Personality: Estelle is seemingly a cocky, arrogant girl who flaunts her inherent aptitude with magecraft. She is a well-read and knowledgeable girl on top of this, quick to use all forms of research to support her perceived superiority. She has very little patience for others as well, and is prone to begin mocking and taunting those she believes deserve it without hesitation. Estelle is also liable to flaunt what she believes is a cute and endearing appearance granted to her by the Varianbec family. Beneath all of this is a childish wonder at the world, and a desire to experience as much as she can in spite of the situation her life has been spent preparing her for. She feels some level of resentment towards her family, in a way, due to tight control that is normally kept on her movements. Estelle is determined to do whatever it is she can to enjoy herself in whatever amount of time she has. While she is not without compassion, she is still a very haughty and bossy girl with a mild sadistic streak.
Skills:
Abilities: As Estelle is a homunculus, it is more accurate to describe her as a human created to be a magic circuit rather then a human created to be a magus. Her body contains an enormous amount of high-quality circuits, making her an incredibly potent wielder of magecraft. Her body is frail, but her magecraft carries an intense potency most exemplified in her choices made when in battle. She can construct a localized bounded field to defend herself from damage, and produce multiple points from which to fire beams of intensely destructive prana. A high-grade mystery in terms of modern magecraft, these beams are devised from numerous formulas from the Varianbec family's past in order to create a potent offensive weapon, a tool created specifically for the Grail War in order to best assure her own survival and defeat of the other Masters if she must. If required, she can unite the independent points to create a single, more dangerous blast of prana. As a homunculus, she is capable in all areas that her family excels in, such as the direction and flow of prana and the reconstruction of damaged familiars. Finally, she is accompanied by an assortment of homunculus maids. These maids may be converted into a set of Mystic Codes if absolutely necessary, a defensive dress and a wand for channeling prana.
Brief Backstory: Estelle was created as a receptacle for all of the Varianbec family's artifice. A sole individual who could continue the family's work even after the rest of them were gone. And, indeed, the rest of the Varianbec family no longer exists. All that remains is Estelle and the series of lesser homunculi they created for her care and upkeep. These homunculi were left with a strict series of orders ensuring that Estelle is not permitted to wander freely due to the importance of her existence. However, one of their key purposes was in grooming Estelle for participation in a future Grail War. The Varianbec family participated in the conception and creation of the Redrock Grail prior to their sudden disappearance, and as a result, Estelle was groomed to be their entry into the Redrock Grail War.
Personality: A scholar and hard worker by nature in those things she finds interest in, Evangeline's lack of innate talent did not stop her from becoming a magus. This being said she comes off on the average looks rather lazy, yet easy to approach in a relaxed sort of manner for some reason. When not putting her work into the things she is interested in or has set her mind to, she can usually be found lazing off or slacking in some manner, whether it be sleeping, eating, drinking with friends, or the like. Easily underestimated on first impressions alone, she takes comments about her in stride and is more likely to shrug them off than the average person. Even so, she takes her work on her magecraft rather seriously, but all the same could easily becoming a drinking buddy under the right conditions that people feel like they want to talk to. It is an odd assortment of traits to some perspectives, but to her she is just..."herself", nothing more, nothing less.
Though in regards to this Holy Grail, she has some mixed feelings. On one hand, she feels her wish might be best spent on forming her own family and moving away from the parents who rejected her presence being around them a long time ago. To be able to create a situation where she could be independent and stake it out on her own even more so. Still, she also feels that perhaps the Grail could be used to do something better, to better benefit herself or others in some manner. In what manner might that be? Even she is still trying to think it over.
Skills:
-Can drink like a champion in any form of drinking competition, personal or formal, with a gut like iron and a liver that has been enhanced via magecraft by a co-worker to withstand this stuff. Takes a lot to get her drunk as well, actually.
-Is familiar with all sorts of basic household things like cooking and cleaning, the necessities to live on her own as a magus.
-Superb driver when it comes to cars, mainly from many days spent driving to get food and such. Albeit, she is a notorious speeder on or off of the highway.
Abilities:
-Familiar Creation (Worms): She is notably skilled in the realm of creating familiars, even if in many other ways she is an average magus. In particular she has a breed of worm familiars she has created through her time spent at the Clock Tower, bred to multiply incredibly fast, create mostly self-sustaining colonies she can control with a far greater ease, to have powerful jaws and dig very quickly, and finally to be able to transform what they eat into minerals of various sorts (including jewels) or just eat away things like solid rock and earthen substances to convert them into mana for the worms themselves (or to be injected back into their creator physically to restore her reserves and such). These familiars of sorts could be considered the "pinnacle" of her magecraft, which can be employed in various ways.
Simply by planting them in the ground she can create an area wherein the worms create a massive underground colony that continues to spread over time, and by accessing their senses via using Shared Perception magecraft (which she can use rather well) she can even use individual or small clusters of worms like spy cameras to spy on various places. Further, with the worms being sensitive to sensing mana and prana, she can use them to detect where enemy magi are better and better as the colony spreads underground.
She uses an array of single-action spells to direct her worms in various ways and to do things like sense the condition of the worm colonies she has planted from even miles away. From directing them to attack targets to using a single one of these small but very hardy worms to spy on others, the earth is generally not one's friend when facing her. But the independent nature of the worms to the extent it exists allows them to survive an amount of things and not require constant maintenance. Further, as they eat to generate their own nutrients and prana, the worms are far less of a drain on Evangeline herself to use.
-Elemental Magecraft (Earth): She has a level of competency in earth magecraft, using it to generally work in tandem with her familiars, to fight against enemies, or defend herself in some manner. She is no genius in this area, but is a generally skilled magus in this area who knows many spells.
-Other Magecraft: She is familiar and average in skill with the other basic things a magus should be able to do, bounded fields, locking/unlocking doors, creating basic familiars out of animals and such, using Shared Perception on familiars, and the like.
-Magic Circuits: Her magical circuits are of high quality, albeit are in rather average quantity.
Brief Backstory: Evangeline is a member of the Henderson magus family, who in the early 1800's moved to America as a break-off of another magus family that had lost so much power they were nearly nonexistent among magi. With them they took half of the family's crest as well. However, the family used what influence they gained over their first several generations of independence, greater in their fraction than in the main family they had left, to secure the remnants of the main family's assets once it finally caved in due to the death of that family's last viable heir who had possessed their remaining half of the magic crest.
