, but this was no joke, this was happening, and he didn’t know why.

After several seconds of the absorption of light, a portal was created. It looked similar to the town portals that they used to have. What he didn’t know was where it led. He looked at his fellow adventurers and then looked forward. “Here goes nothing. I’ll see you on the other side,” he said to them. He walked forward, looking back once more as if hoping someone would stop him, but it didn’t matter. It was time to face his fears of uncertainty.

His hand entered first, and it didn’t feel like anything was wrong just yet. As he began moving forward, his face had moved through. Ryuu looked at his arm and noticed the change of skin color and clothing. Ryuu was puzzled by it, however he did not stop and turn around, he continued forward, curious of the change that was being made. The further he stepped into the portal, the more he noticed his changes. “What?” said an unfamiliar voice. Was that his own? Ryuu looked around and saw no one. “My voice…?” he asked no one. As he finished stepping through, he brought up the stats page to figure out who he was. His name said Siculus (Kumori) and his level was 60. His class was swashbuckler and assassin, and looking at the skill list, he realized that he could use both. It was a powerful combination, however he had never developed strategies for using two classes at the same time. “What is this?” he asked. He turned back around and waited for the rest of his group to come forth.

OOC NOTES: To the unknown we go! NPC will post once we're all in. Tags: Scoria, Shepard Dagon, @dindeen, @0x1dea
Word Count: 905 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

HP: 100% MP: 100% Status: Blank Stares and Well-Kept Hair Weapon: Sidus Iulium | Armor: Divus Julius | Shield: Kaiser Shield  The field stretched out like an ocean, the noticeable monument of Stonehedge standing tall amongst the sea of grass. The sun hung high in the sky, blinding Oxford as he held up a hand to shield his eyes from the galatic fire ball's rays. Stonehenge was a silhouette as Oxford approached it, it's monolithic rocks standing tall and proud, still holding the same majesty and cultural pride that could be seen back in the real world. He remembered from a history class back in school that it had been speculated that various secular groups would come here to offer up sacrifices to whatever deities they worshipped. (Despite all that, those are some pretty nifty rocks.) Little did Oxford know that that particular piece of information would play a bigger part in this adventure's puzzle. As he arrived, he noticed the outline of a person standing on top of one of the pillars, immediately recognizing the adventurer as Kumori when his long hair fluttered in the wind. (Hadn't seen him since that party where we all...partied, I guess. I can't really remember anything from that night...) He gave him a friendly wave, taking a seat on the stone table in the center, letting his feet rest after the long walk out here. "Heh, I didn't know I'd be the first one here. I could've sworn I would've been last, what with my horrible sense of direction and all." Oxford struck up a friendly chat with the Assassin, the Guardian staying where he was while Kumori continued his lookout for the other adventureres he invited. The other players eventually arrived, all of them wondering why Kumori had called them out here on this particular day. The long-haired adventurer explained to them all that he was interested in their aid, as he possessed three Map Fragments as rewards for completing various quests in Sarum. After explaining the purpose of their journey, he joined the fragments together, Oxford taking a step back when it began to suck in light like a starving college student inhaling food at a free buffet. A portal appeared, but it didn't surprise Oxford too much. (We're in a game. Anything can happen. If this was the real world, then OK, that would be a little unexpected.) Kumori lead the charge, being the first one to cross into the portal's unknown depths. A flash of light was emitted from the portal, as if it was signaling to the others that he had successfully entered whatever dimension it was that lied on the other side. "Well, I'll go next." Noticing that his hands were a little sweaty from nervousness, Oxford bent down and picked up a handful of dirt, rubbing it on his hands to eliminate the moisture so he could get a better grip on his weapons. The last thing he needed was to be confronted by a monster, only to have his sword fly out of his hands. Taking a deep breath, Oxford stepped through the light, feeling a little different as he emerged to the other side. He looked behind him, but the portal was gone. As he turned his head, locks of blonde hair fell over his eyes. He reached up and grabbed a fistful of the hair, thinking this was some sort of gag and someone had put a blonde wig on him for some unknown reason. A good pull proved him wrong. "Owowowow!...Huh, wha-what's wrong with my voice?" It was deeper than his normal voice, huskier even. He let out a couple more confused mutterings, trying to get used to the voice that wasn't his. The urge to suddenly go "I'M BATMAAAAAAN" was overwhelming, but this was no time to joke around. It was at this point that he noticed his armor. It was like his plate armor, but this seemed to be of a higher quality. In fact, it didn't feel like he was wearing any armor, as it was surprisingly light. He tapped it a few times, making sure it wasn't some sort of vanity clothing that had been equipped over his actual armor. The solid thunk that sounded out proved it was the real deal. Even the equipment screen verified it for him when he pulled it up. But the real strange thing was that Oxford wasn't Oxford anymore. His name had been changed to "Caesar", and he was a Level 60 General. It was then that he realized he was not alone. He turned back around, facing a blue-eyed man who also had blond hair. "Who are you?! Better yet, who am I?!" It all clicked together when the other adventurers came through, not looking anything like themselves. Words: 777 OOC Notes: -- Tags: Kumori @0x1dea @dindeen Scoria Shepard Dagon

[Deleted]

