Min browses among the people in the marketplace. Due to the fact that he dropped his daily-bought bread in a hurry to get to the castle, Min was famished. And so here it was, standing in front of its favorite bakery. Watching. Waiting. The common people shuffled in and out of the expansive building -- it was quite popular considering it was run by an average peasant-boy and his mother. But Min wouldn't enter the building. Not until it knew the perfect loaf of bread was prepared.

How long had Min been waiting outside of the bakery, you ask? Who knows. Minutes. Hours. Time seems to melt away when one stands in the path of the common people for so long that children start climbing you out of thoughts that you're a statue. But then... IT WAS THERE.

Its scent, pristine. Its grains, perfectly ground. It just came out of the oven, so its color must look like all the others -- but within the next couple of minutes, it will have become a golden brown. Min couldn't see this... But it knew. No scent was needed. It heard the oven door shut. It was placed on the cooling racks -- a sleight rippling of paper-like wrapping crumpling beneath it. That was the sign of only the greatest bread -- ones that would be put on display immediately after being baked. Now was the time.

Min reached up over its hood, plucking a small child -- only a foot smaller that it was -- off of its head, and begins its stride into the building. Weaving through people, Min found, was one of the many things that became easier the smaller you were. It also helped that Min was incredibly light on its feet, and so it found itself at the counter within moments of entering the building.

The boy at the desk seems surprised when he sees Min. He always is. Min has been told by the boy's mother that its helmet creeps the boy out -- and was tempted to throw Min out the first couple of times it appeared at the store. Even now, when Min proved to be a loyal customer, and an eager wallet to the pair, the boy still couldn't get over his strange feeling of unease when he saw Min.

"So, I assume we just made the "perfect bread"?" the boy asks. Min remains silent. He was the baker, he should have known that Min's senses could not be fooled -- even from outside of the building.

"Alright... Hey, Ma! Bring the new loaf here! Mask-face is here again." the boy calls to the back. Min wasn't sure when it gained that nickname from the boy. But it didn't mind. So long as it got the perfect bread.

Steps were heard -- indicated by a sleight limp, the telltale sign that the woman from the store approached. Min appreciated this feature of the woman, it made her easy to detect despite all of the other customers noisily storming about.

"Ah, back again, I see? Well, here y'are. Like always... This thing's free, if you want i--" before the woman can say another word, Min has taken out well over the amount needed for regular bread. Min knows the game she plays. She would sell her bread short in order to make Min look like a cheapskate -- it was a test of its Valor, its Honor. Min appreciated the test, and held no resentment for it -- in fact it was glad for such an eager test of its chivalrous heart.

"And... 'S always... Thank ye for yer patronage." the bread-maker handed over the bread. The moment Min touched it... It knew. The pinnacle of bread was in its hands. If no mask covered Min's face, drool would be seen coming eagerly from its waiting mouth. It immediately turned on-point and walked through the crowd.

"Y'think he knows he buys the worst bread o' the day every time, Ma?" The boy turns to his mother,

"Let 'im do as 'e likes, son. I ain't complainin' " followed by the jingle of coins in a pouch is her reply. But Min doesn't hear them. It's too absorbed in the feast it's about to have -- once it goes to some place alone. It's terribly shy about eating in the presence of others.

It walks out of the building, and turns left and right. Where to go, where to go... Min has its choices for perches to eat upon in the great city for its divine meal, after all.

Juli ignored everyone around her as she chatted to herself. "...So then something gets hot when it gets struck by lightning because things catch fire and everything that catches fire catches fire because it's very hot. But then does that mean that there is lightning IN fire? And why would lightning kill fish in water? Water doesn't catch fire. Perhaps there's something other than fire that lightning is made of? Who knows? I will! I hope. Maybe after this experiment. But why would Fire Beetle Ichor be usable with Moonstone and Dark Matter and water in creating lightning? What properties of the... ooooh."

Juli put her conversation with herself aside for a moment, smelling bread baking somewhere. As if reminding her she'd been working on an experiment for six hours, Juli's stomach rumbled. "Bread! An excellent form of mind fuel! ...And a great material to start testing this miniature lightning with!" Juli promptly ran toward the bakery, her thoughts now preoccupied with bread, and bacon on bread, and cheese on bread, and other food on bread...

