Everything was going according to plan as the distance closed and her sword drew near the enemy… Until that happened. The careful planning, if one could call something nigh instinctual planning, was all wasted in a tiny fraction of second as the enemy servant took that wide step to the side and brought his weapon around, and instantly changed every rule of their engagement with this new revelation.
Her eyes flew wide as she gasped a single word. "Lancer!"
d’Artagnan’s intention, to make use of superior swordplay to overwhelm and disarm the enemy, became instantly null as Lancer showed his true colors and more than doubled his reach. Of course fighting around something like that was well with her capabilities as saber, if she had known about it before commiting to a charge. Sadly horses don’t quite turn on a dime, and the introduction of that reach coupled with the lack of precise maneuverability made what happened an entirely foregone conclusion.
Saber flew from the saddle with a start as one of the legs was cut from beneath her mount, tumbling through the air with a look of shock and embarrassment plastered across her face. By the time she hit the ground it had turned into anger outright, and a new plan of action.
Her sprawling roll ended in a composed kneel, with her musket drawn and trained on…. Nothing.He was gone by the time she had righted herself. With a look of anger she cast the musket aside, vanishing into thin air along with her now maimed mount as it was dismissed.
“....UGH! You cowardly old man! I take back everything nice I sad about you! You would deny me satisfaction in my own land? I won’t tolerate you spitting on the honor of house Castelmore! Not anywhere and certainly not here!” She shouted into the night until her voice cracked, before turning on heel and storming off, back towards, or rather past, her master and his entourage and towards their atelier.
This did not stop her from placing an arm around Ceres shoulder however, nor Venus waist. She was not nearly so wroth as to forget herself that totally. “Please excuse my outburst ladies, something of a… principle matter. I am prone to being over-passionate about things.”
The other servant stood resolute in the face of the attack, something that impressed d’Artagnan given the nature of it… But as luck would have it bravery enough would not win the day from her ferocious assault.
As the first pistol sailed through the air it slammed end over end into the passive guard of the raised sword, hard- harder than anyone would reasonably expect from her lanky frame. Just hard enough to nudge the sword out of the way that tiny bit for the lead shot to…. Almost make its mark. The bullet hit the very edge of the sword and shattered, little pieces spinning off through the air almost harmlessly despite their great momentum. The only token of the exchange was a sudden bright red gash forming across the other servant’s forehead, trickling blood down his face.
As the blood trickled down his face d’Artagnan’s smile spread, and she mused about whether this was a spot of bad luck, or good. “You’re brave Saber, most men would be cowed by a gun aimed right at their face, much less a Rider’s charge, but not you. I almost don’t wish to kill a man of your calibre. Were that it was another time, perhaps we could have used a fifth man.”
She jerked the reigns and put her heels to the sides of her mount. “Alas, it’s not another time- or rather, or if it is then it’s the wrong one!” The thundering of hooves closed the distance between them as she raised her sword, pulled back far and held high in an obviously over-committed telegraph of a sweeping slice to reap his head from his shoulders as she leaned into the attack.
The obvious telegraph of course would make it all the more shocking, or perhaps less if one were in the proper mindset, when as the sword came down and crossed his guard she twirled it off the wrist, and despite all the insistence prior there was no slash at all. Rather, the point was buried in the torso, right where it joined with the shoulder of his sword arm, to disable it before it could launch a proper counter attack. Of course, the blood in his eyes right about now probably wouldn't help matters any either... Tricky tricky!
While she had expected to force the retreat of Berserker and her master, Mirai was altogether quite shocked at the outcome that had unfolded before her. That raw power and speed which exemplified every action Berserker had taken managed to intersect with her reckless ferocity and win the fight even as she hastily withdrew with her master. It was almost impressive, if only the magus’ ire wasn’t already stoked it in fact would have impressed her.
With a tone that struck a firm middle line between disdain and boredom she addressed her servant... if tones carried properly across their inherent link-I know it’s more busywork Caster, but I need you to make this incident vanish entirely. I have great disdain for the clamoring and grasping of the mundane at the threads of the hidden world, and no wish for them to unravel our plans in their clumsiness. I am returning to our workshop, to prepare for our meeting with Berserker’s master tomorrow afternoon. You will be rewarded accordingly, so do take your time and be thorough. It seems she was already planning several steps ahead, and had made up her mind about fixing the Berserker situation sooner than later. Paris was her city as far as she was concerned and it wouldn't do to have a reckless master with an even more reckless servant smashing the place to pieces.
With her orders dispatched she dropped back to street level, drew her arms back inside her kimono, and faded into the evening foot traffic and gradually meandering her way back to the museum. It was best to return in a manner that raised as little attention as possible, afterall there were no doubt other masters watching the area now that Berserker had made such a fine mess of things.
D'Art's smile immediately broadened at the sight of their opponent standing firm and getting into a proper stance... She really didn't like to chase them down if she could help it!
The skyward pistol in her grip lowered, barrel lining up with the enemy servant as the ground between them rapidly vanished. Even at speed the jostling of the horse did nothing to disrupt the rock steady aim as she pointed the weapon at center mass "I'm sorry our friendship couldn't last long, but I'll give you a proper introduction if I see you again on the other side- Au Revoir!" Click!
Just click. These were one-shot, and she had already discharged it. "...Oh, right." Whoosh! She chucked the useless trinket masquerading as a weapon right at his face, the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the irregularly shaped projectile splitting the air like the beating of great wings with its speed.
It was wholly a distraction, before it even reached the enemy the other pistol from the pair flashed into being and she pulled the trigger. Boom! Eat your heart out Lancer, maybe literally- though lead shot doesn't have teeth!