Suetonia	There were days when Caerbannog just wanted to sleep in all day. Those days, she’d prove to be very difficult to work with and cranky too. Luckily for the party, this was not one of those days. The samurai, in fact, looked forward to the grand adventure that probably came along with the mysterious map things. It was like a game within a game, she thought. Finally, Kumori made her tag along to something interesting. Shepard was also invited to that adventure, so Kyuu was not quite sure if their guild leader was in the right state of mind when he told her to contact Scoria for the quest. Their personalities kinda clashed but hey, that might actually be interesting thought the girl. And so she called Scoria using telepathy and asked him to join the party- and this time, she assured him that it was an adventuring party. Due to one thing or another, perhaps bunnies on the road or slimes at her feet or simply because she had no idea where Stonehenge was, Caerbannog arrived rather late at their destination; later than Kumori and Oxford at least. She was not sure if Shepard was coming along but he’d better since their guild leader invited him personally. As for Scoria, if he was bored or something, he’d probably appear too. The samurai looked forward to seeing his daughter again. The girl waved enthusiastically at the other party members upon her arrival and soon enough, the adventure was underway. She stared at the pretty lights which the map fragments emitted, and let out an astonished “ooooooooh” when a portal appeared. She half expected to see another portal nearby and that Kumori would walk out of that once he walked into the first portal, but alas, she’d have to deal with no GlaDOS and Companion Cube for the quest was not into -that- kind of portal. Oxford soon followed the assassin into the light and when they did not emerge through the other side, Caerbannog was slightly worried. It reminded her of that scene when Sirius Black fell through the Veil and was never heard from again. She did not immediately follow the guardian into the portal, but instead she tried to look behind the glowy thing. But the light was too much for her eyes when she tried to circle around it, and so the samurai walked up ‘front’ again and steeled herself for what was beyond. She thought about closing her eyes but hey, if she was going in, she might as well be prepared for everything. With her eyes wide open, the samurai walked through the portal and experienced a moment of mindneep as everything changed around her very rapidly. It did not result to her being sick or pained though, instead her brain reacted with a simple “what?” and then it forgot what it saw. When Caerbannog emerged from the portal, she felt a little heavy. Not heavy as in weighed down, but heavy as in ‘my body feels weird’. She looked down at her feet and... could not see them. Huh? The girl put up her hands to the puffy mounds on her chest, something that she clearly remembered as not being THAT puffy before. Unsure of what she was looking it, Caerbannog squeezed the damn things and had to blurt out a sudden “OW!” in a voice that was also unfamiliar to her. She then let go of the melons which turned out to be attached to her at that point, and only then did she notice something weirder. Her right arm was gone and in its place, there was a mechanical contraption which functioned much like the missing limb. It had seven keys which strangely looked familiar. When she clicked the keys with her left hand, which thankfully was still attached to her body, they let out distinct sounds. The party list explained a lot when the girl looked up at it. She was henceforth known as “Suetonia”, a Level 60 brawler with monk and bard skills. Oh hey, she still kept her level! Not much to her surprise, two unfamiliar names were on the list: Siculus and Caesar. Based on what happened to her, the wolf-hair (who was still a wolf-hair in that reality, thank the gods) deduced that the other two were Kumori and Oxford. She looked them over and could not help but notice their height against hers. “ I’m as tall as you guys! “ Caerbannog, who shall from now on be referred to as Suetonia, said to her companions. She took a step towards them but unfortunately, she almost stumbled and fell. Not used to her stature, Suetonia turned around to see what else was wrong. She turned around and around and around much like a puppy chasing its tail. Her height wasn’t the only thing that increased, and her boobs weren’t the only parts of her that got bigger. In proportion to her new build, her butt was kinda puffy too. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just different. “ I got bigger everywhere! “ the wolf hair finally declared after she stopped chasing her non-existent tail. Strangely enough, Suetonia also felt more confident and did not find it too difficult to say things. She would not speak non-stop, but at the very least she felt no fear or worry when she spoke to her party mates. She checked the rest of her body by looking into her clothes which, she noted, was called ‘True Heir’. And her right arm turned out to be her weapon, Airgetlam Zero. Lastly, she noticed some HP and MP potions in her inventory. Now the last thing that she wanted to ascertain was the identity of each party member seeing as she was still, and perhaps forevermore, clumsy with the interface. “ I’m Caerbannog but with puffy boobs! Who are you guys? “ she asked the people around her. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art from Akame ga Kill.
HP 100% MP 100%
- Skills Used - none - Equipment - Airgetlam Zero True Heir
Word Count: 980 Tags: Kumori @0x1dea Scoria Shepard Dagon OOC Notes: ---

[Scoria]

Scoria had some really mean words for whichever numbskull decided to use a really pixelated image for the top banner in the template. How stupid could you get, really? He understood that there was a game limit and as times change, so does the quality of the game industry's graphics and all of that, but wasn't that just too much? Whatever. Scoria was a little focused on figuring out where he was going and what he was doing as he walked through the area, heading towards Stonehenge. He was honestly more than a little surprised when Caerbannog had invited him to go on a quest with him, to the point where he was starting to consider the possibility that a human being was actually warming up to his existence. That was pretty crazy in and of itself and he wasn't about to buy into it outright, but he had been invited, so he went along. After being assured it was actually for an adventure and he wasn't going to end up going drinking again, Scoria finally walked up to Stonehenge.

Big rocks, fancy junk, blahblahblah. He had already visited it before, he wasn't going to spend time ogling it like it was some busty blonde. Not that he'd ogle those either. At any rate, in no time at all, he was there, walking up to the rest of his party mates, glancing at Kumo-

oh neep. Scoria hadn't actually been informed of who would be along for the adventure, just having known that Caerbannog had invited him. He kind of expected Kumori to be along from what he remembered, and Oxford was a pleasant surprise, but Shepard. Welp. WELP. Scoria's glaring expression flinched momentarily before he turned back to look at Kumori as he said something important about something or another. Behind Scoria, a tiny grey wolf scampered up behind him, finally catching up to the player's longer strides. This time, Scoria had summoned his Grey Wolf familiar, the tiny pup was wobbling up the path behind Scoria as it got used to things, but when it was finally in sight of the party, it used its Pounce ability and leapt straight for Scoria's back, topping the druid over. So much for first impressions.

He had almost completely missed Kumori's mini-speech about what this scroll would do, but Scoria wasn't deaf. He heard exactly what the assassin said and turned his head to glance at the Guardian and Samurai of the party with a look that said something along the lines of, "Is he high?" Scoria's glare never ceased, but he was a little confused as to whether or not Kumori was actively tripping balls or something. Seriously. Scoria was along in a party with Kumori AND Shepard and he expected it to go well? Scratching his grey wolf's ears as he stayed on the ground, the player watched the portal open and three people step through it. Guess he was going through as well. Picking himself up once three of his party mates had stepped through, Scoria held the small pup in his arms and walked through the portal next. If they were going to die, that was it, he guessed.

...

It was, of course, just his luck he got someone who glared just as much as Scoria did. The first indication something was wrong was that his little grey wolf had vanished and that he was suddenly short his spear. Huh. The glaring expression on Scoria's, no, on Cicero's face didn't waver as he glanced at the other three people who had gone in before him. It was obvious which one was Caerbannog, by the fact she was groping herself and running around like a hyperactive kid. He had a pretty good guess as to which of the other two were who as well, based on Oxford's rather excited reaction. When Suetonia was crowing about being as tall as the other two, Cicero's voice came out in a deep, yet patient tone. "Not quite." He was tall. Wow. Perhaps unlike the rest of the party (hopefully unlike the rest of the party), Scoria had experience being forcibly dressed up and made to look like a different person. A girl, even. For that reason, he was relatively calm as he took a glance around for his tiny wolf and found that the kid was missing. The best thing to do in this situation was figure out just what the situation was, and while everyone investigated their status page and interface, Cicero did the same. Hmm. So he was an 'Oracle', using both the Summoner and Sorcerer skills, was it? That was interesting. And as a Level 60, all his skills were at Tier 3 level, were they? He continued to look through his equipment and interface as well as he could while staying relatively out of the way until he finally ran across the big problem.

Race: Alv. ...Huh? That... that wasn't one of the eight races. Scoria searched through his memory for any information and recalled the information on the 'half-alv' description.

Descendants of the now extinct race of Alv.

Statistically, due to their affiliation with ancient magic and ruins, Half-Alvs tend to lean towards the spell casting classes.

Oh, this could be bad. 'Cicero' kept that information to himself for now, taking a moment to set up some macros, investigate his equipment, and decide on what spells he was primarily going to use. His armor made him rather squishy, but probably quite high in terms of dps. The grimoire was actually pretty great, all things considered, and the white wing staff wasn't bad either. The staff found its way to his hands shortly, the grimoire taking a seat in one of the pockets in that rather large robe. Cicero's eyes kept searching as he tried to think of what this might be. Was this a...

"Shadow Mission...?"

He muttered the words under his breath as he thought back to what he knew, but his focus was more on getting through the skills he had. As expected, Summoner had a large number of 'summoning' skills, enough to make the former druid a little jealous. Still, it seemed like summoners were almost overly reliant on their summons. From what he was seeing, the only spell that he could really use that wasn't a summon was the 'Gate' spell. His glance through the skill list was leaving Cicero a little overwhelmed. Everyone slowly added things into their repertoire, but when handed the keys to the castle, it was hard to know where to go first. Still, Cicero was getting used to it slowly. As if to test out his newest skills, Cicero took a few steps back from Suetonia, then activated Blink. His body seemed to ruffle as it jumped forward until he was right behind her, almost awkwardly close. Taking a few rapid steps backwards, Cicero frowned deeper. Blink was unkind, even at higher tiers, it seemed. "Ice Bitch."

