Demigods : Version 3.0 { Closed, Started }

[Yumi_and_Erea]

Spoiler: Nina Derwal

Name: Nina Derwal.

Age: 22.

Sex: Female, and exclusively with females.

Appearance: Nina's skin is best compared to a good bar of dark, Belgian chocolate: same colour, same smoothness, same pleasant smell (though if you notice that last one, good on ya). She has short, black hair that has a bad habit of falling in front of her face, and slightly grey-ish green eyes. She has some meat on the bones but she's still justified in punching your face in if you call her fat. She stands at 5'11", and she's a B-cup.

Nina's fashion-sense is... odd. She tends to wear a dark green leather vest under a long grey coat that looks like a labcoat if someone spent a few hours dragging it through the ashes of a fireplace. The sleeves thereof are covered with a pair of simple Celestial Bronze bracers. She also wears a knee-length purple velvet skirt and a ratty old pair of sneekers.

Like I said: odd.

Personality: Nina's the best kind of medic: the kind you can trust. She's a very kind woman who always hears you out and can't hurt someone's feelings without hurting her own too. She's very sociable, but also a little meek: she doesn't stand up for herself very well and part of her success in socializing is giving in to people's demands. The one area of exception is when it comes to medical matters: if you're in Nina's care, you fucking listen to what she tells you. And if you don't, she'll find some way of restraining you until you're properly healed. There's no such thing as 'walking it off' with Nina around.

Beyond that, Nina is lighthearted and fun-loving if a little absent-minded. It's not uncommon to see her walking into doors while reading up on magical poisons and whatnot.

Divine Parent: Apollo, god of healing (and a million other things, but also healing).

Demigod Abilities: All innuendo aside: Nina has magic hands. Touching a wound with her left hand will slowly magically heal that wound, within reason. Most cuts, gashes, bruises and sprains she can heal within about a minute, provided she is allowed to concentrate. Stabwounds, large cleaves and broken bones are a different story, though. She can't actually heal those, but she can stabilize them until they can be treated with actual medicine (which Nina knows a fair bit about, but hasn't formally studied). She can't break down poisons (magical or otherwise) but she can suppress their effects so long as she's touching with that hand.

Her right hand does absolutely none of those things. It does, however, do one thing the left one doesn't: relieve pain. If Nina heals someone without adding her right hand into the mix, they'll be just fine physically but it is still going to hurt like a ************. This pain-suppression is actually a little more powerful than her healing: so long as she has her hand directly on you, anything short of partial impalement isn't really going to register. (Note: this power can't get people high. It's a painkiller, not an opioid) If she touches you only briefly then a painkilling effect will linger in the part she touched for about 20 minutes, but it won't be as powerful as when she actually maintains contact. Nina frequently uses this power to help folks with migraines, stubbed toes, periods, and plans for imminent sexual experimentation.

Weapons and Wargear: One Celestial Bronze tomahawk. Nina is pretty good at throwing this one, but she prefers to hang on to it for hand-to-hand combat. The only armor she carries are a pair of CB bracers on her forearms.

Enchanted Items: The buckle on Nina's belt can be activated to generate a bubble-shield about 6 feet across, to allow Nina to heal a patient in relative safety. The shield protects fully against non-magical threats and moderately against magical ones: it can withstand a couple of good magical blows but sustained damage or 'finishing move'-level attacks (for lack of a better word) will break through. If left unattended the shield will break down after 2 minutes and either way, Nina needs a full hour before she can use this power again. Friendlies can only enter the shield if Nina can see them and allows it.

Biography: Nina's family was originally from Spa, Belgium. She spent most of her formative years mountaineering in the Ardennes and reading. She was always enamored with fantasy and sci-fi, and to this day she enjoys some good escapist fiction.

Her parents (biological mother, father by marriage) ran a local restaurant and for a long time Nina imagined she would follow in her footsteps. She was never much of a chef but the logistics and management came to her like nail-biting to a tween on her first date. One day, when she was 15, Nina's father slipped on the wet kitchen-floor... while holding a knife. He cut himself along his forearm, not very deep but bleeding profusely. Nina rushed over to help him while her mother tried to call a doctor, but then something strange happened: her father stopped crying. His face became contented, and before Nina's very eyes she could see the cut stop bleeding. Then, even more bizarrely, the cut actually seemed to get smaller. Bit by bit, as her mother slowly brought the phone back down, the cut seemed to close itself. After a minute or two, there was no evidence the cut had ever been there, besides the blood on Nina's arm.

Nobody really knew what to make of it but the call of "WAITRESS!" coming from the restaurant put them all right back to work. At the end of the day, however, Nina couldn't think of anything else. Her parents wouldn't say anything to her, but she could tell it was on their minds as well. She decided to go for a late-night walk, as she was prone to do. She would probably have walked on all night lost in thought, had she not walked into a centaur.

