Epsir

Greetings! Candy Cane Service!

Thank you. It wasn't on Christmas after all, but I saw it when I really needed to. Your message means a lot to me, and I hope all the same for you. I'll keep an eye out for when that luck comes around. Merry Christmas.

Fate / Astrolabe

@Raineh Daze
Sorry, I didn't realize you spoke for the GM. That's not what was said at all.

I'd be a little worried about that if what I wanted to do was wank power levels with you guys, but that's a sad premise for a freeform RP. At first the problem was parameters, which after an explanation @1Charak2 deemed "otherwise fine." Then the problem was that he wanted an amalgamation or more historical context, which I gave and gave alternatives for depending on what was desired to make a silly concept work.

You're well within your rights to find that insufficient since by what has been said you both have a very personal take on Fate lore that adds your conjecture to explicit canon. I figured because of that things would be fine here, but I'm going to be honest this feels a little poisoned with you jumping in. You come across as hostile, and I don't want to spoil people's fun in a PvE by being here if this is how conversations are going to go. I'd rather you have a good game than have to beat me over the head for our differences.

I was willing to do anything including running a completely different character if this was deemed too out of left field, but that was not what was asked of me, bar you, and I have no desire to guess what the clique is thinking tonight. I'm sure you guys will have no problems getting players, otherwise I don't like abandoning threads, but I'm going to have to withdraw from this. Peace.

Fate / Astrolabe

@1Charak2
That is unfortunate. Do you at least understand the part where I gave you exactly what you asked for?

Fate / Astrolabe

@1Charak2
Oh, I'm sorry. This is something I've done a fair bit of consideration for but didn't throw much in other than

Accounts from the Revolution and the wars that followed it tell tales of 'a certain Marianne,'

Because normally there's a Legend section to these Fate CS. I tried to keep it a little more minimalist for a Deviation section since the format seemed fun, focusing on the post-death strangeness and amalgamation of minor persons that makes the Spirit what it is. I was too vague or there has been some misunderstanding and I'll try to clear things up so please forgive another long winded post.

The least intrusive explanation for the Servant is that in the legend enabling alt-history of the Nasuverse, at least some of the folklore was telling the truth about a Marie-Anne that otherwise didn't make it into the books. Treating myth as misunderstood alt-history fact seems pretty par for Fate and doesn't intrude on any of the many people from the era that, like you say, have their own business with the Throne. You want them amalgamated with a living person, and I agree because that is already the truth. In this case the supplied person originates from apocrypha of the era. Someone who in reality certainly did not exist as depicted but in a world where every historical figure was actually a cute anime girl, may have.

If we have to cannibalize someone who was probably not just a legend in real life history, no biggie. There is a story that I'm pretty sure originated in tabloids which states that Paul Barras was who choose the name, and he did so because of the wife of Jean-François Reubell. Marie-Anne Mouhat. Not credible history, but she was in arm's reach of Reubell, at least. It leans harder into the identity being thrust upon someone after the fact, but her connections make her my gun-to-my-head choice for a Real Person™ that can hold the bag for us.

I'm happy to run with whichever floats better in your interpretation of the lore. I have a preference because for whatever reason I am happier to go crazy with explaining pure myth than trying to tie a legend to questionable history, but there isn't a whole lot of difference between the two in the grand scheme of things.

Fate / Astrolabe

Yeah, he's the easiest example to go to for Servants who have a bit of redundancy on their page in the form of a statline that's altered by their skills, since it's his entire bit and all.

Fate / Astrolabe

@1Charak2
Container base stats, mostly. They're at around the same level of upwards deviation from base as Mr. Jekyll, and like him they have the skew of the final letter grades getting bumped around by skills. Only, instead of Mad Enhancement upping STR it's Jusqu'au upping END. Their array is pretty typical for an Assassin and we see Servants that are even more modern doing about the same. Granted, there are modern chads like Mata Hari who flex by taking E in all fields, but it goes to show there's not exactly a rule to follow. As for the skills, well, one of the p.skills is a replacement bargain for a c.skill and her rank in Charisma is basically a cosmetic that doesn't need to be there if it eases your bookkeeping. Assassin is written to follow pretty closely to the established curve of how weirdo spirits adapt into the Grail War's Servants while still making a run to do something different with the freedom fighter concept. When you cut out the skills which are not just descriptive of the Servant's characteristics they sit right beside their immediate cousins in the kinda wraith/kinda not category, Kojiro and Jack.