Oh wait, Scoria/Cicero had to gut-punch that idiot who screwed up the template.

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Much better. More stylish too.

[Shepard Dagon Kumori @dindeen @0x1dea ]

[Shepard Dagon]

Past Memories of the Unknown.

Stonehedge, one of the many places Shepard always wanted to visit, but he didn’t expected to do it inside a game; he wasn’t sure how the real Stonehedge really looked, but this sure was a wonderful place.

The monoliths surrounded by yards of green plains without a single monster as far as the pathfinder could see giving him a feel of relief. The simple idea of humans constructing such a monument was outstanding, no matter how much he investigated in the real world the answer was always the same, it was impossible for them, they didn’t had the technology to lift those heavy stones, which weighed tons, but there it is in the distance, standing as it did the first day when it was raised by the druids.

Taking a look at the party and the map several names appeared, Caerbannog and Kumori, that was a sure thing, given that it was a guild thing, or at least he thought it that way, then the other two names were Oxford and Scoria… a breeze passed by without any response from the shaman who remembered the day at the restaurant, at least it wasn’t the arrogant monk Elkeid, he hoped that Oxford and Scoria wouldn’t keep any resentment because that would not only affect the outcome of the party but the very party itself, better try to keep the things simple and avoid any fights; as long as they behave… no, there wasn’t going to be any trouble at all.

A blinding beam of light took Shepard by surprise who was looking directly to the monument leaving him stunned for a few seconds before recovering the sight… where they there already? Looking at the map he could see Kumori in the center of the monoliths, then suddenly disappearing from the map, then Oxford, Scoria and Caer, so he rushed to the place and look at the lander there, who pointed to the portal that was open over the sacrifice table.

Without a doubt Shepard crossed the portal with haste, his sight was considerably darker and he could hear his breath, not to mention that the weight of his armor wasn’t there anymore; he couldn’t even explain what he felt.

-Shepard-
I feel… mysterious.

His voice changed also, so did his clothes, taking his hand to the face he realized he was wearing a mask, yet he couldn’t take it off, it was bounded to him, what was going on?

The people in the surroundings started talking about what they saw in their character statistics and their inventory, so Shepard did the same. Lucan, ritual race… that’s why he didn’t had his tail anymore, level 60… LEVEL 60, the shaman gasped when he saw that difference, but it didn’t ended there, just down the level he could read Arcanist, wasn’t he a shaman anymore? A quick look through his spell book revealed that he could indeed use his shaman skills… all of them, even those which he didn’t had to begin with, but there were a few extras… He could recognize some as cleric spells. Astonished by the revelation that he could full support his team, Shepard… or should he say Lucan, analyzed his inventory; Mysterious Robes, Mysterious Sword, Mysterious Staff, well, that did explained why he felt so mysterious to begin with.

After closing the menu, he tried to remember who was who, Suetonia as Caer, who gave the really amusing comment of being taller and having puffy boobs, resulting on Shepard almost choking himself when hearing the unexpected comment. By the other hand, we had Kumori as Siculus, and near him were Oxford as Caesar and Scoria as Cicero, the quest was actually pretty interesting, Lucan realized what was going on, these were the memories of those heroes, but somehow we were able to react as ourselves, with only following the memories of what happened and not how they acted… Much like most of the games he used to play back in the past, RPGs like Skyrim, Mass Effect and some others worth of mentioning.

The portal back he closed, dragging him back from his thoughts to what they have between their hands…

-Lucan-
What should we do now?

His voice was rather androgynous but Shepard didn’t really cared, this was going to be a good experience, and a nice opportunity for him to try out those high level spells from his class, what a chance to learn, he thought, and given our high level and great power, it was obvious that we are going to face something big and evil, nothing like a good boss fight to wash over the differences.

-Thought-
I wonder what the quest is about, none of us have gotten any details, just the map pieces and being gathered here… what are they trying to show us?

Tags: Kumori @dindeen @0x1dea Scoria
Word Count : 807

[Data Holder]

At the moment everyone had arrived to the clearing to this other world, they had once again lost control to the character they had momentarily possessed. Instead, now they were all viewing the party as though they were some type of spirit watching at an angle from above. It was a cutscene, apparently.

"General Caesar, we've arrived at Stonehenge. Our forces have managed to divert the Druid main force away from their camp."

This voice belonged to Suetonia. The blonde-haired general in gold armor crossed his arms and turned to his taller strategist.

"Excellent. We'll attack the camp directly. How many hostiles are there, Cicero?"

Cicero seemed to generate some sort of magic spell much like how a crystal ball would see visions.

"There are approximately twenty Druids. Their cult leaders make up three of these twenty individuals. Many of our enemies appear to be low-ranked Druids, and it is quite possible for one of us to easily defeat four or five at a time. If we take the initiative, we have the potential to exterminate their main camp in a single blow."

"Hold on just a second! If there's only this many Druids, why don't we just lure them out one by one and take them out that way? It's one of my specialties, after all!" Siculus, despite being the Assassin of the group, spoke the loudest. His proposal was quickly shot down by the group leader.

"Brother. Our main objective is to capture Stonehenge and understand how the monument is used in the Druids' rituals. We need to capture at least a few of them in order to progress."

"... Fine. But if any of them point a blade at me, I'm taking them down."

"If I may suggest, Siculus's plan might work if we wish to solve the problem by diplomacy. However, we would have to convert the Druids to our side, whether it be through soft words or threats. I imagine our guest right here will be able to understand their dialects." Cicero turned toward the mysterious person in the robe, who said nothing in response.

"Very well. Our objective is to capture the Druid camp. Perhaps we may try diplomacy to have them join our side. Otherwise, the worse case scenario is that we'll have to knock some of our foes unconscious or perhaps even kill them if necessary. Let us begin."

The cutscene finishes and now the audience has returned to their respective characters.

---

You may RP the rest of the thread without requiring an GM post unless requested for more information. Do heed the following information.

Victory Conditions:
- Defeat all enemies
- Negotiate peace

Rest assured that although you inhabit another character's body, you are not actually that character and will not have to assume their personality. Think of yourself as simply controlling a preset character from any video game.

---

Druid Camp statistics:

Druid Chief x 3
- Level 60 Druid/Samurai
- Level 60 Druid/Swashbuckler
- Level 60 Druid/Enchanter
Personality: Guarded - They are resistant to your demands and will not develop trust very readily.

Druid Sentinel x 5
- Level 55 Druid/Guardian
Personality: Hostile - They are extremists who are quick to declare combat.

Druid Scout x 5
- Level 50 Druid/Assassin
Personality: Opportunist - They can be swayed to any particular side given that they have an incentive.

Druid Apprentice Children x 7
- Level 10 Druid
Personality: Timid - They are somewhat slow to develop trust and are more quickly coerced by force.

[Deleted]

- C A E S A R -

HP: 100% MP: 100% Skills: - None active - Equipment: - Sidus Iulium - | - Divus Julius - - Kaiser Shield - Word Count: 565 OOC Notes: Green is Ox's thoughts. Yellow is Ox talking. Tags: Kumori @dindeen Scoria Shepard Dagon

Oxford blinked after he experienced events from a third-person view, as if he was ejected from this foreign body and watched someone else jump in and speak for him. After the scene had passed, he found himself back in the body. The same lower voice, and the same foppishly fabulous hair as before.