Since then, the Henderson family has kept two "homes" as magi, their main one in America where they possess land over a leyline in the Southeast United States, and the grounds of the main family back in England which acts as a home for their European branch where many experiments and tests are performed in regards to their magecraft. Many family members travel using their private jets from one home to the other, usually for purposes of getting data in one place, assisting in an experiment with the staff and family members who live at the England residence, perform business transaction that have kept the family prosperous financially, and to take successful subjects back home with them for practical tests in the field.
Among this family was born Evangeline herself at the England location, to the head researcher of that facility and his wife. She did go to America from time to time to visit relatives, lived there partly even, and got very used to the traveling that this would put her through. As it were, she proved to be no prodigy as a magus, but did manage to do one great thing in her parents' eyes in regards to their work: develop her personal familiars. Though this was not enough to keep her from being sent to take classes at the Clock Tower in an attempt to better develop her overall as a magus in the future. Such was the intent of her family.
Though her basic skills as a magus rose to average and acceptable levels, though after being handed around lot a "hot potato" to the Zoology, Botany, and then finally the Mineralogy/Geology department when she went out seeking for internships. Though what she picked up from each area seemed to build on her development to a certain extent, in the end she found some form of success the lattermost area much to some surprise. By no means was she a magus of great talent in many areas, nor the best magus among her peers, but she was a magus who was notably good in regards to applying her knowledge and learning from various areas to the application of creating, developing, and employing her personal familiars.
Eventually she went off on her own, seeking to hone her magecraft individually in order to continue the development of her familiars. She was only 21 when she set out and bought a place in Midwestern America to make her workshop, but since has put considerable time into her work, whilst keeping in touch with the few she decided to keep contact with back at the Clock Tower from her many years spent there. Further, she made acquaintances in her local area among magi, doing odd work for them at times just to make some money and some connections around her. Albeit, only four years later she would find herself in another situation that would perhaps be a change to her entire life.
A female associate from one of the families she would work for at times eventually told her one morning, after they had woken up together on her couch due to a night of a celebratory drinking, about an odd "ritual" going to be held that her own family had gotten wind of. Some backwater ritual hijacked from Japan or something, a pathetic little thing that offered the chance at getting some magical cup, a "holy grail", that could grant some sort of wish. Intrigued by the prospect, Evangeline set off to gather more information on this matter, finding that it would be occurring in a little town called "Redrock" on the coast and things about summoning a servant and such. Nothing seeming too special to many, but altogether too interesting for her curious mind to let go of. Readying her things, she set out eventually to participate in this ritual, this war for a "holy grail", with the intent to fight for this prized wish herself in the end.
Personality: Impulsive, excitable, and surprisingly cunning, Aiyanna is pretty much a wrecking ball in human form, causing chaos wherever she goes. This tendency isn't so much a wild insanity as it is a very clear focus on what she wants: challenge and adventure, preferably with as few rules and constraints binding her as possible. She seems to have entered the Grail War for the sake of the war itself, as she's eager to pit herself against legendary figures and fellow mages alike. In person, she's fairly quiet, though noticeably energetic. A bit of an introvert, she isn't usually one to initiate contact with others, though when one does break her shell it's often hard to make her stop talking. Loves music of all genres, prefers rainy days, hates queues, and believes the path to self-fulfillment lies in the overcoming of constant adversity.
Skills: Very athletic- deadlift is about average for a fit girl her age, but she's pretty exceptional when it comes to sprinting and cross-country running, and most humans will find it hard to keep up with her for long. Doesn't have any official training in parkour, but has learned to traverse all kinds of terrain on her own, giving her comparable expertise. It helps that she has unusually fast reflexes, and an excellent sense of balance. Is also a proficient guitarist, can forge signatures, is a licensed and very aggressive driver, speaks a bit of Spanish, and is a damn good kisser (or so she claims).
Abilities: Heat sense- She has a spell which lets her sense sources of heat around her. Can work at distances of up to 1km if the source is isolated, but otherwise they tend to blend together. For instance, a crowd of people registers more as a giant blob of heat that a bunch of individual sources, unless she's quite close. Heat resistance- Can protect herself from being burned. It's more of a resistance than an immunity, and plasma or supernaturally heated weapons can still mess her up pretty bad, but she can straight-up walk through your average fire and come out unscathed. Detonation- Aiyanna can set off fiery explosions near herself, so long as she has some kind of 'spark' or flame to act as a detonator. At close range, a snap of her fingers or something similarly small will do, get more than a few feet away and she needs something more concrete like a lit match or a running combustion engine. Maximum range is fifty feet, explosion power varies with range and strength of source but caps out at around double a conventional grenade.
Brief Backstory: From a Magus family fallen from grace, generally considered weak and without much power. Grew up in a rather rough neighborhood, barely made it through early schooling after nearly being expelled several times. Upon making it to high school, promptly dropped out and took off across the country, taking odd jobs and narrowly dodging arrest on several occasions. Suspected gang involvement, but nothing confirmed. So far as anyone can tell, as soon as she heard about the Grail War she made a beeline for Redrock, and has been there for several days waiting for it to start.
Name: Yi Sun-sin Class: Rider Appearance:
Personality: Known as the Martial Lord of Loyalty after his death, Yi Sun-sin is a man who sticks with his principles. Proud to live the life of a soldier, he will fight for his allies even when they disparage or disregard him, and will gladly face his death head-on if it means earning victory. That said, he is also staunchly honest, and very much unafraid to call out his superiors or even disobey orders if he feels his masters are making a tactical blunder. As a commander he is methodical and ever-vigilant. Every engagement must be meticulously planned, so as to keep losses to an absolute minimum. Recognizing the value of morale, he takes care never to show any weakness to ally or enemy, presenting a steadfast face to the world even when beset by outside injury or inner turmoil.
Stats: Strength: D Endurance: C Agility: B Mana: D Luck: B Noble Phantasm: A++
Class Skills: Riding- A: A skilled naval commander, Yi can maneuver ships and beasts alike with great ability, using graceful and deadly formations to trap his opponents. Magic Resistance- C: Like most Riders Yi has a degree of magical resistance- in his case, however, this power is less focused on surviving spells and more on seeing through illusions. It's quite hard to fool him with ghostly images or mental trickery, though a particularly skilled or specialized mage might still be able to pull it off.
