#vanguard squire

[snowybunnfriend]

Some Veteran Guard and a kitbashed unit of Squires for my Knights!

I made the Squires from the Exaction Squad kit, plus the heads of some Skitarii Vanguard, and the left over lasgun arms of the Veteran Guard.

[dicknouget]

Sorcières de la Nuit

THIS IS AN EXCERPT FROM A FANFIC I'M PLANNING. IT IS NOT A PART OF THE THREE SENTINELS.

Coming from the shower, Pyrrha was met with an empty room. Not surprising, given it was about dinner time and she was the last one to use the shower to get cleaned up. Turning on her scroll’s screen, she saw a message from Jaune letting her know that they went to the dining hall to get a table and some food. She replied with a thumbs up emoji, before setting her scroll down and dressing herself.

She reflected about the 28 hours that she and her team, as well as Blanche and Noir, had spent at Mountain Glenn, defending that tunnel for only the brothers know how long. The stress and exhaustion had worn off, much like the injuries, but she, and she could only assume the others, were still coping with the shock of the scale of their defence.

By all accounts they SHOULD have perished.

Shaking her head free of that she pocketed her scroll, before turning to the door, when she felt something call out to her. The silent voice was whispering her name, enticing her to turn around and look again at the room. Scanning each bed, Pyrrha eventually found the source of the voice on Jaune’s bed.

It was his journal.

Pyrrha was not one to snoop and interfere with someone’s privacy, let alone Jaune’s. A journal was an extension of one's mind and heart, and to read it without permission was a violation of trust in Pyrrha’s eyes. However, there was something about his journal that called out to her, encouraging her to open it.

Caving into the unrelenting scream of her leader's notebook, she opened the cover and flipped through it, only to see… poetry. It wasn’t award winning but she could understand what each one was based off of, and in a way felt like she was reliving certain parts of their time at Beacon. One titled Camouflage detailed initiation. The Royal Guard was about his squire work with the Valean Knights Order. Race to the Sea was about RWBY’s escapade at the docks.

Flipping to the most recent entries she saw two poems. The first was labelled ‘The Defence of Mountain Glenn’ and detailed the events of JNPR and BLND’s stand against the Grimm and bandits. The four bar refrain of the poem pounded into Pyrrha and reminded her of the emotion, the determination, the VALOUR that filled the group during their defence.

Stand and follow command, our blood for the homeland

Heed the Mountain Glen’s call, and brace for the storm

The vanguard will never give in, there is no surrender

Force them into retreat, and into defeat

Those four lines filled her with the same resolve that she felt when she heard the four words leave Jaune’s mouth.

‘Not One Step Back’

It was a phrase that she had heard before, in a history class while at Sanctum. It was commanded by the second premier of the United Vacun Council Republics, who had learned that Atlas was 50 km from the capital, Shade. She remembered her professor telling that story and commenting that the leader knew that the world would condemn him for that order, but the nation and the people would remain free in the end.

Pyrrha shivered thinking about it, before moving over to the second poem titled Sorcières de la nuit. It was only twelve lines long but perfectly described the explosive damage done by Jaune’s sisters.

From the depths of hell in silence

Cast their spells, explosive violence

Valean night time, stealth perfected

Flawless vision, undetected

Undetected, unexpected

Shells of glory

Tell their story

Demolition, deviation

Undetected, stealth perfected

Beneath the starlight of the heavens

Unlikely heroes underground

As they rise up from the rubble

The wind will whisper when the Night Witches come

[shinigami-striker]

Anticipated PS5 Games (2024) | Wednesday, 11.06.24

Here's a handful of a few PlayStation 5 games that are (or were) the most anticipated for this year and beyond, including:

Assassin's Creed Shadows

Astro Bot

Baby Steps

Black Myth: Wukong

Dragon Age: The Vanguard

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero!

Elden Ring

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Final Fantasy XIV Online

Helldivers 2

Lego Horizon Adventures

Metal Gear Solid: Delta

Silent Hill 2

Sonic X Shadow Generations

Star Wars Outlaws

Stellar Blade

The Casting of Frank Stone

The Last of Us Part 2

The Plucky Squire

Towers of Aghasba

Until Dawn

Zenless Zone Zero

[wyldblunt]

okay i'm not including glynach + merrilei bc i already talk abt them all the time but. when i next get the time to do other ship art (or just chattering) who are ppl most interested to hear abt.... just out of curiosity! doodles and descriptions below the cut. actually under the cut is just going to become an official intro post to these ships now that i think about it

bowyn/rhys: lazy hedonistic con artist/actor x brooding nightmare court splinter faction leader. meetcute: bowyn tried to mug him on the lionroad by pretending to be a wounded traveller in need of assistance, but, being a nightmare courtier, rhys did not give a shit

bowyn ends up following him around and giving him advice on why nmc recruitment is so bad post-HoT (gleaming nuggets of wisdom like "you're worse than evil or hated, you know. you're POLITICAL" and "you just need to lean into the sex of it all"). eventually they fall in love and bowyn agrees to settle in with rhys' faction of the court, though they firmly maintain that they're not interested in actually participating. (this is kind of not true. bowyn really loves sitting at rhys' side during big important court meetings and leaning over to crow "they're lyyyyiiiiiiiing" and shit like that.)

callas/lisk: hysterically vain nightmare tyrant x completely unhinged attack dog. callas is the count of malice, head of the spies/undercover agents of joy's end (and later more camps as she extends her reach); lisk is the captain of joy's end's vanguard and she is slobberingly obsessed with callas. callas is also glyndwr's ex.

at first callas is just using her, but they end up pretty quickly getting mutually obsessed and lisk's passion for nightmare ends up sparking callas into activity again -- she had reached a point where she was pretty much "tenured" and didn't care about actually doing anything in service of the court anymore (why would she WORK when she can just lay around eating grapes and ordering people around instead?), but with the two of them riling each other up like barking dogs callas becomes a threat again.

sigvas/sorcha/tarahnis/rue, aka The Problemcule: deeply unstable unstable party drug synthesiser x mean meathead x nice (?) meathead x creepy cheerfully submissive squire. all four of these idiot lesbians are desperately in love with lisk, but lisk only has eyes for callas. they are all messily fucking each other instead as a weird substitute.

(i don't have art of rue + tarahnis yet bc my wife and i made them literally This Week but here's a hasty cap, tara left rue right:)

sorcha is one of the vanguard hounds, first under leurent (count of blood from the twilight arbor dungeon) but then transferred to be under callas when she takes the vanguard from him, which sorcha is pissed about. she is a dickhead popular-girl jock who cares about very little aside from showing off and getting lisk's attention. sigvas and tarahnis are archers under rhys' command. sigvas, as mentioned, is an alchemist, prone to attempts at game-of-thrones manipulation way beyond their actual social ability and completely at the mercy of their own wildly fluctuating self-esteem. tarahnis is a relatively easy-going thorn hound trainer who is way more chill and friendly than you would reasonably expect a nightmare courtier to be. rue is the weird little himejoshi who follows them all around taking care of weapon maintenance and polishing their armor and breathing really loudly while watching the first three flirt with each other and never daring to imagine they could actually Participate in all of this mess (but then they do)

when the nmc schism happens in the power vacuum created after HoT (in which rhys breaks off to try to form a more logical, less mindlessly violent version of the court, and callas breaks off to try to form a version of the court that is literally worse in every possible way, and they both try to kill each other absolutely dead over it), things are going to get so gnarly in here for these four.

cadair/maelduin: fated valiants with entwined dreams, destined to protect each other... but maelduin awakens two years before cadair does, with barely any real information about him.

all their info is pretty much in these images -- we still haven't developed them much yet!!! but i loev them.

naoise/gann: beautiful gladiator with a completely empty skull x slimy nightmare court slacker. (listen we love nmc x non-nmc and are just going to keep doing it until we run out of ideas)

naoise just has enough brainpower to swing a sword and not much else. they are death incarnate in the pit and literally the stupidest person you've ever met in your life outside of it. gann is a nightmare courtier in name only -- he does not give a single shit about the ideology and is mostly just entrenched as a criminal career choice. he was originally sent off to convert naoise to nightmare, but ended up so charmed by them that now he just travels around with them while mailing back increasingly implausible explanations for why it's taking so long. now he has fallen entirely in love with them for real. oops

oh shit i forgot. gann is also glyndwr's ex

alan/glyn: what it says on the tin! co-commanders + best friends, but their romantic relationship is doomed by the narrative (and by canach).

(you know what glyn looks like.)

alan is the hero of tyria, the poster boy of the vigil, the champion of aurene; he shoulders all the responsibility and social weight that glyndwr has adeptly shadowstepped his way out of. he's also the first person glyndwr ever actually opens up to, outside of callas (BAD, many many years ago) and clooney (helped glyn escape the court, was his first relationship after callas and it was pretty weird and rocky, this was also still many many years ago). he's a safe bastion for glyn and whether he intends to or not, he teaches glyndwr a lot about kindness and patience in a way glyn may have never come around to on his own.

they're really deeply in love, but in the end glyndwr just isn't right for alan (and also, frankly, is not a good enough partner for him). glyndwr's hostility and callousness, which alan could initially brush off as quirks or at least see balanced out by the good parts of him, are too persistent and are improving too slowly. with everything else on his plate, alan can't put up with glyndwr's (increasingly glaring) issues on top of it all, and it comes to a head in HoT, where their relationship breaks down entirely and alan ends it.

i also somehow have NO SHIP ART OF THEM which is absolutely insane all things considered.

alan/clooney: alan's endgame ship! clooney is glyn's ex-boyfriend/current plug/go-to criminal contact, a secondborn who makes his living as a pirate and lives by the philosophy that as a sylvari his real duty to the dream is to have as much fun as possible to counterbalance all the horror and pain that inevitably makes it in through the world. that sounds like an elaborate excuse to be a hedonist but he takes it extremely seriously.

they meet during LWS3; alan is so exhausted and worn out by HoT (and also, frankly, by dumping glyndwr) that he can't take his pact duties anymore. glyndwr points him to clooney as a way to be discreetly smuggled away for as long as he needs. they get pulled back in pretty quickly, before alan can have a REAL vacation, but the two of them still hit it off REALLY well and end up getting very close... :3c

okay now i've gotten to the bottom of all this and realized there are STILL two more ships i haven't gotten to but that's enough for now. we'll get to them later. if you actually read all this i give u a kith

[sir-tarhos-et-compagna]

Tell me Sir Tarhos. What was it like to be under the Hungarian Throne?

Your home nation still exist in the present but now it's no longer the great kingdom it used to be. In fact the Hungarian Kingdom was plagued by pesant revolts but it did have have some if not the finest and most elite mercenary army in Europe. The Black Army who will soon became the most sought after mercenaries in Europe. Created by Matthias Corvinus, they would become the Vanguard of Hungarian conquest and expansion and they took parts of Austria including the capital city of Vienna and most of the Crown of Bohemia and the Black Army even defeated the Ottomans in Breadfield. Unfortunately all their efforts were in vain as when Matthias died, the Black Army would fall with him just four years later as many mercenaries started to mutinee due to poor pay. And just 3 decades later, the Ottoman Empire and its allies would emerge victorious and the Hungarian Kingdom effectively ceases to exist.

What it was like... to be fair, I did not spend that much of time as I wanted in Hungary for I was sold to Italy, becoming a slave squire for Guardia as a child. After that, I visited Hungary not oft, sometimes to see the snow... and how it lies red, sometimes, being hired for the battles which brought Hungarians their glory... t'was wonderful. Still, state of nobility and lack of overall stability in my homeland indeed wormed the heart of mine.

