Those Who Hunt Monsters OOC

The mythic age has long since passed.
In the ancient days, before the pyramids were built magic ran rampant in this world, mythical creatures lived in harmony with humans, some even worshiped. Over time, the hubris of man led to conflict between humanity and the magical world. The Great War caused heavy loss on both sides, most notably the death of the great pantheons of the word, and the eventual retreat of the Supernatural.
Since then, magical creatures have hid among us, slowly regaining their numbers and biding time for an opportunity to strike back at their oppressors. After centuries, most of what we knew about these creatures faded away and what remained was convoluted into the myths mothers told disobedient children. It has now come to a point where feelings of disbelief had grown so strong that witnesses of the supernatural would rationalize it away, making it all the easier for those who wished them harm to maintain the Facade.
At the start of the fifteenth century, strange disappearances and murders spread rampantly across Europe, all incidents of which being seemingly inexplicable. No one would believe the truth except for Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia: the man commonly known as Vlad the Impaler, or Dracula. Using his vast wealth, he formed a secret organization—the Night's Watch—to hunt down and destroy the creatures of the night while maintaining the Facade. In doing so, he separated himself from the common-folk and eventually took on a reputation for being a monster himself.
Four hundred years later, the Night's Watch stands strong against the menaces that threaten mankind. They have accomplished much by staying on the cutting edge of combat tactics, armaments, and medicine, but the biggest contributor to their success was their method of creating monsters of their own through the Black Sacrament. They found that, by transplanting the heart of a magical beast, they could create great warriors far beyond human limitations and used such warriors to bolster their ranks. Yet, the greatness has a weakness, as the rumors that the magic drains sanity, making a person become an unstable Umbra.
As rangers come through the program, the Night's Watch grows stronger. But the Black Sacrament remains to be a dangerous procedure, with many unexpected surprises...
 
This is a story of one unit of the Night's Watch.
Blackhearts: Blackhearts are the special Rangers who have undergone the Black Sacrament. To become a Blackheart, one must kill a magical creature and return with its heart to the Burg Forchtenstein (the main base). Only the hearts of human-sized creatures can be used and, the greater the physiological difference between the source and human, the riskier the surgery. The sacrament kills many who undergo it but can provide the following benefits:
 
 
Below are a few examples of beings of the Facade that can be used in the Black Sacrament:
 
Werewolf: further enhancements to durability, strength, reflexes, and senses.
Vampires: extra resistance to damage, full immunity to diseases access to trance magic.
Ghouls: extra resistance to damage, and enhanced strength, the ability the cloak oneself in shadows making it difficult to be seen.
Ghosts: Ability to become intangible. It is strongly unadvised not to become tangible while passing through objects.
Witch: Access to various magics.
Fae: unpredictable and considered highly risky.
An important aspect of becoming a blackheart is the ability to self regulate. Blackhearts run the risk of succumbing to a desire to destroy human kind like the magical creatures they were created from have turned to doing. These murderous urges increase whenever a blackheart is under stress, in pain, or acting violently. Three things that also define their line of work. Once a Blackheart turns there is no going back.
 
These are only a few examples. It is subject to expand at any given moment.
 
Explanation of Passive and Active Abilities: These are abilities that are physical and are implemented the moment after the Black Sacrament. These don't require magic to work, but rather are the effects of the heart on the body. These abilities can range from rapid healing to extra strength, but they cannot work to the full extent of the creature it once belonged to, as the body is still human. Active abilities require magic and energy on the Blackheart's part, so these enhancements are not evident directly after surgery.
 
1. Any human who sees through the Facade must either join the Watch or perish.
2. Humans may only be killed to maintain the Facade.
3. Only kill magical creatures that have been deemed a potential threat.
4. Members of the watch may have no connections to the world, including lands, spouses, or children.
5. Rangers may never set out alone.
6. The oath of service stands until death.
6. Any who betray the watch are to be treated as a top level threat.
1) Follow all general forum rules and R-rated RP rules. This is a must.
2) You guys must follow The Hosts' (Drummy and Akai) word, for they are the supreme overlords and will probably hunt you down if you don't comply. WE ARE THE LAW.
3) We (The Hosts) reserve the right to kill anyone and everyone, but will only do so if you do something blatantly stupid to put your life in danger. Any character whose life is inadvertently put in danger by another player will most likely be spared. (This is, of course, only for rare cases. Do not be afraid of this threat :3)
4) You may start as either a normal human or Blackheart (See above).
5) You may create your own subtype of Blackheart, pending GM approval. Guidelines for doing so are listed above.
6) Keep in mind that this is the Victorian Era. Don't put stupid things in your bios or so help me, I will rant... Kindly.
 
And here's the Bio Template. ERASE ALL PARENTHESES FOR THEY ARE MERELY HELPFUL GUIDELINES THAT WILL HELP YOU KEEP YOUR CHARACTER.
 
Name:
Age (Can't be extremely young):
Blackheart (if yes, type. Otherwise, do not include this part in your bio):
Years of Service (Anything below five years means you're a rookie, from five to eight you're a seasoned member, and above eight usually indicates that you're qualified for the Black Sacrament. Blackhearts will have above eight years under their belt.):
Appearance (I demand a nice appearance. I'm just asking for eight sentences. Maybe two paragraphs. This includes clothing style and anything else notable on your charrie):
Equipment (Be realistic. If you're weak, you aren't carrying a ton of armor and a buster sword):
Abilities (Any exceptional talents or abilities granted by being a Blackheart. All rangers have extensive combat training but you may want to list weapon focus or specialties. For Blackhearts, you must list your Passive and Active abilities.):
History (Only write what you want others to know. Any secrets of their past that they may be hiding must be PMed to The Hosts because he is supreme overlord.):
 
Notice: This RP has limited slots! Also, we will not be letting everyone be Blackhearts at the start. That will only be given to people who ask for it and deliver a good bio deemed adequate for the role (We're very particular). So here are the slots:
 
Master of the Watch:  Lord Eisler(Drummy)
Commander: Livia Leitner(AkaiJose)
Blackheart 1: Keaghan Strauss(Riffus Maximus)
Blackheart 2:Arenwald Victor Dorian (Rorschach)
Blackheart 3: Marshall Granit  (Tazz)
Blackheart 4: Charles Ervin (Vaas)
Normal Member 1: Edward Davynell (Lord Coake)
Normal Member 2: Gage Neitz(TheDarknessOfLoyalty)
Normal Member 3:Frenchman (Erit of Eastcris)
Normal Member 4:Josephine Warden (Aroro)

Sounds really interesting!

If we can reserve spots, I'd try to make a Blackheart, even something of my own design. If else, I'll try to make my character as fast as I can to the best of my abilities.

Unless Berry has a different viewpoint I'm fine holding a spot for you, I know you can meet her high standards. The odds of three people filling those spots before you seem kind of slim, but I'd rush just in case.

Here's a question since Drummy's kill-happy; do dead characters count towards the character limit, or does that space open up for a new rookie?

I'm not as kill happy as I make myself out to be.

Should a character die it will open up a new spot.

In the event th roster should fill completely we will may consider expanding the size of the group or making a second group. If not there will be a waiting list, but 8 is a big number for this site.

I hope you don't mind the age and years of service. I was shooting for that "Grizzled Veteran"-type of guy. Also, are guns from the 1870's-1880's too much?

Name: Edward Davynell
Age: 41
Years of Service: 21
Appearance: Edward has trimmed light grey hair and a trimmed beard. He has Light blue eyes, and sharp, contoured facial features. His nose is slightly bent from various blows, and he has a few scars on his face. He wears glasses when reading as well. He is strong, despite his old age, and appears muscular. He wears black pants and shirt, with a leather trenchcoat, leather boots, and leather gloves.
Equipment: He wields a Broad Sword, and carries a 1880 model Enfield Revolver(It's Here), and an American Winchester Model 1876 Rifle
Abilities: He is a well-trained swordsman and marksman. He has also become able to see "tells" of possible magic. The way this works is that he's discovered physical patterns in the movement and actions of magic-related beings that allows him to make an educated guess as to if that person is related to magic, and what type of creature that person may be. This is entirely physically and mentally based, and does not use any powers.
History: Most of Edward's life was spent as a boy in London, and he did not get a job until around age 18. He was then recruited into the British military, and served in Egypt for a while. On the year of his 20th Birthday, he was sent to investigate a local Pyramid, and was nearly killed. His entire unit was lost to a creature that Edward. describes as a "Living, breathing Egyptian mummy." He was saved just in time by a Night's Watch member who happened to be in the same pyramid. She gave him the choice of either dying to her, or being inducted into the Night's Watch. He chose to live, and has faithfully served the Night's Watch since. He has been offered numerous times after reaching his 8th service year the choice of the Black Sacrament, but has refused every time.

The guns are fine. The RP takes place before then, but we're ahead of most of the world as far as that goes. Since Aroro asked we make those the standard issue guns and find a few more to add to the list (like oldtimey shotguns).
 
I'm fine with the age and year of service, but I'd like to make it clear that it is highly unusual for a ranger, blackheart or not to serve that long. After 3 years you are considered pretty season, and by seven your considered lucky to still be hanging around.
 
I approve. Unless Berry has any problems you'll be added to the list.

Please, don't think anything I say too personally ^-^'' Just a forewarning.

Well, first things first. Twenty-one years of service is a long time and at the age of forty-one, I'm afraid he's gonna be feeling a little too... Well, not into the job. Life expectancy was low even in the 1850s, despite advances in medicine. Plus, he definitely would not be feeling too great after so much service, even if he was very fit and kept up with it. I advise you fix both age and years of service.

Secondly... Come on, Cookie! I wrote that I expected twelve sentences for appearance! I'm probably gonna decrease it to eight but a little more effort could surely be put into appearance.

Just gonna be nit-picky... What kind of sword? There are different ones and different styles of sword-fighting. :3

As for abilities, I do believe I want to hear the accuracy of his "guesses". See, he's not a magical being himself and (depending on how much you change his years of service) it will definitely depend on how much work he's done in the field for the Night's Watch. I expect accuracy to be a little lower, seeing that the Facade is very well done to the point that these magical beings are seen as normal humans.

A very simplistic history, but I'll take it. I just have a few qualms with the years of service. ^-^

Something I want to throw out for people. The unit you will be working in will be brand new at the start of the RP. It will be composed laregly of members shifted around from other units, the only exception being people who are entering the field for the first time.

This means that if your character is a sufficiently powerful blackheart approved by Berry you may have been the commander of your previous unit if you would like to include that in your history.

Name: Keaghan Strauss
Age: 60 years old
Blackheart: Vampire BlackHeart
Years of Service: 45 years



Appearance: The most prominent physical trait for Keaghan is his youthfulness to anyone who actually knows how old he is. Appearing as a young man in his mid-twenties, he is often mistaken for a rookie by newer recruits, much to the amusement of the Blackhearts. Looking over at the humanized Vampire, people would find him strangely graceful in appearance, his body frame far from the muscled Rangers often conditioned for tracking monsters. Instead, Keaghan opted for the saying "Mind over matter", such was his form of conditionment. Instead of benching weights at the gym and training physically, he was most often found in libraries, reading about books and documents. While not unhealthly slim, his body isn't made of bulging or remarkable muscles, weighting no more than a hundred and twenty-five pounds on a five foot ten inches tall body. The best his body could be describe in general is between slim and athletic, because he still has field experience, and his vampire traits showing off this much, and his skin is as if it wasn't touched by the sun.

