The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Griselda Banks]

(( xd So many characters! You have so many more than I do! And all of yours are so interesting.... I really must learn from your example.))

Ed gave her guardian a look that plainly said, Did you understand any of that? Scratching her head in confusion, she said, "I think he was trying to insult me. Bah, there's too many idiots on this ship!" She ran a hand through her hair, making it stand on end. "This pilgrimage is going to be the death of me."

There was an awkward moment as these words seemed to hang in the air longer than normal. In an attempt to break the suddenly heavy air around them, Ed laid a hand on Calaman's shoulder and said, "Come on, Cal, let's go on deck. I sent Aer to get us some food." She reached for the door, then stopped with her hand outstretched. "Oh, um.... Don't let what that Oebr person said get to you. You're a great guardian, and I wouldn't say that if you were a mindless dog." As she said this, she thought of the silver-haired boy they had just seen, his eyes blank and emotionless, and she smirked derisively. "If he says something like that again, I'll give him a black eye or two for you." With this pleasant thought in mind, she pushed open the door and stepped out onto the deck.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Well, characters are my specialty, if I am fit to analyze my own writing style. Plot often gives me trouble, but character depth and development are something I think I'm pretty good at.))

Calaman blinked, caught off guard. He was suddenly reminded that he hadn't seen Aer in some time. How long had he taken his shift?

"Ah - that's not necessary, Lady," he said, hurrying after her.

As they walked, it occured to Calaman that he knew nothing about the Lady's fighting skills, which would be very helpful knowledge in battle.

"If I may ask," he said, keeping his eyes on a swivel. He spotted the Summoner Oebr at the port side near the stern, with the boy, Yachesen, beside him. Yachesa was nowhere to be seen - probably fetching food, as Oebr had ordered her. Calaman also could not locate Aer. "If I may ask," he started again, "has my Lady any magical abilities beyond summoning?"

((Sorry, that post was a little anticlimactic. sad ))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I'm thinking up a storm to try and come up with something interesting to happen on the ship. Problem is, I am trying to come up with something that won't require me to introduce even more characters than I already have. sweatdrop Hopefully by 3-ish (West Coast time) I'll have something.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Hmm. Pirates?))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Yeah, pirates would work. Or there's Sin. If we're ever in need of some conflict, there's always Sin xd ))

"Hey," Ed said, laying a hand on Calaman's shoulder. "Remember what I said earlier? Just call me Ed when we're alone. And Oebr over there doesn't count," she added, glancing over at the summoner with disdain.

Ed came to a stop at the railing and perched herself on top of it. "To answer your question, no. I never really got the whole black and white magic thing. Guess my talent was just for summoning." Or maybe I don't even have talent in that. Ed quickly pushed that thought aside and continued, "Anyway, I've always liked being more physical, so I'm trained in the martial arts. Got a pretty wicked uppercut, if I do say so myself." She grinned cockily down at her guardian.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Oh, wow, I totally forgot about Sin. Now I'm embarrassed. sweatdrop But since Sin is the big guns, I think I'll hold off on that for now. I think pirates are good. Pirates would not only make the storyline a tad spicier, it would also give every character on board the ship a chance to get a little action.))

When Eddora looked back down at Calaman, he was very pointedly staring at something very near to her, but not at Eddora herself. He was also so tense that it seemed every tendon in his body might simultaneously snap if the ship should happen to bump or sway.

For the love of all that is good in Spira, he thought tersely, not for his own sake but for hers, I hope it doesn't!

"I wouldn't be so bold as to give you an order, m... Ed," he said with almost comical stiffness, "but I feel I must point out that you have placed yourself in an extremely... precarious situation."

At that moment, a small boy came running across the deck toward them. Calaman saw several children spreading out to approach different passengers of the ship. He wondered what the children were doing, and smoothly interposed himself between the child and Eddora. Now, more than ever, he felt, it was vital to keep an eye on her, in case the ship should happen to bump or sway.

"State your business," he said shortly, though there wasn't any malice in his tone.

The child performed the gesture of prayer - Calaman frowned; the gesture had been directed toward Calaman, not Eddora, as would have been proper - and then, for good measure, bowed. Calaman waited a little impatiently.

