Priez de dire, est-ce que la faute arrive au diable?
Je dis que c'est ça le discours d'un lâche.
Le seul mal qui nous tue si désespérément, c'est nous-mêmes.
- Anonyme, un conte populaire tusien
OÙ AUCUN HOMME N'EST-CE QU'UN ANIMATEUR Apocalyptique de l'Ouest
C'est ce que j'ai dit.
C'est ce que j'ai dit.
C'est ce que j'ai dit.
C'est ce que j'ai dit.
En haut à midi, à environ deux jours de la périphérie de l'Helscape – le domaine du diable –, un cavalier noir monte dans l'avant-poste de Devon sur un pied d'ébène. Devon est le dernier signe de civilisation pour des centaines de miles dans toutes les directions; dernière chance de réapprovisionner pour les voyageurs en direction du sud, pas qu'aucun homme commun ose prendre cette direction. Mais ce coureur n'est pas un homme ordinaire. Il lasso son cheval dans une écurie voisine et déchire sa peau de vache de sa ceinture. Tirant le mouchoir usé de son visage, il prend une gorgée d'eau mais, hélas, il n'y en a pas. "Ne te souviens pas de l'avoir bu à sec." Il se mute à lui-même. Le pilote regarde vers l'avant et voit le trou d'arrosage local. "Pourrait utiliser une morsure de serpent."
Il s'agit d'un établissement pauvre, illuminé, dank, et une odeur étrange élève parfois sa tête laid; une dogme à travers et à travers. Les patrons sont un groupe tranquille, pas typique de la taverne. Le cavalier se promène au comptoir pour parler au barman, un homme chauve et bruissant d'un seul bon œil. "Whiskey. Tout droit." le cavalier commande alors qu'il jette quelques pièces de cuivre sur le comptoir. Le barman regarde vers le bas les pièces avant de regarder en arrière le cavalier.
"Tu peux garder ta pièce, mon ami. Pas d'alcool ici." les états barmans.
"Pas étonnant que ce soit si calme. Pas d'alcool? N'est-ce pas contradictoire avec le but d'un bar? » le cavalier demande.
"Personne ne livre rien ici. Pas si près des badlands."
"J'ai rien de plus fort que l'eau?"
"L'eau pétillante."
"Regular est bien." Le cavalier boit son eau tiède et scanne la pièce de façon décontractée. Plus tôt dans la semaine, il a répondu à une affiche demandant des corps d'escorte à travers le Helscape. Quelques centaines de pièces par personne. Comme quelqu'un qui fréquente cette moitié du monde, ce devrait être de l'argent facile, mais seulement un idiot sous-estime le danger qui vient de l'approche de l'Helscape. Encore une fois, seuls les insensés s'en vont; les intelligents restent à la maison. Quel genre d'idiot est ce cavalier? Il enlève ses gants de cuir et les place dans ses poches de pantalon gauche, révélant une marque distinctive.
"Faites chier! Êtes-vous un mage?!" un homme debout à côté du cavalier crie quand il a vu la marque.
Calme et recueilli, le cavalier se tourne vers l'homme et répond. "Avez-vous un problème?"
"Tu ferais mieux de parier dessus! Pourquoi est-ce qu'un enfoiré est autorisé ici?"
"Facile là-bas. Pas besoin de provoquer une commotion." Le barman essaie de calmer le patron.
"Si tu as un tel problème avec moi de boire ici, tu peux boire ailleurs."
"L'avant-poste le plus proche n'est pas pour quelques jours de trajet—"
"Alors je vous suggère de commencer à marcher." Les autres mécènes commencent à murmurer entre eux, échangeant des rumeurs et des mythes sur ce qu'ils ont entendu sur les mages. Sur la façon dont ils sacrifient les enfants pour des rituels païens et sur la façon dont ils couchent avec les démons.
"C'est vrai? Vous aimez ce genre de diablerie? Tu baises des démons?" les questions du patron.
