Eisenhorn

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"A sound beginning, memorization will go back with me when this is said and done. It's a deal then, I will return once I have proof."

Rolan would excuse himself at that point, the next task already being considered. Proof he was not just another copy floating around this whole dreamscape, which was something that he, quite frankly, could not simply provide. Possibly a request designed to be impossible by design, but there was one way that came to mind as he brainstormed, heading for the outskirts of the city, someplace comfortable he could wait at for awhile. After all, there was no promise nor guarantee that this was going to even work, let alone work in a timely manner. Seating himself in a quiet, isolated location he could be confident in not being interrupted at, he unslung his crossbow and begun performing routine maintenance on the weapon, starting with restringing the weapon and going from there, speaking out loud to, at least to appearances, to no one in particular.

"Witch Merilia, when you have a moment please."

That was his best, frankly only, bet to proving he wasn't just some copy, at least well enough to appease Silenna. He could make all the claims he wanted, say whatever he pleased, true or not, but it wouldn't prove anything from a pragmatic point of view. Quite simply, he needed someone to back up his claims. And finding another copy to claim he was not also a copy wouldn't accomplish much of anything. Now, should he get the one maintaining this to state otherwise, well, that would be far harder to argue. Now, whether or not Merilia would even humor him was another matter completely, and he would brainstorm as he worked, considering other methods of proving he was real while waiting and performing maintenance to pass the time. It was long overdue anyways, as far as he could tell at any rate, and he wasn't going back empty handed, not yet.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Things were not going smoothly, by all accounts. Yūma noted that A-188 was actually thrown back by the ghostly samurai, the source of this whole mess, as more Ashigaru rose up, though Agent Mae's purification was slowing the efforts of the lesser spirits. Still, he found himself slamming his last magazine home and continuing to pick off gunners, buying time for Agents Zhao and Murakami to engage and bring down the Samurai leader of this mess. As much as he would love to also get stuck in, too many people would just get in each other's way and interfere with each other. Five bullets left, he mentally considered, just in time to glance and see a powerful form trying to advance on Agent Mae. No, they could not have that, and he turned on heel, aiming two rounds at its knees to cripple its advance before putting another two aimed for its head. One bullet left, save that one for an emergency, and as he swapped to his brass knuckles again, he spotted a female looking spirit forming with a naginata and more ashigaru heading for the rear team. Not on his watch.

"Engaging the flankers! Keep anything else off Agent Mae if your not engaged with the primary threat!"

A quick dashing sprint brought Yūma across to burst out of the smoke, a lunging haymaker smashing the first ashigaru back into the ground, a combination of momentum and its already weakened state combining to dispatch it in rapid fashion. Keeping his momentum, the former officer moved fast for the naginata wielding spirit, aiming to get within her guard and reach before she can bring the deadly sharp blade and reach to a good advantage against them. His strategy was simple, evade and turn that evasion momentum into another swing, keeping low and quick to hopefully prevent the naginata wielder from getting any leverage in putting her weapon to dangerously good use. Maybe this one would prove to be more interesting than buckling under the barrage of blows.

@Raineh Daze@Izurich@OwO@Rune_Alchemist@PKMNB0Y@Psyker Landshark@VitaVitaAR

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"If I'm a meathead, you really don't want to deal with the other knights."

Rolan made no attempt to remark on violent, it was the very nature of his profession to conduct violence on those who he was told to target. Typically they deserved it, traitors, bandits, and the like, but there was no debating his methods. Still, as he listened to Silenna's rationalizing on wasting her time on him and starting to come up with a reason, he calmly waited for her to make a decision. She was fond of her backhand insults and compliments, though far from equal in measure, but arguing the point would just be wasted breath. Rather, he focused on the rambling prior to agreeing to 'waste her time' on him, she had a plan. Likely get someone outside this dreamscape to yank her out, which meant he was going to owe a debt coming out of this. So be it, better that than continuing to headbutt a wall, metaphorically speaking, and he was direct to the point once again.

"So, once terms for your assistance are discussed, when do we begin? I will learn anything you have to teach, you never know when something may prove useful."

@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"I'm not a magical ghost, I'm with the current Iron Roses, one of quite a few dropped into this whole situation to train. Anything you teach will not be wasted on someone long passed just trying to pass the time, on that you have my word."

Rolan did not overtly respond to the backhanded remark on his looks, though if physical attractiveness could sway her decision to any beneficial degree he would accept it readily enough. Looks weren't something he normally leaned on, charming people he hunted down before the Iron Roses, or the people he hunted down after joining the Roses was not an applicable skill. He had little interest going back to the drawing board on what to do with his training time in this place, which meant getting through to this woman not only the sincerity of his desire to further himself in alchemical studies, but to actually convince her to help. Unlike the Legends, she had no obligation or agreement to provide any assistance, which did make this slightly more difficult.

@Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Whatever Rolan was expecting, being shouted at about orders was not one of them. The grumpy, irritable woman who swung the door open loosely matched the description he was given. What had not been mentioned was the scarring and signs of learning, the hard way, how alchemy can be dangerous to one's own wellbeing as well as those who are not so willingly exposed to it. That, if anything, was a sign that she was exactly the kind of teacher he was looking for, one who had learned well the harder lessons. The goggles spoke of experience in protecting vital sight and...what was that about not getting it up?!

"Hang on now, I'm not..."

Rolan moved to at least intercept the door long enough to get a word in edgewise, hopefully making it clear he was just trying to get a word in before the door was slammed in his face. This was clearly a case of mistaken identity and he was quick to try and state as much. He had been caught off guard by the crassness of her apparent frustration with recent visitors trying to get help with their impotence.

"I didn't come here to seek manhood enhancements! I am trying to find an alchemist to learn from, at least hear me out before slamming the door in my face, please?"

@Raineh Daze

Fate/Illuminate Histoire

Assassin

"Jekyll. Jekyll. Jeeeeekyll. Hey, asshole!"

Assassin was pointedly ignoring his lesser half as he scanned the surroundings, discreetly moving along the paths towards the church. A woman had stood out before departing for the main route, though he had not had the time to seriously analyze her, especially if he wanted to avoid drawing unwelcome gazes and attention so soon into the goings on. He had been lingering around the edges of the church, watching for both his Master, as well as others that stood out as such, one figure that stood out had otherwise concealed himself decently well. Scarification had stood out on his hands, something that was just not normal as far as he had gathered. He recognized a sign of magecraft when he saw it, even if the good Doctor himself had been far from what one might consider a practitioner in any formal regard. For his part, Hyde seemed to notice that Jekyll had finally clued in and mouthed off, mentally, once again.

"About time you perked up to him Doc, you make for a real poor lapdog. Got mages both outside and inside, sure I can't take over for a few to clean things up early?"

"And let you defile not just the concept of this war, but who knows how many innocents along the way? Absolutely not, furthermore..."

Jekyll's intent to lecture his lesser half was interrupted by the mental signal of his Master, who bid him return, ideally sane. An annoyed feeling emanated from Hyde, though the general calmness and lack of true danger made it unlikely for the man, and Jekyll used that term very sparingly, to get a solid grasp on the control of their shared form. Assassin began making their way back to intercept and reunite with Rumi, falling in step beside her before speaking on the mental wavelength they shared. No sense letting eavesdroppers of any sort catch wind of what might be passed along in terms of information. Assassin was just physically far away enough to not be easy to peg as a companion of Rumi's, while still being present enough to act on a moment's notice and allow his Master to be keenly aware of his arrival.

<"Master, fortunately for us both it is far too civil for my lesser half to even care to reach for control. There are Masters already present in the Church itself, and one likely one along his way as well. No overt signs of Servants outside the church as of yet, it seems the others intend to maintain civility until this War formally begins.">

<"Yeah, Doc here was opposed to getting the drop on anyone so soon and break that civility. Came trotting back along like a good little bitch to the Master's beck and call.">

Much to Jekyll's annoyance, exposure to modern slang and media, brief as it was, was having a stark influence on Hyde's vocabulary. At least in the Victorian era he was at least well spoken, now he was little better than some poor soul living in destitution and poverty. Still, while Jekyll maintained a firm grip on the control of their shared body, there was little to be done for keeping the mental presence of Hyde, ever present and ever crass, from mouthing off and manifesting himself. A small mercy that he was content to just run his metaphorical mouth. Still, it was a downside of this particular Assassin, though not being one of the classical ones had its strengths as well, at least one would hope.

@Psyker Landshark

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Even without the logic of the center of the delapedated manor holding the source of the problem, the sensation alone would be enough to announce it. Offering a nod to the other group as the two prongs reunited, it was short lived as things went from bad to worse. Yūma was near the rear of the pack of recombined agents, given his position with the original frontal assault team, and he had a good view of what was happening. Spearwall up, even manifesting swords capable of catching Agent Murakami's sword, and a mass even slowing down A-188. What was revealed was, unlike the black ooze ashigaru, was a samurai of some variety reforming and issuing warnings against the trespassers. A-188 wasted no time trying to bear down on the sword wielder, which Yūma suspected was not going to be nearly as effective as one would expect, which meant he was going to move to provide supporting fire with his remaining ammunition.

A wall of spears was potent, sure, but spears didn't block bullets. Stepping to the side, the former officer took careful aim and waited for a clear opening to harry the sword wielding source of the black ooze ashigaru. He intended to harry the sword wielding anomaly first and foremost, creating openings for the other Agents to exploit. Be it going for the legs to reduce the capability of moving out of attacks, or interfere with the weapon arms of the sword wielding source. Yūma would leave dealing with the spears and rising ashigaru to the other agents, he could at least focus on using the remainder of his ammunition trying to put an end to this decisively. He didn't call out his intent this time, used to watching other agents to avoid hitting them with his shots, and not wanting to warn the source of his intent.