Complimenting his head are short hair of a fair wheat field on a sunny summer day. His eyes however darkening his bright appeareance with the color of blood. The irises are shaped as those of a snake, and shining as a bright ruby, hiding partially a keen and sharp soul. His face is quite light, showing no signs of aging despite the years of stress and hard-work. Adorning his right ear are a few sets of silver earrings, giving him a fair rebel look when put together with his sharp-looking physique.

His usual clothing attire consists of clothes that are considered out of norm in the current time, while the later genreations would be used to call it "gothic". While some may find his cloths gloomy and unfit of nobility, some would say he actually has a regal look mixed with a man of mysteries. His casual wear is made of a long-sleeved silk white collar shirt underneath a cotton black vest with white collar cuffs, which have silver crosses etched on the cuffs, black trouser adorned with a leather belt and a silver buckle and black shoes. Around his neck hangs a silver cross pendant, and around each of his fingers are silvery rings, each with an unique gem trapped.



Equipment: Preferring a light load for more freedom of movement, Keaghan relies on a Springfield Model 1861 rifle for long-range sniping and a Colt Army Model 1860 handgun for mid-range battle.  When forced into close combat, Keaghan unsheathes a Field Officer’s saber issued to him by the higher-ups as proof of his experience and high-rank in the Night’s Watch. He doesn’t wear anything protective, relying entirely on his physical attributes as a Vampire BlackHeart. Other kind of gear found on himself when he’s out in the field is basic survival stuff, from rope to survival rations.



Abilities:
+As a Vampire BlackHeart:
-Enhanced physique: Having the heart of a Vampire inside of him, Keaghan is better than a human in almost every aspect when comparing to physionomy. He is faster, stronger, more resilient to damage, immune to disease and poisons and has a far better lifespan (80 being still considered young among Vampires) than any normal human.

-Fast Healing: Blackhearts are known to be not only durable, but recover from injuries quite quickly. Due to their enhanced resilience to damage, Vampires are known for recovering from fatal injuries that would otherwise cripple others.

-Detect Magic: Being a BlackHeart, Keaghan is able to detect magical beings from a relatively long distance. It is often used to track down magical creatures in hiding.

-Charming Gaze: Vampires are creatures of legends that are said to be exotically attracting creatures, and the stories aren’t lying about this. While Vampires are naturally exquisite-looking, they can force their charm onto others by gazing in the eyes of their victim. Whoever is catching glimpse of Keaghan’s gaze when he is actively using his charming abilities is falling in some sort of trance, losing the will to oppose him. Naturally, members of the opposite gender are more likely to be affected by this ability. The strong-willed are able to shrug off this effect.


+As part of his training:
-Rifle Proficiency: Being mainly a strategist with great senses, Keaghan uses this fact as a mean to fight without involving himself too near of the battle. As such, he trained himself in the use of long-range weaponry, mainly firearms with great accuracy. While mounted scopes weren’t on rifles yet at this time, Keaghan uses his enhanced sight to aim at targets from afar. It is important to note that, with all his years of experience, he developed a way to enter some sort of trance by enhancing all his senses, making it seem as if the world was slowing down. His accuracy becomes exceptionally high when in this state, but outside interference easily breaks it.


+Rituals:
Attuned to magic, Vampires do not actually have innate spells except for their charm ability, but call out to magic by making rituals. Taught from his mentor before he passed away, Keaghan learned the secrets of drawing sigils, circles, using ingredients in such a precise manner that he can call out to fantastic effects using rituals. Such rituals consist of binds, imprisonments, traps and boosts for various purposes. With his keen intellect, Strauss uses these rituals at times when his team has difficulties in eliminating their target.

-Binding Ritual: After learning about a creature, Keaghan can prepare a ritual unique to that monster in order to bind it in a selected area. Binding a creature to an area requires Keaghan to draw a full circle around the chosen area and scribing runes on the four cardinal points. For the ritual to be complete, Keaghan must have a part of the creature in hand (be it hair, limbs, scales, etc.) and cast it into the circle. When the ritual is complete, the monster cannot go beyond the circle, effectively trapped in the area. This ritual is commonly used against creatures that can travel from one point to another to quickly for the Rangers to catch up to. The Binding Ritual takes a lot of preparation beforehand, and takes a lot of time in order to draw the circle around the area.

-Ritual of Chains/Earth/Wood/Etc.: Holding a steel chain in one hand, while gesturing one hand in doing archaic symbols and chanting in a cryptic language, this ritual takes about five minutes to accomplish. When done, the chain from Keaghan's hand disappears, and large steel chains erupt from the ground under the selected target. The chains stop at nothing to bind and constrict the target into place. By command, the chains can either restrict a physical victim's movement, or kill it from the sheer pressure the constricting chains apply. Variations to this ritual applies, such as using the terrain itself to bind a creature into place, but the required material change according to what is used in the binding process (a finely shaped stone for ground binding, an idol made of wood for trees, etc.). This ritual can also be made beforehand by drawing a circle over an area with a sigil inside corresponding to the element of the binding. Once someone steps into that circle, the trap springs, and thus the ritual tries to imprison the intruder into place.

-Sacrament of Blood: Drawing his own blood, Strauss can inscribe a sigil on the forehead of anyone who would be subject to this unique ritual. When chanting in the language of the Vampires for a full ten minutes, the blood sigil on the recipients' forehead seems to be absorbed into the skin. Those affected by the ritual now gain the strengths of the Vampires, such has enhanced physical abilities, faster regeneration, resilience to fatal wounds and keen senses. In short, it is similar to becoming a Vampire BlackHeart for ten minutes.



