Numerus clausus - lit. "closed number". Used to refer to a fixed maximum number of entrants admissible to an academic institution. Also a concept of property law.
"Arieh Ayondale. This is the name of the man who ruined our lives. Now we're going to ruin his."
Bonjour. My name is Albert Prelati, your fellow classmate and not-so-honored descendant of Francois Prelati. I will skip all ze niceties tonight, as I assume you all know why you've been called 'ere. Leon and I put so much effort into gazering you in ze first place I'd be insulted if you didn't. I'd like to begin by saying we are not ze Clocktower's elite. We are not ze rich and famous, nor are we ze inheritors of powerful and distinguished noble 'ouses. We are just ordinary students. Students who all share one zing in common: 'atred for our common enemy wizin ze Clocktower.
Zat man? Zat poor, deluded fool who zinks 'e can beat us? No, I do not zink I will even show 'im enough pity to call 'im a fool. Zat man is Arieh Ayondale. Ze 'ead of ze Departments of Spiritual Evocation and Alchemy, and our so-called "teacher". 'E 'as made ze grave mistake of double-crossing us. Abusing us. Stepping on us, and destroying our futures. For many of us, 'e is nozing less zan our worst enemy. I myself 'ave 'ad my very own research stolen from me by zis man, who zen published it under 'is own name. Leon 'ere was practically laughed out of ze Clocktower by all 'is classmates simply because Professor Ayondale zought 'e was not of good enough breeding to study wiz 'im. I'm sure each of you 'ere 'as zeir own 'orror stories to share about ze wanton cruelty shown by zis soulless man.
I'm also sure you all agree when I say I will not stand for such injustices, boz ze ones committed against us, and against our friends and fellow students. You are angry. You are pissed off. Zat is good.
I'd like everyone to take a look at ze packages you were given upon arriving, ze ones you now 'old nervously in your 'ands. Let me just say zat you 'ave every right to be nervous. Your assumptions about ze contents of zese packages? Zey are absolutely correct. Unless of course you were assuming zese were somezing ozer zan stolen goods, in which case I sincerely question whezer or not you've even been paying attention. Zese are your catalysts. Artifacts used to summon Servants for ze 'Oly Grail War. Zese particular catalysts? They were apprehended, and by zat I mean "stolen", from our mutual friend Professor Ayondale. It seems 'e was stockpiling quite a few of zem, perhaps to use as bargaining chips to win a few of ze ozer Masters over to 'is side. Ze slime...
Each of these corresponds to a well-known 'istorical figure or legendary myzological 'ero. Zey are ze best of ze best. If zere is one zing I can complement Professor Ayondale on, it's 'is commitment to quality over quantity. I 'ave no doubt zese catalysts were very difficult to obtain. All ze better for us. If he comes after us, we may need to fight.
Not amongst ourselves, might I remind you! We all agreed zat if we were to succeed in summoning seven Servants, we would conduct our Holy Grail War fairly and honorably. Zat means no killing, and no dirty and/or underhanded tricks. If I see anyone trying to pull any of zat sneaky Tohsaka shit just because zey want ze Grail all to zemselves, I'll feed you to my pets. Comprenez vous?
Now I 'ave no doubt zat by now, Professor Ayondale 'as already noticed ze theft. It won't be long until 'e realizes it was one of us. Zat means our time in which to act is limited. Included wiz your catalysts are plane tickets to Inverness. Zat's where our esteemed professor 'as decided to 'old zis event. I'm not sure whezer or not going zere right now is strictly necessary for summoning our Servants, but seeing as we will quickly become fugitives anyway, I have scheduled ze flight for 8:25PM zis night. Until zen, sleep. You will need to be at ze top of your game if we want zis ritual to work.
Meet us at ze airport at 6:00 PM. Pack only what is necessary, and try not to make a scene. You do not need to make excuses to anyone. Do not even talk to them. It's our win so long as we can make it out of ze country. Good luck, my friends. Zis time tomorrow morning, we will all 'ave our vengeance.
Or at least... zat was 'ow it was supposed to go...
Hello one and all, and welcome to this new Fate RP! Joining me is my co-GM @vancexentan. Today, we'll be doing something a bit different from the usual Fate RP. This time, there will be no world-shattering plots. No discussions about grand ideals or philosophy. No long navel-gazing sessions about what it means to be a hero. This time, it's all about one, simple thing.
Revenge.