Standing beside the centaur was Adrian Lanister of Camp Halfblood, but the centaur was kind of occupying most of Nina's thoughts. After she recovered from the shock though, an explanation was in order, and Nina had most of her mind blown that night. She actually wasn't very skeptical: her love of fantasy went a long way towards turning the situation from "Holy shit!" to "Holy shit! Awesome!". She was told that there were others like her and a place for her too. When she found out it was in the States, though, there was a pause for thought. How would she go about that? After Adrian finished his exposition, Nina asked if they could do this same thing again tomorrow, but with her parents present. The next morning, two more minds were blown.

Fortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Derwal (Remco and Yvonne, respectively) were the open-minded type (either that or just scared of the 7-foot centaur but let's give them the benefit of the doubt here) and after a few weeks of consideration, they let her go to Camp Halfblood. To say it was a whole new world was an understatement.

Nina began to study both magic and medicine, though despite her best efforts she could never get any kind of university education for that last one. She picked up the tomahawk, and threw it hard into a tree (the Demeter cabin was not happy with that). Uncontrolled by her parents, she developed her own fashion sense (and got more than a few questioning looks for her trouble). She made friends, though a lot of people didn't take very kindly to her habit of reading everywhere she went.

She also found that she rather enjoyed being a medic. While there was nothing pleasant about the sight of people being hurt, healing them and relieving their pain was a very personal way for her to bond with them. For the first time in her life she felt like she was actually making an important, tangible contribution to the world around her.

To Nina's surprise, however, her parents actually moved over shortly after she did, setting up a waffle-house (because sometimes stereotypes make for good marketing) in Conneticut. For the first few years at camp, Nina would go home to them during the summer months and Christmas, but for the past 3 years she has been attending the camp year-round, occasionally visiting her parents but otherwise a firm fixture at the camp.

You'll never get her to admit it, but a big part of her motivation for staying is Jess. Jess had come to the camp a mere year after Nina had and it didn't take Nina very long to figure out she was attracted to her. Unfortunately, Nina is rather inexperienced when it comes to romance, and has thus always lacked the confidence to confess her feelings. Seeing Jess always brightens her day and she occasionally steals a quick glance from behind her books if she sees Jess walking past. Maybe someday, she'll work up the courage to confess how she feels. But in the meantime, those glances are enough.

Nina is among the oldest Apollo children at the camp. While officially she isn't the cabin leader, the actual leader does frequently go to her for advice due to her age and experience. She's not sure yet what the future will bring, but for now the prospect of hanging around camp as a healer doesn't seem too bad. At least so long as Jess is around.

Notes:
- Nina is not a very good drunk. While she's fond of many different kinds of alcohol, she can't handle very much of it before getting hammered and subsequently passing out.

- Nina speaks fluent English, but her Belgian upbringing has rendered her fluent in Dutch too. She was also taught French in school, but it is significantly more rusty and choppy than the other two.

- Nina has a slight Belgian accent (if you've never heard one, imagine a softer, less pronounced version of a French accent, mixed with some Old English). Her years of speaking exclusively English at the camp have made it more subtle over time, but you can still hear it.

 

[CounterAttack]

[HEADING=2]General Announcement #3:[/HEADING]​

This is a friendly reminder to all potential participants that there are roughly eight days left to submit character sheets, or make desired changes to existing characters. In addition, I provide below some summaries of non-player characters that will be seen around the camp.

Spoiler: Summaries of Camp Staff

Chiron

Chiron is a centaur, the same Chiron from the Greek myths. Since the gods granted his wish to be a teacher of heroes for as long as he was needed, he has guided demigods throughout the millennia, acting as mentor, counselor, confidant, and more besides. Chiron oversees almost every facet of camp life, handling many disputes himself if another staff member cannot take command of the situation.

Ea

The camp's historian and librarian, Ea maintains the camp's Hall of Heroes, the building dedicated to those demigods who pass on from this life. Whether their death be one of honour or tragedy, Ea ensures they are never forgotten. She also takes care of managing the camp's contact with the outside world.

Narissa Delaque

Twenty-four-year-old Narissa Delaque is an ordinary human with extraordinary talents. She has the gift of clear vision, meaning that she is able to perceive the real world instead of having her senses dulled by the Mist. In addition, as the current Delphic Oracle, Narissa can see into the future... though not on demand. Narissa's future sight takes the form of brief glimpses of short-term events, and recited prophecies that deal with the long-term.

Matthew Delacroix

Matthew Delacroix is a master of close combat. Be it with a blade, spear, staff or his fists alone he will take on almost any fight, even if the numbers are against him, and emerge victorious. He passes on his teachings to most demigods, and leads the camp in defense when it is attacked.

A popular story at Camp Half-Blood (often told to new recruits) claims that Matthew bested one of the gods in a swordfight. The story changes depending on who is telling it: many will claim that he defeated Ares, god of war, while the residents of Cabin Five will contradict this, saying that he outfought Lady Athena. When asked about this, Matthew often laughs and dismisses the tale.

