Succession: Heir to the Empire

The Gaborian Empire is the mightiest force in the world. Its realm is vast, stretching from the Mountains of the Dwarves in the North to deep into the Deserts of the South, from the Great Sea of the West into the Forest of the Elves in the East. The Empire is efficient, ruthless, and incredibly rich and powerful. It takes someone of great will and strength to rule this Empire, the greatest Empire in existence. An Emperor or Empress is meant to rule with cruel efficiency. He or she must be powerful in mind and body lest they're overthrown or the Gaborian Empire descends into chaos or worse, weakness. Most of all, he or she must be of the Royal Bloodline.

Thus, whenever an Emperor or Empress dies, he or she must be replaced with a successor for the glory of the Gaborian Empire. With Emperor Anpu's death from poisoning, there must be a new ruler of the Empire. However, the Emepror left no heirs. Thus, every person under the age 18 related to Emperor Anpu through the Royal Bloodline is gathered in the late Emperor's palace. Whoever is deemed worthy through the challenges presented to them by the Steward will become Emperor or Empress. However, the losers may not survive...

Rules
No god-modding
Please post at least 2-3 sentences per posts.
Keep this PG-13.
Keep cursing the minimum.
Please don't make your character too powerful or smart.

General Information
The Gaborian Empire- This empire primarily consists of humans, though it also includes non-human races as a result of its conquests. The nobles, government officials, and Emperors tend to be cruel, power-hungry, and incredibly wealthy, though this isn't always the case.
Magic- Yes, it exists in this roleplay, but it is rare. For humans, it is usually confined to families with magical bloodlines but it isn't unheard of for someone outside those families to exhibit talent in magic or for one within a magical family to have no talent at it. In the Gaborian Empire, all families with bloodlines are closely watched an many are forced to work for the Empire. Magic can do almost anything but it's limited by imagination and energy, usually the energy of someone using magic but magical energy can be stored in gems for later use.
The Royal Bloodline- The Gaborian Empire is linked to this magical bloodline. Only one with this blood flowing in their veins can rule the Empire. Most people with this bloodline have a strong affinity with magic, a necessity for being an Emperor or Empress.
Magical Races- These include Elves, Dwarves, etc. Within the Gaborian Empire, they are feared but those who work for the Emperor are respected and feared. They usually have some magical affinity.

Character Profile
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Race:
Appearance:
Magic?:
Royal Bloodline?:
Personality:
History:
Other:

Name: Baruti
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: Baruti is hooded and cloaked most of the time because he dislikes showing his face for unknown reasons. His eyes would grow an icy blue whenever he uses a lot of magic.
Magic?: Yes
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Although Baruti attempts to maintain the image of a noble servant of the Gaborian Empire, he can and will be cruel and has a "survival of the fittest" philosophy. He believes that only the strongest heir should sit on the throne.
History: Baruti has been a government official for many decades. Born in a noble family, he was armed with the right education and attitude to rise in the government of the Gaborian Empire. Through careful machinations, many of which would be considered immoral, he rose through the ranks to become the Steward of the Empire. With that position, Baruti received a magical seal on his forehead to prevent him from seizing power for himself. With Emperor Anpu's death, he is overseeing the selection of a new Emperor or Empress.
Other:

Name: Nebi
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes.
Royal Bloodline?: Yes.
Personality: Nebi is a wary but kind individual. He does his best to do the right thing, from his point of view, of course. He can be critical of people, especially ones with power, and a bit sarcastic. He's intelligent, however, and knows how to get himself out of tight spots.
History: Nebi was born on the streets of the capital. Like countless others, he never knew who his parents were nor did he care that much. He survived on the streets however he could, sometimes finding work, other times, stealing. At a young age, he discovered he had talents using magic, something which helped to make his life easier whether it was to keep out of sight or to light a fire to distract guards chasing after him. Understandably, he was quite surprised that when a magician and a group of guards caught him and brought him to the palace, he was declared one of the possible heirs to the throne. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Nebi decided to play the game in the hopes of actually winning.
Other:

Name: Gilkas
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Race: Dwarf
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Elemental Affinity: Earth
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Gilkas takes pride in his work and is generally a kind person, but he is also gruff and stubborn. He is loyal to his friends and deadly to his enemies.
History: Gilkas grew up in the Iron Hills, the son of a prominent Smith. His clan was one of those that made a pact with the Empire, agreeing to sell their goods to them in exchange for not being conquered. One day, Gilkas decided to make a name for himself in the Gaborian Empire and, because of his superior skill, rose to prominence, getting a forge of his own at the Palace. He has an intense rivalry with the Goblin Smith.
Other: Wields a Warhammer and supports Nebi since Nebi chose to use his armor and weapons.

Okay, we're starting where we left off. First, however, I'd like everyone to repost their profiles to make sure everyone's here.

Name: Kaleb
Age: 23
Gender: Male
Race: Human (We think)
Appearance: Large muscles, completely bald, blue eyes, blah blah blah....
Magic?: No
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Kaleb is....well, for a lack of a better phrase, a child in a man's body. You'll see soon enough
History: Kaleb, for reasons still unknown, was sent to the dungeons of Mordor. He ended up being a prison mate to Caesar, and constantly annoyed him to near death. Kaleb would be dead if he weren't so strong, which is why Caesar kept him around. Now Kaleb has broken out of jail and has decided to follow his friend to the palace. God help us all...
Other:

Name: Aaron
Age: 45
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Aaron can be cruel but efficient, much like his previous predecessors. He handles his job with complete seriousness, and will not tolerate failure.
History: Aaron is the leader of the Army faction within the Empire, and has been for the past ten years. He grew up in a military family, with his father, grandfather, and many more of his male ancestors serving as Generals of the Gaborian. He has followed his family's footsteps, and has taken it farther. He is the first of his family in 200 years to become Major General of the Gaborian Army, the rank of the leader of the army. His daughter Tsuba is distantly related to the Emperor via his wife's side, and Aaron is fully supporting her to become the new Empress. In reality, he wishes to use his daughter as a puppet Empress so he can control the Empire.
Other:

Name: Tsuba
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Royal Bloodline?: Yes
Personality: Tsuba is usually a cheery, nice girl who is kind to everyone. Unless they get on her nerves.
History: Tsuba grew up a privilged life, being the daughter of the Major General. She was always given the best food, clothes, ectera. Basically, she lived the life a spoiled rich child. She is completely loyal to her Empire, and is somewhat racist against non-humans. Since Tsuba found out about her relation to the former Emperor, she has been very eager to become Empress. She is determined to defeat the rest of the competition to accomplish her goal.
Other:

Name: C.C.
Age: Appears 17, but true age is unknown
Gender: Female
Race: Mage
Appearance:
Magic: Yes
Royal Bloodline: No
Personality: C.C. appears to be a cold woman, but after untold centuries of life, she has grown to push people away so they don’t get close to her. She tends not to make friends.
History: C.C. is the last of her kind. Some thousands of years ago, the Gaborian Empire was just starting out. Ye-Jong the First, the original Emperor, had plans to conquer the Mage Kingdom, made up of a race of ancient magical beings. At first he gained diplomatic ties to the Mage Kingdom, and seduced its Princess. Her name has been long lost to history. Ye-Jong eventually succeeded in getting the Princess to fall in love with him. His first plan was to get them both married and merge the two kingdoms into one. However her father was against it. So the Emperor went with his second plan.

Ye-Jong convinced the Princess to side with him, and had her open the Gates to the kingdom, so his army could invade. For centuries the Mage Kingdom had been protected by a series of Magical Gates that could only be destroyed by a royal family member. When the Princess removed the gates, the Mage Kingdom was instantly invaded. The Mage Council of Elders found out about the Princess’ treachery, and put a curse upon her. She was cursed with immortality, and would forever live as a servant to the Emperors of the Gaborian Empire until the Empire fell, or the Emperor released her from her bonds.

