King Cosmos

Fate/esoterica

Thomas instructed the bellboy to place his suitcases just inside the doorway before dismissing the hotel employee with a moderate tip. Walking deeper into the suite the Magus turned around slowly and took in the appearance of what was to become his workshop for the foreseeable future; the lavish penthouse apartment was a bit more extravagant than he was comfortable with, not to mention far too expensive, but in this situation it was far more important to choose a location for its security than comfort.

Walking over to the window which covered one wall of the room Thomas gazed out over the city; Redrock was a far cry from London, but it was larger than he had expected it to be during his research. His rented apartment dominated the entire top floor of a hotel in one of the more upscale areas of this small, forgotten slice of America. Why such a place needed a luxurious hotel like this he didn’t know, from what he had seen on his arrival business was hardly booming for them, but ultimately it was of little concern; he would just count it as a little bit of good fortune that it was here and also that the penthouse was currently uninhabited.

Turning away from the window he returned to his suitcases and selected the smaller of the two, carrying it over to a coffee table and placing it down on its side. He undid the clasps and flipped it open, swiftly beginning to remove various implements, parcels and packages from its interior; he had much work to do to prepare for the upcoming war. It would take some time to make this place into a suitable workshop, much to be done before he could consider it even remotely safe from attack or detection. Much to be done; at the very least he wanted to establish the basic defences before nightfall.

He began with the bounded fields, focusing on making them undetectable rather than powerful; he had other methods of protection to rely on, ones that would not act as a beacon to anyone with the means of detecting magecraft, so he opted for subtlety over brute force. Hiding his presence was the more important than layering defences. A field to avert the eyes and make the penthouse seem uninteresting, a field to mask the use of any magecraft happening inside, a field which would hopefully go undetected for the duration of this war.

With that done he moved on to other business. He would strengthen the field later, when he had more time; the field had taken some time to establish and outside the sky was already turning orange as the sun began its descent. Luckily the next few steps were simple and quickly performed so long as the necessary preparations were made beforehand, which he had of course done; simple, but no less effective for it. A Witch’s Bottle crafted and hidden somewhere in the apartment, a device to attract the effects of any curses or debilitating magecraft aimed at his person while inside his workshop, a Witch’s Ball to thwart any attempts at scrying or divination, ensuring that anyone who sought to peek inside would see only a mirrored reflection of themselves staring back at them.

These early stages of the Grail War were perhaps the most hazardous and the most crucial; entering into the battlefield with no workshop, no knowledge of your opponents and with some of the greatest heroes in history as your adversaries. How you spent your time here could make the difference between life and death in the long run. A Magus was nothing without the proper preparation after all.

It was in his favour then, that he had already performed the most important action before leaving the UK.

“Archer; prepare yourself. Tonight we are going hunting.”

@PKMNB0Y

----

In response to his master’s question Rider materialised in the passenger seat, the leather covering creaking under the sudden weight. Anyone peering through the windows would have seen quite an odd sight as Rider had yet to don clothing suitable for this era and was still wearing his armour and leopard skin cloak; at least he had forgone his crested helmet for the moment. Rather than answer Kazamyr immediately Rider spent a moment peering through the windscreen, his hard gaze not focused on anything in particular, as though deep in thought.

“I believe I am at a disadvantage in this war in a number of ways. Unlike many heroes I was never known for my own strength of arms, it was my strategy and my army that made me famous; in this war, deprived of my army as I am, if I were to try to engage one of the more combat oriented classes like Saber or Lancer directly, I would likely fail.” There was no fear or bitterness in the words, merely a calm and patient analysis of one’s own abilities. “The forest is not a favourable battleground for us; the trees will impede the movement of my elephants and give the enemy too many chances to flee. If Assassin is truly out in the open we should target them as a priority; given the way they operate we may not see them again until their knives are at our throats. However we should be cautious. I do not think an assassin would let themselves to be caught so easily; they may be trying to lure us into a trap, using themselves as the bait. Stay hidden, and let me face them alone.”

@Anza

Unheroic: The Fish and The Falls [Closed]

The king’s stronghold crumbled like a sandcastle against the tide when the tower fell on it, the fortress making a sound not unlike a large egg being cracked as the black structure was driven through it like a stake. For long moments the only sounds in the capital’s streets were the lingering sounds of rubble falling as everyone on both sides of the war stopped fighting to gaze in shock at the foreign object cast like an arrow from heaven.

