Oxand

A little tension relieved itself from Oxand's neck as he'd realized no one had heard him.  When crowds gather to crucify you, that's usually the point where all join in for a jolly glare, but thankfully, this particular crowd appeared to be assembled for something else.  Brushing the light of the window out of his face, he pondered how good it might feel to slump back down and meet consciousness for another round tomorrow.  His curiosity, though , began its eternal chewing at the back of his mind. 

His first impressions weren't all off, this group *did* seem to be looking for someone.  Why was this so familiar?  Weren't the interviewees on about a killer yesterday?  Of course, that's what drove him here to finally clear his doubts.  Whomever this group was hunting hadn't ended Mia directly, but the rumor wasn't all vapor; he had noticed a name with more than a few repeats around the one he'd come to find.  Not directly, he thought, but there are other ways...

As the group began to divide itself into separate parties, details bubbled to the surface of Oxand's attention.  One cadre looked to be reporting in with a stoic, claymore-wielding blonde, the other exchanging greetings with a man who reminded him a bit of a gymnast, sporting one of the few orange cursors in the room.  Varied as the scene was, the latter party was particularly curious.  It sported two of the three flagged players, including its leader, alongside one in Blood Oath colors and a few other individuals; there was even a girl dressed as a frog.  His intuition tugged him forward to join them as a dog pulls its master, the scent of esoteric patterns now wafting in its nose like delicious meat.  As casually as he could, he let it.  Curiosity could sink you in this universe, he reminded himself, but at least frogs are lucky.

Oxand, while never particularly adept at hiding or sneaking around, had an uncanny lack of assuming about him.  It wasn't something he fully understood, but he'd learned to utilize this almost reflexively, sometimes even musing over how long he could go without attracting attention or suspicion, just blending in and acting as if he were supposed to be where he was.

@Aereth@Shi@Macradon@Sunova@Sharr@Hikoru@Jevi@Hidden@Outlander@Pinball@Kasier@Froppy@Dazia

Why are there people in my room?  He groaned like a drugged bear, the back of his dull green breastplate scraping against stone.  Why is my bed hard?  Did I fall asleep in my gear?

Oxand hated waking up.  He'd reasoned with himself that it was all-around better than not doing so again, but it was really moments like these that brought their case forward, he found.  A round bottle tumbled from his fingers, making the short, soft clatter of a billiard ball on the bricks before vanishing with a familiar piff of colored sparks.  "Mia?" he rasped, absentmindedly fumbling for his outdated routine.  Oh...  Right.  A brown-gloved hand petitioned the rest of his body for help in a stubborn attempt to wipe the chilled sweat from his brow.  How did he have a hangover?  Not that he hadn't tried, but there was no reason to suspect last night's symbolic attempt would have fared better than any of the others.  His head kicked his brain repeatedly, as if to state otherwise.  Something happened, remember?

Oxand struggled to grasp pieces of the previous day between the poundings in his skull.  He remembered discovering her absence and the strain of his eyes looking for that lime hat amidst the seas of heads.  Behind another blast burbled numberless faces and fruitless questions.  Slowly, the unease of his last words with the girl crept up his spine to join in concert at the back of his neck.  Finally, IMMORTAL OBJECT repeated itself in bold purple, taking sync with the pounding he'd so carefully tiptoed around, rudely reminding him of his equally vain quest to simulate pain against the back of the monument.  Oh yeah, that's where I am.  Never one to refuse a marvelous request, fate saw fit to reward him with a tangentially related migraine.

He felt murmurs of the room buzz in his ear again.  Ugh...  Did I cause a scene somehow?  I thought I was here alone last night.  Curiosity drove a sliver of energy into his bones as Oxand turned to push himself up the back of the monolithic black slab to gain balance.  With the courageous purpose of an anemic sloth, he shuffled himself around it to a far larger crowd than his ears had moments before anticipated.

Squinting in the beam of one of the high windows, he egged his voice to project as best it could, despite its unpreparedness, "Is something the matter?"

-Joining @Aereth-

Stats:

SAO Handle:  Oxand

Name:  Phillip "Phil" Langley

Gender: Male

Height:  5' 9"

Age:  33

Oxand, or Phillip Langley, as he's known outside of Sword Art Online, is a man in his early thirties hailing from the American South. He has a gaunt, pale face with dark circles, and green eyes that often carry a blank and empty stare.  Dirty-blonde hair drapes in waves past his shoulder blades.  His accent is fairly neutral, possessing the odd bit of Southern vernacular with a splicing of some New England pronunciations.

A quick learner from a young age, Oxand picked up a keyboard almost as soon as he was able to speak, and as the internet exploded into prevalence, so did his passion for gaming and knowledge.  Unfortunately, the ease with which this information and talent was acquired acted as a double-edge for him, developing a terribly lazy and aloof attitude towards most productive work outside of his own interests.  As a result, Oxand never did well in school, constantly shirking his responsibilities to play games and explore topics that held his attention more readily.  He passed each grade, but only ever by the skin of some high test scores, and avoided college, harboring heavy mistrust for modern education and a deepening desire to learn how the 'real world' worked.