Fate / Astrolabe

Hello! I'm really interested in giving this a try. Here's a character concept I've kicked around in a couple different iterations for Fate stuff. Their historical origin is a little abstract in the Sasaki Kojiro way but I've got other ideas if that's an issue.

Assassin of Verdun

Assassin

Marianne

Personality:

A sense of anachronism pervades Marianne's conduct, although the grail has made her aware of modern customs. As a heroic spirit she is far older than the body she manifested with, and while its own history is etched into her mind she is also distracted by the fading remnants of countless lives since entangled and confused with her legend. She is a dark girl, with a glimmer of long forgotten normalcy hidden away under gruff military mannerisms and a cold, determined exterior. As one who has lived on either side of death for too long, she can only regard the macabre and horrific with an air of jaded cynicism. Utterly desensitized, she watches executions and shares meals with the same tired expression etched into her sullen face. Removed from the war that made her so, there is more joviality in her spirit than one could have ever seen in life. Sarcastic, dry humor emerges between the clicking of bullets pressed into a magazine. She liked the peace of night, when the City of Light didn't wear blackout curtains, when the cafes thronged with the vibrant youth she watched lined against the wall or marched into trains. She claims to dislike many things in her teasing, difficult way... But in seriousness the things she hates are simple to understand. Tyranny is an unforgivable injustice against the humanity she knows, a wretched cancer to be excised with gunpowder and steel. Those who stand in the way, those who trade their sacred liberty for the favor of despots, cannot be reasoned with. So many tried.

Stats:

• Strength: E
• Endurance: B
• Agility: A+
• Magical Energy: E
• Luck: A
• Noble Phantasm: E~B++

Class Skills:

• Independent Action: A
  Assassin is capable of acting for extended periods of time without a direct link to her master, and by extent surviving without a master for up to ten days if she does conserve her magical energy for all but the most vital of functions. It is in her nature to act alone, even being in her homeland has no sustaining effect for her because she lived as a stranger within her own country. Her high rank in Independent Action is derived not only from her chosen form's life of self reliance but also from her generally low mana consumption. She lacks magecraft to employ, and even her Noble Phantasm costs relatively little energy to deploy.
• Presence Concealment: -
  While a candidate for the skill Presence Concealment, Assassin does not manifest with it because of her possession of the Espionage skill.

Personal Skills:

• Charisma: D
  Assassin is a representative of Liberty itself. However, it was not her but the aspirations of the people around her that compelled the events of her legend. Regardless of her actual fame and the obscure status of the form she has adopted, as a symbol of revolution and icon of liberty, she has a natural ability to compel others in battles against tyranny and enslavement. Her ability to lead is sufficient, having stood at the side of revolutions and resistances in her time, but as someone who was looked to as a symbol more than as a commander her authority does not supersede the ideals that people have chosen to see in her.
• Espionage: C
  An experienced and natural infiltrator, saboteur, and guerrilla, in the form of an Assassin the wraith possesses the credentials for Presence Concealment but is better served by their rank in Espionage. Assassin is able to blend her presence seamlessly with those surrounding her. In a crowd she is nearly indiscernible from ordinary humans around her, far less noticeable than any Magus. Even on an empty street, if one were not already suspicious of her personage she would be no more than a wandering girl. She can carry small weapons while utilizing this effect, as long as they do not protrude from her clothing. Use of her Noble Phantasm or any of her weapons breaks the effect immediately, and she is unable to re-disguise herself while within the sight of any pursuers.
• Eye of Mind (True): B
  Assassin is an observant soldier capable of assessing her situation and predicting an opponent's actions with a great degree of clarity and speed. She is able to disguise her weakness with versatility, and her mind's eye is capable of discerning all the courses of action available with her many tools. As this ability is reliant on knowledge, it is far less effective against concepts and techniques she has no understanding of. As a Servant, Assassin benefits from the combat experiences of all citizens and soldiers who have died in the just defense of her homeland, as living embodiments of her legend. She gains the greatest amount of knowledge from the form she currently inhabits. As a result, she is a hardened veteran of small scale, clandestine warfare.
• Jusqu'au Boutiste: C
  In all wars there are those who are willing to fight 'until the end.' This extreme dedication to the fatherland manifests in Assassin's case not only in her significant endurance rank, both for an Assassin and a girl of her figure, but in her ability to prolong and endure warfare through wit and determination. Though her body may melt and shatter around her, her mind will not falter. Until she physically cannot act, she will not succumb to fatigue or pain. While she does not possess the extraordinary regenerative abilities of a Servant with Battle Continuation or Disengage, she is similarly able to abscond from conflicts with a catalog of tactics for drawing out battles and escaping into the shadows.
• Soldate Éternelle: A
  Since its birth men and women have died for the Republic. In its defense, at its hands, at times with little distinction between the two. Those nameless, numberless martyrs lost to conflict are the ones who paid every price imaginable for the martial knowledge that defends the nation in modernity, and that which echoes in the iron minds of those yet fighting for Liberty within the Throne of Heroes. Assassin inherits from her own life and all those dedicated to her. Before anything else and after all is done, she is a soldier. She possesses the ability to wield any weapon or technique ever employed in the defense of France. As an Assassin, she is an utterly ruthless killer, showing no grace or flair through the weapons selected to suit her purpose. Firearms, bladed weapons, traps, explosives, and even martial arts are used in her fighting style to orchestrate a symphony of violence that allows no reprieve or complacency.

