Few things: 1. Her magical potential would have been evident since birth thanks to her mark. http://www.talcomic.com/marks.html 2. An average Great Horned Owl is 55 cm (22 inches) long, has a wingspan of 124 cm (49 inches) and weighs about 1400 grams (3.1 lbs). While your owl is a full-grown female and will therefore be above these average measurements, (gender disparity goes that way with birds of prey,) to any creature of Arlette's size, the most distressing part of the scene you described would be its sudden appearence instead of any actual danger. 3. Actually infiltrating an enemy camp is something for spy movies. She also has the added disadvantage of being a she. We've been told women aren't as common in the army. I could see her getting into a garrisoned Sei town disguised as a common civilian, but not a camp. Practical possibilities against encampments include scouting from a distance without getting noticed and alerting the camp to the possibility of an attack and use of her weather magic as a means to gain an advantage for her platoon. 4. I'm not sure if the jobs platoon lieutenant and senior mage are commonly combined. We've been told the latter defers to the former had has slightly more authority than a squad sergeant. My thoughts and impressions on the matter follow: Being a SM means control over the platoon's 3 mages (you and 2 others.) She probably only gets provisionary authority over the platoon's 50 infantry, 25 archers, 15 cavalry and 6 medics. (You out rank them, but they don't have to do everything you say as you are outside their normal chain of command, (through you can probably instigate an inquiry into any incident of disobediance.))

Argh... I've restarted my response to this post, which always grows to at least a page, twice. Hopefully, third times the charm.... I hate repeating myself. @_@;; I'll start by responding to swodaems- (Whom, by the way, I'd like to thank, for taking in all we said so carefully, being proactive about it, trying to help others etc. It IS appreciated. ;3) 1. Yes, true. :3 However, only if someone knew how to read it correctly. 2. What she's scared of IS up to the player, however, being startled by an owl suddenly being there makes sense. XP I do have to say, however, that usually the Call is a bit less chance and a bit more effort. That's nitpick, however, and not law. 3. Two things; firstly, the sexism in the military is almost non existent when it comes to mages. (Another thing that gives the other soldiers some stigma about mages.) Magic does not discriminate. :P) Also, there is far less sexism militarily in Sei. However, I would still say that you're correct that she would not be such a spy. It would take some doing to get her into whatever situation she'd spy from. You can't simply sneak in and sneak out; spying requires immersing yourself for long periods of time, etc. Much like Tivona. From what I gathered, however, the spying was much more like, as you said, literally looking into the going ons via the familiar or some such thing. 4. You are correct- these two jobs are not combined. However, at the same time, the SM outranks everyone below the lieutenant. While normally it would be the latter giving commands, the archers, infantry, etc would still have to obey any commands a SM gave unless they contradicted their lieutenant. Now, onto the submission! Firstly, this is a BEAUTIFUL submission and I'm so, so happy you took your time and made it long and in depth. Your character, her motives, etc are all easy to understand. My only request would be to detail a bit more what she did in said mandatory leave for vacation. Your post is incredibly done, with brilliant characterization and I'm happy to approve it. (If you ever want to add the detail for re approval, feel free to repost. That goes for everyone, actually. ;) )

@w@ Fwee! Sorry you haven't heard hide nor hair of me for a while. I've been having scheduling issues and I haven't had a lot of time to myself for the last two weeks. xP And chances are, I'll be editing again. 8P Thank you very much for the help, I appreciate it.