You have all been wronged, in the worst possible way, by one man. Your teacher at the Clocktower in London, Lord "Professor" Arieh Ayondale. You are, or were, his students. Today you will be his worst nightmare. Underdogs and victims of mage society you may be, you have united under one banner with your fellow classmates and outcasts for the sake of one goal. You are going to make Professor Ayondale pay, by hitting him where it hurts most: his reputation.
You will each be playing a disgraced former student of the insufferable Clocktower professor who all have their own unique, and deeply personal reasons for hating Arieh Ayondale. Maybe he publicly humiliated and discredited you, like Waver. Maybe he blackmailed you. Maybe he just gave you one failing grade too many. Doesn't matter. He ruined your life, and now you're going to ruin his by sabotaging his precious fake Holy Grail War.
But it's not gonna be easy. You see, this isn't going to be a normal Holy Grail War. Oh no. This is to be a Great Holy Grail War. Fourteen Servants, fourteen Masters, two teams, and one Ruler. And only one side can survive. This was never the plan, mind you. But it was never Professor Ayondale's plan that you'd steal seven of the catalysts he went to such great lengths to obtain either. Now he's got all the other Masters working together against you. If he has his way, he'll kill all of you just to see his Holy Grail War proceed according to schedule. You can't let that happen. Obviously.
Now that I've outlined the premise to you, here are the rules:
- Respect your GMs. As GM and co-GM, vance and I have the final say on any submitted character sheets or OOC arguments about gameplay mechanics. We reserve the right to deny sheets for whatever reason, whether it be balance issues or just a matter of aesthetics. As this is a PvE RP, there will also be times where we will be required to re-rail the plot or autohit your characters (though never without reason). This is a non-negotiable part of the GM/player contract. As long as you show respect to us, we will show respect to you, and we will do our best to treat everyone fairly.
- No seriously, don't fuck with us guys. We mean business xD
- No autohitting, godmodding etc. I don't expect there to be much PvP in this RP, but it's still worth reminding. As I said before, we GMs may occasionally autohit players, but only for plot reasons, and never fatally or irreparably. Unless, of course, you break the following rule.
- Anyone who goes quiet for more than seven consecutive days will be considered to have dropped out of the RP. I will not enforce a strict "you must post this often in so many days" rule, but I do demand that you at least post once a week every week. If you can't make an IC post of any substantial length, then make a short post in the OOC letting us know and explaining the circumstances. If you do, you will be given another three days to post. If that's still not enough time, you can arrange for whoever you're partnered with to take control of your characters until you are able to post, or else they will fall under GM control.
- Any characters who are under GM control will be subject to the GM's whims. As their players will at that time have been considered to have dropped out, this can include almost anything we may think to do with your characters, up to and including death or dishonor. Please try not to let this happen. We take no joy in this but this rule exists for the express purpose of keeping this RP from stalling because of disappearing players.
- Servants whose Masters have died (in most cases due to decisions made by the GM) will die unless they are in possession of Independent Action or a Rank B or higher in Mana, in which case they will be allowed to team up with one of the existing Masters or seek shelter in the Church to await the appearance of any Masters who have lost their Servants. In the case of a Master whose Servant drops out, that player will have the option to continue playing both Master and Servant if they so desire, or "adopt" a Servant who has made it safely to the Church.
- We will not enforce a "you must post this often in so many days" rule, but we will enforce a "you may only post this often in so many days" rule. A common problem I see in RPs, Fate RPs especially, is a few players posting so much and so often that other people interacting with them feel overwhelmed or left behind, which often leads to them dropping out. We want to avoid this. As such, each player may only post a maximum of twice a day. For some people this may seem slow, for others it may seem fast. However we're doing it to keep the RP going steady at what we believe is a manageable pace for everyone, and no one is required to post twice a day, you just can't post more than that.
- Be curteous and respectful to everyone (within reason, of course), and have a great time playing with each other!
And finally, just for those "early bird gets the worm" types, here are two sample sheets (some things have been excluded or left strategically blanked in certain places for plot reasons, obviously):
Master Sheet
Name: Arieh Ayondale
Gender: Male
Age: 50, though his appearance has been altered to look more youthful
Height/Weight: 186cm/80kg
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Personality: Make no mistake. This man is not just another aristocrat or spoiled nobleman like the late, great Lord El-Melloi I. Arieh Ayondale is dangerous. Petty, vindictive, vicious, and cruel, his list of crimes is extensive and goes back decades. However due to his natural charisma and his family's prestigious background, not many know of these things, and assume the face he puts on in public is the real deal. He cares little for anything, save for himself and his own accomplishments. To him, his time would be wasted on frivolous things like dreams or grand ambitions, and everything is simply a stepping stone for him to reach ever greater heights of fame and power. Even the Holy Grail War is nothing more than a tool to boost his social standing and prove his martial prowess. He is a man who regularly abuses those who put their trust in him, yet always escapes unharmed due to his riches and influence within the Clocktower. Truly this is the mentality of a man who views everyone and everything else as beneath him.
