Fantasy Cartographers of Spiral Deep (CS)

[BakaTheIdiot]

In order to submit yourself to the Imperial Expedition, you must first prove yourself of sound mind. To bring insanity below is to invite disaster. All companions in attendance must first submit to our Sanitarium for an examination. You will be given a test. Answer truthfully and decisively. Take your time. Consider these questions carefully...

Questions are as follows.

Spoiler: CS Template

[optional image]

Name:
Age:
Sex:
Place of Origin: (Kingdoms are listed, but this is open to anything)
Designation: (your "role" in the party, some ideas below)

Height:
Weight:
Hair details:
Eye details:
Body details:
Rings or Accessories: (list or N/A)

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions: (list or N/A)

Personality Assessment: (personality)

Phobia(s):
(for a quick guide, visit the LORE thread and view the short compendium of relevant phobias to the RP - or pull up your own! Don't worry, I am definitely taking notes! > : D)

Equipment:
(Go all out! Armors, satchels, weapons, tools, absolutely everything that you plan to bring with you should be listed. The smallest detail. If you didn't put it here, you don't have it, so pack your bags wisely - and remember, you're only human! Lesser items, like food, maps, and torches, will be provided by the caravan and need not be brought.)

Magics: (spells and attunements, affinity with gods)

Civilian?: (Yes/No)
Volunteer or Draftee?:

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: (Yes/No)

Why are you embarking on this expedition?: (aspirations, goals, agendas, bio, all goes here)

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?: (More Bio, extras, etc.)

Do you have any last words?:

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?: (Yes/No)
NOTE: If you are a draftee, you may skip this question.
Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses?
(Yes/No, but lets face it, you'll put yes )

Signed, [character's full name]

By directorate of our great and holiest of lords:
Lord Prosil Gheiss IV, Empire of Rondon,
Lord Azzaam el-Othman, Sultanate of Khiva,
Lord Henrietta Vickers, Grand Duchy of Neu Bachtern,
Lord Vitya Antonov II, Tsardom of Grejet
Lord Kinoshita Fusayasu, South Lakebed Republic

this Sanitarium finds you
APPROVED
for expedition. Good fortune, good hunting. May Nasta'iir Guide You.
​

---

Ok back to reality for a sec,

This is a pretty heavily stylized CS so if it's confusing in any places, please go right ahead and ask me for explanation in OOC or in a DM, and I'll get back to you right away. I've tried to mark what goes where in ( )s without breaking the flow of the sheet, so I hope that helps! : D

While you can certainly be a knight, footsoldier, cunning mercenary, loveable rogue, etc, I'm also interested in seeing some non-combat roles too, like a priest for purification, a cook, a quartermaster for managing supplies, any assistant cartographers or historians, etc. You can go absolutely nuts with your "role" in this party, because trust me, when it comes down to it, everyone is going to be critical to survival! There's no "useless roles" here!

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Name: Camden Foster
Age: 40
Sex: Male
Place of Origin: Empire of Rondon
Designation: Head Cartographer, Amateur Historian

Height: 5'6"
Weight: 128 lbs
Hair details: Oak, perpetually messy, no longer than neck length
Eye details: Hazel-grey, somewhat sunken from a lack of sleep
Body details: Sickly and scrawny, not strong enough to carry much more than a cane and cartographer's satchels. Walks with a limp, and moves slowly, but steadily.
Rings or Accessories: Necklace w/ idol of Bastet

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions:
-Recovering addiction to Opium
-Shattered Ankle in childhood; permanent limp, treated with cane

Personality Assessment:
Steady, earnest, and genuine, Camden avoids conflict like the plague. He shows a genuine love for all people from all walks of life - however, deep down, his mortality deeply terrifies him. He enjoys scholarly conversation, tea, and is fascinated with history and maps. Mentally stable.

Phobia(s):
Teratophobia - Fear of Monsters
Lygophobia - Fear of the Dark

Equipment:
-Quarterstaff; doubles as cane
-Satchel, containing quills, ink jars, and abrasives to correct mistakes on maps
-Leather cuirass; state mandated
-Linen clothes, from home
-Spectacles
-Backup Spectacles
-100g of Opium, and a Pipe (painkiller)
-Matchbox, containing 40 matches
-3x empty vials
-14 empty canvases; cartography use only
-Leather preserving tube, for storage of maps
-Childhood blanket for comfort

Magics: Minor Affinity with Bastet. Can treat surface level wounds like scratches and bruises, but only a few times per day.