"Plus susceptibles de les tirer que de les baiser. Tu t'es trompé de porc par la queue. Je chasse les démons pour gagner ma vie."
"Je peux témoigner pour ce type." un homme mince avec une moustache enroulée a parlé du cavalier. "J'emploie parfois des mages pour travailler. Je les connais mieux que la plupart d'entre vous ici. Réglons-nous. De l'eau pétillante sur moi le prochain round." L'homme a réussi à calmer les choses pendant que le patron qui avait causé le rugissement a été expulsé par le barman. L'homme mustachié se rend ensuite au coureur. "J'espère que l'expérience n'attriste pas ta soif."
"J'y étais habitué. C'est la fin des temps. Les gens ont peur de tout ce qui n'est pas naturel. Pas du tout rattrapé."
"Vous ne devriez pas l'être. Thomas Essex. Tom" L'homme donne son chapeau.
Le cavalier fait la même chose. "Arryn Flynt. Flynt."
"Arryn Flynt? Si j'avais un cochon pour chaque hasard de ma vie, j'aurais une assiette de bacon. Je fais partie de la compagnie d'arpenteurs à qui vous avez répondu."
"Je vois. Je pense que je te reverrai dans deux jours."
"Je parie les diamants de ma mère dessus. Mais d'abord, un verre."
Name: Arryn Flynt
Alias: Flynt; Flynt of Tusa; The Pyromancer
Sex: Male
Age: 39
Date of Birth: October 28
Race: Human
Arryn Flynt, who typically goes by his surname "Flynt", is a tall man, standing at a height of 6'04". Like many mages who consume the petals of Soulthorne flowers, Flynt suffers from a mild poisoning effect which causes his skin to pale considerably. Although other facets of his physical health seems unaffected. He possesses auburn-colored eyes that, when in certain lighting conditions, appear red and rather menacing. While not handsome in the classical sense, he does have a rugged charm to him and a strongly-defined jaw covered in beard stubble. His right eyebrow is cut in half by a faint scar. Flynt is a muscular man—a far cry from the mages of yore who rarely relied on any of their physicality—but is not overly bulky. His body is riddled with scars; a story for each one he tells. As a member of the Mages Order, he can be identified by a brand on his body, particularly on the backside of his left hand. Flynt typically wears a long-sleeved dress shirt with a black waistcoat over it and on top of that he wears a well-worn duster coat. Long trousers are tucked into intricately detailed cowboy boots complete with star-shaped spurs. Additionally, he wears a belt with two gun holsters and a wider-brimmed boss of the plains.Arryn Theodore Flynt, first of his name, has a muddled past. His early childhood is a complete mystery to all but him and certain few others. Consequently, the identity of his birth parents are, too, a matter of secrecy. However, public knowledge would tell that Flynt comes from the now deserted town of Tusa. As a young man of 13 years of age, he showed great potential in the magical arts and was accepted into the Mages Order where he trained for a decade under the tutelage of one Grandmaster Brenard Maverick. His skills grew exponentially throughout the years; he surpassed many his age and even showed more promise than some of the master mages who had countless years to perfect their craft. At 25 years of age, Flynt took on the brand and became an official agent of the Order, pledging his life to their cause.
In the decade leading up to the present day, Flynt carried out numerous tasks for the Order while also moonlighting as a jack-of-all-trades, accepting all types of odd jobs that a mage of the Order could acquire; primarily as a bounty hunter of defected mages and outlaws. His affinity for fire magic has earned himself the nickname "Pyromancer" from those who have seen his handiwork. In the summer of the year XX11, Flynt had a tryst with a sorceress who he was hunting down which resulted in her pregnancy. After getting his lover a pardon from the Mages Order, Flynt filed for retirement with dreams of settling down on a small homestead. Flynt lived in marital bliss for a short time before his wife and child died in labor. He was utterly crushed by the experience and vowed to never take on a wife again.
