Character List

[Sabata_McCloud]

Name: Sabata McCloud
Age: 21
DOB: 19 August 1991
Sex: Male
Height: 5ft 10in
Weight: 172lbs
Orientation: Pansexual
Occupation: Alchemist/Herbalist


[spoiler=Appearance]
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Clothing:
He typically dresses himself in a long-sleeved button-down shirt with jeans and a pair of black dress boots.  When he's out in public, he keeps the shirt untucked.  When at a more formal event or while his clinic is open, he keeps his shirt tucked in and a black sport coat over it.

Equipment:
He doesn't carry much on his person for the most part besides the normal things:  a wallet, cell phone, keys, etc.  His business sometimes takes him to more rough neighborhoods, which is the only time he'll carry his H&K P30.  If he's called to someone's house for an appointment or emergency consultation, he'll carry a bag that contains different antidotes and various potions to cure different diseases.

His Practice:
He runs a small clinic out of his house that offers potions and herbal mixes (usually in the form of teas) to cure certain ailments.  His business is largely appointment-based, although he does accept walk-ins depending on the circumstances.  He does make house calls, he tries to set a certain time so that he can keep his appointments with other clients.

While his cures are effective and his practice is rather well-known, he doesn't take emergency cases into his practice.  If he feels a certain case is out of his level of care, or that the case is much more severe than he first thought, he will refer them either to another specialist or simply send them to the hospital.

History:
Most of his education was done at a specialized academy simply known as Nirvenfall.  Students are sent there for training when they're old enough to prove themselves capable of using magic itself (usually around the age of 5).  During the first several years of his training, he began to show promise in alchemy and healing, foregoing his natural talent for Illusion and Alteration-based magic.  He began to take more classes in potion-making and herbal remedies, although still kept practicing different types of spells and enchantments.  He was fascinated with reading about the different schools of magic and abilities, especially the darker types.  While he read about the dark spells and rituals, he never dared practice them-- dark magic was expressly forbidden within the walls of Nirvenfall, and the elders could sense the slightest dark aura from a mile away.

It was in a class for enchantments that he became acquainted with Solace.  Over the next few months of their class together, they became better friends and eventually began a relationship despite their slight age gap.  He was 16 at time, while she was 20 and beginning her preparations for graduation.  They helped each other with different skills-- Sabata would teach Solace basic alchemy in return for lessons on wielding swords.

The graduation exams consist entirely of proving that the student has mastered the skills for their job, or "class".  Solace had decided on being a Spellsword, and it was the day before she had to take her exam for swordplay when things went bad.  Sabata had been waiting outside the training arena for Solace to finish one last training session with Nirvenfall's master-at-arms when he overheard a conversation between two other students in her class.  He knew of the two; Solace had always told him about the male dragon and human expressing their outrage over being routinely beaten by a "servant species, and a female at that!"  The human said that his family had sent him his father's old sword to be used for good luck during his examination (they were dulled using magic for the sake of safety), and the master-at-arms had allowed him to cast his own dulling enchantment since it was a special blade.  A plan between them was hatched-- the dulling enchantment would only last for a few strokes before wearing off.  With the spell gone, the blade would easily plunge through the leather armor that they all wore. 

Sabata couldn't help thinking about how dense they were about the flaw in their plan, but of course the intelligent response would only come to him later.  His then 17-year-old mind decided to leave for a bit, leaving taking rational thought along with it.  Instead, his knee-jerk reaction wasn't to find the master-at-arms and explain the situation, but instead to teach them a lesson himself.  All of the things about dark magic that he had read instantly came to the forefront of his mind.  Being bull-rushed by the master-at-arms when he heard the clamor broke Sabata's concentration enough to save the two minds from being broken by the unexpected attack.  He snapped out of his rage after being pinned down beneath the old knight.  He was brought before the elders that afternoon, and shoved out of the castle's gates by evening.

Being 17 and without any real direction, it didn't take long for him to rediscover his talent for Illusion and Alteration magic, and hone the silver tongue that all foxes possessed.  He picked up the skill of picking locks and skulking about in the shadows, joining a secret guild of thieves by 18.  They were adamant that they were different from street gangs who committed blind robbery by way of threats and appearing tough.  They worked the old-fashioned way; breaking into houses and staying undetected with the use of magic and specialized gear.  He was given a small messenger bag enchanted by the head of the guild itself that could hold any number of things so long as they could fit into the bag.  The guild trainers helped him perfect his skills with concealment spells and spells useful for opening locks, as well as spells to conceal his heat signature for houses with motion-sensor burglar alarms.

