Northbound: The Chariot Girls

Northbound: The Chariot Girls, is an action adventure comic series written and illustrated by Boltycat.

Plot Synopsis
In the open vast country known as The Frontier, a cheerful, but inexperienced Guild Mercenary named Beryl Bishop, lives from paycheck to paycheck fulfilling bounties alongside her stoic and strange partner, Francis Alabaster. Living day to day in the city of Aurelion, strange occurrences begin to take place in the areas around their city. A mysterious virus sweeps the land of The Frontier, mutating both man and beast alike with overflowing amounts of magical energy. Known as the Surge Virus, the Chariot Mercenary Guild takes action in investigating the virus and its source. Beryl and Francis in a haste, are quickly assigned under Felicity Ruber and her mercenary team. Known as Team Ruber, the group of 7 set off to travel the country alongside several other mercenary teams to put an end to the illness plaguing the land. Along the way, each member of Team Ruber confronts aspects of themselves and their past and overcome said trials while facing the world they once knew slowly turning to chaos.

Setting
The World of Northbound takes place after an unknown period after the modern era, or what's known as "The Old World." Eventually, the existence of a new pantheon spurred during the Old World Era, causing the world to be reshaped numerous times. Eventually, a war that has faded to time known as "The War of the Gods" occurred, causing mortals to clash with the gods in a desperate attempt to fight for their independence. From this war, the creation of magic throughout the mortal world was birthed, as well as the birth of many, many different races, both Phantasmal and Mortal alike.

The events of Northbound: The Chariot Girls occur within the New World country known as the Frontier. A large continent recently discovered within the last few centuries. Populated by immigrants from all over the world, many seek to begin a new life in this open country, or attempt to unveil its secrets.

The Frontier is widely known for its vast freedom to its people. While having only one centralized faction native to the land, the Chariot Mercenary Guild, an organization that allows all walks of life to join its ranks so long as they are willing to oversee and maintain peace within the the Frontier. Having a vast amount of foreign connections such as the Royal Army and the Mage's Institution, the Chariot Mercenary Guild regularly reports to these organizations and cooperates with them in various tasks such as field research, to handling the criminal and rampant beast population.

Beryl Bishop
The First Protagonist of the story, an ordinary, bright young girl who works as a Guild Mercenary. She works alongside Team Ruber in investigating the ongoing Surge Virus Epidemic, utilizing her unique ability to absorb lingering magical energies thanks to her prosthetics.

Francis Alabaster
The Second Protagonist of the story, a stoic stone elf with an unknown past. Unphased and seemingly uninterested in most things, he fulfills orders given out to him by Mitsuru Miyako. He sticks alongside Beryl Bishop, becoming more attached to her as their friendship formed. Viewing himself as "expendable," he is willing to perform any task as long as it aids in benefiting his companions.

Molly Aubergine
A natural born Witchblood user, Molly is a gifted prodigy. She aspires to live up to her newfound title of the eighth Six Shooter Witch. She joins Team Ruber to search and find closer about the fate of her Mother, who disappeared shortly after she was sent off to attend the Mage's College to further hone her magical abilities.

Felicity Ruber
The Leader of Team Ruber, and another Witchblood user. Extremely disciplined, she acts as a guiding hand to support her fellow teammates. Felicity also searches to find her own identity separate from her well renowned family of blacksmiths. Being an expert swordsman, she does her best managing the wellbeing of her team, especially her closest partner, Makoto Midori.

Makoto Midori
A bloodthirsty ronin with a problematic upbringing. Being exiled from her Father's Dojo, due to unknown circumstances, Makoto wandered the Frontier for a number of years as a sword for hire. She was convinced to join the Guild as a form of "rehabilitation," thanks to Felicity.

Ivory Alistair
A stone elf with a bottomless appetite, and will consume all things edible. Being considered a "defective" stone elf, Ivory is on absent leave from the Guild, due to having a growing apathy to her occupation. She eventually rejoins and works alongside Team Ruber thanks to the help of her sister, Ebony, and her own growing interest of the situation they found themselves in.

Ebony Gwyn
Ivory's sister, known for her weird roleplaying complex. She names herself as the 'Demon Who Shot Down the Gods,' boasting her mastery in archery. She speaks very formally to others, though her interesting choice of words leads to people becoming very confused to what she's trying to say. When she breaks her roleplaying front, she's an arrogant and proud person who's confident in themselves and their craft.

Mitsuru Miyako
The Leader of the Chariot Mercenary Guild. A significant figure in The Frontier that is well known with maintaining relations with the Royal Army. Mitsuru closely guards her past, and seems to know more than what she lets on. Her motives have been speculated to serve some greater purpose than simply leading a civilian lead force that ensures the peace among the populace.

Kimiko Fujihara
A Diplomat from the Northern Fox Tribes who works as Mitsuru's secretary. Being the chosen wielder of the Soul Lantern, he is a specialist who works in all things relating to souls and the undead. He worries for his clan's safety back home, due to the ongoing epidemic occurring in the Frontier.

Kaho Mishima
A Royal Army Officer, sent to be in charge of maintaining relations with the Chariot Mercenary Guild, as well as maintaining the defensive front of the Brumal Divide that borders the Frontier and the North. She's wary of the civilian lead guild, feeling that these mere inexperienced mercenaries are not enough to handle the ongoing crisis in the Frontier.

Triss Callahan
A dullahan receptionist for the Chariot Mercenary Guild, and a victim of a serial beheading that occurred 30 years ago. Ever since then, she has been trying to find leads on the culprit who did this to her.

Dr. Luminary Archiman
A famous and talented doctor adopted by the guild. Responsible for numerous technological feats and jumpstarting the M.R.R.A. Dr. Archiman works as a doctor for the guild alongside her assistant Hildred as her day job. She hides numerous secrets from the general public and is widely seen as sadistic and morally grey. To others its quite hard to get a read on her character.

Augustine
A Dracon Librarian who has extensive knowledge of the Frontier. Being a Native to the land, he is an invaluable resource to the Chariot Mercenary Guild, usually being the one conducting longform expeditions in unfamiliar territories such as The North. Augustine isn't very sociable however, preferring to keep to himself and continue writing the extensive encyclopedia series he authors called, "Fauna, Flora, The Frontier: Studies of the New Continent."