He turned around to look at the others, noticing that they were all doing about the same. He waited a little while for them to get their bodies under control. He cleared his throat, still trying to get used to how his voice sounded.

(Okay, so that happened.)

He looked back at the entourage he was saddled with, looking at everyone's description boxes. Scoria/Cicero had gotten deathly pale, Shepard/Lucan got a pretty kickass mask, and Caer/Suetonia got a mechanical arm (complete with the bonus prize of a bigger rack).

After putting names to not so familiar faces, Oxford/Caesar turned his sight to the Druid camp in the distance, ornate purple tents with strange occultic symbols embroidered into the fabric that gave off a faint glow. He thought he could see a couple burly-looking cloaked figures walking around, the figures carrying weapons that looked like a cross between a meat cleaver and a scimitar.

(Not only could they cut you to ribbons with those things, but they could serve your freshly minced remains on a platter as well.)

He thought about the airborne scene from earlier, trying to remember the details of the conversation that had happened.

"OK, so all we have to do is raid the enemy camp, but by the looks of those guards, we can't go in swords a-slashing, fists a-punching."

He shot Caer/Suetonia a look, knowing how much the once-before Samurai liked to get into a "Punching Fit" with various monsters (maybe even people, too). Any chance of diplomacy would be lost if Caer/Suetonia got her mechanical hand on any of the enemies.

He stretched out his hand as he continued with his idea, holding up three fingers as he did so.

"I think it would be best if we sent 3 people for negotiations, keeping the other 2 here as backup in case things go sour."

Oxford didn't know where got off as being the leader of this small enterprise, but it was easy, almost natural, even.

(I guess it comes with the character.)

In what felt like a practiced motion, Oxford/Caesar reached up and brushed the blond bangs out of his eyes, thinking about who would be the best units to send into the enemy camp. Shepard/Lucan would have to be one of them, since Scoria/Cicero who wasn't Scoria/Cicero at the time said something about how the masked Arcanist was the only one who could understand the Druids' dialect.

As for the other two, well, might as well make them the most aggressive pair of the bunch.

"Alright, I've decided that Cae...Suetonia and...Sucu--Siculus? Yeah, Siculus. You and Sue should accompany...Lucan to cut an imposing figure as he negotiates with the Druids."

(God, all these difficult names. Why not simple names like Mike, Bob or Sally?)

"Cicero and I shall stay here, ready to provide backup in case the battle becomes too hot for you guys to handle."

Oxford/Caesar paused for a minute, letting the plan sink in as they all replied. Once things were set, everyone began to take their positions and put the plan into execution.

- CODING BY OXFORD OF ET -

[Scoria]

Speaking of style, the cutscene was pretty stylish. So stylish, in fact, that Scoria was more or less convinced this was something like an instance or a shadow mission or whatever you wanted to call it from most MMOs. The main difference was that in this MMO that everyone now called life, the actions of one affected all. Everyone didn't run the same quest to unlock something, only one group needed to. The whole world expanded based on everyone's actions. What that meant was that this quest, having a cutscene and being of the 'roleplay' aspect, might influence the world's future. Scoria didn't know. At any rate, the cutscene was over and in almost no time at all, he was back in Cicero's body.

So that was it, huh? General Caesar, his brother Siculus (haaaaa), the completely silent Lucan, and what seemed to be the front vanguard that was Suetonia. Cicero nodded quietly, internally amused that Oxford and Kumori were somehow 'brothers', and felt the well of something strategic rise in him. Was he the strategist? Was that his job? Cicero had quite a few skills up his sleeve, but by the looks of it, he wasn't going to have to use any of them just yet. The glaring individual mostly just glanced across the fields and waited for his 'General' to hand out the orders. Wait, that wasn't his personality at all. Cicero turned to Caesar, as if to object, but then thought better of it and let it go. He didn't have his Courtesan subclass, so there was no point in him trying to 'convince' the other side to join him.

No Scribe subclass either, it seemed, which meant that Cicero was basically just around to watch the field and drop meteors where meteors needed to be dropped. Besides that, he had something to talk about with Caesar. The only two people he'd even mention this with would be either Suetonia or Caesar, mostly because Caerbannog and Oxford were people that Scoria knew. He'd have preferred Suetonia, because he didn't know how much of a blabbermouth Oxford was, but this would do. If and only if (and when and only when) everyone but Caesar had gone ahead, Cicero turned to look at the general. "Caesar. No, Oxford. This body's race... It is... Alv." That manner of speaking was uncomfortable, but Scoria managed to get out what he had to say smoothly and quickly. Maybe no one else had noticed when they looked at the interface? Maybe? He couldn't exactly keep this hidden forever, but it wasn't as though he was intentionally hiding it either. He simply brought it to the former Guardian's attention.

Not much else he could do but stand around and observe the negotiations as best as he could. Summoner summons had a more limited range than familiars, he suspected.

[Shepard Dagon Kumori @dindeen @0x1dea ]

[Kumori]

	Siculus HP: 100% MP: 100%	"Caesar thinks he’s better than me, but honestly, I’m better looking and can beat him if I really wanted, I just never try when I fight him."
Equipment: -Nocturne in Shadow -Sword of Elsinore -Ophelia	Skills:	Quick Slot: -Twilight of Shadow -HP Potions x 10 -MP Potions x 10

Cutscenes? They still had cutscenes? This was crazy! He had been thrown out of the body and the bodies began speaking, acting, and simply telling the story they were witnessing. Suetonia was the first to speak. She was the one who Kyuu was taking control of. She had informed the man in gold armor about the situation. “General Caesar” the person Oxford had become. He was apparently the leader of the group. He was strong, smart, and commanded respect. Cicero, the person that Scoria was controlling earlier seemed to have some interesting powers. He was able to tell the group how many people there were in the camp. And then it was Siculus’ turn to speak. His loud voice and his want to take charge were obvious. He was the obvious little brother to his much more mature big brother, Caesar. Well he spoke loud, it did not mean he wasn’t smart. He had presented a viable solution to their problem as well. Caesar was level-headed, but his brother was much more rash and hot-headed. Thankfully, Ryuu would be controlling Siculus, or else things may have gone terribly.

After being forced back into the bodies, Ryuu looked around and examined each of them. Oxford had gotten shorter, and Ryuu had gotten taller. Kyuu had gotten taller and a bigger rack and butt. She was beginning to play with it because of its size. She then exclaimed in triumph, the new sizes of her boobs and butt. Siculus shook his head, but laughed at her hilarity.

“I’m Kumori… so I guess it makes sense for me to have the Swash/Assassin,” he said to them.