History: Born from an elitist family that heavily supported the current royalty, Keaghan was expected to be a model child for a boy born in a wealthy aristocratic family. Having been well-educated in private schools, a lot was expected from this young man, as successor of the Strauss household. Keaghan got spectacular results, from both education and physical training, and was the pride of the family. Most of his abilities derivate from his skills to understand his surroundings, the situations he is put in and his superior intellect. From the reputation he has gotten, the Strauss household was approached by the Archduke, offering to take care of Keaghan’s advanced studies if he was to become his foster son. Believing that agreeing to the Archduke’s proposal, they would gain more credibility as a noble house, and even call in favors later on. As such, Keaghan was made the Archduke’s foster son. But shortly after, the young boy would soon see that the world is not as it seems, and a whole new aspect of life was hidden from most of the common folk. And this was how Keaghan was introduced to the concept of The Façade, joining the Night’s Watch as per his foster father’s request.

Keaghan had served the Night Watch for 10 years. While he wasn’t the strongest out there, his keen intellect and his battle tactics were prized among the Rangers. Because of such, the young member of the Strauss family was taken under the wing of one of the Rangers talented individuals, a man named Alexander Russev. This seemingly old man had lots to offer to the young Keaghan: Knowledge to further develop his keen mind, tactics to track down monsters and eliminate them without the need of exceptional strength, even a bit of magic itself. Under the tutelage of such man, Keaghan had grown to become a soldier fighting in the back scenes, devising plots and strategies for other hunting parties. Because he was mostly involved out of battles and out of harm’s way, Strauss was one of those people who had been working with the Rangers for quite a while, until the fateful day he would become a BlackHeart. During those 10 years, Keaghan was taught by Alexander, and even accompanied the seasoned veteran on the field.

But becoming a BlackHeart did not happen under normal circumstances. Normally, Rangers who had proven themselves to be strong and reliable were implanted with the heart of a monster, instead of their own. For Keaghan, who had rarely been on the field outside to physically support his team, it was unlikely for him to become a BlackHeart, due to the belief he would not be strong enough to personally kill a monster himself and adapt to the new heart. But a new opportunity would arise at the cost of someone the young man trusted most. It happened on a stormy night, a day Keaghan was sent with Alexander and a few troops to eliminate a Storm monster, a giant creature made of clouds and static that caused power outages in the area. Tracking down the beast with the help of both Russev and Strauss’ abilities combined, they tracked the monster to its lair. But as fate would have it, it wasn’t a single monster; it was a dozen of them. Outnumber and cut off from the Night’s Watch, the Rangers had no choice but to leave their destiny in Fate’s hands and fight on for survival. Many perished that night, and Alexander was reported to be one of them. Strauss suffered heavily from this fight, but his mentor would have saved his life by putting himself between a jolt of lightning and his student. Russev was struck down, and the remaining electrical energy traveled towards Keaghan, sending him flying against a tree.

At the BlackHearts headquarters, most revered Alexander for his courage and his might, and thought it would have been a waste for his powerful heart to remain unused. As such, they tried to find a compatible receiver for Russev’s heart, someone who would make great use of this power and carry on Alexander’s legacy. They found none other soul compatible with the great man’s heart than his very student, Keaghan Strauss, now in hospital after being paralyzed from a lightning discharge. BlackHeart to Human surgery had rarely been practiced before; thinking that the heart would lose its potency on a new body, unlike a monster’s transplanted to a human.

Hope was lost for Strauss when, after being transplanted the heart, could still not move, and his health deteriorate as a result. Having nothing left to lose, the BlackHearts went full way with the procedure, willing to wait until Keaghan would give out and die from the failed results. Against their expectation however, Strauss took too much time to die. In fact, not only he didn’t die, but as the weeks went by, the more his body adapted to the new heart. At some point, the transplanted heart was part of Keaghan’s body, and its power even cured the damaged nerve system, restoring mobility in the newly-formed BlackHeart’s limbs. Keaghan was reborn as a BlackHeart, carrying the will and legacy of his former mentor.

Putting his enhanced skills to use for the Night’s Watch once more, Keaghan’s ever-growing intellect was priced by the BlackHeart. He would continue to carry out his duties as battle tactician, and even sent out to the field more often due to his increasing powers. Drawing from the inherent powers of his old master’s heart, Keaghan grew to become someone powerful within the BlackHeart’s ranks, and lived long enough to see things change in the Night’s Watch. However, this all came with a price. As years went by, Keaghan was plagued with nightmares and visions of the past, a past he did not experienced himself, but felt oddly familiar. Aware that the monster inside him, his own memories and Alexander’s are conflicting and clashing at each other, the BlackHearts are keeping a close watch on him, expecting he might blow and turn into a monster sometime soon. However, since Keaghan is quite valuable to the Night’s Watch, the BlackHearts are watching over Strauss and find ways to keep his real self in check.

Name: Gage Neitz
Age: 26
Years of Service: 6
Appearance: Gage stands at a fairly average height of 5ft 3in and has some slight muscle tone to his body. His hair is very rarely in any style except for a bowl-cut. His eyes are azure blue and his skin is slightly pale. There's also a few lasting cuts and bruises dotted scarcely around his body. His fingertips are slightly blackened for a reason he would rather not say.

He prefers to wear simple cargo pants, with a white vest and a leather jacket, while normally his clothing is kahki coloured his jackets are all plain and black. He also tends towards wearing leather Vambraces with fingerless gloves and military-style boots. He also wears a simple, unadorned, silver necklace at times.
Equipment: He possesses two satchels, one which stores both his rations and spare ammuntion, normally worn at his waist and another larger one that holds various ingredients for explosives, although it's only carried when needed. While on the job he wears a black coat, with chainmail sewn into the lining for some slight pretoection. His armaments include a .45 Colt Single Action Revolver and a tomahawk-like axe, that's more used as a tool than a weapon.
Abilities: Extensive Demoltions Training: Gage was trained in both chemistry and architecture, and is able to use his knowledge of both to create the right explosive for the task, assuming he has the reagents.

Weapons Training: For protection purposes he has been gven marksmanship training with the pistol and has had experience, prior to the rangers, with his choice of CQC weapon both with using it as a tool and as a weapon.

Survival Experience: Prior to the rangers he had accrued a decent amount of survival skills in the more rural locations, which he can bring to bear on missions that go to such locations.
History: For Gage, Early and Teenage life was spent, for the most part, without his father. During the times his father was home he was told various stories, time and again, about the armed forced and it fascinated the boy and inspired him to take his own path, signing up for extra-curricular courses that focussed on outdoors suvival.

At 20 he, unknowingly, saw through the Facade of a Night's Watch group and found himself conscripted into their order soon after being trained to fill a slot that had recently been lost in a previous mission. Gage's attitude during this time changed from the typical naivite of the youthful, rather quickly, into a soldier's mindset. Now he only sees the mission in front of him when one comes about, and will do all he is able to do to fulfill the mssion as efficiently, as possible while mainting the Facade.

Approved.

I'd like to clear this up becuae it had been left out before. I'll ask Berry to put this int he first post as well since I don't know where she would like to put it.

Magic is not as fansastic in this world as it is in most RP settings. Most importantly magic is broken into two subtypes, rituals and spells.

Rituals can be done by any creature, including humans with the proper knowledge and resources. Rituals almost always have invocations and require materials of somesort as a casting cost. They generally take quite some time to cast, rangin from several seconds to days.

Spells are innate magical abilites limited to certain magical creatures and blackhearts. Blackhearts get spells based on their origin (for example ghosts can turn intangible). Witch and Fae based blackhearts get more flexibility with what sorts of spells they can cast with the difference being that Fae magic is generally more eratic. If you want to look at it this way to make the passive/active thing easier Werewolf based blackhearts and others who get furhter enhanced physical ablities are essentially casting spells to give themselves strenght equivalent to the creautures they were born from.

Doubt I'll meet the high stranded s but every unit needs a roooie and thats what I'll make. Comeing sooj

Interest noted.

Name: Livia Leitner

Age: 25 years.

Blackheart: Confidential knowledge.

Years of Service: Twelve years.

Appearance: After many years of training, Livia has a tough, muscular body for a woman. She stands a little taller than other women during her time at five feet four inches, her weight totaling one hundred thirty-five pounds. Her skin is porcelain white, with barely visible breaks in it (or at least in the places her clothing shows). She has broad, sharp shoulders with a trim waist and modest bust. However, this can be seen as un-feminine, as she never wears a corset to “correct” her body shape. She can easily be seen as muscular, but not to the point that her muscles are dysmorphic. Her strength can compare to a man’s, but it doesn’t seem like she can overpower a man without magic. Anyway, Livia has a balanced torso to leg ratio and an upright posture. One can tell she’s in charge by how she carries herself, since she wants to show her comrades just how much seniority she has over them. Her face is oval-shaped with a sharper chin and jawline. Her nose is small and pinched at the tip, while her lips are of noticeable size with a natural fleshy pink in color.  High cheekbones frame her face well, even without the use of makeup to highlight them. Her bright, hazel eyes, mimicking the colors of a forest bathing in sunlight, are angled upward and almond-shaped with long eyelashes. Her hair is a deep auburn in color, wavy and oftentimes silky, trailing down to the middle of Livia’s back. However, this hair is usually seen gathered atop her hair in a sort of bun with stray strands falling at her ears or in a braid (if she ever has the time to make one).
Her usual attire is actually a bit different from women during this time, as she prefers to wear men’s clothing over dresses and corsets. Livia oftentimes wears collared shirts with a deep green velvet waistcoat with gold-colored buttons to go over it. Of course, she wore pants and the normal leather boots for the time, a black frock coat worn for whenever the weather permitted it. When riding, she wears her riding pants and riding boots, just as other men would. Only on certain, formal occasions would this woman be seen wearing a dress, but that old thing hasn’t been seen in quite a while. Her ranger form consists of a specially-crafted, leather corset-like vest (it’s purpose to protect rather than to provide shape) over a normal linen shirt, light scale-like plating sewn right over her shoulders and her chest, a variation of her riding pants with scale plating on the outer sides of her thighs, and her riding boots. Lastly, Livia wears a gold brooch inlaid with a white gemstone of sorts on the right side of her waistcoat, as a memento from her mother.

Equipment: Besides the armor wear mentioned above, Livia carries two main weapons: a black-colored longsword, measuring a good three feet in length, and twin katars. These are daggers with horizontal grips, both edges sharp and the tip cut to be able to stab. These hang by her side in separate sheathes, her longsword on her left with each katar on either side.

Abilities:
-Swordsmanship and Katar Fighting: She’s trained for countless years on the art of sword-fighting (specifically longsword fighting, consisting of slashes and cuts rather than thrusts). Livia can fight with any longsword, though the sword she carries is weighted and crafted to match her style. She tends to push on people and has a heavy downward strike, but she can do basic defending and horizontal arcs. In the case she loses her sword or if she is too close to a person to fight with a sword, she can use her katars, which act as smaller daggers. These are not ranged ones, but they are sharp to a point and allow her to make deep cuts in her opponents, inflicting a very harsh wound.
-Horseback Riding: Trained to ride the horse as transportation, Livia is very good with keeping her balance on her horse. She can, if need be, fight atop one, but she doesn’t usually do so.
-Glaring: An expert on looking mad and making sure people are afraid of you, this skill is rather… self-explanatory. It works well, though, since she is a leader and makes sure her subordinates know what they’re doing. I suppose this is an indicator that she is good with getting people to listen to her.