"Begging your pardon for interrupting, sir," the child said breathlessly. Calaman's frown deepened; the child should have addressed Eddora with this information. "An unmarked ship has been spotted on the horizon, making good time toward us. Cap'n says it might be a private ship, but it's more like to be pirates. We're barely a day out of the Gulf of Bevelle, and there's been a lot of Al Bhed pirates here of late."

Calaman cursed, looked to Eddora. "My Lady?" he said, mind already racing with the implications. Did the ship have anyone tasked to protect it? He cursed himself thrice over for not checking such things; never mind that he hadn't even known of the ship's existence for more than a quarter of an hour before he was aboard it. Of course, the ship was full of summoners and their guardians, who would doubtless be capable of fending off a shipful of crude, untrained pirates. Still, it would be disgraceful if the captain was depending on his passengers to defend themselves.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((*Sings* Follow-up!))

At just that moment, Aer came barreling out of the doorway into the passengers' quarters, wild-eyed, and ran over to where Eddora and Calaman waited.

"Eddora!" he panted. "Eddora, a little messenger kid... Woke me up... Came as fast as I could... Pirates, Eddora!"

Calaman stared flatly at Aer, and waited for Eddora to put the idiot in his place.

((I've already got ideas for a battle with pirates running through my head. 3nodding ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Merry Christmas, if you celebrate it! ^_^))

Ed was about to laugh Calaman's worries off, when the child came rushing up with the news that there were pirates nearby. Immediately, she dropped back onto the deck and turned around to look out to sea. She couldn't see any boat, so she assumed it was on the other side of the ship. She had just turned back around when Aer came rushing up.

Scowling, Ed snapped, "You were supposed to bring me breakfast, Aer. Bah, never mind! Looks like we've got more on our hands now. Come on, guys, let's be ready for when they come close enough to attack. I guess you'll be up first, Aer, with your magic."

As Ed brushed past both of them to cross to the other side of the ship, she thought briefly that it was a shame she hadn't acquired any aeons yet. Ah well, she consoled herself, they're probably just low-life weaklings anyway.  

[Ikken Isshu]

As the trio crossed to the other side, a longboat could be seen rowing up to the ship. Some distance away - just beyond the range of arrows or magic, Calaman would wager - was, as the messenger had said, an unmarked ship. Aer charged to the railing, grim-faced and ready for battle. A small spurt of fire began to erupt from his hands, but Calaman whipped out his short sword and smacked Aer in the back of the head with the flat of the blade before sheathing it again, all in the same motion.

"It's a parley," he said in an undertone. "With any luck, they'll reach an agreement, and no strife will be necessary beyond the theft of whatever is in the hold. And if not, you'll have plenty of time to show off your abilities when that becomes apparent."

Aer grunted, lowering his hands. "If that's the case, they'll probably also demand the goods carried by the passengers," he pointed out.

Calaman hefted his sword. "My job is to protect Lady Eddora," he said solemnly. "Whether or not the rest of the guardians aboard this ship feel the same way is not my concern. I - and you, if you have any sense of propriety, lord guardian, - will fight to defend the Lady. If the ship is threatened, I will make that my secondary concern; but I won't shirk my duty to aid the other passengers." As an afterthought, he added, "unless the Lady wishes it. However, as I said, our primary concern is our summoner and ship that carries her." He raised his eyebrows as something else occured to him. "In fact, it works to our credit if the other summoners suffer setbacks, as callous as that may sound."  

[Griselda Banks]

((Dude, you don't know how ironic this whole pirate thing is. I've just been watching Pirates of the Caribbean with my brother! xd ))

Ed smiled grimly. "Your summoner, not his," she muttered to Calaman as he spoke, though she didn't think he heard. "You've got a point there," she said a little louder, once he had finished talking. "There's too many summoners nowadays; somebody's gotta fall away sometime, and there's no time like the present." She narrowed her eyes at the oncoming pirates. "Only one summoner will be there at the end, and I intend for that one to be me."

((Sorry for the short posts lately. We're celebrating Christmas today, so I don't have a lot of time to spare this time. Oh, and I thought I should warn you - starting Friday, I'll be out of town for about a week. Just wanted to let you know so you'd know I'm not just deserting the rp or something.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((That's fine, but it means this'll probably be your last post until I'm back in Portland sad Ah, well.

I finally got around to drawing up detailed descriptions of all my characters, including the not-yet-introduced ones. I have 15 (though one is dead; and another probably won't be introduced until much, much later; and in fact, two of them probably will never be introduced, except in third-person references, if that), and I'll try my hardest not to make any more for a while. sweatdrop I gave all of the characters a bit more depth, including Yachesen, Yachesa, and Oebr. Some of the characters, I gave so much depth that I feel like I've been using them for ages, though I haven't even introduced them yet! For convenience's sake, I'll post a couple of them here, for the characters that have been introduced. Look for them at the end of the post. xd

EDIT: This post is a little convoluted, so I'm going to color it to make it easier to navigate; the actual text of the post is in dark blue.))

Calaman nodded and gazed at the longboat as another longboat, from this ship, rowed out to meet it. There were three pirates in the pirate boat, and two men in the other one. One of the pirates seemed odd to Calaman, but he wasn't sure why. He seemed to be dressed in darker colors, and his garments seemed less practical. He looked, Calaman thought, like an oddly-dressed mage.

After a few minutes of discussion, one man was swapped from each longboat, and they parted, each returning to their respective mother ship; the pirates had taken one of the ship's men, and the passenger ship had taken one pirate, the one that Calaman thought looked like a mage.

"Now they'll relay the agreed-upon terms to each side," Calaman remarked, "and then -"

It happened almost too quickly for Calaman to grasp what had happened. The two pirates overwhelmed their hostage, cutting his throat and dumping him out of the longboat; the pirate taken hostage had risen, his hands flaming (He is a mage, Calaman thought), and wrapped his hands around his captor's throat. The pirate ship began to move with sinister, yet lumbering, slowness - toward the passenger ship. A few arrows, their origins unseen, were fired at the pirate-mage in the boat, but he dove into the ocean long before they reached him, lodging themselves in the little boat with thunks that could be heard all the way up to the deck.

"Bloody pirates," Calaman growled. "Lady, we must get you below deck. You're far too vulnerable here."

Aer nodded. "We can guard the room fairly easily, don't you think?"

Calaman shrugged. "'Easy' I'm not so sure about, but it will be a safer bet than trying to do it up here. I think the best arrangement will be one of us in the corridor, and one of us in the room with her, to ensure that none of the pirates try climbing into the ship through a window - namely, her window." He looked to Eddora with a frown on his face, and added, "If the ship should be damaged so badly that it sinks," he said solemnly, "get out, whatever the cost."

"You don't need to tell her that," Aer said dryly. "In fact, we should be telling you not to try going below deck in a sinking ship, just to try to save someone who is, thank you very much, perfectly smart enough to jump out the window if the ship is sinking."

Calaman shook his head and gave Aer something that looked remotely like a grin, then straightened. "We've got to move - below deck, now."

((Character description time~

Aer d’Mors
Age: 2 years older than Eddora (Too lazy to come up with a number razz )
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Bevelle
Class: Black Mage/Guardian(?)
Primary Weapon: Dagger
Appearance: Dresses in the traditional blue robe and yellow hat. He is tall and thin and sufficiently handsome, and his hair is long, black, and well-groomed, usually kept in a very precise ponytail. His eyes are golden yellow. He typically holds himself with a very regal bearing, though he is easily thrown off-balance.
Description: Noble-born and in love with Eddora, Aer is used to having things his way. Despite Eddora’s recalcitrance, Aer is determined to have her. He seems to have assigned himself to the post of her guardian for the time being. Dislikes Calaman.

(I couldn't recall whether I'd actually described Calaman's hair and eye color, but it doesn't seem to be anywhere in the roleplay, so I arbitrarily decided while I was drawing up the description.)

