[IC] Fate/ITP: The Fifth Holy Grail War!

[lord pringle]

"-the murders were committed, the fire was lit. Only ten of the bodies were recovered, despite it being a relatively minor fire at a packed restaurant. If you know of anyone who was dining at Saito's Bistro yesterday, please call the police at their hotline.
In lighter news, Fuyuki's very own Matou Rin is returning to Fuyuki for a few weeks. We managed to catch an exclusive interview with her as she arrived this morning, which we will bring to you now.
"Ms. Matou! Ms. Matou! What brings you back to your hometown?"
"I am trying to get to my hotel, will you just-"
"Ms. Matou, rumors are that your health is failing-"
"That is a moronic notion. Can one not simply return to a city without a conspiracy being formed?"
"Ms. Mato-
The priest switched the television off. He had hoped to gain an insight into the city around him, but had only been reminded of why he didn't watch the news. The newscasters (and, he figured, the people at large) cared more about success stories than unsolved murders. He supposed that it made his job easier, that people would be too busy mimicking the newest fashion trends to notice the secret war going on throughout the city, a war that he had pledged to maintain the secrecy of. Sometimes he questioned the necessity of this whole system, but he tried to not doubt things. He was startled out of his thoughts when a device on the table behind him whirred to life. He smiled weakly and moved over to it. He read over the device, running a hand through his shoulder length hair (one of the few earthly pleasures he allowed himself) and let out a sigh. All seven servants had been summoned. The war, the fifth of this kind to ever take place, was finally starting. He was nervous, probably more nervous than he had ever been, but his beloved late father had trained him well. Father Kotomine took a sip of his fine wine (another of his earthly pleasures) and went down into the churches main hall. He sent out one of his familiars before flopping down into a pew. He was on the clock now, and would have to savor every moment of leisure time he could get from now on.

Across the city, the servants were summoned. Rider, Saber, Lancer, Archer, Caster, Assassin and Berserker were pulled from their resting spots at the Throne of Heroes and given bodies of pure mana. The seven had appeared and now the war was on, for good or for ill.

[MrBudquaza]

The property was located in the suburbs of Fuyuki, far away from the hustle of the city. Money was no object for Feldon, and he was picky when choosing his residence and base of operations for the next period of time. He knew that it had to be remote enough to avoid enquiring neighbors getting involved, but also central enough for him to be able to leap into action. He chose a bungalow attached to a small grassy plot, and over the month he had already spent in Fuyuki, surveying the area and getting a feel for his surroundings, he had had a one room shed built in that plot. The shed, once dreary, was now pleasant, decorated by modern furniture, contrasted by renaissance paintings covering the walls. Sitting in chair suspended from the ceiling by a chain, Feldon nervously pushed himself back and forth. This is my specialty he thought. Sure, maybe I’m not the best at summoning, but the rune I’ve made for the summon is flawless. He stood up and paced, feeling as if he was about explode from the nerves, finally coming to a rest at the small window pointed to the east. Looking out at the early morning sky, he anxiously awaited the first light--the time of summoning. As the sun peaked over the horizon, Feldon placed a large piece of driftwood found at the Cape of Good Hope into the center of his summoning rune and got to work reciting the incantation. The large crest on the floor, freshly painted in squid ink, began to boil and shift colors, first blue, then green, settling at an off white shade. Feldon, beaming, was ecstatic the summoning was going so well, and let out a small laugh barely able to contain himself. All of the sudden, the ink flew together creating a perfect sphere floating a metre off the ground. The sphere began to writhe, as if someone trapped inside was trying to escape, and then it started to take shape, molding around the body that was so desperately trying to break out. It continued to shape around the body, becoming more and more skin tone, and features of a face could start to be made out. The ink continued to stretch out over the body becoming skin, and taking the shape of a body, while clothes started to grow out of it. I’ve done it. Let the Holy Grail war commence!

[Implodio]

She knew it would be Saber, even before it was Saber.

That was the boon of the knowing what comes. After you had spent a life divining, peeling back the veils of earth and heaven to see what will, what will not, what must not, what never should but does, the magic bleeds into the soul. It creases a person like the march of time, or the elastic on a tight pair of socks; leaving its ribbed ghost around the ankle of the wearer. The knowing what comes swept through her like a cool breeze on a hot day. As she gingerly mopped her brow with a handkerchief and finished her summoning rune, Yamahata Suzu thought about that breeze.

Her magic senses picked up the elements from it as if she were drawing out its illusory smells, and their presumed origins. But instead of the wildflowers, or the fragrance of sizzling barbecue, or the salt perfume of the ocean, this breeze carried... delight, trepidation and a sharp bouquet of vigorous hope. Saber, then. The Grail will give me Saber, and I'll be one step closer to success without even putting on my slippers. And just as well, too; her rune was intricately practiced, planned, and executed. She deserved Saber; and the gloating, Clocktower chin-strokers could choke on their hemlock when it was not an Aozaki or an Einzbern or a Matou, but a Yamahata who began with her best foot forward. She'd come at them like a hungry ghost; a righteous spectre of a memory that would not stay dead. Then she'd show them.

But before she could show them, she needed to stand up; and that was challenge enough.

Inscribing the rune had been hands-and-knees work, and her tiny old body had seized up after so much time hunkered down. She shuffled over to the nearby couch at a slow crawl and made her way back to her feet over the period of a wince-filled, wheeze punctuated thirty seconds. Vengeance is a young woman's game. The thought made her titter to herself with laughter before a self pitying wince cut that short too; and she traded the remains of that humor for the easy relief of standing still, leaning on her cane, and feeling the aches melt slowly out of her. Now that she was standing, she became aware of the gentle rock and bob of the houseboat again. It made her sad that she would never use it again; a wonderful home for an old lady who did not want to own land. They always scry for land (the predictable old windbags), and erecting masking spells over and over again was tiresome. When she stepped on to the pier though, she would not be running away anymore. She wanted them to come to her; she was tired, and old. They could make the effort, this time.

She gripped the aluminium walking cane in two hands, and gestured over the rune; doubling the instrument as a staff, and feeling the magics siphon into it; from the what comes to the breeze to her arms, to the staff, to the rune, to the Throne of Heroes. She had never summoned like this before, but the words curled off her tongue so naturally.

Because she had known before that she would summon like this now; and so she burgled a kind of homemade familiarity with this first, last, best summoning. The boards of the ship's upper deck creaked above her, as if the wood saw what was happening to the lower deck, and strained against its nature as if trying to flee. Windows rattled, and cracked. She smiled, as the smoke rose up and began to knit a figure together.

She felt...

Delight. Trepidation. But vigorous hope. It was going to be a good war.

Come to me.

[Fearan]

Rider
The air in the shed darkened, being saturated a distinct smell of ozone - perhaps, because of excess prana, but who knows - the trappings of grand rituals such as the Heaven's Feel were far from understood. And with the smell of storm, clad in howling winds he came, trashing the workshop of the pitiful magus with his presense alone. The salted giant crashed the anchor, he was carrying at the floor of the shed, looked around with the menacing stare of his only eye and roared - there were no other words to describe his voice - it seemed the man had literally no ability to speak in quiet or at least medium-loud voice.
- I AM RIDER! PRESENT YOURSELF! NOW!

Yukito
It was a quiet night in Yukito's apartament - a completely random apartment in the newest part of the town, with only basic barriers to conseal magecraft inside and to avoid people's attention. That was his method of protecting against the perils of the Grail war - good luck attacking a workshop in the apartment block full of civilians - easy way to get executors on your tail. There was always a matter off Assassin, though - well, Yukito had another idea on how to deal with that. but that was the story for another time. Now in the living room of the flat, magecraft was performed. His first step and his final bid in the Grail War. The Summoning.
- Silver and Iron to the origin - ...the foxy-looking man chanted before an empty ritual circle? Catalyst? That was not the Way - the Way was to accept whatever the Grail throws at you. Yukito knew, he would be considered unorthodox at the very least. But hey - did he care? Not really.

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

The howling winds brought about by his servant’s summoning buffeted Feldon and chilled him to the bone, forcing his eyes shut and pushing the breath out of him. For what felt like an eternity Feldon was overwhelmed, as if the entire might of a hurricane had been brought about in the confines of his shed. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that all the priceless art around him would be ruined, but oh well, they could be replaced later. The voice was loud, well, loud was an understatement, but there was something else to it, a commanding aura that came about with it that made Feldon fear for his life should he not snap to attention. Sharply inhaling, his breath was cut short by the sheer mana Rider exerted, it was if Feldon was trying to breath underwater, and his brain was simply telling him he could not do it. Every fibre of his being was screaming, and it was at this moment that Feldon knew he was dealing with a being far beyond anything he ever expected--So this was a heroic spirit. Steeling himself Feldon focused on his next moves. As the wind died down, he opened his eyes. Before him stood his soon to be servant, tall and leather skinned. He was clad in a dark fuschia, almost red, coat that was left open to reveal his bare chest. Metal gauntlets reaching to his elbow, covered by gloves the same color as his coat. His face was well defined, with a nose that ended pointed slightly upward and his right eye was squinted, seeming to judge every movement (or lackthereof) Feldon made. His left eye was covered by a large leather patch affixed to a bandanna, that held up his light purple hair.

Feldon extended his fist to the side, then opened it, activating the rune painted on the flat ceiling of the shed. Slightly opaque walls immediately descended around Rider. Combining his two areas of expertise, Feldon was confident that even a servant couldn’t instantly break out of the zone he had made. As he prayed that this would not bring the disdain of Rider, Feldon began to recite the contract he had rehearsed.

You stand before the 9th inheritor of the Errol crest, Feldon. I shall be your anchor to this world as you shall be my guardian. I will be your shield, and you, my sword. Conquest is what we seek, and dominion is what we shall have. Holding out his right hand, Feldon showed Rider his command spells, anchor shaped. Pledge yourself to be my servant, and I shall fulfill the role The Grail has set forth for me. Rider, identify yourself and the contract will be sealed, all barriers will be dropped, and we shall claim the grail as partners! Feldon hoped he wasn’t shaking.

[Fearan]

Rider

Rider plunged his geart anchor into the shed's floor, looking at the barriers, that descended to contain him. He grinned savagely, in a mix of contempt and mockery, which became even more distinct, when Feldon stated his demands. - Englishman - the Servant roared as his Master introduce himself. - Pompous, self-assured, self-proclaimed "noble" englishman. Hate those. - he spit on the floor and continued. - Listen and listen well. I am Captain Van Der Decken, and my loyalty is for myself and the Staten-Generaal of the Republic, even if it's full of douchebags. I will not pledge myself to any "noble" mageling, just because he has fancy tatoo on his hand. I'll work with you, though - mah ship's gone battered and I need re-supply. Be my temporary Quartermeister, supply me with prana and I'll get the Fancy Cup for you, if that's what you desire. I'll even skip the "quarter" and call you "Master" - big deal. Agreed?

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Come to me.
Come to me.
Come to me.

The words rattled in his head like an incessant bell. They were the only thing he could comprehend, and after so long waiting in the dreary blank space, waiting to be summoned out of his death, in a way they were welcome. Annoying, but the only variety in a thousand years, so it was somehow pleasant. Slowly every other sense came to him as he got a feel for his surroundings. He could hear water sloshing, and wood creaking. He could smell hints of mold emanating from the floorboards, He could taste the humid air and salt. Then he could feel, it was brisk, as if he was getting out of a body of water on a windy day. Then finally sight. It was only when his body had been completely formed from the smoke, his head taking shape last, that Saber was able to open his eye and truly perceive his environment. The living quarters were quaint with small flowers strewn about, and (as always on a boat), no wasted space. This was good fortune Saber thought, I like boats. Next of course came buisness. While it would be nice to spend this time he was given relaxing and getting acquainted with the new customs of the world, he was summoned for a reason, a singular reason, the holy grail war. He scanned the room, and saw not far from him an old lady, a lady who on any other day might have seemed innocuous, but this was no ordinary day, and immediately he knew she was to be his caretaker in this world. Removing his large helmet and and unbuckling his sheaths from his sides, Saber knelt to face this woman who he towered over when standing tall. Bowing his head, Saber waited for her response.

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu

She peered at him with bright eyes, wide with amazement though hooded with age. The hand holding her cane quivered for an excitable moment before she rapped it on the deck twice, as if to fortify herself. A long silence passed between them, and then a breathy, puffing laughter came from her throat; a genuinely joyful sound, and not one birthed from the dark heart of vengeance in her chest, but the simple delight of an old woman encountering an exciting guest. Her words, cracked a little with age, were perhaps a unique opening gambit in the history of the grail wars.

You must be absolutely famished.

She looked him over; the sheathes, the height, the noble posture, the single eye, the whole of him; the united magnificence of his full person. And then, by the instinct (and subversion of etiquette) possessed most strongly by grandmothers, she turned ninety degrees and trotted off into the houseboat's kitchen, nattering all the way.

You've come a long way, I know. I know something about long journeys, and long waits. Do you eat meat? Of course you do. Such a strong young man. You go ahead and sit wherever you like, dear. There is so much to say, and so much to do, and so little time...

The sound of meat sizzling came through the little doorway; the pleasant scent of spiced meat charring appropriately over a hot grill.

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric

The rear of the estate had a large section of open ground, screened by trees from the nearby road.
It was here that Cedric would perform his summoning.

Normally he preferred the conveniences of modern magery. A circle of solder on circuit-board in an air-conditioned room would work just as well but for something like this...

Something bearing this weight, this import demanded a certain amount of ceremony. A certain amount of tradition.

And so, the circle, triple drawn. Surrounded by the four cardinals, sword and staff and cup and gem.
Cedric checked the relic one last time, running his hand over the smooth stone blade before laying it down in the circles centre.

He moved outside the circle, careful not to disturb it, and began.
The circle glowed, the braziers flames took on a greenish hue and the mana swirled and condensed in the circles heart.

“I call you into the world, spear-man in green, Lancer!”

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon Errol

Feldon dropped his hand, and with it the barrier. He was scared, and while he tried to maintain his composure, he knew that any semblance he’d had of authority as the master was now in tatters. It seems you’re not one for formalities, and quite frankly, neither am I. I’ll drop them until the time we seize the grail. I’m Feldon, a mage from, yes, England, and while I am of noble birth, I can assure you that I’m a whole lot less stuck up than my forefathers that you had to deal with. I specialize in barrier and rune magic, so I’d like to play on the defensive, but you are Rider, so I take it we won’t be playing so far back. Not to worry though, I’ve got a few offensive tricks up my sleeve and I’m more than competent in hand to hand. I suppose this is the time for questions though? Feldon looked around the wreckage of his room, hoping to find a chair big enough to fit the colossus before him. His eyes settled on a leather sofa that had been blown over, and pushed against the wall. Groaning, he put the sofa on its legs, and dragged it to the suspended chair he had been sitting in, now softly swinging. Feldon did not sit though; He couldn’t show anymore disrespect to Rider, a captain of a ship was used to being at the top, and he couldn’t afford to worsen this partnership. Sit, if you’d like.Would you like anything? Food, wine, I’m afraid women cannot be arranged. Rider… Feldon was somewhat in awe. He was scared, but somehow inspired. Before him was a legend, someone who made such a dent in history that they will be forever remembered and glorified--A literal living legend. I have so many questions: What is your mount? How do you fight? What do you think our first move should be? Feldon could only hope Rider would answer half of them.

[chainer1216]

(OOC: I apologize for not being able to do text stuff, I'm stuck on my phone for the time being)

Ulysses closed his eyes as he bowed, letting the applause of the crowd sink in, it had been a long time since he had to put on a show without magecraft, it was good to know he still could. As the curten fell his crew was already cleaning up the stage, he had made arrangements for them all to be on a plane back to the good Oil' U.S of A tonight, so there was no time to mess around.

After he was done with his part he went back to his room to prepare for the real reason he was in japan, the grail. He had been preparing for this for years, and tonight was the night, and he was ready...probably.

Once he was sure everyone in the building had left he went back to the stage and surveyed the now empty area. It was perfect for his needs, old theaters like this had a magic about them, human emotion has power, and places like this, where audiences have laughed and cried and cheered were like lay lines, though much weaker, and that perceived weakness is why those snobs at the Mages Association ignore places like this, just another reason its perfect.

At the center of the stage Ulysses gets to work drawing the summoning circle, by the time he's finished its almost the witching hour, which is exactly as planned, its when his manas at its peak. He starts the chant he memorized, repeating it, putting everything he has into it, putting everything this theater has into it, the circle beings to glow and hum with all the mana poured into it and just as he finished the chant he can feel the air around him violently shift to accommodate the being before him.

[chainer1216]

“I call you into the world, spear-man in green, Lancer!”

The area is rocked by a blast as if a massive thunderbolt had struck the circle, the force of it throws up dirt and disturbes the leafs in the trees. As the smoke and debris clears a man can be seen in the middle of the the circle. The figure, towering over the mage, wears a green robe over his breast plate and wears a tiger pelt as a belt, his only other armor is a pair of vambraces and greaves. In his right hand he carries no spear, but a Guan Duo, a weapon not unlike a glaive or naginata, its haft is covered in green scales like a serpent, and the blood red blade looks like fire coming from a dragons mouth. But oddly enough his most defining feature would have to be his magnificent beard, which is as long as his torso and well groomed.

For a long moment the Servant stood there, towering over his new master, looking at him as if he was staring at his soul.