Passive:
-Strength: The heart she has permits her to have a natural abundance of strength, without the help of magic. She uses this to fight most of the time, but this can be handy for a great deal other things.
-Resilience: She is able to withstand a barrage of hits from an opponent and last through a battle with her usual strength, making her a fearsome enemy. Livia can also withstand other things, like pain from a wound.

Active:
-Max-Strength: With a bit of magic, Livia’s strength can overpower nearly anyone who comes in her path. This can be used when she’s striking with her sword, or even delivering deadly blows by hand. Depending on how much magic she puts into it, the strength differs.
-Max-Resilience: This is similar to Max-Strength except she is able to take many more hits, even the deadly ones if she puts enough of her magic into it.
-Wind Manipulation: It speaks for herself—she can control wind. This can mean, depending on the amount of magic she puts into it, she can send a grown man flying backward or at least to disarm him.
-Ritual “Flight”: This being the only ritual she actively uses, this is to help when she is in a pinch. If cornered, this ritual requires her to draw on her hand in a rune design and taking a handful of ashes and powder (some sort of white, ground gemstone that is made into fine powder), she throws it toward her attackers and they will suddenly be blinded for a few seconds. This, she uses to get behind them and kill them off before they realize it.


History: Her history is a little muddled, as she tends to keep it to herself. Only confidential files belonging to Lord Eisler have her whole, complete past. But what most people know, from rumors and whatnot, is that she showed up at the doors of the castle having witnessed the murder of their parents by a creature of the unknown, just as many others who joined the Night’s Watch. After years of work, it slowly began to show that she was a top-notch ranger. She became a ranked official and particularly one of Lord Eisler’s favorites.

Name: Unknown.  Commonly referred to as "Frenchman" or other derivatives thereof, though he is willing to accept nicknames if appropriate.
Age: Also uncertain, though he is estimated as being in his late thirties.
Years of Service: One
Appearance: He stands at exactly 180 centimeters, with sandy blonde hair cut to around 5 centimeters, revealing his large forehead and widow's peak hairline, and light blue almond-shaped eyes with persistent dark circles surrounding them.  His nose is sharp, narrow and faintly hooked  at the end, which combined with his gaunt, meagre-seeming frame gives him a somewhat birdlike appearance.  His body is very wiry and lanky, as though the fat was boiled off of him at one point and never returned in spite of his infrequent bouts of gluttony.  His cheekbones are high on his face, as well, and spread wide, which gives his visage a distinct but subtle foxiness to it.  There is a large scar over his left eye that extends around to his temple, supposedly from the incident which cost him much of his memory.  This scar breaks up his eyebrow, which are kept in a precise symmetry otherwise just as well as his scruff of facial hair is usually kept cleanly shaven when not on extended patrols or excursions.  In addition, he is rather bony, lacking much muscle volume to keep it from really hurting when he pokes or elbows you in a soft spot.  However, his lack of size speaks volumes of his muscle density (which, as an OOC note, is entirely possible through proper conditioning and a bit of genetic blessing), as he is able to carry just as much equipment as the  next guy without becoming overencumbered by it's weight.

On to his clothes.  He wears a dark blue overcoat with gloves, vest, coat, and trousers to match in the British fashion, being cited as saying "C'est le mieux genre" when asked why in a fashion he understood.  However, in lieu of the traditional dress shoes, he wears thicker, heavy boots made of an inky black leather that reach halfway up his calves and are hidden under the trousers, and a pristinely pressed and cleaned white shirt.  He sometimes sports a monocle over his left eye, citing blurry vision in it due to the accident, though he wears it just as much for appearance's sake as anything else.  Sadly, he forgoes a tophat of any description.  As well, he carries a pair of pouches, one on each hip attached to his belt, and a pair of sheathes at the small of his back.
Equipment:

A 1889 Mauser rifle, a bolt-action cartridge-fed piece with five bullets to a box, custom designed for left-handed users; three cartridges he restocks whenever he gets a chance, stowed in the right hand pouch.

A simple silver pocketwatch.

A pair of cass, or brawler, knives; six-inch single-edged blades that are shaped something like fangs, designed to be held in reverse grip with full hand-guards commonly augmented with spikes or some other form of protrusion, allowing them to function as brass knuckles as well.

His overcoat also functions as armor, having a layer of metal scales within that can resist or divert some blows and lessen others.  (A derivative of the coat of plates.)
Abilities:

Partial Ambidexterity: Comfortable with performing most simple tasks with either hand, though he defaults to his left.

Rifle Proficiency: While not a deadeye ace marksman, The Frenchman can generally hit where he aims with reliable consistency, and can handle his Mauser competently.

Amnesiac Stoicism: Having apparently been through the worst of it and forgetting, the Frenchman can more quickly recover from jump scares and is less likely to panic under duress. He is by no means immune to fear, as has been proven time and again, but he resolves such emotions quicker than average.

History: Would you like to know his backstory?  Well, so would he; his first contact with the Façade left him with the scar above his eye and no intricate memory beyond the French language, as well as a strange aversion to the color orange.  He has since picked up some English and a few words of other European languages, though only enough to comprehend field orders.

Hmm, any spot left for a Blackheart?

Right now its first come first serve. Both Mike and Jax have posted interest in being one. Even if all the spots fill it is likely more will open up, but I can't make any promises.

Hmm, ok. Thanks Drummy

Name: Arenwald Victor Dorian
Age: 29
Blackheart: Classified
Years of Service: 10 years
Appearance: He is tall, standing at 190 centimeters without boots or any kind of shoes, and has a deep black hair that is starting to go gray prematurely due to stress. He has heterochromia, with one eye being a deep crimson red and the other being a deep silver color, with slitted pupils like those or a reptile, along with this during the night the eyes glow with a pale light that corresponds to their respective colors. A scar runs the length of his face and goes over his right eye and ends up in the base of his neck. The skin of the right side of his chest and his arm are burned and thus he is forced to wear bandages all day over them so as to minimize any further damage to his charred skin. His face is more angular, and his neck more thin along with thin shoulders.