Personal Skills: Steadfast- C: Even when Yi is badly hurt, he will never show it. Injuries inflicted on him are made more difficult to perceive, making him seem almost invincible before enemy attacks. In fact, his durability is nothing special, but appearances are important, and his implacable demeanor can bolster his allies' morale while making a fight seem hopeless for his enemies. Navigator- B: Yi specializes in using terrain to his advantage. He has an excellent sense of positioning and direction, making it easy for him to learn the layout of whichever environment he finds himself in, and apply that in his tactical maneuvers. Discipline- C: It is a very hard thing to make Yi feel fear, and harder still to make him succumb to doubt or pain. He is extraordinarily tough mentally, and inspires strength and discipline in those who follow him.
Noble Phantasms: Name: Geobukseon Rank: A Type: Anti-Army Appearance: One might notice as Yi walks that there always seems to be a small puddle around his feet. Most of the time this is fairly innocuous- until that puddle suddenly widens and a roaring beast of a ship rises up from the waters beneath. With a fearsome dragon at its prow and a spiked iron shell covering its decks, this is Yi's mount and flagship, which manifests water beneath itself so it can sail even on dry land. Effects: The Geobukseon, or 'turtle ship,' is a fearsome weapon of war designed by Yi himself. Heavily protected on every side, it is effectively immune to small-arms fire and most weaker attacks, requiring powerful munitions or supernatural strength to properly damage. From above, its decks are guarded by a heavy iron shell studded with razor-sharp points, making an enemy boarding almost impossible. Equipped with cannons pointed in all four directions, it can attack at any and all angles at once with long range firepower. Last but not least, the dragon's head at its prow spews thick sulfur smoke, choking nearby infantry and concealing the ship's movements as it roams around the battlefield.
Name: Crane Wing Formation Rank: C Type: Anti-Army Appearance: Ghostly ships, appearing on both sides to flank the enemy with a sudden volley of cannonfire. Effects: As if his flagship weren't enough, Yi retains command of some of the fleets he led in life, as well. When an enemy moves towards him, he can summon them up to either side, flanking the target and barraging them at range, a cruel punishment for any who fall into his trap.
Name: Myeongnyang Strait Rank: A++ Type: Anti-Army Appearance: No physical appearance, but it can be felt as a powerful current pulling all but the strongest along with it. Effects: A Noble Phantasm forged from the memory of Yi's greatest victory, and his trump card as a Servant. Once every three hours, he can generate a powerful 'current' over a vast range, pulling anyone caught in it in a direction of Yi's choice with near-irresistible force. Can be used to drag opponents right into the thick of his cannonfire, keep them from getting close, or simply tear apart enemy formations with a well-timed yank.
Personality: Due to her circumstances, Isabelle maintains a stoic demeanour in the face of anything that the world might choose to throw at her. Anything, without qualification; despite her age, she has already faced vampires, demons, and rogue mages without baulking. Isabelle is more scared of losing control like that than she is of anything that the world might choose to throw at her and for good reason: her ancestry, at best, gives her an extremely high propensity towards madness if she remains human. As one of mixed-blood, the idea of losing control over herself and succumbing to the Inversion Impulse is the one fate that actually troubles Isabelle. Raised by the Church, her devotion and faith is night unshakeable. Perhaps it would be better for her to doubt more--her view on that which threatens humanity extends to herself as well. Embodying that which exists to destroy humans makes merely existing a sin in her mind, one that no amount of devotion will ever wipe clean--at best, she can balance the scales through the Church's work, eliminating that even more corrupted than herself. It is this view that convinces her to stray beyond the purest course of action as an Executor and utilise heretical abilities such as magecraft or her innate powers, even though to use those extensively risks her very mind. For all her involvement in the violent side of humanity, Isabelle has no experience with relationships or erotic acts, viewing them with confusion when her duties would lead them to cross her path. On a personal level, she is simultaneously easily manipulated and unpredictable; having neither desires of her own or understanding those of others yet her lack of desire providing little resistance to anything that she would consider to not be sinful.
Skills: Isabelle is a trained Executor and, as such, highly proficient in fighting entities beyond a human level though to her, the difference between her and them can lead to either party having an advantage. Primarily, she prefers to use the Black Keys, seeing them as something intrinsically human and superior to the corrupt abilities that she otherwise holds. As normal, they are primarily useful for throwing--though she doesn't know the Burial Agency's techniques to multiply the force they hit with, she achieves much the same thing with only her body--and using them as swords is a poor decision, though with her small hands they can be used as such as well as wielded in their more exotic manner. Her true fighting potential can only be realised when using her bare hands, a style created from a combination of instinct and some basic attempts to teach her self defence. Defence becomes a lower priority with her abilities and as such it favours an aggressive approach intended to defeat all enemies by inflicting unavoidably fatal wounds. The results of the grisly style leave the environment and Isabelle coated in crimson, a scene every bit as bad as that created by a ravenous vampire.
Abilities: Though blessed with the ability to be a magus, Isabelle has no real training in mystical arts--it would be another heresy atop the heresy of her existence and, coming from a family with no standing in the world of magecraft, it can be said that her ability to support a Servant on her own is on the low end. The only spells she has learned are those related to modifications on the Black Keys, rites to cause their targets to burst into flame and other such things including being swarmed by crows. Yet as a pious member of the Church, her reluctance to put these spells to use is readily apparent. The true breadth of her abilities is apparent in her body. Though physically small of frame and possessing a harmless air when relaxed, Isabelle possesses the strength to bend steel with her bare hands and rip through bone to get at hearts without difficult. Her physical capabilities are above the level of a human, yet below that of the vast majority of Servants, and as such she needs little else to equalise the playing field with the monsters that the Church hunts. Even serious injuries can heal in just a night--though with everything, she worries that use of such inhuman attributes could too easily tip her over the edge into being a monster in mind as well as body. Her blood's strength is evidenced in her personal ability, Binding Steel--an ability that allows her body to be a suit of armour, hold itself together after debilitating attacks, and strengthen her offence. All parts of her body can be painfully turned to metal at will, blocking an attack, and even forced into a new shape--her hand itself can be a lance. More useful, with this, she can force the two ends of a severed body part to reconnect and then allow the wound to heal itself. Naturally, the intrusion of cold metal into flesh is painful as long as it is maintained, with the metal being oddly numb.