"I am Guan Yu, Tiger General of Shu and the greatest hero of China! Who are you to have summoned me?"

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

With a swirl of blue light A figure coalesced in the circle.

There was no crack of thunder, no explosion or other event.
One moment the Runic Circle was empty, the next, occupied.

The man stepped forwards, one hand patting himself as if to check he was whole.

"Well then. Here I am."
He looked about, taking in the furnishings of the room.

"No no no, this will not do. We need more than this you know, mana is lifesblood to this endeavour and we of all players need it the most."

His gaze snapped back to the young man who was the rooms only other occupant.

“But where are my manners, you would be my summoner, my master for this period and I am..”
He looks down at his hand examining it as he flexes it experimentally.
“Oh yes, I am delighted to be Caster”

One hand reached up to run through his short beard while the other searched through the pockets on his coat. Pausing he walked out of the circle and examined himself in a mirror.

“Yeeesssssssssssss, good, good, everything in order I suppose; NOW!”
He spun on the spot extending a pointing finger at the young mage.
“There are two things I would like, nay! I must insist upon.”

“The first is a demonstration of your abilities, oh yes, I simply must know what manner of magus my master is.”
He grinned, pale blue eyes lighting up with amusement.
“And the second is a map, preparation is key, for us more than any,”

“This,” he said, waving one hand, “Is all very well for daily living I suppose; But a Sactum Sanctorum requires far more.”

[Implodio]

He starts the chant he memorized, repeating it, putting everything he has into it, putting everything this theater has into it, the circle beings to glow and hum with all the mana poured into it and just as he finished the chant he can feel the air around him violently shift to accommodate the being before him.

The floor of the stage shudded, groaned as the boards flexed, and for a moment seems as though it would convulse so violently it would break itself and ruin the summoning. Then stillness, and a moment's quiet. Stir of the old, velvety stage curtains. The smell of wood smoke. Of grain. Of meat seared, then cooked, then burned all up. The inky darkness that welled up from the rune seemed queerly heavy; bobbing and curdling in a flat disk; vomiting its excess of itself over the fringe of the circle in coils of black ash.

Then the screams.

The screams of men. First one, then another began as the last ended. Another. Another. Each divided from the other with a building, relentless beat. Bang. Bang. Bang. A drum of war; superimposed over the sound of something blunt and heavy striking flesh, breaking bone, crushing organs. Bang. Bang. Bang. The burning smell intensified. Not just meat burning; but flesh... unmistakably, burning flesh, and hair, and the repulsive, fragrant plumes of smoke from someone's body burning alive. Now the FIRE surges up; no specter of itself but huge, and hot, and rushing out of the rune like a devil's hand lashing vainly toward heaven, blackening rafters and igniting curtains. The drum beats faster, the a thousand men's screams overlap and jumble, aurally nailed together with the BANG BANG BANG of raw human violence. The fire, the shaking, the screams of an army being broken man by man; the awful, musical wail of a woman burning, and behind her voice an indecipherable whisper... Out of the... BANG BANG BANG ...out of the... BANG BANG BANG a bloodfreezing howl of naked rage and shame and regret and murderous misery and all the dark creatures that lurk in human hearts BANG BANG BANG ...out of the... BANG BANG BANG the jingle of chains twisted and broken hanging from the iron bracers at the wrists of huge hands that slammed on to the stage and pulled BANG BANG ...out of... BANG out of the rune like a hole into hell and then BANG a roar like a BANG lion's own nightmare out of the BANG ...out of the... BANG out of the throat of the emergent titan BANG


...out of the eater comes something sweet...

He came into the world as he last left it; with a monsterous shout that would echo into the night for miles, and wild instinctive destruction. There was just enough time for the magician-magus to make good on his instinct to step back; Berserker's chains slashed through the wood of the mutilated stage as surely as the great fists smashed it to flinders, collapsing it beneath him into a heap of broken shards and ash and the remnants of a successful summoning. Eight feet of superhuman power, bronzed Mediterranean muscle twitching in his arms and shoulders like confined animals kicking against their torment. The red shine of madness cut from his eyes through the smoke and seemed to pass over the magus entirely at first; a thankful exclusion, while this terrible violence was visited on the theatre's stage. But surely as the storm passes, surely as the fire cools to embers, so too Berserker eased to something close to peace.

The sprinklers, as if loath to interrupt the fiery entrance as it happened, kicked in now to extinguish the burning curtains; exchanging smoke for steam, but washing away some of the interfering cloud to offer some clarity of view. The giant wore a shredded remains of a robe of tan linen, and a rough leather girdle about his waist. Great black braids swept back from his scalp in clusters, hanging past his knees and swaying with even the subtle movement of his heaved, seething breath.

Slowly he raised a hand, uncurling the first with spasming effort, and extended index and middle finger in a forced gesture of the most primal indication, pointing at Ulysses and staring down his arm with the same hard killer's eyes one expected to see at the other end of a set of iron sights. His voice was like sliding marble; like the door to a tomb, unhappily forced open.

"Who...?"

[Fearan]

Rider:
- Hm - Rider grinned after the mage's tirade. - No wenches. What a hellhole of a port, this Fuyuki is. - he sat on the offered sofa, still looking menacing, but somewhat tempered now - it seemed, Rider have grudgily accepted his new position as a weapon in the Grail war. And, perhaps, he accepted Feldon too. - As it stands - ask yourself this - do we have some time before the fighting starts? If yes - arrange a steady supply of rum. If not - don't bother. I doubt, we'll find good rum here anyway. - he paused awaiting a new wave of questions and explanations. - Barriers, huh - the man answered once his partner described his abilities - - You don't look so tough, so that's good - you'll need them. Now, as for me - we'd better get to the water and get mah ship and mah crew here very fast. With that done - I doubt we'll need that much figthing, but still - I can hit'em with mah anchor. An then we look ant you - if'you'll have spare prana - get those runes on mah men - wouldnt hurt, ya'know. Bildgerats - he grinned, showing utter confidence in himself and a bit of contempt for the lesser men in his service

Yukito
Yukito observed his new partner with a curious smile - after all, you don't get to suumon a legend every day. "- Well, well - " he commented with a note of playfulness in his tone - "- I wonder, where did I sign up for a hard mode run? Greetings, Caster. I am Aomori Yukito - your glorified prana battery. Welcome to the real world. The map is on the desk, along with my comments for the prominent locations - oh, there would be no excuse for not visiting the Kopenhagen bar - except for the war, of course. As for the demonstration - you' being a magus of your caliber have probably noticed the barriers on this place. But still, I will abide with your request"- he paused, and then started making mudra gestures, with speed and precision, showing up years of training. - Rin, Pyôh, Tôh, Shā, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen - he had cast The Edict of Binding, a spell to restrain a spirit - for which, incidentally, a Servant was a valid target.

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

As the lady hobbled off into the kitchen Saber got to his his feet, the floorboards of the cozy dwelling creaking beneath him. Slowly, deliberately, he made his way into the next room taking in his surroundings, appraising every aspect of the boat. Having to duck through the doorway, the height was ideally suited for his new master, but far too short for the tall and proud Saber. I must say I didn’t expect your reaction, His tone was polite yet slightly comical. I thought there would be a flurry of questions, or perhaps orders. You are correct though, I haven’t eaten in a few hundred years, and the hunger eats away at me. Approaching the old lady from behind, he waited until she had turned to face him. I believe introductions are in order. My name is Date Masamune “The One Eyed Dragon”, and I shall win you you the Holy Grail.


Feldon

Feldon began to relax, the initial anxiety of meeting his belligerent servant settled down, and his mind got to work thinking about all possibilities this servant opened up. As chance would have it, I bought a small warehouse near the docks, primarily for the purpose of having a fully stocked safe house incase the worst happened, but perhaps that would be better suited to being our primary residence? As to when the fights start, that can be whenever you’re ready, I expect all the other servants are being summoned at about this time, but I’m sure I can get a cask of rum in under three days. Regarding the waterfront, I suggest we go now. I have a car out front, and It’s still early enough to avoid rush hour, besides, no one would attack us so early on in broad daylight. What say you?

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu

When she spun around to face him, she held a plate in her hand; heaped with quietly sizzling bulgogi shredded beef, rice balls, and an array of pleasant edibles entirely inconsistent with the half a minute or so she had apparently spent cooking. She smiled up at him and advanced with grandmotherly insistence, lifting the plate towards him with hands that trembled a little more the further her arms extended, compelling him to (presumably) take it or risk her dropping it and embarrassing both of them.

"Oh, I'd thought it was you, Date-sama. I'd wager any boy or girl who payed attention in ancient history would recognize the Dragon of Sendai. And I've questions - I imagine you do too. But I'm in no hurry, and you shouldn't be either. We've both been waiting for this a long time, I think. So we'll eat, and we'll talk, and then..." She gave a reedy little grunt as she shuffled back into a worn, peeling synthetic leather chair and laid her cane across her lap. "...Then we'll go and pick a fight. I imagine the soft options, Archer and Assassin and Caster, are all burrowing into the landscape like grubby little ticks, and setting up their bounded fields. But I expect we can pick a bombastic Rider, or Lancer, or Berserker our of the wood with a little flash. Just long enough for a little back and forth to see what we're up against, and if we can make a friend, hmm..?"

She reached toward the beef with trembling chopsticks, and managed to secure a shred with practice substituting for long lost dexterity. Then she looked up quickly, as if remembering only then that there had been half an introduction offered. "My name is Yamahata Suzu. Last of the Yamahata magi. I will never have another opportunity for vengeance on those who have wronged me; either through the grail or any other mechanism. So I am honored, Saber, that you would answer my call. I know you respect vengeance, but act with honor; and I suspect we will get along just fine."

Another squinty, grandmotherly smile; a little sauce on her lip, licked away with self-approving delight at the meal. She wiggled her eyebrows at him with playful cheer. "I presume you haven't forgotten how to pick a fight, with all that time you've had off."

[chainer1216]

The floor of the stage shudded, groaned as the boards flexed, and for a moment seems as though it would convulse so violently it would break itself and ruin the summoning. Then stillness, and a moment's quiet. Stir of the old, velvety stage curtains. The smell of wood smoke. Of grain. Of meat seared, then cooked, then burned all up. The inky darkness that welled up from the rune seemed queerly heavy; bobbing and curdling in a flat disk; vomiting its excess of itself over the fringe of the circle in coils of black ash.

Then the screams.

The screams of men. First one, then another began as the last ended. Another. Another. Each divided from the other with a building, relentless beat. Bang. Bang. Bang. A drum of war; superimposed over the sound of something blunt and heavy striking flesh, breaking bone, crushing organs. Bang. Bang. Bang. The burning smell intensified. Not just meat burning; but flesh... unmistakably, burning flesh, and hair, and the repulsive, fragrant plumes of smoke from someone's body burning alive. Now the FIRE surges up; no specter of itself but huge, and hot, and rushing out of the rune like a devil's hand lashing vainly toward heaven, blackening rafters and igniting curtains. The drum beats faster, the a thousand men's screams overlap and jumble, aurally nailed together with the BANG BANG BANG of raw human violence. The fire, the shaking, the screams of an army being broken man by man; the awful, musical wail of a woman burning, and behind her voice an indecipherable whisper... Out of the... BANG BANG BANG ...out of the... BANG BANG BANG a bloodfreezing howl of naked rage and shame and regret and murderous misery and all the dark creatures that lurk in human hearts BANG BANG BANG ...out of the... BANG BANG BANG the jingle of chains twisted and broken hanging from the iron bracers at the wrists of huge hands that slammed on to the stage and pulled BANG BANG ...out of... BANG out of the rune like a hole into hell and then BANG a roar like a BANG lion's own nightmare out of the BANG ...out of the... BANG out of the throat of the emergent titan BANG


...out of the eater comes something sweet...

He came into the world as he last left it; with a monsterous shout that would echo into the night for miles, and wild instinctive destruction. There was just enough time for the magician-magus to make good on his instinct to step back; Berserker's chains slashed through the wood of the mutilated stage as surely as the great fists smashed it to flinders, collapsing it beneath him into a heap of broken shards and ash and the remnants of a successful summoning. Eight feet of superhuman power, bronzed Mediterranean muscle twitching in his arms and shoulders like confined animals kicking against their torment. The red shine of madness cut from his eyes through the smoke and seemed to pass over the magus entirely at first; a thankful exclusion, while this terrible violence was visited on the theatre's stage. But surely as the storm passes, surely as the fire cools to embers, so too Berserker eased to something close to peace.

The sprinklers, as if loath to interrupt the fiery entrance as it happened, kicked in now to extinguish the burning curtains; exchanging smoke for steam, but washing away some of the interfering cloud to offer some clarity of view. The giant wore a shredded remains of a robe of tan linen, and a rough leather girdle about his waist. Great black braids swept back from his scalp in clusters, hanging past his knees and swaying with even the subtle movement of his heaved, seething breath.

Slowly he raised a hand, uncurling the first with spasming effort, and extended index and middle finger in a forced gesture of the most primal indication, pointing at Ulysses and staring down his arm with the same hard killer's eyes one expected to see at the other end of a set of iron sights. His voice was like sliding marble; like the door to a tomb, unhappily forced open.

"Who...?"

Fear.

For a moment all he felt was true, primal fear. It was as if his childhood nightmares had come to life. For a brief moment Ulysses though he had somehow summoned the souls of those burnt at the stake because of his family.

By the time the servant started taking a physical form he was able to compose himself, he had a mission and would NOT be cowed by a grandiose familiar.

his thoughts began to race "why did it have to be berserker?/this poor theater!/of course it was berserker, that's what you get for using latent magic formed from emotions/there will be firefighters here soon/why couldn't it have been archer or assassin, no one even wants those classes/oh****chain!

Jumping back Ulysses avoids the twisted metal as it scythes through the ground where he just stood. his mind stunned into silence he watched as his servants hulking form became clear, it lifts its giant arm, points at him, and grunts its single syllable question.

Taking a short moment to gather himself, then takes a defiant step forward and rips off the glove on his right hand revealing his command seals and in the most commanding voice he can muster:

"My name is Ulysses Bradbury, descendant of the Witch of Salem, and 5th head of my family! I have summoned you into this world to slaughter my enemies, right the wrongs done to my family and win the Grail!"

[Implodio]

Fear.

For a moment all he felt was true, primal fear. It was as if his childhood nightmares had come to life. For a brief moment Ulysses though he had somehow summoned the souls of those burnt at the stake because of his family.

By the time the servant started taking a physical form he was able to compose himself, he had a mission and would NOT be cowed by a grandiose familiar.

his thoughts began to race "why did it have to be berserker?/this poor theater!/of course it was berserker, that's what you get for using latent magic formed from emotions/there will be firefighters here soon/why couldn't it have been archer or assassin, no one even wants those classes/oh****chain!

Jumping back Ulysses avoids the twisted metal as it scythes through the ground where he just stood. his mind stunned into silence he watched as his servants hulking form became clear, it lifts its giant arm, points at him, and grunts its single syllable question.

Taking a short moment to gather himself, then takes a defiant step forward and rips off the glove on his right hand revealing his command seals and in the most commanding voice he can muster:

"My name is Ulysses Bradbury, descendant of the Witch of Salem, and 5th head of my family! I have summoned you into this world to slaughter my enemies, right the wrongs done to my family and win the Grail!"

The giant shuffled forward, sandaled feet dragging huge furrows through the ash as if he fought himself, restraining is steps, so not to run or charge. The sprinklers pattered away, dusting his skin with moisture that ran in glimmering rivulets down the corridors of his muscles, down the grand black banded braids, and down the hard set features of a face locked in that false-neutral rictus that is found in men when a true emotion is brought desperately to heel.

He knelt before the Magus. This was not implicitly a sign of deference; the movement merely brought his eyes in line with the displayed command seals, and the countenance of his resolved American summoner who chose, admirably enough, not to flee or reel away. By the time they were facially in line, the hot red madness in the giant's eyes wisped away entirely. Whatever wild demon the grail invested into its Berserkers was gone, for now; willed away, or made to rest. Human eyes, brown and authentically curious, narrowed to read Ulysses's features with the penetrating expression of a man who fancies himself, right or wrong, a scrutineer of men and their hearts.

"What do you, O Man, know of what is right? By what measure do you say, 'this is wrong done to me, and I will have bloody restitution'? Shall I take your word, O Man, that your pursuit is righteous, and plunge these hands..." He held up his hands demonstratively, open and fingers flexing as if expecting something to be put in them; dinner plate sized grips dark with callouses, easilly imagined to contain a man's head. The unbidden, perverse image of a squeezed fruit rind may be forgivably conjured to mind. "...Into your work?"

[chainer1216]

The giant shuffled forward, sandaled feet dragging huge furrows through the ash as if he fought himself, restraining is steps, so not to run or charge. The sprinklers pattered away, dusting his skin with moisture that ran in glimmering rivulets down the corridors of his muscles, down the grand black banded braids, and down the hard set features of a face locked in that false-neutral rictus that is found in men when a true emotion is brought desperately to heel.

He knelt before the Magus. This was not implicitly a sign of deference; the movement merely brought his eyes in line with the displayed command seals, and the countenance of his resolved American summoner who chose, admirably enough, not to flee or reel away. By the time they were facially in line, the hot red madness in the giant's eyes wisped away entirely. Whatever wild demon the grail invested into its Berserkers was gone, for now; willed away, or made to rest. Human eyes, brown and authentically curious, narrowed to read Ulysses's features with the penetrating expression of a man who fancies himself, right or wrong, a scrutineer of men and their hearts.

