The Frostbourne

Hey, look. Posts. Stupid e-mail, filling up too fast to notice the notification. Is anyone around?

I'm still around every few days, if we're getting a head count.

Just make sure to tell us when you're ready to start this up again. I enjoy this too much to let it lie for longer than I have to!

The ability to temporarily ignore pain would work; plus, it makes for interesting strategies.

"Ah, Top apologizes. Some of his words can become difficult to follow at times. He meant to suggest that he and you should avoid losing each other, so that, once this competition ends, you and he may begin the process of which you speak." Top takes his time, glancing in the different rooms as he passes, though entering none of them. "Top does not mind at all." This man obviously hopes to use Top. Top is content with that for the moment. Something to occupy his time and mind is no bad thing...

Top eyes Ambrosius for a moment. There is never only one way to get rid of this sort of thing. He wants this, Top thinks. Some sort of redemption, perhaps? "This would all occur shortly after this competition, correct? They will need to be sure and stay together, then, so that they can begin once this ends." Top begins moving once more, back to the arenas. "Top assumes that his fight will be soon. He would like to be near, just in case." Hopefully he does not question the fact that he has given the important part of his life story to Top, while recieving next to nothing in return...

Just Pre-Match, Round One. Waterfall Arena. This place unnerves these SphereMorphs, rookie and veteran alike. This is naturally to my advantage. Perhaps some sort of riot against the leaders of this competition will give me a chance to quietly - I crumple the paper that holds those dangerous words, regretting already my desicion to try keeping a journal once more. I would have to burn it later. Even in my "private thoughts", I do nothing but plot and scheme. Surely there exists something more? Though evidence is not in favor, judging soley by experie- I was doing it again. I would need to learn to control that some day. I sweep my gaze around the area once more, searching for anyone keyed up or nervous. I unfortunately was unable to see my competition beforehand, so I would be going in blind. I hate nothing more than that. I leave my position near the wall, as far as possible from any door, and meander toward my entry point for the fight. Blending in to such a motley assortment of men and women will be difficult enough to be a waste of time... Let's see. Cliché tough-yet-kind sounds like the way to go for now. I add a bit of hop to my step, and plaster a small smile on my face. I glance once more at the few characters I had singled out as most likely to be my opponent, calculating their weaknesses. Hopefully, it will be one of them. If not... Going in blind again.

Top stands in stunned silence for a moment. Despite the path he chooses, this man is no theif at heart. A rogue, perhaps, but not a theif. Top feels a brief moment of hatred for the circumstances that had kept this man from being all he could have been. Fortunately, it passes quickly. "If Top may be so bold, why is this curse so malificent in your eyes? He has seen the patches of skin marred by it, but surely that is not such a bad thing?" What connotation do those marks hold...?

Thanks for the answers; I believe I will go with the second option. EDIT: I find writing Top to be a fascinating excersise in balancing confusion with clarity. I appear to have slipped a bit though - sorry about that.

@Emeralis: In regard to this curse, you say that both the afflicted and the afflictors must die. I am not certain I understand though - would either party return to life after the deed is done? If not, that hatdly seems the proper way to go about making your daughter's life better. Also, I have a question that somewhat affects everyone. I have three options; follow Em's pattern for handling two characters by dividing up a post into two halves, post separately for each character, or make a whole other profile for Miss Erika. Any thoughts or preferences? I am alright with any of the above.

Well then. Not giving me much time to prepare, are you? not that I mind. (SUDDEN THOUGHT: ONE PERSON; TWO FIGHTERS. Erika VS Top, Jack VS Ambrosius, etc. CHAOTIC HILARITY ENSUES)

Top stops as well, staring back, trusting Ambro's checking of the area to ascertain that they are alone. "Top swears to nothing. Such vows only lead to danger. However, you have his word that, as long as it does not directly endanger him, he will not share the information you wish to give him." That may not be enough for this man, so used to not trusting as he is... "Know too that this vow, conditional as it may be, is more than any person but one has ever extracted from Top. Besides, you do not seem to have too many other options." Not quite the truth, but it sounds feasible enough. Let's see if Top will begin to require running very quickly. Top holds Ambrosius's gaze for a moment more, then leans against the wall they had stopped near and retrieves the pen he had purchased, spinning it between his fingers. "Additionally, has Top seemed so far to you like one who is willing to give away anything of real value?"