Ruby Lee

The camp's human expert on ranged warfare, hunting and tracking, Ruby is a daughter of Apollo and extremely skilled in the use of the bow and crossbow. She has been known to weave her acrobatic talents into forestry: by the time you see an arrow sticking out of a target, Ruby will have moved from her position to launch her next shot.

Ruby makes extensive use of specialised arrows and bolts: some are set with explosives to detonate on impact, others split and diverge mid-flight to strike multiple targets, and some can pass straight through the first target to strike a second or even third.

Lucas Dugan

Give Lucas Dugan a piece of metal and he will shape it into absolutely anything he pleases. The Forgemaster is second to none in the art of smithing and metalworking. Magic is seamlessly worked into his technological designs: when working, he sometimes abandons tools altogether, bending the available resources to his will with naught but hand and mind.

Adrian Lannister

The Seeker of the Unclaimed uses means both magical and technological to seek out demigods who have no knowledge of their divine parentage. Adrian Lannister, son of Hermes, travels across both the USA and the world to meet these children and show them what they are capable of.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

Spoiler: Dorofei Denikin

Name: Dorofei Denikin
Age: 22
Sex: Male
Appearance: Dorofei is a massive, imposing figure. He stands at 6ft 6in and weighs 280lbs. He is a very large mound of Russian muscle, preferring mass and bulk over definition.
He keeps his long black hair knotted behind him in a long braid when in combat or on missions. Around camp, his hair is unkempt and messy. He is always seen wearing the kind of survival gear one might take with them on an extended camping trip. It?s become a running joke among campers that he only owns one set of clothes. He actually does own a suit, he just never has found a reason to get dressed.

Personality: He looks like he?s always on edge; either about to run for his life or pounce and go for the jugular. He?s a little on the jumpy side; a side-effect of spending years out in the wild by himself. He?s polite and soft-spoken, something that surprises most who see him for the first time, due to his large size. He tends to speak using mostly non-verbal signals, not having much use for language over the last few years. Since arriving to camp, he?s been trying to work on being more vocal. He usually has trouble asking for help in most situations. If it?s something he can?t do himself, he figures out a way around it.

Divine Parent: Chione, Goddess of the Snow

Demigod Abilities: Being the son of Chione, he has Control over ice and the ability to freeze fresh water. He can also project ice off of any item he?s in contact with, but only in limited amounts, so don?t expect him to make an infinite slide of ice. It?s only as strong as ice is normally.
He can also create very powerful Magic Ice, provided he has an enchanted item to project the ice off of. the ice is magic and won?t melt under normal circumstances. It will only melt in the presence of magic fire from another God/Demigod, or a blast of Greek Fire.


Weapons and Wargear: Dorofei doesn?t keep any real weapons or armour on him. Instead, he prefers to create his weapons and armour out of Magic Ice. The ice is equal in strength to Celestial Bronze. He needs an enchanted item to project the Magical Ice off of, otherwise it?s only as strong as normal ice. His go-to weapon is a large War Axe, complimented with full body armor.



Enchanted Items: Dorofei carries a short shaft of Celestial Bronze that was enchanted by his mother. He can use it as a catalyst for projecting Magic Ice. Likewise, his clothing was also enchanted, not only as a catalyst, but the wearer is immune to the heat and cold.

