ManyThings

Fate/Factitious Paradigm

Ground Platoons and Air Squadrons

Foreign and Commerce Districts, Miyama

---

It was the most intense coordination the controller had ever attempted. No doubt most eyes in the area were on the fire, but another strange event had begun nearby only seconds after it had started consuming the area. Mailboxes, bicycles, chimneys, birds, plants, street signs, and various other neighbourhood items collapsed into swarms of insects, and in the next moment reformed on the streets into people. It would have been too much of a strain to instantly formulate so many appearances, and so a single one was chosen for the entire set, seemingly at random.

There was no delay. Alone or together, they forced their way through each door they came across, delivering the same message. "Your lives are at risk! Head east quickly!" Even in their unimposing bodies, they presented a frantic and demanding personality that quickly drove civilians from their homes, with assistance wherever needed, and towards the river.

It was a strange sight, even if it was unlikely to be the oddest thing spotted on any given day of a Grail War. Groups of dazed foreigners, some barefoot, many dressed for a lazy morning indoors, being ushered through the streets by dozens of seemingly the same girl. Their route had to be adjusted when the bridge became... unusable, but the group was fortunate enough to come across numerous lifeboats at the riverbank. Once the civilians had been herded on board, the facade was largely dropped, and the boats morphed into horrid rubbery sea creatures with numerous flippers, hastily depositing the passengers on the Shinto town riverbank before dispersing into a swarm and reforming into water vessels on the first side.

These evacuation efforts were concentrated in the foreign district, where the fire now raged, but individuals were appearing all throughout Miyama, warning residents of the incoming flames and advising them to collect a few valuables and skip town, meeting with mixed responses from the citizens.

There were a few places, though, where different actions unfolded. The first was as the Tohsaka manor, or rather, just outside of it. A worm-body in the form of the controller called out, hopefully earning the attention of those within. "I have the locations of those who I believe to be responsible for this!" No more needed to be said. Hideyoshi understood the magecraft of the Matous, and so he would know that he needed only to speak aloud while outside any bounded fields to gain the controller's attention and directions.

@Kyoka @Seirei No Hai

Secondly, a certain young girl on the streets of the commerce district received a visit. It was clear to the controller that this was the Master of the Servant responsible for last night's attack, as well as likely the addition to today's flames. Two bodies approached briskly in the marketplace, using the same appearance as anywhere else. There was no real effort at deception. As soon as her eyes fell on the pair, they spoke coldly in unison, "That was a dirty move last night. Is this more of your handiwork?"

They didn't wait for a response. Even as the final syllables left their lips, their bodies began to disassemble into blade-wing insects, spreading out and closing. Any given cut would be unlikely to kill Riyu, but they were quick, numerous, and arranged such that striking each one individually would be consigning oneself to a losing battle.

@Argonaut

---

Scáthach

Matou Manor --> Foreign District Streets

---

With her orders decided upon, Lancer made for the streets, leaving the house she had helped to repair overnight. Where there had been a hole, there was now a significantly lower area of roof composed of her Master's familiars. It was irritating to think that she might have to sacrifice the whole place if today's efforts went badly.

The drunken mob was barely a thought in her mind. She disabled a few on her way out of the grounds with quick taps that sent them flying unconsciously down the street simple because it was as easy for her as doing nothing, but the bulk of the work was done by the runes surrounding the manor, which had been set to "stun". A pile of charred but living drunken arsonists now lay just outside the manor walls, and they would only be met with more nonlethal electricity and wind if they managed to get up for round two.

Lancer reached the decided upon position, an intersection on the edge of the forest whose area was being given special priority during the worms' evacuation efforts. Looking right, there was a sizeable stretch of road before things would get even a little difficult. She held one spear, and on both that spear and her arms there glowed runes of strengthening. Suffice to say, her first swing was a potent one even by the standards of Servants. The road was less than sand to her spear as it passed through, making some nice headway for the ensuing trench-digging. Of course, it would be horribly expensive to use such a method with every strike, but used sparingly it made for rather efficient work as a wide stretch along the middle of the road was slowly crushed into an extended pit almost a meter deep and bereft of any fuel.