"What do you, O Man, know of what is right? By what measure do you say, 'this is wrong done to me, and I will have bloody restitution'? Shall I take your word, O Man, that your pursuit is righteous, and plunge these hands..." He held up his hands demonstratively, open and fingers flexing as if expecting something to be put in them; dinner plate sized grips dark with callouses, easilly imagined to contain a man's head. The unbidden, perverse image of a squeezed fruit rind may be forgivably conjured to mind. "...Into your work?"

After the madness leaves the giants eyes Ulysses lowers his hand and visibly relaxes.

"I don't want the death of children or the end of families, my enemies are simply the opposing servants and, if they refuse to relent, their masters.

As for what's right and what's wrong... my family is as old as the Einzbern or the Tohsaka, we should be just as respected! But we opposed allying with the Church, and were forced out of England to the Americas. And then the church sent agents to expose my family's use of mage craft to the zealots that lived there, dozens of innocent people were burned at the stake as witches. My familys line almost ended there but my ancestor was able to escape from her imprisonment, but we lost everything, including my family's original crest.

In order to rebuild we needed resources and to do that they had to lower themselves even further, they traveled the Americas in carnivals, Circus acts and rodeos, working as snake oils salesmen or as oddities in freak shows! We have been the laughingstock of the mage world for over THREE HUNDRED YEARS!

My simple wish if for that to end, for my family to once again be respected by our peers. The only way that's going to happen is if we win this war together"

[Implodio]

Berserker's head tilts slightly. There is some detectable response to the tale of mockery and exile; but it is the burning that seems to get through to him. A flash lights up those brown eyes, kindles the madness there, but settles before a return to its full grip.

"You have summoned me, O Man; and I am bidden by the laws of the Grail to work with you. It is good, if your cause is good; for I am a terror to the wicked; and a shield to the righteous. Therefore turn me on the wicked, and I will judge them. Turn me against the righteous, however..." The eyes flashed with threat, and glanced to the command seals that confined his fate. "...And we will have discomfort between us. Therefor according to these principles, and your word, I am Servant. And you are Master."

One huge hand extended, dragging its twisted chain across the floor as it did, and opened as if expecting - daring? - a shake.

[chainer1216]

Berserker's head tilts slightly. There is some detectable response to the tale of mockery and exile; but it is the burning that seems to get through to him. A flash lights up those brown eyes, kindles the madness there, but settles before a return to its full grip.

"You have summoned me, O Man; and I am bidden by the laws of the Grail to work with you. It is good, if your cause is good; for I am a terror to the wicked; and a shield to the righteous. Therefore turn me on the wicked, and I will judge them. Turn me against the righteous, however..." The eyes flashed with threat, and glanced to the command seals that confined his fate. "...And we will have discomfort between us. Therefor according to these principles, and your word, I am Servant. And you are Master."

One huge hand extended, dragging its twisted chain across the floor as it did, and opened as if expecting - daring? - a shake.

Ulysses puts his hand in Berserkers to seal their deal, he's struck by just how much he looks like a child compared to his servant, and just how obviously easy it would be for this giant to accidentally crush his hand, but he stifles that thought.

"If those are your terms then there's no reason for us to be uneasy partners.

As curious as I am about who you are, it has to wait, we need to get on the move. I had arranged to keep this theater empty for a while but I hadn't expected your summoning to be so...impactful. police and firefighters will be here soon, while could cover up the damage I can't do anything about the smoke or ash, so we're gonna get out of here and lay low for a day or so."

He turns to head back stage takes a few steps and the stood and turns again.

"That is, unless you would prefer to use that time to pick a fight."

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

No... Taking a seat across from Suzu, Saber chuckled, his eye glazing over, focused on some point beyond her as if remembering some hard fought skirmish from ages past. I’ve been on the battlefield since 17, and I expect you’ll find it evident. And yes, vengeance is nothing new to me. Regaining his senses, he leaned forward and made eye contact with Suzu, the fog there only moments ago, replaced by a sharp calculating glaze. Tell me about Fuyuki. Are there any landmarks we should contest? Points of interest? If we wish to pick a fight, where would be best? Who are we up against, and how are we to be up against. Put another way, I can fight any servant, but my skills are useless if I must devote myself to keeping you out of harm’s way. How are you to protect yourself or fight? Seeming to relax, this time for good, Saber reached for the extra pair of chopsticks Suzu had places down for him. Leaning back and smiling, he turned his attention to the food. As you said though, there is time, so let us feast. He said between bites. But you, you are an enigma to me, and while I swear to follow you as servant, I itch to know. What does my comrade fights for?

[Implodio]

Berserker

The giant stood up to his true height, and swept his gaze around the punished room and ruined stage. He frowned a little, and clasped his hands together before him; fingers threading hand to hand as if each fist submitted to the restraint of the other.

"I... am sorry. Destruction is my gift, and often my task; but not at all my fancy. I am not eager to leap into a fight. If you have a place of retreat in mind, I will follow."


Yamahata Suzu

"Places to contest? Oh, I wouldn't know. I've never been here before!" She tittered a laugh, and presumed to pour a cup of tea for each of them; some English blend and served in the English fashion: casually, and with the ceremony waived by all parties. "Ah, but I do know a thing or two. The river Mion is the major landmark; and Fuyuki is the sum of the towns on either side. Shinto, the new, upscale town; and Miyama, with its more..." She cheerfully wiggled the fingers of one hand, meaninglessly. "...traditional charm. The bridge is where I expect a few of the skirmishes will take place. Many of the scions of the big magus bloodlines go by Homurahara Academy in Miyama. And toward the edge of Miyama, the Ryuudou temple has quite a pranic confluence, if someone is looking for a place to bunker down and build up their well. Much of this war we'll have to figure out as we go along. Learn who we're facing, Masters and Servants."

Another pleasant, wrinkly smile.

"As far as protecting myself or fighting... Well, I expect you'll be doing most of the offense, but I've been hunted most of my life, Sabre. I know a few tricks that keep me ahead of the edge. You'll see, when we go to pick a fight on the bridge.

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric.


"I am Cedric, Fifth Magus of the house of Willow Leaves.”
He gave a bow to the spear wielding spirit.
“I have called you to this time and place to be my champion in this conflict. The war for the grail.”

He gestures to the manor behind him.
“Please, Yunchang, follow me. I know that spirits have little need for food but I have prepared some refreshments if you would care to partake.”

At a gesture the manor doors swing wide open as Cedric walked up the short path towards them.
“We have much to discuss and should do so indoors. Although I would fancy myself somewhat of a strategist my grounding is in the conflicts between mages, not in the more physical confrontations between servants."

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Saber was quickly growing to like his new accomplice, though he was unsure if she was worthy of his trust as of yet. She had evaded his primary question, he still had no clue as to why she fights, and it seemed there was a dark history that was to remain covered for the time being. While at face value she seemed harmless, there was an air of confidence encompassing her, a self assurance that made her certain that no matter what she would emerge from this war unscathed. In a way, Suzu reminded Saber of himself, inscrutable, yet outspoken, keeping her cards to her chest and waiting to take advantage of any missteps someone unfortunate enough to be her enemy might make.

Finishing the scraps remaining on his plate, Saber graciously thanked his master for the meal and stood. Benevolence indulged beyond measure sinks into weakness! I’ve been off the battlefield for too long, and I ache for the rush of a fight. Saber retrieved his swords and armor, vanishing his helmet into thin air with a puff of blue mana left behind. Allow me to take this vessel to the bridge where we shall plant our flag!

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu

She offered another pleasant, wrinkly smile, and raises her walking stick into the air as if lifting a sword.

"Alright, Saber. You've talked me into it. To the bridge!"

[Fearan]

Rider

- Yes! - the giant of a man nodded. We have to go towards the water immideately - I've mostly forgotten how to fight on dirt anyway. Lead the way - the Servant astralized, leaving behind only the smell of salt and storm and a trashed shed.

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

Caster smiled as the binding took effect.
“Decent speed, little mana loss.”
A hard white glow coalesced about his form restricting him to only the smallest movements.

One finger traced a circle in the air, a blue line following the finger tip. From the completed circle sprung a complex spiroglyph that lasted for a mere second. The Binding effects shattered, the glow around Caster fragmenting and dissolving into motes of light.

“Well you have talent, which is always a good start. I'll have you up to speed in no time. Now, about this map.”
So saying he strode towards the desk.

“Also you have humility, a trait of a great mage.”
He paused then, mid stride.
“Of course a Fantastic mage can afford some ego.”

Reaching the desk he examined the map.
“No, no, too obvious, too small, too much forest, too remote, Aha!”

He turned, smiling, to Yukito.
“I have found the perfect location to set up, let us move quickly to secure it for our use.”
He folded the map up and tucked it under his arm before heading to the door.

Again he stopped abruptly and looked down.
“Ah, it may be best if I acquired some modern clothing, a low profile would be our best general approach at this stage yes?”

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

The weather that day was to Feldon’s tastes, slightly overcast with a slight breeze, cool but not cold. It reminded him of damp pasture land the manor he grew up on was in, and he felt at peace in this climate. The morning sun peaked through the clouds at irregular intervals putting a harsh glare on the windshield of Feldon’s car. After crossing the bridge, Feldon took a sharp right turn, getting on the industrial roads usually used by Fuyuki dock workers. He continued on that path for a few minutes until pulling up to an inconspicuous warehouse. It was smaller than the others around it and also seemed less secure, having not so much as a padlock around the door. Of course, what it lacked in physical security, it made up for in magic ones. Small runes were drawn onto every wall of the building, designed to make all, servants and masters alike, glaze over it, as if it were not even there. The door was unlocked, but the handle was also painted in runes, designed to explode outward (leaving the door intact) if it was grasped by anything that did not emit Feldon’s mana. Inside the warehouse it was extravagant, though not to the degree of his suburban bungalow. There were nice carpets on the floor, and every crevice was clean. A bed was set up in the corner, and several large cabinets held all manner of things, from simple clothes to magical devices. Briskly walking through the one roomed building, Feldon found his way to a back door, and passed through, finding himself just a few feet from the waterfront. A small motorboat was tied up to a post, and Feldon laughed, realizing he would likely have no need for it. This shall do right? I doubt I can conceal your boat with runes, but I’ve tried to make this place as hidden from prying eyes as I can. Anyway, I’m anxious to see this ship of yours.

[lord pringle]

[Caster and Yukito]
A bird flies past the window. To both of your highly trained magical senses, you can tell that it is full of a human's mana. The familiar is watching you with almost no subtlety, making direct eye contact with the both of you. As you look more closely, you can tell that there is a piece of paper tied to its left leg. It chirps at the window, before moving itself to better see the protections placed on the apartment building.

[Saber and Suza]
As you finish your meal, you hear a shimmering noise as an arrow comes flying through the steel exterior and the wooden paneling of the boat. A man's voice shouts out, "C'mon out! I've been waiting too damn long to get to the war part of this war!" You barely hear a woman talking softly, her voice muffled by distance and the light waves crashing against you. The man's voice responds with a scoff and you hear something land on the top of the deck. "You wanna stop me, lady, you're going to have to use more than polite words," he says grumpily, before changing his focus back below decks, "Yo, new servant, hurry up!"

[Cedric and Lancer]
Your dramatic summoning is rudely interrupted by your cell phone ringing. You are unfamiliar with the number, but based on the number, the call is coming from the Black Forest of Germany.

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Archer I assume? Saber shouted at the roof. Making eye contact with Suzu, he knew what he had to do. Drawing a single sword, Saber darted towards the hatch leading to the deck, and dexterously leaped up. Laying his left hand on the hilt of another sword, he pointed his drawn one to the figure before him. Speak now, and speak fast. You face your executioner!

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu

The intruding arrow draws a small widening of Suzu's eyes. It is not the expression of shock typically associated with someone facing a threat to their life. It is a look of mild, if genuine confusion; as one might adopt when they realize they have lost their purse, or when they encounter a work associate in a casual setting for the first, accidental time. This was decidedly earlier than she had expected, and Suzu prided herself on expecting things right. She expected her expectations to work out as expected. This expectation had failed to meet her expectation; and that bothered her.

She exchanged a troubled look with Saber; and as soon as he had sprung into action, so did she: rising and shuffling speedily to the only other room on the boat, the bedroom, and plopping down on the bed to start the troublesome work of taking off her satin slippers, and working her feet into a pair of oddly stylish, white sneakers.

The boat might need to be sacrificed. That was alright. She'd known that was coming, too.

[lord pringle]

[Archer vs. Saber]
"Look at you, Cyclops," Archer says as a thick smirk blooms on his face. He is a six-foot-something Mediterranean man and is wearing a business suit and shades. He is gripping a finely carved bow in one hand and an arrow in the other. "Let me guess, you're Saber. Swords make it kinda obvious, but hey, I'm the one with the bow. No judgement here," he says, clearly enjoying the sound of his own voice. He is "speaking fast" but not in the way you intended.
He opens his mouth to speak again, but the woman's voice comes in through his earbud. He is silent for a few seconds before continuing, "Right, so, my Master wants me to shut up and run, but I'm not feeling it. What do you say, Cyclops, want to surrender now before the might of-"
Right before he names himself, the woman's voice cuts in again, unintelligible but clearly shouting. "Pssh, sorry, guess I can't give you my name. I guess that makes me no one. Want to surrender before 'No One' or will this get fun?"

[Fearan]

Yukito
The magus nodded, accepting the praise - he did had enough ego to fill pride from being praised by a legend - whatever legend it would be. He looked at Caster, when the Servant said, he found the suitable hideout. - Hopefully, the location you found is not related to the temple, the central park or the mansion at the hill. As for the clothes - I have some yukata robes - they're more or less sizeless. But wouldn't it be easier to use your astral form? Now - he continued - before we continue, I'd like you to answer this - what are your moral principles, absolute no-goes and whatever - so I can think of a strategy based on that. Cause I'd love to use the Command spells as a weapon, not as a leash - we don't have enough trumps to waste what we have...wait, what's that - he looked at the window and the familiar. - Hmm, a letter. Back me up, just in case it's an assasination attempt with exploding note or something - Yukito asked his new partner and moved cautiously to recover the letter.

Rider
Rider actually looked quite indiffirent towards the warehouse hideout. He gave it a casual glance, Shrugged his shoulders and turned towards Feldon. - Hideouts, concealement, tactics - he roared - actually he looked quite calm, that was just the voice. - I get it, that's all good and useful - he paused to give a long look to the river - but where I sail, all this is but a glume to be shaved off by the wind. Where I sail - it all comes down to one simple question - - and the imposing voice of the Captain boomed even louder. - ARE! YOU! MAN! ENOUGH?! - So get your barriers, draw your runes, and get ready! Get ready, cause heroes will be coming. See their Jasons, their Ulysses, their Drakes come to my sea - AND WATCH THEM DROWN - with his words the wind began to blow harder, and the prana flashed in the Servants body, giving away a sinister feel of the watery grave. - Dat weather is too nice for mah eyes. Unfit for the war, I say. So come forth! Come forth my vessel, my friend, my prison, MY DESTINY!!! - he raised his anchor into the air, as a metal band lead player would raised his guitar. And with the first thunder in the darkening skies, Captain Van der Decken unleashed his Noble Phantasm on the unsuspecting city: - COME FORTH, DE VLIEGENDE HOLLANDER!!!
The freezing wind gained power, its howls rivaled the captains voice and suppressing all lesser sounds. The clouds obscured the sky, closing the Sun from the soon-to be warzone, the torrential rain struck as countless arrows against the man-made fortress. The river maddened with waves reminding of the legend of the dragon living in it. And with the mother of all storms, clad in St Elmo's fires, it arrived. The time-worn barque under tattered sails on its four masts slowly levitated couple of feet above the raging river, carrying the smell of rot and decay along with the storm's own distinct smell. It appeared at the center of the river but slowly adhered to the dock. And Rider, standing full upright and ignoring the hell around, opened his hands, as if embracing his ship. And he laughed

[chainer1216]

Lancer

the large man opens his mouth to respond to his new master but is interrupted by the small strange ringing box. He raises one eyebrow quizzically but then shakes his head and starts walking to the building his master motioned towards.

Ulysses

gathering a few of his belongings, a couple decks of enchanted playing cards, a cane that hides an Azoth Sword, and a few other basic necessities.

He then looks to his imposing Servant, the slight crimson hue of embarrassment noticeable on his face.

"Well, the thing is, like I said, my family has been cut off from the Mages Association since before this holy grail thing was even discovered, so most of my time was spent just getting information on the war itself, I didn't exactly have a lot of time to make arrangements or gather information here in japan.

So...uh...we'll be on our own and out in the open tonight."

Finishing up his preparations he opens the cage of his strongest familiar, gives the white cat some food and the instruction to remain quiet until he comes back.

He takes a half step back and pulls out a playing card from his pocket, the pre-scribed runes on it glow a soft white as he channels mana into it and then places it on top of the cage, which vanishes from sight, becoming invisible thanks to the illusion.