...and she promptly tripped over a cobblestone, sending her glasses flying off her face. "Waaagh! My glasses! Drat! Where are they..." Juli began feeling around for her glasses. "Everyone! Glasses! Dropped! Don't a-ny-bo-dy move without looking! Now where are they..."

[Affraiuel Stomprage directed her warband to a nearby elven forest, the Orcs were never great jungle fighters, but the ambitious chieftess won't let that stop her. Nothing boils her blood like stomping some fancy wood elves, her chief shaman Miz'ter Smackface is also at her side, ready to cast orcish healing magic on the warriors.]

Affraiuel: "Miz'ter Smackface, Status reporta!!!"

Smackface: "Chieftess, our boyz iz ready! My magik juice iz full! We iz as ready as Gork the cunning one!"

Affraiuel: "Hmmm, I thought Gork iz the god who cunningly brutal... where iz Mork??!!"

Smackface: "Chieftess, Gork is the brutally cunning! Mork is the cunningly brutal!"

Affraiuel: *sneers* "Oh zog it!" *draws axe* "Launch da assualt, stomp all ponsy elves you see!!! FOR THE WAaaaaAaagh!!!!!"

[Affraiuel led her warriors into the heart of the elven forest, the wood elves emerged from the tall trees and took pot shots at the chieftess. Affraiuel pressed on the assualt with a large metal plank as a shield, crude yet effective, the fey arrows bounced straight off. Smackface, being the orcish shaman of the war band, casts bolts of fire balls into the woods, burning down trees and incinerated multiple elven archer in the process.]

Affraiuel: *smirks at Smackface* "Dat'z some nice dakka bak dere, Smackface."

Smackface: *flustered* "Thankz chieftess!" *sees an elven rider* "chieftess! Those ponzy elvez iz sendin their Cavalriez!!!"

Elven rider: "Filthy green skins! Always take what you please, always resorting to force!" *charges at Affariuel*

Affraiuel: "Theze land belongs to da Stomprage clan!!! Bogger off elvez!!!" *charges at the elven rider*

Juli's head snapped in Min's direction. "Oh, no!" Juli almost climbed to her feet before feeling the rim of her glasses and hearing the muffled voice that said something like "srmmeem".

"Th-thanks, sir." Juli took her glasses from the vague grey shape next to her, then carefully eased her glasses on her head. One lens was cracked a lot, but she could still barely see things out of it. The right lens, thankfully, was unharmed, if a bit dusty. "Whew... well, I've got a replacement..." Juli reached into a side pocket, fumbled through it, pulled out a dusty lens, and replaced the cracked one. "Thanks for helping me find my glasses, mister... uh... what's your name?"

Who was he? He LOOKED like a dwarf in armor. Juli had seen dwarves in armor. Not that much armor, though. This guy was clad from head to foot! When there was nothing to fight! Why was this so? Her curiosity piqued and her stomach completely forgotten, Juli began talking to the guy with the armor. "Hmm. Oh, I should give my name before asking yours. I'm Juli. I'm a researcher! I mix things together and see what happens. What's your name? And what do you do? Some kind of fighting, judging by that armor. Is it strong? What's it made of?"

I thought that, after forming up, each member of the Dragon-Slaying party would be sent on their way to prepare anything they hadn't brought directly to the meeting. Isn't that how it goes?
Recruitment is put up for a quick reply -> People reply quickly, but don't have all of their equipment on them most of the time -> People are sent out to gather their items for the adventure with a given (albeit very short) time-frame -> All members of the party meet up at a specified location.

Upon meeting up, all members of the party depart.

Nah, that explanation's an excuse. I wanted Min to drop his bread again from the beginning. The fact that he dropped it originally on his way to meet the Prince & party was all an elaborate scheme to get this whole situation to play out -- AND IT WORKED.
HAH, THE MASTER PUPPET-MASTER STRIKES AGAIN. FEAR ME, BREAD, OR I SHALT DROP-EST THOU A SECOND TIME.

I thought it was hilarious, but can be disregarded if needed.