She wouldn't sit idle to see the result either way though, as she pulled the reigns on her mount hard to steer her aside, barring her right side (where her sword was) towards the enemy as she aborted her headlong charge. It was better to keep a little distance until she got the measure of his sword arm against her pistol.
[For the sake of Clarity, I am using Knight Tactics with the double pistol nonsense]
Like silk on the wind Mirai floated daintily through the skies far above, swaying and swinging this way and that with the sudden gusts with little and less care to their machinations upon her. Down. Down. Slowly but certainly buildings rose up to meet her as she fell with all the gravity of a feather, until she alighted upon the top of an apartment complex and closed her umbrella- as though entirely planned, despite the seeming chaos of the skies.
Still, she was far and away from the battle, too far, and it seemed that it would be over long before she arrived at this rate. Dearest Caster, I applaud your restraint, but mercy is wasted here it seems... Still, I understand full the tax upon your patience enacted by such busywork. These matters are beneath you so allow me to pamper you a a bit more. She spoke wordlessly through the shared connection between them as master and servant- as master and familiar.
It was that same connection that she used now, as her eyes closed and his came into focus. The target of ire was identified readily, and already close to falling despite all of the great sage's mercy. Her course of action was laid out, a path to victory through him, from her, to send this dreadful excuse for a magus to hell.
Her arms freed themselves of the kimono, all six, and like a blur they wove together with speed altogether obscene. A thousand precision crafted parts that approximated six human hands moved with an absolutely inhuman dexterity as signs arcane were expressed through their motion.
"The Eighth Trigram, The Color Yellow. An Endless Field, Between Heaven and Hell, Where Man Walks Arrogant. Let their Footsteps Falter, Let their Legs Fail, Let their Bones feed the Worms. Open, Wider! Become Insatiable. Chew them to Dust. Swallow."
The incantation itself was superfluous, as if saying what was already said. A focal aid to guide her hands as the magic they worked pried the very earth beneath Berserker's master open like a great pair of slavering jaws, to swallow her whole before she could even finish her feeble spell. The fact she could barely stand would certainly do her no favors.
With girls in tow and master on her heels d’Artagnan strolled through the streets, taking a moment now and then to trade out from one gal to the next as the primary target of her attentions to a mixture of delight and dismay- far too busy with flattery to answer any questions about her abilities.
She did not acknowledge the bias behind her footsteps, though perhaps her master may have noticed, she was carrying them closer and closer to danger- to adventure. As they neared the excitement built deep within her but her absurd and flirtatious demeanor did not shift. The duel, she could feel the nearby duel between heroic spirits in the air, in her blood, and the very thought of it stirred her, but a duel was not to be interrupted.
However, a lone servant looking on was fair game.
With a voice that betrayed entirely her excitement she broke character. “My dear ladies, it is for your safety that I ask you remain where you stand, for your entertainment that I ask you watch closely, and for your comfort that I must ask you cover your ears.” Her smile was something altogether different from the warm and inviting face she had shown the girls previously.
Nary a second later and a pistol was in her hand, pointed skyward, and with the sudden and deafening bang it discharged towards the stars. Before the sound could fade it was joined with the beating of hooves, as d’Artagnan charged directly towards the lone servant upon the back of a horse that seemed to come from nowhere at all.
“RAISE THY WEAPON GOOD SIR, I DEMAND SATISFACTION OF THEE!” She bellowed out as her own rapier came free of its scabbard with the raspy cry of the blade against the steel throat of the scabbard, adding a third and fourth layer to the cacophony.
An entire existence that consisted of just those four steps, a being brought into the world only some hours ago to carry out a short laundry list of tasks and then be disposed of. There was no sorrow in this indeed there was no feeling at all, something with such a singular purpose and overwhelming predestination had no room for such burdens.
Such a short and quiet existence it had been, until now altogether unnoticed as it silently relayed the events of the duel between heroes back to it’s master, a little clockwork spider no wider than a human hand and dark like the cold iron of the tower it clung to and the night sky above it.
So it was that as Rei sent her servant away, even going so far as to tell him not to bother protecting her, that the little wooden spider leapt into action, to carry out the fourth and final step of its existence. it silently approached before leaping with fangs barred, ready to deliver the widow’s killing kiss to the poor magus. @Indra@BlueHelix@GreenGoat@The World
Idiot!? Worthless!?!? LESS than worthless!?!?!?!?!?! Such a rapid fire attack without warning simply could not be defended against. D’Art fell to the floor in an agonizing wince, clutching at her chest all the way down.
With a shaky raspy voice alike a man on death’s door she replied. “Milady please…-” She cut herself off to spring up and provided the previously offered handkerchief, before throwing herself back to the ground to resume as if she had not been cut off at all. “...-your words wound me deeper than you can know, were I not blinded by your beauty-..”Another sudden stopping off, as she nodded to each of the others in turn, smiling ear to ear and with a twinkle in her eye, “- And your beauty, and your beauty, and of course last but not least your beauty-...” Annnd back to the wince. “...then I would have flawlessly assessed the situation without pause. Indeed it is not my shortcomings my sweet, but your own unearthly loveliness!... And yours, and you-”
It would take a moment to get her back on her feet and properly attentive of the actual situation proper, once the rapid fire flattery had run its course. In the end, D’Artagnan left the apartment and hit the streets with Diana on her arm and the others in tow, all the while swearing up and down that her choice had been at random and based in no sort of favoritism whatsoever as they would all get a turn before the night was up.
Things would get a little easier once she worked out the proper schedule to give all the girls an even amount of attention, afterall she was a ladies man, but for tonight they’d have to wing it.