[FriendlyLich]

Yukito
The magus nodded, accepting the praise - he did had enough ego to fill pride from being praised by a legend - whatever legend it would be. He looked at Caster, when the Servant said, he found the suitable hideout. - Hopefully, the location you found is not related to the temple, the central park or the mansion at the hill. As for the clothes - I have some yukata robes - they're more or less sizeless. But wouldn't it be easier to use your astral form? Now - he continued - before we continue, I'd like you to answer this - what are your moral principles, absolute no-goes and whatever - so I can think of a strategy based on that. Cause I'd love to use the Command spells as a weapon, not as a leash - we don't have enough trumps to waste what we have


"The temple? Oh no, far too obvious. No no, none of those."
He raised one finger and tapped the side of nose.
"Not too obvious, but not without power either; power that not all could draw upon either."
His grin widened, ever so slightly.

"As to my morals, well...
I am a good man, I think; but I am also a wizard and as such must sometimes sacrifice righteous feelings for hard pragmatism.
Still I consider the death of innocents, the abrogation of personality and direct blasphemy to be...Vulgar.”

“Hmmm? What I mean by that is that such things should be avoided and only done in times of dire need. To do them habitually becomes a terrible flaw.”

His expression took on a serious cast for a moment.
“As well there are... some... things, works, deeds, that stain the world around them. They are a blight and must be done away with. No matter how convenient such things may be, such evil taints existence with it's presence, I cannot countenance such, nor will I tolerate it In my presence.”

He sighed, then smiled.
“Also I shall not raise my hand against.. ah.. a certain kingdom, but it is far and will not, I believe, be relevant.”

He clapped his hands abruptly, the loud noise shockingly loud after the sombre conversation.
“As to the clothes, well. A servant in astral form is plainly apparent as such to those who can perceive them. Manifested and clad in modern garb however and we are indistinguishable from common folk.”

“Well, unless one happen to posses pure eyes.”


Yukito he looked at the window and the familiar. - Hmm, a letter. Back me up, just in case it's an assasination attempt with exploding note or something - Yukito asked his new partner and moved cautiously to recover the letter.



He placed a hand upon Yukitos shoulder.
“Ettarum Doros.”
A warm golden light enveloped the young mage before seeming to fold in on itself, multiplying facets into a fractal haze as it faded from view.
“There, now lets see who is so desperate for our acknowledgement to send us this bird hmmm?"

[Implodio]

Berserker

He listens quietly, hands clasped and fingers woven together. He gives a distrusting gaze to the illusion magic but does not verbally complain, taking instead to slow and measured strides around the scorched and ruined stage.

"That is a very poor circumstance. Your enemies will come for you, if they have means to find you. I will protect you best I can, certainly; but I would break good conscience to suggest I am not better laying siege, than receiving-"

The giant's eyes flashed, hazing to that murder-red as he straightened and craned his countenance left. He stared at the wall, in all its opacity; but beyond that wall was an alley, and beyond that a building, and beyond that another building, and an alley, and a street, and more buildings and sprawl and city; and beyond that, too far to pinpoint but assuredly out there by toward the docks...

"...This trial of magi makes monsters of men; and servants of monsters from outside my ken."

The rhyme rolls from his lips; short, simple and ultimately natural. He draws in a breath of false air and his master's mana, and stares at the indistinct wickedness too far off to define.

[chainer1216]

Ulysses

"yeah well I'm used to being center sta-"

He gets cut off by the Servants unexpected rhyme.

"What was that all about? Are they already here?!"

[Implodio]

Berserker

"No. Not... immediately close. But the unrighteous come to Fuyuki, and I should be very surprised to learn it was not in seeking the grail. Where you choose to lay your head, Magus.. be as secure as you might try to be. I will watch over you."

With that, and a rush of spiralling wind, Berserker winked into his astralized form, and was "gone".

[lord pringle]

[Caster & Yukito]
The note on the bird is a simple handwritten note on a folded up piece of lined paper. It reads, "Meet me at 0100. I want to help." It is followed with the address of a warehouse near the waterfront.

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon


The stench was too foul to bear. The mildewed boat looked as if it was about to give way and the shredded sails flapped wildly amongst the buffeting winds. Feldon’s mind was whirring evaluating the consequences of having such a mount affiliated with his Rider. Every fight from this point onwards would be a massive nautical battle, lest Rider be at a distinct disadvantage. Taking that into account though, what fool would be willing to attack Rider when he was so obviously empowered by having his boat. As he saw it, there were two options: He could take the fight to the other masters, attacking them if they ever got close and forcing them into a disadvantageous conflict, or, he would need some kind of bait, forcing the other masters to board The Flying Dutchman. Hostages were not Feldon’s style, and he was scrounging for other baits that could be used, so in the meantime, he settled with the former of the two plans. Well Rider, I say it’s about time we took the fight to the other Masters. What say we board this ship of yours and cause a little trouble. He said, wryly grinning.

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric.


Cedric blinked as his phone rang.
"Gallwn fod wedi tyngu llw i mi eich rhoi ar mud" he muttered under his breath.

"My apologies, I must see who this is"

"Hello? Cholmondeley here."

[MrBudquaza]

Saber
There was only one direction he could go. Saber shot forward, closing the gap between them fast, and slashed, drawing the second sword when he was in range and motioning to drag it across Archer's chest for a second strike.

Archer
While Archer is not the fastest servant in the world, he certainly isn’t the slowest and his Eye of the Mind skill doesn’t hurt his ability to dodge. But then again, two swords are twice as hard to dodge. He pushes away the first blade and steps back, only to get cut by the second. He does a backflip into a high jump that leaves him far above the boat. “Sorry, Polyphemus, the sky is my place,” he says, firing three arrows in rapid succession. Any that are not blocked will pierce the ship.

Suzu
Suzu fusses with her shoelaces as the thunder rakes the night sky, and far away the storm herald's Rider's entrance into the war. Her fingers make the task difficult, but suddenly their trembles are all gone. The arrow punching through the window spurred her heart a little (having seen it coming, however vaguely.) But the combat going on above her in earnest was the real stuff; the hi-octane war of ancient spirits. Adrenaline lit up her old body's senses like stuttering fluorescent lights plinking online one at a time and yes, yes, there it is. There's the old feeling, and steady hands complete their lacework in swift time now. She stands up, fetches her cane, and granny-hustles up the steps to the boat's deck where she can look up the clashing spirits on the cabin roof. But where is Archer's master? Apparently exposed on the deck of the ship, the old woman peers around in the darkness through narrowed eyes while surreptitiously marshalling her mana in one almost still hand by her side. She can almost feel the killing blow coming as it races to her from the future to her present, and this particular event is one she intents to be completely ready for.

Saber
Assigning an arrow to each blade, Saber cuts down the first two arrows, the third skimming his arm, deflected by his pauldrons, found into the lower decks of the ship. Saber laughed, his blood boiling from the rush of a fight. Springing upwards, he flew towards Archer, his left sword pointing at Archer, and his right held slightly farther back, ready to block and volley Archer may rain down.

Archer
Archer’s smirk grows as he tucks and rolls past Saber onto the boat. The voice comes in through the earpiece once more, as a glowing mana arrow appears, already knocked, in his bow. He looks up and chuckles, “It’s a shame I can’t take out your eye again, but hey, you’ve got a nice hole in your head to shoot through.” He draws back the bowstring and shouts out, “Axehead Cleaving Shot!” As he fires his arrow that auto-magically trains to your missing eye.


Saber
The arrow grew bigger as it approached, tracking every movement Saber made. This was unavoidable, he’d either have to take it head on, or completely destroy it. With almost complete aerial mobility, Saber repositioned himself in the air, the cloth connecting his sheaths, billowing with air, seeming to fill with wind, like wings. He was now facing the arrow straight on, and drawing a third sword, positioning a sword between his ring, middle, and index fingers of his right hand, he kicked against the air, propelling himself at the arrow. The arrow was fast, but easy to track, leaving a glimmering trail of mana in its wake. Swinging his three blades full force at the arrow, he cut it cleanly into four. Having been solely focused on the arrow, Saber had no time to slow down his descent, and went crashing through the upper deck of the house boat. He found himself lying in rubble near to Suzu’s bed where she had been, not moments before.


Suzu
The ship, fancifully titled the Lah-dee-dah in peeling blue paint along the hull, groaned as she took on water below deck. But one old lady was always going to die in this harbour, after all. So long, my dear. I will miss our quiet times. Archer and Saber's contest was fierce, but she could only afford to pay it so much direct attention – and a killing blow from that direction would register on her extra senses anyway. What she needed was to find Archer's master. There lay the wildcard, and the unbalanced part of the equation. She could not see a figure spying on them; but that was alright. She'd force the revelation one way or another. While her principle energies were held at ready, she pressed with a little extra – this against the dock, and the ship, until the mooring line snapped and the perforated, sinking little houseboat began pushing out to sea, where land-lubbing magi might have a difficult time spying if they did not take actions to close the distance.

Archer
Odysseus’s earpiece goes off again, which he scoffs at. “Look, ‘lady,’ I’m fighting a servant here, I don’t have time to ice some old bag.” He draws another few arrows and launches them at the prone Saber. He sighs, “It’s a shame you won’t let me take this boat.”

Saber
Desperately rolling aside, Saber dodges the initial arrows, but is hit by the tail end of the salvo. His armor took the most of the blow, but the arrow was cleanly lodged in his gut. Snapping away the shaft, leaving the head in to prevent excessive bleeding, Saber knew he couldn't let up. Arming himself with the remaining three swords, gripping them dexterously between his fingers, his trademark helmet also came into being, firmly secured atop his head. “Kabuto of the Crescent Moon” he roared, gaining a burst of speed and strength. Completely ignoring the wound in his side, Saber rushed Archer, his swords making an X in front of him, ready to block any shot that would be fired. Saber heard a voice in his head. The voice of his most trusted advisor in his life, Kojuro. Take out the supply lines, throw the enemy into chaos. He knew where he had to swing. If the earpiece was no more, this battle would be decided.

Suzu
The contest between servants had become more dangerous to Saber than she had hoped, and much quicker. A conceivable scenario manifested in which Saber might, infact, be killed. Alternatively, they might end Archer here before Archer's master mustered up the courage to activate a command seal to withdraw him. How can an unstoppable arrow be stopped? That was a question she was uniquely equipped to answer; and now with Archer's master far from the scene, she focused on the legendary marksman... and waited for the accumulation of mana that she knew now signaled the Axehead-Cleaving-Shot.

Archer
KRAKAKOOOOM! A peal of thunder bursts near the boat, as the storm grows remarkably close. The servants feel significantly weakened as the storm envelops them, with their statistics dropping by a whole letter rank. Suzu feels remarkably drained, as if the storm is raining on her very soul. Archer is distracted enough by this sudden feeling that he only barely moves his head in time, leading to his ear piece being cut, but him staying untouched. His eyes practically glow red as he jumps back and shouts out, “AXEHEAD CLEA-”


Suzu
Pain. Darkness. Silence. A bolt of doom ripping toward her down the corridor of What-Would-Be with its terrible power and promise. She understood many felt it when the time came; the flashing of their life before their eyes, the perfect clarity of everything and the peace or horror of the revealing of themselves at the final bell's toll. But to Suzu, it was a slow building whistle; like a train coming around a mountain, with more than enough time offered to step off the track. Saber's death out here, under these conditions, would mean her death; and the perverse rain weighing down her soul and all her pent up power made the moment more dire. The telekinetic force raced like wild voltage from her casting hand, through her shoulders beneath her knitted cardigan, into her cane hand and down that aluminium walking stick. The moving mana raised subtle, plum coloured patterns down the length of her arm and the stick before the whipcrack sound of abused air signalled its release. Blunt physical force rippled the air, refined, simplified, and became a small, strong, opposing element. How do you stop an unstoppable shot? Before it starts. The telekinetic pressure squeezed on Archer's drawing fingers like strong hands clapping over them; not striking, but simply preventing them from uncurling to release the deadly arrow. Without the earpiece, Archer’s master may not hear and have time to recognize the moment’s import. No time to communicate the plan, no time for Saber to second guess according to his warrior wisdom, she called out at once in a cracking voice into the storm and warfare, “Strike now!”. A command seal sizzled off her rain-soaked, sleeved arm; and the moment upon which so much hinged lurched forward into its next phase.

Saber
Any fatigue that Rider’s storm had brought upon Saber was washed away at the expense of the command seal. Saber pivoted, staring directly down the shaft of Archer’s knocked arrow, trusting his master’s magecraft. Bringing his six swords towards Odysseus from both sides, the command seal had taken over, his whole essence focused on a single simple action. Archer was a dead man walking, if this spying Master did not instantly use their own seal, at the very least, Archer would sustain permanent damage. Suzu’s victory was assured!

Archer
Archer suddenly twitches and starts chanting, “no, no, no, no, no!” as the swords come flying at him. Right as the swords first connect, there is the popping noise of air rushing into an empty spot as Archer vanishes suddenly. Left behind in his place is a small opaque crystal box, that clatters to the ground. It’s clearly chock full of mana and seems like there’s something inside. Something worth getting. Suzu can not tell what it is.

Suzu
She wheezes a sigh of relief at the conclusion of the events. The attacker is gone but the danger is not over; not for old women on sinking ships at sea, and perhaps not for gut-shot Daimyos. As the Lah-Dee-Dah begins to bubble out its last air pockets and the deck becomes parallel to the waterline, Suzu breaks into what pases for action amoung geriatrics. She scoops up the box, and tucks it safely in her handbag, zipping it up tight. She tugs off the sopping cardigan to reveal a bright orange life vest beneath, and weakly tugs on the ripcord. It inflates, keeping her floating as the boat sinks below the choppy, storm-stirred waters. Exhausted beyond reason by the supernatural rain, she begins marshalling a pitiful amount of telekinetic force to begin puttering her toward the shore, and looks around for her victorious servant, if he has not yet Astralized. “Forgive the abrupt action, Date-sama. But you were very impressive up there. Very impressive indeed.” The words are at once respectful, and doting.

Saber
Saber was exhausted. He'd won the fight, but by no wide margin as he'd hoped. The storm drained him, and after a weak smile towards Suzu, he was gone in a wisp as residual mana dissipated.

[lord pringle]

[Cedric and Lancer]
"Mr. Cholmondeley, this is Jubstacheit vonEinzbern." Says a deep, elderly man's voice from the other side of the phone. "We of the Einzberns have heard of your participation in the Holy Grail War and wish to secure your alliance. We will assist you with our various creations of alchemy, as well as give you access to the Grail's vessel, if you help safeguard it as well as help us obtain the Akasha. We have a manor on the outskirts of town. If you come out there, we can work out exact terms, as well as provide you a Geas to sign. Are you interested?"

[chainer1216]

Ulysses

His servant may have disappeared, but through their connection he could still sense him in the room, a disconcerting yet oddly comforting feeling.

Ulysses didn't know what to make of Berserker yet, the man was huge and obviously powerful, but his rage seemed barely contained, it was likely that if...no, when a fight broke out he'd have no control over his Servant at all, and to make matters even stranger it seems that he somehow summoned what had to be the only pacifistic rage consumed hero in the worlds history.

So he had magic only good for fooling people, an offence oriented Servant that would prefer to stay on the defensive and, for the time being, no base of operations. For the second time tonight Ulysses found himself lamenting not getting a more suitable Servant, like archer or assassin, but he quickly shook away the thought. Making do with whatever hand was dealt was kind of his families specialty.

Ulysses exits the old theater through an emergency exit in the back, greeted by the fresh night air he takes a deep calming breath, then pulls out a flat black disk from the inside back of his vest, he gives it a light tap with his cane causing the top hat to unfold. Holding it brim up, he focuses his minds eye on the summoning pattern stitched into the inside of it and calls forth his familiars, a dozen white doves fly out of the hat, each finding a place to perch and await orders.

"I want you all to spread out and search the city, keep an eye out for anything that might be another master or servant." Then he selects two of the doves and points towards the direction Berserker stared off to before vanishing "I want you both to go that way and see if anything strange is going on."

The birds all fly off, scattering in different directions. He puts away the top hat and looks around thinking what to do next, realising that all he really could do now is wait.

"Hm, might as well make the most of it."

And with that he starts walking to the nearest bar he knows of.

[lord pringle]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
As you approach the bar, a young woman in jeans and an "Admirable Tactics XII 2014 World Championships" t-shirt bumps into you, as she gets kicked out of a bar of her own. "Oh, uh, sorry," She says, quickly pulling herself up and brushing off a peanut shell. "What kind of stupid bar kicks people out for winning so much at poker?" she mutters to herself, before finally looking closely at you. "Didn't I see you at a magic show?"

[Implodio]

Yahamata Suzu

Suzu sits infront of a warm fire, now. The Lah Dee Dah was always going to sink; and this little cottage in the agrarian recovery coast of Shinto would later be blown to shards. She knew it. It was what would be; and she could feel the forerunner of the splinters piercing her skin as surely as one could smell ozone before the lightning bolt. But not right now. Right now, she was far enough away from the hideous storm that her Mana could refresh, and Saber refresh with it. The fire was very fine - even if it reminded her of the towering explosion that would light up the Fuyuki night near to the end of this grail war. That, too, would be. But not right now.

"Saber;" she spoke to the unmanifest spirit, as she eased out of her chair and wheeled toward the cottage's kitchen. "Would you care for some tea..?"

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric.

Cedric blinked.
"Well... that is quite the proposal. I'll have to look the Geas other of course, but yes."
He swallowed.
"Yes I am."

Lowering the phone he turned to Lancer.
"Those refreshment may have to wait I'm afraid, I've just had a most attractive offer dropped in my lap."