Though his family constantly chided him for, "Such a bright child throwing his future away," Oxand stubbornly upheld that there were other things in life he needed to accomplish first.  Like many other young loners, Oxand was often bullied and teased, awkwardly handled tense social situations, and didn't make friends easily.  Unlike many loners, however, he saw this as a minor shortcoming within himself, one that could be changed if he put his mind to it.  Rarely doing anything for a single reason, Phil got a job at the busiest restaurant he could find in town and moved out on his own.  It was a tough adjustment, but as weeks melted into months, and months into years, he slowly found that the practice with tables eased him into small talk.  Stressful nights coordinating a kitchen, by necessity, purged awkwardness and anxiety in favor of diplomacy and confidence.  His wide knowledge fed a quick wit that he began to share with others.  He made friends, had intimate relationships, and though he wasn't always happy or 'successful', as some would put it, Oxand never regrets his decision to step out of his comfort zone and come of age on his own.

Despite his outward change in lifestyle, gaming remained Oxand's one true love.  He has experience in most genres and rapidly absorbs information on new games to become competitive.  Though he appreciates role playing games, does well with them, and has played more than several over the years, Oxand takes most pride in his skill with fast-twitch shooters.  Ironically enough, Oxand's initial level of interest for SAO was minimal, as he had, at this point in his career, developed a taste for games with a little more permanence in their death mechanics.

Oxand was invited to SAO by his longtime friend Sean, or Teech, by his handle.  To call the two best friends would be to far undershoot the description; they had met in high school, but had quickly grown to consider themselves brothers, and while a shared, critical view of the world and similar chemical 'vices' were always points of bonding, nothing drew Teech and Oxand together like the games they played.  Sometimes, the turmoil of life found ways to get in the middle of them, each would end up chasing girls, or taking the extra job on occasion, but the pair always found time to play together.

One such turmoil often came in the form of Teech's thirteen-year-old cousin Mia, whom Teech had taken guardianship of four years prior to Aincrad's unconventional debut. Mia's mother passed from the complications of a blood clot shortly before, her father was completely unknown.  The story made for a sad one, but Oxand always thought the girl's mother to be one thoroughly unpleasant, unkind, and selfish person beyond the normal call of duty, and though Mia had been a sweet girl once, he often found her preteen portrait was that of a bratty, tiny version of her mother.  Still, Teech loved her like a little sister, and Oxand was determined to support his friend's honor in the matter.  Though the effort was slow to bear fruit, Teech was constantly trying to find ways to bond with his cousin in an honest attempt to give the child at least half of a decent role model.

It was one of these very bonding exercises that brought the three together on that fateful launch day...

Strengths:

Thick Skin:  Oxand is nearly immune to emotional attack or manipulation.  If an insult doesn't carry logically based criticism, he will completely disregard or deflect it.  No stranger to the bad part of town, both online and off, he's been called worse and hurled back enough to flush a sailor.  Like pops always said, "Never let 'em see you sweat."

Competent: Failure is inevitable, senseless failure is intolerable.  Oxand expects at least self-sufficiency of both himself and others.  In contrast to his laziness, he will always attempt to contribute his best to the success of the group, or to uphold his end of a contract.

Pensive:  Oxand is very curious about the world around him.  He greatly enjoys exploration, theory crafting, and chasing new, creative solutions to complex problems. He's among the first to discover a flaw in reasoning and fairly quickly deducts deception.

Flaws:

Lazy: Oxand despises repetitive, boring work. He never does anything until he's convinced himself it's worth it, and procrastinates constantly.  A situation where effort is expended to accomplish nothing, or even exacerbate a situation, is a worst case scenario to be avoided at all costs.

Oblivious:  Oxand is perceptive when he focuses, but is prone to spend bouts of time withdrawn into his own head.  Being the source of some of his greatest strengths, he finds himself compensating for this intermittent lack of awareness in other ways.  Oxand generally outfits himself to take a hit and swing back in equal force to turn the tides.  He can be tough to outright deceive, but is fairly easy to ambush and surprise.

Ageist:  Though still fairly young himself, Oxand has nonetheless invested more hours in gaming than many players in SAO have had awake.  He tries to curb this bias in support of diplomacy; the ageism of others always angered him in his teen years, but regardless finds it difficult to dismiss the flaws of his past self that he finds in younger players.  This slight hypocrisy can seep into his interactions with them and cause unintended agitation.

Skills:

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Total SP: 5

Available SP: 0

Level: 1

List:

Novice 2-Handed Assault Spears

Inventory:

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Set A "Basic Package":

• Lion's Fang (2H Assault Spear),  [Uncommon- Bleed]  Description to come
• Green Half-Plate (Heavy), [Uncommon - Regen]   Description to come
• (5) Starter Healing Potions
• (10) Tier 1 materials

Roleplays: