Good to see Lancelot join us, and for things to move forward.
Gonna need to make some introductions with Merrodach. @PKMNB0Y do you want to just say that Merrodach was always his Master, or should we have Amende get eaten by Zombies before he comes in as a replacement? Though, that might be hard to explain for why Merrodach was able to come back in the past after the fact.
In either case, a couple questions: 1. Does Sinfjotli get a fame boost from being nearer to his homeland now? And also, does he get a boost since his Master is now actually a good mage? Amedea was described as a third rate magus after all, while Merrodach sounds like a solid 1st rate.
just to be clear here before I post again, coming to life and trying to eat us is what these corpses are doing right? They're not in fact, being corrupted by vile sorcery that transforms them into a hyper efficient fertilizer that grants peace and fertility to the land right? Or makes the wishes of children come true.
Appearance: Lancer is a slim man of average height dressed in pale monk robes. He is fair of feature, and sports a long Han Chinese style Queue braid which hangs down to his thigh. Though reasonably handsome, his appearance is overall unobtrusive and unremarkable.
Alignment: Lawful Good
Personality: Lancer is highly reserved in nature, being on the whole, quiet and contemplative. Though he tends towards passivity, he has a strong sense of justice and duty, believing that his skills give him a responsibility to look after the welfare of the defenseless, and those who are close to him. Though a great hero, he is fundamentally a melancholy spirit who would prefer to accomplish his goals without inflicting suffering. He can be said to possess a mindset that is closer to a doctor than a warrior in the end.
A legendary martial arts master and physician from Guangdong Province around the turn of the 20th century. Serving as both a military officer and a local physician his primary occupation was as an instructor in a wide range of martial arts styles. Having studied martial arts from the age of five and possessing a unique genius, he developed unparalleled skills as a Master of Hung Ga, as well as learning and perfecting the legendary Ghost Shadow Kick.
Developing an astounding local reputation as the Tiger after the Ten Tigers of Canton, he was recruited into the military during the Japanese Invasion of Taiwan, serving as a medic, hand to hand instructor and militia leader during the conflict.
Upon returning to civilian life, he continued his school and clinic, while also serving as a guard for various businessmen and politicians during the massive crime waves that sprung up during the years of the Canton Merchants Uprising. As an unparalleled master of the Martial Arts he became famous after defeating an armed band of 30 men singlehandedly with nothing but a barge pole.
Though personally unassailable in combat, he was struck by tragedy when his son was killed attempting to follow in his footsteps. Later, when his clinic was destroyed by invading Republic forces he fell into a deep depression, resulting in illness which took his life.
Armaments: An 8 foot long staff, set with iron rings at either end. He has also been summoned with a full set of Physicians paraphernalia, including bandages, splints, and acupuncture needles. When removed and twisted over onto itself his outer robe can be wielded as a short whip like weapon capable of inflicting E rank damage strikes, and of parrying bladed weapons.
Parameters: Due to his age, all of his natural Parameters suffer a rank down. Because of the great magical strength of his Master however, an A+ rank in Agility has become possible when combined with pouring vast amounts of extra Prana into this one Parameter through careful control of his internal Qi.
Strength: D
Endurance: D
Agility: A+
Mana: E
Luck: D
Class Skills: Magical Resistance: E Unable to cancel any spells, but their effects are somewhat reduced.
Personal Skills:
Physician of Zhōngyī: C Achievement in the area of Chinese Medicine. Aside from access to a large range of practical medical skills including the setting of bone and application of bandages, Lancer is additionally capable of reducing the effect of spiritual poisons and curses with clever application of acupuncture and Qi manipulation. Though intimate comprehension of his own body, he additionally receives a minor bonus to personal recovery from fatigue and injury. Due to this skill, he has been summoned with access to a range of his personal medical supplies, allowing him to provide instantaneous first aid.
Knowledge of Respect and Harmony: B A refinement of technique which causes his attacks to maintain their effectiveness even after long exposure.
Chinese Martial Arts: A+++ A Grand Master in the arts, rivaling the likes of Li Shuwen and the Yellow Emperor.
Ghost Shadow Kick: A+++ A skill which surpasses human or worldly limits, being nearly equal in status to Tsubame Gaeshi. It is a simple, but perfectly executed kick, resulting from total perfection of form and mindset, having become one with the world in that instant.
Lancer gathers his Qi and initiates a kick which surpasses his natural reflexes by a single rank. Being perfect in form, it is launched in total isolation from the rest of his body language, and is impossible to predict from reading his movements. Instinct, Eye of the Mind, and all other forms of superior damage evasion skills are completely bypassed. In the eyes of the world, it is a completely natural event, having no origin or explanation, hence, an attack which should not exist and cannot be anticipated.
Though it does not truly surpass reality, and is thus technically possible to defend against for one with sufficient reflexes, for anyone save a hero of skill comparable to that of Achilles or Karna, the only possible way would be through sheer luck or a magical trick.
Once landed, the first kick opens the gateway to launching the next, and thus it is possible to form a chain of combos if the target's fighting stance has been disrupted. He is able to perform this up to five times in near instantaneous succession if the situation is right. Against one who is capable of ignoring the damage utterly, this is impossible.