Brief Backstory: Isabelle's heritage is as obvious as her family isn't. Her appearance and the presence of Oni blood clearly mark at least one of her parents as hailing from Japan, yet all the Church can say for certain is that her father is unknown and her mother succumbed to their own impulses and had to be killed--leaving them with an orphan born in France and no obvious family to seek out. Yet to the more pragmatic elements of the hierarchy, this was the perfect opportunity: an unshaped existence, certain to become a first-rate Executor should her inhuman blood turn out to be strong. The mere possibility guaranteed that she would never have a normal childhood and when her blood surfaced, steps were taken to prevent it from going completely beyond control and her fate was determined. With her trained skills and natural abilities, she would become a target of her own agency in the event that she ever left the Church's guidance--and thus, the choice was made. She would become an Executor despite her age, sacraments and rites would be used to destroy her heart and head should her baser impulses take over, though her own defences make it doubtful that they could be activated in time to put her down immediately. Her current charge is to represent the Assembly of the Eighth Sacrament. By partaking in this war, her instructions are to determine if this is the Fuyuki Grail or the true grail, and in the eventuality it isn't to limit the inter-magus war if this is to turn out the same way the Fuyuki Grail did. Not having been sent on her own, an older and more orthodox nun with a talent useful for containing the Inversion Impulse has been sent with her as well. Of course, her role is also to make sure that Isabelle dies if the stresses demanded by the War cause her to give in.
Personality: One who, at first, seems a tad bland and aimless; she claims to have no hobbies or interests, appears to have no interest in the arts, and is even rather uncreative when it comes to spell applications. A lot of this stems from poor social skills: Unused to speaking with strangers for a prolonged period of time, Hakuno generally interacts as 'safely' as possible, carefully choosing her responses to cause the least amount of trouble possible. Though if she's given a chance to warm to someone, she unintentionally begins to show a sillier side to her thought processes. She's a fair bit more cheerful and air-headed than she appears.
Hakuno is unfortunately lacking in self-esteem, however. Given her relatively underwhelming potential as a magus, and her current situation, she can have a tough time keeping herself upbeat. This is another aspect she tries to keep hidden, yet lets slip amongst... whoever could count as a friend during a grail war. She also lacks what most may consider vital: Ruthlessness. As tactically-unsound as it may be, Hakuno would very much prefer to avoid killing her opponents, or at least fellow Masters. Because what are the odds a defeated, living opponent could come back to bite her?
One of Hakuno's strongest traits is probably her stubbornness. No matter how discouraged or ill-advised her action, if Hakuno has decided on a course of action, she'll stick to it. This tends to lead her into trouble more often than not, but hey, she hasn't died yet!
Skills:
Hakuno has a surprising knack for using and deciphering Mystic Codes. A mere glance at one in action is enough for her to deduce many of its' properties, and has little trouble in figuring out how to use them, or at least the intended function if it's somehow too unwieldly for her.
Abilities:
Element: Air - Like most of her family, Hakuno has an affinity for the Air element. Unlike most of her family, she isn't too well-versed in anything but the most basic of spells. Fortunately(-ish), her family's true specialisation hasn't escaped her grasp.
Invoked Censor - This ability is a masking spell, of sorts. It doesn't make her invisible, just so thoroughly unremarkable and forgettable that you subconsciously erase her face from memory immediately after seeing her. This effect only strengthens in larger crowds, though Hakuno lacks the skill and expertise to properly combat any spying tactics that could see through her spell. Stronger magi could also potentially see through the trickery in a short amount of time, as well.
Brief Backstory: The latest in line of a relatively young magus family, and... decidedly one of their weakest, Hakuno has spent a lot of her childhood studying for the sake of her lineage. Unfortunately, her parents always saw her as lacking direly, and more likely to bring their line to a dead end. As much as Hakuno disliked the immense expectation and pressure placed upon her, she saw it as her duty to do whatever she could to continue the bloodline, if only at least until she could produce a suitable heir.
Her mother passed away when she was still a child, and her father died in a traffic accident only a few years ago. Despite her disdain for the life she'd lead to that point, she kept to her studies and training in a desperate effort to uphold the family name. Perhaps the pressure did get to her after all, as she turned to the power of miracles to grant her a wish: With the holy grail, surely she could become a powerful magus and secure her family's lineage, right? Maybe her descendants could be happier, or become a prestigious magus family, if all she had to do was win this conflict...
Personality: A man of honour and virtue, who fights for the weak, in service of the just and benevolent. Offering due respect to friend and foe alike, Guan Yu will not tarnish his honour with underhanded tactics in a duel. Any debts accrued shall be repaid in kind, for better or worse - it'd be kind of crappy for him to cut down his foe, if that same person had spared his life before. As a man renowned for his military feats, it's probably no surprise he can be strict with battle tactics, and will expect nothing more than everyone's utmost and fight their hardest to achieve victory.
Outside of battle, Guan is surprisingly relaxed and even jovial. While not quite the drinker his brother was known to be, he certainly won't say no to some good wine, and tends to reminisce about raising his kids, journeying with his brothers across China, and how amazing Red Hare is. Try not to let him ramble on about the horse, it's an ironically slow and long tale.
Stats:
Strength: B
Endurance: A
Agility: D
Mana: E
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: C
Class Skills:
Magic Resistance: C
Personal Skills:
Divinity: D – Although not of a divine lineage, Guan Yu has been deified after death, seen as both a god of war, and a god of brotherhood.
Instinct: B – Guan's extensive experience in combat allows him to predict his opponents' most optimal course of attack. However, this effect weakens against multiple opponents, and effectiveness is halved against ranged opponents.
Peach Garden's Oath: A - A skill that is inactive, unless Guan and his master swear an earnest oath of kinship. Otherwise, whilst in combat, Guan's stats are increased by one Rank, excluding Noble Phantasms.
Noble Phantasm(s):
Name: Green Dragon Crescent Blade - Wrath of the God of War
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Unit
Appearance: Base appearance. When 'active', the blade of the weapon is covered in several blue-green dragon scales.
Effects: Scales slowly grow on the blade of the guan dao, which can be launched as powerful projectiles with each swing; these scales can also be guided by gusts of wind that Guan can create with his powerful strikes as well. A side-function of these scales makes the blade much tougher to break, unless an anti-dragon Noble Phantasm strikes it.
Name: To Uphold One's Oath
Rank: C
Type: Anti Unit, Bounded Field
Appearance: N/A
Effects: A Noble Phantasm that recreates the event when Guan Yu defended his sworn brother's wife as he left Cao Cao's service. Although it's unknown as to whether or not this actually happened, Guan Yu is able to emulate the conditions of that scenario. By defending his Master in a specific location, Guan Yu's parameters increase greatly when combating enemy units, while also reducing enemy parameters, providing a powerful defence... or at least a costly last stand for the opponent.