Heading out into the Latin District Proper, with her hunnies~♡@ssw
Canal District, City of Science and Industry Museum
Mirai was taking this far worse than she appeared, as it was something quite entirely dreadful to have your life’s work, no rather generations of work, be seen as something of a pet project that was nothing more than a good base to work off of. Of course she knew that such an appraisal coming from this person of all possible people was nothing short of honest, his craft was the absolute pinnacle which no one would reach again in this age of dying mystery, but this did little to assuage her anger.
His charms on the other hand did, and in abundance. Not his handsome face and apparent devil may care attitude that had planted his head in her lap before she could even think to refuse him, but the literal charms that he wrote into being as she watched. For the skilled craftsman there was nothing quite so mesmerizing as watching a job well done, which was several orders of magnitude removed from the effortless and fascinating perfection with which Caster worked.
Indeed Her ire at being confronted with her own inferiority was in fact subdued almost entirely by her satisfaction in the superb status of her summoning, a blessing far greater than she could have ever begun to anticipate. Even just existing in the same workshop as him as he worked was enough to improve her technique by the end of the seven days they would spend together, nevermind if she actually made an effort to learn from him.
In fact so swiftly and precisely did he work that there was little she could do to even assist despite his flattering of her role in it. So with things as they were she busied her hands with what would otherwise be totally menial work that was usually quite entirely beneath her, except the one that stroked at his hair and played with his ears. Four others moved in perfect concert, providing fresh paper, moving that which carried the wet ink of fresh charms, fanning the ink dry, and folding the finished charms into a neat stack when dried.Indeed despite the relaxed nature of their leisurely postures they had become something of a living assembly line.
The fifth hand seized the future, as if to answer Caster’s question. Not in the literal sense, but rather it seized one of the threads hanging as it began to glow and hum. Her eyes closed for a second, lashes fluttering and settling heavily before flying wide.
“I had planned on stroking your ears all night, but it seems we have some rather unsightly neighbors.” She spoke with a definite tone of disdain, and after giving his head a few more pats she rose rather unceremoniously despite his place in her lap. “Come Caster, we must teach them that the inelegance of such creatures will not be tolerated in my territory without swift retribution.”
She grabbed her parasol, tucked four of her six arms deep into her kimono, and opened the door. “Let us make haste now. The sooner it is done and over with the sooner we can begin proper preparations- and return to giving you the attention you’ve no doubt sorely missed in this last millennia.” @Player 2
The form that emerged from the circle was not quite exactly what it appeared to be- namely, it was not the form of a man. The royal musketeers uniform hid what little chest she had and her hips were, as described by her mother, unfortunately narrow. Her face was one that was pretty in a way that was timeless but not distinctly male or female, but the fiery glint of determination in her eye spoke to the sensibilities that were far more often the former than the latter.
Of course given these facts no one could possibly be blamed for thinking the figure of Saber was male, least of all Saber herself- who would not correct anyone who made that mistake. If anything, this was always the intention of the fourth musketeer, as no sooner than the flash had faded than she had moved to cement this misconception.
She cut a deep bow and doffed her hat before speaking, in a voice no more conclusive than her body, "So, which one of you lovely ladies is my master?"... It was like she didn't even notice Theta.
She stepped forward before waiting for a reply, reaching out for the girls, "Is it you? Or you? You maybe? You?" Rapid fire, one after another, pressing her lips to the back of their hands, offered or not, with face becoming less noble and more transparently lecherous by the syllable. "Oh God you've been too good to me, I can't even choose, you're all so lovely!" ... D'Art, it isn't your choice to begin with.
As the excitement mounted she collapsed to her knees, head tilted back towards the sky as an even greater possibility dawned on her and she extolled her joys. "Don't tell me it's all of you!? Did I die and go to heaven!?" Her expression sobered suddenly, and her finger went to her chin. " ...Well I did die, but..."
She snapped back to mania not a second later, upon noticing Venus' predicament. " Oh dear, you're bleeding! My darling please, don't use your own kerchief, take mine instead- Oh but it would be rude to give one of you a gift and not the rest or you'll think I'm playing favorites... Oh this is a fine predicament you've gotten yourself into d'Artagnan!"
Just like that, without a second's hesitation, she blurted her true name out. Things were off to a wonderful start. @SSW
Title(s): Silk like Steel,Spider in the Lion’s Den
Gender: Female
Age: 137
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Rank: FES
Objective for the Grail: To reach the root of course- her way.
Character Objectives: Major objectives- to prove to the family that their now declining combative arts are not a dead end and to prove to herself that her own talents have not diminished in any way. Minor objectives- meet exciting new people, share stories and drink, then kill them… Maybe drag a husband home.
Command Seal: A simplified hannya mask, the three segments consisting of the main body of the mask and the two individual horns.
Personality: Vicious elegance, a grotesque and unnatural kind of grace that defies the natural order and tramples over others to assert itself, the very essence of a beautiful tyrant. Not to be confused with the aspect of a spoiled princess who is never told no, hers is the demeanor of someone who crushes those that refuse them and conquers dissent with manipulation when possible and force when necessary.
This does not however equate to innate cruelty, those who can weather her intensity and stand tall by her side are met with not just respect but generosity. Even an enemy that cannot be vanquished is held in high esteem if they do not wither under her gaze.
...Of course such a headstrong and domineering disposition is troublesome when you’re not the head of house, and no sane husband would have such a dreadful woman.
A middle daughter of the Kurojishi three generations prior, and the oldest surviving member of what was formerly the family’s main branch. Despite this she is not the head of the family, a fact that she is less than amused with to this day, a shift in priorities some years ago saw the Kurojishi family on a totally new path, leaving Mirai and her now dead contemporaries in the past. While today the clan proceeds apace towards the root through the practice of art, their original calling was something far less docile.