Caesar then began issuing out orders. While Siculus was slightly annoyed, even moreso because of Siculus’ personality, he kept his cool and obeyed. It seemed that Siculus had a want for blood, and while he wouldn’t normally agree to these means because of the nature of his want to fight, he didn’t disobey orders, as difficult as it was to swallow his pride and follow his brother’s orders. The Legionaire looked towards Suetonia and then towards Lucan. He nodded at them both and then prepared to leave. “Hopefully this’ll work out,” he said. He was afraid of what the druids would do. If they already hated them, their chances of making a diplomacy work were low. They didn’t know for sure who would attack them outright and who would listen to them. And even if they got some to listen to them, there would be some who would try to kill them, at least in these situations where your army is about to take over the group of people entirely. It wasn’t going to be pretty, and Siculus was just glad he had these extra skills and extra levels. He also noticed that his weapons had special effects. The flam and ice would come in handy, as well as the bow. A light-damage bow. It would definitely help against any shadows the druids would throw at them. He took the lead for the diplomatic party and began walking towards the druid camp. Siculus waved a white flag in order to indicate their peace, but would they be attacked by the Druid Sentinels before they made it to the camp? How about the several other druids nearby? What were they planning to do? All were good questions and hopefully would be answered soon.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 565 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

Suetonia	Suetonia wanted to poke her party members and maybe flip their hair or something, especially Caesar’s, but a cutscene appeared. The wolf-hair wanted to skip it but there was no ESC button and so she had to watch the whole thing. The GMs were forgiving, most fortunately, for the cutscene did not involve a whole day’s events but instead was just a short strategy meeting. Or rather, it was more like “do this, do that, no shut up, no you shut up!” between the brothers. The girl... ehm, woman, because boobs, sincerely hoped that the personalities of the original characters would not affect Oxford’s and Kumori’s true personalities... otherwise she’d have to punch someone. Once the cutscene was done, there was a bit of silence probably due to lag or sheer shock at what’s going on. Wasn’t it enough that they got pulled into Elder Tale? Now they’re pulled from their avatars and into new ones? No... old ones, wait... uh... Suetonia wasn’t one to complain though. Aside from the mechanical arm, everything got better for her. That was until Kirakira-Caesar spoke up and gave her THAT LOOK. What did THAT LOOK even mean, huh? In response, Suetonia stuck her tongue out at Blondie and glared at him. Not a Scoria glare, just a normal one. She stopped glaring when Kirakira-chwan held up three fingers as he spoke of sending three people in for negotiations. She thought she was in a strategy meeting but it seemed more like a kindergarten class. In keeping with her real personality, Suetonia spoke not a single word while Ms.Universe was giving out orders. The urge to punch him rose with each hairflip though. And then he got to the point where he mentioned the wolf-hair’s current name, which made her stand to attention, much like a dog wagging its tail when called. She then realized that she was paired up with Succubus and Luka... Tako Luka? Oh no wait, it was Siculus and Lucan. After all that, Suetonia looked over to Cicero who wasn’t doing much of the Scoria glare. Perhaps, like her, the others were also slightly affected by the personalities of the bodies that they currently inhibited. Maybe that was the reason behind her desire to punch things even moreso than usual. Suetonia acknowledged Kirakira-kun’s orders with a polite nod; kinda a bow but not really, it was just a nod. She would have saluted him but the wolf-hair did not know if Elder Tale’s military worked like that. After the bow, she followed Siculus and Lucan so that they could start the diplomatic mission. Pfffft. Diplomacy. Suetonia chuckled at that thought. She was a monk AND a bard, with a mechanical arm- doesn’t exactly scream diplomacy. Then again, it was up to Lucan to make things work; and that was perfect too since the guy hated bullies. He could probably relate with the druids in their plight and the fact that he could communicate with them was already an advantage. Though, the wolf-hair did wonder... what was up with the masked guy? So mysterious! Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art from Akame ga Kill.
HP 100% MP 100%
- Skills Used - none - Equipment - Airgetlam Zero True Heir
Word Count: 513 Tags: Kumori @0x1dea Scoria Shepard Dagon OOC Notes: ---

[Shepard Dagon]

Silence and Respect.

-Thought-
A cut scene, I haven’t seen one of those in a long time, and if there is something characteristic about cut scenes is that when they appear, something important is going on, so better be careful and take note, this might be the key of the quest…

-Cicero-
"If I may suggest, Siculus's plan might work if we wish to solve the problem by diplomacy. However, we would have to convert the Druids to our side, whether it is through soft words or threats. I imagine our guest right here will be able to understand their dialects."

This words were spoken while Scoria´s character looked at Lucan, moreover everything began to have sense, Caesar who had the most adorned armor seemed to be the head of the operation and so the general of this company, while his brother Siculus seemed to want the things his way, luckily Kumori was in his role therefore there won’t be a problem, meanwhile Cicero took care of “the plan” and worked as an strategist, revealing the enemy position and their number. Lucan showed himself as a quiet, mysterious mage, capable of communicate with the druids in their own language, offering a passive solution to this enigmatic problem.

Suddenly when the chat ended we were dragged into our bodies again, kind of a shocking experience for the wolf, yet it wasn’t so bad, just the unnecessary breakdown after the transition. Shepard thought about it for a moment, Lucan wasn’t the talking type, but he needed to add something to what was just said.

With his androgynous voice Lucan started to contribute with his ideas to the given plan via telepathy to each member of the party, mainly to explain a few things.

-Lucan-
First of all, if we are attacked, we will defend ourselves, yet we won’t kill anyone, just knock them down, and show them we meant no harm. If we have the chance to talk, let me do it, and never touch anything, druids are very protective with Stonehenge.

With that told, and the party divided in two groups, Lucan signaled Suetonia and Siculus to follow him over, every action had to be measured and done with precision, taking all the precautions needed not to insult them, and show respect in every gesture. Shepard felt like he was actually able to communicate, many new things were in his mind, information and ancient knowledge; it was too much to think about. Which words he should use? How to react in which situation, what to do if things got out of control… Slaughter was something that had to be avoided.

As far as he knew the druids, Sentinels used to be the most aggressive members of the cult; they will attack first and ask later, so it was sage to be careful when approaching to the monoliths, scouts were more reasonable, maybe the best way to have a good impression on them was to have something ready apart of not killing their friends, Lucan had something ready if that was needed, knowing that scouts would appear once they heard the battle. The children has nothing to do with this, so we must let them be, being nice to them and not giving any troubles in from of they should be enough, and with the druid chiefs… Lucan hoped his comrades didn’t made anything considered offensive or they could condemn everyone to a bloodbath.

Tags: @kumori @0x1dea @dindeen Scoria
Word Count : 572

[Kumori]

	Siculus HP: 100% MP: 100%	"Caesar thinks he’s better than me, but honestly, I’m better looking and can beat him if I really wanted, I just never try when I fight him."
Equipment: -Nocturne in Shadow -Sword of Elsinore -Ophelia	Skills:	Quick Slot: -Twilight of Shadow -HP Potions x 10 -MP Potions x 10

Shepard explained his ideas and told Kyuu and Ryuu to allow him to do the talking. It would seem that his head was filled with more knowledge as well as the knowledge to speak to and understand the druids. While the party of three separated from the other two in order to prove a point of their pacifism, Ryuu followed after Shepard. It was obvious that for this to work, it was only possible for all three of them to come, and not with arms presented, but with arms undrawn and a white flag shown. The closer they approached Stonehenge, Ryuu removed a long stick with a white flag at the end and began waving it as a sign of peace. He hoped the Druids would recognize it as a means to discuss terms and to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

The closer they approached, however, the more nerve racking it became. He wasn’t sure what to expect from the druids. They were obviously enemies of the people they had become, however it didn’t mean they did not see reason. Each step made Ryuu’s heart beat faster, but to his comfort, nothing had happened until they were met at the entrance of Stonehenge by several druids. At the gate, the people who guarded the entrance way were Druid Sentinels. They had not made a move yet, simply because of the white flag that Ryuu had carried. They had understood the traditional signs of war. Even though these sentinels were hostile, they were ordered to follow the rules of engagement, and infringing on an attempt to discuss terms were considered dishonorable.