Alignment: Lawful Good
Changes: This is actually Lady Guan wearing a beard and doing her best Crispin Freeman impression.
• Name:Emilia Warov • Age:Unknown • Gender:Female? • Appearance:Who's the puppet and who's the puppeteer? • Personality:Creepy would be the first word to come to the mind of almost anyone who meets Emilia at first. She's fond of riddles and words with dark meanings and seems have little in the way of empathy, almost as if she took fun in others reaction to her behavior. Whether she's teasing or not is, is up to her interlocutors to decide. • Abilities & Skills:Emilia is a very skilled magus with a focus on Kabbalah traditions and golemancy. Animating temporary golems using Jewish scriptures, in a manner similar to Nordic Runes, is one of her biggest specialties. She can also create more elaborate dolls if she has the time to prepare them.
Emilia's magecraft is naturally inclined to deal with soul manipulation, including emotional states and draining the prana from living beings. She can manipulate others emotions and even summon wraiths, however, this requires a special, hard to produce mystic code in the form of a whole pipe organ which can only work when installed in a synagogue or similarly hallowed grounds. She can convert a church's organ into this type of mystic code, but it's usually harder because they tend to have their own enchantments which. Nevertheless, the older the instrument, the better the effects will be.
As a side effect of her skill at playing with others' shapes, Emilia is well-acquainted with physical alteration magic. She can easily change her own form but tends to use this skill only to change between different version of 'herself', making things such as guessing her age all but impossible.
Lastly, Emilia has a second mystic worthy of note: Ain Soph Aur, a set of ten wrought silver rings, each representing one of the ten Sephiroth of the Tree of Life. The abilities of this mystic code depend on which combination of rings are active at any given time. However, all of them can be spawn reinforced silver wires, which are Emilia's primary means of offense and defense when she cannot count with golems. • Brief Backstory:Emilia is a genius belonging to the Prague branch of the Mage's Association, said to be a descendant of the legendary Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, more commonly known as the Maharal of Prague. As is expected of one of Judah's descendants, Emilia has an astounding knowledge of the Kabbalah traditions especially golem construction and Jewish magecraft and philosophy.
Emila's immediate family and upbringing are mysterious. She grew up in a haunted house surrounded by nothing but dolls and other automata servants, which were crafted and repaired by her most of the time. Her parents were largely absent and there's no shortage of rumors about their fate, including Emilia turning them into dolls for reasons that generally boil down to insanity or loneliness. The truth may as well never be known since few who ever stepped into the Warov's state bounded field returned.
Nevertheless, the Prague Association decided to send her to this Holy Grail War that's going to take place into the USA, not only because Emilia is their most promising prodigy or because the United States has historically been a place of interest for them, but because the Einsbern are not directly involved this time. Maybe taking the Holy Grail from the Clock Tower's hands will allow them to search for more important relics, like the Arc of the Covenant. At least that's what the heads of the Prague Association seem to think.
Personality: Euryale is a vain and cruel goddess that delights in the worship of others. While she isn't incapable of conceptualizing love, her idea of it is completely different than that of mortals. To be loved by one of the Gorgon sisters is at the same time both a great blessing and an even greater curse.
Since she and 'herself' were never able to experience life to its fullest in the Age of the Gods (thanks to their self-imposed confinement along their youngest sister), Euryale has plans to take this summoning more as a chance of having unrestrained fun away from the dull world she knew in life.
A true literal goddess that's completely independent of her Master, not even Command Spells can sway her opinion if she doesn't want them to. However, as long as you adore her and ask nicely, Euryale will lend her divine talents. Just be sure to not think about putting her into a hopeless fight, right?
Stats:
Strength: E
Endurance: E
Agility: C
Mana: EX
Luck: EX
Noble Phantasm: C
Class Skills: Magic Resistance: A Cancel spells of A-Rank or below, no matter what High-Thaumaturgy it is. In practice, the Servant is untouchable to modern magi, so it would not be an exaggeration to title the Servant a 'Magus Killer'.
Independent Action: A+ Euryale has a high ranked Independent Action Skill; the goddess is essentially free.
Goddess' Divine Core: EX A Skill that expresses one being a perfected goddess from birth. A composite Skill that comprises the Skill Divinity, preserves the absoluteness of the mind and the body, repels all mental interference, prevents the body from growth and prevents the figure from change no matter how much calories are absorbed.
Personal Skills: Vampirism: C For Euryale and Stheno, sucking blood will recover one's own magical energy. While this recovery will happen with anyone's blood because the blood of their sister Medusa is the one they like the most, Euryale and Stheno recover greatly when sucking Medusa's blood.
Alluring Nightingale: A A mesmerizing-kind of Skill possessed by those with a beautiful natural voice; it is also a declaration of the exercise of power by the royalty. It works as a charm magecraft-like effect towards those of the user's opposite sex, but evasion is possible by means of a Magic Resistance Skill. Even without Magic Resistance, one can abate it to some extent so long he or she maintains a will to resist.
Goddess' Whim: A It bestows several varied effects, but they are not necessarily limited to beneficial things. The set of varied effects differs between Euryale and Stheno.
Noble Phantasm:
Name: Eye of the Euryale, Goddess' Gaze
Rank: B
Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1 ~ 99
Maximum number of targets: 1
Effects: The charm of the goddess, that captivated braves with a single attack, made form as a Noble Phantasm. The bow, her bewitching charm; the arrowheads, her sweet, sweet whispers. An arrow that will pierce the heart of any male, be they a human or a god. The external appearance is extremely sublime, and also cute. It is a golden bow patterned with multiple heart shapes.
"Isn't that Cupid's..." is what her little sister started to say before meeting a terrible fate.
Command Seal Location: Three rings that blend along with the rest of his tattos at the upper forearm
Appearance:
Jonathan is a man of 5'11 stature with a lithe body that can be noticed from its muscular tone that indicates some sort of extensive athleticism. With a tan on his skin that has tinted his previously pale skin that would indicate some time bathing under the rays of the sun. He possesses brown hair that naturally hangs long that blow in the wind every so often that compliments with his relatively dark brown eyes on his angular face. His symbol as a master can be located on his upper forearm should he be unclothed but remains relatively hidden under his clothing and tattoos he has there. Wearing most of the time casual clothes on himself for the occasion which are easy to replace in case anything happens to them.