In the end the Mages were conquered, and eventually died out, save for the cursed Princess. Eventually she discarded her name for a new one, C.C. For thousands of years she has continued to serve the Emperors and Empresses of the Empire. So far the Empire has not died out, nor has she been released from her bonds. C.C. has long given up hope to ever be released. So far she has not picked a favorite among the heirs, and will observe them for a time before she does so.
Other: Humages are direct descendents of Mages. They are sub-species of the dead Mages.

Name: Maul
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Race: Kaleesh
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Royal Bloodline?: Yes
Personality: Maul is cold and efficient. He believes in true logic and justice above all else. He has been taught to put aside emotion, and listen to ultimate justice. He does not make friends, but allies.
History: Maul is a Kaleesh, a race of war-like beings, and cousins of Orcs. The great Empire conquered the Kaleesh nearly a thousand years ago. At first they resisted any attempts at integration, but as time passed they adjusted. Most Kaleesh join the army, some have even risen as far as the rank of Major General. Female Kaleesh are the more brutal of the two sexes, and usually are trained to become elite assassins. Kaleesh are one of the most common and feared races within the Empire, for their demonic appearance. Kaleesh, both male and female, use their appearances to their advantages.

When Maul was a young boy, the Order of the Shadows saw potential within him and took him in. The Order of the Shadows are the elite Hidden Fist of the Empire. They report directly to the Emperor or Empress. The Order of the Shadows believes in true, cold logic and justice, seeing none above the law. Not even the Emperor is above the law, in their eyes. They train their members in both body and mind, seeking to make them into perfect soldiers to serve and promote justice within the Empire. The Order seeks to eliminate the greed and crime within the powerful kingdom.

Maul has been with the Order most of his life, having long ago cast away his previous life. He has gone on dozens of missions since his Crowning, and has killed many to help serve justice. It was discovered he was linked to the throne via his father’s side. After a council with the Elders, Maul has left the Order to compete for the throne. If he should win, he will rule it with a neutral style of justice, and with cold logic. As he has been trained to view the world.
Other: He has a double-bladed sword.

Name: Caesar
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Race: Humage
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Royal Bloodline?: Yes
Personality: Caesar is a bit of an...eccentric man, to say the least. He takes pleasure in causing people pain, and is a very cruel man.
History: Caesar was born to Humage parents, a type of Human sub-species that is very proficient in magic. However, Caesar was no ordinary Humage. Something inside his mind was not right. When he was ten, he murdered his parents and Mage Master using Dark Magic, usually unpracticed and forbidden to Humages. He was sentenced to life in prison. Four years later the Emperor died, and Caesar was discovered to have a connection to the Royal Bloodline.

Reluctantly, Caesar was let out of prison so he could compete for the throne. Caesar is an unstable person, there is no telling what he may do if he gets the throne...
Other:

((I'll edit the pictures in at a later time, after I'm done with the Legend of Azula posting))

Name: Carlisle Driscoll
Age: 16
Appearance:
Magic?: Yes
Elemental Affinity: Water
Royal Bloodline?: Yes
Personality: Kind, quiet and nervous are three words that could be used to describe Carlisle. He isn't very ambitious and his dream is just to get married and become a successful doctor in his home village. Carlisle is not a very confident man and he hates conflict, which means that he bottles everything up inside himself. He believes in hard work and honesty and he tries to live his life by those two principles. He has now developed the "Opposite" of a concious and it's trying to make him more ambitious, ruthless, selfish and cruel.
History: Carlisle was born into the small village of Castor in the south-western edge of Gaboria, his mother died during childbirth and Carlisle's father blamed him for it until the day Carlisle left his home. He lived a decent and quiet in the village until he was thirteen when his father told Carlisle to leave the home and not come back until he had a trade.

So Carlisle left and traveled northward to the large town of Bree, where he tried smithing, sewing and farming for his trades, but none of them stuck to him. He eventually met a kind old man named DR. Laro, who offered to teach him the many different methods of healing for free. So for the next few years Carlisle learned how to collect herbs and make potions, healing magic and plain making bandages. He was enjoying his studies until one day, the Army came for him and informed him that he was a royal heir and that he would have to compete for the crown. Carlisle tried refusing but was told that it simply couldn't be done and so after much struggle Carlisle is being forced to compete for the throne. The throne has now affected his personality and he spends most of his nights alone in the library looking up history and different forms of magic.