Spoiler: In my mind, this bio is directed by Joss Wheadon

Biography: Dorofei?s father was an adventurer from Yakutsk, Russia, one of the coldest cities in the world. Large mining companies would employ him to scout up north for potential mining sites. Back before advanced scouting equipment was used to see deep underground, there was just Dorofei?s father, with some basic survival equipment, trying to find the best area in the wild for another mine. He thrived in the cold of the Arctic Circle, and was always willing to go further north than anyone else. It was this spirit and love of the cold that gained him favor with Chione. The fell in love, and soon had a son. Times didn?t stay good for very long, as Chione?s father, Boreas (God of the North Wind) grew enraged over the thought of Chione having a child with a mortal. Chione returned to Olympus, in an attempt to spare her love and her child. It worked for a few years, and Dorofei had a peaceful childhood. Around his twelfth birthday, the monsters began finding him. Dorofei?s father could handle the smaller monsters at first, but soon larger monsters came. The assaults were constant, and soon the only option to Dofofei?s father was to flee their home. They fled north, off into the cold and the wild.
Like all smart Russians, Dorofei?s father knew how to use General Winter to us advantage. Only the hardiest and most powerful monsters could even venture far enough north to track Dorofei; most simple froze to death on their way. For four years, Dorofei?s father taught him everything he could about surviving in the wild. Soon, he was an expert in his own right. He could track game and monsters alike, learned to hunt with a rifle and a bow, and knew by heart all the useful and edible vegetation. Life at this time was hard, but Dorofei was still happy to at least still have his father. Then came the day where his quiet world came crashing down.
To the Nemean Lion, the cold was nothing. To the Nemean Lion, their hunting weapons were useless. Dorofei never felt so powerless before. It came for him in the dark, with fire reflected off it?s metallic fur. It swatted his father aside like a ragdoll and lunged for Dorofei. He ran. He ran like never before in his life. He ran as fast as legs could move and as fast as his lungs could take in air. He didn?t run fast enough. He didn?t pay any attention to where he was being led; a deer being led to a trap by a pack of wolves. The Lion cornered him at the edge of a cliff. He walked up to him, slowly. There was no reason to run now that his game was cornered. It was in that final moment that Dorofei?s father came screaming out of the dark like a deamon. He tackled the Lion with such force that they both went tumbling over the side of the cliff. That was the last Dorofei saw of his father.
It was his lowest moment. He was alone, in the cold and the dark. He was like this for 3 years, without ever seeing another human. He traveled around Northern Russia this whole time, always staying in the snow, and always away from cities. Around his twentieth birthday (or at least he estimates), his mother finally appeared before him.
She was still, after all these years, arguing with her father over his fate. She was allowed a brief meeting with him to guide him. She taught him of his power to freeze water and bend ice to his will. She gave him two gifts to help him on his way. The first gift was a small shaft of Celestial Bronze, enchanted to allow him to project Magic Ice. The second gift was another enchantment, placed on his own clothing. Not only did it allow him to project Magic Ice over himself like armor, but it would now protect him from any weather, be it the cold of the tundra or the heat of the desert.
Her final gift was a simple gold coin. It was an Iris message. She introduced him to Chiron, the first living face he had seen in years. Through a combination of broken Russian and English, a flight was arranged to bring Dorofei from Russia to Camp Half-Blood. It was a quick journey back into the city, but Dorofei hadn?t seen another person in years. The experience of traveling from Yakutsk to St. Petersburg was nail-biting. Dorofei felt on edge the entire time; a feeling he still hasn?t quite shaken after several years at camp.
Now at camp, Dorofei has some trouble socializing. He tends to be very quiet, and communicates using non-verbal cues. His english is getting better, but his accent is still rather heavy. Still, he?s polite, kind, and trusts other demi-gods easily. These days, he spends most of his time sparing, preferring to spar against Matthew whenever he has the chance. He still hasn?t beaten Matthew yet, but Dorofei thinks he just might beat him next time.

 

[CounterAttack]

[HEADING=2]Announcement:[/HEADING]​

The following characters have been accepted into Demigods:

Royce Rahn
Jessica Lancer

Brandon Robertson

Freya Glace

Ambrose Lark

Elizabeth Harmon

Gabriel Aeckerd

Nina Derwal

Mitsuko Karitsuki

Dorofei Denikin

Jia Shang

The accepted characters will be edited into my reserved posts accompanying the opening post. Once that has been completed, I will make the necessary arrangements on Skype, then work on the first in-character post shall begin. As with the other role-play I am currently running, Battlegrounds, there will not be a second thread for the in-character posts.

The list of accepted characters may change, since some people requested to be part of a backup list. Those people have not posted sheets here, but expressed interest in Demigods through other channels. The list of backup participants is currently full unless I see a spectacular application that can convince me otherwise.

Those who wish to receive commentary on the character they submitted, and/or an explanation of why their character was not accepted, may PM me asking about this if they wish. However, I request that the manner in which one asks be civil. I don't want to get in any fights over this.

 

[Lizmichi]

Yay i can't wait for this to start. Let's get this rolling Raven.

 

[Yumi_and_Erea]

*Nibbles a big ol' hunk of Belgian chocolate*

Third time's the charm. Let's knock this one out of the park, shall we?

 

[CounterAttack]

[HEADING=2]{ Demigods }[/HEADING]​

[hr]

Camp Half-Blood, Director's Offices

"Recorded June seventh, one thirty-five PM. Weather: sunny as always, no cloud cover. Light breezes, and minor surf at the beach. Reports of small hellhound pack prowling the edges of the forest came in just before lunch. Whoever wants to fight them is welcome to, though as usual I suggested they go armed. No disputes among the campers this morning, so that's a plus. Ea wishes to expand library to accommodate new shelves for a 'manga and comics' addition to the library; said it would compliment the fiction section. Granted request, will ask for volunteers to assist in underground renovations at dinner. End recording."

The voice speaking was that of the centaur Chiron: he had taken to using a small electronic recorder as a miniature journal to keep track of notable events around camp. It was faster and more efficient than carrying a laptop or journal constantly: the former was heavy and the latter seemed a little... behind the times in this digital age.

Done with the small device, the centaur placed it in a drawer in his desk and left his office, beginning a stroll through the camp. He was going nowhere in particular: this kind of thing had become rather common in recent times.

[hr]

Armoury and Forge

The familiar, rhythmic sound of metal striking metal was coming from the forges. Clang. Tap. Pause. Clang. Tap. Pause. Clang. Tap. At one of the half-dozen anvils, a large, dark-skinned demigod was beating some celestial bronze into shape. Royce Rahn was working with a single bar of the stuff, having heated it enough to render it more malleable.