So, thou art saying t'was the Ottomans... bloody Ottomans... their raids scourged half Europe, they always were making troubles... I am aware the world I knew hath fallen in hands of corrupt peasantry possessing doomsday weaponry and virtue is a joke to most people of that thrice damned age... Lady Amanda... she told me that. And, looking at her, knowing her story... I know she told me the truth. And... this truth is grimdark. I even feel relieved staying in this realm despite all the hardships most dire. Knowing thy world, all the virtue, is doomed... couldst break thy sanity.

[newsintheshell]

CRUNCHYROLL: ANNUNCIATI I SIMULCAST DI ALTRE 8 SERIE INVERNALI

Non che sia una grande sorpresa, ma si preannuncia una stagione più ricca del cenone di Capodanno! (E non so voi, ma io non ho mangiato affatto leggero)

Ve lo avevo detto che ne avevano in canna altre, no? Il meme del "è tutto su Crunchyroll" è più veritiero che mai, considerato che solo questo inverno ci ritroviamo con più di 50 nuovi anime tutti all'interno del palinsesto della piattaforma statunitense.

Il problema, però, è che a dirla tutta non è vero che è effettivamente tutto lì, ci sono serie sparse anche altrove! Ci vorrebbero due vite per seguirle un po' tutte e forse non sarebbero abbastanza @_@

Anyway, qua sotto trovate le 8 annunciate proprio questa sera, più un breve (si fa per dire) resoconto di tutto il resto.

CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD WILL+DRESS (Stagione 2)

D4DJ ALL MIX

HIGH CARD

NIJIYON ANIMATION

OH, SUDDENLY EGYPTIAN GOD (Stagione 2)

THE ANGEL NEXT DOOR SPOILS ME ROTTEN

TECHNOROID OVERMIND

THE MAGICAL REVOLUTION OF THE REINCARNATED PRINCESS AND THE GENIUS YOUNG LADY

LEE’S DETECTIVE AGENCY

BOFURI: I DON’T WANT TO GET HURT, SO I’LL MAX OUT MY DEFENSE (Stagione 2)

NIER:AUTOMATA VER1.1A

BUNGO STRAY DOGS (Stagione 4)

THE ICE GUY AND HIS COOL FEMALE COLLEAGUE

TOMO-CHAN IS A GIRL!

REVENGER

THE ICEBLADE SORCERER SHALL RULE THE WORLD

BUDDY DADDIES

SUGAR APPLE FAIRY TALE

THE LEGEND OF HEROES: TRAILS OF COLD STEEL – NORTHERN WAR

CHILLIN’ IN MY 30S AFTER GETTING FIRED FROM THE DEMON KING’S ARMY

DON’T TOY WITH ME, MISS NAGATORO (Stagione 2)

THE MISFIT OF DEMON KING ACADEMY (Stagione 2)

THE REINCARNATION OF THE STRONGEST EXORCIST IN ANOTHER WORLD

TRIGUN STAMPEDE

BY THE GRACE OF THE GODS (Stagione 2)

HANDYMAN SAITOU IN ANOTHER WORLD

IN/SPECTRE (Stagione 2)

SAVING 80,000 GOLD IN ANOTHER WORLD FOR MY RETIREMENT

THE TALE OF OUTCASTS

AYAKASHI TRIANGLE

MALEVOLENT SPIRITS: MONONOGATARI

REBORN TO MASTER THE BLADE: FROM HERO-KING TO EXTRAORDINARY SQUIRE

THE VAMPIRE DIES IN NO TIME (Stagione 2)

VINLAND SAGA (Stagione 2)

CAMPFIRE COOKING IN ANOTHER WORLD WITH MY ABSURD SKILL

NINGEN FUSHIN: ADVENTURERS WHO DON’T BELIEVE IN HUMANITY WILL SAVE THE WORLD

KAINA OF THE GREAT SNOW SEA

THE FRUIT OF EVOLUTION : BEFORE I KNEW IT, MY LIFE HAD IT MADE (Stagione 2)

THE FIRE HUNTER

SORCEROUS STABBER ORPHEN (Stagione 3)

SAINT SEIYA: KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC (Stagione 3)

SHADOWVERSE FLAME 

BLUE LOCK

IDOLISH7 THIRD BEAT! (Parte 2)

DIGIMON GHOST GAME

BORUTO: NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS

ONE PIECE

MY HERO ACADEMIA (Stagione 6)

PLAY IT COOL, GUYS

TO YOUR ETERNITY (Stagione 2)

WELCOME TO DEMON SCHOOL! IRUMA-KUN (Stagione 3)

YOWAMUSHI PEDAL (Stagione 5)

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA MUGEN TRAIN ARC - Completa

DEMON SLAYER: KIMETSU NO YAIBA ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT ARC - Completa

MY DRESS-UP DARLING - Completa

JUJUTSU KAISEN 0 - Disponibile

JUJUTSU KAISEN (Stagione 1) - Completa

RANKING OF KINGS - Completa

SPY×FAMILY (Parte 1) - Completa

MOB PSYCHO 100 (Stagione 1) - In arrivo

Nota: La pubblicazione è stata posticipata a causa di problemi tecnici.

DR. STONE (Stagione 1) - In corso

TOKYO REVENGERS (Stagione 1) - In corso

THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME (Stagione 1) - In corso

THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO (Stagione 1) - Quasi completa, manca giusto un episodio

Sempre che Tumblr me lo permetta, visto che più lo aggiornano e più bug incontro, la nuova GUIDA STAGIONALE dovrebbe arrivare a giorni, forse, almeno nella sua versione preliminare.

Sto anche decidendo se suddividerla per piattaforma o per giorno, come al solito. Sui social trovate il sondaggio a riguardo. Fatemi sapere cosa ne pensate voi!