Noble Phantasm:

La Marseillaise
The avenging sword unsheathe, march on, march on!

E~B++
Anti-Unit Class

The history of the Revolution, of the Republic, and of the Resistance are intertwined with the armaments of civilization. From the munitions plundered from the heart of the Bastille to the weapons committed by the Allied Powers, all share a common heritage. All were taken up under the spiteful glare of tyrants, and raised at the cost of dear life. Assassin can pull these armaments of liberation from the days of their glory to her side. With the knowledge to use these arms and their varying ranks as Noble Phantasms (generally ranging in reverse order from their initial date of design or production, with exceptions for particularly notable weapons), weapons that would ordinarily be incapable of even scratching Servants are able to inflict modest damage. As she does not need to create these weapons with magecraft the actual cost of accessing the armory is quite low, although the older the armament the greater the drain on her harshly limited supply of magical energy. In practice she can draw as many items from her arsenal as she can afford to, with the chosen tools appearing on her body as if concealed, in her hands, or near her person. The withdrawal of larger pieces of military equipment is possible, but as she cannot reproduce herself to crew them this option is largely worthless. The oldest and highest ranked weapons stored within her arsenal are iterations of the Charleville Musket. A smooth bore weapon of antiquity, it is not like the precision firearms that benefit most from her skills. Instead, it is a prolific weapon that embodies her nature as a spirit of revolution. Muskets of its make were distributed not only to the brave defenders of the young Republic, beset by the monarchist sympathizers of Europe, but also previously entrusted to the plight of a fledgling democracy across the sea. That gesture of sharing arms would define the Treaties of the North Atlantic for centuries to come, France would one day be saved by the weapons of other lands, and all because this weapon fought not only for French liberty, but the birth of the free world. It is imprecise, indeed, it cannot shoot true but to destroy slavery.

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Deviation:

Marianne is the name history uses. A symbol conjured to serve the needs of the government of the French Republic. Like many legends, the Marianne originates from the paradoxical bond between the falsehoods of the symbol and the faint embers of history within. Accounts from the Revolution and the wars that followed it tell tales of 'a certain Marianne,' with Phrygian cap and fiery heart, arriving to inspire those who took up arms and render aid to those who fell in battle. And so it would go. Wars, regimes, and ideals would come and go from the world and those who fought for liberty would recall her likeness. Some would hide behind her name, others would wear it as a patriotic mantle. Different times and different propaganda brought with them different depictions, but no cartoonist's pen stroke nor any writer's word could ever strip her association with the idea for which the symbol and the legend were born to defend: Liberty. The inherent levity of a national personification is pierced through with the lights of all those who willingly chose to embody her in their own lives, and so often sacrificed themselves to do so. Most Heroic Spirits descend from the likeness of a true hero, one who carved his place in history and comes to rest upon the Throne of Heroes by his own merit. Marianne is a dream to which so many aspired. A name taken from an ordinary girl who believed in the Republic, and a legend thrust upon her in return. A culmination of those nameless, numberless martyrs lost to the ages. They are the souls of heroes that did not become Heroes, but by staining her name with their blood ensured that the liberator wraith would forever carry forth their will to fight.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Mule was stoic and still as Diver went through her various answers. She didn't have anything to add that the team hadn't presented themselves, or at least thought so, and thought mostly on the answers they'd been given. It was likely infuriating for the analysts that they'd gone and escaped the scope of the simulation when handed an impossible task, but to expect anything less from operatives of their caliber was to sell them short. She found her smile a bit warmer at the thought, returning Chariot's beaming celebration. The rest of the technical details didn't matter to her, but she would wait for the debrief to end before stripping down anyway.