Giving a small grin gestured for lancer to follow him as he walked to the large garage.
"The vonEinzbern Proposed an alliance, of sorts anyway.
Assistance, information and resources in return to access to the fruits of victory"

A button on a remote activated the garage door that cranked slowly open.
“I'm not so arrogant as to believe such help isn’t useful and the price doesn't bother me much either.
Honestly at this point the real point of the quest for the root is so that you can say you reached the damn thing.”

“Our steeds await!”
The door has opened fully revealing the garages contents, a pair of electric scooters.

Cedric moved other to one of scooters and patted it's seat.
“This is Shadowfax, my trusty steed, had her shipped in from home.”
He picked up the attendant helmet and began to carefully strap it on.

“Can you drive at all? Or would you prefer to dematerialize for the journey?”

[chainer1216]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
As you approach the bar, a young woman in jeans and an "Admirable Tactics XII 2014 World Championships" t-shirt bumps into you, as she gets kicked out of a bar of her own. "Oh, uh, sorry," She says, quickly pulling herself up and brushing off a peanut shell. "What kind of stupid bar kicks people out for winning so much at poker?" she mutters to herself, before finally looking closely at you. "Didn't I see you at a magic show?"

Ulysses smiles at the woman and gives her a quick look over to see if theres anything suspicious about her, then speaks in very simple and heavily american accented Japanese:

"yes! My name is Ulysses, its a pleasure to meet you miss...?"

[chainer1216]

Cedric blinked.
"Well... that is quite the proposal. I'll have to look the Geas other of course, but yes."
He swallowed.
"Yes I am."

Lowering the phone he turned to Lancer.
"Those refreshment may have to wait I'm afraid, I've just had a most attractive offer dropped in my lap."

Giving a small grin gestured for lancer to follow him as he walked to the large garage.
"The vonEinzbern Proposed an alliance, of sorts anyway.
Assistance, information and resources in return to access to the fruits of victory"

A button on a remote activated the garage door that cranked slowly open.
“I'm not so arrogant as to believe such help isn’t useful and the price doesn't bother me much either.
Honestly at this point the real point of the quest for the root is so that you can say you reached the damn thing.”

“Our steeds await!”
The door has opened fully revealing the garages contents, a pair of electric scooters.

Cedric moved other to one of scooters and patted it's seat.
“This is Shadowfax, my trusty steed, had her shipped in from home.”
He picked up the attendant helmet and began to carefully strap it on.

“Can you drive at all? Or would you prefer to dematerialize for the journey?”

Lancer looks at the small vehicle with clear confusion and distain.

"The grail has given me the knowledge to use such contraptions, but I would prefer to travel in my astral form."

He then turns to Cedric and looks him directly in the eyes, as if peering into his soul.

"Master I urge you to make no hasty alliances. Think not of only what you have to gain or lose, but of what they have at stake as well. If these people are so powerful as to hand us victory then why do they not already have a champion in this war?

But before any more talks of alliances you and I must come to an understanding, I am fighting in this war to correct a grave mistake in the past, as such I must win at all costs and have no qualms with doing anything needed to claim victory, but I have little patience for the formalities of a mages fight. Point me to an army and I will cut them down, to a castle and I will break its walls, to a fleet and I will sink its ships, to a servant and I will bring you its head, but I must know your motives for this battle, what is your goal, why should I trust that you will put as much effort into winning as I?"

[lord pringle]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
"Oh, uh, sorry. I'm Sakura," Sakura says, vaguely pointing to her name on the back of her shirt, "Are you American? Would you prefer if I switched to English? I'm fluent. Also in German and Latin, if you happen to speak either of those. Even though Latin is a dead language..." She trails off, clearly embarrassed.

[FriendlyLich]

"But before any more talks of alliances you and I must come to an understanding, I am fighting in this war to correct a grave mistake in the past, as such I must win at all costs and have no qualms with doing anything needed to claim victory, but I have little patience for the formalities of a mages fight. Point me to an army and I will cut them down, to a castle and I will break its walls, to a fleet and I will sink its ships, to a servant and I will bring you its head, but I must know your motives for this battle, what is your goal, why should I trust that you will put as much effort into winning as I?"

Cedric tapped one finger against the handlebar of the scooter.
“The vonEinzbern Is one of the great families, as to why they have no champion of there own it may simply be that their house has no magus of suitable age and inclination to qualify.”
He gave a small chuckle.
“Or at least not one they feel they can afford to lose.”

“As to the second.... well.
I'm afraid I have no grand proclamation for you, no great injustice I would seek to overturn.
I participate because my hose has commanded it, I seek the root because it is the winning, rather than the prize, that matters now.”

“All I have to offer you is this.
I do not play a game I don't intend to win.
I do not believe in it.
To cast the die you must be accepting of everything it represents, the cost of defeat, and the price of victory.
And so, I am committed now, to this war and everything it entails.”

“I was prepared to prosecute this war without the vonEinzberns assistance, if you feel it is unwise to accept it, I will defer. Do not think I have not weighed this decision, but your experience in such alliances is greater than my own.”

A chill wind blew across the grounds then carrying with it the rumble of distant thunder and the smell of sea water.
“It seems that the war has started, so, one thing I must ask before more time elapses, what would you consider to be favourable ground?”

[chainer1216]

Cedric tapped one finger against the handlebar of the scooter.
“The vonEinzbern Is one of the great families, as to why they have no champion of there own it may simply be that their house has no magus of suitable age and inclination to qualify.”
He gave a small chuckle.
“Or at least not one they feel they can afford to lose.”

“As to the second.... well.
I'm afraid I have no grand proclamation for you, no great injustice I would seek to overturn.
I participate because my hose has commanded it, I seek the root because it is the winning, rather than the prize, that matters now.”

“All I have to offer you is this.
I do not play a game I don't intend to win.
I do not believe in it.
To cast the die you must be accepting of everything it represents, the cost of defeat, and the price of victory.
And so, I am committed now, to this war and everything it entails.”

“I was prepared to prosecute this war without the vonEinzberns assistance, if you feel it is unwise to accept it, I will defer. Do not think I have not weighed this decision, but your experience in such alliances is greater than my own.”

A chill wind blew across the grounds then carrying with it the rumble of distant thunder and the smell of sea water.
“It seems that the war has started, so, one thing I must ask before more time elapses, what would you consider to be favourable ground?”

Lancers stare remains unchanged.

"I am only advising caution. A winning campaign can be lost by a weak alliance, and a hopeless one, victorous, due to a strong alliance. If these VonEinzbern are as influential as you say scorning them may be unwise, they may seek out our enemies to aid them.

As for my prefered terrain, I have none, I can fight equally as well in the confined spaces of a castle as an open field, I can even lay siege on an enemy at sea or in the air under the right circumstances. None escape my blade for long."

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Letting out a long haggard sigh, Saber accepted his Master’s gracious offer. He was better now. Stronger. Reminded of the humiliation that comes with defeat, and thus motivated even more to remain strong. Sipping his tea, the fight came back to him. The provocative jeers of the overconfident Archer, the sting as his arrow pierced his gut, and the slight resistance of skin against a blade right before Archer vanished. To any other man, that would have been a victory, but to the prideful Masamune Date, it would not do. To sustain even the faintest of injuries, was a loss, and while the wound he had taken was quickly healing without a trace, the shame of it left a mark on his mind. Saber grimaced, he would have his revenge.

Moving on, he approached Suzu who was now softly humming to herself preparing her own cup with a slight mechanization that comes with making innumerable cups of tea in a lifetime. Thankyou. He said. Your assistance on the boat was invaluable. I wish I’d been able to bring you Archer’s head, but cowards… He trailed off. Anyway, I’ve got a keen sense for the magical, and I’m rather curious to find out what’s in that little present box Archer left us. Mind if we take a look?

[chainer1216]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
"Oh, uh, sorry. I'm Sakura," Sakura says, vaguely pointing to her name on the back of her shirt, "Are you American? Would you prefer if I switched to English? I'm fluent. Also in German and Latin, if you happen to speak either of those. Even though Latin is a dead language..." She trails off, clearly embarrassed.

Ulysses's smile widens and in English he says

"a gambler, a gamer, AND a linguist? And here I thought I'd be the interesting one, as the foreigner magician, but it seems I've already met my match!"

he takes a moment to glance at the bar, he was really looking forward to that drink...but the place was crowded, that's a lot of potential innocent bystanders, Berserker probably wouldn't be happy if something happened.

"So I've got some yen to spend and have been known to try my luck at cards."

Ulysses makes a show of having nothing in his hands then claps them together, when he pulls them apart he reveals a deck of playing cards.

"And I'd rather lose it to you than give it to a penny pinching old bar owner. What do ya say?"

[lord pringle]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
Sakura nods, "Sure, sure. I haven't had the opportunity to play anything in a while. Business, you know?" Her English is very good, spoken with a British accent that still has twinges of her natural Japanese accent. "But, uh, I want to shuffle the cards. No offense, but you literally do card tricks for a living." She smiles brightly, though quickly looks around, her face screwed up with suspicion.

[Implodio]

Berserker
Ulysses went toward the bar, and Berserker remained vigilant. Atleast, for a while.

Then...

At the nearby Fuyuki Large Lad's Fashion, an astral wind rustled improbably through the closed shopfront. In the back of the building, where the most obscure and rarely sold items were kept stored, an XXXXXXXXXL sized outfit vanishes. No one will notice it is missing for the next eight years, until the store closes down and the owner's son, inheriting the store, is bewildered to find a riddle written inside the empty box, as if that were a legitimate tender with which to make the purchase.

It is unclear to the patrons of the bar where he came from, having de-astralized at the bar itself; but even the least attentive cannot miss the shape of his Servant settling down on to a stool at the bar. The stool (a chromed steel affair, the kind bolted to the ground on a single strong shaft) makes a pitiful whining sound like a frightened dog, but holds. Jeans tightly wrap the formerly loin-clothed hips, and powerful legs. An extremely hard working white T-shirt is stretched astonishingly tightly across the armada of torso muscles, threatening to explode off him in shreds of abused cloth with every pectoral shift. The cartoon likeness of a panda on the front of the shirt is laterally distended into a grotesque, flattened, roadkill-like incarnation of its cheerful ursine subject.

He settles his great hands, free of their dragging chains and cuffs, on the bartop, and turns a glance toward the door, outside which Ulysses makes his opening gambit on a pretty girl. The ancient warrior cannot help but grin, slightly.

"Holy s**t."

These are the words of the barmaid, an entirely seperate pretty young woman who is not so much stunned by the masculine showing or frightened by the deadly possibilities of the eight foot superhuman who parked himself at her bar, as much as... grappling, slowly, with the sudden adjustments made to her understanding of the upper limits to the category of "human man".


Yamahata Suzu

"Oh, certainly, Date-Sama. It should be among the bits and pieces from my handbag I have drying in front of the fire. To tell you the truth, I was very concerned it might be a magical trap. The box itself is warded, and I can't see the threads coming off it. But while I can think of a number of things it might contain that would be dangerous for an old woman... well, you're a strong young man. So help yourself."

This kind of deflected non-interest was transparent, and Saber was wise enough to know she intended it to be. She was extremely curious about the content of the box, and terribly grateful for Saber's asking of the question.

"The next cup will be raspberry tea. I normally don't care for these fusion teas, young people you see, but I think that the raspberry tea has..." She rambles on.

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Meandering his way to the fireplace, Saber found the box precisely where she had said it was. Strangely, the box was presented in the center, with a ring of the other objects taken from her purse encircling it, as if while unpacking the box, it had become more an object of a gnawing obsession than that of a curious bauble. Glancing at the old lady hobbling her way over, feigning slight disinterest, he was beginning to understand the devious nature of this box. It wanted to be owned, calling out to the nearest person, sinking its hooks into their subconscious, begging to be opened. Even Saber, with his natural magic resist, felt the box was watching him, waiting for him to be in a state where it might trick him into opening it. He shook it off, further examining the trinket. Whatever it was, it was unknown to Saber. The cursory knowledge of modern magic the grail had imbued within him told him it was nothing of this era, but weather it was a noble phantasm, or just some powerful relic was to be seen. Saber recounted what he knew to Suzu. Put frankly, it scares me. Why would an object left by the enemy, calling out to be opened, have anything positive in it. We could leave it, abandon our curiosity, and move on… But there’s that little voice in the back of my head, calling out to me, telling me it can’t be so bad. Whatever's in it, I think I could handle it, but nonetheless, it scares me to open up something we know so little about. Pausing for a minute, Saber closed his eye and started mumbling, talking to voice in his head. Nodding a few times, he opened his eyes, picked up the box, and roughly shoved it into a pouch strung to his side. Suzu’s eyes widened as the object of her curiosity was taken away, then narrowed in rage as she seethed at the audacity her servant had to take the spoils for himself. Finally, they returned to their relaxed selves, and a look of understanding came across her face. Under the counsil of my advisors, I’ve decided to hold onto the box. You may open it, and you may not even realize what you’re doing . In my bag its siren call shouldn’t escape and cloud your mind. When you’ve come to a decision let me know, and we can open the matter again. Turning away from her, letting out a lion's roar of a yawn, he changed the subject. I don’t like sitting idly by and waiting to get attacked, and judging by our conversation Archer so rudely interrupted, neither do you. So, do you have any leads? Point me in a direction.

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu
The wave of involuntary emotions rolled through her, but once flushed out she is more troubled than anything else. Thoughtfully, she demolishes the remainder of her tea in one long sip; and then wags a finger in the air as she announces her verdict.

"You have the council of your ancestors, Saber. I am willing to submit to their wisdom, on this matter - because the power in that box is manipulative, and I do not care to be manipulated. After out next jaunt, we will open it or throw it away. But now! Ah, now..."

The little woman pulled her legs up to her body, and tugged a quilt from the top of the chair.

"I am going to have a cat-nap for twenty minutes. I suggest you martial your focus. After that, we're going for a little drive to meet a gentleman on a scooter. He's either an ally, or an enemy - I can't pick the what will from the what will not, just yet. In either case, I expect he is one of our competitors; and we have the opportunity to surprise one of them, for a change."

[Fearan]

Yukito
Yukito made a quick look through the note - a not-so-subtle invitation to a conviniently remote and devoid of potential witnesses warehouse. - It seems, Caster, that it indeed is an assassination attempt - though i'd used explosive runes, or poison, or whatever. I'm inclined to take the bait and then turn the sprung trap against the attacker. But that would be at night. While we're at it - let's proceed with your plan. Tell me of this place, you want to relocate to and let's scout it.

Rider
- Yes, Yes - Rider's voice thrumpeted - - That we will indeed do. Let's board my vessel then - he picked Feldon up and jumped onto the ship in a single leap. The clanking voice crying "Captain on deck" met them, and Feldon saw Rider's "men". The Flying Dutchman was run by skeleton crew - literally. Skeletons in sailor's outfits, tattered as all around stood there, greeting their captain with the salute of their rusty cutlasses. Rider gave the salute back raising his fist and roared - On yer places, ye bildgerats. We're going raidin! - Then he turned to his master - Are you concerned with yer magi secrecy thing? Cause the storm is one thing, but my ship flying around - that's the other. We could wait till night, and you can boost mah men with ya runes, if you won't be killed by prana drain or the weather.

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

Well, Feldon let out with a sigh. If we reveal magic to the general population then its a problem. We’ll be painted as targets by the Mage’s Association, and all the other masters would probably align themselves until our defeat. I’m gonna go ahead and say that’s a worst case scenario. On that basis I vote we wait until we have the cover of night. The storm impairs visibility anyway, so we should remain less conspicuous than a flying ship normally would. Feldon grinned at the absurdity of the words he’d just spoken. The storm was starting to take it’s toll though. He was growing tired, and could feel his magic weakened, only imagining how much worse it would be if he didn’t have the resistance that came with being Rider’s master. The storm shouldn’t be such a problem considering we can blame it on global warming or something, but it will get suspicious after a while seeing as we were in a heat wave. How does the storm work though? Does it follow the ship, or did you summon it? Also, how much of an effect does it have on the citizens of Fuyuki. We might need to tone it down a bit if too serious. Anyway, I can get to work on your crew. Bones are actually ideal surfaces for rune magic. What were you thinking though? I can make the bones stronger, the swords elemental, pretty much anything.

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

The day was dragging on, and the typical mid afternoon sun was blotted out by the thick clouds and heavy rain. It was by no means dark, but the mottled light making it through the storm had a way of dampening the surroundings, softening edges and dulling colors. It was in this climate that Saber stood, staring down at the road by his feet, wondering how the wonders of modern engineering would have affected the people in his time. He hadn’t been waiting long, Suzu’s scheduling was impeccable, before he heard the drone of motorized scooter and felt the presence of another servant grow closer. Looking up, Saber stood his ground, and waited for the approach.

[chainer1216]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
Sakura nods, "Sure, sure. I haven't had the opportunity to play anything in a while. Business, you know?" Her English is very good, spoken with a British accent that still has twinges of her natural Japanese accent. "But, uh, I want to shuffle the cards. No offense, but you literally do card tricks for a living." She smiles brightly, though quickly looks around, her face screwed up with suspicion.

Ulysses chuckles at the request "hey now, card tricks are the most basi-...is there something wrong?"

He looks around cautiously, a slight shiver running down his spine.

[lord pringle]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
Sakura spins around, surprised, when she hears the question, "What? No, I, uh, yeah, uh..." She pauses to take a deep breath before starting over again, "I, uh, I just thought I heard someone I know talking. Turns out it was just in my head. But not like in a crazy way! I don't hear voices or anything like that! I mean, I just did, but not like that..." She shoves a hand over her mouth to make herself just shut up. "Hey, let's get out of here before I make myself sound stupid again."