Okay, just reposting the past because this is where I've made the edits. I changed the part about the mark Lessee... Added a little more about the non-contact with Halyn. Put what she did while she was on leave and made her position more appropriate. I must have not interpreted the info in QnA correctly the first time. xD But anyway, they're all pretty minor edits. The bulk of it is still the same. This should be the last edit and again, I really thank you for the feed back. Now... to think up a first post. 8) Past: Arlette Raine started off life in the arms of her young mother father Adria and Miach Raine. She had been conceived upon the night of marriage and born nine months later. From the very beginning her parents doted on her and spoiled her as they were well off enough to do so. Miach had been lucky enough to inherit his family’s business upon marrying Adria and they made a tidy living by selling jewelry, trinkets, artifacts, and the occasional odds and ends. The shop had such fortune of business from its location as well as reputation for good wares. Arlette spent more time in the back of the shop than she did at home. She’d play dress up with the numerous amounts of toys and dolls her parents provided her. Arlette honestly preferred the company of her dolls over other children. She wasn’t particularly the most social child. That usually didn’t sit well with her mother, who was quite the social butterfly in of herself. As far people relations went though, Arlette wasn’t exactly shy, she just didn’t interact with people that much. She wouldn’t get terribly upset if she was in a crowd. Which was thankful though as her mother often took her out into the city on business endeavors when she was little in hopes that it’d make her daughter more sociable. Despite the time Arlette spent with her mother, she was a complete daddy’s girl and when he had the time she was always on his lap or in his arms. She enjoyed being read too and would always pull books out of the shop’s small collection and run up to her father insisting that he read to her. From this practice, Arlette learned to read at a very early age, and as soon as her motor skills were good enough, learned to write just as quickly. Arlette didn’t speak a single word until she was almost six years old though. She wasn’t mute but rather simply didn’t speak. Her first words were: “Gary wants you to come to tea time.” This was spoken to her mother while she held up a stuffed cat doll. This resulted in her mother sweeping her up and rushing to her father, demanding that Arlette say that again. Her pronunciation wasn’t perfect as she was only five, but it was still something impressive as she hadn’t really said a word until then. It was just a month before Arlette turned six; there about the time she finally started speaking, that her parents began looking for an academy to enroll her in. Her mage potential had thrilled her parents, especially her mother. Her parents would have wanted the Optimates Academy, but that was, understandably, out of reach. So her parents attempted to get her enrolled in Oron Academy. Unfortunately, she was denied on the grounds that she simply didn’t show the amount of promise that Oron was looking for. Her parents attempted Undaquinus Academy, but their daughter didn’t show her talent to be with water and she was denied there as well. This caused Arlette’s parents a lot of distress. It seemed that the only other school that looked like it would provide their daughter with the quality education that they wanted and had a good reputation was Dimicatio Academy. So it was four months after Arlette turned six years old that she was admitted to Dimicatio. Her parents were worried that the school would be too rough on their little girl and they weren’t necessarily military supporters either. But they sent their little girl off. Upon arriving at Dimicatio, that had been the first time Arlette had ever been separated from her parents. She didn't take well to the school at first. She was the type to cry when she was upset and basically cried herself to sleep the first three weeks of school. She wasn't used to rule and restrictions as her parents never applied any to her. She was also frightened of the teachers and the older students and tended to shy away from other students. As such, Arlette didn't do so well for the first few months. She worried her parents a great deal and they heavily considered pulling Arlette out of the Academy. The only thing that really saved her from being pulled is that she met her very first friend. It was another student, a tidal mage specifically, from her class by the name of Halyn, a rowdy, loud mouth boy that spoke enough for both himself and Arlette. Her grades increased and she started faring better in training classes than she ever did before. She and Halyn were nearly inseparable even though their personalities at the age of six couldn't have been any different. Halyn was a trouble maker and Arlette usually tended to stay out of his pranks. She never sold him out though which got her in trouble often enough for never telling the teachers what Halyn was up too. It was actually on Arlette's seventh birthday that Halyn finally persuaded Arlette into one of his practical jokes. It was just a bucket of water on the head of one of the older students but the thrill of doing it hooked Arlette. From that day forward, Arlette and Halyn were essentially partners in crime. Arlette was a crafty, clever little girl and kept both her and Halyn from being caught most of the time while Halyn would come up with new and inventive ways to cause trouble. Arlette still wasn't much of a talker and rarely if ever said more than two words to a person at any given time, and it astounded both the teachers and Arlette's parents that some one so quiet would behave in such a way. And so things continued much like that with Arlette and Halyn. Arlette had made a few other friends, but she only ever really stuck with Halyn and it wasn't surprising when the two of them became sweethearts around the time Arlette turned thirteen. By this time, Arlette's relationship with her parents had gone to shreds. She connected more with her mentors by this point than she did with her parents. The few letters they sent back and forth were usually pretty plain and terribly formal. It had really stopped upsetting Arlette by that point in her life though. The attachment and closeness to her parents had started to wane about the time she was ten and had just progressively gotten worse. So when she did see them, actual fights would brake out, mostly between her and her mother. By the age of fifteen, Arlette had flourished into a skilled an accomplished mage and warrior. The skill that seemed subdued at the age of six had thrived under the tutelage of Dimicatio. She wasn't the best there ever was, but she was certainly someone the school could be proud of. Halyn and she were off an on now, they always remained close, but they never seemed to stay in a relationship for very long. At sixteen, Halyn got caught by Arlette with another girl and that hurt her enough to physically lash out at him. She landed a nice shiner on Halyn’s right eye. That skewed Arlette’s relationship with Halyn pretty much all the way up to graduation. The