* NON VUOI PERDERTI NEANCHE UN POST? ENTRA NEL CANALE TELEGRAM! *

Autore: SilenziO)))

blogger // anime enthusiast // twitch addict // unorthodox blackster - synthwave lover // penniless gamer

[FONTE]

[lances-and-quills]

Symphony of Dusk, Chapter One Part Three

 The air of the building felt like hellfire lashing at one’s skin. Knights and squires rushed around Cotton as he navigated the chaos and emerged into the garrison yard. Even then that was only the start of his problems as he crashed multiple times into serfs carrying weapons of all types from swords, to halberds, rifles, to spears. The air smelt wrong, like fetid waste and blood. It drifted in the air, coming from behind the scarlet gate that held back the blighted lands of the north. Apoptosis, there was no doubt. They were trying another attack, which Leice must have woken him up for. He clenched his rifle tight, his fingers cutting on the angelic wings jutting from the receiver. That’s what she meant by an expedition. The Apoptosis threat was attacking and in the middle of it, his squad was going to be sent in through the blind spots in the horde to attack the monster lord’s castle head-on. Blood ran down the length of his rifle, pouring into the crevices in the ornamentation, he was going to die today. No squad of Red Hoods had ever made it to the castle or at least made it out alive, to expect them to be any different was a fool's errand.

A kind voice released Cotton’s bleeding grip on his rifle, his face rising to see Leice’s now shrouded by a thick metal helmet,  “Cotton you made it, we’re just about to head out through one of the cracks, Captain Grimm says we have a good chance of making it today.”

Cotton calmed his nerves, smearing his bloody hand on his cloak causing a searing pain as the wounds slid over the rough leather.

“To the other side of the gate or the castle itself?”

Leice pondered momentarily, “The castle, the captain said with this new wave they concentrated their forces too much on the right side. I’m sure Captain Grimm will tell you the rest of the plan once we meet up by the gatehouse.” An explosion rocked the ground, the sounds of otherworldly monsters causing both knights to break into a dead sprint toward the gate. This phantom barrier held back the hordes of horrors shimmering before flickering and finally falling, giving way to a wretched smell. Cotton gagged and fell to the ground. The smell made his stomach lurch, a combination of rotted meat and death forcing vomit up his throat.

Leice picked the incapacitated knight up by his midsection, hefting him over her shoulders as she moved like lightning towards a group of soldiers that fought the Apoptosis bleeding in through a hole in the barrier. 

A skinny young knight tore his blade from the rocky skin of what used to be a human, turning to the captain with a panting breath, “Captain, the last two are here, permission to start carving a path?” Grimm tore the head of an Apoptosis soldier clean off its shoulders and shouted back to the knight, “Go ahead, Iman, you and Carolas are the vanguards!” He turned to a couple of knights beside him, “Istik, Arin, cover our rear!”

Leice set down Cotton, who immediately collapsed, painting the ground with his sickness. She gripped his arms and pulled him up, forcing him forward as she pulled a knife from her back and plunged it into her hand. Black ichor leaked from the wound, and she threw it forth, creating a wall of onyx that hardened instantly, plugging the hole in the barrier.

Grimm turned to the girl as she smeared the ichor over her exposed skin, creating a barrier of onyx over herself. Her companion looked half-ready to lose his lunch again, unsteadily loading a handful of blessed god-slayer cartridges into his long gun. “Knight Cotton, are you scared of something?”

“Apoptosis sir.” The boy responded, “Never seen them this aggressive before.”

Grim chuckled, wiping shimmering blood off his pauldron, “They’re nothing but pawns same as us, their souls may be black as pitch but they ain't unkillable.”

“Makes me feel much better sir.” The snap of his weapon as he pulled the cocking lever signaled Grimm that he was ready, he looked at the path ahead, it was clear for now. “Alright move up, we don't have a lot of time before the next wave.”

Cotton kept pace as best he could, his eyes constantly darting from his squad to the tree line as now and then something cracked for the underbrush. Aside from that the path was clear, the black keep of the monster lord towered over them, reaching into the clouds like a sinister tree made from hatred incarnate. Cotton and his squad were suddenly halted as something powerful split the air above them screeching with the fury of a hurricane as it passed by. He looked up, spying a massive hawk-like bird with cream-colored feathers soaring above them, “A Garuda bird? I thought the wildlife here had been completely wiped out.” Cotton watched as the behemoth flew into the clouds, its shadow settling just under the layer it had nested. “It’s the monster lord’s.”

“The monster lord keeps Garuda birds?” one of his companions asked.

“Of course, he does, who doesn't want a bird the size of a city as their guard?”

“Keep moving, Istik, it’s still another mile or so.”

Cotton kept pace with Leice as she stayed in the middle of the group, almost tripping over his own feet as she threw a gathering of onyx caltrops behind them. “How is your mana doing?”

The lamia wiped the sweat off her brow, “Fine, I can last at least until we make it to the castle, after that…” She trailed off, losing focus before snapping back, “After that, I’ll need to rest for a moment.”

“Just tell me if you’re feeling faint so I can carry you.”

She smiled warmly, “So you can be sweet.”

“Just with you, Leice, only for you.”

[thebladeblaster]

Vanguard Skyrim au stuff

My brain has too many ideas and I ended up writing all of this😅. This is an au I came up with a few months back while playing Skyrim for the umpteenth time.

This au involves og and Overdress because I felt like it. Eventually it would go into G and DivineZ. I haven’t figured out everything though especially the Overdress parts. I don’t know if I’ll ever write this but this is my idea. Also, everyone is aged up by two years in this au because there’s no children going around adventuring in this universe.

Character info

Aichi

Race: Breton

Patron deity: Arkay

Home: Highrock

Birthstone: Lord

Main Skills: Destruction, One-Handed, and Conjuration

Backstory: He met Kai back when he was younger. Kai (was a squire then) protected him after he had gotten attacked by wolves which inspired Aichi to become a knight. However, Aichi’s physical strength is still poor even with all his training. So, he’s learned magic to help him which leads to him eventually becoming a spell sword. He learns magic from old spell books his father (he was also a spell sword) left behind before going MIA. Aichi is actually extremely good at magic and learns it rather quickly. So, at the beginning he’s more of a pure mage who just happens to have armor. After he learns all he can from the books he’s able to convince his mom to let him attend the College of Winterhold. This is mostly allowed to happen because Highrock is becoming a very dangerous place to live so they end up moving to Winterhold anyway. At the start of his story he’s been attending for a while and starts going on an adventure at the suggestion of Tolfdir to give him practical experience.

