FujiwaraPhoenix

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

It was, admittedly, a bit disappointing to Misaki that what was written on the tablets couldn't be translated by whatever odd magic had allowed her to read the scrolls from earlier. The passing summary from Lazirha about the contents therein were sadly not as enlightening as the foxgirl had hoped they would be, but she found it at least worth remembering for the future in case it ended up becoming relevant.

As she continued carefully moving things around to make things feel less claustrophobic, though, Misaki couldn't help but pause when she heard one of the newcomers trying to fish for any mention of tombs. There was a noticeable frown on her face as she considered the implications thereof; a place of worship did not necessarily preclude the existence of a burial ground, especially if the being in question was not entombed in the first place. Of course, if the two happened to coincide, then all the better, but asking about the presence of a tomb rather than, say, anything pertaining to the pillar that was just emphasized just seemed... Well, like a shot in the dark at best.

What seemed to be more interesting, though, was the offer of teaching magic to them. To this, the foxgirl could not help but perk up a little; given that both Novak and Nobunaga had the ability to fight in melee range well at hand, learning something more utility-focused would at least make her feel a bit less useless in the long run.

"If you're offering, then I would certainly love a chance to at least try and learn some magic," she said, stepping back from the corner she had been working in before dusting herself off. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested."

Maybe if she could get a feel for how the system worked (assuming it wasn't just some manipulation of scientific principles), it'd be easier to make use of in the future...

@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Fusang Streets

"I..."

Words seemed to be caught in Gray's throat as she attempted to avert her gaze from Artoria's. Her reaction had not been anywhere near as intense when Waver had done his introductory lecture earlier that week, but maybe that was because the Servant in front of her now had not been present. At this very moment, though, the young woman felt what could only be described as unbearable pressure bearing down upon her. Of course, she had hoped that this moment would never have come in the first place, but given the nature of Fusang, something like this was almost inevitable.

But to have what she was becoming—in all but name, no less—asking her something like that up front... The desire to simply flee was only stopped by her apparent inability to move her legs, much less speak.

Of course, given the scene playing out now, Waver found himself unable to simply stand by. Of course, he had wished to avoid contact with the Saber in front of him if at all possible, but it was his duty as Gray's guardian to at least attempt to step in. It didn't seem like she recognized him, at the very least, so he had some leeway on that front.

"Pardon me, but you're making my assistant rather uncomfortable," he finally said, turning around and placing a hand on Gray's shoulder. Given the reactions of the two students in front of him, though, the professor had a sinking feeling that he would have to explain matters in the future regardless; such curiosity was not so easily sated, especially given that one of them was the Master of the Saber speaking in the first place.

"...I can tell that a response like that is not what you would want, but I would rather not create a scene in the middle of the street," he continued, glancing at everyone before sighing. "At this rate, I'll just have to cancel my appointment... How troublesome. If you wish to pursue this matter further, then we can go and speak about it in my office. I'd rather not give a lengthy explanation in public, after all."

As much as he wanted to summon Iskandar, the issue in front of him couldn't simply be ignored; it was a bit awkward to end up wrapped up in something like this so soon after arriving, but given his own reputation, that much was almost to be expected.

@Rezod92@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

After being given leave to examine the miscellaneous goods scattered about, Misaki wasted no time in attempting to take note of everything, shuffling things around so that, at the very least, like artifacts were grouped together in a far more orderly fashion than they had been when she had entered. It was of note how the language written on the tablets was remained unintelligible despite the apparent automatic translation of the scrolls she had gone over earlier, which, while disappointing, gave her more reason to at least focus more upon Lazirha's attempt to translate them herself. Of course, the other two people that had asked for permission to look things over were working on their own, and despite the less-than-warm reception she had given the one who had approached her, they seemed to not take much offense. Of course, she was still a bit wary of them, given the wide variance in the type of people who lived on Earth, and so she resolved to hold off on actually reaching out until she felt like she could at least get a better feel for them.

That didn't mean that she'd simply hand off her name, though—or, at least, that was what she had planned to do, had Lazirha not spoken it in her stead. It was at this point that Misaki considered the costs and benefits of trying to keep up this charade before discarding the idea entirely. It'd only make her look foolish in the long run, after all, had she continued to try and act like she knew nothing when so much was already out in the open.