One of the sentinels stepped forward and looked at the three heroes. “Speak your business, or be on your way,” he said in Gaelic. It would be difficult, if not impossible to understand what he was saying, at least for Kyuu and Ryuu. Ryuu just looked at Shepard, hoping something had prompted him in knowing what to say. If this failed, their attempt for peace would be thwarted simply because of a language barrier.

“Make it quick! Your kind is not welcome here,” the sentinel said. These sentinels were much more hostile than the other group of druids. Most of the ones behind them had shied away from the heroes because they did not want to deal with new people. If all of the druids had hated them as much as the Sentinels, they’d already have rocks thrown at them.

Ryuu nudged Shepard in order to tell him that it was his turn to speak, and making sure Kyuu wouldn’t try to punch something.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 432 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Shepard Dagon]

Starting Diplomacy, One Word at the Time.

The sacred structure was closer with every step, Shepard’s mind was racing from one place to another but Lucan’s body didn’t seemed to give it any importance for it was calm and steady, something weird given that all the diplomacy success was in his shoulders, how did he bear such task and be completely stress-free?

Soon Shepard’s thought were interrupted by some words in a language he never listened but he understood; “Speak your business, or be on your way,”, “Make it quick! Your kind is not welcome here”.
It was Gaelic indeed; Lucan raised his sight to recognize a group of five Sentinels… Not much of luck, he was expecting to find the scouts first, but what he had ready would work anyway.

Lucan soon buried his sword and staff in the ground and bowed in front of the sentinels being followed by his two comrades, doing this was a way to prove they have no intention to fight and are unarmed against them; then Lucan with determined voice spoke.

-Lucan-
Iomprith me tidings dun mheun macanata aguith ta suilk agram go behfu'il an dairith agram fuisenth'eog fas ladar leis an uisceth den saol. (I bear tidings of good faith and hope that the oak and ash grow strong with the water of life.)

The knowledge about four sacred objects in one phrase plus the meaning those had to them hit hard against they, a disbelief sight could be saw, rather impressed that someone could know that much about their beliefs without being a druid. Some words were spoken for a moment between the sentinels, who agreed to take us into their camp in the ruins, Lucan again remembered the others to do not touch anything nor do any aggressive movement.

The camp in the monoliths was impressive; one could not see the children practicing the druidic arts or see how the elders realize their rituals very often, Shepard felt some nostalgia in Lucan body, and couldn’t understand why. Soon enough the three chiefs faced the heroes, Lucan again bowed and took of his bag, the sentinels quickly unsheathed their weapons, yet the chiefs signaled them to stay still.

-Lucan-
I bare no harm and will not come to harm you with this hand nor the one hidden.

While he said this, three bottles of ancient wine and a little box full of holy berries were lying in the ground, the offering should be good enough to allow some chatting between the parts. The chiefs seemed as impressed as the rest of the cultists; soon the whole camp was surrounding us, possibly they never so strangers who behaved like this?

The chiefs retreated to debate about our requests, and we remained in the same place, not sure of what will be of our quest and not afraid of our luck, some horns could be heard in the background, this usually meant the chiefs reached an agreement, what it should be? Hopefully they would like avoid bloodshed as much as us.

-Elder Chief-
The spirits of nature told us to respect your request as you respected our traditions, and so we will, yet the druid allies should be strong in mind and body, show us your strength and prove yourself worthy of our friendship. Face our warriors in fair fight, let the nature guide you.

The chiefs and sentinels took the group to the outsides of the monolith to what seemed to be a training camp, followed by the entire community, they sat and our opponents were the very same sentinels, the five of them. Seemed that the chiefs wanted to test our strength before going in; better impress them now. Lucan’s telepathy was useful again, telling the others to measure their strength and remember not to kill, just knock down. The druids were in their element and close to a sacred place, they should be stronger in here, so carefulness wasn’t enough, we had to be ready for what was about to come. Lucan took his staff and began to choose the first spell he should use, maybe a hand would be useful, Shikigami perhaps, or some damage… better wait to see what the others do and act then, surprise was our best shot in here.

Tags: @0x1dea @dindeen Kumori Scoria
Word Count : 714

[Deleted]

Suetonia	The walk and the talk was mostly uneventful. Suetona wanted to punch things. Okay, maybe Suetonia didn’t; although a bit brutish on the outside, the samurai within her could feel an air of being a cool, collected soldier about her. NOT. That was just the wind. Speaking of that, she noticed that it made Succubus’ hair flip every now and then. Not as much as Kirakira-Caesar’s but it was funny nonetheless. Before they reached the druid camp, Suetonia let out a giggle when the wind once again made the blondie’s hair flip a bit. Ryuu would not hear the end of it once they were done with the quest. Once they met up with the druids, Suetonia did her best to look like a decent wolf-hair being. She stood as straight as an electric pole and looked as anyone who spoke. Yes, even though the conversation was all gibberish to her. The mission held some sort of importance after all. Tako Luka was doing his thing with the traditions and the foreign language. How did he learn to speak their tongue anyway? Oh, how Suetonia wanted to poke his mask. And then a miracle happened. They actually get to fight. LEGITIMATELY. It was not a brawl or some sort of mishap; the druids actually required them to fight! Suetonia clenched her mechanical hand into a fist. She grinned as they got into position and soon the fight was underway. All she had to do what to prove herself, right? That would be no problem, she thought. Game on! Suetonia rushed up front but she was not attacking just yet. The woman merely posed aggressively ahead of her companions as she put her mechanical fist up and showed it off to the sentinels. She issued her [Rafting Taunt] to make sure that they would only attack her. Afterwards, she slammed her free hand onto the keys of her mechanical arm. The high-pitched feedback noise of [Feedback Resonance] echoed through the area and it would have stunned the sentinels if they were not immune to it. Regardless, the point was to generate as much Hate as she could to give the other two some time to attack. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art from Akame ga Kill.
HP 100% MP 94%
- Skills Used - Rafting Taunt Feedback Resonance - Equipment - Airgetlam Zero True Heir
Word Count: 360 Tags: Kumori @0x1dea Scoria Shepard Dagon OOC Notes: MP Usage 3% per skill? Due to bard.

[Deleted]

- C A E S A R -

HP: 100% MP: 100% Skills: - [None active] - Equipment: - Sidus Iulium - | - Divus Julius - - Kaiser Shield - Word Count: 548 OOC Notes: -- Tags: Kumori Shepard Dagon @dindeen Scoria

Ox/Caesar ran his hand through his hair, giving it a good tug to make sure his brain was still working. The pain registered loud and clear.

(Where did that all come from?)

Oxford had never been the 'Chatty Cathy' type of person. In fact, he tended to avoid people who couldn't keep those massive gobs of theirs shut for a whole five seconds. He never considered himself a leader. Hell, he couldn't even consider himself a good follower either. He was more the kind of guy who went with flow, seeing where it would take him.

Apparently, the body he possessed must have been used to being a stick in the mud, a stick like the one Kumori (no, sorry, Siculus) was carrying. Him, Suetonia and Lucan had all set off, the Teddy Roosevelt negotiation party on its way to the Druid encampment while him and Cicero hung back to observe their progress. Although the physical stick was a stick of surrender, the metaphorical stick was actually the two aggressive adventurers accompanying the masked individual.

Oxford imagined the scenario as if he were the one who had to perform the diplomatic role.

("Hello, I'd like you to meet my two associates, the Hammer brothers. This one's Jack, and the other's Sledge.")

The negotiation would've turned into a blood bath.