When… things started spewing out of it, winged horrors filling the sky as monstrous creatures flooded the streets out of the ruins, those who didn’t react fast enough died in droves while those who managed to get their bearings died fighting. The soldiers and Knights of the Holy Order, those unfortunate enough to be closest to the castle, were the first to die, leaving only the resistance members and those few who managed to flee to try and mount a more solid defence against the horde.

Having Witches on their side helped, for a moment anyway; lighting and ice and distorted space tore creatures from the sky while pikes and shields and arrows held back those on the ground. Uriel helped as well, flaming falcons pursuing the foul creatures and consuming any they caught; he killed dozens by himself while hundred more fells to those around him, but in the end it was pointless. The tide of monsters seemed endless while their numbers were decidedly not. Large, brutish beasts of war pushed through their shield wall like it was nothing and began cutting down anyone within reach while the winged monstrosities plucked people from the crowd, focusing on taking out the biggest threats first, the Witches. As the fight wore on Uriel noticed fewer and fewer creatures falling to magic and he began glancing around to see who remained; what he saw was not promising.

Jarkon was dead, his volleys of obsidian spears having stopped a while ago; so were Hanley and Arkher, he could see their bodies from here. The brat was probably on the front lines as usual and probably still alive judging by the crashes in that direction. If only the old hag was still here; a storm raging over their heads would at least keep these bastards out of the sky. In the middle of it all he saw Miria, and it was then that any glimmer of hope he had left was crushed; cocky, conniving, deceitful, all-knowing Miria had dropped to her knees with a look of shock on her face, for once looking at a complete loss. It wasn’t a look you ever wanted a seer to have.

It took the creatures, too foul to even be called demons, maybe twenty minutes to eradicate both sides of the war; the castle, the kingdoms last bastion was reduced to rubble, the Holy Order’s remaining knights were dead and so were most of the Witches. Those who survived were rounded up by monsters that did not look like they should have been intelligent enough for such an action; somehow Uriel was one of those remaining and from the looks of things, the only Witch left. They were stripped of their weapons, dragged into the square in front of what was left of the castle and made to wait.

The creatures slowly began moving the rubble of the castle away, large chunks of rock that should have been impossibly to shift being tossed aside with ease. Eventually, when the sleek black rock of the tower was exposed, someone or something, stepped out to greet them.

----

He awoke in a cell.

It wasn’t the first time and at least this one was large enough for him to stand up in. He sat against the base of one wall, opposite the door, slowly returning to his senses as he began to realise that something was amiss; Ignis should have said something by now. He opened one hand and turned it palm up, watching as a slow trickle of smoke began to unfurl from the centre of it before a small and fitful flame burst to life. It was rather less impressive than the flame he was trying to summon and only confirmed his suspicions; his magic was weakened.

This was different from the effects of holy water, which felt like a wall had been placed around him which prevented any power from escaping, not to mention burning like hell against his skin. This felt more like something had been lost, like his power had been taken away, not just blocked. Uriel… felt a little conflicted about that.

Before he could dwell on things any longer he began to hear voices outside of his cell, mostly female and one that seemed to only repeat the words of others including their voices. Cautiously Uriel pushed himself upright and quietly moved to the door of this cell. Without his magic or any weapons he was feeling a little vulnerable and he still didn’t know where he was or how he had gotten here; it paid to be careful.

When he reached the cell door his stopped, not opening it but instead pressing himself against the bars and leaning to the side until he could catch a glimpse of who was talking. What he saw didn’t make a lot of sense to him; two winged humans, a person made of metal and one who had the appearance of a walking corpse. He wasn’t sure which one he found more impossible, but nonetheless there they all were. From the sounds of it they were prisoners to, from where he didn’t know, and just as confused by all this as he.

Whatever was going on, leaving whatever dungeon this was should be his first priority. And strange though these people might be it seemed they were in the same boat as him. He could ignore what they were for now if it meant getting out of here and find out if they were a threat later. Pushing open the door to his cell he stepped out into the central corridor with the rest of them; he glanced in their direction, getting a better, unobstructed view of them, before pulling another torch from its sconce. “Leave first, figure out the rest later.”

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Heyo! Was hoping this is still going. I posted a character I’ve been working on.

@LukasVolkov

Hey Lukas. Unfortunately this RP is full. We did have some openings before we started but those have been filled in with NPCs; it would be a little difficult to retcon things to include your characters now, but whether or not we do that is a decision for the GM. Either way, Assassin is already claimed by another player.