Before this attack can be launched Lancer must gather his Qi and become attuned to that of his opponent, thus, it is impossible to use untill he has become familiar with the movements of his enemy.
None. (See Ghost Shadow Kick)
None
Weaknesses: None
Name: Quentin Deloffre
Gender: Male
Age: 52
Appearance: Quentin is a tall man with narrow shoulders and a slender build who carries the reserved air of an aristocrat. Well dressed in an expensive brown and red suit he gives the appearance of one who possesses casual wealth. His face is pale and gaunt, with a defined widows peak.
Personality: Quentin was a quiet contemplative man who prefered reading and other mundane pleasures to magical affairs. Despite this, he was born into a family focused heavily on using magecraft to enact great destruction on their enemys, and known for pursuing long term grudges against their many enemies. Because of this his personality is split, having lived most of his life wearing the mask of an arrogant man who seeks out bloodshed. Because of recent events however, he has changed entirely into a weary disheartened man with little enthusiasm for anything except attaining the Grail.
History: The former head of the Deloffre Mages family in France, Quentin Deloffre is a skilled Magi, the heir to a long and powerful line of French Magi with deep roots in western magical society. Loosely affiliated with the Mages Association, they nevertheless maintained their independence as a general rule and focused on their own affairs.
Because of this high tendency for initiating conflict the children of the Deloffre family would often wind up dead, and though he was not the first born, in the end the position of heir fell to Quentin after the death of his two older brothers. Raised up to be the heir of this violent, proud clan of Magi, Quentin was carefully tutored in Magecraft from a young age and groomed to be family head.
Doing his best as the family leader, Quentin was careful to act aggressively and arrogantly in public to appease his many watchful relatives, while in reality minimizing the number of conflicts his family was engaged in whenever possible. Despite this he found himself in battle after battle with other Magi, Vampires, and hostile Church Agents. Consigned to a life of violence he developed his destructive magecraft and refined it over the long years of his stewardship.
With a reputation as a first rate Magi, Quentin succeeded in either destroying, routing or appeasing most of his family's enemys and was looking forward to a long retirement before passing on his Thaumaturgical Crest to his firstborn, when his son Rémi was unexpectedly killed trying to assault a Dead Apostle.
Goaded into attempting revenge he hunted for the monster responsible for many years, but in the end was overcome by despair and returned to his estate in desolation.
Quentin retreated into seclusion after passing on his Thaumaturgical Crest to his next child in line, and has dwelt on his son's death for several years now while his other children and extended family members return the family to its old ways and reignite all of the old feuds he worked for years to extinguish.
His long isolation has been broken now by news of the Prague Grail War. The promise of an omnipotent wish has drawn him to the conflict, and he has informed the rest of the family that he intends to claim the Grail and use it to immortalize the family, and establish them as the Masters of Magi in France. In truth however, he only wishes for the resurrection of Rémi.
Having summoned his Servant on the Deloffre estate grounds he expected a mighty hero of French antiquity to be attracted to his Bloodlines character, perhaps Roland, one of the Knights of the Round Table, or Geoffroi de Charny. Instead he was surprised to find that he had summoned a quiet reserved Chinese Folk Legend who shared many of his hidden personal convictions, instead of his family's publicly known sentiments.
Physical Ability: C
Mana: A
Magecraft: A skilled user of flame magecraft meant to cause mass destruction, he is a Magi who hides behind heavy ancestral bounded fields until he deems the time to be right to come forward and unleash mass devastation before retreating once more. For most of his life he had access to his family Thaumaturgical Crest to deploy a wide range of Mysteries against his enemys, but now that he has passed the Crest on he is left with only a few select spells that he personally learned during his lifetime.
Fire Manipulation: A The creation and manipulation of jets of intensely hot flames, which can be compared to the detonation of a fire bomb when deployed at full power. A direct prolonged hit is sufficient to severely injure or kill Servants without high levels of Magic Resistance.
Other lesser manipulations are also possible, with nearly any form being easy to produce with concentration and effort. At his upper limits he is capable of demolishing an average sized house.
Curse of Drowning: B A curse which subjects its target to sensation of drowning. It is not water manipulation, but rather an application of the Dark Arts. The sensation is false, and if the target can resist the illusion it will quickly dissipate.
Healing Thaumaturgy: C A basic grasp of Spiritual healing techniques, he is able to heal light to moderate flesh wounds quickly, but struggles with repairing other kinds of damage.
Reinforcement: C Simple Reinforcement Magecraft which increases his speed, strength and reflexes, though not to a level which would be expected of an Enforcer. Capable of keeping pace with lower level Vampires and Church Agents.
Projection: C The spontaneous creation of a reinforced rapier for use as a side arm and wand. Possesses the attribute of being a focus point for the creation of flames.