The tale proper begins in the early 10th century, during an age where monsters, yokai, still roamed Japan and took what they wanted from the land and those people in who lived upon it. Such things of course are not easily abided by man, and with the aid of the great sorcerer who revolutionized the magics of an entire culturesphere and the valor of warriors the likes of which would never be seen again mankind pushed the yokai that roamed the land freely into the shadows. The Kurojishi family as it exists today traces its roots, plural, back to this era with its ancestors planted firmly on both sides of the conflict.
To trace the lineage properly by name, the Kurojishi were a clan of magus in service to the emperor, a family of once humble priests called to service in the nation’s time of need. With the teachings of his great advisor Abe no Seimei they traveled far across the land in support of his grace’s forces to lend their aid in exterminating the threat of the yokai. This is of course a history far from remarkable, many families find their roots in this very same tale, without so much as a single detail amiss.
However to trace the lineage by name only however forfeits half of the story, both sides of which are worth telling. Another clan of much loftier birth, a lineage of proud samurai whose name is now buried all too intentionally, worked closely with the Kurojishi in their sacred duty and swiftly carried out these exterminations without fail. Such ruthless killers were they that the oni who fled before them and hid away high into the mountains plotted a revenge most foul. They visited upon their women in the night in a manner most secretive, such that even the defiled knew not their own undoing until all was said and done.
What one would expect follows naturally and what actually occurred are however two entirely separate matters (though in another time, in another world, perhaps it would have gone differently...). It was with the merciful intercession of the Kurojishi clan, steadfast and honorable in their duty to not only the emperor but to their friends and companions, that saved this family of samurai from destruction.
Though tainted of blood they were not tainted of heart, and while it could not be risked that the blood of an oni be allowed into court they were allowed to continue carrying out their duties. Thus, scrubbed from the record and put under the supervision of the Kurojishi clan they continued to hunt and kill those who had stolen their glory but not their valor. They became fearsome and terrifying warriors who wielded the power of the oni, who turned their bodies into deadly weapons and forged the very bones of their own fallen into weapons even mightier still.
So it would continue to be for some great many years, first in service to the royal family and later in service to the Demon Hunter's Association, and even as the world became less and less rife with conflict whose origin did not stem from man the two entwined families prospered. With time their arts blended together, no longer two separate entities acting in support of each other but rather one conjoined whole that was greater than its pieces.
So too in time did their blood mingle, at first in secret for fear of reprisal and then openly and without fear as they emerged into the modern era, and the lineage became all the stronger for it. The infusion of blood of a phantasmal lineage increased the quality of the family’s stock as mages, while the synthesis of their arts would lead to a kind of magecraft entirely unique to their new clan. By the dawn of the 17th century the two blood lines had become entirely one, just in time to revolutionize their own recently discovered form of magecraft.
It is only now in this last century, in an age so utterly devoid of prey, that the hunt has finally and truly ended. As the family branched out and seized a more modern kind of power- art, industry, finance- those ancient arts fell to the wayside, and the once most prominent members of the clan have fallen to the wayside with them as the final keepers of their craft.
Magic Circuit Switch: The sound of bone snapping.
Number of Magic Circuits: D
Quality of Magic Circuits: B
Elemental Affinity: Bone
Magecraft
A diverse and widely practiced field from which nearly all traditional Japanese magecraft is based. It combines astrology, alchemy, shamanism, geomancy, and wu xing into a discipline encompassing nearly all of a magi’s needs. Divination, the control of spirits, creation of familiars, evocation of the five elements, enactment of curses, the creation of barriers, and much more are all possible within this system.
The Kurojishi family not only traces its roots as magi back to those first practitioners of the art but has enjoyed an uninterrupted lineage of nearly a thousand years to perfect it as well, so to say they excel in this field would be an understatement. While Mirai, as with her siblings, specializes in those aspects most suited to detecting and driving out malignants there is no aspect of the craft in which she is not a competent if not excellent practitioner.
The creation of clockworks, usually from interlocking wooden parts with a driving spring. A normal karakuri is just that, a simple gadget that moves at the command of its assembly to repeat one exact action over and over until its driving spring wears out- though they have been used as everything from expensive complicated toys to automated assassination devices.
The karakuri created by experienced magi are complicated devices that bend the normal rules of physical interaction between components to achieve complicated modular tasks that would be absolutely impossible for their already impressive mundane counterparts. Functionally such they serve as something of a counterpart to the golem of kaballic tradition though it is a much much younger magical foundation.
This was the specialty of the Kurojishi family since the 17th century when they first pioneered the craft, however Mirai's competence in it compared to her forbears is somewhat middling. While other families have since co-opted this foundation and pursued it to somewhere near its logical end point the Kurojishi clan has instead branched off into a much more specialized and narrow form of Karakuri that is wholly unique to their own peculiar bloodline, hence her falling relatively behind the curve compared to the other modern masters.
This is the process of inheritance that defined the nameless and tragic clan of samurai whose bloodline was tainted by the treacherous oni, which they brought unto the Kurojishi when the two became one. The means by which the deceased members of the clan are made to serve the living in their relentless quest to eradicate all youkai from the land. The art which distinguishes them from their peers.
Upon death the bones and blood of the Kurojishi are collected and fashioned into tools before being placed in a kiln, along with the grudges of both the magus and those they had slain.These kilns are then imbued with the properties of a ‘hell’ and left fired for great amounts of time, years or even decades, until the complete joining of wraith and bone. Upon completion there is no way to tell where the weapon stops and the grudges begin, a result possible only because of the combination of the elemental affinity they possess for bone and their demonic lineage.