Also, I can see from your posts that you're new here. Generally people don't post their characters to the character tab until they've been accepted by the GM; they usually get posted the in OOC tab until then.

Unheroic: The Fish and The Falls [Closed]

Uriel Castur

Former Title: Knight Captain of the Holy Order (Former), The Most Wanted Man in Averne (former), Chief Strategist of the Resistance (former)
Nickname/Alias: Uriel the Flame Witch
Name: Uriel Cartur
Age: 37
Pronouns: He
Race: Human (Witch)

Personality: A man who has risen, fallen and was raised again, Uriel has experienced much hardship in his life. Made a pariah by the very laws and beliefs he used to enforce, forced to hide his nature for so long or face death, he has been made cautious and distrusting; it has been a long time since Uriel met someone he felt he could trust.

Though once bright eyed and hopeful, time and experience has made him cynical; he has seen what those things he used to believe in are really like, what the people he used to trust were really capable of and what he was willing to give his life to uphold was really worth. He has little faith in people and even less in organisations or systems.

This does not prevent him from trying to help people however; he was once a knight after all and his reasons for doing so have not changed. Uriel will not suffer injustice to happen, nor will he watch idly by when someone needs his help.

Appearance:


Abilities/Powers:
Witches Pact - Uriel is a Witch. He is a human who has made a pact with a demon in order to gain the ability to control magic; through his connection to his demonic familiar he is able to cast spells, sense and absorb mana, see in the dark and understand the language of demons. Witches do not always have a choice when a demon wished to make a pact with them, in fact most Witches are created against their will when a demon takes a liking to them; Uriel is one such Witch. Due to their demonic patronage Witches have certain weaknesses, vulnerabilities to sanctified substances or objects with holy properties; one of the measures often used against captured Witches to keep them confined is to soak their bindings in holy water, which burns their skin and works to suppress their magic.

Flame Magic – Each Witch has a magic specialty, determined by their demon familiar and influenced by their own nature. Witches can generally only cast magic related to their specialty meaning that no two Witches are ever alike when it comes to what they are capable of. Uriel’s specialty is fire, as determined by the demon he is linked with, Ignis. This specialty is further influence by Uriel’s vast experience as a soldier patrolling the frontiers of Averne meaning that his fire magic often takes the shape of an animal; a flock of flaming birds or a pack of fiery wolves chasing his target down for example. Ignis likes to call this magic “Wildfire”.

Military Experience – Before he became a Witch, before his secret was revealed, Uriel was a captain in the Holy Order. He was knighted by the King and the Church, appointed to a leadership position and tasked with tracking and capturing suspected Witches all across the kingdom. He has picked up many skills from his time in the military, from swordsmanship, horse riding, tracking, wilderness survival as well as leadership, military strategy and tactics. When he became a fugitive, it was these qualities that made him the most wanted man in the kingdom. And it was these qualities that made the resistance seek him out.

Equipment: A simple trousers and tunic, along with his leather boots, were all that they left him after his capture.

Inventory: None

Origin: Averne. A kingdom of religion and darkness; the king rules over a nation of pious and fearful people while the Church rules over the king. Wild magic has returned to the world, leylines bursting with mana as demons return to the plane of mortals in droves and the number of Witches explodes beyond control. The Holy Order seeks to drive out this evil plague, conscripting as many young men as they can into the army and sending their knights out into the kingdom to hunt down as many Witches as they can. Results are rewarded and failure is punished, leading to a zealous witch hunt that claims many more innocent lives than it does demons.

Years pass and things slowly improve. The flow of demons and the number of new Witches seems to stabilise, yet the Holy Order finds fewer and fewer Witches during its hunt; it seems this will be the new way of things from now on. Those who live outside of the larger cities are fearful and paranoid, wondering whether it will be the Witches or the Knights who come for them first; everyone knows they don’t particularly care about finding Witches anymore, not real ones anyway, so long as they can keep up the appearance of meeting their quotas. Those in the cities are safer and have a much better image of the Church, but even they fear the imminent threat of Witches attacking that the Church protects them from.

Word spreads of a resistance, someone opposed to the Church and their puppet king, someone who wants to put a stop to the futile hunts and restore some sanity to the kingdom; it would almost be something people could celebrate if it wasn’t run by the very Witches the kingdom seeks to eliminate. Even so, people join them; whether because they fear the church and its Witch hunters more than the Witches themselves, or because they fear what the Witches will do if they don’t, they join. What’s more, word is they’ve managed to recruit the former Knight Captain turned Witch, the most wanted man in Averne, Uriel Cartur to their cause.