two that had been inseparable wouldn’t even look at each other now. The mischief from the two subsided with this as Arlette didn’t have Halyn to egg her on and Halyn didn’t have Arlette to weasel his way out of whatever mess he made. Arlette’s personality seemed more subdued then after the bout with Halyn. She was depressed and stayed that way for a long time. Her studies didn’t suffer, in fact, they seemed to get better as they were the only thing she had or even wanted to focus on. She stayed like this for a good year, up until she was seventeen and it was time to bond a familiar. Ire, her owl, was her saving grace and pulled her out of the funk she had been in for so long. Arlette only found Ire after she had gotten horribly lost. She had spent the day simply wandering, not paying any particular attention to any landmarks that’d help her find her way back. So there she was at dusk with no idea where she was, with store feet and a growling stomach. She took a seat on a fallen log to rest her feet for the moment when what would be her familiar just seemed to rather suddenly APPEAR on the log next to her. (Arlette swears up and down to this day Ire has teleporting powers and is clearly everywhere at once like some crazy magical ninja owl. ;D) The owl that had landed next to her was absolutely huge as it was a full grown owl. And it rightfully scared the bajeebus out Arlette because she hadn't been paying attention. While Arlette, at the moment, was ready to run away very far away very quickly, the owl didn’t even blink. That’s when Arlette got it in her head that this was probably supposed to be her familiar. And so Arlette bonded that owl. It was very shortly after that the owl said, basically, her name is Ire. Arlette’s first time holding Ire didn’t go over so well though. Arlette didn’t have a clue how to hold or care for a large avian. Ire was on Arlette’s hand and a sudden jerk had the large owl’s talons puncturing her hand. This resulted in Arlette carrying the owl much like a baby back to the Academy because that damaged Ire’s wing. That took all night and the better part of early morning to make it back. Arlette and Ire got treated for the wounds. They weren’t serious, Arlette’s just bled a lot and Ire just had to get cleaned up. Arlette still has tiny pit marks on her hand where she first held Ire and won’t even handle the owl anymore without a thick leather glove on. But Ire turned out to be the one that that Arlette needed to kick her back to her proper senses. A long due apology to Halyn followed and the two made quick amends. They wouldn’t become a couple again as Halyn had another girlfriend at the time, but at least they were friends again. And just in time to pull a good one on their entire class before the graduation ceremony. Which many think was still a little TOO convenient. Like many in her class, including Halyn, Arlette joined the military to complete her journeyman’s task between the ages of seventeen and eighteen. That separated the two and Arlette unfortunately hasn’t heard a word from Halyn since. She's tried sending letters to him, but they seem to just disappear as she never gets them back and never receives a response. Arlette’s skills as a weather mage and in long range combat put her at the Solum and Sei border doing extended patrols where she wouldn’t be in a town or city for sometimes a month or more. And occasionally, she’d get sent across the border for intelligence gathering. Basically a see what you can see then get your behind back in one piece type missions. She was really good about that in particular and the longest she ever spent in Sei was two weeks when she actually got herself lost but thankfully not caught (she’s really good at that). Though a supply caravan she spotted lost their wheel spokes at the ungodly hours of the morning a day or two before she was able to find her way back to the border, which upon return to Solum, nearly got herself shot. This was when she was about nineteen, so most of the soldiers she was with saw her as being incredibly lucky. She quickly moved up the ranks and got stationed at a tiny little border settlement for its protection by the time she was twenty two and had just finished her final -*test*-('") just the year before. If had taken her a while to do it because she was constantly doing field work that kept her away from a town or city where she could complete it for long stints of time. The settlement that she had been stationed at was a teensy weensy little thing and primarily just a military fort with just a smattering of civilians around. And she had only been there for three weeks when it got attacked. The attack got deflected thankfully, but there were casualties and Arlette was almost one of them. The scar above her eye was given to her from a Sei soldier’s sword. She was nearly killed and had to have her ass saved by one of the other soldiers. The scar now stretches from her temple to almost the center of her forehead and was deep enough that it chipped bone. Arlette was stationed soon after further from the border in a larger city. It took her almost two months to completely heal the wound across her head. In that amount of time, she was relegated to less strenuous tasks, much to Arlette’s disapproval. The time she had spent out on the border and the amount of activity she was used to had made her very much into a very get up and go type person. What she was doing, which was pretty much desk work, was driving her up the wall. By this time, communications with her parents had dwindled to almost nothing. She got, maybe, two letters a year by then from her parents. She had a baby brother she hadn’t met yet and really wanted to see. She hasn’t had the time or the real incentive to visit though. Her parents had made a life without her, and she had done the same without them. And it would seem so awkward now to try and jump back in after being separated for so long. She and her mother didn’t get along so well now, she didn’t reflect their values and beliefs. She reflected those of Dimicatio and the people she had grown up with. As soon as she was healed, Arlette was back near the border again in a slightly bigger town for only four months before she was moved to the front lines. But this was before she was put on mandatory leave as she hadn't taken a break since she had joined the military. She didn't do much, but did muster the courage to visit her parents. The meeting was a bit tense but didn't go to badly. She got to hold her baby brother, Dallin, who was only a few months old. He didn't show the mark of a mage, but her parents seemed a little glad for that and Arlette was happy that they'd at least keep one of their children. She left her parents home only two days before she was to go back to work. Arlette was now in an active field position instead of guard or patrol duty. She was stationed as with a platoon for combat support as her skill makes her useful in a non-combat position. Though her position has her using her long range combat skills as well. And since she has such an excellent night time familiar, she can easily provide field intelligence in the dead of night. She still preforms this function in her platoon but has been promoted to the Senior Mage position at the age of twenty-four.