Calaman Sireft
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Mainly Bevelle; unbeknownst to him, he has some Al Bhed blood.
Class: Fighter/Guardian
Primary Weapon: Short sword; can throw daggers, but not expertly.
Appearance: Of average height for a fourteen-year-old, Calaman is tanned and dark-haired, with brown eyes. He is very lean and well-muscled, and moves in an almost feline manner, especially while fighting.
Description: Calaman is, despite his young age, an exceptional fighter; this is mostly due to his almost fanatical devotion to Yevon and, thus, to his duties as a guardian. He recently found himself shuffled into the position of guardian for a summoner known as Eddora, but since he was searching for a summoner in any case, he has accepted the mantle. Very good at prioritizing. Extremely loyal to Eddora; dislikes Aer.

Keskes Gejke
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Kilika
Class: Gun Mage/Guardian
Primary Weapon: Two derringers
Appearance: An older version of his brother Mulogo (to be introduced later), Keskes is short for his age, pale, and carries an air of nervousness about him. His hair, too, is black and straight, though he wears it short than his brother, and his eyes are the same deep, rich shade of yellow-orange.
Description: Jumpy and easily frightened, Keskes tries to avoid conflict wherever possible. He joined Luseik’s pilgrimage as Luseik’s insistence, since Luseik is friends with Keskes’ uncle, Versiver. Keskes is a skilled gun mage with a natural talent for it, but his lack of confidence is severely crippling, and he very rarely meets his potential. Brother of Mulogo; son of Oebr; guardian of Luseik.

Satiyen d’Kyargeth
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Ronso; Mount Gagazet
Class: Knight/Guardian
Primary Weapon: Spear
Appearance: For the most part, Satiyen is a very typical Ronso; tall and powerfully built, he is an imposing figure. The fur that covers his body is the usual deep blue, while the tightly-braided hair on his head is starkly white. His eyes are piercing yellow. His face is typically impassive; he rarely has any expression save, in battle, a narrowed-eyes and bared-teeth look of intense concentration. Though he fights in a knightly manner, he does not wear any armor except for a cuirass (chest and back guard) and cuisses (thigh guards). He wields a heavy silver spear.
Description: Satiyen and Luseik are close friends, though it’s difficult to tell from watching them, as quiet as they are. Years ago, Luseik made a private, personal pilgrimage to the Fayth Scar. When he was only halfway up the mountain, however, an avalanche was set off. Luseik might have died, but Satiyen came charging out of nowhere, yanking Luseik into a cave the summoner hadn’t noticed. The entrance to the cave was blocked off, but the powerful Ronso dug them out within hours. Ever since then, Luseik and Satiyen have had a sort of running game between them, where each competes to ‘pay back’ the other for his help. Satiyen is very well-spoken for a Ronso, and has a high level of dedication to both Luseik and the pilgrimage. Friend and guardian of Luseik.

Luseik Kusefora
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Al Bhed
Class: Summoner/White Mage
Primary Weapon: Capable of using a lance or javelin, but carries none
Appearance: Tall, thin, and unconscionably handsome, Luseik’s hair is blonde and kept very short. His eyes are deep reddish-brown. He has an ever-present air of melancholy, and barely ever smiles. He dresses in summoner’s robes, but he doesn’t pay much attention to the colors, and usually ends up dressed in very disjointed, unusual combinations.
Description: Luseik seems soft-spoken, but the truth is simply that very little sets him off; when he is incensed, though, he is extremely formidable, even without his guardians. Luseik is a skilled summoner, but alongside that, he is a frighteningly adept white mage. He is capable of casting most white magic spells, including third- and fourth-level, as well as Holy. In fact, he is limited only by his depression, without which he might be a destructive power to match any twenty ordinary men. His depression seems to have begun soon after the pilgrimage during which he met Satiyen, and also seems to be related to summoning. In the days before the onset of his depression, Luseik studied the foundations of white magic extensively, and developed a few very useful spells. He hasn’t developed any spells since his depression, though, because he cannot concentrate on the theory long enough to design any spell worth casting. Summoner guarded by Keskes and Satiyen; friend to Versiver and Satiyen.