Royce shot a glance over at Lucas Dugan, in between swings of his hammer. Clang. The Forgemaster was sitting at his desk in the corner and playing with a piece of bronze himself: his mastery over the metal was such that he could bend it into shape with a flick of a finger. Comic book comparisons immediately jumped into Royce's mind as he went back to work, shaping his own materials into the blade and tang of a simple dagger. Clang. Tap... Clang. Tap... Clang. Tap... A hilt would come later, from the stock items available in the many chests and cupboards lining the forge walls.

Within a few minutes the basic shape of the metal had been completed. A simple fuller running down the middle on both sides, and each edge was set to be sharpened. Now came the personal touches. Royce slipped his hammer back into the appropriate loop on his tool-belt and selected a chisel from a small pouch. The muted clang of the hammer was soon replaced by light ***** noises as metal scraped on metal: Royce was detailing a small Eta - the Greek letter H - into the base of the blade, where it would be seen after the weapon was completed. To the demigod, this was both in tribute to Father Hephaestus and a mark of a quality weapon.

Wargear I forge must exceed the Forgemaster's standards. It is on my head if a blade made by my hand breaks in battle, he told himself, as he often did when working.

[hr]

Cabin Ten (Aphrodite)

Not much was happening in Cabin Ten. It was one of the many days off that Aphrodite's children took. Despite being the one in charge, Jessica Lancer knew that her siblings would not take kindly to a regime of daily training and exercise. Other cabins did that kind of thing, but Jess would get a lot of complaints if she implemented such a scheme. A good portion of the Aphrodite cabin's residents were occupied with things that would never translate to a combat situation.

Being in charge of a cabin full of demigods could be a slightly taxing affair, Jess thought as she examined her reflection in the mirror on her desk near the cabin's entrance; the door was wide open. There was often some sort of petty squabble going on: either someone had exceeded their allowed time in the bathroom, someone had 'borrowed' another girl's outfit, or people were arguing over access to the basement. Jess had no idea whose idea it had been to install such a feature, but it was fitting for a cabin whose members often had 'friends over' for the night.

Allowing herself a wry smile at that thought - and in full knowledge that she was well and truly a part of that particular clique - Jess turned her attention back to the paperwork she had to fill out. The smile soon vanished as she re-read the heading of the paper, replaced by a small frown and a sigh. Another leave request sent in by one of her half-sisters. Carolina was dating a regular human outside of camp - some guy named Steve - and often left camp to visit him.

This was becoming routine: to leave camp for a short while when you weren't on a quest, you needed to file a leave request form with the cabin's leader, who would then clear it with a member of staff. Not even bothering to read the reason for leaving camp, as the same form had been filled out dozens of times before by the same person for the same reasons every time, Jess applied an elegant signature where needed and set the page in her outbox. She would deliver it later: it wasn't urgent, despite Carolina's whining.

After signing the slip, Jess got up from her desk and stepped out of Cabin Ten, taking a moment to lean up against the wall outside for some fresh air and sunshine.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

A squirrel sat on a branch, nibbling on a nut. Today had been a good day for the small woodland creature.

Then a foot slammed down less than a foot from him. Seemingly from nowhere, a Human appeared, running and jumping from tree branch to high stone to forest floor and back up into the foliage without so much as slowing down. Sweat ran down her body, pasting locks to her forehead and wetting the neck of her tank top, but she didn't show any signs of slowing, breathing lightly and easily as she continued her run, never diverting from her path, just making a gentle arc through the woods. If an obstacle was in her path, she leapt onto or over it.

The monstrous creatures that made the Woods their home were generally smart enough to keep out of the well-worn path of Jia Shang. They had an unspoken agreement - they didn't try to disrupt her run and she wouldn't kill them, and it worked out fairly well so far, she only occasionally had to trade blows with a belligerent monster with more aggression than good sense.

Just ahead she could see the break in the trees and put on an extra burst of speed, hopping into the high branches of an Oak before coming down next to a stone with a timer set on it, hitting the button as she came down.

1:01:35:55.

She grinned - she'd shaved a few milliseconds off her time. It wasn't much of an improvement, but she didn't need to improve in leaps and bounds - she was well past that stage in her training. The important part was that she was still improving, still getting a little bit faster, a little bit stronger. She reached behind the rock with the timer and withdrew a bottle, taking a seat on the rock and chugging half the contents before stopping and beginning to load her things back into the small pack lying next to the rock and beginning the walk back to the main part of the camp, drinking as she went. It was coming up on two o'clock. A second lunch, maybe? She was feeling more than a bit hungry, although she had eaten lunch an hour before her run.

She stopped at her cabin for a quick shower and a change from her exercise clothes into her casual clothes - jeans, sneakers, and a Metallica T-shirt - then headed towards the mess hall to scrounge up something.