Backstory: Uriel spent his entire life in service to the Church of the Holy Order. His father was a Cardinal, a high ranking official in the Church, and as a young boy he would attend services frequently, as was expected of him. When he was old enough he began lessons to become a knight; history, etiquette, swordsmanship, horse riding and so on. As a teenager he was squired to a knight to continue his training, leaving the capital city for the first time in his life and going on missions for the Church and the crown.

As a young adult, after eight years faithfully serving the knight he was appointed to, Uriel earned his own knighthood. Standing before the king and the Churches highest members he swore his oaths and was knighted, given command of his own regiment of soldiers and tasked with hunting Witches in the furthest reaches of the kingdom, where the wild magic was strongest. It was a difficult task, and daunting, but he accepted it gladly.

The next few years were arduous and dangerous; the furthest reaches of the kingdom were a perilous place and he spent as much time fighting off bandits or wild animals as he did hunting Witches. No matter how difficult though he was steadfast in the performance of his duties, tracking any rumours of the use of magic, any hint of witchcraft to their source, and dealing with whatever he found. Finding a Witch was rare however, they are not as numerous as the Church had led him to believe, and unlike other Knights he was unwilling to condemn innocents just to make himself look better. Over the years he received many reports from the capital stating their displeasure with his results; it was likely only his connection to his father, influential as he was, that protected him from greater reprisals.

At some point, Ignis found him. Whether he was a demon new to this word, or perhaps the demon linked to one of the Witches Uriel managed to capture, the fire demon latched onto Uriel without him knowing, forming a pact between the two and forever sealing Uriel’s fate. At first he began having dreams, dark and disturbing dreams, with visions of fire and pain and a whispered voice he couldn’t understand. He thought it was merely stress at first, his mind finally succumbing to the pressures of his duty and the harshness of his environment, but then he started hearing the whispers when he was awake as well.

Just when he thought he was going mad, Ignis appeared to him. A small, imp-like creature with a twisted grin and horribly evil eyes, intelligent and malicious; the demon promised him power, promised him freedom, promised him everything, promised him lies. There wasn’t even a deal to be made, his soul had already been sold, the demon had already won; Uriel had become a Witch and had all the power that came with it, but he chose to deny it. For almost a year he kept his nature hidden from everyone, from the soldiers under his command and from the people he tried to help; even from the Church.

Everything went horribly wrong when they found the leyline well however. Leylines are concentrations of mana that form naturally along the alignment of significant landmarks; where these lines cross over each other they form wells of immense magical power found in the world; as Witches are able to draw on the ambient mana in the world to fuel their magic, these leylines and especially the wells can greatly enhance their magical abilities. And in the case of an inexperienced Witch, or one such as Uriel who tries to suppress their power, it can cause their magic to run out of control.

When Uriel finally managed to get his magic under control and the flames died down most of his men were dead and his secret was exposed. A few managed to escape and survive, spreading the word of what had happened; this news soon made it to the capital and the Church and the King and soon Uriel Cartur was known as the most wanted criminal in the entire kingdom. A former knight, the son of a Cardinal, one of the kingdoms most trusted members revealed as a Witch; the man who’d sold his soul for power. The man who’d laid in hiding for years, worming his way into a position of power, before slaughtering the very men who trusted him most.

Or at least, that was how the Church told it.

For another two years Uriel survived as a fugitive, with his face posted in every town or village for everyone to see; everyone knew his face and his name and either feared or hated him in equal measure. For two years he hid his face, kept to the shadows and did whatever he needed to survive. And, reluctantly, he learned how to control his magic; he couldn’t afford another loss of control and, if he was to survive, he needed to be able to use it as a weapon. He tried to ignore Ignis’s gloating as he practised.

Despite his best effort however, he couldn’t evade the Holy Order’s Witch hunters forever. He was captured, thrown in a cramped cage on the back of a cart, chained with specially made iron binding that kept his wrists in contact with holy water, and carried towards the capital alongside all the other “Witches” they had captured.

The caravan never made it to its destination however; while stopped in a town for the night, Uriel’s personal cage strung up in the middle of town to scare or reassure the locals, the resistance came for him. Witches attacked the soldiers while they rested, killing many of them and releasing the other prisoners from captivity. The town was thrown into chaos and amidst it all Uriel’s cage was opened. He was carried to the woods outside of town against his will, his “liberators” transporting him to their camp in order to make a proposition; there he was introduced to the resistances leadership, small though it was, and tried to recruit him. The kingdoms most hated fugitive, a former knight and Witch hunter with all the military experience that suggested; he would be a great asset to them.