"Understood." Mule said as she held the lanyard up to her face, looking over the details of the card attached before slipping it around her neck and gingerly tucking it down the back of her armor. Then she stepped away as Diver offered some helpful instructions, finding her bag along the room's wall and beginning the process of clicking and ripping off the various buckles and straps that comprised her vest and tactical rigging. Lighter than it had been in the simulation, empty now. They'd really tore into the Retra staff over that one but the attention to detail given in their equipment had been impressive, at least. She made a promise to herself to visit an armory if she could find one.

The gear went back in its bag without a fuss, the same as it had been when she got on the plane that morning and no less worn in despite the memory of a full operation lingering in her head. That felt strange, not to be able to count the scuffs and scrapes with an hour of combat and maneuver still echoing around in her nerves. She shook her head, hoisting up her luggage before turning back.

"Sounds like you've got quite a few facilities for being all the way up here! For now, I think I'll be reporting to the dorms to get my things moved in." Mule shuffled her bag around, moving towards the door before turning again. "Though, If at all possible with my clearance I would like to log at the armory some time soon. The setup in the simulation was authentic enough that I think I can guess what AAR your engineers were reading for my gear." She smiled over at the busily typing desk section. "But I can run heavier than that. Explosives, medical, mobility, whatever the team can put to use."

Arknights - Project Neptune

The twitch brought on by the sudden rush of alarm, long suspended by the process that had submerged her in that virtual world, finally played out as Mule fluttered back to reality. Her boot found the edge of the pod as the jolt of awakening bumped her forehead noisily into the canopy. Less like awakening and more like being thrown back into the body she belonged in, as she sat, held her forehead, and thought about it. The actual feeling, the sudden fear of having her consciousness plucked away, was nowhere to be found even if she could plainly remember it, play out its impulses as if cast back to the second of departure. A minute was just enough time to get to wondering if the simulation ran in real time or not, but as the pod hissed open she was more concerned with pulling herself out of it and looking presentable.

Boots clacked down onto the Vindsvalr's flooring panels as Mule descended, stumbling forwards as the mixture of un-numbing limbs and overcompensation for the dangling weight of the objective nearly toppled her. Tail flicking out as she caught herself and stood up straight in response to Diver's voice, a medley of odd feelings began to filter in. Her thigh felt quite bare without the old drop holster clamped around it. She spared a glance at the stricken Thrones, brow furrowing in concern as the Sankta dabbed at her face even in reality.

"It's an... interesting training medium to be sure. I think that I would be quite confident working with this group in a post-candidacy capacity, and that even if the simulation's objective was voided and the examination seemed to be measuring combat capacity chiefly, as a squad we demonstrated a convincing ability to cooperate."

That was the best she could manage in the quickly growing gulf of silence that seemed to follow Diver's question. It was one thing to point out the group's efficacy, another to think idly that it certainly wasn't her cannonballing into helicopters or shredding platoons of androids. These were strong fighters she was standing beside, and if that was Retra's expected mission profile she was left wondering what exactly in her portfolio had turned a head. Useless thoughts for now, she reminded herself, standing by and smiling idly as she listened to the other thoughts given.

Arknights - Project Neptune

Mule found her guard quite down for the overwhelming reaction the rest of the team put up, ceasing her own fire as Strix and their melee contingent saw to the massacre of the androids. She even had a spare second to stare as one of their number was hurled into the belly of the VTOL, gutting the beast and spiking it down onto the pavement with a hopefully survivable landing. She moved out from behind her bullet riddled cover, passing by the stricken Thrones to shoot a quick look up and down the street before doubling back. Remnants of virtual glass crunching underfoot as she went, the siren that spelled trouble blaring in the distance.

"We need to shift positions after that siren. Maybe we can get this examination in on the move, or anywhere that isn't here." She looked between Vlad and Thrones, offering her arm down to the kneeling Sankta. "Let's get her stood up or carried, and go."

The transaction of force wasn't going to be in their favor anymore if they couldn't simply pin the enemy to the ground on arrival, that much, if little else, was clear to her. It wasn't thinking within the requirements of the simulation, but they now had two casualties to lumber around.

Her head turned to the outside once more, and the growing congregation around the downed aircraft. "Or loaded in, supposing we have a pilot," She said. Unfortunately, the extent of her training was for operations from aircraft, and a passenger with style was still a passenger.