The repost is up! :3 Are you going to enter the con-*test*-('")?

Name: Deso Shurworth Age: 18 Gender: Male Race: Human Country: Solum Job: Military Rank: Soldier-Infantry Description: Deso stands at about 5' 10", and sports a somewhat muscular build. His hair is shaved off of it's normal oak brown glory and he has a set of bright, woodsy green eyes that betray his expertise. His face is clean shaven and is scarred on his cheek and forehead, the one on the cheek short and wide and the one on the forehead long and thin. Come to think of it, the man has quite a bit of scars entire body. He wears the standard military steel armor when he is on duty and a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue vest, and some brown lenins when he off duty, his longsword, though, never leaving his side. He is almost the perfect soldier when he is on duty. He is doggedly loyal, takes orders well, and almost never even shows signs of joy or happiness, always being tense. The only trouble is that he usually can't sit still, especially when he is nervous or scared. He is almost the polar opposite, however, when he is off duty. He jokes around, he smiles, and though he is a bit shy, he is happy to meet new people. He finds happiness out of playing his violin, drawing, and sight-seeing. He is relaxed, creative, and easy-going, but has a bit of a drinking problem. Past- Mother F- I'm sorry, kinda unoriginal. I'm remaking it. Done by the night, I promise.

I think that's like a record interval between introduction and character submission. We should give this guy the special speedy gonzales prize. We do have one of those, don't we?

Knick- still waiting for an entire entry. :P

Name: Kai Sakari Age: 26 Gender: Female Race: Human Country: Sei Job: Works under Zared, previously a thief Rank: Adept Element: Spirit (Illusionist) Familiar: Desert Cat--Zesiro http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/888/65001004.JPG http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/746/45020858.JPG School: graduated Description: Kai is a blue-eyed brunette who stands at 5'5". She has a somewhat-serious personality and is somewhat quiet. Her weapons consist of a few throwing knives, and, her personal favorite weapon, her dual swords. She doesn't really have any noticeable birth marks or scars, although she does wear a blue crystal necklace (hidden under her clothes). Her clothes are like Zared's (color wise). She seems to get along well with most everyone she meets, although she rarely becomes close. Kai has no allegiance to anyone (including Sei's dictator), with the exception of Zared. She also has no regard for any law (she's a bit of a kleptomaniac. xD) Reference Picture: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/59432236/ Past: Kai was found as a baby on the doorstep of an orphanage with her blue crystal necklace wrapped in her blanket. The head of the orphanage believes Kai was an abandoned Gypsy child, due to the blanket she was wrapped in. Growing up wasn't easy for her, as she was often picked on because she was believed to be a Gypsy child. However, after her mark was discovered, Kai was shipped off to the local Element Academy. Before she graduated to Journeyman rank, Kai met Zesiro after Zesiro's owner was trying to drown Zesiro. The owner had thrown the kitten (Zesiro) into the river. Kai, being a cat lover, decided to rescue her. The two were close ever since. After she was elevated to Journeyman level, Kai became a pickpocket/thief, refusing to become a solider. Unfortunately, she was caught in the act of trying to steal a gem by Zared, and was arrested by the city guard. Intrigued by her stealth and illusionary skills, Zared paid her bail (after she pledged her allegiance to him) and so, Kai has been working under him ever since.