Other: Carlisle doesn't want to win the game and he's only going to try and survive so he can go back to the town of Bree to finish his studies. The throne has affected his personality and he spends most of his nights alone in the library looking up history and different forms of magic.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Susanna Mignon
Age:19
Gender: Female
Race: Human(with an eighth of mermaid blood and a sixteenth of Banshee blood in her as well)
Appearance:
Magic?: No
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Susanna is a decent actress and she is always thinking and she is also very good at manipulate someone. She is also ambitious and she believes that as a noblewoman and future Queen, her duty is to the people even if they don't always understand the ways of the crown. She is a polite girl and most people don't know that she can't be trusted, but she can't and she believes that the ends always justify the means. Of course she also will help someone if it doesn't get in the way of the big picture, and she is actually rather empathetic.
History: Susanna is an ambitious girl who was born into a noble family as their only child. She wasn't spoiled and she was taught to work hard for everything she wanted and in the end she did get everything she wanted. Susanna's first cousin(also deceased) is one of the now deceased Emperor's official wives and she has been invited to stay in the capital as the contest to determine the new heir is happening. Susanna has been taking care of her first cousins illegitimate child for the past four years and has grown very attached to her. She intended to seduce one of the Heirs to marry them and help bad slavery from Gaboria thanks to her cousins wishes. Of course this ended up working against her and now the madman Caesar has fallen in love with her, while she has taken quite a liking to Caesar's alternate personality, Arthur. Luckily she has also developed a very strong relationship with C.C. over the weeks of the competition.
Other: Her nickname is Anna
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name:Kegan "Ailill" Ekaitz
Age:17
Gender: male
Race: Half-Elf
Appearance: He is 5'10 and he weighs 140 lbs. There are a series of Tatoos across his back, chest and his left arm and shoulder and his right leg, they glow and move around his body as he uses magic, the stronger the magic the stronger the movement.
Magic?: yes
Elemental Affinity: Air and Forest
Royal Bloodline?: yes
Personality: Kegan is a risk-taker who thrives in unfamiliar situations. He believe that if you can't adapt to what's going on around you then you don't deserve to move up in life and thus he is constantly trying to better himself. He dislikes lying to make other people feel better, but he also dislikes people who are rude for no reason, so Kegan is a nice but blunt young man and he's proud about it. Kegan is an unorganized, spontaneous and competitive boy. He isn't offended easily and he can be rather loud sometimes. He will help the weak if he thinks they need it, but he like to watch people help themselves when they can.

History: Kegan's mother was an Elf who worked for the emperor doing whatever tasks he requested of her, which included sleeping with him on numerous occasions. Eventually she became pregnant and she left the court and moved back to the Forest of the East, she was condemned by some of the Elves for being "The Emperors Whore" and thus when her son was born he was shunned by some of the more traditional Elves as well. But he was still raised in the ways of Reading, Language, Music and Magic as was expected of someone of a magical bloodline.