Both legs and arms are thing, but have a sizable quantity of muscle on both parts. His chest is riddled with scars and and burnt marks with the most obvious being the right part of his chest and right arm. On the other hand, the left side of his chest is the one more scar riddled and there are a few parts that there is no original skin but only a tissue of scars which is more noticeable in his left arm. Regarding his clothing, he wears a black hooded frock coat that is slightly large and made of fine cotton, under it he wears a hardened leather vest along with a simple linen shirt. He also wears hardened leather gloves for a bit more of protection and boots of the same type; he wears simple brown pants made of linen too and a black leather belt from which he hangs the gray scabbard of his sword.

Equipment: He carries a customized long sword, with the left half of the blade being serrated and the right one not. The pommel is spiked, and so is the cross-guard on either side. The blade is decorated with elegant runes of unknown meaning. He carries a black pocket watch that has the stylized image of a skull on it along with a pocket diary. Along with this, he carries a swordbreaker dagger, which has crusted blood on it and that is made of black iron. Finally, he carries a crossbow with him for snipping targets, although he uses it more in a capacity to cripple enemies.

Abilities:
Swordsmanship: Pretty self explanatory, but he has a master knowledge of swordsmanship specifically in the slash and thrust area of the techniques. his style is based on brutal attacks that break an opponents guards, allowing him to stab them in the heart while they are recovering from the brutal slashes.

Poison making: I believe this one is pretty self explanatory, but he focuses on making poisons that have more psychological effects compared to those who make physical damage over time. However, he is proficient in making both kinds of poisons

Marksmanship: He has trained extensively with the use of his crossbow, to the point that he won't feel comfortable using other ranged weaponry like bows or firearms but still can use them albeit less effectively.

Active abilities:

Nightmare mist: Can dissolve into a black mist that is intangible, but moves at one point in which he focuses. Should someone be on that path and not avoid the mist, they'll suffer a mental shock with the severity depending on the strength of the mind and stress levels the individual is going through.

Passive skills:

Enhanced night senses: During the night, his senses improve specifically his eyesight which allows him to see with near total clarity during night. But should a bright light appear, he'll most likely be blinded for a certain amount of time, the more intense the light and sudden it's appearance the blindness lasts longer.

Enhanced empathy: He has an enhanced sense of empathy, but more focused on negative things. As such,, he has an easier time detecting anxiety or fear than happiness or love but he needs to be in a calm state to make the most use of this.
History: He is mostly withdrawn and thus the only thing that is known about him is that he one day appeared on the fortress, covered in blood, bruises, cuts, and burnt marks, by the age of 18, and asking to join the order, after which he collapsed.

Name: Archduke Frederick Eisler, Lord of Castle, Master of the Watch.
 
Age: 58
 
Blackheart: Fae
 
Years of Service: 43
 
Appearance: The heart beating inside him may have added decades to his lifespan and kept him in peak physical condition, but a long life fraught with trials has left its mark on the Archduke. His face began to wrinkle when he was merely forty years old and only have increased in size and depth as the years of stress piled on top of him. Now his hands and face have many deep lines and countless more shallow, but still noticeable wrinkles. His hair is a dark oily gray. It is wavy and he wears it long enough to cover the back of his neck. He has a well trimmed mustache and full beard that covers both sides of his face as well as his chin. If one stood close and looked for it they would see a small scar largely concealed by facial hair the runs downwards through the right side of his lip and the slight paralysis it caused.
 
He is a tall man with a classic v-shapped build and taunt muscles. This is generally concealed by loose clothing and a tendency to round his shoulders forward making him look inches shorter. He has a bloodless white complexion, his face is sunken with age accenting his strong cheekbones, chin, and jaw line. His eyes are a cloudy muted shade of gray and seem to look through men rather than at them. Under his shirt he has a scar across his heart, as do all who have undergone the black sacrament. His is unique that the scar was inflicted by a large axe rather than a surgical scalpel.
 
Lord Eisler's preferred manner of dress is an unbuttoned black frock coat over a gray waistcoat with a white shirt underneath. He wears a white cravat around his neck tucked into his waistcoat. His legs are covered by black knee breeches, long gray socks, and high cut black leather boots. The many buttons and buckles on his clothes are a metallic color between that of silver and iron.
 
Equipment:
 
He carries a three and a half foot long cane made of polished rosewood with a small silver cap at the end. The cane conceals a slender dual edged straight sword.
 
His frock coat has metal plates sewn into the interior similar to the plated mail seen among the 15th century Persian military.
 
He is the sole proprietor of the Night's Watch. His word is law and he has unrestricted access to all things and places within the castle walls including an insurmountable amount of gold and ancient texts. He has many connections that spread to all corners of Europe and across the Mediterranean.
 
Abilities: Little is known about the nature or limits of Lord Eisler, but there are many rumors floating through the castle halls. It is said that he is both a peerless swordsman and among one of the most magically gifted blackheart to have ever lived. He is also known to have an unmatched knowledge in all supernatural matters.
 
His sword style is unique, but heavily influenced by the tradition of fencing. He is quick and unpredictable in his attacks, being able to seamlessly switch between stabbing and slashing. He is skilled in blocks and parries, but relies largely on footwork do avoid blows and force his opponents to step the way he wishes. He uses nimble movement and misdirection to create and exploit openings in his opponents defenses.
 
 
Passive: As a blackheart Lord Eisler is physically superior to a normal in a human in nearly every way. He is physically faster, stronger, and more resilient than mortal men and has an increased lifespan and healing factor.
 