Notes:

-Emi goes all the way up to the college to be a busybody and check on her dopey brother

-Aichi couldn’t win a non-magic fight with a toddler. Without magic Aichi is as useless as Aqua.

-His first summon was an Auroran which ends up being his trump card when starting out

-He wears white robes over his armor which makes everyone think he’s a cleric

-He is VERY good at storm magic

-He’s a lot like Naruto where he actually doesn’t have that many techniques but just has a million variations of the same technique which for Aichi is shooting lightning and summon

-Most of his summons are an Auroran variant or wolves (for tracking) or a horse (for riding)

-He’s always carrying a bag full of spell books to study wherever he goes

-Pretty good at enchanting stuff and turning random ingredients into potions

-He is the WORST cook because he cooks like he enchants

-Actually can use restoration but is too busy annihilating stuff with chain lightning for it to come up often

-Gets Dawnbreaker unintentionally after he can’t stand Meridia screaming in his ear about the beacon

-Does not care to look for his deadbeat dad (he’s not Gon)

-Stops using summons for a time because Kai does not like them

Kai

Race: Nord

Patron deity: Akatosh

Home: Highrock

Birthstone: Atronach

Main Skills: One-Handed, Heavy Armor, Block

Backstory: He came from a noble family and his parents died while he was young. He inherited their fortune and spent the rest of his childhood to become a knight. This is how he ends up meeting Aichi and saving him while he was a squire. After failing to save his lord he’s forced to leave Highrock in disgrace which leads to him searching for power. He ends up in Skyrim where he meets Ren and Tetsu. They adventure together as a party for a while before they all nearly get killed by a werewolf. Ren ended up contracting lycanthropy before they could cure him which led to him becoming a werewolf. After turning Ren became drunk off his new power and fought Kai. Kai ends up losing and leaves to get the strength to beat Ren. He ends up working for the Empire because they have money and assets he could use. He starts out by working for them as a mercenary. This leads to him becoming the Imperial Champion.

Notes:

-He doesn’t use any magic outside of enchanted items

-Works out like Saitama

-Gets to the highest ranking in the Imperial Legion at 16

-Has spent most of his life fighting

-His most common travel companion is Miwa

-Is very good at hand to hand combat

-Dual wields Dawnfang and Duskfang as his main weapons

-Collects enchanted items

-Researches how to reverse lycanthropy

-Has as much unique enchanted items as your average Dragonborn character

-Learned how to use dragon shouts from the Greybeards

-Vehemently hates anything that has to do with the Daedra especially werewolves

Misaki

Race: Imperial

Patron deity: Akatosh

Home: Skyrim, Whiterun

Birthstone: Shadow

Main Skills: Archery, Sneak, Illusion

Backstory: Very similar to the anime but instead of a card shop her parents store is a small blacksmith shop. She works at the store mostly and tests the weapons they make. This leads to her being very proficient in almost every weapon type. She often reads about different kinds of weapons so she can keep the shop afloat with strong weapons and armor.

Notes:

-Can make crossbows and uses one as her main weapon

-When she can’t rely on stealth she has powerful elemental magic bolts to fire from her crossbow

-Mostly prefers to just deal with enemies stealthy

-Can drink everyone under the table

-If she’s not at the shop or in a party with Aichi she’s at a tavern

-Is the most powerful brawler in the entirety of Whiterun

-Drinking buddies with Uthgerd

-Sometimes helps out Hulda

-Has beaten Mikael to a pulp many times

-Knows that Shin is secretly a member of the Blades

Kamui

Race: Orc

Patron deity: Malacath

Home: Skyrim, Largashbur

Birthstone: Warrior

Main Skills: Two-handed, Heavy Armor, Block

Backstory: Same as the anime😅.

Notes:

-Considered a runt of an orc

-Can lift more than any of the other Q4 members combined (but Aichi isn’t really contributing at all)

-Good at appraising weapons and helping around the forge

-He made the armor he wears at the beginning

-Doesn’t use magic at all

-Breaks open locks with brute force because screw lock picking

-Is the one who often gets the squad spotted if they’re being stealthy

-Starts out very prejudiced but much like Sokka with his misogyny gets it beaten out of him (basically he thinks that the other races are weaker than orcs and gets that view absolutely shattered when the Breton twink Aichi destroys three necromancers and an army of zombies while he was getting his ass kicked) after getting his butt kicked he gets much better

-Arrogant as fuck because it’s Kamui

Ren

Race: Imperial, Werewolf

Patron deity: Hircine

Home: Skyrim, Ivarstead

Birthstone: Ritual

Main Skills: Conjuration, Two-Handed, Destruction

Backstory: Explained mostly in Kai’s but before that he helped his family on their farm. His dad wanted him to stay on the farm to work and disapproved heavily with his dreams to become an adventurer. He lived with only his dad because his mom died from a plague. After meeting Kai he quickly ends up idolizing him. While screwing around with conjuration early on he nearly got his soul snatched by a Daedra until Tetsu and Kai prevented it. After becoming a werewolf he quickly becomes self absorbed in the power he’s gained. He ended up later killing his father and left to form Asteroid with Tetsu. They adventures around many parts of Tamriel to gain members with many of which having abandoned their humanity in some way. The group is very high on the list of targets for the Vigilant of Stendarr, Dawnguard, and Silverhand. Asteroid is basically a dark guild in this version.