Meanwhile, at the bar, a grizzled man in a brown duster and a broad hat comes up to Berserker, seemingly coming out. "Yer a servant, yeah? You should probably come with me outta here before things get bad." He smiles, with eyes full of malice and nods him to the exit.

[Implodio]

Berserker
Berserker looks at the pint glass of strange modern lager as his order is filled; and then up to the questioner. A spirit? And of all possible times...

Black-earth eyes flash murder-red for a moment as they rake over the stranger and conclude the obvious. He will not be able to sample this new lager, now.

"I will return for the beverage. Do not think I have ceased to want it."

With that dire warning, he rises... and stalks to the exit, out to the two masters, in full view of the public through the bar's glass frontage.

[lord pringle]

[Berserker and Ulysses]
Assassin leads Berserker out of the bar, standing close behind him, with a hand in his jacket's inner pocket. "So, lemme guess, you're the crazy sommahbitch who's been killing people all over the city," he says, spitting out some tobacco the second he steps outside.

Sakura briefly looks behind her, only to have her mouth drop open as she sees the servants leaving. "We should really get going!" she says, a bit too quickly and a bit too loudly. "I don't think we're in a very good area..." she starts walking away, motioning for Ulysses to come with.

[chainer1216]

Ulysses kept on a cool facade in the way that only a lifetime of showmanship could allow, but inside he was near panic, and who could blame him, he had a clear view of his ridiculously dressed Servant, his barely contain madness evident, being walked out of the bar by a cowboy, he assumed another master would find him, but not this quickly and definitely not like this.

"alright, lead the way then."

Though as he said that his mind was racing, looking for a way out, he didn't want to be anywhere near an enemy servant, but he couldn't think of anything, he felt he could easily get away from Sakura, but that Servant just presented too many unknowns.

[Implodio]

Berserker

Berserker is no fool. Too many witnesses here; the Grail forbids...

...With the jawbone of an...

The rules of the grail conflict forbid such public engagements. The fact that this man, this tiny man, was baiting him with such slander here was...

...With the jawbone of an ass, I have made asses of them...

That red murder flash washed through his eyes. Huge fists, killer's hands, wrecker's hands, clenched at his side. He flickered his gaze to his Master looking for a cue, as they crossed the street and got a little distance from the bar. So badly, Berserker desired to get this servant out from behind him, out of that blindspot, but was unwilling to provoke the conflict in this volatile location; and for reasons he offered in the form of a reply to the Assassin.

"I have not killed in over three thousand years. But when I kill, everyone knows that I did the killing."

[lord pringle]

[Berserker and Ulysses]
Assassin crooks his head, "Yeah, it's not like these killings weren't distinctive as all hell. What with the fire and the missing bodies and the stolen cameras and all. I bet it was yer identical twin brother. If I had a nickle fer every time I heard that one, I could buy the whole damn Dakota territory." Now that the two of you are outside, he lets his jacket fall away from his hand, and Berserker feels the strangely familar cold steel barrel of a modern submachine gun pressed up against his back. "Now, you gunna confess yer guilt to me or do we gotta fight?"

Sakura nervously looks at Assassin, making direct eye contact with him, before power-walking away from the area. "Those guys seemed dangerous," she murmurs, clutching her necklace. "They better not come this way." It's pretty clear by now that she knows more about what's going on than she is letting on, but that she's also trying to get very far away from the bar.

[FriendlyLich]

Caster.

"Magnificent"
Caster spread his arms wide taking in.. well.. everything.

The devices of the modern age!
The fruits of knowledge and advances in science and understanding!
Even the feel of the fabric of this shirt he was wearing, the unfamiliar texture of it and the colours!
Bright colours that would have been beyond expensive in his time were standard it seemed for shirts in this “Hawaiian” style.

The facility was even now being closed by it's staff.
An application of prana had them convinced that renovations were occurring.

To be fair Caster had some plans to renovate the build to be more suitable to his needs.
And those of his summoner of course.

“So!”
He leaned backwards, tilting his head until he was observing the young mage upside down.
“We have but the days span before we spring this trap, barely any time at all, but enough to start.”

Straightening up he raised one finger.
“There are some things I will need.
If necessary I suppose I could transmute them directly but that's crude magework at the best of times, hmmm.”
He lowered his hand and ran his fingers through his beard.

“You may wish to take this down.
So the biggest thing I will need is a large piece of obsidian, needs to be solid, the bigger the better.
Gold is large quantities.. well I suppose I should just transmute that. Salt then, yes, large amounts of salt. At some point I'm going to want some gravesoil and some fire-blackened nails, from a house definitely, destroyed by arson preferable, if the occupants died in the blaze perfect.”

He spun about at snapped his fingers.
“Oh!. Feathers, peacock feathers!
Vitally important, yes, very important those.”

He looked about the room idly.
“hmmm, might want to consider a decent carpet and some wine or something, better furnishings anyway at some point.”

“Still, do not fret about being turned into some mere errand boy, my master. Once we're up and running I'll have some other, Aha, minions take care of the fetching and carrying.”

He took from out of a pocket a small set of tools.
“But for now, I have some inscribing to do.”

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

Cedric.

Cedric blinked.
There ahead of him on the road was a Samurai in full armour.
With six swords he noted.
Well.

Slowing down he stopped Shadowfax some distance from the man.

"Why hello there, Is there some business you have with me?"

He knew he would not have to instruct Lancer to be on guard, the benefit of summoning a hero who was a tactician as well as a fighter, but he couldn't help but feel nervous facing down what was undoubtedly Sabre. His eyes scanned the roadside, looking for any signs of Sabres master.

With the knight classes, the summoner was usually the weak point he knew.
Of course as Lancers master that knowledge didn't comfort him much at all.

[chainer1216]

[Berserker and Ulysses]
Assassin crooks his head, "Yeah, it's not like these killings weren't distinctive as all hell. What with the fire and the missing bodies and the stolen cameras and all. I bet it was yer identical twin brother. If I had a nickle fer every time I heard that one, I could buy the whole damn Dakota territory." Now that the two of you are outside, he lets his jacket fall away from his hand, and Berserker feels the strangely familar cold steel barrel of a modern submachine gun pressed up against his back. "Now, you gunna confess yer guilt to me or do we gotta fight?"

Sakura nervously looks at Assassin, making direct eye contact with him, before power-walking away from the area. "Those guys seemed dangerous," she murmurs, clutching her necklace. "They better not come this way." It's pretty clear by now that she knows more about what's going on than she is letting on, but that she's also trying to get very far away from the bar.

Ulysses stops in his tracks, unwilling to play along with her games anymore thanks to seeing her servants recklessness.

"Sakura, that's enough...or should I say Tohsaka Sakura? I wasn't able to do as much preparations as I'd like but I made damn sure I knew what members of the major houses might be here, I'm just surprised you'd stoop so low as to ambush me in such a crowded place, and letting your servant brandish a gun this openly in Japan."

Lancer
Lancer stands ready, in his astral form, to materialize and defend his master but waits to see if his ploy pans out.

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu
Suzu was there; close enough to watch, far enough to be relatively safe. Telekinetic power boiled in her magic circuits, tightly coiled like a spring and ready to be sprung. A couple of hobbling, cane-aided steps took her out of the tree cover and on to the asphalt of the winding, abandoned mountain road.

She offered a grandmotherly smile to Cedric from where she stood in her pink sweater and bright white sneakers; but seemed to be very happy to let Sabre do the talking.

[lord pringle]

[Sakura and Ulysses]
Sakura stops and tightly grips her necklace. "You're a master?" She says, shocked, "Look, I don't want to fight you! Assassin and I are hunting the mage who's been killing burning people. I was taking a break to relax when I met you, honest! I thought you were just a stage magician!" Near the end of her sentences, she slips back into Japanese.

[MrBudquaza]

Saber

Slowly, deliberately, Saber made his way to Cedric. Suzu had made her appearance, and judging by the fact that she felt safe enough to reveal herself, she must know that she’s not in imminent danger. Saber grew closer and closer, his hands postured away from the hilts to avoid any signals that he was there to cause a row. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I’m Saber. I’ve no intention to fight you here, but be warned, I will respond to aggression in kind. If you’d care to join us, we’d like to talk business. He signaled to a small patch of freshly cut grass by the side of the road. Shall we?

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric.

“Very well.”

Cedric dismounted his scooter and walked it over to the verge.
He unstrapped his helmet and placed it on one of the handle bard. He opened the storage compartment and took out a satchel, his fingers brushed the short metal staff attached to the scooter but he did not retrieve it.

“So, I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage.”
He said moving over to the indicated grass.

“I am know of the scions of the great houses, as well as being passingly familiar with most other mages who I would consider eligible to become masters and of course I am prepared for the inevitable young magus out to prove themselves or simple swept up in things beyond their reckoning."

He slowly reached into the satchel.
“But you are none of these.”
He withdrew his hand
“Cheese?”

[Implodio]

Yamahata Suzu

"Cheese?" She puffed a granny-laugh and fobbed it away with one wrinkly hand, before setting it over her delicate stomach. "One war at a time. My name is Suzu. Like you, I intent to prosecute this war to the hilt." She tapped her walking stick on the grass as she paced thoughtfully, keeping herself immediately adjacent to the sloping bitumen of the road. "And few people win war without allies. But, speaking of allies... I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to ask your servant to display themself. As a show of good faith, like Saber as done; before we go any further."

[chainer1216]

[Sakura and Ulysses]
Sakura stops and tightly grips her necklace. "You're a master?" She says, shocked, "Look, I don't want to fight you! Assassin and I are hunting the mage who's been killing burning people. I was taking a break to relax when I met you, honest! I thought you were just a stage magician!" Near the end of her sentences, she slips back into Japanese.

Ulysses raises an eyebrow, clearly sceptical of her story but before he can say anything he feels a heavy drain on his mana, he quickly cycles through the senses of his familiars before her gets to one that he sent towards the docks.

the bird felt exhausted, it had landed on the roof of a building, forced down by a storm, but it was more than just that, something was sapping the birds strength, forcing it to draw mana from Ulysses. The rain was too heavy and the night too dark to really see anything, but a single bolt of lightning illuminates the silhouette of a large, masted ship in the bay.

Ulysses then cuts off the mana supply to the two familiars he sent that way, he had already used too much mana tonight, he couldn't risk loseing anymore with a master in front of him.

"look, we've got nothing to do with that, I just got into the country yesterday. But if you want a lead, maybe check out the docks, theres some sort of huge bounded field or something over there."

[chainer1216]

Yamahata Suzu

"Cheese?" She puffed a granny-laugh and fobbed it away with one wrinkly hand, before setting it over her delicate stomach. "One war at a time. My name is Suzu. Like you, I intent to prosecute this war to the hilt." She tapped her walking stick on the grass as she paced thoughtfully, keeping herself immediately adjacent to the sloping bitumen of the road. "And few people win war without allies. But, speaking of allies... I'm afraid I shall have to ask you to ask your servant to display themself. As a show of good faith, like Saber as done; before we go any further."

Green mana particles appear and start forming Lancer's physical body from the top down.

The seven foot tall heroic spirit bows his head slightly towards Suzu, a show of respect for the elderly, then takes a seat next to Cedric, laying his Guan Duo on his left.

Once seated he locks eyes with saber, as if daring him to try something.

[Implodio]

Berserker feels the strangely familar cold steel barrel of a modern submachine gun pressed up against his back. "Now, you gunna confess yer guilt to me or do we gotta fight?"

With the jawbone of an ass, I have made asses of them... with the jawbone of an ass, I have killed a thousand men...

"You don't judge me..." The voice rumbles, heavy with incredulity and building outrage. "I judge -you-."

Then passes a fractal moment; one of those clear-cut instants in time where many things can go one way, or another. In that hot fraction of time, Ulysses has about one fraction of a breath to consider binding Berserker's actions with a command seal, before the murderous red light finishes building in his eyes and all the power of his titanic arms are bent towards destruction.

And the moment passes.

And a fury kindled for over three thousand years breaks from its shackles and boils over. The madness rushes over him, but not before a last bout of cunning - what might have been another step to follow the masters is, infact, a downward stomp with terrible power. The whole surface of the road seems to spiderweb in a fraction of a second then explodes; small fragments flying up, huge slabs of cement plunging down as the servants are pitched into the sub-street darkness.

This is presuming Assassin falls and does not, say cartwheel clear!

In the tumult of stone he roars a throaty cry of such fevered, refined hate that divine places vibrate with the echo. The civilian clothes vanish in a flash of fire and again he is a beast of iron shackles, rough torn cloth and merciless muscle containing, apparently, the power to trivially smash through Fuyuki's infrastructure into the subway tunnels beneath. For a moment the slabs sit still in the pit, gathered in a great heap over the tunnel's tracks and smoking up with fire and pulverized stone. Then Berserker smashes free, chains slashing madly at the air, and he hunts for the challenger in the relative obscurity of the subway pit.

[lord pringle]

[Ulysses and Berserker]
Assassin rolls his eyes, "You judge me, pssh, I'm the damn sherri-" and then "WOOOOMPH!" the ground collapses under him. He quickly gets up, pushing out his breath to get it back. As the dust begins to settle, he runs into the shadows, using his Presence Concealment to vanish. You look around briefly to see where he went and from about 50 feet behind you in the tunnel, the hidden figure of Assassin unloads his entire uzi into you. It feels like a noble phantasm, but then he throws the gun down and draws a second uzi in one hand and an old pistol in the other.

Sakura sniffles and shivers in the rapidly cooling weather. "Look, I'm sincerely sorry about this. I promise you that I'm not a bad person anymore." She blows some hot air into her hands, "Hey, if you get any more tips, hit me up, okay? I'll help you out." She starts walking away, making sure to keep her eyes on you.

[Implodio]

Berserker

All along the Fuyuki subway, people are treated to the echoing putter of gunfire and the murderous screams of Berserker. The bullets stitch their way up the meat of one arm, punching into the muscle and schpanging loudly off one shackle-bracer before Berserker can heft a slab of street as a makeshift shield. Then the street is rushing toward Assassin, tumbling end over end with spars of re-bar jutting and slicing.

The titanic combatant surges forward and strikes again - this time at the subway wall, spidering cracks up the concrete which crackles and sinks a second time, burying the whole section of the tunnel in rubble. It is, of course, impossible for Ulysses to miss this level of destruction happening nearby; and the familiar warcry of his servant is likely to alert him to the contest of champions going on beneath his feet.


Yamahata Suzu

"Thank you, noble Lancer-sama." The respectful servant is treated to a wrinkly granny-smile, which fades as she looks at the grass with the senior citizen's apprehension that sitting may cause difficulty standing; and so she instead leans a little lower on her cane. "Now, the very fact that you've been willing to entertain reason is encouraging to me. It means you're not yet fully in the pocket of those great houses you mentioned. I'm heavilly invested in the great families.. not getting what they want; but I'm not blind to the fact that..." She grinned again, a little more wickedly this time. "...The nature of this context suggests that atleast one of us won't make it to the end regardless of what we want. Let me cut to it, then; time is short, and shorter for me." She gesticulates with her staff vaguely. "I would like to make an alliance. Or better - a pact of... non-aggression to one another. Soluble at the time where we determine that there are no more than three contestants remaining in the Grail War, at which point we shake hands, put the river between us, and then resume our plans to overcome one another in full respect and honor. Sabre and Lancer would make a formidable pairing. I've no use for geases. I trust you. What do you say, young man?" Somehow, the words "I trust you" have never seemed more believable and also suspicious.

[chainer1216]

Berserker

All along the Fuyuki subway, people are treated to the echoing putter of gunfire and the murderous screams of Berserker. The bullets stitch their way up the meat of one arm, punching into the muscle and schpanging loudly off one shackle-bracer before Berserker can heft a slab of street as a makeshift shield. Then the street is rushing toward Assassin, tumbling end over end with spars of re-bar jutting and slicing.

The titanic combatant surges forward and strikes again - this time at the subway wall, spidering cracks up the concrete which crackles and sinks a second time, burying the whole section of the tunnel in rubble. It is, of course, impossible for Ulysses to miss this level of destruction happening nearby; and the familiar warcry of his servant is likely to alert him to the contest of champions going on beneath his feet.



Ulysses

He knew a fight between servants would be beyond anything today's mages or even the most advanced familiars or golems could do, but this...this was bordering on absurd, if left alone Berserker could level this whole city, he was making short enough work of this block anyway.

He had to stop this, so Ulysses did the only thing he could, he ran. As fast as he could he ran away from the fight. One block, two, three, the sounds of gunfire and crumbling cement and the scream of metal twisted out of shape started to fade, it was probably the fasted mile he had ever run.

When he stopped to catch his breath he saw he was near a forest preserve or maybe it was a park or garden, either way it was perfect. Ulysses hopped the fence and ran inside. Concentrating on the strange marks on his hand he could feel the immense magical power in them, and it was strange, for the first time he realised that the seals vaguely resembled a lions head, but he pushed the thought aside and called upon the magic of the Command Seal, half of the "mane" began to glow crimson red and the skin on his had began to burn as if itwas on fire.

"Berserker, as your master I command you, shackle your rage and return to me!"

In a flash of light the Command Seal disappeared and so did the pain, all that was left behind was a smudge where the seal used to be and the sound of his own labored breath.