Hey Kaikyou, welcome to the site. ^^ Nice to see someone so eager, and I LOVE the picture you did. :3 It's fantastic. Unfortunately, there are quite a few problems with your submission. Firstly, Sei isn't open to be rped in right now, unfortunately. :/ We don't want to open up areas not yet reached in the comic, because not enough is known about them, etc. Sadly, Sei will not be playable until the second volume, which is quite some time away. :/ (Gypsies and Werewolves will be playable much sooner, at least. :3 And in that order. :3) Secondly, you can't interact with any of the actual characters in the comic, in your background, etc. (Of course, if you won the rp con-*test*-('"), interaction with them would be implied, but that would be plotted out privately. ;3) So far, we've yet to make an exception, and if we did, it would probably be the unavoidable interaction between teachers, etc. However, working directly under Zared would definitely not be allowed, under any circumstances. (Though I can't blame you for wanting to. ;3 Zared rocks. :D) Also, with great power comes great responsibility.... and by that, I mean the rarer the skills a mage has, the better an entry we expect from them. As we get more entries, the rules'll be a bit harsher. More importantly, from the description on the picture (which again, is quite lovely) you intend to enter the con-*test*-('")... which means you want to make it stand out from the rest, ne? >;3 What makes a good entry? Well, following the rules, putting down the required information is pretty much assumed. However, entries that give us a strong idea of character, with rich pasts and realistic personalities.... these are the ones that blow us away. Entries that fit into the world setting, without disrupting the story, are also good. But this is all very vague. I think a more productive thing would be to SHOW you. There have been some fantastic submissions. When I asked Lara to pick a favorite, she ended up listing almost everyone. :P So as not to overwhelm you, I grabbed four. First two are long, second two are shorter. All of them are excellent entries. forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=1583#1583>Arlette Raine, forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=1197#1197>Naida Eluaria, forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=249#249>Reishon Craelim, forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=720#720>Sanyir Fallon

Thanks for the welcome. :P Sorry about all the errors. To tell the truth, this would be the first time for me to role-playing. Normally, I only join forums to chat about certain topics. xD; I think I shall wait until the second volume comes out (I've been itching to use the desert kitty--but, alas, Sei has the desert climate, not Solum.) Thank you for the submitting advise.

No problem! ;3 Everyone makes mistakes. Anyway, if this con-*test*-('") goes well, we might hold another like it later. :3

I like your underlying concept. I had a few questions, mostly by way of clarification. You mentioned that Lysurus "has never in nine years traveled away from the school", and also that he joined the academy "on what was supposedly his fourth birthday", yet he's 16. Math doesn't add up, am I missing something? Also could you go a little more into detail about his aversion to asking questions, followed by his prolific querying on the subject of familiars? That seems a little contradictory. I would also be curious to hear what ADK and Ire have to say about the green hair. It seems like a possible sticking point, but I have no calls to make either way, as magic is their area. Overall I think it's a very fine application, one of the better first drafts I've seen. I have to mention that there were a few things that I was leery about at first, and which I was pleasantly surprised to find addressed nicely as I read further. The only revision I'd suggest at the moment would be a little more attention to detail on grammar and spelling, just for the sake of professionalism. Misspelled words aren't a crime, and certainly aren't something that can't be fixed, but I do appreciate it when people take the time to double-check their work and make sure it looks clean and tidy. My final comment is nothing but a piece of food for thought, just an observation for you to consider. It could be strategic for you to consider how antisocial you want your character to be. There's nothing wrong with antisocials as characters, however if you really intend for that to be a significant part of your personality, it does tend to limit the amount of interaction you'll have with other players' characters, socially speaking. Though intentions are that there will be some more serious story arcs beginning as things progress, at the moment and for the practical future there's not much to draw you into RP except interaction with other characters. Take it into consideration, and make a choice accordingly. If you feel comfortable rising to the challenge, more power to you! Pending satisfaction of my curiosity, and some grammatical cosmetics, you have my thumbs up. I'm looking forward to seeing you in game! 8)

Thank you for the tips and I'll get right to work on them. I could have sworn I was ok in the grammar and spelling departments, but I was up late working on it so I probably missed some things. I believe the same goes for the issue with oddities in years and all of that. Thanks for the tips and the complements. This is really my first time doing anything like this so its a little weird for me. I'm done doing the changes, and I hope it's up to par with your standards. Thank you. :3