Notes:

-Has done the bidding of Daedric princes in search of power

-Gathered many Daedric artifacts

-Is basically Damien from the Vampire Diaries because that’s how I imagine Ren as something like a werewolf or vampire

-Turns people for shits and giggles

-Has entered Apocrypha

-Is searching for the secret to becoming a lich so he can have perfect immortality and everlasting power after that he wants to find a way to become part every were-thing and vampire

-Has delved into a lot of necromancy and use his victims he eats for his magic

-Carries around Umbra which just makes him crazier

-He is a werewolf lord

-Can summon legions of undead and Daedra

-Turns Aichi into a werewolf to be petty and piss off Kai

Asaka

Race: Dark Elf, Vampire

Patron deity: Molag Bal

Home: Skyrim, Dawnstar

Birthstone: Serpent

Main Skills: Illusion, One-Handed, Restoration (poison skills)

Backstory: She was hunted by her own family after she ended up being turned into a vampire unintentionally. After that she ended up surviving and getting by acting as a hired assassin relying on her vampire powers entirely at first until she eventually became very competent at killing even without it. Ren took her in and accepted her which led to her falling madly in love with him. She’s his personal go to assassin when he wants someone dead and doesn’t feel like killing them himself.

Notes:

-Very proficient at poison magic, blood magic and alchemy

-Often uses magic for her assassinations

-Not actually very great at a straight up fight since she’s an assassin after all

-She gets better at it when she becomes a vampire lord much later on

-Very deadly with prep time

-Battling her is a lot like battling Medea from Fate

-Competitive with the Dark Brotherhood and often tries to upstage them

-Extremely famous in name but not many people know her face

Tetsu

Race: Nord, Werebear

Patron deity: Hermaeus Mora

Home: Skyrim, Ivarstead

Birthstone: Lady

Main Skills: Two-Handed, Heavy Armor, Enchanting

Backstory: Ren’s childhood friend with much of his being explained in Kai’s and Ren’s. He ends up becoming a werebear after they make a trip to Solstiem and becomes interested in studying them. He is the lead researcher on trying to find out the secrets of lichdom and becoming a hybrid. In battle he’s an absolute tank especially as a werebear.

Notes:

-Has lots of research faculties guarded by Ren’s undead and Asteroid members

-Has captured many werebeasts to study

-Only uses his magic for research since he prefers using his brute strength when fighting

-Wields a massive warhammer or sometimes just punches people’s heads off

-The most jacked of the villain group

-Has visited Apocrypha

Kyou

Race: Argonian, Werealligator

Patron deity: Sithis

Home: Black Marsh

Birthstone: Thief

Main Skills: Destruction, Light Armor, Sneak

Backstory: Honestly he just wants the smoke.

Notes:

-Often uses magic or dual axes

-Uses darkness and mixed elemental magics

-He can create deadly combo spells

-Either sneakily kills you or runs in and annihilates you with a fire ball depending on his mood

-Got thrown out of the College of Winterhold

-Throws around the explosive spiders from Solstheim

Naoki

Race: Nord

Patron deity: Talos

Home: Skyrim, Rorikstread

Birthstone: Apprentice

Main Skills: Destruction, Light Armor, Alteration

Backstory: Very similar to the anime but he ends up attending the college because he’s bored. He’s very shook when Aichi ends up attending. At first he’s very standoffish with him which leads to him not getting involved with the story till later. After Aichi is more confident he ends up befriending Naoki after wowing him with how cool he is.

Notes:

-A fire elemental brawler

-Later he learns Khajiit martial arts

-Often uses a powerful fire cloak for armor

-Very agile fighter who hits hard

-Gets enchanted brass knuckles to use as weapons

-His brother goes to the school and is a very talented mage

-Has teleportation to make himself faster

-Very bad at alchemy and enchanting

-He’s best at the offensive magics

-Wants to upstage his brother, Shingo, and especially Raika (because he’s an ass)

-Becomes reluctant study buddies with Shingo after Aichi leaves to adventure

-Saves Shingo from getting himself killed in shady experiments

Shingo

Race: Argonian

Patron deity: The Hist

Home: Black Marsh

Birthstone: Steed

Main Skills: Enchanting, Alteration, Illusion

Summary: Just goes to the College of Winterhold and is himself.

Notes:

-Sucks at offensive magic

-Good at all of the non-offensive magic

-Spends most of his time in the college library

-Is quite pretentious towards Aichi at first until Aichi returns as an absolute gigachad

-Despite that they do hang out a bit as they are both massive bookworms

-Does a lot of chores for Urag

-Gets involved in a few shady experiments which almost gets him killed

Yu-yu

Race: Dark Elf

Patron deity: Azura

Home: Morrowind, Solstiem

Birthstone: Lady

Main Skills: Destruction, Light Armor, Restoration

Backstory: He’s a member of Blackout which is a (gang of misfits) mercenary guild created by Danji. It’s quite the oddity in Morrowind especially since it embraces a diversity of species and people being open to be their truest selves. Their guild is very much the Fairy Tail of the guilds being super powerful, destructive, big on the power of friendship and family. They’re looked at as pariahs in Morrowind and are often the butt of jokes along with getting low pay. However, they have each other so they just say screw it to everyone else. Him and Blackout were cornered and nearly completely wiped out by Miraak’s cultists after discovering their schemes and trying to stop them. He was forced into a boat by Megumi to save him which ended up crashing due to a spell from the Miraak cultists damaging the boat. This leaves him alone, half dead, and uncertain of the fates of his friends. His goal is ultimately to recover his strength, find his friends, and get strong enough to stop Miraak. He comes into the story a bit later through entering the College of Winterhold.

Notes:

-An amazing fire mage

-A complete glass cannon

-Unfortunately for him very obvious about Skyrim things and has to get used to it

-Pisses off Raika by existing in his general vicinity

-Instantly gets on the shit list of the Thalmor as he opposes Ancano

-Has already been through his season 1 so he’s actually pretty strong

-Becomes great friends with Aichi and co when they meet

-Together him and Aichi beat the shit out of Ancano

-Looking for his friends

-A pure mage

-Becomes a werevulture of some point

Raika

Race: High Elf

Patron deity: Auriel

Home: Summerset Isles

Birthstone: Apprentice

Main Skills: Destruction, Alteration, Conjuration

Backstory: Also similar to the anime but fantasy.