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
Yukito quirks an eyebrow at the list Caster gave him. Is this what all servants were like or did he just get the one who drank too much coffee? "I'll get right on that," he says, letting the implied, "because it's just so easy to find all of those supplies in a short time," remain unsaid. "This is a trap for our mysterious letter writing friend, yes? Because I feel that defending our territory that no one knows about yet might take a lesser priority than dealing with a very possible threat." he taps his fingers on one of the observatory's hardwood desks. "Then again, a couch could be pretty vital. It's not very... livable here."

[Feldon and Rider]
"Ye sure do ask a lot of questions fer such a small man. Yer ratios all off. I'm sure yer full of so much hot air that you'll float away any minute now." Rider says, laughing uproariously. As he laughs, his crew joins in, first a light trickle of chuckles before it becomes a deluge of riotous laughter that nearly matches him exactly. He stops somewhat abruptly and so does most of his crew. One member continues to laugh and the captain whips his head around to glare at them. All laughter ceases within a second and suddenly Feldon finds himself wondering how a skeleton can even laugh anyway.
"Let's go in order then, shall we, 'master'? First, the storm comes with me. Ye don't need to throw yer mana at it. It's our curse and our blessin'. Second of all, it's a damned storm. And I do mean that quite literally. It'll drain the life out of all under it. And then they be joinin' me crew," Rider pauses briefly to smile and look over his motley undead crew. "Ye be damned lucky to have drawn me as yer servant! Send a message home! Tell them you'll have won in record time! And that all of Fuyuki is comin' to yer aid!" He bursts into another fit of immense, booming laughter, as his curse forces the largely unwilling crew to cheer.

[Berserker v. Assassin]
When Assassin fell into the poorly lit hole, with plenty of spaces to hide, he figured that he would have the upper hand, compared to the mindless Berserker. On the list of incorrect assumptions he had made throughout his life, this ranked up there with, "I can fight this bear", "Today is a good day for a friendly game of poker", and "The south will never actually secede from the union". All of this occurs to him as the tunnel he's in begins to crack and shatter to pieces, while the colossal sack of muscles charges him. When his master's voice in his head rings out, "Get out of there! Now!" He doesn't even consider being stubborn and forcing her to use a command seal. As a slab of concrete and asphalt drops on top of his arm, shattering his bones in several places, he quickly takes astral form and gets out of there, trying his best to not scream out in pain.

[FriendlyLich]

[Yukito and Caster]
Yukito quirks an eyebrow at the list Caster gave him. Is this what all servants were like or did he just get the one who drank too much coffee? "I'll get right on that," he says, letting the implied, "because it's just so easy to find all of those supplies in a short time," remain unsaid. "This is a trap for our mysterious letter writing friend, yes? Because I feel that defending our territory that no one knows about yet might take a lesser priority than dealing with a very possible threat." he taps his fingers on one of the observatory's hardwood desks. "Then again, a couch could be pretty vital. It's not very... livable here."


Caster.

"Bah no, those are long term, beyond today anyway, but if we have time then securing resources for future operations is a vital part of our grand strategy."

“For now, or rather for tonight’s little trap springing exercise, all I will need, yes, is a visit to the gift shop.”

So saying he wandered down a set of stairs ending up in said bright coloured portion of the facility.

“Hmmmmmmmmm, no, no, no, yes.”
He picked up a large clockwork pocket-watch.

“Just the thing for emergencies you see, now what else do we have here, aha!”
“A tarot deck!” he exclaimed brandishing it in Yukito's face.
“A useful tool, even without enchantment.”
He continued down the aisles occasionally making a exclamation and shoving another small item into a pocket.
These included a snow globe, a set of colourful markers, a small rubber ball, a compass and a plush bear doll.
Finally he began to manhandle to mannequins out of the gift shop.

“A hand with these, if you would be so good. Need to take them upstairs and then, I apologise for the inconvenience but you will need to take off your clothes.”

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

Cedric.

Cedric gave a brief mournful look to his cheese, it would after all be impolite to eat it alone.
Sighing he put it away.

“No more than three?”
He chuckled. “Well that's more thought to things than I'd expected from anyone else involved in this.”

Shaking his head he continued “But it seems I've discovered a few errors in my assumptions already. Your proposal is everything I would ask for in an alliance I think, especially since I wouldn't be shackling myself to some young hot-head.”
He rubbed one hand through his beard.
“I accept your offer of pact. I um, don't suppose you have a phone number or something to contact you with?”

[lord pringle]

[Caster and Yukito]
Yukito blinks quickly. "Excuse me?" he grabs a mannequin from Casters' hands and drops it. "You know what, no. I'm familiar with this scam. Hell, I've done this one. You convince someone to do dumb things before you and your friends jump out and mock them." he takes a quick glance at his command seals, before continuing, "I don't like to be made a fool of, Servant. You'd better tell me why you aren't doing that before I have to use a command seal. And my order will not be painless."

[FriendlyLich]

[Caster and Yukito]
Yukito blinks quickly. "Excuse me?" he grabs a mannequin from Casters' hands and drops it. "You know what, no. I'm familiar with this scam. Hell, I've done this one. You convince someone to do dumb things before you and your friends jump out and mock them." he takes a quick glance at his command seals, before continuing, "I don't like to be made a fool of, Servant. You'd better tell me why you aren't doing that before I have to use a command seal. And my order will not be painless."

"Pffff, I'd have a hard time getting any of My friends to jump out from behind anything. These," he said gesturing to the Mannequins
"Will be a sort of reverse poppet. your clothes will be needed to form a sympathetic link, damage done to us will transfer to the mannequin.
Now there are several limitations, the most pressing of which is that once they take enough damage they'll deactivate, but they will eat any initial attack no matter how damaging.
for example, if Assassin leaps out and cuts your head off, or if there is a large explosion."

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

Rider, this storm needs to end. Feldon was beginning to sweat despite the cool rain, and he was getting dizzy. Sure he may be guaranteed victory if he has an army the size of Fuyuki fighting for him, but Rider’s methods were simply out of the question. This is a big enough crew as is, and if the storm begins killing people, Clock Tower is sure to notice. I mean... I know you’re strong, but if all the other pairs team up, we can’t win. He began pacing, anguish painted clearly across his face while he muttered all the options under his breath. Going into this war, I was prepared to make sacrifice, and I knew that I would have to make decisions I didn’t want to make. I’m sorry, but here is my ultimatum: Send the ship away, or I will make you. We can keep the crew, and I can enhance them. We can even move everything from the ship onto my warehouse, but if you… if I keep this ship here, the blood of Fuyuki will be on my hands. I can’t have that. Feldon held up his hand revealing his command spell to rider. What'll it be?




Saber


That’s where I come in. Reaching into the pouch at his side, Saber procured an eyepatch near identical to the one he wore. I tend to leave magic to the old lady, but I’ve got this bauble lying around. Simply put the patch on over your right eye to talk to me, or over your left eye to talk to Suzu. It’s a tad disorienting so I’d recommend you not do it in battle, but I suppose I don’t mind either way.

[Implodio]

Berserker


The news will later call the event a "freak seismic event". Slowly revolving helicopter footage of the smashed subway tunnel is shot through with assurances that there is no terrorist attack, and there Dr. Ken Shotozoki begins his career of explaining away municipal damage as pocket earthquake collateral. By the end of this grail war, Dr. Ken will be reknown throughout Japan as a crisis-born celebrity and "Rockstar Seismologist".

Berserker, of course, must obey; and with a vengeful howl like the one that rattled through the breaking temple of Dagon thousands of years prior, he slips into the Astral, bullet holes and all.


Yamahata Suzu

"Wonderful." Suzu seems genuinely pleased, and looks between Sabre and Lancer with an expression that seems to suggest some unfounded expectation of a lasting friendship to come between the ancient warriors. "Now. In the spirit of partnership, let us tell you about our little skirmisk with the servant Archer, and what has so far been revealed..."

Thus, the first alliance of the 5th Grail war was forged; and a great deal more smoothly than it would end.

[chainer1216]

Berserker


The news will later call the event a "freak seismic event". Slowly revolving helicopter footage of the smashed subway tunnel is shot through with assurances that there is no terrorist attack, and there Dr. Ken Shotozoki begins his career of explaining away municipal damage as pocket earthquake collateral. By the end of this grail war, Dr. Ken will be reknown throughout Japan as a crisis-born celebrity and "Rockstar Seismologist".

Berserker, of course, must obey; and with a vengeful howl like the one that rattled through the breaking temple of Dagon thousands of years prior, he slips into the Astral, bullet holes and all.


Ulysses is still breathing heavily when Berserker appears, he looks like hes about to scold the giant but his stern demeanor softens when he sees his servant's wounds.

"Baz, what happened back there big guy?"

The mage walks over to the hero, lifting his massive arm and inspecting the injuries, then placing a palm over a wound, he mutters a brief incantation causing a soft white glow to eminate around the bullet hole. Berserker feels the pain of the wound ebb away, replaced by the annoying itch of the muscle and flesh slowly stitching itself back together, after about a minute the lead slug falls out of the spirit with a slight popping sound and the skin quickly restores itself, leaving no trace of the injury behind. Now he just needed to do that nine more times...

[Implodio]

Berserker

He was silent for a long time. He was not unappreciative of the mana-infusion that expelled the squashed metal slugs that mushroomed over his supernaturally tough muscles. He was simply doing as he was told; shackling his rage. That, apparently was a long operation, and several minutes after Ulysses first asked the question, the giant answers.

"The... servant threatened me. Accused me of burning bystanders. Served an ultimatum to confess guilt or fight. He was small; and I supposed quick. I thought the best way to engage him would be in a confined space, where he cannot easily flee me; and one which conveniently hid the contest from the bystanders. Therefore I smashed into these manmade caverns, and we contested. He was... some manner of law-man. Like me, perhaps." And then, with oddly bright interest and suddenly more humanity than he had previously shown, he grinned at the Master. "...What happened with you? And the woman? She was very lovely. Did you charm her?"

[chainer1216]

Berserker

He was silent for a long time. He was not unappreciative of the mana-infusion that expelled the squashed metal slugs that mushroomed over his supernaturally tough muscles. He was simply doing as he was told; shackling his rage. That, apparently was a long operation, and several minutes after Ulysses first asked the question, the giant answers.

"The... servant threatened me. Accused me of burning bystanders. Served an ultimatum to confess guilt or fight. He was small; and I supposed quick. I thought the best way to engage him would be in a confined space, where he cannot easily flee me; and one which conveniently hid the contest from the bystanders. Therefore I smashed into these manmade caverns, and we contested. He was... some manner of law-man. Like me, perhaps." And then, with oddly bright interest and suddenly more humanity than he had previously shown, he grinned at the Master. "...What happened with you? And the woman? She was very lovely. Did you charm her?"

"Hahahaha, No. Nononono, that young lady turned out to be the cowboy's master, and worse than that, a Tohsaka, the most powerful mage lineage in japan and one of the major families in the Mages Association.

She claimed she was after some murderer, but I don't believe it, she probably just knew her servant didn't stand a chance against you one on one."

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
Yukito sighs. "Alright. I suppose that's fine. You might want to work on your phrasing though, Peppy." He looks at his shirt and winces, "Does it have to be the clothes I'm wearing or can it be a school uniform?"

[Feldon and Rider]
Rider makes dead eye contact with Feldon, putting on his scariest face before, "BRHAHAHAHAHAR!" He laughs, cruelly. "Ye be kidding me, eh boy? Do ye really care so little about the grail that ye would be willing to give up your greatest weapon? Maybe ye don't care about omnipotence, but I do. So go on. Squander your commands and your strengths. Just know, that when you've wasted yer third command, my new master will not be such a coward," and with that, his smile creeps up a little higher and he heads to his quarters.

[chainer1216]

Ulysses

The magician takes a moment and looks up into the night sky, noting how peaceful this forest is, a stark contrast to the rest of this evenings events.

"Look big guy, you need to understand something, mages are not good people, we are all liars, thieves and muderers, its not a question of if we're willing to hurt innocents, its how many and with how much reluctance. There is no doubt in my mind that members of major families would be willing to sacrifice this whole city to reach the grail.

The thing is, I didn't think there'd be anyone who could. I was wrong. Two of my familiars are dead, they flew into some sort of field that drained them of their mana or life force, the only image I got from them was of a heavy storm at the docks and a huge old-timey ship in the bay. My knowledge of things like that is uhm... limited, but I know that if a master is able to create a field that big AND powerful enough to kill two of my familiars in a matter of minutes, its going to steal the life force of all the nonmages in the area and most likely syphon it off to their Servant, making them extremely powerful. So in the interest of both saving thousands of lives and taking out our most powerful competitor, I say we disrupt their plans."

[Implodio]

Berserker

This was a dire warning. This was an offense against innocence. This comported with his sense of unease toward the docks.

This was an enemy that the Judge of all Israel could, in full good conscience, hate.

The grin with which he had chided his Master about the girl slowly faded. Huge, wrecker's hands clenched at his sides, knuckles popping, feeling the mana rifle through his astral veins like thunder and fire, replenishing what the gunshots had depleted.

"...I concur. But will we act right now, or will you delay to acquire allies? Delay may ensure your success; but cost the lives of the innocent. This is the burden of judgement."

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

With Rider's threat, both master and servant had their fates sealed. There could be no half measures with this cutthroat servant, soon, Rider would be dead, and Feldon would be working on obtaining a new servant; One that wouldn't put the lives of innocents at risk. With contempt in his eyes, Feldon stared toward the captain's quarters, hoping he wasn't throwing away his only chance for the grail. The anchor shaped etchings on his hand began to pulse and sear. By my command seal: I order you Henrik Van Der Decken, DIE!

[chainer1216]

Berserker

This was a dire warning. This was an offense against innocence. This comported with his sense of unease toward the docks.

This was an enemy that the Judge of all Israel could, in full good conscience, hate.

The grin with which he had chided his Master about the girl slowly faded. Huge, wrecker's hands clenched at his sides, knuckles popping, feeling the mana rifle through his astral veins like thunder and fire, replenishing what the gunshots had depleted.

"...I concur. But will we act right now, or will you delay to acquire allies? Delay may ensure your success; but cost the lives of the innocent. This is the burden of judgement."

A wicked grin spreads on the magician's face.

"Like I said Baz, we mages are cowardly and opportunistic, we don't need to make allies. We'll bait in our enemies. I'd be willing to put money on at least some of the other mages knowing about this but being too scared to start anything when they're entrenched like that, but if you can get in there and shake things up, bloody the water so to speak, then the scavengers will come out."

[lord pringle]

[Feldon and Rider]
Rider looks at Feldon. He makes direct eye contact with his master with a look of shock that quickly melts away into another enormous fit of laughter. "I see ye are not as much of a coward as I had thought. Well, I suppose I must follow yer order now, 'Master'."
He smiles and draws his cutlass, quickly and repeatedly stabbing himself in the gut. He staggers back, letting a string of intestines hang out of his chest with a massive smile on his face. "Oh dear, it seems that I am dying. Good on you, boy, fer taking some initiative. Ye did what I would have done. Uuunfortately, ye picked a fight with the toughest servant in the whole damn war."
With that said, Captain Van der Decken throws his bloody cutlass at Feldon's right leg and begins draining absurd amounts of mana from his master. The skeleton army begins moving upon them with renewed vigor. "If I have to die, I'm takin' you with me!"

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon
Cursing himself for not preparing for this kind of event, Feldon lurched away from the oncoming blade, barely preventing complete loss of the limb, escaping with a gaping wound across his calf. The storm beat down on him like never before and he started to lose his breath, feeling his mana quickly being sapped from him. Fortunately, the magic of the Errol family required very little mana once the runes had been made, so he was in a better state than most mages would be. On top of that, Feldon always kept runes filled with mana in case of a bitter duel such as this.
Pulling one out his bag and reciting the incantation, a burst of energy flowed into him. He didn’t need to win this fight, that was impossible, he just needed to last longer than the quickly fading Rider. Pulling another rune from his bag, he threw it against the ground creating a magic barrier capable of repelling low level spirits. What’s a captain without its crew Rider?

Rider
“Still the captain, boy,” Rider’s cutlass returns to his hand. He walks directly through the barrier, wincing slightly. “Here’s a better riddle for ye. Why would a spoiled rich boy enter into a war he doesn’t care about and then cost everyone around him the chance to be born again? The answer,” He says, driving his cutlass at Feldon’s stomach, “is that he’s a sanctimonious fool.”

Feldon
Concentrating his magical energy in his legs, Feldon winces, the increased flow of magic causing his wound to burn. He leaps backward, again avoiding certain death by a hair's width. While in the air, Feldon lets out a handful of runes, scattering them between the opposing forces. They are a combination of low scale barriers, and explosive runes designed to concentrate explosions on whoever steps on them. Figuring that should give him a few seconds, Feldon begins searching through his pockets for more runes. All he needs now is pure mana. That’s his only escape.


Rider
Rider steps back. He knows a losing fight and can feel when his master is using mana. He blows a quick whistle and a bolt of lightning descends from the storm, crashing into the sea next to the ship. And as the peal of thunder painfully roars through Feldon’s ears, he finds his barriers rapidly losing mana. Rider laughs wildly, as he charges Feldon once more in an attempt to impale him without slipping on the vast quantities of his own blood on the boat.