 

[Yumi_and_Erea]

Nina was washing her hands in the infirmary, politely ignoring her patient his claims that he had no idea how that got up there.

"Really, it's fine." she told him, washing the smell of fish off her hands. Poseidon kids were into some freaky shit.
"Now, you feeling a little better?" she asked, turning back with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks a bunch." he said, hopping down from the table and hobbling on his way.

"That's good to hear." said Nina, as he slipped around the corner. She heaved a contented sigh and sat herself down, her bizarre grey coat spilling over the sides. It was a sunny day, she saw through the window. Good reading weather, she thought to herself.

She reached over to her desk, whereupon lay her latest acquisition, Jennifer Government. She'd actually been on the second-last page when the Poseidon-kid had come in, but now she could finally finish it.

It was good.

Only now, she had nothing left to read. Well, some sunshine couldn't hurt, so she figured she might as well go and fetch something new. The now-finished novel slipped into one of the surprisingly deep pockets of Nina's coat, and she got up to have herself a good stretch. After checking there was someone else to man the infirmary, Nina stepped out into the warm sunlight and set off at a leisurely pace towards the cabins.

She passed by a few other Demigods on the way, but they didn't pay her too much heed: Nina was well-liked, not popular. And that suited her just fine.

The way the cabins were set up had always reminded Nina of an Old West town; the kind with plenty of showdowns, shindigs and shenanigans. You also couldn't really walk down the road without feeling like you're being watched, either by the cabins on the side or the ones at the end. Nina's usual defense against this was to read while walking, but that didn't fly this time around.

Also, you couldn't get to the Apollo cabin without first passing by the Aphrodite cabin. Nina didn't mind that quite as much, especially today. Jess was out on the porch of the cabin, leaning against the wall, looking beautiful as always. Nina allowed herself a momentary stare, then realized how weird she must have looked, standing in the middle of the road and staring. She hastily pulled out her novel, bashing a few fingers on her tomahawk in its belt loop. Opening the book up at a random page, she quickly hid her face behind it and resumed walking.

 

[Lambi]

It was a bright day outside. Freya's least favorite weather. "Why can't it just be snowing all day long? Would be much better than all this fucking sunlight." She hadn't wanted to spend all day inside, though, and had been planning on doing some training with her sword. She had it sheathed with her right hand on the hilt of the sword and her shield on her left arm, figuring she hadn't needed to wear her armor today. Especially with the sun outside. She'd feel like she was roasting.

Too many Demigods outside for her taste. It was hard to not be used to the few Hades children in their respective cabin and she couldn't stand a lot of people for too long, so it was perfect for her whenever she could spend time with her half-siblings. During training, though, she usually just blocked out most everyone else unless she was addressed personally. Hopefully that wouldn't happen this time because she wanted to train in peace.

She thought towards her mother and wondered if she was alright right now. Bah, there was no need to worry. She knew her mother was doing alright. She had a new boyfriend that she was quite happy with, and that was enough for Freya. Even though she didn't particularly care for the man herself, if it pleased her mother to be with him, that much was good. Freya hadn't ever thought about whether there was someone for her or not. Frankly, to her, they could go bite their own asses off rather than try hitting on her. The ones that had tried it had gotten a hit back, and considering her strength, they'd gotten to fly quite a distance. Never so much that they died from internal bleeding or anything like that, but enough to leave her alone. Feh, relationships. Who needed them? It just ended all in tears and getting hurt from what she'd seen so far, so why even bother? So you could have a good screw? Fuck that, she thought. She didn't need any of that crap.

She'd gotten so deep in thought about her mother and her own stance on relationships that she didn't even notice someone who bumped into her, hiding their face in a book. It startled her and she instinctively gave the person a hit with her shield to make them fly off. "Fucking hell, watch your damn step next time and don't just read a book like that! You're just lucky I didn't hit you harder than I did!" She saw that it was a girl once the book wasn't hiding her face anymore. The book she didn't care about, nor whether the girl was injured or not.

 

[Yumi_and_Erea]

Fact: even medics get sick.
Other fact: most medics don't get their noses broken by shields made of Stygian Iron.

Nina crashed to the ground, hard, her book flying off and landing on the doormat of the Hermes cabin. Instinctively raising her hands to her broken cartilage and blinking away tears, she propped herself up on one elbow and stammered the closest thing to an apology she could manage through the shock. The girl responsible didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she didn't care.

The tears stopped rather quickly, as her right hand soothed and then straight-up stopped the pain, and the bleeding also stopped not long after. Nina's nose was already healing, and it probably wouldn't leave a scar. There was still blood on her coat, though. And there was still shock in her eyes.

 

[Lefthandofgod]

It was a peaceful day for Dorofei, on his usual walk after training. The sky was a pleasant color, the sun looked beautiful, and he could swear he heard birds off in the distance. Dorofei always wondered about how and why birds ended up at camp; he figured the creatures in the forest would scare them off. As he walked, he saw a few satyrs working on some new grass flutes. He stopped for a moment to enjoy the tune. All in all, Dorofei didn?t mind that his arm was broken.