Having Fae magic pumping through him he is immune to the any fairy magic that effect the mind or senses.
 
Detect magic:Lord Eisler can detect magical energies nearby.
 
Active:
Enhanced condition: having mastered the power of the blackheart Lord Eisler can temporarily increase one of the physical capabilities beyond the normal limits of a blackheart, but not to the extent of a blackheart subtype that specializes in enhancing that attribute.
 
Greater Detect Magic: By focusing and using a bit of magic Lord Eisler can detect smaller magical energies and magical energies that are being repressed or hidden from a greater range.
 
Accelerate: The fairfolk are known as being both nimble and merciless creatures. Using the power of his heart Lord Eisler is able to greatly increase his movement and attack speed. This is a separate boost from enhanced condition.
 
What makes Eisler truly feared is the power of magic he can cast on others. His spells decimate the minds of his opponents. He can use these spells on multiple opponents and combine them together for greater effect. These effects are permanent until he wills them to stop. While far greater than his physical abilities, these spells are also more taxing on his sanity.
 
Paranoia: strikes the target with irrational and debilitating fear.
Dementia: destroys the victims: memory, and the abilities to use language, focus, or reason.
Frenzy: throws victims into a blind rage, they will attack as long as they are able paying no head to who is friend and who is foe.
Conceal: can temporarily remove people and objects from the perception of victims.
Construct: creates illusions that can affect any and all of the senses.
Mirror World: distorts the spatial sense of the victim, flipping left and right, and/or making the world appear upside down.
 
 
History: The Archduke is one of the most experienced members and the leader of Nights Watch. He has held this position for over twenty years. Most of what else is known about him is regarded to be rumors and speculation.
 
Fredrick was recruited into the watch as a child on the night his biological parents were killed. The Watch was going through a rough patch then. Heavy demand meant rangers had less time to train, knowledge of the enemy was limited, the life expectancy was short, and black sacrament was frowned upon by most. This environment made it easy for those to survive to climb the ranks.
 
After fending off a small scale attack on what was the main base of the time, young Freddie earned his place in a unit at the young age of 15. Much happened in his time as a ranger. Many new leaders rose and fell. It was in these years that he distinguished himself by learning anything others were willing to teach him. As long as he was fit to move, he was perfecting his craft. After he underwent an emergency black sacrament his reputation grew faster still. Command was passed to Frederick when he was a young man of 30. At this time he was also named lord of the castle and became a noble through the forging of many papers and the bribing of officials, as was custom in the watch.

So you ended up going public as well, eh?

Yeah.

Name: Josephine Warden
Age: 19
Time in Service: 0 years

Appearance: Josephine has always been told that her face is an open book. Her hazel eyes shift from blue to green and any mixture in between. Often, the colors will change according to her mood, green being jealous or angry and blue being relaxed. However, it probably only seems to have that affect because the redness in her face gets worse when she is either of the former. The epitome of gingerhood, this female has frizzy, often untameable red/orange hair that swells right below her shoulders. Her cheekbones are high, giving a deceivingly innocent look to her. Freckles are splashed across the bridge of her nose and cheeks.

Her body is built like a ballerina; she has long legs and a compact torso. She reaches about 5 foot 6 inches, pale skin and brown freckles covering her lithe figure. She never developed quite like the other girls, a fact she secretly despises. Instead, she was blessed with tone arms and legs as well as flexibility.

She is not necessarily a head turner but she is attractive in her own right.

Equipment: She carries the standard issue rifle, revolver, and back up sword. Or at least, she's supposed to, but she will usually dump the sword for a dagger and a few extra rounds. The dagger is not special in any way shape or form either. All of her equipment is basic, considering the fact she is brand new and doesn't have the authority to request personalized gear.

Abilities:

-Sharpshooter: Exceptionally talented in her guns. There isn't a gun she can't handle. Her accuracy is jaw dropping and cunning eye. She graduated at the top of her class all four times she went through training.

-Inefficient Swordsplay/Hand to Hand: Considering the fact that she focuses only on what she's good at, she was always a little subpar with close range weaponry. This makes running out of ammo especially dangerous for her.

History:

Josephine lived an idyllic, tranquil life in the countryside. She was able to do what she wanted, when she wanted. So, one day, when she stole a horse from the barn for a joy ride, imagine her surprise as a mythological creature began to chase her down. She never felt fear like she did in that moment. The great werewolf foamed at the mouth like a rabid dog, trampling the ground as it ran on all fours.

The great beast sprung up and attacked her horse, sending the young Josephine flying forwards. She landed awkwardly on her legs and bolts of pain shot up through her. It began to devour the horse with gusto, blood coating its fur. She whimpered, finding her legs paralyzed from pain and terror. The noise brought her to the werewolf's attention. Its black beady eyes looked into her soul. She was frozen as it leapt forward, eager to devour her flesh.

Just then, a shot rang through the air. The creature howled in pain and fell to the ground, just a couple of feet away from Josephine.

She would remember being carried away, seeing her house on the horizon for the last time. She was told she couldn't go back, even after she recovered, and that the best way to keep her parents safe was to kill more monsters like the one that chased her. She would never know if the werewolf had devoured her family before it came after her.

A year later, Josephine enlisted to join the Night Watch. She had already lived among them for a little while, as many rescued children do.

Never one to be bossed around, Josephine had a hard time with authority. She never realized how many rules there would be. She had no problem with not having relationships or not having ties to the community, but it was the orders she couldn't stand. When to sleep, when to get up, when to eat, when to... ahem... relieve oneself, it was all too much for this hothead. Therefore, she was consistently washed back for retraining. She was nineteen by the time she graduated, despite having enlisted at 15.

As such, her personality growth was stunted as well as her combat experience. She never saw a real battle during training and had an idyllic idea of monsters dying with no fuss, just like the werewolf from before.

Approved.