knighteclipsed

[knighteclipsed]

Monthly Activity Check (May)

Status: Passed!

Skill Points Gained: Monthly Activity Point

Any +1 (Monthly Activity Point): Authority -> C+

Current Total: 52 points

Classes Accessed: N/A

Class Mastered: N/A

[knighteclipsed]

[ GARDEN ] - The Viscount has a greenhouse attached to his estate, hosting his collection of flowers both normal and enchanted, imported from a variety of places and modified by his own hands. Being unable to go outside in these conditions in any safety, this might be the next best thing.

After a while it almost began to feel rather...too quiet. The garden was so far separated from the rest of the party that it had been a reprieve for a moment, but Lyn looked up and noticed that the rain had faintly began to abate and there was nothing left but the darkness of the night sky and the roar of the ocean miles out.

Standing, she dusted off her skirts, intent on making her way back to the party -

"Ah! Apologies, I hadn't seen you there." The man was just...standing. Just standing.

He felt so similar, but in none of the ways that mattered. It took her a moment to place, and she still didn't feel confident in it, but her eyes steeled to meet his, and she inclined her head politely.

"If you're going back, I'll walk with you. You can even have my charm. It's a starfish."

He tilts his head in response; he could claim to not have noticed her, but he had. Valter simply chose to do nothing about it.

But now she is speaking to him directly, and that meant he was expected to respond. (He had come this way for quiet, and perhaps if he had distanced himself further, he might’ve properly had it.)

“ It’s fine, ” he replies tersely, eyes flicking back to the gardens. “ I’ll be out here for a while longer. ”

(Though, if she’s offering her starfish, perhaps his pearl would suffice to end the interaction.)

He takes one between his fingers and extends it to her. “ Here though, I suppose. ”

[knighteclipsed]

[ TOWEL ] - With everyone drenched, getting dry becomes a top priority for most. Perhaps offering something to dry someone else off with is just what you need to get closer to one another…

Mercedes approaches, towel held aloft and out from herself. Doting as she may be, she knows better than to attempt to dry off a stranger without warning. Though the gentleman before her is sopping wet, teal hair plastered across his face.

"Here you go, it's important to dry off before you catch a cold," Mercedes instructs him. For a moment she feels awkward, standing there with nothing to do, no way to make herself useful. "Ah, would you like a coffee, or perhaps some tea? I think we might have hot chocolate... or something stronger to warm you up from the inside!"

With a smile, she reaches out to the anchor charm on her bracelet, carefully plucking it off. She offers it to him, hand outstretched.

"Just in case you're collecting them. I'll be back with that drink in just a moment."

He should’ve recognized all the water weighing him down, but his outfit had been designed to resist the tropics to begin with; that, mixed with the fact that he, likened to the moon, had always had a penchant for the waters, meant that he hadn’t really thought much of drying off manually.

But he was a walking raincloud at present, hazarding puddles wherever he walked, and so the Moonstone recognizes that resistance is no reason to further be negligent.

And especially when we were given such excellent hospitality. (It makes him wonder if he should’ve given a more considerate gift to the heir.) Dripping an endless supply of water in their entry hall was, perhaps, one of the less kind things he’s done since arriving here, and thus: Valter accepts the towel. (As a courtesy to their hosts.)

The preliminary dry is simple enough, but he’s certain there’ll be water in his hair for the next couple hours at minimum—not a bother to him, but to others? (Actually, that gave him an excellent idea.) He has been asked a question. She is still here. He blinks.

“ …Tea is fine, ” he decides, perhaps the most palatable of the options considering water was… redundant. “ Just nothing too sweet. ” (He doesn’t really care for the specifics beyond that.)

It is then that an anchor is offered to him, and though he has little interest in gathering the things, it would be courteous enough to accept, would it not? He gives his own pearl in exchange.

“ Right, ” he replies. I suppose I’ll just wait here.

[knighteclipsed]

“Sir Valter? There you are!” It is the unmistakable tone of someone who has been looking for him all night, if mostly in passing crowds and suitably-moody-enough corners. The point is, she’s found him at last, and if the pitter patter of light steps approaching is anything — she considers this quite a good thing.

Hands come up to wave merrily at him, all wiggly-fingered and mirthful, but one hand is more stilted than the other. The reason is not so great a mystery: she has balanced a pearl charm between the tips of her middle and index fingers, and smiles all the wider when he sees it.

“Even the rain is pretty,” she comments idly, depositing the pearl into his care. He seems — much different from last year, at any rate, and presses him no further for conversation; only smiles warmly and lets silence fall however he wishes it to.