It was another injury from training against Matthew. Dorofei managed to back him into a corner and hooked his legs out from under him. Then, at the last second, Matthew struck at Dorofei?s knee and threw him off balance. A second strike at the ankle knocked him to the ground, and Matthew jumped on top of Dorofei with surprising quickness, grabbing his arm, wrapping his legs around, and pulling. Dorofei didn?t have much defence against an armbar, and had zero mobility on the ground in his bulky armor. He wasn?t a fan of tapping out either; Matthew had him in the armbar for a solid 5 minutes. Eventually, he just got bored and let Dorofei go.

?What did I tell you about a floored opponent?? Matthew asked

?Can still fight,? mumbled a blushing Dorofei.

?Exactly. Next time, don?t get cocky just because you?re still standing.? He picked up the training sword and placed it on the rack behind him. ?Let?s call it a day. That arm is in no condition for any more training.?

With little more than a grunt, Dorofei?s magical Ice Armor evaporated into the air, and he walked away clutching his arm.
As his walk brought him down the row of cabins, his arm began to throb and protest. Wincing slightly, he put his good hand around the elbow, and coated it in a layer of ice. He was lost in his own injury when he heard the crashing sound. One of the Children of Hades smacked someone in the face with a Stygian Iron Shield. The girl was floored and looked as though her nose had been broken. Dorofei quickly moved over to her. He grabbed the collar of her shirt with his one good arm and lifted her up onto her feet.

?Hurt?? He asked. ?Take to infirmary??

He turned his attention to the Child of Hades and his eyes narrowed. ?Not fair. Hurt defenceless. Fight like hero, not monster.?

 

[blaze96]

Elizabeth had finished her training for the day and was filling out some paperwork when a loud crash outside the door was heard. She instinctively grabbed her bow and arrows before opening the door. She saw a child of Hades and Nina laying on the ground holding her nose.

"What in the world happened, and you ok Nina?" She asked, Nina and Elizabeth had both been in camp for a long time and knew each other's names. It wasn't uncommon for a fight to break out in the camp from time to time but this didn't seem like it was that, mostly since nobody had done anything since the sound of the crash and nobody was pulling the two apart. It seemed more accident than anything else.

 

[NeoAC]

It was shaping up to be a nice peaceful day, and Brandon was enjoying it for a change. The sun had been rising up as he completely his earlier run along the beach. The bacon that had been churned out of the mess hall was nice and crisp. He got confirmation from his perusing on Sports Illustrated's website that he was one of the top running back prospects for next year's draft. Things were good. He was getting ready to take a brief nap while listening to some vintage 00s music when the commotion came from outside.

It sounded angry, and female. Which meant it could be any number of things. The Aphros could be having another cat fight over makeup. The Smartasses could be debating the Nightwalkers about diurnal sleeping cycles. All Brandon knew was that it was disrupting his appreciation of the music of Bowling for Soup. But he wasn't about to do anything if there was no entertainment value in it for him. That's what he had other cabin mates for.

"Shane!" he called out assuming that the proverbial second in command would be over there. "Git out there 'n see what all that ruckus is! And if it's them Aphros havin' another of their little sorority slapfests, git some video of it!" Orders barked, he settled back down anticipating an easy transition into napping.

 

[CounterAttack]

"What the hell -?" Jess started as a collision between two other girls led to one on the floor, clutching her nose, and the other swearing at her. A couple of others quickly arrived on the scene, and Jess, too, hurried to investigate. It turned out the two involved in the altercation were Nina and Freya... the healer and the moody Hades kid. Elizabeth, from the Hermes cabin, and the Russian son of Chione whose name Jess could never pronounce properly, had already come to Nina's side.

"Freya, what was that? You can't just go bashing people if they get in your way! Save it for the arena next time," she reprimanded - or tried to reprimand - the younger of the two. Of course, given the sour look on her face, Freya probably couldn't care less.

"Go on, get out of here," she told the Hades girl before turning her attention to Nina, who had been pulled to her feet by the Russian. There was a spray of blood across her coat... it wasn't pretty. Jess picked up the book Nina had been reading before she had been hit, and moved in a bit to get a closer look at the damage that had been done. "Are you alright?" The question would likely be answered easily enough, since Jess knew a bit about Nina's healing abilities.

[hr]

Nearby, a head popped out from the doorway to the Ares cabin. Shane Knight, second oldest in Cabin Five, and by extension second in command, took in the scene. Something about Freya. He shook his head before he retreated back inside to report to Brandon. "Nothing special, just Freya breaking another girl's nose," he commented, sounding slightly bored by it as he returned to his bunk.