(Yep. Definitely better for Lucan to go.)

Oxford played with the foreign long hair, twirling it around his finger. Part of the reason was to get used to it, the other reason was because he was bored, ready for something interesting to happen. If he was the serious, cold-staring general, he would probably stand there looking cool and dashing, the wind blowing his mop in an overly dramatic fashion.

But no, this is Oxford. The former Guardian cared not for such triflings, and instead opted to sit down on the ground, leaning back on his hands as he stretched his legs out before him, waggling his feet as he waited. The complete opposite of the in-game character's personality.

He stopped waggling his feet when he saw that they talked with one of the Sentinels, getting ready to jump up should trouble come out of it. Nope, just boring discussions probably. He kept on eye on them up until they went into the tent, losing interest in the scene as he looked up to the sky. Ox was totally gonna bag the 'Best Lookout Ever' award.

As he thought up of what kind of speech he would give if he were to receive the fictitious reward, he heard some sort of weird sound. That annoying high-pitched frequency sounding sound that you would hear when you got feedback from an amplifier. He stood up as he heard this, wondering what on earth was causing that horrible racket. Had Caer acted too soon and was making one of the druids squeal like a robotic baby girl?

He got up at this time, making his way a little closer to the camp without trying to draw the attention of the sentinels. He didn't have any way of communicating with them, and if he did get caught, they'd probably think he was a spy and slay him on the spot. A spy wearing white and gold plate armor with bright blonde hair. Totally inconspicuous.

- CODING BY OXFORD OF ET -

[Scoria]

Blah blah blah the trio went off for an adventure. Cicero had the sinking feeling that he wasn't actually going to be needed at all in this quest, or perhaps that everyone and their mother would start fighting and he'd end up being bored and left behind. At any rate, Mystery Man (with the powers of having a stick up his butt) and his sidekick, the amazing Speech Kid, were off to go talk to people. Oh, and Suetonia as well. So off they went and then Cicero revealed to Caesar clearly super important critical plot information. And was completely ignored. Had Scoria been a better person or even remotely Cicero-like, he probably would have just shrugged it off and continued to watch events unfold. Scoria, in Cicero's body, instead opted to glare at Caesar with the force of a thousand suns. That was a protag level revelation right there and it had been completely ignored. Fine.

Maybe he'd turn it into an antagonist evil villain reveal instead. At any rate, the 'scouting party' went inside and had themselves a quaint little adventure. Something something go fight to prove your honor. Cicero's eyes locked onto the other druids that were standing around, watching but not interfering. A former druid himself (although he knew nothing of these so-called holy objects and berries and holy nature nonsense), Scoria/Cicero kept a watch and noted that except for a few sentinels, the rest weren't hostile. They had grouped around to watch, almost as though it was either an execution or some sort of arena death match. It didn't really look like the former, and it was pretty unlikely Kumori would let anyone be killed on his watch, so Cicero was more or less content to stand there in the breeze and look on at the match like some sort of shounen protag. The wind swept through his hair and for a moment, he was the protag.

Then the reader would probably realize that all he was doing was standing around while Suetonia, Siculus, and Lucan were actually advancing the plot. Cicero at least did something in that he spoke again to Caesar, hoping his general would not ignore the strategist. "It appears to be a match. Perhaps it would be best to wait and see the results." That was enough to react to, right? Cicero, given the scowl on his face and the glaring, looked more like an anti-hero or antagonist than any kind of protag, but it still suited him.

[Shepard Dagon Kumori @dindeen @0x1dea ]

[Kumori]

	Siculus HP: 100% MP: 100%	"Caesar thinks he’s better than me, but honestly, I’m better looking and can beat him if I really wanted, I just never try when I fight him."
Equipment: -Nocturne in Shadow -Sword of Elsinore -Ophelia	Skills: Quick Draw | Accel Dance | Fencer Style	Quick Slot: -Twilight of Shadow -HP Potions x 10 -MP Potions x 10

What was this protag business? The man who seemingly looked ‘protag’ giving out protag level revelations was not a protag at all. All he did was sit there! What kind of protagonist would just sit while their friends were fighting the good fight for the safety of all of Eorzea, I mean… Elder Tales. I mean, he even had the flowing hair, the light right where it was supposed to be, the wind catching the back of his clothes, making it flutter and stuff. The heck man? Protags are supposed to earn their spot, not just be in them! There would be several slaps going to Scoria/Cicero’s face simply because of his “I’m so mighty” glare that everyone hated. I bet even Scoria would hate it if he glared at himself long enough. (Like seriously… how can you stand the fact that you glare like that all the time?)

Anywho, let’s get back to the story. So it seemed like Kumori/Siculus, Caerbannog/Suetonia, and Shepard/Lucan were about to be engaged in a fight against five of the Druid Sentinels. Well, he couldn’t deny their want to fight. I mean, they were practically invading them. Heck, if they were invading, this group of people would probably feel the same way. They’d fight to make sure nothing went amuck and that their plans of global domination weren’t ruined. Was it global domination? Oh, I meant protection. That was it, protection of the state. If people come to attack you, you have to keep it real and push them back. I mean, why do people want to attack others anyway? Is it just to show who has the longer……. sword? Yeah… sword. What’d you think I was going to say? Get your head out of the gutter!

With that in mind, Siculus drew the sword named Ophelia and placed it in his right hand as he shook his head. “I guess this is how it’s going to be, eh?” he said to his partners. “Well then, let’s get this party started,” he said. With a quick step forward, he used [Quick Draw] in order to isolate one of the attackers. He was a duelist, after all, or at least half of him was. Since he was more attuned to his Assassin side of him, he knew exactly what to do, but instead of striking at his opponent with another Assassin skill, he decided to use bump up his attack rates faster with [Accel Dance] and topped it off with [Fencer Style] With the combination of these skills and weapon, he’d pretty much freeze the first Druid so that he wouldn’t be able to move, making several, several hits at the legs and arms so that they could no longer move by the end of it.

OOC NOTES:
Word Count: 461 words

Made by Sifr of GS, Synesthesia and Adoxography.

[Deleted]

Opponent's Stats:
Sentinel A [ HP: 100% | MP: 96% ]
Sentinel B [ HP: 100% | MP: 94% ]
Sentinel C [ HP: 100% | MP: 92% ]

The three Druid Elders all held up their hands to halt the intrusive band of adventurers, their open palms yelling the word STOP if their hands had voices. After the adventurers stopped their battle preparations, the elders rised and walked out of the tent.

"The confines of this tent are not suitable arrangements for your battle. Instead, let us go to the Monument. You three shall face your opponents in the sacred confinement of Stonehenge."

They pulled back the folds of the tent's entrance, the two Sentinels standing guard leading them behind the tent into the familiar circled encampment of monolithic rocks. The hues of twilight were cast in the sky, the stars beginning to shine as the sun began to retreat behind the horizon. No sooner had the group entered the camp, a bonfire was lit in the center, 3 figures standing before the challengers as the light illuminated them.

The lead elder turned to the masked man, knowing that he was the only one capable of comprehending the Druid's language.

"For three mighty warriors such as yourselves, we offer you the chance to fight three of our own. Should you defeat them, we will glady offer allegiance to your crusade. However, should you fail to best them, we will cast you out of our holy grounds. 'The survival of the fittest' has been nature's one law, and it is through that law we have become as we are now."