Personality: Jonathan's most prominent trait is him as an extrovert with an obvious outgoing personality that anyone can see just by looking at him. With the look on his face, knowing he is confident about himself and what he is wearing which conveys much without being said. Having this air of self-confidence about himself that seems unwavering, it also shows when he talks with that cool-headed and calm demeanor that wouldn't be embarrassed to ask or reveal anything. As a person with his confidence, he wouldn't be afraid to stand as a rebel against the norm or at the same time take the position as a leader for something that he believes in.
He is a person who would be considered being fun to be around, as he is always looking for something to do whether it be with a group or by himself. Seemingly having an appetite for conversation, he is clearly a people's person who loves to talk to people and get to know them. Combined with the fact that he is a flirtatious person, he can make a person chuckle at how smooth he can pull something off without a second thought. It makes his personality great for taking along to go to any kind of party as he's a polite guest who isn't afraid to join in the fun once it starts rolling. He while may not take anything seriously at first, he finds competition to be a good motivator for him to get him worked up for it.
Capabilities
Skills: Knows the necessities for adulthood of the modern age, such as cooking and cleaning along with using technology to a good degree that he wouldn't be too embarrassed about it. He is still iffy on those social media sites that seem to spark up every so often that he can't keep track of them. The only interesting piece that stands out of these mundane skills would be his ability to drive motorcycles quite well with only a few close calls to bad drivers.
Quite fluent in languages and understanding other cultures, having traveled to many different places in the world, he likes to think of himself as having more experience than the common person and magus. Along the way somewhere he picked up the knack for karaoking and dancing that is apart of the nightlife that exists universally whether it be a small group or a big one.
He is a foodie, having the ability to devour obscene amounts of food that leaves everyone else pale in comparison. The only reason why he stops at buffets is for courtesy so that he not eating in front of them when they are already done. If there is anything that would be on the list to eat when going out, it is sushi since he rarely has the opportunity to go to places like those most of the time.
Arts and Craft is another thing he is interested in, making personalized things for people rather than just having something store-bought is something that leaves him feeling good about himself. Whether it be with markers or glitter pens, he is up for the time to make such things on a whim if people are down for it.
School of Magecraft: Rune-based Magecraft The form of Magecraft that Jonathan uses are known as 'Runes" which originates from the Age of the Gods and are symbols that, once inscribed, automatically realize mysteries accordingly with the meaning that they represent. Composed of only straight lines and possessing mechanics similar to the Magic Crests, they are limited by the number of runes being combined which consumes more energy for each one being utilized. These spells can usually be negated when cast from afar due to the innate magic resistance of a trained magus and must be applied either directly on them or in their direct vicinity. These runes can be categorized into three kinds: the Primeval Runes created by Odin himself, the Old Runes, and finally Modern Runes. Jonathan has knowledge only Modern Runes from what he has gathered from his journies
The limitation of Rune-based magecraft is like building a sentence out of words, with so many phrases to choose from that allows the possibilities to be endless so long they make sense. The only clear limitation is the amount of time needed to perform truly large-scale magecraft is time and the energy to undertake such a task. While its possible to simply use direct confrontation scenarios, it is a form more panned out to be planned beforehand to set up the battlefield.
Ehwaz - Rune of Strength: A common rune capable of being placed on an object to increase its strength and durability akin to metal if its an inferior material. If placed on a metal, its durability is increased at a reduced amount but still functions as normal. However, if cast on his body (his arms generally), it temporarily gives him the strength to do a variety of things and no doubt allow him to easily have the advantage on even a fairly fit human.
Kenaz - Rune of Sight: A more uncommon rune which can be applied to ocular devices and used for a variety of purposes. Amplification or extension of sight is simple, while piercing magical abilities may take some time to adjust the magic to see through them.
Laguz + Sowilo + Mannaz - Runes of Healing: A common spell among rune casters which escribed on their bodies can heal scrapes and bruises easily. Intended for more serious injuries, it can handle gashes and wounds up to moderate severity before actually requiring real medical attention. In cases of severe or fatal damage, it can stabilize the person in a single burst of energy and slowly continue to knit the body together but they will still be in a terrible condition if not taken to a doctor.
Algiz + Isa - Rune of Shielding: A rune of protection which is used in more magical battles, capable of defending the common spell thrown by a magus. Sufficient for most curses that are cast from afar which will be negated by this spell. Using it during battle is usually difficult or impossible but when placed on an object, it will indeed ward away spells and block them when hit. On apparel, it protects against the magic of negative intent which is useful when placed on them.
Hagalaz + Laguz + Isa + Nauthiz - Protective Runes of Endurance and Retaliation: Another sentence of runes which no true practioneer of runic magic shouldn't know. It protects against both physical and mystical attacks, using their energy to reinforce and fuel the spell itself. Any magic left from the runes after each attack will be transfer into a single point where once passed will unleash the stored energy as a powerful counterattack.
Sowilo + Thurisaz + Hagalaz - Runes of Fire Cage: The first defensive spell on the list, it is a combination of runes which when cast will cause a powerful cage of fire to trap the victim in. Its naturally weak to elements that would destroy fire but resistant to those that it naturally is.
Sowilo + Thurisaz + Hagalaz + Fehu - Runes of Consuming Fire: The first offensive spell which when cast will create a fireball which have a soft homing effect, angling itself slightly to try and best capture its victim. It will not do instanteous 90 degree turns, but it can curve itself to chase its target if it has the space to do so or be extinguished. At its quick speed, it rarely has the chance to redirect itself but when it hits its target, the flames will rarely extinguish themselves naturally. Similar to a curse which will chase its target if it ever falls away, it can only be smothered naturally or by another spell and if runs out of energy to sustain itself.
Isa + Thurisaz + Hagalaz - Runes of Ice Spears: Another simple spell which is like a toothpick going through a piece of fruit by this combination of runes which forms the spell. Its sharp enough to pierce through the human body and pieces of metals but is fragile compared to sturdier materials. Strengthened by the Isa rune that turns the projectile sharp enough to make a cut through a mature tree.
Sowilo + Thurisaz + Hagalaz + Fehu - Runes of Consuming Fire: A offensive spell which when cast will create a fireball which have a soft homing effect, angling itself slightly to try and best capture its victim. It will not do instanteous 90 degree turns, but it can curve itself to chase its target if it has the space to do so or be extinguished. At its quick speed, it rarely has the chance to redirect itself but when it hits its target, the flames will rarely extinguish themselves naturally. Similar to a curse which will chase its target if it ever falls away, it can only be smothered naturally or by another spell and if runs out of energy to sustain itself.
