I'm an idiot. I typed my entire story into this window so I wouldn't have to worry about formatting issues between MS Word and Gaia. I got mostly finished with it, and my damned computer froze. I'm not spending the next hour doing that again. So, I'm afraid I won't have the short story to go along with this.
Here are the characters for my description:
Name: Queen Mary Carroll; the Red Queen(some say she's nicknamed this for her crimson attire; others claim the red is from the blood of her enemies).
Personality: Very confident, very powerful, very vicious. Fiercely protective of her own people, even if it means razing her closest neighbours to the ground.
Powers: A very powerful witch. Spent her talents enchanting weapons and armour to make her army an unstoppable force. Recently created four powerful golems to fight for her, thinking she could control them. They resisted, however, and fled the palace. Now, she spends her time trying to find the four so they will again serve as her weapons.
The Golems:
Name: Sleight.
History: Created by the Red Queen to serve in her army. He resisted the least of the four, and now looks to Arcane and Palmer for instructions, and spends most of his time in quiet contemplation. Can one whose only purpose is to kill be more than a weapon?
Powers: Sleight carries with him a deck of cards that he uses as a weapon. The cards have varying degrees of strength and ability. The higher the number on the card, the more potent it is. Diamonds are the hardest, Spades are the sharpest, Hearts are the truest to their mark, and Clubs are venomous. For instance, the two of Diamonds will likely merely bruise his opponent (assuming s/he is not armoured), the Ace of Hearts aims itself to the target's vitals, ensuring an immediate death among lightly-armoured foes. Sleight has the most control over his power.
Name: Shuffle.
History: Created by the Red Queen to serve in her army. Shuffle is the most brazen member of the group and would frequently argue with the Queen before the rebellion. While the four now spend their time in hiding, Shuffle insists that they should take the fight to the Queen before she finds them. She is convinced that they are stronger than she, a matter on which she and Palmer often disagree.
Powers: Shuffle too carries a deck of cards, however hers is rather different than Sleight's. Rather than 52 cards, Shuffle carries 104 half-cards. When she attacks, the cards circle around her and she plucks two at random. She places them together to form a whole card and then the spell is activated. Hers is the power of the elements. Diamond cards correspond to the element of Wind. Hearts to Fire. Spades to Earth. Clubs to Water. By combining the cards, she creates other "elements." Fire and Wind combine to make Lightning. Fire and Earth combine to make Metal. Water and Wind combine to make Ice. Water and Earth combine to make Wood. The strength of the attack is judged by averaging the two halves. A ten of spades and a four of hearts would form Metal by seven--a moderate attack. If the cards are opposite elements, the difference is taken and applied with the higher element. A ten of spades and a four of diamonds, for instance, would yield Earth by six. Her cards are plucked completely at random.
Name: Palmer.
History: Created by the Red Queen to serve in her army. Palmer is the most rational of the group, as well as the most cautious. He inspired the others to follow him out of the palace, and it is his telepathic ability which helps them to hide.
Powers: Palmer is a telepath. He can read minds and communicate mentally. He can also psychically attack, but this requires a different idea. He must simply concentrate to project himself or read someone's mind. To attack them, he must place the image of a card in that person's mind. The numeric value of the card determines the strength of his psychic assault. Palmer has yet to master this, and cannot control which card he places. His is as random as the others.
Name: Arcana.
History: Created by the Red Queen to serve in her army. Arcana is a fiercely protective member of the group, throwing herself in danger to save her comrades. While Palmer is the most cautious of the group, it is Arcana who formulates their stratagems--designed with safety in mind, mind you. While she was the last of the golems to be made, her mind was developed to be the most mature.
Powers: Arcana has a deck of cards as well. When she throws out her cards, they arrange to form a force-field around her target. They line-up and emit strands of blue light, weaving a tight magical shield. The numerical value of the card determines the strength of this part of the shield. A two is relatively easy to penetrate while an Ace takes extraordinary power. Arcana shows the most promise with her power, and has already figured out how to arrange the cards to back eachother up--placing a two near an queen so the protection overlaps and re-inforces itself. She is not a master yet, however, and has yet to arrange all of her cards exactly--she can currently pick the locations of up to five cards.
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