Ah, so it seems she had found him first. He had expected to encounter her in the sea of ballroom dancers and chit-chatters—this was the sort of thing that was more her style than his; it was only a surprise in that Valter expected that he would find the songbird first.

Nevertheless, an amusement flutters in his chest, furthered by the trick he is presented with when Maria finally arrives. A quirk of the lips as he smiles, a bit lopsided. “ So you found me, hm? Well done, Maria. ”

In return, he detaches the pearl from his necklace, emulating the presentation by extending it between two of his own fingers as well. (He has an easier way of it, the Moonstone presumes, given he had the assistance of gloves to steady the thing; but he wasn’t trying to one-up her with the gesture, so he doesn’t find it to be too much of an issue.)

He accepts the pearl, deftly exchanging it with his own—and then his eyes drift outwards, past the rain-covered windows, just dense enough to obscure the horizon but still light enough that each drop could still be focused on completely; and he nods, an almost thoughtful thing.

“ It is, ” he agrees, and now, the rain is louder than the music (to him, at least). Part of him wonders when he’d become a man who dwelled under the awning—where other people are—instead of within the eye, alone.

(He still is that person though, is he not? As though he was capable of change.) The thought garners a laugh, and so he turns to the passerine at his side with something akin to a smile—“ Well then, the night is almost over, ” he remarks, eye sparkling, “ No need to waste the rest of it with me. ”

(The rain continues to pour, but it fades into the background of the orchestra now.)

“ You have fun with the rest of your friends now, hm? ” Thank you, though, for spending time with me.

[knighteclipsed]

engagements.

As the rain continues to fall, drizzles unto dredges, one takes his time in the storm, only entering the ballroom when it has grown too hazardous not to.

“ Seems I have little other choice. ”

TRACKER.

Valter possesses the Pearl charm.

Charms Collected:

Seashell: Camilla Starfish: Lyn Anchor: Mercedes Turtle: L’Arachel Pearl: Maria, Forsyth

(Outfit + description underneath the cut.)

One of Valter's simpler formal fits; the entire look is designed to be water-resistant since the ball is near the ocean. That it would storm so badly wasn't exactly expected, but at least he isn't too terribly equipped for it.

The lowest layer is a long-sleeved swim shirt; above that is a swim shirt similar to the one he wore for Happyland, only that this one is a hue bluer; the lower draperies are attached to the belt, as are the chains attached his side. (Those chains are, perhaps, the only accessories not perfectly waterproof.) Boots are water-resistant, white gloves are worn over the sleeves, and his charm is worn as a necklace clearly visible to any onlookers. (That his hair tie matches is entirely coincidence.)

Relatedly, the tied-up look from last year returns! Somewhat. It's loose. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

[knighteclipsed]

🍪🍪🧃🧃"Here dear! An emergency pulled me away before I could pass out all my goodies at the mock battle. I hope the extras make up for the lateness!" Camilla smiles as she hands him a few juice boxes and cookie. "Congrats on making it through the battle! Do you plan on joining us at the ball?"

He blinks, a bit surprised that Camilla had not only found him, but that she’d been looking to begin with. (He knew the woman liked to make her rounds, but Valter had kept himself to the fringes of the whole event ever since he arrived, unannounced and unremarkable, tucked away beneath the awning below the heavier and heavier rain.) He blinks, and then he laughs, and just as suddenly as it begins, it stops—“ What, do you want me to join? ” (With a dangerous glimmer in his eye:) “ Perhaps we can begin by exchanging charms? ”

His was worn on the end of a necklace, a makeshift thing he put together when it was first given. Fingers twirl around the string, lifting the pearl up to the light—and just as quickly, it is snatched away, amusement fallen in exchange for a far duller mode of expression.

“ I’ll enter if I so decide. I’m not really interested in the whole trinket trading anyway. ” Not with you, at least. (After all, he still hated her; that they were at some sort of truce at present was wholly irrelevant.) If she needed his charm for whatever unlikely reason, there were countless others within the ballroom she could seek out instead.

Which left simply accepting her peace offering; that it requires (well, it doesn’t but Valter makes it so) him to maneuver his hands in such a particular way that each juice box is supported by at most two fingers each is entirely besides the point. (Why was he even given so many to begin with? The wyverness claimed it was the equivalent of a late fee, but to be quite frank, Valter didn’t care if he never received them at all.)

But he nods all the same. “ Thanks, I suppose. ”

[knighteclipsed]

The sky is different, he thinks, from such… domesticated heights. (He calls it that for lack of a better term, but what else could he describe it as, knowing it was not as high or fast as it would be under his own control?) They are taken for a practice flight, reminded of the basics and guided through every step, and Valter finds that when they were given permission to leave the ground, he and Cookie were the first to ascend, higher and higher into the sky.

…Within bounds, of course, and they were bounds he knew that Maria would obey (and therefore, so would he), but there is something about the experience that feels just a bit different. (He blames it on her size, the vastness of the world seeming so much greater when one is so much smaller, and with her compared to her wyvern, the difference is only further exacerbated.) She is a singular speck of red against the sea of brick and green.

It is different compared to the feeling that he gets in his own skin, but not really by that much. It still fills one’s lungs with openness. It still cuts one down to size. (He finds comfort, resting against Cookie’s neck, gazing out upon the world through half-lids, unfettered. It has been well over a decade since he first took to the skies.)

Landing comes simply, though it is only post-mortem that he realizes Maria may not be as skilled a rider as he. (He should have considered that sooner, what with him wearing her skin and all.) Valter decides that she’ll be able to play it off well enough. He gives Cookie an extra hug as the class comes to a close.

Medicine and finally faith. (Neither are too eventful, though they happen to be Valter’s weaker subjects of her schedule.) Nevertheless, he remains wide-eyed, attentive, and he plays the part of a  student who knows what she’s talking about when she is asked a question. (Thankfully, they are not too plentiful, and Maria’s peers handle the task rather well.)

It is then that the final bell tolls, and her things are gathered, the student wishing farewell before mixing in with the rest of the body. In the flow of people going every which way, it is easy for Maria to disappear entirely, treading where few were likely to see her. It is in this manner that Valter stalks his way back to his room, purpose and manner carefully controlled so as to seem completely benign.

He doesn’t knock, simply entering and closing the door behind him. He expects there to be a greater relief when the act finally falls.

But that wasn’t the point. Instead, red eyes drift up to find his own, and faced with his face again, Valter remembers a bit more clearly the strange predicament they had found themselves in. He elects to give his report.

“Your classes have been handled. Everything went well. I don’t suspect anyone caught on to my actions.” He pauses to formulate his next set of words, before continuing, “…How was your day?”

That was a way to ask it, he supposes. It was good enough, at least.

what my cover shows

One day, you find yourself waking up thoroughly sore, scraping yourself off the floor of a Monastery classroom. As you strain to remember how you wound up there, you catch sight of your hand – except it’s not yours. Nor are the clothes you now wear, or the body beneath them. Your actual self is standing opposite you, staring back in shock and… covered in dust? Before things spiral further, the professor attempts to quell the growing chorus of unrest with an explanation, which also serves to jog your memory. This was supposed to be a seminar showcasing the magical properties of a magic tool from Tellius known as Warp Powder. Unfortunately, its volatile nature lends itself to many potential side-effects if mishandled… one of which is ripping people’s souls out and depositing them into the nearest acceptable vessel. The unbothered professor assures everyone that this “minor inconvenience” will wear off on its own eventually, and that the Monastery will still be expecting the completion of your usual assignments and duties in the meantime. [Grants Any Weapon +1]

[knighteclipsed]

Monthly Activity Check (March-April)

Status: Passed! + Exempt! (Semi-Hiatus)

Skill Points Gained: Monthly Activity Point

Any +1 (Monthly Activity Point): Authority -> C (½)

Current Total: 51 points

Classes Accessed: N/A

Class Mastered: N/A

[knighteclipsed]

To her credit, the woman does end things quickly.

Actually, it is almost funny to him, because she could’ve chosen to close the distance first, don her blade, and take combat like so; but instead she takes her bow and arrow, and whilst in any other context such a choice would make sense, Valter owned a devil lance. (He knows what its siblings look like.)

So determined to beat me to it, hm?

It works out for her at least; with the damage wrought by her weapon, he imagines its hunger would’ve taken her as well—but it doesn’t, and she remains standing, and it appears the Lions, this time, have had a flawless run.

(How kind of the thing, no?)

Axe twirls in his grip again, the battle concluded and thus—it required no further usage here. Moonstone diverts his gaze to the rest of the field, likewise rather empty, and decides to try his luck finding one more skirmish to insert himself into.

With a dismissive wave of his free hand: “ I’m off. Farewell. ”

(Perhaps, if he was lucky, he might be able to find L’Arachel, assuming the name the girl had muttered and the princess he knew from Magvel were the same.)

no magic allowed.

Battle of the Eagle and Lion 2025: Round 3, Battle 23

[knighteclipsed]

Blue knight’s retaliation is nothing, gauntlets stained with a touch of magic but hardly enough to be severe. (Valter does not sense that they were meant to target magical resistance over physical defense; but there was something behind that attack that bleeds harder than it should’ve, he muses.)

It didn’t really matter either way to be quite honest.

“ One of the remorseful type, hm? Trying to get under my skin, I take it? ” (Moonstone smiles wider in return; because those people were always the weakest.) “ A good attempt, however— ”

(You see, Valter was the impatient sort, he’s noticed, spinning his axe in hand; it swings down on his opponent once more.)

Valter attacks Finn with Vengeance! [d20 Roll]: 12 + 4 = 16. Hit! Finn HP: 0/6

“ —I don’t care. ” (Another twirl of the axe, shaking off the blood.) He turns his attention to the girl remaining, but like an afterthought, he adds:

“ Go be pathetic in the medical tents. ”

no magic allowed.

Battle of the Eagle and Lion 2025: Round 3, Battle 23

[knighteclipsed]

The crowd is thinning; with every minute that passed, less and less of both allies and enemies stood—which could only mean that the Battle of the Eagle and Lion was soon to come to a close.

Dissatisfactory, Valter decides, because this was the longest he’d remained standing, but he’d only had one proper battle (and he had stood through it with Griss of all people; a terrible ending, truly). He had joined the Lions because he wanted to fight on a team where his assistance was required for victory; and instead, he’s survived the initial conflict and scavenged an admittedly rather nice axe from its place amidst the grasses. A glance about to find other Lions to steal to combat with.

He sees people in the distance—it is a small battle, but it is active—between one of his own and two of his sworn enemies; perfect. Wyverneer darts over, new and shiny axe in hand, and aims for the Deer donning a shield.

Valter attacks Finn with Vengeance (Helm Splitter)! [d20 Roll]: 9 + 8 = 17. Hit! Finn HP: 1.5/6

It is, perhaps, the loudest entrance he could’ve made, clattering steel against steel like so; but he looks at the damage the one swing had done—against an armored, no less—and he finds within himself a growing fondness for the axe.

“ You, ” he snaps to the allied swordswoman (or archer; or whatever it is she fashions). “ Now that I am here, your victory is secured. ”

And to the Deer he had chosen to claw into first:

“ Likewise, your defeat has become inevitable. ”

well then, @livingrief ?

no magic allowed.

Battle of the Eagle and Lion 2025: Round 3, Battle 23

[knighteclipsed]

The eagle’s ‘death’ is far from real, but the little one’s response to it borders close to such—a dangerous behavior to have, Valter thinks, because if that is how you react in the context of a mock battle, how open would you leave yourself on the field of a real war?

(Such people were already dead.)

—or maybe it was some intentional form of distraction, because whilst she plays her grief, a swarm of insects falls from the sky, completely disarming the pale (the soulless, so Moonstone thinks) of the Lions, rendering them unable to continue.

(Given how the girl then takes credit for the cleverness of the act, Valter presumes that it was, in actuality, not intentional at all.)

That doesn’t stop Griss from crawling up to his side however (to avoid the swarm of bugs, no doubt, but that did not make his company any more pleasant). Moonstone hums some mixture of annoyance and agreement before replying:

“ I was thinking much the same. ”

(And so he pounces.)

Valter rotates the Blue Lions to the right!

Versus Villain Squad

TOA BOEL 2025 | Round 1 Battle 4

[knighteclipsed]

He doesn’t wait. (He was never patient to begin with.) After all, might and momentum are lost if one does not spend them, and Valter stood with one foot in the ground, axe primed and ready, already bringing it down; patience killed, so why would he ever exercise it?

Valter attacks Petra with Iron Axe! [d20 Roll]: 15 + 4 = 19. Hit! Petra HP: 0/6

It requires, as he’s calculated, only a second swing—and axe and lance would be equally effective, but here it is overboard (and to be quite frank, he liked that). Where his preferred blade would’ve been just sufficient, dashing out the last remnants of hope with the perfect amount of damage, here, there is no chance; from the moment the weapon was raised, his victory was secured.

Next.

“ You, ” he calls, and it could only be to the child who still yet stood. Axe spins a graceful twirl, ending in her direction. “ You’re next. ”

Versus Villain Squad

TOA BOEL 2025 | Round 1 Battle 4

[knighteclipsed]

That Griss immediately throws himself at the stalemate comes as no surprise to Valter—it just seemed to be the mage’s disposition, consistent with every interaction Moonstone had had the misfortune to share with him—and as such, he pays the other little mind (making no motion to follow), instead spinning his axe to point at the huntress the other had left behind.