Background: The heir of a well-known and prestigious family within the Mage's Association, Arieh Ayondale was, until recently, a lecturer within the Departments of Spiritual Evocation and Alchemy. Then the succession crisis following the deaths of Lord Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald and Sola-Ui Sophia-Ri in the Fourth Holy Grail War happened, and suddenly "Professor" Ayondale's status seemed to shoot up overnight. Feeling an opportunity, he began working to present himself as the ideal candidate to replace the Sophia-Ris as the heads of the Department of Spiritual Evocation. Of course, in the event of such an abrupt collapse of an established family's power structure, the selection process to replace them and find a new Department Head is something that would normally take years, if not decades. However, Arieh Ayondale has somehow managed to distinguish himself as the primary leading candidate in only twenty years. This year, he intends to seal the deal by putting on a grand show for the rest of the Mage's Association. To prove his worthiness for the title of the head of the Department of Spiritual Evocation, he has spent many months and emptied countless bank accounts acquiring the disassembled pieces of the Fuyuki Grail, cleansing them, and attempting to reassemble it in a special location in Scotland, relatively close to the Clocktower. His plan seems to be to put on a grand show by summoning seven heroes of legend to fight to the death for the entertainment of the Clocktower's higher-ups, and he has spared no expense in gathering a large number of catalysts and selecting prominent mages who are loyal or sympathetic to his house to fill the roster. You are going to interrupt this perfectly pre-planned event, and turn Ayondale's mock show into a real Holy Grail War.
Origin: Filling
Element: Water, Wood
School of Magecraft: Necromancy, Witchcraft/Eastern Curses
List of Skills/Spells:
- Gandr: typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Magic…
- Geis: typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Magic…
- Voodoo Doll: A traditional-style curse using straw dolls consecrated with the blood, hair, or other bodily excretions of the victim. By attacking body parts on the doll corresponding to the victim, they can cause great agony to them remotely by means of sympathetic magic. Curiously, these voodoo dolls cannot actually be used to kill, only to cause severe pain and temporary paralysis. As this is a form of ritual magic, its cost is negligible.
- Spirit Ventriloquism: This spell requires one already have established command over a wraith. By giving it some of your hair or other bodily excretions infused with a magus' prana, the wraith can be made to speak for you at long distances, transmitting your voice to those around it. Can be used as often as Command Wraith.
- Summon Skeletal Soldiers: Costs 5 units per soldier.
- Raise Zombie (Human): Costs 10 units.
- Raise Zombie (Animal): Costs 2 units for small animals, 5 for large animals.
- Command Wraith: Costs 1 unit per wraith.
Mystic Codes:
- TBA
Circuit Quality: A
Circuit Quantity: A
Number of circuits: 50, with ten stubs each
Od (units): 250
Maximum circuit capacity: 500 units
Other: Wears a mask on one side of his face for reasons unknown.
Servant Sheet
Class: Saber
True Name: Richard I
Master: Arieh Ayondale
Gender: Male
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Height/Weight: 189cm/91 kg
Stats:
- STR: A
- END: B
- AGL: B
- MAG: A
- LCK: D
Class Skills:
- Magic Resistance (B)
- Riding (B)
Personal Skills:
- Charisma (B)
- Golden Rule (C)
- King's Crusade (EX)
- Protection of the Faith (A+++)
Noble Phantasm(s):
- Name:
- Title:
- Type:
- Rank:
- Range:
- Maximum Number of Targets:
- Description: (include mana cost based on the Servant's Rank i.e. E Rank = 400 units, D Rank = 800 units, C Rank = 1200 units etc.)
No sheets will be officially accepted until the OOC is up, but I know a lot of people like to get a headstart on these things. Anyway, with that out of the way, I hope everyone has a great time and that we see lots of great submissions! Please also let me know if you prefer a more in-depth spellcasting system with costs expressed in pre-determined units of magical energy as shown here or a more relaxed "you can use this spell this many times a day" system. I will take everyone's opinions into consideration for the OOC!
