Fate/Secondary Genesis
The Grail War ended on the night of October 29th, 1994. One errant Master brought to a sudden close a ritual hundreds of years in the making, its history stained with the blood of those who offered up their lives for a chance at one wish. He rebelled against the nature of the war after laying hands on the Grail itself, commanding his Servant to destroy the vessel and with it the hopes of the world of Magecraft. The host city of Fuyuki, Japan was ravaged by a fire that followed soon after, and the rebel mage escaped in the torment and chaos that followed. Unlike the damage the Grail had sustained in the wars past, there were no fragments left to recover. The destruction had been thorough, as if it were not enough to break the vessel apart but to exterminate its traces entirely.
No greater icon of the avarice of mankind existed. It was a vessel said to grant miracles, to endow its holder with all the Earthly gains human minds have lusted for since its legend began. A sip from its gilded body would return youth. Simply holding the chalice was said to make a man immortal. Possessing the Grail could bring happiness and fortune to one's life. To seek the Grail was a Godly act, for as time shaped the legend it became the last goblet of Christ, anointed with holy blood. Desires and dreams to suit the passing ages were heaped upon the innocent Grail, and though its powers transformed from one telling of its story to the next the human desire for a tool to grant wishes never waned. The Holy Grail of the Magi was the wish granter they needed to undo the decay of Magecraft. Though the mystic arts of the world had found ways to preserve themselves since ancient times bloodlines did die out, knowledge was lost forever, and while some lineages flourished the world of the Magi grew weaker with each successive generation. Little by little the mysteries of the world had been peeled back, and the incessant march of technology threatened to invalidate the Magi before they could even fritter away their diminishing power. The loss of the grail was catastrophic to those who thought it would mean a permanent reversal of that decline, and without even the remains of the Founding Families' efforts to rebuild from it looked as though the path to greatness offered by the Grail would be lost forever.
As fate would have it, it was not. Decades later, as the summer of 2021 began, the Europe based Mage's Association announced that it had received a declaration from an anonymous source, a letter that had first been dismissed as a foolish hoax penned by a maddened mage. Dismissed until Magi began to report being marked by the grail, red seals of command appearing on their body, declaring their right to summon a Servant of their own for a Grail War that was not happening. The letter, as reproduced and distributed to the affected, read:
"Dear fellows,
I have created a Holy Grail. Let us bring about an end to the era of Magecraft, for that is my sincere wish upon the Grail. Please pass along this letter to those who will manifest Command Seals in the coming weeks, so that they may be informed of their role in this important and monumental ritual. I have selected the Americas, where the Association is not so free to meddle, as the site for this awakening of the Grail. To be precise, the United States, city of Boston, Massachusetts. How thrilling, to call a city of revolution home for what will assuredly be a great upheaval of our hidden little world. I do not know where the Grail will manifest and it is not yet prudent to share where I have hidden away the foundations of the ritual. In the meantime, let's have ourselves a straightforward, honest Grail War. The birth of a new Magic is finally come!
Have you need of a name to believe me, I would prefer that you address me as
Yours, Mr. Crowley"
I have created a Holy Grail. Let us bring about an end to the era of Magecraft, for that is my sincere wish upon the Grail. Please pass along this letter to those who will manifest Command Seals in the coming weeks, so that they may be informed of their role in this important and monumental ritual. I have selected the Americas, where the Association is not so free to meddle, as the site for this awakening of the Grail. To be precise, the United States, city of Boston, Massachusetts. How thrilling, to call a city of revolution home for what will assuredly be a great upheaval of our hidden little world. I do not know where the Grail will manifest and it is not yet prudent to share where I have hidden away the foundations of the ritual. In the meantime, let's have ourselves a straightforward, honest Grail War. The birth of a new Magic is finally come!
Have you need of a name to believe me, I would prefer that you address me as
Yours, Mr. Crowley"
Whether they came forward to receive their letter or not there was no denying the call of the Grail on those that it afflicted. Visions came to them in their sleep, the glow of city lights, the soft crackle of sputtering lanterns, the towering sight of a red-bricked church, its steeple crafted in brilliant white. Voices whispered to their dreams, calling them to the City upon a Hill. Invisible hands came to carve their seal into the flesh. Bruises blossomed over with blood to reveal the decadent symbol of a Master, the three Command Seals that the aspirant would bear until victory or death. There was withdrawal, there was failure: Only so many of those who became eligible could muster the will, the power, or the fortune to summon their Servant before the Grail had filled its ranks with contenders. But for those who dared to pluck the threads of legend, draw them to their side and summon a Servant for their war, the deathmatch had begun. The letter said what it must, but any mage knows the truth: The Grail is for granting a victor's wish.
Character Directory
Team Saber:
Servant: The Hound of Ulster Master: The Jersey... who?
Team Lancer:
Servant: The Demon Lord of Čachtice Master: The Second Chance for Sohonnai
Team Archer:
Servant: The Immortal Archer of the Shahnameh Master: The Peerless Name of Habsburg
Team Rider:
Servant: The Empress of Golden Russia Master: The Protector of Boston
Team Caster:
Servant: The Living Sun of Cusco Master: The Seeker From New York
Team Berserker:
Servant: Valhalla's Greatest King of Zealand Master: The Rose Witch at Hearthstone
Foreword
Hello and welcome to Fate/Secondary Genesis! It you didn't know this is a thread based on Fate/Stay Night, its surrounding stories, and the Nasuverse. The players will be taking up the roles of both the Masters; magicians chosen by the Grail to do battle and their Servants; spirits of legend with their own wills to the grail who (usually) do battle in their Master's stead. Currently this thread is set up around the series standard seven Masters/seven Servants setup, but that's about as much of the source material you'll need to know. This thread will be fairly freeform, in that there is a plot to follow but the player is free to interest themselves in it or focus on the war the story takes place in. My priority is always to reward and furnish the world around player driven storylines. The series itself is usually character driven, and that's the kind of atmosphere I strive for in the thread. If you have any questions or concerns at any point, for any reason, please feel free to contact myself @Epsir or my co-conspirator @DrowsyPangolin through PMs or this thread. Thank you for reading!
Character Sheets
Rules and Things to Remember
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