Reluctantly, he joined them. He didn’t believe in their cause and even if he did they were Witches, they weren’t to be trusted; a bit hypocritical maybe, but he knew better than most what it felt like to have a demon whispering in your ear. He didn’t trust everyone to remain innocent under that kind of influence. He joined because he had no other choice, nowhere else to turn, and a part of him didn’t think they would allow him to say no anyway. Maybe a part of him thought he could do some good for the people as well.

For another year and a half he worked with the resistance, helping them strategize and helping the carry out missions to weaken the Church. He saw them help people, he met people who were thankful for the help, he met a lot of people who didn’t like the Church or the King and heard their reasons for it. Occasionally it was necessary to fight those he used to call comrades, even to kill them; his conscience told him it was wrong while he reason said he had no choice. To be honest, it wasn’t hard not to have any sympathy when he’d seen first-hand what the Witch hunters did to a town and its people; he wasn’t blind to the crimes the Knights committed in order to protect the people. He tried to ignore Ignis’s opinions on the matter.

Over time he began to see what the Church was really like. He knew that the Witch hunters could be… overzealous at times, but he had been in their position and knew what it was like. He knew how much of a threat Witches could be and could understand their methods, even as he condemned their results. But seeing it from the other side, he saw how little the Church actually cared for the people outside of the capital, how they did more harm than good in their war against Witches. He began to agree with the idea of overthrowing them.

The resistance slowly worked its way closer to the capital. Along the way they captured, or freed depending on your stance, towns and villages on the way; more and more people joined their side in opposition to the King while the Church tried to crack down harder on those remaining to stay loyal, their enforcers only becoming more brutal, if anything making people more willing to abandon them. Eventually the resistance even made it all the way to the gates of the capital itself and laid siege to the city.

Uriel was to lead a group into the city via the sewers, to strike from the inside and open the gates to let the rest of the resistance in while the others drew the army’s attention to themselves outside. This plan was successful and Uriel was able to let everyone into the city so that they could begin their march on the throne itself.

Then the black tower fell on the city, and everything became meaningless.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

It seemed that finding who he was looking for wasn’t going to be as hard as he though, considering both people came and found him instead. Some creature he had never seen before appeared first; with two forelegs and a long, snake-like body trailing behind it it looked like some kind of evolved lizard. Whatever it was, from the way it spoke it seemed to be human and from the way it, she, responded to Jason he could only assume this was Rain.

Curious as to what she actually was Oberon used Monster Analysis on her; it seemed like a number of people had evolved from that last battle, not just him. While he was reading the results Digbie also approached, thankfully agreeing to leave with them. Oberon used Monster Analysis on him as well for good measure. “Ok, that’s good to hear. We should leave as soon as we can and join the others. Uh, Rain? You’re welcome to come with us.”

Action Report

Used "Monster Analysis" on Rain
Used "Monster Analysis" on Digbie

@Old Amsterdam@Gardevoiran

Unheroic: The Fish and The Falls [Closed]

@Lumiere

My CS for Uriel is finished.

Unheroic: The Fish and The Falls [Closed]

Uriel Castur

Former Title: Knight Captain of the Holy Order (Former), The Most Wanted Man in Averne (former), Chief Strategist of the Resistance (former)
Nickname/Alias: Uriel the Flame Witch
Name: Uriel Cartur
Age: 37
Pronouns: He
Race: Human (Witch)

Personality: A man who has risen, fallen and was raised again, Uriel has experienced much hardship in his life. Made a pariah by the very laws and beliefs he used to enforce, forced to hide his nature for so long or face death, he has been made cautious and distrusting; it has been a long time since Uriel met someone he felt he could trust.

Though once bright eyed and hopeful, time and experience has made him cynical; he has seen what those things he used to believe in are really like, what the people he used to trust were really capable of and what he was willing to give his life to uphold was really worth. He has little faith in people and even less in organisations or systems.

This does not prevent him from trying to help people however; he was once a knight after all and his reasons for doing so have not changed. Uriel will not suffer injustice to happen, nor will he watch idly by when someone needs his help.