I'm reposting this here after editing for clarity's (and Cuaiir's) sake. Username: The Frostbourne Contact: PM Character Name: Erika Melodi Age: 21 Gender: Female Hometown: Spiral Falls Marital Status: Single Appearance: Erika was given her mother's looks, with short, dark red hair, green eyes, and skin with a Native American hue. She wears a dark green, oversized sweater, black pants tucked into knee-high leather boots, a squat cylindrical cap, and thin, fingerless gloves. Her SphereMorph is set on an iron band clasped around her left wrist, the metal protruding beyond the wrist to hold it, looking a bit like an oversized wristwatch. Personality: Erika is highly precocious and rather nosy. She has an understandably difficult time talking about herself, and will either change the subject, cut off the conversation, or tell a lie. In Crook of the Plains, there were probably dozens of rumors about her, and she had started most of them herself. About things and people other than herself, though, she is honest, and often brutally blunt with the truth. She is untrusting of others, in that she expects them to be foolish lummoxes with only half of a brain. If another person proves themselves intelligent, her expectations change from extremely low to demandingly high, sometimes impossibly so. Only if a person can draw close to her does that change, at which point she becomes loyal and protective. History: Born in Spiral Falls to a merchant named Dominak and a Defender named Felicity, Erika learned to walk by the age of five months, and was talking barely three days later. By three years of age, she could write more clearly than many adults, with either hand. Things changed, though, when much of her extended family, and both of her parents, were murdered in one night, right in front of her. Years ago, Felicity and her brother Seth had attracted the attention of a powerful gang, led by a man called Spectre, in the Crook of the Plains, but they managed to arrest their leader and escape town. The gang had tracked them down, under a new leader by the name of Destron. Erika had created a plan to pretend that Felicity and her brother were in the middle of the family, on the way to a tavern, so that Felicity and Seth could escape undetected. The gang members shot anyway. They killed over half of Erika's family, as well as Dominak. Erika took a glancing blow in the right leg. She limped into a safehouse to hide, where she found her mother fighting another SphereMorph, with Seth nowhere in sight. Her mother managed to strike the other down. Out the small peephole of the safehouse, Felicity spied two more SphereMorphs approaching. She took off her SphereMorph, gave it to Erika, and told her that she needed to run. Erika fled the building through the back door, and ran. She looked back just in time to see her mother snatch the SphereMorph from the unconscious and begin to glow. Felicity settled into Form just in time to find a blade between her ribs. Erika was seven at the time. After hiding in Spiral Falls and learning to use the SphereMorph, Erika joined a merchant caravan as a guard, wandering with the caravans for eight years. Ironically, she ended up in the Crook of the Plains. In this, she saw the perfect opportunity, ending her contractual guard duties and involving herself in the underground that was always so persent in the area. She spent years there, building a reputation as a criminal mastermind, which wasn't hard to do, with the fools she was surrounded by. She made alliances, broke them, killed, and became ruthless. Soon, she was ruler of the fifth most powerful gang of the city, and in reach of her goal; to take down Destron once and for all. She planned, spied, and prepared. Unfortunately, her attack was expected. Despite careful planning and thirteen planted spies, her plan failed, and Erika was forced to go into hiding once more. On that night, she again had to watch as those she trusted were killed. Still reeling from the blow, she wandered into the Vast Plain, where she was approached by a strange armored man with the most tantilizing offer she had ever heard... Grid: Equilibrium This Grid is a diamond, split into four Quadrants. When held level, it will act as a compass. The Northern Quadrant is called the Farcast Mentality, the Eastern Quadrant Farcast Physicality, the Southern is Closedrawn Physicality, and the Western is Closedrawn Mentality. Each Quadrant grants added prowess in its specific trait to the Sphere placed within; however, its weakness lies in the fact that if a Sphere which does not sufficiently utilize the trait a Quadrant grants is placed in said Quadrant, the Sphere is limited by the opposing Quadrant and abilities, hampering its effectiveness for as long as it remains in the Quadrant. This severely limits the Sphere combinations one can have while using this Grid. Erika has her Toa Sphere to the West, Closedrawn