Civilian?: Yes
Volunteer or Draftee?: Volunteer

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: Yes, but only to the shallows

Why are you embarking on this expedition?:
A dear colleague of Camden's has ventured into Spiral Deep as of last year, and hasn't returned. He hopes to find her and bring some closure to himself and her family. Additionally, he hopes to finally be recognized by the cartographer's guild by going deeper than any previous expedition.

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?:
Under no circumstances should Camden use his opium pipe unless it is to treat pain. Its sedative qualities may seem enticing given the psychiatric issues that may arise. It is purely for medicinal use.

Do you have any last words?: "We must know, we will know."

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?: Yes
Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses?: Yes

Signed, Camden L. Foster

 

[Ayama]

"To usefully pass into oblivion is the only honor I have left."

Aleksei Averin

The Lost Knight

[BASICS]

Name: Aleksei Anatol Averin
Title: The Lost Knight
Nickname(s): Alek, Sglazit
Age: 34
Gender: Cismale

Hair: Silver-blond and shoulder-length
Eyes: Deep auburn (occasionally crimson)
Height: 6'1
Weight: 200lbs
Build: Dense and muscular
Distinguishing features: Hair and eyes
Scars/marks/tattoos/piercings: Small scar above left eye
Clothing style: Warm and heavily armored
Accessories: An engagement ring on a chain

[CHARACTER]

Personality: Absolutely morose. When Aleksei was a child, his angelic smile would light up an entire room, but the man hasn't smiled in many years- not since everything that happened.

Virtues: Honorable, steadfast, humble
Vices: Gloomy, pessimistic, humorless

Likes: Close-range combat, dogs, stew
Dislikes: Laughter and a good time

Habits: Hand always close to his sword
Quirks: Impervious to weather

Hopes/dreams: To die a usefully honorable death
Doubts/fears: That he won't. He's also mortally afraid of the darkness and whatever might come out of it at him- particularly ghosts of people from his past who blame him for their death.

Motivation(s)/goal(s): To properly pass into oblivion

[BACKGROUND]

Place of Origin: Tsardom of Grejet
Family: Anatole and Alyona of Averin (parents, deceased), Anton and Alina of Averin (older brother and younger sister, deceased), Boris Arkhipienka (uncle, alive), Sacha Galina Sabalenka (fiancee, deceased)
Friends/allies: None that still stand by him
Rivals/enemies: None who can be bothered

Backstory: The Averins were a famous house of Grejetian nobility, known for their generosity and sense of honor. Aleksei was born to a strong and tightly-knit family unit who loved and defended each other fiercely.

His father and older brother taught him to fight, and use his sword only for a worthy cause- never in anger or out of revenge. His mother and little sister taught him to look after the less fortunate- to care for those in need and never deem himself above anyone by status or blood.

Aleksei worked hard and became an honorable knight, respected and admired throughout the land. And then, as if to make his happiness complete, he met the love of his life. Sacha Sabalenka was a rare, raven-haired beauty, and he loved her from the first moment they met.

To his delight, she returned his affections and, after a brief but intense courtship, their families approved and they were engaged to be wed. Aleksei was delirious with happiness, but this was not to last.

Shortly after their engagement was announced, Sacha was murdered by a savage beast. No one knew what the beast was or whence it came- they only knew that, one morning, Aleksei was discovered in her room by her body, covered in her blood and howling like a wounded animal.

After this, the beast continued to attack those he loved, and in short order Aleksei was left alone in the world. People started whispering behind his back that he was cursed, calling him the Jinx (or sglazit). With his uncle Boris now de facto head of the family, he got it into his mind that the only way he could ever do something good for anyone ever again was to venture into the deep and perish while contributing to the efforts to map it out.

Darkness and monsters followed him wherever he went, Aleksei reasoned. so with the darkness and monsters was where he belonged.