These not-quite living items were traditionally arms and armor of superior quality, self-guiding weapons that would sunder the very spirits of their foes and raiments that would literally bleed for their wearers so they did not have to. Now they take a different form, the components of the clockwork oddities that the Kurojishi clan pioneered. While others carried on working away with wood trying to elevate the mystery of their newborn craft the Kurojishi instead made use of their literal new blood to tie it to an old and terrifying mystery and the unending grudge to turn the gears endlessly of their own volition.
A specialized curse that Mirai developed, it is derived from an archaic form of magecraft which was used to use grudges to directly reinforce the self at the cost of one’s humanity. The curse is engraved directly onto the body, acting as a supplement to the magic circuits, but instead of accessing the latent mana of the world it burns away the grudges of the fallen to convert into magical energy.
Weapons
An incredibly complex karakuri body replacement based on older blueprints. It is made from some of the purest components to ever come from the Kurojishi family’s forge, and finished over with lacquered wood plating. It replaces entirely the outer extremities while adding two additional pairs of arms, and encases the shoulders, chest, and hips, leaving the head and torso in-tact.
The speed, strength and toughness exhibited by its limbs all greatly exceed what a human body could naturally achieve, rivaling the attributes of a magus specialized in reinforcement, and it is capable of running down and tearing a person apart limb from limb with ease. Since it is spliced directly into the body and the hosts magic circuits have fused into the control framework, it acts as an extension of the natural body to offer an unparalleled degree of precision and control.
In fact due to the nature of the components the body itself is fooled into believing that the mystic code is a part of it. Because of this nigh perfect integration the additional sets of arms allow her to perform much faster Mudras, her substitute for verbal incantations, allowing her to cast her spells at two times the normal speed by sequencing the hand signs between her different limbs.
A paper umbrella, when open it creates a circular cushion of air a below it parallel to its own body, solid enough to support the weight of an average adult. In such manner it allows one to stand or walk on air, controlling the ascent or descent with the angle of the umbrella.
A large crate of consecrated wood from Aokigahara. A crate of pre-molded internal components made from kiln-fired ancestral bone. Mallets and wood clamps. Large stack of rice paper and a traditional ink stone. Small box of raw cinnabar. Half a dozen human-hair calligraphy brushes. Three pounds salt from the inland sea. Two iron flasks of mercury. Assorted incense.
Exceptional Benefit: Superior Mystic Code.
—Saber Class: d'Artagnan—
"Saber reporting for duty! Wait… Saber!? ...But I worked so hard to be a musketeer...”
Origin: Three Musketeers Legend
Era: Age of Man, 17th Century
Gender: FeMale.
Attribute: Man
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Backstory: As Per The Three Musketeers, except she is a beautiful tomboy (bifauxnen) who impersonates a man to redeem the honor of her house (instead of merely being the son of a dishonored house).
Personality: Optimistic and bright, d'Artagnan is a young woman who seeks glory and fortune earnestly but modestly in the trail of others of greater stature than herself. She is clever in all the wrong ways, and that combined with her impulsive nature often makes her look like a bigger fool than someone who isn't clever at all. She is somewhat impressionable, and despite her rank as captain she is prone to falling in line when someone else takes charge.
...Or out of line for a pretty lady. She is a hopeless romantic whose characteristically good luck fails her in that avenue alone. She claims all women are beautiful, but while she insists she likes men as well she is elusive on the subject of what her particular type is.
She answered the call of the grail in the hope of distinguishing herself in her own new tale of heroics without the help of Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, so she can finally feel as though she is truly worthy of being "the Fourth Musketeer". Ironic given the nature of her Noble Phantasm.
— Parameters — STR:C | END:C | AGI:B+ | MAG:D | LCK:A+ | NP:C Her Luck receives a positive adjustment in situations wherein she appears to be at a disadvantage, including being attacked unawares. Her Agility receives a positive adjustment for the purposes of swordplay and related derring-do.
— Class Skills — Magic Resistance C: An ability that cancels all magecraft of rank C or below. Ther is not the same as lowering the rank of magecraft, as ranks higher than C are unaffected.
Riding D: The ability to control and fight while mounted on anything that a human might normally be able to ride, even on a wild mount. This does not include any form of magical beast.
— Personal Skills —
Beauty of Trouble with Women C: A kind of awareness of one's weakness towards women that borders on a self-fulfilling curse. In d’Artagnan’s case this dreadful skill was inscribed upon her legend from constantly falling head over heels in love with nearly every beautiful woman she came across.
Marksman C: The ability to hit distant targets with a great degree of precision, even with subpar weapons and munitions. At this rank it is possible to accurately land shots even at the outer reaches of her pistols or muskets against targets moving at great speed.
Disengage C: The ability to safely remove oneself from combat without penalty. At this rank conditions can be reset to the same state as they were prior to the engagement.
Knight Tactics C: The ability to offer false openings to capitalize on an enemy's weakness when attacking, even fooling the instincts of a trained warrior. With this ability it is possible to bypass powerful defensive skills that would aid the enemy in blocking or evading the follow-up strike, even ones that border on precognition.
— Armaments —
Sword- A standard issue cup hilt rapier that you would expect anyone bearing the title “Musketeer” to possess. Four feet in length, but with a good balance that offers exceptional control and a strong tip that is capable of inflicting deep wounds with even light attacks.
Parrying Dagger- An equally standard issue off-hand dagger popular with fencers, used primarily for defense rather than offense. It has a strong wide guard that makes blocking or deflecting attacks even from full sized weapons easy.
Musket- The namesake of the Musketeers despite being less romanticized than the rapier. A black powder long-gun that fires a large lead shot. It’s large bore and long barrel provide exceptional power despite its archaic nature.
Pistols- Two black powder hand-guns that fire a not-quite-as-large lead shot. While they aren’t particularly powerful their ease of carry and use is an appreciable asset.