His time with the guild of thieves ended several months later, when he inadvertently broke into the house belonging to a master of a guild of assassins.  Having been in the trade for long enough, wards were placed around his house that alerted him to Sabata's presence immediately.  Knowing he was caught, Sabata attempted to defend himself when the assassin paralyzed him with a single spell.  Placing the blade of his longsword to the hybrid's throat, he made him a simple deal.  Swear an oath to the assassins' guild, or die.  Faced with the wealth of options at hand, he joined the guild of assassins, although not without some hesitation.

He worked within the assassins' guild for 2 more years, acquiring a special set of light armor specifically made for stealth while allowing good protection and a cloak that both hid his wings and blocked his heat signature as long as he wore it.  From one of his victims, he acquired a shortsword that had a hollowed hilt and small perforations in the blade to transfer a liquid poison to whatever was cut by it.  He had a stiff leather sheath made for it to allow for silence when drawing or sheathing the blade, and carried it on his hip almost all the time.

Eventually though, his conscience caught up with him, and he resigned from the guild-- swearing, of course, that he would never mention its existence to anyone.  He bought a house with the money that he had acquired through fencing stolen goods and the assassination contracts, and began his practice as a personal atonement for the crimes that he'd committed.

Of course, he still has all of his equipment in hiding, just in case.

[Sabata_McCloud]

Name: Solace Mercury
Age: 25
DOB: 2 March 1987
Sex: Female
Species: Equine (Clydesdale)
Height: 6ft 4in
Weight: 185lbs
Orientation: Bi-curious
Occupation: Bookstore owner

[spoiler=Appearance][/spoiler]

[spoiler=Clothing][/spoiler]

[spoiler=Armor][/spoiler]

Clothing:
Her clothing typically looks like it does above whenever she's working around her shop or at home.  This was the typical attire of Nirvenfall students, and as a result it's how she's accustomed to dressing.  She has gotten better at wearing more modern attire whenever out and about unless it's a quick trip somewhere.

Her Shop:
She opened a bookstore shortly after graduation, finding that there wasn't much use for Spellswords in what could be considered peaceful times.  She sells both magical and non-magical texts, as her customer base is a decent mix of both.  The non-magical books are on the main floor of her shop, while the magical texts, scrolls, and store room are in the basement.  She prefers to keep her records in an old-style ledger, allowing for more permanent record-keeping.  She'd tried to use an electronic method first, but a power surge had caused her to lose all of her records.

She keeps protective spells placed around the shop itself, although they mostly consist of anti-theft measures, such as a binding spell to keep books and other items inside until the charm is dispelled by her.  In addition, another ward guards the lock cylinders on both doors, keeping them charged with electrical energy to deter any thief trying to pick the locks.

History:
She was taken to Nirvenfall at the age of 5 like all other students.  During her training though, she seemed to take more of an interest in the uses of it for combat.  Originally, she had been training to become a Battlemage, but decided that she liked the feel of using a sword in conjunction to magic itself.  By the time she had to decide what sort of training she wanted to specialize in, she chose to be a Spellsword.

Spellcasting:
Her type of spells have different requirements based on what sort of magic that she's using.  More complicated enchantments that require incantations, runes, and different ingredients are kept in a spellbook that she rarely carries with her.  Spellbooks are created by fusing part of the user's soul to the book itself, which allows the books to be summoned and dispersed at will.

Solace is very protective of her book (as are all others who have one), as the bond to her soul adds a special property to the book itself.  In short, if the book is destroyed, she is destroyed along with it.  Any damage that is done to her book is suffered by her as well, although not in reverse.  With her soul bound to the book, her spirit may continue to live even if her body is destroyed.  She can be revived if that were to happen, but the spell to do so is quite advanced, and only the most powerful healers (usually priests) are capable of performing it.  She can be resurrected back into her own body so long as it's done within 24 hours, otherwise the decomposition process will be too far advanced to safely revive her.  An alternative to that is being placed into the body of another, although the original host spirit must hand over their body willingly or else the spell will not work.

Her type of magic while fighting, however, doesn't require a complicated incantation or crafting.  Those spells can be cast with a simple command or gesture, eliminating the need for a book.  However, it does require the favor of the elemental spirits in order to use any of them.  Since Spellswords are meant for versatility in a combat situation, she has to maintain good favor with all of the spirits in order to continue using her range of spells.  As a result, her spells are less advanced than someone who had the favor of one spirit over another.