[DETAILS]

Designation: The Warrior
Fighting style: Pretty much a classic tank
Magical Affiliation: Vol'numul (fire and earth)

Skills: Close to mid-range combat, singing
Strengths: Brute force, used to damage
Weaknesses: Speed, marksmanship
Injuries/Accidents/Addictions: Torn ACL

Weapon(s): Greatsword and scabbard
Gear: Heavy armor, gambeson, and furs
Parchment and pen, sleeping mat
Lots of rope and climbing gear, booze

[THE DEEP]

Civilian? Knight of the House of Averin
Volunteer or Draftee? Volunteer

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before? No

Why are you embarking on this expedition? To find a useful death

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose? I fear I am cursed, and a danger to those around me

Do you have any last words? May I die an honorable death

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time? Yes
Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses? Yes

Signed, Aleksei Anatol Averin

♡design by neon reverie, coded by uxie♡

 

[Humble1]

Name: Nezhnaya Radomir

Age: 52
Sex: Female
Place of Origin: Village of Molagua, Szet Province, Kingdom of Grejet
Designation: Occultist, Healer, Philosopher

Height: 5’2”
Weight: 125ish
Hair details: Mostly grey to silver
Eye details: Blue-grey
Body details: Older woman, looking slightly wasted, but standing straight. Wrapped in enough layers as to make her figure indeterminate.
Rings or Accessories: Several small adornments that disappear and reappear into pockets. All are brass or poor silver with no gemstones. Most bear esoteric symbols etched with a strong hand.

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions: None apparent, except perhaps behind her eyes.

Personality Assessment: Quiet, although possibly that is caused by her lack of skill with the local language.

Phobia(s): Monophobia, fear of abandonment.

Equipment:
Many many pockets throughout her clothing. Holds countless small bits of jewelry, powders, salts, chalks, small bottles of unguents and oils, and other semi-magic paraphernalia.
Walking staff of vine-knotted wood, 4 feet long and sturdy
Large shoulder-sack with extra clothing, bedroll, some cooking equipment, and a small tent.

Magics: Practicing hedge witch, although she views this as a type of magic passed down from the Old Gods. Practices theurgy, usually with Vol'numul, drawing from Her power to gain blessings and favor. Uses salt circle wards to stave off unclean spirits and hostile daemons. Can, in theory, summon and bind spirits to receive wisdom and favors.

Civilian?: Yes
Volunteer or Draftee?: Volunteer

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: No

Why are you embarking on this expedition?:

I seek answers to questions that I have only begun to frame. Who is master pulling the strings? What makes history move this way, that way? Who put little Molagua in path of two armies? Long have I searched, no answers. Now I look for answers in places no one else will.

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?:

Do not bother looking for Molagua on a map. It is not there anymore. You've heard of the Szet rebellion? Molagua was next to the fighting. When the soldiers were done looting, nothing left. No one left. Except me.

Do you have any last words?:

May Vol'numul rain her blessings on this place. May She guide my mind and guard my soul.

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?:

I do.

Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses?

I so attest.

Signed, Nezhnaya Radomir

 

[ThaDruid]

Name: Magnus Bedlam, "The Guilty"
Age: 33
Sex: M
Place of Origin: Empire of Rondon
Designation: Bodyguard, fighter, cutthroat mercenary

Height: 1.80 m
Weight: 90 kg
Hair details: Light brown, messy.
Eye details: Small, piggish and dark, shining with the low cunning of an animal.
Body details: Fat and muscled, built like a brute.
Rings or Accessories: A couple of golden teeth

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions:
Burn scars around his neck and shoulders, which the man claims to have been from magicflame
A penchant for drinking during stressful times

Personality Assessment:
Blunt and clumsy with people, to the point where he comes off as hostile and standoffish. Magnus is the callous and quiet type, often preferring to communicate through grunts and curt gestures, rather than with spoken word. Untrusting, and often prefers to keep his distance from others.

Phobia(s):
Rhabdophobia, fear of magic

Equipment:
- Suit of mercenary armor (Banded leather over chainmail)
- War hatchet
- Buckler
- Clothing
- Canvas backpack
- Rope
- Chalk
- Bedroll
- Bandages
- Leather flask of strong liquor

Magics: N/A

Civilian?: No
Volunteer or Draftee?: Draftee (Prisoner)

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: No

Why are you embarking on this expedition?:
By the emperor's grace, the convict Magnus Bedlam is hereby drafted into the earliest expedition within the Spiral Deep. Were the expedition to be successful and he to return alive, he shall be then pardoned of his crimes, of which he was imprisoned two months past on the charge of murder.

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?:
"I killed 'er. I'd do it again. And I'm gonna win my freedom back doing the only thing I know. Killin' again and again, until we make it out."

Do you have any last words?: "No."

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?: "Yes."

Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses? "Mhm."