 

[Pm0n3y]

There's been an old saying. Something about honoring your mother and father. But after being introduced to the illusive Camp Halfblood, such a saying was becoming harder for Gabe Aeckerd to follow. Especially after a camp counselor placed him along the inhabitants of Cabin Four. Or, as they nicknamed it, the Demeter Cabin. He only thought of it as a simple homage to his goddess mother, but only once he found out of his cabinmates' similar sounding family trees, did he see her in a dimmer light. It made her seem... promiscuous. Suffice to say, it didn't make Gabe any happier knowing that he had such an extended family of half brothers and sisters.

The counselor told him to find a free bed before departing from the flora and fauna of the cabin. Gabe did so, taking the bed furthest away from the entrance, and furthest away from the other campers. He placed his bookbag down first, before sitting beside it on the surprisingly plush mattress. "So is this why I didn't grow up with a proper family? 'Cuz mom was off being a whore?" He thought in a manner that feigned anger, while sincerely sounding wondrous. He surveyed the room, watched the campers go about their daily routines. None really wanted to make eye contact with the boy, most likely due to the habitual scowl he wore. Not that Gabe was the type to go out of his way to obtain someone's attention.

Eventually his legs got a little restless, as he rose from his bed and decided to see what else there was to the camp. A girl sat at a desk near the cabin's entrance, and began to rise from her seat in attempt to introduce herself as Gabe approached the exit. He did nothing to acknowledge the cabin leader, no eye contact, no sort of gesture in her direction. Instead, he brushed past her, emitting a low, dry "'Cuse me." as he vanished from beyond the cabin's grassy threshold, and into the warm, open air of the camp grounds. He noticed a bit of a commotion going on to his right, something between two girl campers, with others beginning to gather. The situation didn't interest him past the fact that it was occurring, and began in the opposite direction of the accident.

 

[Lambi]

More and more people were getting involved after Freya bashed Nina's nose with her shield. Tsh. Fucking crybaby needs help from others. Typical. Weaklings. The only reason Freya accompanied others on missions was because she had to. She'd gladly do them alone if she could. "What's it to you if I bash someone in for being in my way?! She should have just watched where she was fucking going and this wouldn't have happened! She can only blame herself!" she yelled at Jess. She couldn't be bothered with answering the others. "Stay out of my way, and this doesn't happen. If anyone wants to fight over her, I'll be in the arena. Helvítis fífl." After throwing in an Icelandic swear, she continued on her route towards the arena.

She just needs to toughen up and take it like a *****. I should know. I wouldn't cry just because I had my nose broken. I'd go after the bastard and make him pay! Because I'm Freya-fucking-Glace! She grinned as she arrived at the arena. She entered it, and headed towards the middle. She took off her t-shirt just because she didn't want to be too hot while training, and threw it onto one of the stone benches nearby. She was still wearing a sports bra underneath, so it wasn't like she was naked on her upper body. She also put her hair in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way while she trained. Unsheathing her sword, she summoned two skeletons to fight, both of which had some light armor, shields and swords, all of which looked rusty. "Another day of training, boys. Take me by surprise if you can!" She charged towards them, who did the same as all three swung their swords, Freya evading most of their attacks and landing quite a few on the skeletons.

 

[NeoAC]

"Nothing special, just Freya breaking another girl's nose."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Brandon sarcastically wondered as Shane returned. "Got dang Devil Girl gotta drop her dang shield one of these times. I'll give her a got dang reason to need that shield she keeps this up. Wrecking my schedule wit' her shenanigans and what not." Report filed away, Brandon returned to attempting to catch some z's before starting his afternoon training regimen.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

Jia observed the encounter, but didn't get involved. It was frankly over far too quickly for her to intervene other than by exacerbating the situation by attacking the Hades Child, and while she would have had she continued the attack, doing so was unnecessary. On the other hand, the woman said she was heading for the arena for some training. Now that was interesting.

Jia glanced over at the Athena cabin and decided to give her shower and meal a rain check, instead turning her attention towards the arena and following Freya there. She stood near the entrance and watched Freya as she began her training, studying her movements. She settled in for a wait, then once the Hadeschild had reached a lull in her training approached and spoke.

"Care to test your skill against something a little smarter than a walking corpse?" She kept her voice even - while she was certainly of the opinion that the other woman needed to be taken down a peg, insulting her would only make an enemy. While a well-placed taunt could make an enemy angry and stupid, the short-term advantage in a sparring match was outweighed by the long-term problem of potentially creating an unnecessary enemy.

 

[Lambi]

After a while of training, Freya ordered the skeletons to stop and sat down on one of the stone benches, sweating due to the training. While she didn't like the sun, even she admitted that fighting in the sun was alright. She still preferred the cold, but what could you do in the middle of summer, right?

She didn't get much chance to think as a girl approached and addressed her. "Gladly. I usually just train with the skeletons because they don't complain when they get stabbed." She gave a small laugh before standing up and dismissing her skeletons. "If you don't mind, I'd rather just fight with my sword. I don't particularly care how you're going to fight, but it would be appreciated if you at least provided me with a challenge." Freya gave the girl a smirk, showing some teeth in one corner of her mouth.