ManyThings

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

August Thane

Headmaster's Office, The Clock Tower

August listened intently as the Director began to explain the situation. The idea of Mage supremacists reassembling such a powerful artifact troubled him, and questions peppered his mind as more details unfolded. Once Orson paused for questions, August spoke up, "This mansion the Greys have moved into... is there a town or other useable location nearby to it but outside of the radius of this forest's misleading curse? Somewhere we could base ourselves that would be effective for combat?" August disliked the idea of attacking the enemy without a place to retreat to and defend if things went wrong, and if their faction's Caster-class Servant worked the way they were supposed to in the stories of past Grail Wars they would need a place to set up territory. "Speaking of the effects of the forest, does this misleading curse and mauling sound like the sort of magic the Greys are known to practice, or is there any chance it's something caused by one of their Servants? In either case, do we have a way to break through or resist it, beyond the powers our Servants might or might not have?" Each question was asked with a methodical seriousness that seemed to imply August had much experience in dealing with issues of breaching locations and bypassing traps and deterrents.

As he waited for the Director to address the issues he had brought up, August looked over his fellow Faction members. His eyes lingered on the odd boy with hair covering his face, but most of all he was still bothered by the absence of one Master. "Apologies, Director, but if I may ask an additional question, who else is it that was meant to be joining us today?"

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

August Thane

Headmaster's Office, The Clock Tower

August was idly speculating about his new teammates' abilities when the green-haired young woman who had been arguing with Anderson mentioned something about being a Magus Hunter, completely distracting him from the sickly-looking boy who had only just entered. Really? I guess Anderson has probably done plenty of that work, too, but at least he had the courtesy not to mention it in a room full of Mages. The way this girl sucked up to her superior reminded August of himself from many years ago. Of course, if she was like he had been, that attitude was born out of a fear of punishment, so he figured it was best not to ostracize her despite her rudeness to both Anderson and the Mages. "No harm done. If your skillset is similar to Anderson's, here, then I'm just glad to have you on board for the operation." August gave her a professional smile that might have helped to settle down the situation, but then again he supposed to both of those involved in the argument it was the smile of a sinister heretic. At least she was no longer making a scene.

Surveying the room's occupants, August gave a small nod of satisfaction with his new allies. Assuming everyone here but Orson aimed to summon their own Servant, six of the seven masters were in the office. August didn't want to leave one Master out of the loop, but enough time had passed that he was willing to let them pay the price for their own lateness. "Perhaps we had better move along with the briefing, Director." He suggested, taking only a moment to look away from the executioners, where tension still felt somewhat high.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

Yeah I agree. I'm just saying if August speaks up it's gonna push things towards the next stage of the scene, so I'm gonna withhold my post until other things are complete, like if @Seirei No Hai wants to respond to Anderson or something.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

I have a post ready but at this point August is mostly interested in moving along with the briefing, so might it be more appropriate for me to wait until other pre-business interactions wrap up?

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

Ah, that's what I was waiting for. I think it's about time Caster's Master arrived (or not...?) and we get down to business, but I could do a short post some time tonight or tomorrow.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

Alright, that makes sense.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

You mean like two-way eye contact? I'm pretty sure you can still read that stuff just looking at the back of their head. Other than that I feel like it was mentioned at some point that you can read class skills once you know their class and personal skills once you see them used but I can't find it properly explained anywhere on the wiki. I don't remember any good examples besides when it comes up in relation to concealing abilities like Lancelot's smoke or Mordred's helmet, so however you want to run it is probably fine.

EDIT: Secret of Pedigree implies some stuff about how it works, but makes it seem like the norm is way too transparent.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

Just going to ask prematurely, how does "Master-Vision" work here? Like, how much of a servant's stats can we read when we see them?

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

August Thane

Headmaster's Office, The Clock Tower

August was somewhat taken aback by the Paladin's response, but the way he talked about killing and dying made him wonder just how old this man was, and how much of that life had been spent in combat. "Maybe my word choice was too heavy. I just hope, like Leon said, that we can rely on each other's abilities to contribute to the effort in the upcomong battle." August considiered saying more, but before he could, he heard the sound of the office door opening behind him. Looking over his shoulder, August saw a woman survey the office before announcing herself. The name didn't mean anything to him, although the way she said it gave him the impression she might have been someone prestigious. She didn't appear overtly intimidating like Anderson, but August supposed she could have been dangerous withoit being obvious about it, much like Leon. Then again, perhaps it's unreasonable to assume that more than half of the Masters of Black will be irregular combat-mages. He considered introducing himself, but the way Teresa positioned herself after she sat seemed to indicate she had little interest in conversation. August wondered what sorts of Servants each of his allies would summon, and awaited the arrival of the remaining three.

Fate/Crimson Dusk - War of Light, Grey, and Dark

August Thane

Headmaster's Office, The Clock Tower

August had never heard of “God’s Stick" , although Executioners of the Church had a broader reputation for skill and ruthlessness, and the man’s appearance further drove home the point that he was likely a brutal killing machine. “Black Hand” had a familiar ring to it, however. August was sure he had heard about an American Mage who had gained a reputation for his skill in magical duels. Although Leon’s appearance didn’t exude an aura of violence the same way Anderson’s did, August chose to operate on the information he had gathered beforehand, rather than judging a book by its cover. As he seated himself, August turned in his chair to greet his new comrades. “Good to meet both of you. I’m August Thane. I don’t have any nicknames to speak of, but I like to think the Clock Tower knows me as a reliable agent.” August was dressed business casual, and although he wasn’t a man of ceremony he managed to put himself together sharply, being experienced in the art of dressing to impress society mages. "I hope we can all come to trust each other soon enough." August leaned back in his chair, glancing at the door in anticipation of the arrival of the remaining Faction members. So far all three present had an unusually high affinity for combat compared to most mages. If my intel about executioners is accurate, Anderson should be able to wield numerous small blades with terrifying efficacy and be capable of destroying all manner of unholy abominations without issue, not to mention likely having inhuman physical abilities. Meanwhile, the rumours about the Black Hand Magus suggest he should be able to perform magical attacks with very high power and skill. Finally, my own use of weapons is somewhat unorthodox for a Mage, but I can lay down a effective assault, especially if I have time to prepare. August had half a mind to ask his new allies if they felt there would be any opportunity to use their combat abilities when the power of Servants was on the playing field, but figured it would be better to keep morale as high as possible at such an early stage.