Mentality, her Thief Sphere to the South, Closedrawn Physicality, her Infiltrator Sphere to the East, Farcast Physicality, and her Scribbler Sphere to the North, Farcast Mentality. Forms: • Toa - As a Toa, Erika gains a dark purple and black body of protodermic metal, shaped tall and light-footed. Besides being granted with limited gravity manipulation and twin battleaxes, used in tandem to glide short distances, Erika gains a powerful Kanohi Mahiki, Mask of Illusions. Basic Form • Thief - As a Thief, Erika replaces her sweater with a tight green shirt, and gains sashes around waist and arms, as well as a light scarf around her neck. Her knives have sheaths hidden within the sashes on her arms. Basic Form • Infiltrator - Erika dons white Energized Armor with glowing blue details as an Infiltrator, and weilds an MP7 SMG in hand. She also has an AI AS-50 Sniper Rifle hooked onto her back, and a Whitney Wolverine in the pistol holster strapped onto her waist. Spectre --> Infiltrator • Scribbler - With thick glasses perched on her nose and pencil case strapped to her right forearm, it is obvious that Erika spends a lot of time as a Scribbler, mostly scoping out and scetching possible locations of battle, ambush, etc. She has a full notepad of scetches stored for various streets and roads in and around the Crook of the Plains. Summoner --> Scribbler Roleplaying Example: "I'm done with this." Her tutor, new this week, stopped her sentence and turned toward me. "I haven't finished the instructions. How can youhave finished already?" I sighed, then declared exaggeratedly, "I extrapolated what you've told me with what is on the board. It wasn't terribly difficult; I managed to solve them without even having to writing any work. Can't you at least give me something challenging?" The tutor glared at me for a long moment before turning to the board. She began to write furiously. "The answer is three over the cube root of seventy X squared, multiplied by the cosine squared of three X." I glanced around the well-furnished room, saw her pictures, her various books on romance, her bitten nails. "Also, your new boyfriend is cheating on you. Expect to be dumped within two months." The tutor didn't turn this time. She just said, cold as the Frozen Foothills, "Thank you for letting me know. Also, that was the correct answer; congratulations." I recognized that tone of voice. "I'm not getting another lesson from you, am I?" The tutor turned then. She had the most frightening glare of any so far. Small wonder about her boyfriend... She nodded once, curtly. "I assume you can find the door?" I left. Father would not be pleased, but I was planning on mitigating that with the news that, from my trip to the market this morning, he should definitely pour more investment funding into the new fishery... I sighed. This stuff is of no use to me any longer. Into the fire the journal went, with the others. I stood, exited the room. Father was dead, the tutor was a city away. It shows how much has changed, that I thought to bring those along when I left town. I entered the main room of the gang hall and called for the new reports from the night. Looking around, I couldn't help muttering to myself. "He'll betray soon. He's going home. She's planning on a power seize soon to gain position. He hates me. He doesn't trust me." A new evaluation stopped me in my tracks. "He... fears. Me." Finally. The fear begins, and thus the power does as well. I would be in charge in a few month's time. Then, the real planning could begin.

"Morality is a flexible thing, dependant on situation and company. In polite company, in civil society, morality is a necessary, even helpful thing." Top lowers his voice further, staying close to Ambrosius. "You ask of morals. Top is glad that you are thoughtful enough to consider the thing. Yet, Top is not in polite company - no offense meant - nor is he in a civil society. As far as he knows, that has not existed since the beginning of the era in which they live. "So you tell him, Ambrosius, Cursed Theif: does Top need morality in this situation?" Philosophy is going to get him in trouble someday.

Top takes the small pile to the desk, paying the shopkeeper, and adding a little extra. It was best to keep options open, after all, and extra ears were worth the cost. Glancing at Ambrosius, but very specifically not handing his purchases over, he spoke idly, letting the meaning speak for itself. "I have known few partnerships to be worse for a person than working alone, as long as both partners are honest with the other. Actually, it is usually easy to tell which partner is more likely to run such a thing.." He held his silence for a moment, taking the time to secrete his objects in pockets hidden about and heading for the exit. "Still, Top can see the benefit of such arrangements as surely as he can see the sun. You mentioned some sort of plan, he believes?