-Is the top student at the College of Winterhold and a favorite to become the Archmage

-A master of every form of magic

-The local edgy jerk

-Ends up pissing off Naoki, Shingo, and Yu-yu

-Can conjure a dragon

-Mostly uses conjuration (focused on the summons) and destruction

-The Thalmor like him because he makes high elves look good but he’s not actually a part of their group

Story arcs (that I have thought up so far)

-Beginning quests (Kynareth quest, Meridia quest, and Necromancer quest)

-Team Asteroid

Involves Q4 battling the dark guild Asteroid who are the first major antagonists. They’re a group of people deriving power from the Daedra. Their ultimate goal is to gain everlasting power through lichdom. They have been destroying hunters of their kind and necromancers alike to find the knowledge they seek along with conducting unethical experiments on werebeasts. They mostly operate in the shadows where they have accrued a lot of wealth and power. After an unfortunate meeting between Q4 and Asteroid they come to blows leading to them aiming to stop Ren.

-Paladin arena

Aichi through a set of unfortunate events ends up in debt to a wealthy businessman named Takuto and is forced to compete in the arena in Windhelm to gain his freedom. There he ends up uncovering a conspiracy involving the mysterious traveler Leon.

-College of Winterhold

After being away for longer than he intended Aichi returns to Winterhold stronger than ever before. There he meets a new student named Yu-yu and they end up uncovering Ancano’s devious plans which leads to them facing off against him.

-Dawnguard

Out of the blue vampires are starting to populate at alarming rates and have become a serious threat to Skyrim. This leads to the Dawnguard going around recruiting everyone they can to fight. Aichi and co joins to stop the vampires but little do they know a former ally joins the vampires leading to them getting a massive foothold and nearly overtaking Skyrim. This leads to a bloody war against the undead.

-Dragonborn

After defeating vampire lords and crazed wizards Yu-yu finally intends to return to Solstiem with the squad to defeat Miraak.

-Vigilant

It’s the questline as is with the squad.

[hollers-and-holmes]

Enter the Players

At the mouth of the Valley they stood arrayed in splendor, the armament of Imladris, liveried in the blue of final dusk and emblazoned upon the breast with the mithril and white gems of the House of the Mariner. Their spear-tips burned beneath the eye of the sun like the high white spire of Caradhras. Their great grey destriers stood black in the mane and bold in the eye; they steamed and blew smoking breaths and packed the snow beneath their dark, feathered feet and waited, trembling, as if for war.

Princely at the vanguard rode the Master's radiant, mirrored sons. No helms they wore, but diadems of sapphire, and their armor was bright and burnished, and one in heraldry bore the standard of the Guard stood in his stirrup, and one carried slung beneath his arm an ivory horn set round with bands of silver.

Between them was Glorfindel, Glorfindel wreathed in gold, Glorfindel with the sunlight springing from his mail and warm upon the white drape of his cloak, West-illumined Glorfindel, Glorfindel with his eyes alit and jewel-fired as the snow, Glorfindel all but thrumming like a plucked string in the clear midwinter slant of Anor's rays.

Glorfindel with his head back, laughing.

It was this sound ringing down the river and not the clarion call of the horns that welcomed the High King of Arnor as he came across the Ford.

Valandil he was, Isildur's son, and long had he ruled in wisdom and in peace, and at last the hand of Time had come to thread his hair with silver, though it had not begun to stoop his back. Ever kind to his fathers, so it had been to him, and once again he rode in strength on the eve of Mettarë to feast in the house of his friend, and the friend of his father, Elrond Halfelven.

But as the King shipped into view up the bank of the Bruinen on his own high-headed steed, Glorfindel's laugh faded. He traded a quick look with the knight at his right hand, for the one upon the left was too pleased with his own jesting and with Glorfindel's answering merriment to have kept watch for whom they waited upon. Yet even he read quickly the change in bearing and when Glorfindel with a bare brush of his spur sent his stallion leaping for the river, his tandem consorts were a mere beat behind.

The Elves drove to a halt before the High King of Arnor, the feet of their horses spitting snow.

"Hail Valandil, Lord of the North!" rang out the clear voice of Glorfindel in the high tongue of the Elves and of the faithful men of Númenor. "With joy we have awaited your coming, but if you have met with trouble let us ride with you to allay it. Where now are your courtesans?"

With a wry twist of his brow Valandil glanced over his shoulder, not at all the princes and retainers of Annúminas, not at ladies splendid in their trimmings and furs, not at the burgeoning breadth of his entire joyous household spread out behind him beneath the banners of the King, come together as they did each year to join the Elves of Imladris in their Midwinter revelry.

Instead, as if he were no higher than a hamlet lord, the King of the North led only loyal Ronyondur his guard and footman, and a squire with a line of coursers at one hand and a string of hounds at the other, and at his near flank a stripling boy astride a neat bay palfrey, the King's own goshawk jessed and hooded upon his arm.

Valandil turned back to the Elves and smiled in the eyes and answered, "Peace, lord. No trouble with our party. Forgive me that I sent no word beforehand; I have indulged an old man's whims and wrecked a long tradition. We shall not flood the House with revelers this year. But still, I would that you would have us, if only for the hunt."

"More feasting to go round," laughed Glorfindel, now in unceremonious Sindarin, and swung down as the King did and met him and embraced him like a brother.

"Hail, my lords," the King said then to the sons of Elrond. A grin broke over his grave and noble face. "You look all kitted up for a good scrap."

"Always a merrier scrap alongside the Men of the West," returned the younger with a grin of his own. The elder gripped the proffered arm and smiled and said nothing, but his eyes were narrow with laughter unloosed.