Of course, her forceful destruction was not done carelessly. She would make an obstacle between the flames and the manor, and then work to protect the forest and greater Miyama if there was time to spare. During all this, her clairvoyance would remain vigilant for sneak attacks, as she had already heard from her Master of the difficulties the Saber from last night was experiencing. She longed to head that way and aid him while taking vengeance on the Assassin for his attacks, but she had work to do here and felt she could rely on Saber to at the very least last a long time against any opponent.

She was a good distance from the fire. Her goal here was not to save as much of the area as possible, but to gurantee the safety of the area she had time to properly protect.

Smash, smash, smash, went the wise queen.

✧ Adventure Must Continue ✧

@HueMan I think I'll have to drop out. It's a bad week for me so I can't be taking much time to plan with you guys even if I get my characters done.

✧ Adventure Must Continue ✧

Putting this WIP here for now. Questions, comments, and criticism welcome in the meantime.

✧ Adventure must go on... ✧ (Overlord RP)

Interesting! If this gets off its feet I'd like to play, though I guess it depends a little on this fantasy system of yours.

I see you're checking in advanced as well, so hopefully I can hold up to your standards.

Fate/Darkened Moon

Romeo Tallis

The Clock Tower

---

Being an executioner, Romeo had seen plenty of mages in vulnerable and human states before, but this was different. The flustered lady, the polite guy, and the disappointed old man. It was like a sitcom or something. That being the case, he thought, it would be best to strike while the iron was hot and start interacting with mages in a friendly way for the first time in his life. "It's true that a Servant is the best tool to rely on in battles like these, but even so..."

He stood up and quickly approached Cassandra. "...I'd love to know what kind of magecraft you guys are good at!" Before he even finished that sentence he remembered his superior was in the room and tried to wear a face with a little more seriousness. "I mean, when you work with someone you have to know what they can do for you." Even when he tried his hardest to be professional, he still sounded a little bit like a nerd asking about the powers of a comic book character.

"I myself am partial to sneaking around, then running up and going for a hand-to-hand takedown. It's not the kind of thing mages are used to, so it tends to be sorta effective against them." As he described each part of his "battle plan" he made mostly unconscious hand motions to illustrate them, tensing up and shifting his head from side to side as if sneaking before raising his fists to about neck level like some sort of terrible boxer. "As for questions to you, Director, do you have any clue who the head of the family is or what kind of structure they have beyond that? The average family as I understand it will have the head, their spouse, and one, maybe two kids. That's not enough to support a full Servant roster unless they call in a bunch of aunts and uncles or favours from allied houses."

"Beyond that, who else are we waiting for? If this student of yours has already been cleared with you then there's not really much reason for her to be here, so that leaves me, father Anderson, Leon and Cassandra. My plan is mostly to take out the enemy Masters and let their Servants disappear, but it's good to have a full team, right? Especially when the bad guys are hiding in an illusion forest." Now that he was standing again, Romeo's body language exuded energy as he shifted repeatedly from one foot to the other.

Fate/Darkened Moon

I'm on vacation with limited internet so I'll write while offline and then post when I can.

Fate/Factitious Paradigm

Reiki Matou

The Gazebo, Matou Manor

---

She felt it. Saw it. But that was mostly through her bugs. The sound of the explosion was muffled enough under the tub that she probably hadn't even needed to cover Shinji's ears. Did that mean it was weak? No, the damage was clearly serious, it was just that the bomb had gone off only after sliding down a hallway to the back of the house. On top of that, the familiars that had been in the area had taken the full brunt of the curse in that projectile. Quickly, Reiki broke off her contracts with them, leaving them to flop helplessly until she could find a safe way to dispose of them.

Tentatively, she dismissed the swarm surrounding her and Shinji and lifted up the tub to look around. With the immediate threat gone, the gazebo's defences swiftly destroyed themselves. They hadn't even been touched by the blast, which had been highly concentrated. Nonetheless...

Lancer, there's been an attack at the manor. Please excuse yourself from the encounter with that Saber and return here hastily.