Horse- A non-descript horse of a stature and ability befitting a servant, it can be summoned at will to a location nearby.
— Noble Phantasms — All for One and One for All! My Cherished Friends and Companions, The Three Musketeers Rank: C Type: Anti unit, Range: 15 Maximum Targets: 3 A Noble Phantasm that condenses d'Artagnan's nature as the simultaneous protagonist and second fiddle of her own legend into a single moment. The turning point oh every ill-conceived blunder she stumbled into, the answer to her every prayer, the intercession of her beloved companions to save her from her own foolishness.
Three simultaneous strikes, from three separate swords, erupt upon the field of battle to simultaneously defend and attack on behalf of d'Artagnan, displaying a terrifying mastery of swordplay that even a fencer so fine as she could never hope to match, before vanishing as if they were never there. Due to the relatively low power of the attacks the noble phantasm is shockingly cost efficient on a strike-by-strike basis, even if there are three of them.
While the noble phantasm's true name can be evoked to enable a sustained effect, allowing for autonomous strikes within its range so as to cause d'Artagnan to fight with the force of four men rather than one it needn't be so. If she is in danger the noble phantasm will activate of its own accord, pending a luck check, saving her hide before she even realizes she has bitten off more than she can chew.
— Parameters — Increase Strength from C to B Increase Agility from B+ to A+ — Class Skills — Magic Resistance from C to B — Personal Skills — Bravery B: the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. It also has the bonus effect of increasing melee damage. Not usable under the effects of Mad Enhancement. — Noble Phantasm — Range: from 15 to ????. Represents the nature of the musketeers as being about their own business in France while d’Artagnan conducts her own investigations, thus they could spring into action from anywhere at any time, defending or attacking from outside the usually limited range of the Noble Phantasm. When used as a deliberate offensive action by way of invoking the true name d'Artagnan must still be able to clearly formulate the attack upon the target and location, which is to say she must still be directly observing them (as opposed to scrying or other forms of remote viewing) rather than merely thinking "Musketeers, go attack Berserker".
Title(s): Silk like Steel,Spider in the Lion’s Den
Gender: Female
Age: 137
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Rank: FES
Objective for the Grail: To reach the root of course- her way.
Character Objectives: Major objectives- to prove to the family that their now declining combative arts are not a dead end and to prove to herself that her own talents have not diminished in any way. Minor objectives- meet exciting new people, share stories and drink, then kill them… Maybe drag a husband home.
Command Seal: A simplified hannya mask, the three segments consisting of the main body of the mask and the two individual horns.
Personality: Vicious elegance, a grotesque and unnatural kind of grace that defies the natural order and tramples over others to assert itself, the very essence of a beautiful tyrant. Not to be confused with the aspect of a spoiled princess who is never told no, hers is the demeanor of someone who crushes those that refuse them and conquers dissent with manipulation when possible and force when necessary.
This does not however equate to innate cruelty, those who can weather her intensity and stand tall by her side are met with not just respect but generosity. Even an enemy that cannot be vanquished is held in high esteem if they do not wither under her gaze.
...Of course such a headstrong and domineering disposition is troublesome when you’re not the head of house, and no sane husband would have such a dreadful woman.
A middle daughter of the Kurojishi three generations prior, and the oldest surviving member of what was formerly the family’s main branch. Despite this she is not the head of the family, a fact that she is less than amused with to this day, a shift in priorities some years ago saw the Kurojishi family on a totally new path, leaving Mirai and her now dead contemporaries in the past. While today the clan proceeds apace towards the root through the practice of art, their original calling was something far less docile.
The tale proper begins in the early 10th century, during an age where monsters, yokai, still roamed Japan and took what they wanted from the land and those people in who lived upon it. Such things of course are not easily abided by man, and with the aid of the great sorcerer who revolutionized the magics of an entire culturesphere and the valor of warriors the likes of which would never be seen again mankind pushed the yokai that roamed the land freely into the shadows. The Kurojishi family as it exists today traces its roots, plural, back to this era with its ancestors planted firmly on both sides of the conflict.
To trace the lineage properly by name, the Kurojishi were a clan of magus in service to the emperor, a family of once humble priests called to service in the nation’s time of need. With the teachings of his great advisor Abe no Seimei they traveled far across the land in support of his grace’s forces to lend their aid in exterminating the threat of the yokai. This is of course a history far from remarkable, many families find their roots in this very same tale, without so much as a single detail amiss.
However to trace the lineage by name only however forfeits half of the story, both sides of which are worth telling. Another clan of much loftier birth, a lineage of proud samurai whose name is now buried all too intentionally, worked closely with the Kurojishi in their sacred duty and swiftly carried out these exterminations without fail. Such ruthless killers were they that the oni who fled before them and hid away high into the mountains plotted a revenge most foul. They visited upon their women in the night in a manner most secretive, such that even the defiled knew not their own undoing until all was said and done.
What one would expect follows naturally and what actually occurred are however two entirely separate matters (though in another time, in another world, perhaps it would have gone differently...). It was with the merciful intercession of the Kurojishi clan, steadfast and honorable in their duty to not only the emperor but to their friends and companions, that saved this family of samurai from destruction.
Though tainted of blood they were not tainted of heart, and while it could not be risked that the blood of an oni be allowed into court they were allowed to continue carrying out their duties. Thus, scrubbed from the record and put under the supervision of the Kurojishi clan they continued to hunt and kill those who had stolen their glory but not their valor. They became fearsome and terrifying warriors who wielded the power of the oni, who turned their bodies into deadly weapons and forged the very bones of their own fallen into weapons even mightier still.
