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I wouldn't mind. I've always been interested in a nation RP. Though, I'm still going to be busy through the end of May.

"..." Mao was out of it. The moment she had woken up with a horrible headache, she knew that it was going to be a terrible day, but she had no idea just how terrible it ended up being. In the timespan of twelve hours, she had been subjected to a castle siege, poisoning, blunt trauma, magical assault, and god knows what else. Trying to recall the last fifteen or so minutes, her mind drew a blank. She remember listening in to a conversation, and and then a massive blast and fire mere meters away from her prone body. The next thing she knew, she was on Water again, with her traveling companions ahead of her. The Dauntless was smoldering a bit. She didn't know why, but she was deduced what she had assumed was a blast originated from there. She checked herself to make sure she was alright. She patted her head, making sure her hat was still there. It was. She looked down at her body; her coat was intact, but had been slashed at left shoulder; her sword was at her side and bow and quiver slung over her shoulder. It seemed she had at somepoint gathered her belongings. Giving a pat on her coat pockets, the merchant confirmed her important journals were still there. She then gave a cursory glance towards Water; her trusted horse seemed to have gotten through the entire ordeal completely unscathed. All good. Gingerly reaching for her flask of now lukewarm tea, Mao held the flask up to her mouth for a prolonged sip. She needed it. So, what was up? What was going to happen next? She would ask, but Mao wasn't up to doing much besides sitting on Water and looking shellshocked, so she did nothing else but that.

Still around. Snowy, you could always show up at that school.

Mao had been conscious for quite some time now. Considering her position, however, she didn't dare budge an inch from where she had been faceplanted to the ground by that warlock. There was quite the interesting conversation going on mere meters away, but she was also painfully aware of the archers training their arrows near her position. If things went South and she acted dead, there would be a less chance she would become a large pincushion. So she stayed, in an excrutiatingly painful position, with an equally excrutiating headache. The merchant continued to listen to what she could loosely define as 'negotiations'. She was ambivalent about the entire thing, really; she barely knew either group. Down to its core, it was a business negotiation. Samael wanted Raquel's cooperation. Raquel wanted her father back. Throw in a terrible battle, and this was the result; it was understandable that Samael was pissed at the loss of his men, and so was Raquel's reactions to that man. Looking at the situation objectively, Mao realized she had a lot to be gained by assisting either side; she did have a fleet at her disposal, after all. Morally, however, she couldn't stand for the situation. Hunt down Raquel's family, friends? What, for killing a few soldiers in self-defense? She highly doubted he even cared about them, anyway. Surrendering to a man that would freely kill like that would be all kinds of bad, no matter how much he glossed things over. If it came to surrendering, Mao would highttail it out of there. Escape was the option Mao was more partial to. It didn't involve dealing with that man, surely the organization was so big as to have men everywhere. Mao was also in a position to help with a swift, armed escape if requested; after all, the company frigate was still a day's away in port, probably still offloading. But... Bleh. She'd gotten herself into something really big this time...

Ruler hasn't responded to my PMs, hasn't posted, nor come into IRC, so most likely. :/

"Ah, bugger. Not my day." Mao had returned to Water just in time to see a flaming fireball completely filling her frame of vision. The next thing she knew, she was crumpled over on the ground, barely conscious. She was dimly aware that Water was beside her, neighing worriedly. She must have been in a real bad shape. Mao reached her hand out towards her horse, but fell back down, unconscious. The poison had finally taken its toll. At least it wasn't by that... damned pegasus knight...

"Go to hell, pegasus knight!" Mao, who was usually one to keep her cool, was getting quite pissed now. That damned pegasus knight with the poison-tipped lance had made yet another pass, injuring her further. While Mao wished a swift death upon the rider, she couldn't help but to admire the knight's skill. Retreating behind a small rock formation, Mao took another swig of her elixer. It seemed she was burning through her supply of expensive medicine... Returning to her former position, Mao realized that Tia had collapsed into the ground in the few minutes she had been away. Her first instinct was to dismount and help the poor girl to a safe location, but she felt the glare of another person mere meters away. She turned to face a warlock, already chanting a spell directed towards her. Alarmed, Mao quickly broke into yet another charge, directed at the warlock. Twisting her sword sideways, she slashed throught the warlock's cloth robes and bashed the warlock's head with her pommel for good measure. As Mao made her swift retreat back over to Tia, the Warlock finished his spell. Mao looked back for a fraction of a second to see two nasty fireballs hurtling towards her and Water. But because Water beats fire, and the warlock was bloody slow, they were able to avoid the fire spells with a wide girth. Taking the brief amount of time gained by the miss, Mao dismounted in a flash, rushing over to Tia with a concerned expression on her face. "Oi, Tia! Get a hold of yourself!" Mao gently nudged her, but she seemed unresponsive. Giving a quick glance at her injuries, Mao noted she didn't have an severe looking wounds, so it seemed she had simply fainted from overwork. That was a bit of a relief, but she would still need some medical attention later. Thinking quickly, Mao dragged Tia out of the road and against a tree to get her out of harm's way. Sighing from exhaustion, Mao returned to Water to support the others in their endeavour. [spoiler=Roll] http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=25890 [2, 5, 1]=HIT! 13-2=11 DMG! http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=25900 [1,1,2]=HIT! 9-2=7 DMG! http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=25892 Warlock A returns fire! [3, 5, 5]=MISS! Too bad! http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=25893 And again. [5]=-MISS! Warlock A 6/24 Mao 18/18

Having caught her breath near the Dauntless, Mao nudged Water, who had somehow made it out unscathed so far, into a full trot. While slightly disoriented from the effects of the poison, Mao observed Tia engaging an enemy warlock with her water spells. She was mildly surprised, recalling the incidents regarding her earlier, but it seemed when it came to war, anything went, especially when people seemed to be falling left and right. Coming past the temporarily water-logged warlock, she noted the presence of an injured but not incapacitated bishop some distance behind him. Noting his relative importance, Mao focused her attention on the bishop, bringing her sword to bear on him. Charging past the bishop, Mao slashed a wide gash across his chest as she sped away, doubling back towards Tia to stave off the poison with a trusty elixer. [spoiler=Roll] http://www.coyotecode.net/roll/lookup.php?rollid=25712 Mao engages Bishop B [2,6,1]=HIT! 14-1=13 DMG! Bishop defeated. Mao drinks an elixer. Bishop B 0/18 Mao 18/18

Is that... Are you kidding me, anonymous enemy pegasus knight...? Do you have a personal vendetta against me? Did I kill your firstborn child? Sink your boat? Insult your cooking!? Mao nudged Water to the side in an attempt to simply pass the blow from the irritating pegasus knight. The enemy swooped down, putting its downward momentum into its attack. This time, she was holding her trusted smallsword and parried the blow away from her vital areas, but the momentum of the heavy lance was hard to block. The lance once again grazed Mao, this time on her shoulder. She was immediately reminded again of the sickening feeling of poison slipping into her bloodstream. Quickly checking her injury and her surroundings for situational awareness, she evaluated her predicament. She wasn't in a terribly off state, but if the battle dragged on, she'd be having problems. Mao fell back towards the Dauntless; she didn't see a good opening for a snipe nor room for charging at anybody. Not yet, anyway.

"Tch." A pegasus knight made a surprise attack from above. Her lance glanced off of Mao's arm, doing little damage, but she felt the effects immediately. The sting was unmistakeable -- Poison! She took aim to return fire, but the pegasus knight was long gone, and flanked by defending wyvern. Not a very good idea to return fire, in this case, she concluded. Wincing from the poison damage, she came upon a bard in a small clearance between the others. She would give him a taste of her trusted smallsword, and then fall back and heal up to forestall a poisoning death. The strike was good and true; her smallsword pierced his heart. Mao quickly circled around the fallen bard with Water and fell back, drinking a sip of her elixer as she did. [spoiler=Roll] http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4023501/ Mao attacks Bard A! [5,3,4]= HIT! 8-1= 7 DMG! Bard A KOED! Mao uses Canto and drinks Elixer! Bard A 0/21 Mao 18/18 (Poisoned)