There are much more combination of spells possible but here are a small portion of them
General Magecraft Elementary skills that every magus should be able to do during their early years of being trained by their family. He is familiar with these basic applications of magecraft such as bounded fields, locking and unlocking doors, creating basic familiars out of animals and such, using Shared Perception on familiars, and the like. From his upbringing, the repertoire of formalcraft he knows of is more detailed with the traditions that have been passed down to him that relate to the Celtic druids.
Who he is...
Biography: The household of a magus is one brought through tradition and innovation that the generation brings as they pass it on from one to the next. Even if fundamentals remain the same, how they are used can vary between those using it and have interesting applications. To his parents, they had the opportunity to raise three children and out of them, he was the youngest of them all by two years, Adam and Michelle were his older siblings who he would be raised with. The three of them would be trained in the way of a magus as they all possessed the ability to do so, with sufficient magic circuits to do it. Their close nature together as the family turned into a competition to see who could better the other, with his older siblings having a few years ahead of him, to which Jonathan mostly lost when he was younger.
His brother specialized in the raw versatility of individuals runes and pushing them to the limits while his sister took it further yet specialized in creating bounded fields that could perform a variety of things for her. Jonathan himself fell in-between the two, a comfortable position of having enough to handle himself in quick situations yet knowledge to prepare for things in detail. As the youngest, he had the most leeway in his training since most of the time and dedication went to his older siblings yet he still learned the things that his parents wanted.
It would be enough to sustain Jonathan's knowledge for a few years before he took the chance have his uncle tutor him in the more advanced areas. Eventually, his uncle would take him as an apprentice for more hands-on experience when his skill with that area of magecraft was suitable for being his assistant and it would be so for several years as Jonathan learn under him. Traveling all over the world, wherever his uncle's assistance was called for, Jonathon too would tag along and offer what he had. It would be a long six years of traveling the world, as the two experienced many things on their journey, and Jonathan grew into a full-fledged magus. He grew to be even more talented than anyone would have thought, gather more experience and knowledge during his six-year apprenticeship. When he was expected of so little, his family was amazed at his progress rivaling his sibling in its special way.
There Jonathan would strike out on his own to learn more on his own, pursuing what interested him and caught his attention. Following this path, it would lead Jonathan to eventually forging his way to what will be his appearance in the Holy Grail Wars.
Name: Maria Anna Mozart, the Lost Symphony Class: Caster Gender: Female Appearance:
BIO
Personality & History Summoned as a Caster that is said to rival her brother in every way possible, or at least close enough that only the most astute artist could tell the difference between the two of them. Caster is a servant whose future could of been just like her brother as a dazzling musician that enthralled the audience that came to his performances. However, this fate was cut short by the obstacles placed in her way that prevented her from ever truly reaching the pedestal that her brother was placed on by both her parents and the people around him.
How far her career could have been as a muscian the world would never know, for she married when she turn the age of eighteen and became eligible for such a proposal. Despite both her brother and herself trying to object to the decision that was given to her, she eventually relented to her father and allowed herself to be wed. Causing another gap in the relationship she had with her brother who she used to be very close to until he started to become recognized for his own skills. She was an inspiration for her little brother when the two of them were children and served to reinforce the lessons that her father gave to both of them. Tending and caring for the love of music that her little brother had and shared, it would surprise her that despite the promise she showed, the position of being the head of the family was given to him.
In the end after her marriage, she became removed from her brother's life and only saw him for the last time when he was dead, also meeting his family as well at that time. Of course she regretted the isolation that the two were in but was helpless to do anything about it in their separate worlds. There would always be the time that she remembered while she grew old about how she spent her days with her little brother playing music together.
Weapon: Her Music
PARAMETERS
STR: E CON: E AGI: B MGI: A LCK: D
CLASS SKILLS
• Territory Creation D+: The creation of an area that is advantageous for Caster, it manifests itself as a Performance Venue for her to use. Within this space, she is capable of altering its properties that highlights her music, making her sound-based magecraft more effective in this area. She could fully unlock the potential of this skill if she only had her brother performing alongside with her as well that would provide the positive multiplier.
• Item Creation E: The ability that a servant has of creating mystic codes and other magical items. At this rank, she cannot make anything else besides the music pieces that she has written which are mundane objects.
PERSONAL SKILLS
• Protection of the Music God (False) A+: Coming from her own great skill in music has caused the manifestation of this skill. While the true version of this skill denotes the divine protection from the Muses who were the gods of music. Caster's skill in music have achieved the levels of something that can be called otherworldly beautiful whenever she plays. From her immense experience, she can distinguish any type of sound and play any instrument masterfully and in addition, the effects of music magecraft are ranked up. While the rank of this skill is inferior to her brother, she can reach near a similar level should she follow the path of selling her soul to music.
• Uncrowned Mastership (Music) A: A skill that comes from her skill in music that was not recognized by others due to various reasons that had affected her during life. It all began when she was held back by both her parents and society's restrictive concepts of gender roles and was not allowed to reveal her artistic talent. With both her dedication and work left unknown to the world, any evidence of her music compositions simply never existed in history or never discovered. To those who do not know the true identity of Caster perceives her parameters as one rank lower than what they actually are and her skills that are related to her music are invisible as well to them.
• Battle Continuation C: There is a slight variation of this skill that makes it more akin to [ Performance Continuation ] than what is traditionally thought of. It allows her to continuing to cast spells after receiving wounds that may hinder such action normally. This can be thought of as the willpower to keep on playing until the final note, and can push her body even when her own magic reserves when they are low, resulting in damage being applied for how much she overexerts.
• Performance of the Ephemeral D: A skill that was given at this rank from having her contributions to music dedicated to others instead of her. It is an effective skill for what it does, as it subtly shifts the attention and thoughts of those who see her to only remember her beautiful performance. Ordinary, people would try to remember who she is and try to find similarities within other people they have met first or know about before deciphering her identity. However, due to her low renown as a musician, the closest a person would likely deduce her identity to be would be her brother, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. If some research is given, the bridge can be made over to her identity which would be the next likely suspect after they have gotten that far and infer that their skills would likely be the same as servants.