The three Druid elders stepped back behind the perimeter of rocks as more druids came to watch the spectacle. The fire provided enough light to see everything within Stonehenge perfectly, but looking out beyond the rocks made it harder to see things. The only way the Adventurers could tell were the increased murmurs surrounding them and the occasional glint of cultic jewelry that adorned most of the campers.

The familiar metallic ring of swords being drawn rang out, the three Sentinels drawing wickedly sharp blades and affixing their shields. The Sentinels were nearly identical in appearance, the only difference recognizable being a mysterious glowing rune on each one's shield.

The elder shouted out a warning to the masked man to translate to his companions.

"T'would be wise not to underestimate them. Their teamwork has allowed them to turn back even the greatest of threats."

After saying these final words, the elder raised his hand straight up in the air, bringing it down in a chopping motion to signal for the competition to begin.

.::CHALLENGE START::.

The Sentinels wasted no time in setting up their offensive once the fight began.

The Sentinel in the middle charged up [Brilliant Prism], bubbles sprouting everywhere around him as they began to refract the light of the fire behind them. The casting time would take a little longer, but not by much. This attack had its sight set on the masked Arcanist, as the Druid figured that by his already limited visibility due to his mask, this would make things even harder for him to see.

The left-most opponent summoned up a wolf familiar. Instead of the normal grey color that most summoned wolves had, this one had a bristling pelt of pure black fur. It almost appeared to be a shadow cast by the bonfire, that is, if it didn't have glowing red eyes and shining white fangs to give away its presence. The two began to rush at the half-mechanical Brawler, the hood of the Sentinel hiding its face as the two ran silently towards her.

The last Sentinel merely raised his staff high into the air, calling up a [Lightning Fall] to strike the Legionnaire, capable of turning every lock of blond hair into a black, charred one.

The elders watched silently as the battle began to rage onward, their eyes serious and their arms crossed as they watched to see how the Adventurers would respond to their enemies attacks.

Words: 648
Tags: Shepard Dagon @dindeen Kumori Scoria
OOC Notes: At Derek/Shep's request, I have provided details of the diplomats' battles. Have fun with 3 Sentinels.

- CODING BY OXFORD OF ET -

[Shepard Dagon]

The Mask Isn't Just For Decoration

Fighting in between the monoliths? Was it a joke? The druid’s most sacred place about to be used as a training field… Why they didn’t let us fight in the dueling field? Lucan didn’t seemed to understand that much but they would have their own motives, both groups where disposed, so three sentinels where our opponents, bad idea to underestimate them, even when our eager mechanical friend and the assassin with the white hair already began to show what they were capable of, the druids managed to do the same. The field was almost darkened with the tenuous light of the campfires around the ground and the columns, yet Lucan mask didn’t made his view less effective, it was a magical item just like his whole equipment, instead the mask had another purpose yet to be uncovered by Shepard, maybe later in the story, but for the moment he had another issue between his hands.

Sooner than later the battle began, the sounds coming from the mechanical arm of Suetonia and the unmistakable effect of quick draw from Siculus let Lucan realize it was time to turn on his fighting senses; A sudden increment of the field lights let him notice there was something wrong, bubbles all around the fire concentrating the light, it was bad, but not as bad as the things he saw when the lights lit up the ground, the druid going stealthy towards Suetonia with a big wolf was spotted thanks to this, Lucan quickly summoned his own companion, the shaded figure of a Shikigami soon appeared behind him and rushed to roam those two threats, while the Arcanist saw the big electrical orb over his assassin friend, with good timing, Lucan used “Leaping Apricot Technique” teleporting next to the Siculus while evading the fulminant beam of light; he managed to push his friend giving him a tiny speed impulse towards his target, but in exchange, was Lucan the one stricken with the electric sphere.

The shock was rather unpleasant, but the Arcanist soon stood up with some anger against these druids, Lucan took a moment to cast “Martyr Spear” and threw it towards the middle druid, the one who had his attention, the high speed strike took the druid by surprise and was thrown away with the impact, meanwhile the Shikigami was taking care of the wolf like familiar, the fight was equitable, everyone had its own target, Lucan might be the only one who received some damage, but it was the plan, as long as the rest of the team were alright it would be fine, a quick “Prayer of Recovery” helped him to recover some of his hit points and avoid wasting a lot of mana, even thought, the Arcanist Mana Pool was rather large, being wasted at the moment 13% of it, an impressive amount compared to the 30% Shepard used to loss with the simple call of his Shikigami.

With one of the druids with his limbs almost useless, the other one in the ground quite stunned because of the strong impact, the familiar busy with my Shikigami and the last druid taunted and stunned by Suetonia a confident aura surrounded the heroes, the fight just started, but it seemed to be quite won already, Lucan only wanted to keep it like this and end as soon as possible, if the battle went larger problems will pop up with the healing capacities of the druids, better keep them busy and stunned.

-Lucan/Telepathy-
Get one at the time, remember they can heal and be almost unbeatable in long battles.

Hoping his team would follow his advice, the next thing that crossed his mind was about how to keep the enemies without any casting chance, caging them with the Spirited Away would give them ten seconds without one druid, but it was as much as he could do, if his Shikigami finished the wolf soon enough he would be able to take care of a second druid, meaning a full burst to the last one, perhaps that would be a nice plan after all.

Tags: Scoria @0x1dea @dindeen Kumori
Word Count : 687

[Deleted]

Suetonia	Mayhaps Kirakira-Caesar, bored as he was, could mull over his thoughts and recall the words which Scocero revealed to him. The guardian within the blondie, after all, was Half-Alv and ought to remember the legacy or at least the base description of his chosen race. That said, the camera the zoomed in to the much-confuse battle between the druids and the (lels!) ‘diplomats’. “ Heh. Now THIS is my kind of ‘talk’, “ Suetonia exclaimed as the Sentinels headed towards them to engage each diplomat separately. Lupard had a strategy in mind though and it was similar to the monk’s: they were in a party and so they would fight as one. As the Sentinel with the wolf rushed towards Suetonia, they were intercepted by a Shikigami and it was enough of a delay for the monk to be able to move into a more appropriate position for her next move. The wolf-hair maneuvered to a spot which was mostly equidistant between all three Sentinels and she started up her song: [Ballad of the Gullible Snail]. With her seven keys, Suetonia played a rather sorrowful melody from a game that she used to play in the real world. Distorted spirals appeared around her targets as long as they were within her range, which according to her calculation would include all three Sentinels and the shadowy wolf. The monk kept up the Ballad for five to ten seconds, just enough for both Lupard and Succubus dish out their own combos with probably a lesser chance of being countered. Suetonia had her own targets to deal with though, so as the wolf and its summoner turned to face her, she toggled [Beatdown], jumped up to the air and fell down upon them with an [Aura Kick]. The shockwave which resulted would have been enough to hit both the Sentinel and his pet; the druid seemed to be independent of the Hate system, thus the aggro-grab would have affected his wolf only and Suetonia would take that chance once afforded. If the wolf rushed in towards her after that shockwave, she would grab it and throw it at its own summoner. A distraction! She would then dash towards the (probably) confused Sentinel, grab it and [Suplex] it to the ground. Code by DinDeen@DeviantArt. Original Art from Akame ga Kill.
HP 100% MP 85%
- Skills Used - Ballad: Gullible Snail Aura Kick Beatdown Suplex - Equipment - Airgetlam Zero True Heir
Word Count: 375 Tags: Kumori @0x1dea Scoria Shepard Dagon OOC Notes: ---