Signed, Magnus Bedlam

 

[Meredith]

Aoife Lorne

Espeditionary Veteran, Materials Recording Clerk, Lookout​

Age: Mid-Thirties
Sex: Female [F]
Place of Origin: A small mercantile post, Chelsea, in the North of the Empire of Rondon’s Saltsea.

Height: ~5” (150cm)
Weight: ~140lbs (64kg )

Hair details: A once steely blue-black, fading with age and accumulation into a muddy blue-grey, limp and weighted by its oils down her back despite its thin strands. It’s brushed, but not well-washed. Her bangs are wispy, and compulsively cut short above her eyes.

Eye details: Faded grey-green eyes cracked like broken glass. Her left eye is partly brown, stained with the blood of an early injury.

Body details: The woman is the kind of athlete whose body’s strength comes from a place of labour and need. Her muscle was built on top of a wiry, nearly-broken body, and she has starved badly since her strongest days again. Her muscle hang close to her frame, packed densely toward her shoulders, made lean in her disobedience to her devotions.

Accessories: Aoife wears a leather strap about her neck, tied to hang straight around the cross-section of a rough-hewn stone cross. It is obscured behind the collar of her coat. Otherwise, she wears light flaxen gloves under her heavier armour, and her ears are heavily pierced with bent nails—a mark of failed courage in battle—in uneven lines from helix to lobule. In some places, they are hammered two wide. One nail pierces the antihelix of each ear, bent metal in front instead of behind the piercings.

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions:
- The nails aforementioned are all but healed into her ears, but if they were to be pushed out by flesh and time, she would feel obligated to replace them.
- Her back was irreparably damaged in a stabbing injury afflicted by a panicking member of her last expedition.
- Her feet are heavily scarred from work in salt fields, whose salinity led her skin to blister and shed in her youth. Her hands, while less red, bear the same marks. She is extremely conscious about these marks as a betrayal of her class.
- Aoife believes in moderation but has not been without a drag of tobacco in the morning and night in years.

Personality Assessment: Aoife is completely unfit for combat. While her attention to detail and overly cautious nature makes her an ideal lookout and clerk, she has a known history of desertion on the field. Described by former squadron leader as “utilitarian, but well-liked”, it is no surprise that Aoife rose quickly to the rank of officer, but her use on the field has diminished greatly in the last few years. Recommended to another expedition in the Spiral Deep due to an inaptitude to war.

Phobia(s):
Hemephobia: The fear of blood.
Scotomaphobia: A fear of blindness (and, more broadly, mutilation of the eyes).

Equipment:
- Recording tools such as a leather-bound inventory book, charcoal chalk, ink. and quills, held in a large leather satchel that sits against her hip.
- A bedroll rolled inside the pelt of a beloved horse.
- A pair of barber’s scissors.
- A female officer’s set of armour, including a tailored overcoat with low coattails that boasts a divisional insignia, a dark surcoat with a skirt-split at the hip and high-buttoned collar, a leather jack snugly fitted over a linen shirt, a dark set of jhodpurs, and heavy leather high knee-high boots with similar leather gloves worn to the mid-forearm.
- A set of linen underclothes.
- Six pairs of light linen gloves.
- Additional leather belts and bracings meant to protect the chest and prevent further damage to her shattered back.
- A small sheathed bone knife meant for eating and a set of cutlery besides.
- Two waterskins, each meant to be strapped over a shoulder, though the second often rests in the bottom of her satchel.
- An old claymore, swinging at her hip, well-cleaned but rarely-used.
- A roll of bandages, oils, coagulents, and other materials that stop the flow of blood.
- About an ounce of tobacco, papers for rolling it, and sixty matches.

Magics: No magic, but claims Nasta’iir’s light led her feet fleetly from the Spiral Deep on her last expedition.

Civilian?: No.. no, just a soldier.
Volunteer or Draftee?: Draftee …Volunteer.
Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: To nearly 900 feet. [Y]

Why are you embarking on this expedition?: I know that I have fundamentally failed my duties as a soldier and disciple of Nasta’iir. If I cannot control my fear, I might aid in one of the most important investigations of our age, to try to find some measure of forgiveness for my cowardice. Her face is straight, but her eyes vacant, lacking the zeal seen in young war-clerics. She shudders—barely perceptively—when I stare into her eyes.