@Raineh Daze@Izurich@OwO@Rune_Alchemist@PKMNB0Y@Psyker Landshark@VitaVitaAR

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Yūma caught the marching orders that A-188 had issued to it by Agent Murakami, and his efforts at keeping the resurrecting flanking gunners down seemed effective. The plan was simple and to the point, follow A-188's path into the heart of the mansion and put an end to this unending tide of relics of the past. Suited him fine, the novelty of fighting ooze made specters of the past had begun to wear thin, especially since beyond one interesting threat, it had all been fairly rank and file troops. After putting down several more gunners, a wall of murky, brackish water, providing both barrier against attacks and further openings to exploit. Yūma took up a rearguard position now, keeping himself between harrying attacks and the like towards those more vulnerable to direct offensive actions, commenting offhand in response to a request to being carried.

"All hands seem already full I'm afraid, even A-188 and their abundance of legs."

Moving deftly backwards, which helped keep the more sluggish moving at a brisk pace, Yūma did a quick ammo check while reloading. Running low, not ideal, made things interesting again at least. He had brought enough ammunition for skirmishing, not full blown combat, and thinking back he kind of wished he had brought his heavier duty combat armor, it had more room for ammo and protection and was better suited for handling proper weapons in close quarters. But if he could look at the future and prepare accordingly life would be far different, and a damn sight more boring, so he refocused himself, keeping any Ashigaru at bay with a combination of pistol fire and close quarters strikes, refusing to let himself get drawn off at any given time. Unlike A-188, he didn't have the luxury of being able to shift into a new form and take out an army on his own. He would need significantly heavier firepower to take out an entire army on his own, and a lot more time to plan.

"Bringing up the rear, keeping hostiles at bay."

@Rune_Alchemist@Izurich@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@OwO

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

A-188 had support in the form of Numako, and that suited Yūma just fine then. As long as none of them stood alone, they would be in far better shape than not. Obvious thoughts aside, it seemed that the continued, combined efforts and shifting tactics had forced the Ashigaru on the backfoot again, the return of A-188 and Numako being very helpful for the cohesion of their assault. The problem was they were not making good headway, and unlike the others, his ammo supplies would be exhausted eventually. A-188 slammed into the Ashigaru while Agent Murakami tapped further into the pyrokinetics and bladeplay to smash the ranks further. Yūma kept in the center of the ad-hoc formation that had formed, pacing his shots more carefully, saving them to either prevent unseen attacks, or keep ashigaru gunners from employing their methods. The black puddles reforming into enemies, the ones that had not fled into the dark, was just plain unsporting. It did at least make the fight interesting again, since the anomalies bullying ashigaru would get old eventually.

The sudden surge of incense, smoke, and ash coming down announced that Agent Mae had, in fact, doubled down on the use of incense. That should turn the attempts by the ashigaru to surround them on its head, given the sudden falling cloud of the material. Agent Mae's announcement was very much in line with his own ammunition supply situation, he could only keep shooting for so long before he ran out of bullets. Punching ashigaru back into the black goo they came from was fun, but compared to the speed of elimination that the anomalous could provide? A waste of time if he had better options at hand, as much fun as it would be to get stuck in again. Glancing back to evaluate, Yūma spotted the arquebus ashigaru reform and begin to take aim, he barked a warning as he opened fire to interrupt it.

"Gunner behind!"

Yūma put several shots into the ashigaru, aiming to prevent it getting its shot off before shifting his stance again. Slipping a brass knuckle onto his left hand, he prepared to engage in close quarters shooting against any of the ashigaru that advanced on either himself or the incense wielding Mae, while hopefully conserving ammunition in the process. Agent Murakami, A-188, and Numako had proven that being surrounded only improved their lethality, and they were not exactly in need of as focused defense. Given the sudden ability of the ashigaru to form from their remains, someone had to keep their head on a swivel to watch for gunners materializing out of the woodwork, and Yūma took up that position while continuing to cover the anomalies and agents present.

@Rune_Alchemist@Izurich@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze@OwO

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Lady Silenna.

That was the name Rolan had been given after asking around (and clarifying he wasn't looking for a cooking instructor, which had led to some disappointment) as well as a direction to head. Back to Talderia, he would be able to find her there. A woman of gold hair, golden eyes, and enough skill in alchemy to be considered a master in her craft already. Suited him fine, anything to give him an edge in the coming days. The other knights were training, he had seen them working while trying to find enough information to go on, honing conventional fighting skills and capabilities. Following that route would be chasing after the others, he wouldn't catch up in martial prowess anytime soon, especially with them lengthening their strides as well. He made sure that word was left for the Captain once she finished training or had time to review progress that he was heading back to Talderia, to find additional training there.

Rolan moved with a sense of purpose, and asking around he realized how much of a needle in a haystack situation he had going on here. Yes, he had a name and a general description, but that didn't mean a lot to most of the people he spoke with. He spent more time than he would have cared to simply trying to find anyone who knew the name at all, and even then it took some doing to convince them he was just looking to learn, and narrow down where he was going. After that, he was able to start getting better answers, even more so once he started getting closer to where Lady Silenna was staying. Before long he was approaching the abode where he was told he could find the woman, and approaching the door he raised his hand up and gave the door two short, firm knocks. Hopefully tracking down this woman would be the hard part, and she would be willing to help...