When Kegan was seven his mother moved back to the capital, leaving Kegan with her family. Kegan lived a happy life of studying and exploring the forest until his sixteenth birthday, when he was considered a man amongst the Elven people. So Kegan decided to move to the capital so he could find his mother, and hopefully meet his father. But when Kegan arrived at the capital he found out that his mother had died a few years ago and he realized that the emperor had many children and that he didn't care about them much at all. So Kegan pretended to be a full Elf and he got a job at the court, and he performed his duties while tying to learn some information about his mother, he eventually found out that only a handful of the Emperor's most trusted advisors knew about all of his children and of course that included Kegan, which he was happy, for he didn't want to be amongst the royals and their intolerable behavior.
But now that the Emperor has died, Kegan's secret has been revealed and he has decided that he is going to win no matter what, just so he can prove that he is better then his father ever was.
The competition is getting to the Half-Elf now and he is frustrated at his poor performances during challenges. He doesn't really like any of the other heirs except for Nebi and Epiphany.
Other: Kegan is skilled in magic and tracking and he is fast, flexible and balanced but not very strong. Kegan does know how to use the Bow for hunting, and while the shots aren't always accurate, he can fire them quickly in a row.
-------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
Name: Rhys Alwyn
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Race: Human (Secretly 1/8th Satyr)
Appearance: Rhys 5' 11" 198 lbs. His ears are slightly pointed and there are bumps on his head that he hides with his hair.
Magic?: A little, though he isn't very skilled.
Elemental Affinity: Sound
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Seemingly cold to strangers, and vicious to those who are enemies of Gaboria and it's people, Rhys is a very honorable soldier and he would protect the kingdom even if it meant his life. Rhys is also a very spiritual man, though he hides this part of himself from everyone as he knows it isn't considered a positive trait. He is good at controlling his emotions and holding his tongue when people offend him. Rhys believes that destiny and people's bloodline will decide where everyone ends up in life, and he considers those who try to fight their destiny and position in life are fools. He wont stop or grudge himself against the ambitious fools of the world though, and he wont tell them what his opinion is unless they ask.

History: Rhys was born in the north-eastern section of the Empire on his families property. As Rhys happened to be the only Child that his parents had, he was the only Heir to the Alwyn estate and all the benefits it included. Rhys trained himself to be a Knight ever since he was thirteen, he was exceptionally skilled at Swordsmanship and horseback riding, and he enjoyed learning new tricks and developing new skills.
Rhys always had a sort of inhuman quality about him as well. He was very spiritual and connected to nature, having a sixth sense where he could sense what was going on in the world around him. Any cataclysms, magical disasters, mass-murdering rampages happening, and Rhys would most likely know that something was wrong was going on, though he wouldn't know any specifics. He was advised by his relatives who were used to these feeling that he should hide this fact about him unless he wanted to be known as eccentric.

When Rhys was seventeen he joined the royal guard after his family pulled a few strings and he became a Knight of the Gaborian King. He avoided looking for a wife and instead devoted his life to serving the Kingdom. Eventually Rhys was rewarded when he turned thirty-one, and he became Captain of the Royal Guard. His Mother and Father shortly died during the few months between Rhys promotion and his thirty-second birthday, though he moved on without too many emotional scars. When the Emperor Anpu died from poisoning, Rhys felt directly responsible for the Emperor's death and he personally killed the food tester himself during an execution ceremony. Now that all of the Heirs have arrived, Rhys finds himself getting sick often as he senses death and strong magic reeking around the Castle regularly everyday.

Rhys has decided to support Tsuba's claim as Heir to the throne, as he disagrees with Nebi's philosophy, finds Carlisle to be too weak, Caesar to be too crue, and he believes that anyone who isn't fully human shouldn't have a claim to the throne, even though it means that he's discriminating against himself as well.
Other: Rhys has a small panflute that he enjoys playing to calm himself down, and he is able to express his emotions through the instrument thus making it give off a rather depressing ethereal sound.
---------------------------------------
Name: Clara Estelle
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Appearance: Clara 5' 6" 107 lbs.
Magic?: Yes, though she never learned how to use or control it.
Royal Bloodline?: Yes, though she is too old to compete.
Personality: Clara has the persona of being sweet, helpful, sad, skilled and she pretends to be a good listener as well. Though in reality the girl is very bitter, selfish, and unforgiving. She is also ambitious, yet lazy as well, and if an opportunity doesn't look or sound like an easy task then she wont attempt to try and accomplish it. Though when she does start a task that is important to herself, she'll do everything she can to accomplish it.
History: Clara was born in the Eastern part of the Empire where she lived a sheltered life until she was sixteen. At the age of sixteen, Clara married Edward Estelle, and her position in life significantly rose. Unfortunately, two years later Clara found out her husband was cheating on her with one of the maids. So Clara did what she though made the most sense. She killed her husband and framed the maid, thus getting the maid executed. A few years later, when the Emperor died, Clara grew rather depressed and she was easily annoyed with people, as she knew that if the old man had died only two years earlier she would've had a chance at winning the title of the throne. Even though she was given an invitation to watch the festivities, she ignored the letter until recently when she found out that Tsuba, a friend in her social clique, was one of the Heirs, Clara bitterly decided that she would attend and support her friend, even though she actually despises all of the Heirs for getting the chance that she wanted and deserved but didn't receive because of fate.
Other:
----------------------------------------
Name: Brighe Ekaitz
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Race: Elf
Appearance: Brighe. 5' 9" 122 lbs. Usually wears green hunting pants and a beige shirt along with a bag. Is currently wearing a dark green dress. Has a series of tatoos across her back, stomach, right and left arms, and they go all the way down to her left thigh as well. These tatoos glow and move around her body as she uses magic, the stronger the magic the stronger the movement.
Magic?: Yes
Elemental Affinity: Earth
Royal Bloodline?: No
Personality: Brighe is a very kind and comfort-loving girl. She despises being put in situations where she has no idea how to respond, and she never intentionally hurts someone except in defense. She is rather messy and uncreative, though she knows how to make others feel comfortable. Even though she knows how to play the verbal sparring games of her people, Brighe prefers being honest and blunt with everything she says. Brighe is secretly depressed and can be rather defensive as she feels like she's not worthy of other people's time and that's why everyone leaves her.