...The area that had been hit was absolutely decimated, although those outside the property wouldn't have heard or seen a thing. Stepping out of the gazebo and circling the building with Shinji following timidly at her heels, Reiki was able to observe damage better. It seemed that by a stroke of fortune the damage had been limited to the least valuable parts of the house. The upstairs bathroom, a pair of empty guest rooms, the dining room ceiling and half the attic were simply gone. Indeed, it could have been so much worse. Her room, the study, the workshop, Benita's room, the safes, and the worm pits all remained completely intact. After that villainous Master's bank robbery it was no longer possible to use wealth as a tool as Reiki had once hoped, but the Matous would at least be able to stay comfortably afloat as a family with what was kept in their house, if such a thing was even needed in Zouken's perfect world.

However, the home she had spent her entire life in had been severely damaged. There was no way. It was close, but she wouldn't cry. If Benita were around she would have requested Lancer Prime hunt down the culprit posthaste, as she had caught a glimpse of his appearance through her bugs before the attack, but in this case a little more diplomacy would be required.

---

Ground Platoons Eleven and Twelve

Miyama Streets

@Vocab

---

Their target was in sight. Not the target of a sneak attack, but rather the recipient of a message. In an alley just ahead they took on the required forms, Eleven as the controller and Twelve as a rough likeness of a plain man from the controller's memory. Stepping out onto the street, Eleven quickly approached the two, looking exactly as another double had earlier that evening. "Excuse the interruption, I'm sure you're having a productive night, but I thought you should know that there is a Servant in the area, presumably an Assassin, who briefly attacked my home just now before vanishing without a trace."

Twelve emerged from the alley at that point, after double-checking that all the features of its form were as accurate as possible. "His appearance was something close to this, and he materialized and vanished with no warning or trace." It gave a slow spin, as if showing off new clothes, although the intent was actually to make entirely clear the enemy Servant's appearance.

"This is a warning, as the Assassin appeared and vanished with no warning or trace. In addition, it is a request to do away with this person on sight, as they are obviously a remorseless killer and enemy of our group." With that, the worms with the appearance of Reiki Matou moved back into the alley and fell apart once out of sight.

"If you have anything to share, just speak up. My units are all around." The group appearing as the unknown Assassin soon did the same, leaving things just as they had been.

---

Scáthach

Foreign District Streets

@Reflection@Sageage

---

It was a disadvantage of the Clairvoyance Lancer was making use of compared to something like Instinct or Mind's Eye that the information provided to her came with no instruction concerning a response. So, while she was not surprised in the functional sense when Saber let loose a flurry of masterful kicks, she still found it surprising that such a thing happened at all. Still, her eyes which pierced the body and the mind provided her with a good idea as to what was happening.

This technique is not his own, exactly. Is this another of his abilities, or..? It mattered little. Since Saber had elected to give the battle a hand-to-hand twist, she left her spear in the knight's grip and prepared to counter-

She felt the alarms before her Master sent the message, and so Lancer changed her tactics to allow for a quick exit, leaning with her foe's first kick before jumping sharply backwards where the following storm could not reach. A moment later, the red spear dematerialized, vanishing from Saber's grasp.

"I hate to leave just when you're starting to show off your abilities, but my Master needs me" She leapt to the top of the hill, "Next time we meet, I will kill you before you start gathering strength." It was largely a lie, but if he displayed no immortal-slaying abilities against other foes then it would probably be best to make quick work of him in a sneak attack.

With that, she begain moving quickly the way she had come. It had been several minutes of walking from the Matou manor when she had moved with the speed of a human, but at this rate it would likely be less than one. Saber, the stalwart defensive fighter, had picked up speed during the match, but he would still likely have a hard time catching up to her.

Fate/Factitious Paradigm

Reiki Matou

The Front Yard, Matou Manor

---

"What is this, seaweed? Oh poor Shinji, where have you been?"