NOBLE PHANTASMS
Name: Nannerl Notenbuch Title: Symphonies from Within Rank: C NP Type: Anti-Unit Range: 1 - 35 Maximum Number of Targets: 100 Description: The one thing that she inherited from her family when she wasn't chosen to become the next head. It is a notebook of music that has many pieces among the pages that are bound in the book, being around fifty pages long and containing short pieces for Caster to facilitate her musical magecraft. Originally designed for children by her father, both Caster and her brother's later work were included in this edition of the notebook that details more complicated and difficult scores that showed others the talent the siblings had resting within them. Even when she was held back by the world, Caster still continued to play and keep up with her brother, who occasionally sent her pieces of music to play and listen to as a little taste of what could be.
The Notebook is also a medium that can be made to offer Caster's own soul and dedicate it to a certain cause. It can be said that it is expected of her to offer her soul up for music and in exchange be granted her wish of creating music. This secret function of her Noble Phantasm is sealed unless Caster willingly allows the process to happen to her and let the changes go through. The same can be said for Caster offering herself up to the Demon God Amdusias since she too is part of the bloodlines that would become agents from them. However, once again this change must be voluntary from Caster's own decision before offering herself but the changes would result in an entirely different servant created in her class retainer.
Effect: In the meantime, this Noble Phantasm allows Caster to play a performance that is enthralling to those in her vicinity, having up to 48 variations that can be played by her. Those who are listening are forced to make a [ Mana ] and [ Luck ] check or fall under a charm-like effect as they listen to her until the end of her performance. The effect that befalls on the listeners can be abated so long there is a will to resist and complete evasion by means of a Magic Resistance Skill is possible. This Noble Phantasm is less of an intrusive skill on a person's mentality but is instead a more dazzling display of skill from a music prodigy putting her all in it.
Name: Kingdom of Back Title: Dichotomy of my ephemeral dreams and stagnant present Rank: B NP Type: Reality Marble Range: 10 - 60 Maximum Number of Targets: 100 Description: A reality marble that was built from the combination of two individuals to create one thing, without them both together, it would only result in something incomplete. In their combined effort, they created the Kingdom of Back, a place where during their childhood they had crowned themselves as King and Queen that allowed them to escape their daily lives. Once originally a beautiful place that was vibrant with color during their stay as children, has only rotted into a dingy and dirty place. Over time, this once pristine place had been warped by Caster's longing to escape her dull life as she fell farther and farther from her dreams. Manifesting itself as a rundown castle surrounded by a town that it is eerily quiet as it rains soot and ash over the land. Everything about the place feels wrong as sound is warped and even the dark colors from the shadows seem instinctually 'off'.
This Noble Phantasm is the representation of what potential Caster had within herself, its original purpose was to create musical magecraft of unparalleled skill that would be indescribable by any words at the height of their artistic abilities. Without her brother, the process to heal and restore this Noble Phantasm back to its initial condition is impossible. With the end of her life, it has instead turned into a Noble Phantasm that brings a pollution that suffocates the light of those that are within the reality marble. It can be described as a selfish envy for those who had the opportunity to do their best and leave their mark in the world after she could not even make the choice for herself while her brother fulfilled the dreams they both had.
Once easily activatable by playing any kind of music from Caster and her brother, it is something that she prefers not to play due to bitter memories attributed to the place. The startup time to this Noble Phantasm is abysmally slow, requiring at least a minute and half before it finally sets itself up and binds itself to the world. It is easily stopped by disrupting her performance both before the reality marble is activated and when in effect as well.
Effect: Those who are inside the Noble Phantasm will find their parameters reduced by two ranks and their skills by a single rank as their shimmering existence as heroic spirits are dulled temporarily. Servants who are classified not as [ Heroic Spirits ] are faced with less scrutiny as only a single rank down are applied on their parameters when inside the space.
Noble Phantasms that are in the reality marble will also be temporarily reduced in power by a single rank due to the nature of how it affects the servants. They will be affected without scrutiny unless these objects are supreme in quality, befitting the true title of a Noble Phantasm which is the crystallization of a heroic spirit's existence in the world, meaning that those that are equal in rank or superior to this Noble Phantasm will function normally. Should the medium used is based upon sound and has artistic accents, it is affected more by the reality marble, losing two ranks in its effectiveness without the previous limitations being applied.
Personality: Evelyn is normally a pretty relaxed girl--she can certainly be moody, but she's normally inclined to let things go and not work herself up about stuff. Well, aside from getting annoyed... rapidly when people bother her about the blindfold are start annoying her about her eyes. Quirk aside, out of the pair of them, she's by far the one acting as the voice of reason.
Skills: She's pretty good at getting around despite being blindfolded most of the time, and without it on her ability to dodge something is pretty amazing. She is also pretty amazing at mathematics... but really, her skillset isn't one that's too inclined to being a magus, just being a normal person trying to get a normal job.
Abilities: Evelyn possesses the Mystic Eyes of Momentum--something that definitely has more in common with psychic powers than normal magecraft, despite its origins and the obvious presence of magic circuits in her body. They're of the unusual sort, in terms of Mystic Eyes, in that they enable the user to interfere with the world directly--in this case, altering the momentum of some object, which is much easier if it's smaller and already moving in the right direction. But they're also Pure Eyes of a kind--because such an ability would be entirely unusable without knowing the direction something was moving and the forces involved. It's an extremely useful view at times. Particularly as it doesn't matter if it should be something visible to humans; magecraft with a physical component is still something she can shove around. But to have it on constantly, unable to turn it off, and coupled to an ability that if overused or pushed could incapacitate or kill you? She would rather see nothing at all.
Brief Backstory: Evelyn's family could lay claim to being a long line of psychics, if they actually cared to--but it was something of a dwindling talent, and so it wasn't even mentioned to her, or ever explained. It was simply a talent rarely there from birth, normally suppressed by medicine but occasionally surfacing for a brief period. And then, as an adult, she had the misfortune to actually see a doctor who would tell her that there was no illness that required it. She wishes that she'd listened. Now always on, and too easily used... simply looking is too dangerous most of the time. But it gave her a more fervent wish, a wish to be rid of them entirely, or to at least have control. A wish that manifested in a series of seals on her arm, something entirely beyond her knowledge. But not Elisabeth's. Elisabeth, the friend who'd always been there for her, was the one to know about magecraft--barely a mage at all, only able to push her body past fair limits for minor contests or brawls. But she knew enough to find out about the war and explain it--and there was no way that she was going to leave her friend to wander blind in America, was she? Even so, Evelyn's situation still looks a hopeless one.