History: Brighe was born in the great Forest of the East amongst a rather large family. When she was Eight her favorite older Sister left the Forest to move to the Gaborian Empires where she got a job serving the King. Over the next few years Brighe tried to ignore the rumors of her older sister being the Emperors Courtesan, though she stopped denying the rumors when her Sister came returned, pregnant with the Emperor's child.

When her Sister's son, Kegan, was born she helped her Sister raise the boy even though she lost a few friends for associating and supporting the half-blooded Elf. When her Sister left the Forest to move back to Gaboria, Brighe was emotionally hurt with her Sister's actions and took it as an insult. But as she was one of the few people who her Sister trusted, Brighe was given the job of watching and protecting Kegan until he was of age, which she did. But even though she had practically raised Kegan herself, he still left and moved to the Gaborian capital when he was of age.

This act of threw Brighe into a state of depression, as the more traditional Elves still shunned her for going against him, and now both her Nephew and Sister had left her to go live amongst humans. For the next year Brighe lived a simple and lonely life, always wondering what had happened to her Sister and Nephew. About four months after Kegan had left Brighe received a letter that informed her about her Sister's death. When she took this letter to her Father, he pretended not to care about his own Daughter's death. Her Father's Apathy enraged Brighe and thus she chided her Father for his heartlessness. Annoyed and shamed by his Daughter's actions, Brighe was disowned by her family as well, thus being forced to live alone.

When it was announced that Kegan had a chance of becoming the new Emperor, the Elders of Brighe's village held a rather long meeting until they eventually decided that it was their duty to support the Heir that had been raised by Elves. Instead of a traitor, Brighe was now treated like an Elder herself as everyone knew that the only one Kegan would feel comfortable enough to talk to would be Brighe, and so it was decided that she would be sent to the Gaborian Capital so she could help her Nephew become Emperor.
Other:

Cool. Only one thing. Alec, Carlisle's name was cut off and, Magus, your characters' appearances aren't appearing.

((I said I'd edit the appearances in once I'm done with Legend of Azula.))

(Oh, right. Must have missed that.)

Name: Epiphany

Age: 16

Gender:female

Race:Human

Appearance:

Magic?:Yes

Royal Bloodline?:Yes

Personality:She is tough and brave and quite independent. She is loyal
to the Amazons and really quite hard to convince and trust and very
sensitive. Despite these traits, she is a good hunter and leader and is
really dedicated and determined, and smart.