Appearance:


Abilities/Powers:
Witches Pact - Uriel is a Witch. He is a human who has made a pact with a demon in order to gain the ability to control magic; through his connection to his demonic familiar he is able to cast spells, sense and absorb mana, see in the dark and understand the language of demons. Witches do not always have a choice when a demon wished to make a pact with them, in fact most Witches are created against their will when a demon takes a liking to them; Uriel is one such Witch. Due to their demonic patronage Witches have certain weaknesses, vulnerabilities to sanctified substances or objects with holy properties; one of the measures often used against captured Witches to keep them confined is to soak their bindings in holy water, which burns their skin and works to suppress their magic.

Flame Magic – Each Witch has a magic specialty, determined by their demon familiar and influenced by their own nature. Witches can generally only cast magic related to their specialty meaning that no two Witches are ever alike when it comes to what they are capable of. Uriel’s specialty is fire, as determined by the demon he is linked with, Ignis. This specialty is further influence by Uriel’s vast experience as a soldier patrolling the frontiers of Averne meaning that his fire magic often takes the shape of an animal; a flock of flaming birds or a pack of fiery wolves chasing his target down for example. Ignis likes to call this magic “Wildfire”.

Military Experience – Before he became a Witch, before his secret was revealed, Uriel was a captain in the Holy Order. He was knighted by the King and the Church, appointed to a leadership position and tasked with tracking and capturing suspected Witches all across the kingdom. He has picked up many skills from his time in the military, from swordsmanship, horse riding, tracking, wilderness survival as well as leadership, military strategy and tactics. When he became a fugitive, it was these qualities that made him the most wanted man in the kingdom. And it was these qualities that made the resistance seek him out.

Equipment: A simple trousers and tunic, along with his leather boots, were all that they left him after his capture.

Inventory: None

Origin: Averne. A kingdom of religion and darkness; the king rules over a nation of pious and fearful people while the Church rules over the king. Wild magic has returned to the world, leylines bursting with mana as demons return to the plane of mortals in droves and the number of Witches explodes beyond control. The Holy Order seeks to drive out this evil plague, conscripting as many young men as they can into the army and sending their knights out into the kingdom to hunt down as many Witches as they can. Results are rewarded and failure is punished, leading to a zealous witch hunt that claims many more innocent lives than it does demons.

Years pass and things slowly improve. The flow of demons and the number of new Witches seems to stabilise, yet the Holy Order finds fewer and fewer Witches during its hunt; it seems this will be the new way of things from now on. Those who live outside of the larger cities are fearful and paranoid, wondering whether it will be the Witches or the Knights who come for them first; everyone knows they don’t particularly care about finding Witches anymore, not real ones anyway, so long as they can keep up the appearance of meeting their quotas. Those in the cities are safer and have a much better image of the Church, but even they fear the imminent threat of Witches attacking that the Church protects them from.

Word spreads of a resistance, someone opposed to the Church and their puppet king, someone who wants to put a stop to the futile hunts and restore some sanity to the kingdom; it would almost be something people could celebrate if it wasn’t run by the very Witches the kingdom seeks to eliminate. Even so, people join them; whether because they fear the church and its Witch hunters more than the Witches themselves, or because they fear what the Witches will do if they don’t, they join. What’s more, word is they’ve managed to recruit the former Knight Captain turned Witch, the most wanted man in Averne, Uriel Cartur to their cause.

Backstory: Uriel spent his entire life in service to the Church of the Holy Order. His father was a Cardinal, a high ranking official in the Church, and as a young boy he would attend services frequently, as was expected of him. When he was old enough he began lessons to become a knight; history, etiquette, swordsmanship, horse riding and so on. As a teenager he was squired to a knight to continue his training, leaving the capital city for the first time in his life and going on missions for the Church and the crown.

As a young adult, after eight years faithfully serving the knight he was appointed to, Uriel earned his own knighthood. Standing before the king and the Churches highest members he swore his oaths and was knighted, given command of his own regiment of soldiers and tasked with hunting Witches in the furthest reaches of the kingdom, where the wild magic was strongest. It was a difficult task, and daunting, but he accepted it gladly.

The next few years were arduous and dangerous; the furthest reaches of the kingdom were a perilous place and he spent as much time fighting off bandits or wild animals as he did hunting Witches. No matter how difficult though he was steadfast in the performance of his duties, tracking any rumours of the use of magic, any hint of witchcraft to their source, and dealing with whatever he found. Finding a Witch was rare however, they are not as numerous as the Church had led him to believe, and unlike other Knights he was unwilling to condemn innocents just to make himself look better. Over the years he received many reports from the capital stating their displeasure with his results; it was likely only his connection to his father, influential as he was, that protected him from greater reprisals.