[Affraiule runs into close quarter with the elven rider to avoid arrows, but the rider's white beast takes the upper hand and pins down the orc chieftess with its sharp paws. Shaman Smackface didn't hesitate and casted a few more fire balls at the rider before taking cover behind a charred tree to recover mana, the fire ball hits the elven rider she fall off her furry companion. Siezing the opportunity, Affraiule musters all of her orcish strength and pushed back the sharp fang of the beast as it tried to rip her head off.]

Affraiule: "GET BAK!!!" *right hooks the white beast*

Smackface: *yells* "Stomp dem all chieftess!!!" *chugs mana potion* "Sweet grog!!!" *casts another fire ball at the elven rider*

Elven rider: *takes out an elven blade* "Foul green skins! I shall send you back to which ever hell hole you crawled out of!!!" *gets hit by a fire ball* "ARGh!"

Affraiule: *breaks the beast's jaw* "WAAAaaaaaAAgh!!!!" *picks up the battle axe* "Yer finish'd ponzy elf!!!"

[After a flawless swing, the elven rider falls to the ground. Affraiule is dissatisified with how the fight went down, it was too easy, elves will never give up their forest so easily to the lifes of orcs, something was off.]

Affraiule: *smirks at the fallen elf* "Dis forest belongz to da Stomprage clan now!!!"

Elven rider: *chuckles* "No... this forest... belongs to..." *points into the sky* "him..." *dies*

[Affraiule looks into the sky only to see a massive shadow glides through the sky, stearing leaves and soots into the blue sky. It is a dragon, probably have slept in the forest for millennia while the wood elves sang songs to pacify its short temper, now with the local elves either fled or died, the dragon has reawakened, flying and angry.]

Affraiule: *rallies her warrior* "Run you gitz! Draaaagoon!!!"

Min follows the... Knight? No. Scientist, with its heels dragging behind it. There is no possible replacement for such a wonderful piece of bakery as the one which suffered under the foot of an unknowing peasant. But Min didn't hold the common-folk at fault for stepping over the bread.
Over.
And over.
And over.
...
...
...
And over.

Until it was likely not distinguishable from the stones on the ground. They had tread on the greatest food in the known universe. Scattering a gem upon the paved roads. At least now, they would have the partial knowledge that they were walking upon sacrificial ground. How could they look past the surely shimmering edges of the loaf they quashed?
Perhaps it would make them better people. Perhaps they, too, would learn to appreciate an act of chivalry at the expense of their greatest happiness.

It held no malice, if they would gain from his mistake. It was all Min's fault for releasing its precious loaf, after all.

But Min regardless of the life lessons the common people were surely learning from the treasure they continued trampling upon, Min was hungry; and with the offer of another loaf of bread, even the scraps left off of a urchin's plate would seem pleasing to the silent pugilist.

So Min followed closely behind the kind scientist.

'Six loaves... Of bread..?' Min ponders how anyone as small as this energetic creature could eat such a large amount of baked-goods. But Min wasn't one to question others' appetites.

And so Min "looks" in the direction of the oven. Then sniffs the air. None. There were literally no other perfect loaves of bread within this shop... But that was to be expected. Perfection such as the one it held within its hands only minutes before would only arrive once every week at most. And while Min wished that they would create more such baking more regularly... His previous suggestions ended with puzzled mutterings from the shop-owners. Even when Min tried to speak up, it appeared that his speech was utterly incomprehensible to them.

At that time, the Non-Helmet side of the universal Helm vs Non-Helm chart gained another point.

But then something happened in the bakery... Or... Would happen. A stray feeling was felt and sent in a wave. Only someone who honed their senses of the movements of the air would feel it -- and be able to recognize it. A rebel flame was spurring in the oven. Above it... Dough. But it was dry dough. Dough that was perfect for making the crunchy bread that Min loved.

But this bread was not like the others... It was too close. It strayed too close to the heat in its journey to become the greatest loaf of them all -- it would burst into flames. It would start at the bottom, near the tip of the bread, then spread to the upper loafs, then the whole batch.

Min began to drool. More wonderful bread would be borne by the oven today... For two, no... More that two. Five, at least -- pieces of his beloved bread to come into existence all at once would be a delight for its heart and soul. But... To wait for even one... No. No waiting.

It was so compelling that Min lifted from its chair -- which it had sat down at while the scientist who claimed her name as Juli frantically spoke of flames and dragons. It walked towards the counter, which made the boy who stood at his station cringe. There was no time for formalities.

Min then lifted itself onto and over the counter.

"O-Oi, what're ya doin', Mask-face?" The boy is literally taken back at Min's disregarding of any sort of customer-etiquette, but Min had no time for etiquette. It continued through the back, and towards the oven.
Min then opened up the oven as if it were the most natural movement in its life -- much to the surprise of the motherly baker, who was shocked to silence. Whether the shock was because of Min's ability to weave through the cooking ingredients and gear in the small room with ease, or the fact that he had opened up an oven which was made entirely out of steel was anyone's guess.

Min then reached into the oven, and just as the bread set aflame, Min reached in and took the burning bakery out of the would-be bread-powered-fireplace.

Without even bothering to put out the flame, Min walks back out of the kitchen, makes its way over the counter, and then turns its head to the clerk.

"... Thank you." Min speaks semi-clearly to the clerk. Then drops a sack filled with the necessary 23 copper -- with an extra couple of coins as well, onto the desk.

Min then returns to its seat in front of the scientist, holding the loaf which was at that point is set completely aflame. Min doesn't seem bothered by the flames in the least, however, and breaks off a small chunk of the now pitch-black slab, which it holds out to the scientist. The charred-chunk isn't on fire, due to being separated from the rest of the loaf... But there're still embers glowing red and yellow on its bottom side, flickering as more customers come into the bakery -- only to jump back at the sight of a flaming loaf being held by a masked... Something.

"Ore."

Unless she was extraordinarily deaf, Juli could hear from behind her a voice belonging to that of a young adult, female in tone. Should the woman of science turn around, she'd find something between a specter and a girl dressed in a plain, slightly cuffed dress. Slung in an almost-careless manner was a covered basket containing what could presumably be any assortment of tools of a woman's trade : parchments for accounting with a husabnd, needles for knitting, leather for a tanner...the possibilities could go on and on...

"You'll find success in...the clandestinely curious. Have you heard of the hairy folk? The little bits of ore their ilk employs are subjects of their own curiosity. Curiosity, that I might markedly add, would be to your liking."

For a common girl, she appeared to be a lot more knowledgeable than what was given at face value.

@Liminori
Because it's unclear at this point, have the members of the Dragon-Slaying group already been debriefed by the prince? Or is all of this happening prior to the event?

---------------

Min smiles at the fact that Juli is so happy for its gift to her -- not that anyone can see its smile behind its metal mask.

She must have ample knowledge of bakery, for her to be so overjoyed. Only some can appreciate the great quality of this fine bakery Min has found. It must be an acquired taste. Min is happy to have been of service for one of like minds. Min is about to undo its helmet and devour the bread due to its hunger -- but then feels the motion of Juli putting the bread away.

'That's... Right. Not here...' Min thinks to itself. If its newfound companion hadn't reminded it of the secrecy of eating, Min may have revealed what it was -- and that is forbidden. Min quickly swipes at the air with the perfect loaf, taking care for it to not shatter upon the end of the swipe -- it is terribly fragile when it is so well made. The flames die off just as the bread reaches perfection.

"Ore."

With the first word of one behind Juli, Min straightens. Something is... Different about the woman. As she continues, her words ring out just like all the others. But with something else... Something... Grim? Perhaps. But many of the fighters underground would be described as such. It was something different.

As soon as she finishes speaking, Min rises and walks to the side of her chair, then holds out its hand its open palm facing upwards -- in the hopes that she will place her hand on top of its own.

"Your... Hand." Is all that comes out of Min's mouth in order to indicate its intentions. But it, like most of what Min says, rings through its mask. Who knows if it was understandable?

I edited Bulwark's info again, but to save you the trouble of reading the changes, I'll put them here instead:
Personality: Same as before, except he's always looking for new forging techniques and ores to use in forging, and when asked what he's thinking about, he'll go off about some alternate world that's made of gears that turn continents to face other continents below them.

Eh, it's not that issue, if you're looking at what I posted on that now-gone RP thread, but an evil overlord killing a dragon (though undoubtedly weaker than the one most other characters will fight) makes it so that Almire would have to face two beings of about the same difficulty (I'd imagine so, considering another dragon just got off'd by a demon) which would effectively place you as co-GM. With a character capable of that much power (and with power comes influence, yadda yadda), I myself would find it hard to have the character in question not do anything to avoid shoving the other characters' possibilities around with that extra weight. Why introduce an evil overlord if he's only going to influence one character (in this case, an orc)? I mean, he's evidently dethroning various other leading forces like dragons, so it wouldn't make much sense plot-wise if he was going to sit back and slowly take Almire while everyone else is off to kill The Dragon. To even introduce characters of that level would have to take responsibility second only to Lim-lims (which should be done with consent, mind you). Otherwise, even if Lim's was to accept your evil overlord...well, he already has one to work with.

That, and I kinda said that the overlord doesn't exist because Liminori doesn't accept his existence as canon, hence why Affruiel would be in limbo until you put her in a more appropriate starting point. I didn't take any GM powers (I think), but instead just made it a little clear to say "your idea...doesn't really fly well with the GM, so your prologue doesn't really 'exist' in terms of the story," while placing characters in a less-cluttered area.

Since that's all redacted anyways, it doesn't even matter, but yeah, I have reasons for things. And no, not to annoy you (though it'd be very fun to on other forums, OOO is tighter than an anorexic's lab-belt on what is labelled allowed and disallowed).

((It states in the lore that Vanaduke was corrupted only after his kingdom came under attack by the two other kingdoms, and that being after he went mad in the mountains. EDIT: More info here.

That said, the Citadel we all know today does put a darker tone on this whole thing... who, I wonder, will remain within Almire's borders? For that matter... was it Vanaduke I that we fight (over and over again) in this day and age?

So, we know the main dragon we're fighting is smart enough to make a bargain with Father of the Year. Are there less intelligent dragonkin? (Kinda like FE's Wyverns, which are more like scaly horses?)))

Juli turned about. "Ore, yes! Metals and ores most certainly are going to be tested. The hairy folk, though! I must seek them out, it seems. Maybe they know something about lightning I don't? Do humanoids talk with them very much? If not, they might have a lot of information." Then Juli scratched her head. Hairy folk? What hairy folk? Dwarven lumberjacks? Or those strange fox-men in the canyons?

"First few loaves are done." The boy laid out some loaves of bread on the table.

"Oh, thank you!" Juli promptly bit into one loaf, chewing the bread. "Mmmm, that's good! Anyway, thanks, miss... uh, miss person!" Juli turned around. "Whoa... uh, where did those veins come from? I've never seen anything like them." Juli turned around and handed the girl a slice of bread. "You want some bread? This bread is great."

Juli watched the strange lady- and then Min- leave. "Hmmmm." The hairy folk were supposedly only in the canyons... all Juli had to operate on was rumors... but she seemed to know some things about them. Enough to call them disgusting while complimenting their intellect (maybe).

"Be right back." Juli jumped up out of her seat and looked to see which way the two were headed; they appeared to be moving in the direction of the castle. Making a note of it, Juli ran back in. "So how much longer on the bread?"

The boy shrugged. "Half a minute, give or take a few seconds."

"Excellent." Juli lifted an empty satchel. "All right, I'll store most of it in here."

"Y'sure it won't get stale?"

Juli nodded. "I'm sure!"

The boy's mother came out with the last loaves of bread, and Juli stored them, the whole time chattering to herself about these hairy folk that might know something about lightning. "So if I find them, then perhaps we can share research notes, but I'll have to see if they're friendly first. But how do I do that? What do they eat? What do they like? Can they speak our language? I MUST investigate this. Thank you very much for the bread, ma'am." With the last loaf loaded, Juli hurried out of the bakery. Min and the skinny lady were already out of sight, but Juli remembered which way they were going and began heading in that direction, hoping to find them, with a loaf of bread in her hand.

After winding through the various tight streets, Min would follow the lady into the higher-class district where the women averaged 50% more than what its target would've weighed. These women, ranging from plump to borderline-unhealthy, could not have associated with this one in any way, and yet, as she passed by, she'd still receive a friendly wave and compliment as though she were one of them.