History:The Amazons found her abandoned in the woods and took her in and
renamed her as Epiphany. She wasn't an Amazon at first until she was
given the right to become and Amazon by the Amazon queen. She was
trained in combat with a variataion of many weapons. She mainly uses a
staff for fighting and a bow and arrow for hunting or long range shots.
She grew up to be a good leader and loyal to the tribe. She never knew
that much about her life and when she heard about people searching for
people under 18 to do challenges at the Emperor's palace, she entered,
hoping that there might be some answer to her questions when she
competes and the challenges end.

Other:Her real name (Megan) is unknown to her. She was also taught the
magic of an Amazon shamaness.

Cool. Is that everyone?

Should be. Here where my last posts:

Death was gone before she could finish the sentence. Arthur gave a chuckle. "So, shall we go watch the match between the Amazon and Kaleesh? Or do you want to talk?"

Maul

The kick reached its mark and hit Maul hard in the chest, breaking a rib. He skidded to the ground, growling at the amazon. The Kaleesh stood back up and rolled his head. "Not bad, Amazon. But no more holding back. Now, I will attack you with all my strength. The strength of a Shadow Warrior."

Maul flung his robe away. When it hit the floor, it made a surprisingly loud and deep crash. He took a breath before, with lightning speed, launching at Epiphany and aiming another cut at her chest.

Carlisle looked down at the match and studied the moves between Epiphany and Maul. "Damn him, he's been holding back." The Doctor commented in frustration.
-/-\-
Susanna glanced down the hall for a second as she bit her lip loosely. "Well....I'm sure the match is still going right now, why don't we talk?" She replied as she sat back down next to Arthur.

(Cool. Let's begin. )
Nebi turned to C.C., worry written all over his face, "I hope he doesn't harm Epiphany." She was a good person. He didn't want to watch her die or be harmed.

((Alec, you misnamed your character. Arthur is the name of one of mine, not yours.))

C.C.

"Wearing weighted clothes...a smart idea. The Order has stepped up its training program, it seems. I also hope no harm comes to her but....you may find this cold, but I find it very unlikely that everyone in this challenge will survive." C.C. said.

Arthur

"Sure. What do you wish to discuss?" Arthur asked.

Epiphany was only able to dodge just a tiny bit but got stabbed on her previous left shoulder wound, going deeper. She managed to try to pierce her sai and Maul's side, hoping to penetrate the weak side of his armor.

Maul growled in pain as the sai pierced his armor, sinking into his side. Luckily the wound was not made very deep. He flipped backwards and removed the sai. After throwing it to the side, Maul cast a quick healing spell to lessen the pain. The Kaleesh moved again, with lightning speed. He was at Epiphany in an instant, and aimed a slash at her throat.

(Yeah. I think he was Carlisle, right?)
Nebi nodded in understanding. Prospective Heirs dying was just what the First Emperor would find amusing. He was liking the man less and less as time went by. He spoke aloud, mostly to himself, "Damn him. I will reverse his unjust decisions."

Epiphany dodged Maul's attack and held onto Maul. She got caught against the wall. Epiphany grunted as her back hit the wall. She really wanted to defeat Maul, but she needed a new strategy. Epiphany tried kneeing Maul to back him off.

((You sure you don't want Epiphany to win? I'm more than willing to allow that. Maul won the last challenge after all. Oh, and you never really said if she dodged the slash to her throat.))

((Well, you have a point. I'm starting to consider it. I'll edit my post. Afterwards, I'll be off until tomorrow.

Okay, I'm done editing!))

Surrender, Lord Maul."

At the voice of an Elder, Maul suddenly froze. It was at that moment Epiphany kneeed him in the stomach. The Kaleesh roared with pain and jumped away. Four walls of earth erupted from the ground. For many minutes the Kaleesh stayed in there, until the four walls went back into the ground. Maul was silent for a moment.

"Come at me, Epiphany. No matter what the Elders say, I will not surrender. For the good of the Empire, I will not surrender. Even if I have to disobey the Elders."

(Sorry Magus, thanks for reminding me.)

"The Elders? .....Does that mean someone was talking to him, C.C. do you know if someone was using telepathy earlier?" Carlisle asked as he looked at the Humage for a second, trying to quench his curiosity.
-/-\-
"Well....why don't you tell me a bit more about yourself? I now know many things about Sai and Caesar, but not much about you Arthur." Susanna replied after pausing shortly to think.