Mm. Looks like it had come to battle after all. It was time for some target practice! She quickly scanned the battlefield and came upon a figher, armed with a slightly intimidating axe. Water was already barreling towards the man, so she notched an arrow onto her bow and fired. "Have at thee! Operation PEW!" Her arrow zipped across the sky and lodged itself in the fighter's arm. Mao frowned at what she considered a less-than-optimal shot. With the distance closed, the fighter swung his axe, but Mao and her wonderful horse Water were better than that. He missed by a long shot. "Again!" Mao fired again, and this time she made a square shot into his chest. The man staggered back. 'Twas a good shot, but he wasn't dead. [spoiler=Roll] http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4022980/ http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4022985/ Mao engages Fighter A! [3,6,2] = HIT! 13-7= 6 DMG! Fighter A counters! [2,3,6] = MISS! Mao returns fire! [1,6,6]= HIT! CRIT! 13-7 x 2= 12 DMG! Mao 18/18 Fighter A 3/21

Mao hadn't expected the turn of events to go quite this badly. Whatever had gone on inside must have not been pretty. Nonetheless, the notion of waltzing into the area was, to her, a grave error, but she had gone with flow. Despite having little obligations to the group, she would not stand idly by as a battle drummed up. As enemy fliers began to fill the air, Mao frowned, before pulling out her trusted hunting bow from her quiver. Being new to the group, she had a difficult time distinguishing between friend or foe in the area. Mao didn't doubt her ability to down thirty-five fliers with her thirty-five arrows, but she didn't have a grasp on everybody's looks yet. She certainly didn't want to accidentally hit somebody that was on their side, so she engaged in point defense instead of actively seeking out enemy fliers to down.

Mao by now had made it back to the Dauntless, but with kept her eye and ears at the highest level of attention. She was every bit in her merchant-mode; it was not a situation to let anything slip past her ears. Naturally, the merchant overheard Tia's indignant protests as she passed by the large wagon. "A good mage does not need to attack something to be useful in battle," she commented, popping her head briefly into the Dauntless. "There's something that applies to almost every line of work: think outside the box. That did well for me in business, and I'm sure that would work for tactics. Say, instead of pummeling a knight at a relatively close range with a spell, do something to the ground from afar. Make it slippery. Make it muddy, maybe freeze it. It might not work here, -if it comes to a fight- but it's just an example off the top of my mind." With that, Mao removed her head from the interior of the cabin and turned back towards the crowd and fortress, eager to listen for more information.

"A disparity between strength does not determine the outcome of a battle, Saber. Many great men have fallen from power by not acknowledging that fact." Such a fact was overwhelmingly true during Archer's lifetime, and he had seen it happen too many times to count. Saber might be exceptionally strong, but all strength meant nothing against a good strategy. Archer took a pause, looking out at the shimmering city lights in the distance before continuing. "I draw my strength from my allies and the people. I would not be here if that were not the case, Saber." --- Ah, so it was a high school. Noell never had a chance to experience high school life back in England. She had been homeschooled almost all of her life, so while others found the building nostalgic, she didn't have much feelings about it. Moving along the back of the high school, she could see the sillhouettes of the two servants on the roof as they talked. They had not engaged in any conflict thus far, and Noell thanked Archer for being level-headed enough in not drawing unwarranted attention to himself. The young master came to a stop in front of a red painted service door leading into the premises. She fumbled with the handle for a few seconds before she pulled out a key with the teeth set in very low. She put the key into the lock, and with the pommel of her smallsword, she gave the key a downward whack with the sword before quickly turning the key. With the lock picked successfully, she entered the building, but turned away almost immediately, with her hands to her face. The smell of garbage was overwhelming; it was evident the service corridor was not well kept. Covering her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her black peacoat, she hurried through the section and entered the lobby of the school. "Hmm?" The magus slowly came to a stop in the center of the room, slowly looking around. There was minute traces of mana existing the air, indicative of a spell cast recently or even still in place. It didn't seem characteristic of a Saber to cast spells, and she certainly didn't believe Archer had done anything yet, so there must have been a magus in the area recently. She had intended to sit herself down in a room and observe discreetly, but it was now a better choice to thoroughly search the school. Keeping her weapon at the ready, Noell made her way through the first hall on her left...

Sorry for not posting for the last or two. I'll make something up in a bit.