So it would continue to be for some great many years, first in service to the royal family and later in service to the Demon Hunter's Association, and even as the world became less and less rife with conflict whose origin did not stem from man the two entwined families prospered. With time their arts blended together, no longer two separate entities acting in support of each other but rather one conjoined whole that was greater than its pieces.
So too in time did their blood mingle, at first in secret for fear of reprisal and then openly and without fear as they emerged into the modern era, and the lineage became all the stronger for it. The infusion of blood of a phantasmal lineage increased the quality of the family’s stock as mages, while the synthesis of their arts would lead to a kind of magecraft entirely unique to their new clan. By the dawn of the 17th century the two blood lines had become entirely one, just in time to revolutionize their own recently discovered form of magecraft.
It is only now in this last century, in an age so utterly devoid of prey, that the hunt has finally and truly ended. As the family branched out and seized a more modern kind of power- art, industry, finance- those ancient arts fell to the wayside, and the once most prominent members of the clan have fallen to the wayside with them as the final keepers of their craft.
Magic Circuit Switch: The sound of bone snapping.
Number of Magic Circuits: D
Quality of Magic Circuits: B
Elemental Affinity: Bone
Magecraft
A diverse and widely practiced field from which nearly all traditional Japanese magecraft is based. It combines astrology, alchemy, shamanism, geomancy, and wu xing into a discipline encompassing nearly all of a magi’s needs. Divination, the control of spirits, creation of familiars, evocation of the five elements, enactment of curses, the creation of barriers, and much more are all possible within this system.
The Kurojishi family not only traces its roots as magi back to those first practitioners of the art but has enjoyed an uninterrupted lineage of nearly a thousand years to perfect it as well, so to say they excel in this field would be an understatement. While Mirai, as with her siblings, specializes in those aspects most suited to detecting and driving out malignants there is no aspect of the craft in which she is not a competent if not excellent practitioner.
The creation of clockworks, usually from interlocking wooden parts with a driving spring. A normal karakuri is just that, a simple gadget that moves at the command of its assembly to repeat one exact action over and over until its driving spring wears out- though they have been used as everything from expensive complicated toys to automated assassination devices.
The karakuri created by experienced magi are complicated devices that bend the normal rules of physical interaction between components to achieve complicated modular tasks that would be absolutely impossible for their already impressive mundane counterparts. Functionally such they serve as something of a counterpart to the golem of kaballic tradition though it is a much much younger magical foundation.
This was the specialty of the Kurojishi family since the 17th century when they first pioneered the craft, however Mirai's competence in it compared to her forbears is somewhat middling. While other families have since co-opted this foundation and pursued it to somewhere near its logical end point the Kurojishi clan has instead branched off into a much more specialized and narrow form of Karakuri that is wholly unique to their own peculiar bloodline, hence her falling relatively behind the curve compared to the other modern masters.
This is the process of inheritance that defined the nameless and tragic clan of samurai whose bloodline was tainted by the treacherous oni, which they brought unto the Kurojishi when the two became one. The means by which the deceased members of the clan are made to serve the living in their relentless quest to eradicate all youkai from the land. The art which distinguishes them from their peers.
Upon death the bones and blood of the Kurojishi are collected and fashioned into tools before being placed in a kiln, along with the grudges of both the magus and those they had slain.These kilns are then imbued with the properties of a ‘hell’ and left fired for great amounts of time, years or even decades, until the complete joining of wraith and bone. Upon completion there is no way to tell where the weapon stops and the grudges begin, a result possible only because of the combination of the elemental affinity they possess for bone and their demonic lineage.
These not-quite living items were traditionally arms and armor of superior quality, self-guiding weapons that would sunder the very spirits of their foes and raiments that would literally bleed for their wearers so they did not have to. Now they take a different form, the components of the clockwork oddities that the Kurojishi clan pioneered. While others carried on working away with wood trying to elevate the mystery of their newborn craft the Kurojishi instead made use of their literal new blood to tie it to an old and terrifying mystery and the unending grudge to turn the gears endlessly of their own volition.
A specialized curse that Mirai developed, it is derived from an archaic form of magecraft which was used to use grudges to directly reinforce the self at the cost of one’s humanity. The curse is engraved directly onto the body, acting as a supplement to the magic circuits, but instead of accessing the latent mana of the world it burns away the grudges of the fallen to convert into magical energy.
Weapons
An incredibly complex karakuri body replacement based on older blueprints. It is made from some of the purest components to ever come from the Kurojishi family’s forge, and finished over with lacquered wood plating. It replaces entirely the outer extremities while adding two additional pairs of arms, and encases the shoulders, chest, and hips, leaving the head and torso in-tact.
The speed, strength and toughness exhibited by its limbs all greatly exceed what a human body could naturally achieve, rivaling the attributes of a magus specialized in reinforcement, and it is capable of running down and tearing a person apart limb from limb with ease. Since it is spliced directly into the body and the hosts magic circuits have fused into the control framework, it acts as an extension of the natural body to offer an unparalleled degree of precision and control.
In fact due to the nature of the components the body itself is fooled into believing that the mystic code is a part of it. Because of this nigh perfect integration the additional sets of arms allow her to perform much faster Mudras, her substitute for verbal incantations, allowing her to cast her spells at two times the normal speed by sequencing the hand signs between her different limbs.
A paper umbrella, when open it creates a circular cushion of air a below it parallel to its own body, solid enough to support the weight of an average adult. In such manner it allows one to stand or walk on air, controlling the ascent or descent with the angle of the umbrella.
A large crate of consecrated wood from Aokigahara. A crate of pre-molded internal components made from kiln-fired ancestral bone. Mallets and wood clamps. Large stack of rice paper and a traditional ink stone. Small box of raw cinnabar. Half a dozen human-hair calligraphy brushes. Three pounds salt from the inland sea. Two iron flasks of mercury. Assorted incense.