"Fog, huh...? Well, that's certainly ominous," she sighed, shaking her head. "Given that we've gotten the go-ahead to explore the region, I suppose that much might prove to be a bit problematic, though. I'd rather not get stuck wandering for an eternity, though, so the problem now becomes navigating through that..."

As good as it was to have this information on hand, it wouldn't actually be of any use to them if they couldn't figure out any countermeasures beforehand.

@VitaVitaAR@Click This@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist

Fate/Eternum — Reboot

Uehara Mitsuki

Given the blonde girl's reaction, Mitsuki figured that he really was just being strung along to help—not that it mattered at this point, given how they seemed to have gotten wrapped up in some sort of incident of their own volition. With a nod, the young man tried to keep pace with his Servant as she moved to enter the building in question. Of course, a broken window was apt to draw attention regardless, but oddly enough, there seemed to be less people milling about this section of the city than usual.

Or, well, so he assumed, given the lack of bystanders looking at it.

Taking Tomoe's console and slipping it away into his bag, Mitsuki watched as she attempted to enter via the 'normal' way—the front entrance. Though he had expected it to be fully locked, the fact that they had instead simply swung forth to let the Archer in had almost taken him by surprise.

What was less surprising, though, were the laser sights that seemed to be aimed right at the Servant as she did so. The owners—a series of half-mechanical drones—seemed to be priming their own attacks, and Mitsuki himself wasted no time in moving out of their line of sight.

"Whoa. I expected resistance, but..." he trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief. "Yikes. Archer, I'll leave it to you."

@VitaVitaAR@KoL

Alter Ego — Meltryllis

Once she had finished dispatching the ghosts summoned by the Servant in front of her, Meltryllis simply stood by and watched as whatever entity was coalescing had actually formed. All in all, it wasn't particularly intimidating—there were far worse terrors that she had seen, after all—but the way it looked was enough to bring a look of utter disgust to her face.

"Eugh. For once, we seem to be in agreement," she remarked towards the Saber next to her, pointing with one arm towards the giant ghost in front of them. "Something like that is just an eyesore, after all, so the sooner it falls over and dies, the better."

Without waiting for a response, the Alter Ego bounded forward, moving to slice away at one of the onryo's arms. After all, with something this big, it seemed simple enough to dance around and simply avoid all of its strikes. She was confident enough in her speed to be able to do that much, after all.

@Rune_Alchemist@Pyromania99@VitaVitaAR

From the Ashes

Lymnas

After the more muted introduction from the elf, the old man found himself a bit more taken aback by Pyra's introduction—one which, after a few moments of thought, caused him to chuckle lightly to himself. The girl's mannerisms reminded him of his own children and grandchildren when they were younger, playing hero or whatever else during the free time that they had. Though he thought the young lady a bit too old for that sort of fantasy, the level-headed nature of her companion apparent caused him to simply brush the matter off as mere eccentricity.

"Hm. Well, I suppose that a little dancing never hurt anyone, so by all means," he began, gesturing towards the center of the town before turning to face Pyra. "As for you, young lady... Well, if there is any sort of trouble, it won't be long until you hear about it. If you want to help, though, you could try asking around town; I'm sure that nobody would turn down an honest helping hand here."

With that said, though, the old man nodded before shifting over to the side and beckoning over to the robed person who had been following the two from afar.

"As for you... Well, hiding away like that like a shy child won't get you anywhere. Do you have something to ask, too?"

Needless to say, it wasn't hard to pick out the three unfamiliar people in a town where almost everyone knew each other by name.

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99@Kiki is Anxious

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Taking a brief look around as she left the building, Misaki found that nothing in particular had really changed in the scant while they had been inside. The corpse of the beast that Nobunaga and Novak had felled was gone, though the trail of blood showed where it had gone, and for a moment the foxgirl considered following the trail before deciding against that. As much as knowledge on the biology of such creatures might have helped otherwise, it was probably too late to get any actual information after it had been dissected and disassembled.

Before she could move closer to the waterfront, though, the sudden arrival of someone coming over to question her caused Misaki to pause in an attempt to process what had just been asked of her. Obviously, the mention of Earth was noteworthy, but to call out to her so suddenly, and have that be the crux of the question...

"I..."

Before she could give a proper response, though, Lazirha's arrival and subsequent response to the situation allowed the white-haired girl a bit more reprieve. She was sure that the questioning wouldn't end here, of course, but at the very least, she could use their companion as an excuse to dodge the question for now. Of course, the truth would probably come out sooner rather than later, but hopefully by then she would get a feel for what sort of person the woman in front of her was.

"I wouldn't exactly call a stranger a friend," Misaki began, choosing to ignore the question of her origin altogether before shrugging her shoulders, "but regardless of that, we should continue our conversation from earlier. Please, lead the way."

The cluttered mess that was the young girl's home, though, caused Misaki's eyes to light up, if only momentarily. She could speak perfectly well as she was examining everything, and if these artifacts were linked to what she had read earlier, then all the better.

"I don't particularly mind all of this, though it might be better if you at least organized some of these things a bit more," she said, slowly kneeling down and staring at the stone slab. "Do you mind if I took a closer look at these while we talked? I'm also tempted to clean these up a bit so that we have a bit more room, but if you don't want that..."

In a low-stakes location like this, suppressing her own curiosity was... Difficult.

@Rune_Alchemist@VitaVitaAR@Click This

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Though surprised by how easily Enli seemed to cave to their suggestions, Misaki found it no less appealing to at least have some sort of repose for the night. Of course, it was likely that she would be in here poring over the documents present until it came time to sleep (or whatever else the others might have had in store for them), but seeing how it would be rude to not check in on Lazirha at this point in time...

Well, the reading could always be done later; by candlelight, if necessary, but later all the same.

"I would also appreciate the hospitality, should it not prove too burdensome upon the village," the foxgirl began, rising from her seat before bowing towards Enli, "but in the meantime, I think I would like to take a little bit more time looking around. If you'll excuse me..."

With that, Misaki quietly exited the house and, after a quiet look around, began to move about. If anything, its similarities to other fishing villages in the more rural areas of Japan might give room to proceed. Coming across Lazirha in the process would be a bonus, of course, but even so...

@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist

From the Ashes

Lymnas

The two traveling companions quickly drew a few curious gazes as they seemed to stroll into town, though that was less because of how much they stood out and more...

No, actually, it was really just how much the pair stood out compared to the residents of Lymnas. They were nothing on the level of spectacle, of course, but those gazes that lingered for a moment (and no more) caused more than a few people to wonder what exactly their reason for coming here was in the first place. After all, unlike the other cities (or even towns) of the kingdom, Lymnas was probably less than noteworthy.

That didn't seem to stop the two from walking straight up to the old man who had come out of the medium-sized building in the center of the town, near the square. His greying hair and cane more than made his age obvious, but the air of experience he held as he stared the two down made his role more than obvious.

"Hm... Visitors, I presume?" he asked, looking the two over quietly before nodding. "What brings you out here to Lymnas?"

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99@Kiki is Anxious

Orlot

As luck would have it, the two 'companions' that had since left each others' company soon found it once more at a large local bar: 'The Singing Serpent'. As one might have expected from a port city like Orlot, the locale was more than bustling with vigor. Drinks were downed (and more than a few spilled) closer to the tables themselves, and food and empty dishes were passed around amidst the raucous laughter and occasional punch, but there was one section of the building that was kept clear of any of the possibility for damage.

A job notice board, set up by the owners of the bar, found itself more than ample returns given how often people used the thing; with so much money flowing through the city, it only made sense to have a place to allow people to hire others for coin, regardless of purpose. Of course, it had to get by the person overseeing the board (a rather battle-worn dwarf with a sword propped up against the wall nearby) and a fee had to be paid to place those requests, but if they had the money to ask in the first place...

Well, needless to say that the mercenaries, sailors, and everyone else from all walks of life here gave enough respect to the board and anyone looking to take a job. Wouldn't do to have their drinking buddies a few coins short for another round, after all.

Of course, there were more than a few requests from Orlot's governing body proper—requests to inspect goods, escort personnel, and, the all-important subjugation requests and bounties. Boasting about stories always made for a good pastime, after all, but those were always the riskiest. They paid out well, sure, but only if one could minimize the costs in taking down quarry.

There were more than a few of those up, though—wayward beasts wandering the seas and land terrorizing merchants, bandits (also terrorizing merchants), and even a request to find and return someone's pet were all scattered across a corner of the board.

Well, given that the pet seemed to be some sort of crocodilian beast, maybe that last one deserved its spot there among the more bloodthirsty targets.

@Lugubrious@Dead Cruiser

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Misaki furrowed her brows as she continued half-listening to Enli's conversation with the other two; given that the "God of Knowledge" in question seemed so important with regards to why this settlement was as it was now, it seemed prudent to at least be aware of what he was saying, given that it was essentially a brief overview of their problems. Of course, going around killing deity-adjacent entities was nowhere on her list of things to do (and hopefully not on those of her two companions), which meant that finding a less bloodthirsty solution would be... More than ideal.

Of course, the commonality of that crest within the records and those who they had met was worth at least asking about... Well, after she had prodded the acting chief with more questions.

"Hm... I don't suppose that negotiations are out of the question?" Misaki asked, raising her hand to catch Enli's attention before pointing to the section regarding some manner of pact. "Putting aside how conspicuously this section is missing, it might be worth at least trying to reach out to this Kyrinth. I apologize for being blunt, but as far as I can tell, the village might continue to slowly 'bleed out' if nothing is done anyways, metaphorically speaking."

Though leaving the diplomacy of the situation to Nobunaga might have been more prudent, it seemed more organic to try and force them to at least consider moving towards some form of action. The foxgirl had dealt with indecisive bureaucracy enough to be at least willing to try and be proactive, especially in this sort of situation.

@VitaVitaAR@Crimson Paladin@Rune_Alchemist

From the Ashes

Lymnas — Eastern Border of Iltana

Trade was not something that the small town of Lymnas saw much of; though wood was plentiful and the farms unspoiled by unsavory hands, people from outside seldom arrived in town. Of course, one could not blame the town so much as they could the way that the rest of the world around them had developed; none of the major roads of the nation passed nearby, and with the advent of air travel a few years back, the town itself felt, in many ways, like a relic of an era long since past.

But in many ways, it was that atmosphere—and rumors on the wind—that had brought the young mage here in the first place. A town located away from prying eyes, and a passing mention of an old hermitage of a great sage from ages past from an old scroll... It would be hard not to at least check it out. Of course, she would not have been so foolish to come here alone anyhow; whether by coincidence or otherwise, the elf travelling with her meant that there was at least one less thing to worry about on the road.

@VitaVitaAR@Pyromania99@Kiki is Anxious

Orlot — Southern Coast of Iltana

As far as port cities went, Orlot was surprisingly profitable despite its seedy atmosphere might have implied. The dwarves who took to the seas to fish or less "savory" activities paid far less attention to how the place was run than the lord of the land had... Though that might have also had something to do with how said lord seemed to love indulging himself in drinks more often than his assistants would have liked. In the end, they seemed to be more in control of the city than he, and with that came the problems that managing a commercial center had.

For instance, the lack of any actual public safety.

As capable as many of Orlot's residents were with a weapon, many seemed to pay more attention to their own troubles and desires. This was, of course, a problem for those who wished to make use of the fact that the city was still a fairly noteworthy place to trade in. To that end, the lucani mercenary who had come to town would find that work was by no means in short supply. With the efforts so readily placed upon the success upon the efforts at sea, it became the surrounding unworked, rocky land that posed the most threat. Bounties upon beasts that had tasted the flesh of those who attempted to move goods about, bandits who found good profit in looting those same people...

Though hiring people to escort them was a straightforward solution for the merchants, it seemed more profitable to those in control of the city to try and cut the root of the problem out at its source.

To the runaway that had just blown into town, though... Well, nobody would look two ways about someone who looked so unassuming at a glance.

@Lugubrious@Dead Cruiser