(Axe had been focused on another then, but she was no longer lucky enough for that kindness.)

“ Now then, ” (and his eyes are sharp, focused on the bird), “ you were the one who shot me, yes? ”

Valter attacks Petra with Iron Axe! [d20 Roll]: 4 + 4 = 8. Hit! Petra HP: 1.5/6HP

He already knows the answer. (After all, none other of their foes wielded a bow in any capacity.) The question is then a courtesy—or perhaps, more aptly, a warning.

I see you now, and you will not escape.

He dives, axe swinging in close quarters because that is what the weapon requires, and indeed, the damage is more, he notes, than if he had used a lance of a similar make. (Two slashes from either would be equally sufficient, he presumes, but the consequences of the first are far greater for the barbarian’s weapon of choice.)

The corner of his lips twitches upwards in the shape of a crooked smile; rearing his axe for another strike—

“ Would you like to try that again? ”

look alive! ( or not ) ( @twistedisciple , @stellalimned , @mahalikha , @tomestudyholic )

Versus Villain Squad

TOA BOEL 2025 | Round 1 Battle 4

[knighteclipsed]

So what had gone wrong? (You have less reach than you are accustomed to; you are dealing with a heavier weight; your method is different, and you must act accordingly.)

Fine then. (Adjust.) The motion of his last swing is not entirely lost by the time he resituates himself; and so he takes that speed, that force, that momentum, and spins it into the start of his next strike—same target, smarter might.

(That he takes an arrow sharp to his arm does not dissuade him in the slightest—not when Griss manages to bleed blue first.)

Valter attacks Fiora with Iron Axe! [d20 Roll]: 10 + 4 = 14. Hit! Fiora HP: 0/5

“ Kneel. ”

(Eyes up.) One down, two left. White mage seems engrossed in combat with the quieter of Valter’s allies—one that carries themself with a similar eeriness to his late Emperor, if he might interlude—and in registering late the words of their exchange, Valter recognizes that, perhaps, he is the most normal individual on his team.

Which, normally, would not be a good thing, but strange individuals strike more interesting combat, do they not? (That doesn’t stop him from still disliking them, but he dislikes most of his allies, so that means very little.)

The battle continues.

are you guys proud of him? ( @twistedisciple @stellalimned ) [my condolences to the retreated and their allies ( @wingboundwarrior @mahalikha @tomestudyholic ) ]

Versus Villain Squad

TOA BOEL 2025 | Round 1 Battle 4

[knighteclipsed]

Valter stepped upon Gronder Field considering himself to be a new man.

Which is to say, in light of recent events (and even more recent mischief), he had decided to himself that, when the great mock battle next came, he would be decidedly less violent than he usually was (unheard of, he knows!), and would instead focus his efforts on more tactical weaponry; the sort that required more focus.

He twirls in his fingers an axe.

—the brute’s weapon, as he might note, which was why it was oft wielded so ineffectively. (Nevermind that Duessel had managed to solve the thing; he was different; he knew how to manage vice.) For years, he had walked the monastery’s halls unable to certify in wyvernry not for his flying skill, but for his axe—and so, today, he would change! He would learn the axe, and he would make people suffer for it—as he was wont to do. (So perhaps he wasn’t that changed, really.)

Valter attacks Fiora with Iron Axe! [d20 Roll]: 2 + 4 = 6. Miss! Fiora HP: 5/5

Moonstone had practiced the thing beforehand, but there is something about old habits that has him treat it, for a moment, like a lance, and it allows little blue to duck away with ease—do not seethe, Moonstone, for the purpose of this act is to solve. (Nevermind that he was already feeling agitation from his recognition of his fellow mage; and then there was that annoying little rabbit from the mansion—he ought to strike her next.)

Either that, or he follows where the blood spills. (Both were equally appealing.)

the hat is helping no one guys ( @twistedisciple @stellalimned ) except the enemies i guess??? ( @mahalikha @wingboundwarrior @tomestudyholic )

Versus Villain Squad

TOA BOEL 2025 | Round 1 Battle 4

[knighteclipsed]

Monthly Activity Check (February)

Status: Passed!

Skill Points Gained: Monthly Activity Point, Lance (Mission Board)

Any +1 (Monthly Activity Point): Heavy Armor -> B Lance +1 (Thread: defense preparations): Lance -> A (⅓)

Current Total: 50 points

Classes Accessed: Fortress Knight

Class Mastered: N/A