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?: It seems that Aoife feels some measure of guilt concerning her current position in society. Background research reveals that most peasants in the small salt-producing community outside of Chelsea (where the woman was initially brought into the army to clear her family’s outstanding debts) were eliminated in the last decade by a bloody lung-plague. This, along with the fate of most of her previous expedition, have likely contributed to a syndrome of “survivor’s guilt” recently seen in many other smallfolk afflicted by tragedy.

Do you have any last words?: Lay my soul to rest in the light of the dawn, courage in death forgiving all my dire flaws, and giving way to the final purification.

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?: [N] N/A.
NOTE: If you are a draftee, you may skip this question.

Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses?: Yes. I have made oath to live or die under his holy light. [Y]

Signed, Aoife Ealasaid Lorne

 

[OBESE]

Name: Goran Belobog
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Place of Origin: Tsardom of Grejet
Designation: Tracker, Hunter

Height: 190cm
Weight: 95kg
Hair details: Chesnutt colour hair reaching bit over the shoulders and a full beard, little bit darker than the hair colour.
Eye details: Brown eyes almost matching the colour of the hair.
Body details: Goran has a physically fit body. Couple of scars on his arms and legs.
Rings or Accessories:
- Bear tooth in a string around his neck
- Silver ring that looks like a rope design

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions:
- Couple of scratch type of scars on his right arm
- Pierced type of scar on his left leg
- Scar on the left biceps from an arrow

Personality Assessment: Goran is many things as the Tsardom he is from has been quite a cruel place and has made him to do many things that he would not have chosen if he would have had a say in it. Goran is a very levelled person and due to past traumas from the power struggle wars in the Tsardom he often stays in his thoughts without expressing much. Very attentive of hi surroundings and has eyes for details and out of place things as one of his professions is a hunter. From being a farmer on his family farm and hunting as part of the survival on the farm, then being drafted in the army, surviving and coming back to farming and hunting he is not big on wasting time on relationships, knowing that it could be gone the next day. He very much believes in Vol'numul and will give a sacrifice of some sorts every week with a little prayer.
Phobia(s):
- Claustrophobia (Tight spaces - simply does not feel good in tight spaces, especially caves)
- Phasmophobia (Ghosts - He believes that ghosts exist, therefore does not want to piss them off and attract the bad ones that might bring harm.)

Equipment:
- Hunting bow
- Back Quiver (24 arrows)
- Waist quiver (12 arrows)
- Hunters knife
- Short sword
- Backpack
- Rope 40ft
- Clean cloths
- Another knife
- Blade sharpening tool
- Water flask
- Blanket
- Flint
- Salt
- Small axe

Magics: Affinity to Vol'numul - School of salt. Believes that mother earth will provide and show the path to those who trust in faith.

Civilian?: Yes (Ex-soldier)
Volunteer or Draftee?: Draftee

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: No

Why are you embarking on this expedition?: After the power struggle war in the Tsardom of Grejet, Goran was lucky to live through it and have the chance to return to his family farm and try to live a normal life. The peace for Goran lasted for around 8 years, but there was no peace at the top of the Tsardom and now the Tsar Vitya II has his curiosity about the Spiral Deep and hopes that there might be some secrets that he could posses to strengthen his power in Tsardom of Grejet and also outside it's boarders, therefore he decided to draft people from the Tsardom to send to the expedition and bring back all the information that they gathered. Goran happened to be one of the draftees and seeing how brutal the Tsar is, he could not refuse. Once again Goran finds himself serving the Tsar against his wishes.

Do you have anything additional you wish to disclose?: During his 10 years in army Goran proved himself to be a capable fighter and leader and rose up the ladder of ranks quick, partly due to a lot of other officers dying on the battlefield, but he does not talk about his past in army, nor his achievements. When asked, he is a simple farmer that does hunting as well.
Do you have any last words?: "If I die, I can finally be one with the soil and bring new life to the earth!"

Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses?
Yes

Signed, Goran Belobog

 

[apocalypse tv]

Name: Sir Nathaniel Edelgard, Son of the former Viscount of Daschen, of the House of Edelgard. Goes by Nathan.
Age: 32
Sex: Male
Place of Origin: Grand Duchy of Neu Bachtern, Norlanden
Designation: Equipment Maintenance, Engineer. Fancies himself an inventor and a scientist with some surgical knowledge.