Oebr Gejke
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Kilika
Class: Summoner
Primary Weapon: None
Appearance: An older and more powerful version of his two sons Mulogo and Keskes, Oebr is a sinister presence. From the moment one meets Oebr, it is easy to tell that he is his own best friend, simply from the snide way he carries himself, and the contemptuous, insulting manner in which he addresses others. His hair is chin-length, straight, and black, and his eyes are the same yellow-orange as his sons’. His summoners’ robes are black, navy blue, and a red that is precisely the color of dried blood.
Description: It is very probable that Oebr developed his cold, arrogant manner as a defensive mechanism; he is the youngest of three, his brothers being Versiver and Akarui. As a child, in Kilika, Oebr often felt himself slighted and ignored in favor of his older brothers. His father was a shipwright and often took work that required him to travel; as a result, Oebr was raised largely by his mother, Anna. Oebr grew to be heavily introverted, and eventually traveled to Bevelle to study Aeons. There, he found what he knew to be his calling: Summoning. Through his studies in Bevelle (and with a lot of determined snooping), Oebr uncovered a forbidden art: the ability to summon, not Aeons, but fiends. Ever a man to value practicality over tradition, he disregarded the warnings and embraced the discovery. When the time for the pilgrimages came, Oebr was ready. Summoner guarded by Yachesen and Yachesa.

Yachesen and Yachesa Nehkriludrian
Note - Entries are filled in with the format [Yachesen, Yachesa].
Age: 18
Gender: Male, Female
Race/Origin: Macalania
Class: White Mage/Guardian, Black Mage/Guardian
Primary Weapon: Cudgel, Dagger
Appearance: Of average height and build, the twins are largely unremarkable except for their long, silver-white hair and grey eyes. Both are somewhat pale and have rather nondescript faces. Yachesen tends to have a somewhat slack, blank expression.
Description: The twins came to Bevelle at age 16 to study their magic, but Yachesen fell prey to a mental disease soon after their arrival. His sanity and cognizance fading, his sister frantically sought assistance from a shady white mage who, to stop the mental decay, forged a link between the twins. Yachesa’s mental strength was enough to stave off the advance of the disease, but some damage was already done, and there were other consequences, for better or for worse: The two now share an unnatural link, and it seems that each knows precisely the other’s situation, location, and even thoughts and feelings. However, the personality and emotions of both are heavily subdued; as a result, they can both seem cold, even robotic, especially Yachesen, who did not escape the disease wholly intact. They now serve Oebr as guardians.

(The following are, as of yet, minor characters, included only because they are mentioned in Oebr's description.)

Versiver Gejke
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Kilika
Class: Black Mage
Appearance: TBA(?)
Primary Weapon: Dagger and throwing daggers
Description: Currently traveling with a company of Al Bhed mercenaries, mainly due to his love of languages and travel. Brother of Oebr and Akarui; friend of Luseik.

Akarui Gejke
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Kilika
Class: Dark Knight/Guardian
Appearance: TBA(?)
Primary Weapon: Hand-and-a-Half Sword
Description: Currently guardian to an obscure summoner, Crielle; they are rumored to be lovers. Brother of Versiver and Oebr.

And that's not all of them... but it's all the characters that have been introduced so far. I don't believe I revealed anything I didn't want revealed... and the only big revelation here is that Oebr can summon fiends, as well as Yachesen's and Yachesa's odd situation.

As a totally useless side note, the twins' last name, Nehkriludrian, isn't just something I randomly came up with (well, not really, anyway). In a half-developed language I created for several stories, 'Nehkril' is the name of the underworld, i.e., Hell, and 'Udrian' or 'Driana', respectively masculine and feminine forms of the same word, means 'Angel'. In the very first story where I used Yachesen and Yachesa, they were a brother and sister who, to make a very long story very short, called themselves "Hell's Angels".

Okay, I'm finally done, I promise. Hope to see you post before you disappear for a week. biggrin ))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Bumping, to keep this in a place where we can find it. Hope you're enjoying the holidays. smile ))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Bump to keep it on the first page. Happy New Year, folks. smile ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. You know, I warned you before we started this roleplay that I don't consider myself an advanced roleplayer, and this is where it really starts to show. I usually don't come up with too much backstory or anything like that until I'm actually in the rp, and I just make it up on the fly. But you've inspired me, so I made some profiles for my characters that have been introduced so far, and they're at the end of my post. (I'll put my actual post in green, fufufu xd )

Oh, Aer's actually in love with Ed? Isn't he more in love with himself? Lol, j/k. You know, sometimes he reminds me of Professor Lockhart from the Harry Potter books....

Aer and Eddora sittin' in a tree
K-I-S-S-
*gets clobbered by Ed*

Cool, you make up weird languages too? I used to do that a lot. I sort of fell away from it in recent years, because I thought my languages were rather dumb. But yours sounds cool!))

The shadow of a smile crossed Ed's face as Aer told Calaman off, but almost instantly the smile dropped from her face. "You both are being awfully selfish, don't you think?" Ed snapped quickly, as the pirate ship drew ever closer. "Look at all these helpless people." She gestured with her chin to indicate the passengers murmuring fearfully, wondering what to do and demanding protection from the captain. "We're staying up here, Cal, and that's final. Okay, people, let's move it!" She raised her voice to address the passengers. "Belowdeck, everybody who doesn't have a weapon! We'll handle this." Grinning fiercely, she cracked her knuckles in anticipation. Clobbering pirates was almost as good as clobbering fiends.

As Ed prepared herself for combat, stretching her limbs experimentally, she noticed a summoner-guardian duo crossing the deck to join her: an older man with a sword, and a younger man, who looked only a little older than Calaman, wearing summoner robes. "A joint attack," Kenan grunted without preamble. Gesturing to Calaman, he said, "We'll draw them away from you magic users, and-"

"Hey, mister," Ed interrupted, scowling fiercely at him. "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm the one who tells my guardian what to do, okay?!"

Before Kenan could reply, a sudden burst of gunfire from the pirate ship rocked their ship, nearly throwing them off-balance.

((I'm assuming they have guns, since they're Al Bhed, right? Okay, here are my character profiles, such as they are. Just a warning: I kind of started rambling several times; I tend to do that.

Name: Eddora Khaul (In her youth, she was nicknamed Dora; thrusting this aside at the age of 14, she now prefers to go by Ed - possibly to voice her long-held wish that she had been born a boy.)
Age: 29 (that would make Aer 31; is that okay?)
Gender: Female
Race/Origin: Djose
Class: Summoner/Martial Artist
Primary Weapon: None
Appearance: Ed has brown eyes and black hair just a little longer than the nape of her neck. She eis rather impatient with it, since it always gets in her eyes, so she normally puts it in a haphazard ponytail. (There has been a long-running debate with herself over whether she should just cut it all off so it won't bother her anymore, or whether that would cause too much confusion over her gender. This hairstyle is a temporary compromise that has lasted for years.) Due to her training, Ed is strong and well-muscled; this gives her a good figure (though such things hardly ever enter her mind, and her clothes do not exactly show it). Normally, she wears typical martial artist's garb, though while on pilgrimage she wears white summoner's robes. Beneath the "skirt" of the robe, however, she wears loose black hakama (pleated trousers).
Description: Ed is by turns eccentric, murderous, and melancholy, so her actions can be hard to understand or predict by those who don't know her very well. She is rather brusque and spontaneous, and is angry or irritated more often than not, but is dedicated to her cause and to being the one to vanquish Sin (though she is rather egotistical about it). She tries to avoid talking about her past, which either suggests there is something to hide, or merely means she would rather not dwell on it too much. Several people (the owner of her favorite bar included) can testify that she can become wildly unpredictable if someone mentions the age of fourteen. The causes of this strong reaction are unknown by any but herself. Ever since she first came to Bevelle, in her mid-teens, she has become an experienced sake drinker, building up her resistance much higher than most women (or men, for that matter) of her age. Whether this serves some purpose, or whether Ed was trying to drown out sorrow and memories, she has never said.
She has recently been accepted as a summoner, and has found, in her own unique way, a guardian: one Calaman Sireft. Aer d'Mors seems to think she has also accepted him, though she refused him, and this is a constant irritation to her.

Interesting/Useless Note: When trying to come up with a name for Eddora, I thought it would be fitting and interesting if she had a nickname that is usually used for males. I am also a HUGE fan of Full Metal Alchemist, and since the main character of FMA is Ed, I decided to use the nickname Ed. The I just tacked on -dora to make it actually sound like a female name.