Feldon
He can’t breath. His mana is being sapped so fast it feels like he’s walking through a gel, and his sight begins to blur. Rider’s charge over the weakened runes he’d just thrown creates a series of loud pops and flashes, bringing Feldon to his senses but the exhausted runes only served as feeble pyrotechnics. I just need a few more runes. Struggling to keep his balance he takes hold of a few more from his pocket, searching for the right one. Making a wild leap to avoid the cutlass one last time, Feldon lands on his knees and empties his pockets scattering the rest of the runes he had on him across the deck. Come on.

Rider
The captain’s smile breaks. “WHY! WON’T! YOU! DIE!” he shouts, swinging wildly at Feldon. He drops his guts and uses his left hand to throw unfocused punches. “Bleed for me, boy!”


Feldon
On his knees, he can’t dodge. His back is shredded , and searing pain rips through his body, but despite it all, Feldon found the rune he needed. He grasps it tightly, channeling every ounce of strength the storm hadn’t taken out of him into it.
Everything was black. It was cold, and an immense pressure caved in on Feldon from all sides forcing him to close his eyes and hold his breath. Suddenly, there was warmth, and the beating rain let up to be a drizzle. Opening his eyes, Feldon found himself in front of the church, a large rune that had been hidden now glowed, Feldon feebly standing in the middle. Looking down, he saw a bloom of red through his shirt, and the reality that Rider had run him through moments before he had teleported set in. The pain was too much to bare, and Feldon lurched towards the gates trying to stay conscious. He couldn’t.


Rider
Rider shouts as his master vanishes. He watches as his crew evaporate into bursts of mana and his ship begins to sink. And then he laughs, one final, hearty laugh, “Well, boy, I guess ye outran the Dutchman. But, don’t ye worry, child, the curse gets everyone in the end,” with those final words coughed out through a mouth full of blood and laughter, he disintegrates and the storm melts away, revealing a clear night sky.

Kotomine Kirei
Father Kotomine gave out the day’s last loaf of bread and said good-bye to the mendicant, who came by regularly. Charity was a godly thing to do, of course. Then there was a sudden thump and the beggar came running back inside. He was shouting something about a dead body falling from the sky. Kirei invited him to stay the night in a pew, and informed him that he would take care of this situation. He stepped out of the church, only to see the bloody and beaten form of one of the Grail’s masters. “What’s this then?” he muses to himself, effortlessly grabbing Feldon and carrying him to the wine cellar. He hums a hymn to himself as he places the body on his examination table and straps on his blue rubber gloves. “I know you can’t hear me, but still, I’m sorry for the pain,” he says, channelling mana into Feldon’s wounds and beginning his chant. “I will kill. I will let live. I will harm and heal. None will escape me. None will escape my sight…”

[Implodio]

Berserker

He takes a single step toward the storm. It has the bearing of the first stride of a run, and the ground cracks beneath his foot as it yields to what might have been a launching stride. But he halts, narrows his eyes, perceives... and then turns his flaring red eyes to the Master, even as that rage begins cooling by vector of his own mild surprise.

"The Servant is dead. That... went well."

[lord pringle]

[Feldon and Kirei]
When Feldon wakes up, the world is alarmingly bright. Soon the light settles in his eyes and he finds himself under an uncovered dim bulb in a rough, unhewn stone underground cellar. He is suddenly acutely aware of every inch of his magic circuits and they all hurt like hell. A figure, about 6' 4", looms over him, dressed like a priest. He looks down at Feldon through his glasses and pushes them up with a gloved hand. He softly clears his throat and says, quietly yet still booming in your ears, "Are you finally conscious? I know that this will hurt, but I need you to answer a few questions honestly for me. What's your name? What's the last thing you remember? And can you move any of your limbs?"

[FriendlyLich]

Caster.

"Other clothes will do, as long as they are worn regularly, fresh is best because they'll still have traces of your warmth and skin on them but, ah, shouldn't have the explain too much should I?
It's a sympathetic link, Law of Contagion is the principle to work by."

"In any case," he said waggling the snowglobe at the young mage, "Time is short and I have item to enchant if we are to survive this den of lions of unknown providence."


Cedric.

"Well then, that is quite convenient."
He took the eyepatch and carefully stowed it in a pouch at his belt.
"Unless there's something else I have another appointment to attend."

A distant rumble, the smell of salt air on the breeze, a change in the feel of the mana in the air.

"Speaking of fortuitous circumstances, that seems to have resolved itself."

[chainer1216]

Ulysses

"W-what?" The mage slumps against a tree, his frustration clear on his face for just a moment before he relaxes. "Well, at least that's one servant down. Hopefully the rest will be more...respectful of the rules."

He closes his eyes and once again shared senses with one of his familiars, this time with the cat he left in the theater, this one being much more powerful than the others knew Ulysses was there and spoke to him, saying that firefighters and police had come but quickly left, the cat heard them saying something about a possible bombing in a subway tunnel.

"Alright, it looks like the coast is clear at the theater, let's head back there and regroup"

Lancer

As the two masters are saying their goodbyes Lancer walks over to Saber "It pleases me that we were able to come to such an accord, it is my hope that once our alliance ends that you and I are able to duel honorably, I suspect it will be the only chance for such a battle in this war."

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

Scrunching his eyes, trying to let them adjust slowly, Feldon took a moment to take in his surroundings. It smelled of damp wood, and the apparently faint light seemed far too glaring, glinting off the priest's cross and buttons. Opening his mouth Feldon began I, his voice cracked, his parched throat not letting him continue. Swallowing hard he forced himself to continue. My name is Feldon, master of Rider. I assume you’re the moderator of this war? I… Uh, the last thing I remember was fighting with Rider on the decks of the Dutchman. Regarding the limbs, Feldon rolled onto his side, bringing his hand slowly and painfully to rub his eyes. They work, but not so well. So Priest, do tell, how did I end up here?

Saber

Turning his head, and smiling wryly, Saber laughed. I’ll agree, but it won’t be much of a fight. Laughing, Saber was gone in a wisp of blue.

[lord pringle]

[Feldon]
Kirei nods, "Correct, I am the Church Overseer." He places a hand on Feldon's wrist and briefly checks his pulse. "I have good news. I highly doubt you will die today." He says, with a joyless smile. He grabs a glass of wine and places it on the examination table next to you. "The bad news is that this wine is terrible. Granted, in your current state, your taste buds will not register much from anything, beyond the taste of a bland, dirty metal, but I would still recommend drinking it. Alcohol will ease your pain and this vintage is good for nothing else."
"As far as why you're here, I can only imagine it is because of magecraft that you used to escape your now dead servant. Now drink."

[Caster & Yukito]
That night at 1, Yukito and Caster arrive at the docks. After a few minutes, a tall man in a tan overcoat walks out of a bank of fog. He waves at the pair with a goofy smile and invites them closer. Yukito gives Caster a wary look and draws closer, getting ready to use his Mystic Eyes if need be. When the two are close enough, the stranger says, in a thick Irish accent, "Hello there! You two are the ones who got my summons, yeah?" Yukito gives a non committal grunt as a response, which prompts him to continue ,"Well, my name is Rory Fitzpatrick and it is a pleasure to meet you."
Rory outstretches a hand and Yukito quickly steps back into a martial arts stance, before he calms down, "I hope you understand if I decline the handshake, I'm in the middle of a war and I don't know you yet, Mr. Fitzpatrick."
Rory shrugs and withdraws his hand, "Please, call me Rory and I can call you...?"
Yukito sighs, "I'm a very busy man, 'Rory'. What was so important that you sent a familiar to bring me down here?"
"Oh, fine, right to work then," Rory says, putting his hands in his coat pockets, despite the rapidly warming night, "Would you be interested in a deal? I can arrange it so I can provide mana for your servant. With my help, I guarantee he'll be strong enough to win the war in a few nights. Plus my kind of magecraft is far more useful than yours for aiding a heroic spirit. All I ask for in return is one of your command seals."
Yukito's jaw drops. "That is an outrageous request! You could order my servant to turn on me or- wait, how do you know what kind of magecraft I use?"
Rory cuts him off and continues speaking, "Fine, that's a no then. How about you, servant? What do you think of this deal?"

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

“Well”
Caster took a thoughtfull look at the dark sky.
“I find your offer somewhat... lacking.
Your manner is suspicious, terribly well informed for an unestablished player, your assistance mere Mana, although such is the currency by which battles are won or lost it is still that, mere currency and you ask so very much for it, bosom trust for a few Obols of prana? No indeed. You offer of combat assistance is also wasted, you would hold a knife at our backs and charge us for the privileged!.”

“You sir our a scoundrel and a jacknape, a cur who would spill the table of his betters to feast more heartily than he deserves on the scraps.
I do not like you, not one bit, neither your offer nor you manner and in addition might I say that it makes my skin crawl to think that a bastard son of an Irishman would presume to command me!”

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
Rory shrugs. "Alright, I can take a hint. That's a no for you," he says, idly stretching. After he finishes, his elbow joints cracking, his demeanor becomes more serious. "Just know that you were the ones who turned me down. If I end up working for another master, no hard feelings, okay?"
Yukito lets out a sharp breath, "Yes, I get it, there's a war going on. I'm not stupid.
Rory pulls an envelope out from his coat and puts it on the ground, "Look, if either of you change your mind about this, I'm leaving my business card. Also if you ever just need a Mage to help you with something, I put my freelancing rates in there too." With that said, he spins around on his heels and starts walking away. He thinks for a second, before looking back at the pair and saying, "Oh, and don't try to follow me, Mr. Aomori Yukito of Homurahara Academy, class 3B. You will regret it." he then leaves in earnest, quickly disappearing into the waterfront fog.
After a few minutes have gone by, Yukito picks up the envelope and turns to Caster. "Do you think you can scry on him?"

[FriendlyLich]

"Simplicity itself."
So saying he walked over to a nearby puddle.
Waving one hand over it he chanted a short phrase under his breath as a blue glow spread over the small patch of water.
"Lets see if he has any anti-divination wards on his person shall we? He's have some on his sanctum no-doubt but there hard to make portable and have enough downsides that most wouldn't walk around with them."
Turning to look at Yukito he continued.
"Of course with a proper Speculem set up in the Temple, I could scry this man whatever wards he might string about himself."

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
The view in the scrying pool is that of Rory walking through the fog. He eventually stops at a warehouse and enters it, wards cutting off the effect. Yukito thinks for a second before saying, "We don't have to go back to the base just yet. We have his business cards which probably have traces of him all over it. It's the Law of Contagion. We can use this to let him lead us to any other master he tries to con!" Yukito smiles smugly, "What an idiot."
The young master gingerly opens the envelope, trying not to contaminate the cards. As he does, a sickly pale yellow powder puffs out at Yukito. "What the hell was that?" he coughs out, passing the envelope to his servant.

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

Bringing his shaky hands to the glass, Feldon sips the wine. The priest was right. Well Overseer, there’s no extra servant hanging around the church is there, I’ve found myself severely lacking in that department? Casting his eyes downward, I suppose not… Well, if my business is done here, I’ll call a car. I should return to my home.

[FriendlyLich]

[Yukito and Caster]
The view in the scrying pool is that of Rory walking through the fog. He eventually stops at a warehouse and enters it, wards cutting off the effect. Yukito thinks for a second before saying, "We don't have to go back to the base just yet. We have his business cards which probably have traces of him all over it. It's the Law of Contagion. We can use this to let him lead us to any other master he tries to con!" Yukito smiles smugly, "What an idiot."
The young master gingerly opens the envelope, trying not to contaminate the cards. As he does, a sickly pale yellow powder puffs out at Yukito. "What the hell was that?" he coughs out, passing the envelope to his servant.

Caster.

"Probably an unpleasant trap."
Caster Placed his hand on Yukito's forehead and muttered a short charm.
"The Irish is of no immediate concern of ours, any master foolish enough to take his service will find him a millstone around their neck."

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
Yukito shrugs, "I guess you're right. Hey, I'm really hungry. You want to get a burger or something? I want some red meat. Do servants eat?" He says, uncharacteristically exuberant.
[Feldon]
Kirei quirks an eyebrow. "If you insist. But it is my job to inform you that you are willingly leaving protected neutral ground during a war. When you are here, I can protect you from harm, but out there, if you are stabbed through the gut for being a master, it is your fault."

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

Caster paused for a moment a look of distant anger passing over his face.
"I do not know whether it be malice or mere incompetence but either way I swear by the higher spheres that that Irishman will not outlive this conflict."
He gives Yukito a sharp look.
"That was in fact a trap, a most dire one. A dreadful curse has taken a hold of you and we have little time to reverse it before its effect are irrevocable."

[MrBudquaza]

Feldon

Well I suppose that’s a risk of being a magus in the holy grail war. That said, I need a new servant, or at the very least some kind of partnership with another master. Now that I think about it… Searching his pockets, he found no phone as he’d expected. I must have left it at the warehouse. Stumbling off the crude surface, Feldon made for the stairs to the outside world. Thank you Father! There was an old friend from Clock Tower that might just come to Feldon’s aid.

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric

Cedric carefully demounted his scooter.
He was quite a ways from the meeting sight now.
He carefully extracted the strange eye-patch given to him earlier, turned it over in his hands a few times before storing it in a different pouch, one with odd, irregular stitching in silver thread.
Only once this was done did he speak.

"I would value your impressions. both of their capabilities and their demeanor."
He shook his head.
"I was unable to pin down the magus's specialty, I don't know her or her house by reputation, which complicates things.
But if the pact hold we should have a better idea by the time it matters.
How would you rate Sabre?"

[chainer1216]

Cedric

Cedric carefully demounted his scooter.
He was quite a ways from the meeting sight now.
He carefully extracted the strange eye-patch given to him earlier, turned it over in his hands a few times before storing it in a different pouch, one with odd, irregular stitching in silver thread.
Only once this was done did he speak.

"I would value your impressions. both of their capabilities and their demeanor."
He shook his head.
"I was unable to pin down the magus's specialty, I don't know her or her house by reputation, which complicates things.
But if the pact hold we should have a better idea by the time it matters.
How would you rate Sabre?"

Lancer reappears next to him master and lazily scans the area before turning to Cedric.

"I am sadly unimpressed by that Saber, he's was young, brash and, disrespectful, confidence most likely born from talent, not skill. Though I am curious as to why he carried six swords, maybe he was a collector in life, either that or he is simply a fool, I saw many young warriors like him in my time who carried as many weapons as possible in a vain attempt to show how skilled and dangerous they were. As for the mage..."

The servant brings a hand up to stroke his long beard, pausing for a moment to think.

"she reminds me greatly of a man, a magus, who served my brother in life. He was kind and very diplomatic, always quick with a jest and a smile, but his demeanor served only to hide his ruthlessness and brilliance, it was due to his machinations that my lord saw an enemy fleet of ships chained together and burned. I suggest we do not underestimate her.

My instinct is that we can trust them to honour our pact, but that they will have plans in place to remove us from this war shortly thereafter."

[FriendlyLich]

Cedric.

"From what I know of the martial styles the peoples of these Islands are far more concerned with technique than those of your homeland, If he carries six swords it's because his style has a use for them."
He frowned.
"Not that I can imagine what that would be.
I agree completely with your assessment of the magus. In this sort of conflict information is a great weapon, foes must be fought whilst giving away as little as possible. She has an advantage on me there, I am a magus of the Clocktower, my house and specialty are easy to uncover, still I'm not without a few hidden cards of my own."

Carefully he remounted his scooter.
"More business to be about, the sooner we have cemented things, the sooner we can start hunting down the other players, there are a couple, Caster and Assassin notably, that it unwise to ignore."

[lord pringle]

[Feldon]
As Feldon leaves, Kirei follows him to the door. "Very well then. I do have advice for you though. Outside of here, trust no one. It is this advice that lead to the winner of the last grail war winning." He waved good-bye, before pouring himself another glass of wine and going to inform the mendicant that it was safe to return.

[Yukito and Caster]
"Caster, spit it out!" Yukito says, anger covering up his fear, "I need to know what's going to happen to me, before it does." He anxiously puts a knuckle to his mouth and unthinkingly bites on it. He draws blood and, without noticing, laps it up.

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

Caster sighed.
"If you must. You are it seems, already feeling the first symptom, an unnatural hunger. Within a day the curse will kill you and resurrect your corpse as a flesh eating monster, a Dead Apostle if you have heard of such. As an integral part of this process your soul will die, you will be no more."
What is left of you will be a Ghul, a thing that feeds on human flesh, a monster that is the enemy of all mages."

[lord pringle]

[Yukito and Caster]
Yukito's jaw drops. "Wh-what?" he says, anger, fear and surprise mingling in his voice. "This is... that Irish bastard... I'm going to die?" He stumbles back, looking at his gnawed on hands. "This is not how I was meant to go!" He thinks to himself, before taking a deep breath and wiping an errant tear away.
"Caster, by my first command seal I order you," He says, raising up his hand. "You will kill me if my transformation starts to change me completely. A command seal burns off the design on his hand, changing the pattern from that off a crown to something more resembling a pair of demonic horns. "Now, let's hope we can win the war before that happens."

[FriendlyLich]

Caster

"Within a day such is impossible, but I would remind you that you stand within arms reach of one of the most puissant mages to ever walk the earth.
Undoing this curse is not beyond me!
At the very worst I can suspend it's progression."
He claps his hands to Yukitos shoulders.
"Take heart my young Master!
Your story will not end here, struck down by a mongrels treachery.
The application of some alchemy with have you right as rain again, better perhaps, than you have ever been before."