He rejoined the Mages Order at age 32. At some point in his life, Flynt began having strange visions that would occur at random points throughout the day and would persist even to this very day. He consulted the elders and Grandmasters of the Order but none could explain the cause or purpose of these visions of his. His visions always concerned himself standing in a field of Soulthornes shooting and killing a man in cold blood. The man who he shoots would initially speak to him about his "sins" and how they would eventually catch up to him. Some of his visions are truly terrifying, incorporating his late wife holding their stillborn infant while bleeding from her womb onto the Soulthornes below. While seeking a way to defeat the demonic hordes, Flynt is also on a personal quest to discover the secrets of these peculiar visions of his.

Combat Information
Mage Status: Yes
Mercy: A six shot revolver given to him by his late wife and is said to have been stolen from the personal collection of Duke Fernando of Silla. It favors speed and accuracy over fire power which translates over to his spell casting when performed through this particular gun. Flynt favors Mercy when in need of firing his spells in rapid succession. However, due to the shorter barrel as compared to Flynt's other gun, the bullets and spells fired from Mercy does not travel as far.
Hitchcock: Flynt won this particular six shooter in a game of cards with an unsavory fellow by the name of Malvo Skye who had been hustling his way to fortune in a town full of rich hicks. Flynt used magic to cheat but only because Skye was a notorious cheat himself as researched by Flynt, discovering that Malvo Skye was only one of many names he used throughout the years. Hitchcock is the more potent firearm in his two-gun arsenal, being able to deliver devastating results when combined with Flynt's magic. The trade-off is that it is slower to fire and slightly less accurate. Additionally, it is not as reliable as Flynt's other gun and will sometimes jam.
Buzzard: A magic-imbued knife given to him during his training with Grandmaster Maverick to which he carries to this day (as seen in the picture at the top). It has a carving of a hawk engraved onto the lower half of the blade thus the name "Buzzard". It possesses the ability to cut through intangible properties such as water or flames and Flynt has used it on several occasions to cut certain spells fired at him in half. However, the knife's effectiveness on spells are only limited to basic, weak ones usually fired by an inexperienced mage.Fireball: A basic spell that is commonly taught to mages at an early age, Flynt's version is much deadlier due to its increased speed and power. It causes a fiery explosion upon impact.
Quicksilver: Through the utilization of magic, a single bullet is shaved into smaller "flecks" that is fired at rapid succession similar to a machine gun. This results in the enemy being barraged by hundreds of projectiles within a short span of time. Flynt can even envelope each individual flake of metal in flames which causes additional damage.
Blast: With this spell, Flynt fires a rune marking onto a target or designated area. He can then, at a safe distance and at any period of time within an hour, create an explosion at the site of the rune mark. This spell is often used as a handy trap or detonation device when dynamite is not available.
Heat Death: A slow moving spell that is absolutely devastating when it impacts. Flynt fires off a concentrated ball of heat energy that, when it hits its target, boils their blood and other body fluids at an alarming pace, resulting in the rapid expansion of the target's organs and skin and, ultimately, causing them to violently burst. Flynt uses this spell primarily on slow or dumb targets as it is easily evaded otherwise.
Lobos: A spell that uses an enormous amount of mana, Flynt can summon wolves (up to three at a time) composed entirely of living flame. These wolves follow the orders of Flynt exclusively but can also act on their own. But because of the high mana usage, Flynt typically only summons one at a time.
Halcon: Similar to his Lobos spell except he summons a single hawk this time around which he often uses to scout rather than as a means of attack.
Shooting Star: Perhaps Flynt's most powerful attack spell as well as his most mana consuming. Firing several bullets into the sky, Flynt's magic is dispersed into the atmosphere and summons a multitude of small meteors to impact a designated area with each meteor causing a powerful explosion upon touching down. This spell is usually reserved for crowd control or for dealing with an especially dangerous target.
Flynt also possesses a litany of common mage spells ranging anywhere from creating an energy shield to controlling the minds and actions of weak-minded individuals. All of these spells receive no amplification from Flynt's guns and so they are cast by hand.