"Saber reporting for duty! Wait… Saber!? ...But I worked so hard to be a musketeer...”
Origin: Three Musketeers Legend
Era: Age of Man, 17th Century
Gender: FeMale.
Attribute: Man
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Backstory: As Per The Three Musketeers, except she is a beautiful tomboy (bifauxnen) who impersonates a man to redeem the honor of her house (instead of merely being the son of a dishonored house).
Personality: Optimistic and bright, d'Artagnan is a young woman who seeks glory and fortune earnestly but modestly in the trail of others of greater stature than herself. She is clever in all the wrong ways, and that combined with her impulsive nature often makes her look like a bigger fool than someone who isn't clever at all. She is somewhat impressionable, and despite her rank as captain she is prone to falling in line when someone else takes charge.
...Or out of line for a pretty lady. She is a hopeless romantic whose characteristically good luck fails her in that avenue alone. She claims all women are beautiful, but while she insists she likes men as well she is elusive on the subject of what her particular type is.
She answered the call of the grail in the hope of distinguishing herself in her own new tale of heroics without the help of Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, so she can finally feel as though she is truly worthy of being "the Fourth Musketeer". Ironic given the nature of her Noble Phantasm.
— Parameters — STR:C | END:C | AGI:B+ | MAG:D | LCK:A+ | NP:C Her Luck receives a positive adjustment in situations wherein she appears to be at a disadvantage, including being attacked unawares. Her Agility receives a positive adjustment for the purposes of swordplay and related derring-do.
— Class Skills — Magic Resistance C: An ability that cancels all magecraft of rank C or below. Ther is not the same as lowering the rank of magecraft, as ranks higher than C are unaffected.
Riding D: The ability to control and fight while mounted on anything that a human might normally be able to ride, even on a wild mount. Ther does not include any form of magical beast.
— Personal Skills —
Beauty of Trouble with Women C: A kind of awareness of one's weakness towards women that borders on a self-fulfilling curse. In d’Artagnan’s case this dreadful skill was inscribed upon her legend from constantly falling head over heels in love with nearly every beautiful woman she came across.
Marksman C: The ability to hit distant targets with a great degree of precision, even with subpar weapons and munitions. At this rank it is possible to accurately land shots even at the outer reaches of her pistols or muskets against targets moving at great speed.
Disengage C: The ability to safely remove oneself from combat without penalty. At this rank conditions can be reset to the same state as they were prior to the engagement.
Knight Tactics C: The ability to offer false openings to capitalize on an enemy's weakness when attacking, even fooling the instincts of a trained warrior. With this ability it is possible to bypass powerful defensive skills that would aid the enemy in blocking or evading the follow-up strike, even ones that border on precognition.
— Armaments —
Sword- A standard issue cup hilt rapier that you would expect anyone bearing the title “Musketeer” to possess. Four feet in length, but with a good balance that offers exceptional control and a strong tip that is capable of inflicting deep wounds with even light attacks.
Parrying Dagger- An equally standard issue off-hand dagger popular with fencers, used primarily for defense rather than offense. It has a strong wide guard that makes blocking or deflecting attacks even from full sized weapons easy.
Musket- The namesake of the Musketeers despite being less romanticized than the rapier. A black powder long-gun that fires a large lead shot. It’s large bore and long barrel provide exceptional power despite its archaic nature.
Pistols- Two black powder hand-guns that fire a not-quite-as-large lead shot. While they aren’t particularly powerful their ease of carry and use is an appreciable asset.
Horse- A non-descript horse of a stature and ability befitting a servant, it can be summoned at will to a location nearby.
— Noble Phantasms — All for One and One for All! My Cherished Friends and Companions, The Three Musketeers Rank: C Type: Anti unit, Range: 15 Maximum Targets: 3 A Noble Phantasm that condenses d'Artagnan's nature as the simultaneous protagonist and second fiddle of her own legend into a single moment. The turning point oh every ill-conceived blunder she stumbled into, the answer to her every prayer, the intercession of her beloved companions to save her from her own foolishness.
Three simultaneous strikes, from three separate swords, erupt upon the field of battle to simultaneously defend and attack on behalf of d'Artagnan, displaying a terrifying mastery of swordplay that even a fencer so fine as she could never hope to match, before vanishing as if they were never there. Due to the relatively low power of the attacks the noble phantasm is shockingly cost efficient on a strike-by-strike basis, even if there are three of them.
While the noble phantasm's true name can be evoked to enable a sustained effect, allowing for autonomous strikes within its range so as to cause d'Artagnan to fight with the force of four men rather than one it needn't be so. If she is in danger the noble phantasm will activate of its own accord, pending a luck check, saving her hide beforesheeven realizes she has bitten off more than she can chew.
— Parameters — Increase Strength from C to B Increase Agility from B+ to A+ — Class Skills — Magic Resistance from C to B — Personal Skills — Bravery B: the ability to negate mental interference such as pressure, confusion and fascination. It also has the bonus effect of increasing melee damage. Not usable under the effects of Mad Enhancement. — Noble Phantasm — Range: from 15 to ????. Represents the nature of the musketeers as being about their own business in France while d’Artagnan conducts her own investigations, thus they could spring into action from anywhere at any time, defending or attacking from outside the usually limited range of the Noble Phantasm. When used as a deliberate offensive action by way of invoking the true name d'Artagnan must still be able to clearly formulate the attack upon the target and location, which is to say she must still be directly observing them (as opposed to scrying or other forms of remote viewing) rather than merely thinking "Musketeers, go attack Berserker".
Member