Perhaps she was, as the friendly hollers began to sound more llke orders for...what was it?

"A corset, lass! Yah make tha best of 'em, and rumor 'as it that tha Duke's interested in women with men's waist! I'll pay for tha expenses if ye've the receipts!"

"Miss? My mother was asking if you could see the babe for another night; she has another one of those 'salons' to go to..."

"Madame! There's a strange one following you! I'd advise to be polite and ask it a question!"

And at that, Kathleen spun as though she were on a dime to face the armored Min.

"...you're not Royal Guard...or from the King...sir. How may a lady of mine own humble standings, the ilk of commoners , be of thy service? May I assume you are here for my services...?"

Never actually done a Character Sheet before... So I have no idea how the level scaling in comparison to the Stats work. Or what the minimum stats are, for that matter. Spacebar used 80 points at level one, so is that the minimum? Because Min has been fighting underground and received training prior to his arrival in Almire, his level should be above one (supposedly), so how much does one gain per level?

I'll make a stat sheet for Min once that's explained to me. But I can tell you now... Min's Charisma will probably be the lowest of the bunch. Huehuehue.

---------------

"...you're not Royal Guard...or from the King...sir. How may a lady of mine own humble standings, the ilk of commoners , be of thy service? May I assume you are here for my services...?"

Min halts as the strange woman speaks to it. The odd noise from somewhere within her returns. Min points to the hand carrying the basket -- it wouldn't matter to Min which hand it points to, but the bread-hand would have been a poor choice to point with. What if it was dropped again?

"Hand..." Min slowly crafts the words within its helmet, aiming for clarity -- fortunately, what comes out is semi-clear. Or... Min thinks it is.

"Over..." Min then opens its palm as wide as its Grid-laced gauntlets would allow. To min, these two actions would indicate it wants the woman to place her hand on its own. With touch, it would gain new insight on what this mysterious woman is.
The second word also comes out semi-clear, which to Min is quite fortunate.

It is unfortunate, however, that Min doesn't seem to grasp that to everyone else it just asked for the woman to hand over the basket. The women around the pair start whispering to one another, but Min is too focused on figuring out the mystery of this woman's constitution to gain any details from what they're saying.

Min thinks for a moment. A reason?

A shocking realization occurs to Min . Asking for people's hands could quite possibly be embarrassing in public. It immediately understands, and makes a mental note of not to ask for people's hands in public without reason. With that, it gives its reason.

"I want... To know..." is the reply that Min gives. But the streak of clear speech ends directly after "I want", leaving anything afterwards to come out as a metallic mumble. Such is the fate of those who wear helmets. Min hopes that she can take a half-explanation as an excuse for the touch of her hand -- the mystery behind the oddity in her voice is growing after everything that she says.

---------------
EDIT to prevent random post from interfering with actual RP movement.
I think that /4 thing arrived from the modifiers.
So... Mod = x/4
x = The base Stat number(?) So all modifiers based on things have certain base stats divided by 4(?)

Ah. It makes some sorta sense.

D20 would be... Dice, maybe? No idea on this one.
Dexmod would be a modifier (which has the function x/4) -- so Dex / 4
Focus would be from pre-moves
Penalties would be from debilitations prior to the move

And because this example is "Running from guards" all of those above stats/mods/other things would result in the success rate of your escape? Makes sense.

@Liminori
As for the 9 max on one stat, you mean that's for Lv. 1, correct? With 30 points as our base amount for Lv. 1 characters.
Min's level, as I said, would be above Lv. 1, due to its experience in combat, but... The level depends on the quality of EXP gained from enemies. I'll leave allocating skills 'till you're done with details then.

Strength: 1/4

Dexterity: 4/4

Constitution: 2/4

Stamina: 4/4

Charisma: 2/4

Wisdom: 2/4

Intelligence: 2/4
(Focus): - -
(Armor): - -

"There you are!"

Juli, smiling, runs up to Min and the thin woman, nearly stumbling again, but catching herself as she runs. "Right, I have some more questions, mainly about those hairy people, but it looks like Mmn asked something first." Juli looks at Min, expectantly.

((I'll redo my character sheet some other time when it's not so late.))