Bounded Field: A+ Quentin makes use of a powerful bounded field that nullifies the ability of others to take notice of that which is held within it. A powerful stealth field, it requires careful investigation over multiple hours by a skilled Magi, or sharp eyed Servant to penetrate its effects. As an additional function, any Magi or prana dense creature such as a Servant, Familiar or Golem crossing its boundary line is subject to attack by a rank C jet of flame. This trap can be detected and similarly bypassed by those who possess sufficient skill in Magecraft. Also built in is a telepathic alarm, warning Quentin over long distance when someone has crossed his Bounded field, or triggered its trap.
Mystic Codes: A large green soapstone set into a golden pendant worn about Quentin's neck. It is used to quickly erect a small personal barrier of prana which deflects projectiles and spells of B rank or lower, on the Modern Magecraft scale. It is capable of deflecting 1 A rank Spell, or 2 B rank spells before its shield breaks.
Skills: Thaumaturgy: A Fire Manipulation, Bounded Field Creation.
Fencing: B An experienced fencer, trained for a young age as a sport appropriate for an aristocrat. Having applied it in combat in combination with his flame magecraft, it has become like another branch of Thaumaturgy for him, and thus something to be pursued and perfected.
Finance: B An experienced manipulator of finances, required for one who maintains their wealth and holdings independent of the Mages Associations support.
Equipment: Possesses around 50,000 dollars in liquid assets available to him from the beginning of the war.
1 black Rolls Royce Ghost.
A private home in the West district of Střešovice. It is a three story mansion of around 4,000 square feet counting the surrounding grounds. Secluded within a densely wooded neighborhood it is fenced off from the surrounding area, with the Bounded field just inside the fence line. Having hypnotized the homeowners into going on vacation, he has full run of the property, which has been converted into an ad hoc workshop.
Walgrave emerged into the darkened wood, his hands clenched. For anyone else the sudden transition from warm indoor conditions to the icy cold of a norther windy night would have undoubtedly been the cause, but for Walgrave he barely noticed. The cold had little power over his withered alchemy burnt body these days. It was instead the brief perception of the transportation itself that had unstrung his limbs, and set his hands to shivering. That brief glimpse of magecraft totally beyond his ability to grasp, much less rival.
He became aware of his surroundings slowly, eyes tracing over the bloody windswept battleground and the dueling pair with vague alarm. It had been decades since he had bestrode a battlefield himself, and suddenly he felt terribly alone, frail and vulnerable.
"Rider, Rider to me!" He gasped out, takeing a few faltering steps backwards. With a brief gesture flame guttered into existence, flickering just barely in the palm of his hand. The acidic chemical stench he always carried with him briefly flared up ten times stronger, only to be carried away by the wind.
He eyed the battling Heroic Spirits through squinted eyes, and then turned his attention to the multitude of fallen corpses which surrounded them. The swordsman had tried to warn them about the bodies, and he had done battle with far too many vampires in his time to ever disregard such a warning. Focusing his Magi senses he eyed the nearest dead man and held his flickering flames up like a lantern.
Sinfjotli's boast was still echoing proudly in his ears when the scenery made its change. In a moment, despite the dark, despite the battlefield, despite the fire he knew he was home. No, perhaps it could even be said that it was because of these things that Sinfjotli knew that he was home.
His eyes immediately found the fighting pair of heroes and, with a shimmer, his long spear, white helm and golden rimmed shield glimmered into existence. He took a few steps forward towards the two, but not enough to intrude on their ring of fighting space. He was suddenly filled with an uncanny feeling of elusive familiarity looking at the pair, but could not place them with anyone he knew from life. The woman however, was very beautiful, and for a moment he marveled at her lancework in the moonlight. Here was a true Valkari maiden it was clear to see, and for a moment his former thoughts towards the Weasel Eared Huntress were forgotten.
Now was neither the time nor the place however.
He surveyed the field and bit back a minor feeling of frustration at the encounter. He had hoped to meet with some opposing warband and make his introduction, either to be accepted as an honored guest befitting his station, or to blood himself early in this encounter and be reestablished as this band's natural leader. This single pair of desperate warriors, with all their bannermen slaughtered on either side was another thing entirely. It would not do to part two enemys intent on one anothers blood, but neither was it acceptable for their mission to allow the possibility that they would slay each other.
"Stay your blood drenched hands, both of you!" He thundered, leveling his spear tip at the pair. "The Volsungs have arrived! I bring a muster of warriors returned from Asgard and beyond!" @ShadowKingman
Pavel Dumitru
Pavel glanced around the exotic city, disorientated. His poor familiar was even more put out, and once again he was forced to burn prana to ensure the now troublesome beast did not run off to find some dim cave to hide in. Blast the thing!
He realized that a file of spearmen was spread out before them suddenly, and that moreover one of their party (he couldn't quite make out who) was giving the order to charge!
He started running along with the others towards the towering ziggurat, hoping to dear God that some overzealous guardsman didn't decide to nail him with a spear at any moment. Never one to let the odds play out by themselves, he let his blue flames sweep to either side of him, spawning two mirror images flanking him as he ran.
"Okay Lancer! I know we don't know each other so well, but if you have some kind of heroic Babylonian diplomacy, now is the time to be using it!" @ADamnFiddle