Name: Maryllis
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race/Origin: half Al Bhed, half Kilikan
Class: Summoner/White Mage
Primary Weapon: Staff
Appearance: Her appearance is something of a mixture of her two ancestries. She has large blue eyes, long, curly gold hair, and sun-tanned skin. Her Kilikan blood was strong enough that she did not inherit the tell-tale eyes of the Al Bhed; this was ultimately what allowed her to become a summoner in the first place. She wears liberal amounts of jewelry, and prefers loose, colorful clothing.
Description: To all appearances, Maryllis would seem to be the sort of summoner who would fall away from the pilgrimage at the sight of the first fiend, but beneath her sparkly veneer she is rather stubborn and enduring. Her motivation to defeat Sin seems to be purely unconditional; after all, she has much to lose and very little to gain. She is newly married to one Elimelech (yet to be introduced), who is her guardian. Maryllis is known to speak proudly and lovingly of her new husband, and it is plain to all who see them together that she is very much in love with him. Why such a happy, carefree woman should aspire to such a bleak fate as a summoner, is yet to be seen....

Interesting/Useless Note: The name Maryllis came from a name in real life that I rather like, Amaryllis. It means "sparkling," and I actually created Maryllis' character around that idea.

Name: Kenan Denahii
Age: 40-ish (bah, once you reach that age it doesn't matter anymore, right? xd )
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Besaid
Class: Swordsman (Samurai-like)/Guardian
Primary Weapon: A single, rather, plain, but very sturdy katana that he allows no one to touch but himself.
Appearance: Kenan is a rugged warrior with a long black ponytail, dark brown eyes (almost black), and what seems to be ever-present stubble. He doesn't seem to care much about his appearance, wearing a mismatching outfit of hakama, cloak, and threadbare waistcoat, all in various shades of brown and states of disrepair.
Description: Stoic and somewhat unemotional, Kenan generally comes across as rather forbidding. He is, as any dead fiend could tell you, one of the best swordfighters in Spira. He has seen most places in this world, but doesn't care for imparting his wisdom to the less informed. he guards his summoner with unfailing loyalty, but often becomes irritated and exasperated at his youthful, inexperienced charge. But he never complains or threatens to offer his services to one more worthy. Why is this? there is a longer story here, to be sure.

Interesting/Useless Note: Both of Kenan's names come from the two youngest brothers (out of three) from Disney's movie Brother Bear - Kenai and Denahi. Kenan is pronounced KEE-nahn.

Name: Yalan Vero
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Race/Origin: Besaid
Class: Summoner/Black Mage (also knows a smattering of White Magic spells)
Primary Weapon: Staff
Appearance: Yalan couldn't look more different from his battle-worn guardian. With round, baby-blue eyes and red hair just a tad too long, he doesn't seem very threatening at all. He wears white summoner's robes with a bright blue sash around the middle, and keeps his summoning staff strapped to his back.
Description: As if the difference in appearance wasn't enough, Yalan is almost the exact opposite of Kenan. Cheerful for the most part, and very trusting, it's small wonder he annoys his guardian so much. Yalan has the tendency to think fiends are cute and harmless, and to be unable to discern a threat to his life until it's almost too late. In this way, Yalan and Kenan actually fit together rather well (lol). Yalan is quite young for a summoner, but - at a contrast to his harmless appearance - he is quite adept at magic, and seems to have a natural talent for summoning. He becomes uncomfortable if the topic of conversation gets too close to that of his family, for some reason, and he desperately tries to change the topic as soon as possible.

Interesting/Useless Note: Yalan's name means "lie" in Turkish. Interpret that how you will.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Eddora's age: That's fine.

Eddora's name: I suspected something along those lines, but I wasn't sure. Interesting to know for sure where her name came from. razz

Advanced roleplaying (or lack thereof): In all honesty, I esteem writing ability more than storyline. I'd rather have a lacking storyline with a good writer than an amazing story with someone whom I have to ask for clarifications on every post. I suppose that's the grammar Nazi in me speaking. xd

Languages: I only ever made the one, but I never fully completed it. Actually, I did more work on the grammar than the vocabulary, so there weren't very many actually words... But it's fun, if you're bored out of your mind and you have an obsession with foreign languages. razz

I can't post at the moment, but I will be sure to do so later. Besides, I'd like to chew over your post and my own to come.))