At some point, Ignis found him. Whether he was a demon new to this word, or perhaps the demon linked to one of the Witches Uriel managed to capture, the fire demon latched onto Uriel without him knowing, forming a pact between the two and forever sealing Uriel’s fate. At first he began having dreams, dark and disturbing dreams, with visions of fire and pain and a whispered voice he couldn’t understand. He thought it was merely stress at first, his mind finally succumbing to the pressures of his duty and the harshness of his environment, but then he started hearing the whispers when he was awake as well.

Just when he thought he was going mad, Ignis appeared to him. A small, imp-like creature with a twisted grin and horribly evil eyes, intelligent and malicious; the demon promised him power, promised him freedom, promised him everything, promised him lies. There wasn’t even a deal to be made, his soul had already been sold, the demon had already won; Uriel had become a Witch and had all the power that came with it, but he chose to deny it. For almost a year he kept his nature hidden from everyone, from the soldiers under his command and from the people he tried to help; even from the Church.

Everything went horribly wrong when they found the leyline well however. Leylines are concentrations of mana that form naturally along the alignment of significant landmarks; where these lines cross over each other they form wells of immense magical power found in the world; as Witches are able to draw on the ambient mana in the world to fuel their magic, these leylines and especially the wells can greatly enhance their magical abilities. And in the case of an inexperienced Witch, or one such as Uriel who tries to suppress their power, it can cause their magic to run out of control.

When Uriel finally managed to get his magic under control and the flames died down most of his men were dead and his secret was exposed. A few managed to escape and survive, spreading the word of what had happened; this news soon made it to the capital and the Church and the King and soon Uriel Cartur was known as the most wanted criminal in the entire kingdom. A former knight, the son of a Cardinal, one of the kingdoms most trusted members revealed as a Witch; the man who’d sold his soul for power. The man who’d laid in hiding for years, worming his way into a position of power, before slaughtering the very men who trusted him most.

Or at least, that was how the Church told it.

For another two years Uriel survived as a fugitive, with his face posted in every town or village for everyone to see; everyone knew his face and his name and either feared or hated him in equal measure. For two years he hid his face, kept to the shadows and did whatever he needed to survive. And, reluctantly, he learned how to control his magic; he couldn’t afford another loss of control and, if he was to survive, he needed to be able to use it as a weapon. He tried to ignore Ignis’s gloating as he practised.

Despite his best effort however, he couldn’t evade the Holy Order’s Witch hunters forever. He was captured, thrown in a cramped cage on the back of a cart, chained with specially made iron binding that kept his wrists in contact with holy water, and carried towards the capital alongside all the other “Witches” they had captured.

The caravan never made it to its destination however; while stopped in a town for the night, Uriel’s personal cage strung up in the middle of town to scare or reassure the locals, the resistance came for him. Witches attacked the soldiers while they rested, killing many of them and releasing the other prisoners from captivity. The town was thrown into chaos and amidst it all Uriel’s cage was opened. He was carried to the woods outside of town against his will, his “liberators” transporting him to their camp in order to make a proposition; there he was introduced to the resistances leadership, small though it was, and tried to recruit him. The kingdoms most hated fugitive, a former knight and Witch hunter with all the military experience that suggested; he would be a great asset to them.

Reluctantly, he joined them. He didn’t believe in their cause and even if he did they were Witches, they weren’t to be trusted; a bit hypocritical maybe, but he knew better than most what it felt like to have a demon whispering in your ear. He didn’t trust everyone to remain innocent under that kind of influence. He joined because he had no other choice, nowhere else to turn, and a part of him didn’t think they would allow him to say no anyway. Maybe a part of him thought he could do some good for the people as well.

For another year and a half he worked with the resistance, helping them strategize and helping the carry out missions to weaken the Church. He saw them help people, he met people who were thankful for the help, he met a lot of people who didn’t like the Church or the King and heard their reasons for it. Occasionally it was necessary to fight those he used to call comrades, even to kill them; his conscience told him it was wrong while he reason said he had no choice. To be honest, it wasn’t hard not to have any sympathy when he’d seen first-hand what the Witch hunters did to a town and its people; he wasn’t blind to the crimes the Knights committed in order to protect the people. He tried to ignore Ignis’s opinions on the matter.