"Well my dear, there is not much to know about me. I am the second personality, the first to be created. Sai thinks of me as both a friend and grandfather figure. I'm a gentleman, what Sai could have become one day....really, Sai could have become any of us with the proper guidance. Except for Sarah. Dear Spirits, I hope he never becomes like Sarah. No offense to the woman, but...." Arthur trailed off. After a moment he glanced at Susanna.

"Now that I think of it, I don't know much about you either my dear."

---

"Yes. The Council of Elders of the Order of the Shadows were talking with Maul earlier. Demanding for him to surrender." C.C. said.

"Well that just brings up even more questions for me to ponder." Carlisle replied glumly as he looked back down at the fight.
-/-\-
Susanna listened carefully with a small contented smile as Arthur shortly explained himself. Of course this was followed by a quick uneasy look as he turned the question around on her.
"Well umm.... I was born into royalty, but I was still trained to always earn what I needed or wanted. I was actually supposed to be a sun who would be the heir to everything, and then, when it turned out that I was a girl my father thought he could raise me to be a warrior woman who would inherit everything anyways like in old legends.....of course that didn't quite work out in his favor either because my mother was the one who really raised me. She was very strict and made sure that I knew everything a future social woman and wife should know. Reading, writing, painting, dancing, horse-back riding, proper eating etiquette. Well I'm sure you get the point." Susanna added before licking her lips and moving a stray hair from out of her face.

"Am I talking too much, or would you like me to continue?"

"No, please continue." Arthur said, smiling at her. He would love to know more about Susanna, as would Sai, Zaku, and Sarah.

"Well ok then." Susanna replied as she loosened up a bit. "Anyways by the time I was nine my mother's sister's daughter had become the fourth wife of the Emperor and she had done something....well rather forbidden. She slept with her private servant and then he was killed because she thought he might tell someone. But by then she was already with child, and she hadn't been with the Emperor for three months and she realized that they would not bed with him in short enough time for him to believe the child was his....so she went to the countryside for a few months, had Katherine and then gave her to her lady-in-waiting. Over the next few years I went to social events and learned everything my mother taught me, and my dear cousin learned how to be a servant and was sent to our estate to be my servant. I found out within three weeks that we were related and so I decided that she could be my confidant and servant without any bad consequences happening to me." Susanna stopped for a second as she took in few deep breaths before continuing again.

"We did everything we possibly could together, made my mother furious at me a few times too. Those were some amazing adventures. We even went to Luisant Balise for four months, just the two of us at my family's cottage there....of course they wee a few servants, but they were never comfortable around me so it was mainly just us. We had so much fun and everything was always either joking or planning for the next seven years. I even taught her hot to be an official "Lady" using everything my mother taught me with. Of course it sort of all changed when it was announced that her mother had died, something that didn't actually affect Katie for too long. But then her birthday was actually the same day as when the Emperor died and my gift to her was a wish. Quite a silly thing to give, but I thought I could manage it, except she asked to me to get the next Emperor to abolish slavery so that everyone could have an equal chance." Susanna said with a small weak laugh as she looked away from Arthur towards a painting on the opposite wall.

"Of course she knew that it was going to be hard to remove a law that's been a part of this empire since it was created, but she planned with me again for a few w eeks.At first we were both sure that the only way to get that would be for me to get an Heir to fall in love with me so I could convince him to do the job.....but now I'm not so sure if I have to go that far, and if I'm right then that means I can concentrate on different issues at hand" Susanna finished as she looked back at Arthur with a weak smile.

"If you want to. I know that most of the Heirs would be more than happy to abolish slavery. Something that Baruti should have considered, when sending for the heirs. I wonder....did the Emperor....no, of course not. It would be foolish of me to think so." Arthur said. His tone slightly changed at that last sentence, but nothing unusual seemed to have happened to him.

"Tell me, how is your cousin fairing? Has she recovered from those burns wounds that has crippled her legs for a time?"