Reiki was down on one knee out on the lawn. She was combing through her beagle's filthy fur and looking warily at the plant matter which had become brutally tangled up on his head. Next to the pair sat a metal tub filled with water and a few bottles of bathing products. "Don't you worry though. When I'm through with you you're gonna be as squeaky clean as-"

She paused.

Oh no.

There was no time for proper decision making. Only her basic understanding of safety and danger could dictate her actions in the following moments. What would provide safety? Having lugged the thing outside when it was empty, Reiki was perfectly aware that there was no way she could run with the tub while it was full, not to mention ensuring Shinji came along. As such, she would need a helping hand.

Nearby flowers and shrubs dissolved. The Matous kept a respectable lawn, but most of the flora aside from grass were actually familiars in disguise. With less than a thought, an instinctive command to help Reiki, Shinji, and the tub towards their destination, and a veritable wave of worms pushed the two from behind and below. There was a moment of slowness at the start, but once the swarm tipped the tub the loss of water allowed them to quickly pick up speed. It wasn't far. Just a few more feet to safety.

Overhead, a sort of light-show had begun. By some power of the manor's attacker, the runic defences had been delayed in their activation. Now, however, they had begun to come into effect. Fire, lightning, ice, gravity, blasts of mana, and pure kinetic energy culminated from the runes littering the yard into a prolonged stream with the intent of both pushing back and annihilating the dangerous object in midair.

Reiki, along with Shinji, narrowly made it to the spot she had been aiming for. The two were thrown to the ground by the swarm and Reiki quickly grabbed her dog and curled up as tight as possible. There was still some water in the tub as it came crashing down on top of them, surrounding them, and so the pair immediately became soaked and blind in the darkness under the metal container. Around the tub, the worms that had moved it continued the motion on their own until they completely covered its surface, serving as shock absorbers.

Of course, these were all minor efforts to boost Reiki's and Shinji's chances of survival. The real protective measure was the spot where they had landed.

The gazebo.

This was among the safest places on the Matou property, and likely the one with the highest density of runes. During the meeting with the Whitehalls, Lancer had been confident that even the mighty Berserker could have been safely invited inside without risk to Reiki. Therefore, it was Reiki's first instinctive pick for a safe place. Walls of super-dense ice and stone, protective wards, and even more of the same barrage of offensive magecraft all sprung to life in preparation for the incoming blast. In another second, their strength would be tested.

With the speed of the attack, there was no time to wait and see if the runes in the yard had worked, so the command was given to those familiars inside to brace for impact. Countless objects in the matou home dispersed into slithering worms or buzzing insects that moved as fast as their bodies would allow from the presumed area of impact. The reserve troops in the underground worm-pits retreated into the deepest recesses they could locate. In one particular room, the movements were quite different. This was where the bomb was projected to land, and so they would throw themselves on top of and around it in an effort to cushion the initial blast.

All this with just a few thoughts from Reiki. Knowing she had less than a second until the moment of truth, she covered Shinji's ears.

Fate/Factitious Paradigm

Scáthach

Foreign District Streets

@Reflection@Sageage

---

"Are you certain this is not my full power? If that's true, then you would be wise to destroy me with all your might before I do the same to you." Saber was right, of course. He was not her student, a fact made all the more obvious by the skill he displayed in grabbing hold of her weapon. Therefore, there was no reason to pace out each attack as a lesson. If she were teaching a lesson, she might have let the man pull her spear out of her grip and praised him for a successful maneuver on the first try. However, this was not the case.

As her opponent pulled and twisted on her spear, Lancer did not truly let go of it. Rather, she let her hands nearly free of it such that her fingertips grazed along the shaft until Saber's wrist reached its limit in terms of twisting before restoring her grip with one hand almost at the pommel. From there, a similar principle was applied as when she had forced Saber's blade into the ground, except this time he was serving as the unwitting anchor while she embraced his pull forwards and added a push to her right. At the same time as the pull carried Lancer away from the blade, it disrupted the attack as well. Saber's strength had unmistakably increased since the beginning of the fight due to some unknown factor, but the tug applied to his left caused his right arm to veer slightly off course, somewhat like a rowboat with one oar.