Over time he began to see what the Church was really like. He knew that the Witch hunters could be… overzealous at times, but he had been in their position and knew what it was like. He knew how much of a threat Witches could be and could understand their methods, even as he condemned their results. But seeing it from the other side, he saw how little the Church actually cared for the people outside of the capital, how they did more harm than good in their war against Witches. He began to agree with the idea of overthrowing them.

The resistance slowly worked its way closer to the capital. Along the way they captured, or freed depending on your stance, towns and villages on the way; more and more people joined their side in opposition to the King while the Church tried to crack down harder on those remaining to stay loyal, their enforcers only becoming more brutal, if anything making people more willing to abandon them. Eventually the resistance even made it all the way to the gates of the capital itself and laid siege to the city.

Uriel was to lead a group into the city via the sewers, to strike from the inside and open the gates to let the rest of the resistance in while the others drew the army’s attention to themselves outside. This plan was successful and Uriel was able to let everyone into the city so that they could begin their march on the throne itself.

Then the black tower fell on the city, and everything became meaningless.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Well, at least these skeletons weren’t too tough to take out; but then again, if he hadn’t managed to hit it in the head like he did then his attack probably wouldn’t have been nearly as effective. Undead were nothing if not robust after all; they didn’t bleed or feel pain, so anything short of destroying them enough to make them unable to function or maybe breaking whatever enchantment let them continue to move around wouldn’t stop them.

This one was easily dealt with but if this was the kind of thing that was going to start spawning inside the cave then he was right to want to leave.

Lowering himself back to the ground Oberon turned to the Dire Rat who had been fighting the skeleton and called out to them. They didn’t seem too hurt and his shield was still in place so they were probably fine; his main priority now was just to find Digbie and Rain and leave. “Hey, have you seen a Goblin around here? He’s probably digging. And Rain; do you know a Lizard called Rain?”

Before he could get an answer the Slime with the conical protrusion suddenly arrived with some others; he heard, or at least experienced the Slimes voice in his head before seeing him, startling the Sprite. It seemed the animosity between him and Mourningstar went both ways and Oberon kept his mouth shut in that regard; he’d definitely want to question Mourningstar later to find out exactly what happened, but for now it wasn’t the most pressing issue.

The Slime approached the now destroyed skeleton and began chanting some kind of funeral rites; Oberon stepped back to give the Slime some room, taking the opportunity to analyse him with his newly acquired Monster Analysis. He them turned his examination on the Dire Rat and the others who had arrived with the Slime; he’d already examined a few of these creatures with his Magic Analysis but he expected to get more information from a skill more suited to the task.

Suddenly the Slime ended the funeral rites with a spell of some kind, a series of runes and sigils appearing on the ground around the skeleton. As the unusually blunted rock spire appeared out of the ground Oberon used his Magic Analysis on the rite.

Once finished with whatever it was he had just done the Slime began giving instructions, asking people to retreat to a cave and rest; it was tempting to take him up on the offer, to get some rest and leave later, but with Mourningstar and the others waiting for him and potentially coming back for him if he took too long, he couldn’t afford to take the extra time.

“I’m leaving. Something big is happening in this cave and we don’t know how bad it’s going to get; I’d rather take my chances outside than deal with all these undead that are appearing. Some people have already left, they should be waiting outside soon; I’m leaving as soon as I find Digbie and Rain, anyone else who wants to come with me is welcome to.”

Action Report

Used "Monster Analysis" on Asteria
Used "Monster Analysis" on Jason
Used "Monster Analysis" on anyone else with Jason
Used "Magic Analysis" on Rock Spire Burial Rite - Earth's Mercy Damn This Is A Long Name
Speechifying

@Guy0fV4lor@Zeroth@Duthguy@Searat@Silverpaw@Gardevoiran

DBZ: The Sagas of The Z Warrior

Pretty sure I already used Alex's biggest attack in my last post. It's looking unlikely that he'll die in this fight like I wanted, unless I pull a Piccolo and hold Raditz in place for everyone else.

DBZ: The Sagas of The Z Warrior

@Weird Tales I feel like a lot of suggestions have already been made in this thread.

To address the issue of all these fights turning into ganging up on the villain; add Saibamen, add random members of Frieza's army going forward, use movie lore in addition to the main series. Just... add more people for us to fight.

To address the issue of power levels; the training you do determines your power increase, give us some agency in terms of powering up out characters and don't just give everyone the same flat increase. There'll still be a discrepancy but at least the weaker characters can maybe catch up this way, instead of always being weaker because they didn't start at the cap.