Height: 5"8
Weight: 148 lbs

Hair details: Once impeccably groomed, Nathaniel's hair is now stringy and unkempt, falling in a shadow over his face while the rest is tied back in a semblance of a ponytail. Strands of grey glimmer against black in the light, more of them now than ever.
Eye details: Dark as his hair. They dart around, nervous and bloodshot, sizing up people and things with a desperate, hungry alacrity.
Body details: Healthy, soft-bodied build of a dandy maintained only by recreational sports. Has grown gaunter and more hunched with recent developments.
Rings or Accessories: With most of his finery confiscated or converted into necessities after his disgraceful exit from the peerage, Nathaniel now only wears a silver thumb ring with his family crest on a string hidden underneath his clothes. Inherited from his devout & superstitious great-grandfather, who was a pious member of the church of Forsyth, back when they weren't in such a ruinous state of affairs.

Injuries/Accidents/Addictions: Weak for the finer things in life. Depends on opium tincture to go to sleep and stave off the night terrors, and has recently taken to the drink in the face of his family's decline. His left hand was removed in favor of an articulated mechanical prosthesis of his own making for an infamous and controversial experimental study which he wrote a treatise on in his twenties: On the Effect of Emotional Attachment on the Properties and Efficacy of Transmutation, which argued that the more metaphysical, emotional value an alchemist attached to an object he transmuted, the more effective a transmutation is, almost to the point of transcending the law of conservation of mass - a theory he puts into practice to this day.

Personality Assessment: A nervous, articulate man. Having spent years entrenched in academia and scholarship, Nathan tends to ramble on when left to his own devices and will talk anyone's ear off if given the chance. Meticulous, cautious, and calculating. Desperate and deeply resentful of his current circumstances, Nathan has the bearing of a cornered prey animal. Has a love of science bordering on the fanatical.

Phobia(s):
Sedatophobia, fear of silence.
Xenophobia, fear of the unknown and, more specifically, the unexplainable.
Athazagoraphobia, fear of being forgotten.

Equipment:
- Glass bottle of opium tincture wrapped in cloth. A drop on the tongue before slumber.
- A silver flask of liquor in his inner breast pocket.
- Well oiled duelling pistol. 10 cartridges and a pouch of black powder just in case.
- Flint and steel.
- Ancestral jewelry and assets melted into etched discs of varying pure metals for alchemical use hanging on his belt.
- A small jewelry box hidden in the bottom compartment of his pack containing the last remnants of his family wealth. Pure metals and precious jewels not for sell or trade, but reserve supply for transmutation.
- Mechanic's tools - for repairs to the caravan.
- Rudimentary surgical tools - (a bonesaw, needles & thread for suturing, clamps, hooks, probes, and bandages)
- Satchel containing a blank book for recording equipment inventory and supplies + a weathered personal diary and writing tools.
- A delicate ivory folding knife
- A set of clothes wrapped around a thin bedroll.
- Stored carefully in a pouch near his heart, 5 pieces of chalk and 3 glass vials of his own pre-drawn blood.

Magics: Art of Transmutation, Affinity to Elric. By use of manually drawn circles or his discs, can utilize the art of transmutation to a competent degree. Has never used his talents outside of a laboratory or peacetime setting - not optimized for combat.

Civilian?: Yes
Volunteer or Draftee?: Volunteer

Have you ventured into Spiral Deep before?: No

Why are you embarking on this expedition?: Research. The Spiral Deep contains fascinating scientific discoveries of our age just waiting to be made. For the glory of man and his enlightenment, we must venture forth into the darkness so we may illuminate the light at the end of the tunnel. Sacrifice is necessary for progress.

[Nathaniel's ambitions may sound grand, but belie ulterior motives. House Edelgard was formerly part of a loyalist faction of nobles dissatisfied with the current regnant. After a failed political play led by his brazen father and facing swift, violent persecution, Nathaniel fled from his long-term residence in the hallowed halls of the University of Norlanden to Rondon to escape retaliation.

Facing hard times as a political self-exile in hiding in a famine-struck, chaotic empire, Nathaniel, or "Nathan", sees the Spiral Deep as a last resort, hoping to continue his research in transmutation in some capacity and getting a hold of the generous stipend given to returning expeditions to move on to greener pastures.]

Do you have any last words?: May we all rise anew from the ashes.

Do you hereby certify that you are of sound mind, body, and are capable of embarking on this expedition, for a length no less than four months time?: Yes

Do you hereby certify that the above information is as accurate as you may possibly provide, under penalty of imprisonment or execution under glorious Nasta'iir, the elder gods as your witnesses? If I must.

Signed, Nathan E. Smith