"Ronyondur you know," the King said next, as the Man behind him dipped his head in stately greeting, "who would not let an old fool wander on his own in the woods. Tiuco is his good squire."

"And this one," said Glorfindel, from where he had crossed to stand at the shoulder of the bay mare. He lay his gauntleted hand upon her black mane at the withers, the youngster astride her somewhat wide in the eye. "A wild man you found in the woods somewhere?"

"Arantar's boy," the King said, and his voice had warmed and lowered with love. "At last we have him again, up from Osgiliath. Tarcil, my lad. Here is Glorfindel, General of Imladris, and the lords Elladan and Elrohir, Elrond's sons. Greet them: they are my friends and stoutest allies, and may the One be kind, they shall be yours as well."

"Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo," murmured the boy, and then beamed like a lighthouse when the lord of grander ages reached up to clasp his forearm as if he were a man grown.

Several years ago I wrote a midwintery/Christmas gift story for my dear Hollers, and posted it over on ff.net, may it rest in peace. Because it’s looking like I’m going to get approximately zilchteen Christmas gift fics written this year, I’m gonna throw that thing up here for festivity’s/posterity’s sake as I repost it to the Archive. It’s about boar hunting, because Sword in the Stone is my favorite book, doncha know. When it’s not Peace Like a River.

[aurelion-solar]

Cithria of Cloudfield - Vanguard Squire - Cithria the Bold - Cithria, Lady of Clouds Legends of Runeterra Card Art

[snowybunnfriend]

also made some skitarii vanguard the other day, the ranger bits are being scrapped for more squires

[livdraws03]

Behold, pencil squire hamusuke. Seriously this has got to be my favorite card design in all of vanguard. Look at this boi.

[lesbianhanguangjunji]

reading other fantasy has just really hammered home the fact that anti-renly nerds have never once stepped outside stannis's asshole to experience a larger world and that's sad

[harmaahukka]

[warsofasoiaf]

I know that medieval armies didn't have a the most formal organization, but typically how was command broken down in the ranks? Like how many men did a Serjent command (if it was a thing), or did men in a retinue really only follow "their" lords command? I get that I'm asking a pretty broad topic here, so to narrow it down maybe 12 or 13th century would be easier (and more likely to have sources I guess).

Here's a list of roughly how many soldiers would be in a lord's command from around 1300-1380 in England.

A conroi of knights was roughly ten or so, mostly by free association, while a mesnie was the household retainers, these were both smaller and informal, where only one degree of command was needed - the retainer or the senior knight. When things got a little more formalized, that's when you started to see the lance fournies which could range depending on country and era. The Burgundian three-man lance had a man-at-arms, a lower-ranking coutilier, and a valet, and that was reorganized into the nine-man lance in 1471: man-at-arms, coutilier, page, three mounted archers, three footmen with pike, crossbow, and arquebus. In Brittany, the three-man structure was formal, but various men would supplement with juzarmier pole-weapon soldiers and archers. The French lance fournies could be the man-at-arms heavy cavalry soldier complete with squire, the coutilier light cavalry soldier, two or three archers. The analogous Polish kopia would be similar, anywhere from a three-man team of knight, lower-ranked soldier, and squire to a twelve-man squad of knight, squire, sergeant, archers, and footmen, with accompanying servants. These lances would be assembled into a battle, and those would vary wildly depending on how many noble officers were available and the size of the army. These would then be assembled into three guards, the vanguard, the middle guard, and rear guard.

The highly-organized and effectively commanded Mongols relied on a decimal system of organization, with their arban ten-man unit, a zuun of ten arban, a mingghan of ten zuun, and a tumen of ten mingghan. While multiple tumen (typically three) were organized on a campaign, in practice, the tumen was the typical theater unit, unsurprising since food and fodder for 10,000 is already difficult and so they send other tumen to other regions to complete objectives - and more frequently than not tumen were understaffed and understrength.

For your own writing, I'd suggest using either three, five, or ten depending on the era and personal preference - because they're small enough that you can do character work. But if you're looking for period accuracy, you'll have to vary up, because that's what they did back then - so it's a question of accuracy versus accessibility.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[docgold13]

365 DC Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

June 21st - Sir Ystin the Shining Knight 

Ystin heralds from a medieval Camelot of a different dimension.  This Camelot was being besieged by a hoard of demon-like creatures called The Sheeda. With the kingdom about to fall, Sir Galahad knighted a young squire named Ystin as part of a final stand against The Sheeda.  

Ystin managed to sneak into the Sheeda’s floating fortress to in order to steal back the sword Excalibur.   He did not realize that the Sheeda fortress exists in multiple dimensions and multiple timelines all at once.  Ystin succeeded in re-obtaining the mystical sword along with a winged horse name Vanguard; yet when he attempted to escape he arrived not in medieval Camelot but rather modern day Los Angeles, California.  

Ystin struggled to make sense of this strange new world while also evading a Sheeda agent dispatched to regain Excalibur.  He did not realize it at the time, but he was part of a secretive team of superheroes that was the second iteration of The Seven Soldiers of Victory.  These heroes work separately but in concert and by doing so were ultimately able to defeat the dreaded Sheeda. 

Marooned in the modern world, Ystin chose to use Vanguard and Excalibur to act as a superhero, battling supernatural threats.�� The Teen Titans attempted to recruit Ystin yet made the mistake of sending Kid Devil as their emissary.  Yestin mistook the horned hero as a demonic villain and attempted to slay him.  Kid Devil escaped and the Titans ultimately decided the young knight was likely not a good fit for their team.  

Some time later, Ystin was later made a member of The Demon Knights in their quest to discover Avalon and destroy the vampire known as Cain.  

Many have assumed that Ystin is a young man, while others have assumed he is was born assigned female yet identifies as male.  While he does prefer male pronouns, Ystin stated that he is intersex, possessing both male and female sexual characteristics.  He sees himself as neither man nor woman but rather both.  The hero first appeared in the pages of Seven Soldiers: Shining Knight #1 (2005).