Between Lancer's swift escape and the minor redirection of the blade, the attack still only missed by mere centimetres. By that point, it should have been clear to Saber and his unfathomably-dressed Master that some factor guided her actions in combat with great care, allowing her to make with absolute certainty moves that would be a great risk or even near suicide for a fighter with any common sense.

So it was that Lancer positioned herself at her foe's left flank. It was close enough to be disadvantageous for a spearwoman, but with Saber's right arm having raised his blade overhead during his upward blow while his left steadfastly gripped her own weapon, it was not a wholly disadvantageous position.

It was clear that Saber's physical abilities were growing. Whether by virtue of time, number of blows exchanged, or some other factor Lancer did not know, and there was no time to perform a proper investigation into the future to determine the end result of this enhancement. However...

"You attempt to disarm an opponent through sheer force. Not bad, but do you think I'm so feeble?"

Compared to at the beginning of the match when they were equal, Saber's strength was now somewhat greater than hers. Despite this, a single one of his limbs had not yet touched the level of being greater than two of hers, so with both hands distanced appropriately along the shaft, she gave a harsh pull of her own while simultaneously twisting, and stepping back up the hill.

It was a matter of course that her spear was freed from the knight's grasp. The question, in this case was whether he had suffered a broken wrist as his hand, which had already fully twisted the spear, was brought even further in the same direction, or a severed arm as the spearhead passed along the armpit during its exit from his grip.

"Still, forgive me if I'm hesitant to reveal the full extent of my abilities to any who may be watching simply for the sake of learning one warrior's true name." She narrowed her eyes, "If you're similarly worried about possibility of prying ears, then come close and say it so only I can hear." She levelled her spear at him. An invitation, but clearly not to talk.

Fate/Factitious Paradigm

Scáthach

Foreign District Streets

@Reflection@Sageage

---

Lancer decided not to give in to her opponent's demands. After all, if he felt antagonized he then he might be more likely to attempt her absolute destruction, at which point she would watch carefully the nature of his attack. "You revealed that information of your own accord, Saber. As such, don't want to hear you lamenting that you failed to come to an proper agreement with me beforehand."

Nonetheless, she bore no true ill-will towards her opponent, and approved of his techniques to minimize the disadvantage his inferior agility presented. Not a bad counterattack, but I can already think of a half dozen pointers to give you.

At this point, the difference in combat between one who could see the future and one who could not became more tangible. It required only a repositioning of one hand and a subtle shift of the weight, for her stance was prepared beforehand with Saber's next move in mind. Her spear functioned as something like a lever, with the head falling from its upward angle to nearly the opposite. The blade of Saber's sword, which was running along the shaft, was forced to follow its path downwards, cracking into the ground along with her own spearhead. "With that said, would you like to reveal your true name? I have my suspicions but I don't mind if you make it easier for me. Of course, I offer nothing in return." It was the sort of tone she took with her pupil in his early days. Cruel and unyielding, even if it was merely a well-disguised tactic to apply 'tough love' and bring out the best in him.

Naturally, the illusion would be ruined if she politely waited for an answer, and so Lancer made her next move. Her superior speed was more obvious here, as she was able to remove her spear from the earth before Saber could do the same. Since she obviously hadn't pushed him hard enough, as he still wore a boyish smile and seemed quite talkative, Lancer decided to 'turn things up a notch', so to speak.

Taking two steps back while shifting her grip on her Lance, she dropped into a low, wide stance before making her attack. She made an angled thrust forth into the air to Saber's left before carefully redirecting that momentum into a swing for his torso. Thus, the disadvantage of a great, wide swing was negated as the attack arrived inches from its target almost instantly while the hero's sword remained in a disadvantageous lowered position.

For a hardy warrior like Saber, the best move might seem to be stepping forward and enduring the bludgeoning of the shaft for a chance to close more distance. From Lancer's stance, however, it would be possible to pull the spear straight back at that point, thus running the blade of the head across his side from behind.

These are the fundamentals a pupil of mine must understand before he is allowed to wield a spear of any quality. Will this man pick up on it, I wonder?