There are stupid questions, but if you pretend you were just joking you should be okay.
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6 yrs ago
The best business pitch is to throw the business ball past the business batter to the business catcher.
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6 yrs ago
I sometimes hear about someone having skeletons in their closet. Ok? How do you know they're still in there? You can't just assume a skeleton is gonna stay still. This is your house, not a graveyard.
It does feel weird sending out the entire faction at once to investigate one thing, though it makes sense so that all players get a chance to act. I think I'll have Decival stay back and watch via familiar since he's support and isn't ready to deploy any creations yet, but he'll send Lancer out with a containment canister.
Oh, I didn't know we were jumping forward like that. Should we have left anyone back at the base, for safety and to guard it? Not to mention it could lighten the NPC load since the enemy characters are probably going to show up soon.
If Saber did indeed begin investigating the faction's living quarters in spirit form, he would quickly have come across a room already heavily warded with magecraft. His ancient mystery and resistance to magecraft meant that he could surely force his way in, but there was unmistakably a "workshop" in one of the rooms.
Even if he resolved to break in, though, the presence of so many Servants in the church had already been noticed by the mage inside. A door near the back of the secret area quietly opened, and Decival slipped out into the hall. He had shed his jacket, down to a vest and button up shirt, and a keyring at his belt seemed to hold a cluster of... oblong stone tokens? It would be hard to tell without taking a closer look. None of the faction would be able to find any critical flaw in his appearance, but he gave off a distinctly alien feeling.
"Hello there. Nice to see you. I'm Decival." He made his way towards the group of mages outside the rooms. He didn't extend a hand, but gestured to himself to emphasize the point. Despite being a mage, he had not identified his family. "The good people of the Clock Tower hired me on to support their operatives- you and your colleagues. I also summoned the Lancer Servant, who is surely around here somewhere. This was also something I was hired to do."
He pulled the ring off of his belt, and held it up. The stone tokens, about the size of your palm, each had one flat side and one rounded side, the latter of which bore a fairly detailed human face with an open-mouthed grin signalling laughter, curly hair, and no eyes.
"You can take one, if you'd like. They don't do anything right now, but they'll protect you if I unleash "something" onto the battlefield. I'll create other items in attunement with them, you understand."
Two men, Master and Servant, walked side by side towards the church that was to be their base. They had arrived in the area not thirty minutes ago by helicopter. There had been significant delays, as Lancer had demanded to study their transport, in addition to every other thing they came across. Had Decival not been so accommodating, it likely would have been a deal-breaker for their contract. Now, both men gave off a "cold" impression, as the Servant had been outfitted with high-class modern clothing.
"When I heard we were setting up shop in a church, this is not what I pictured, and I have seen pictures of churches before." Decival's gaze passed over the various odd features and extensions of the holy building. Lancer, though, mainly focused on one in particular.
"How odd. You haven't yet told anyone of my identity, have you, Master?" The high dome definitely seemed like it was designed to watch the stars. Ironic, as Lancer no longer had any reason to look that way. Perhaps it would make a good vantage point for scouting, anyway.
"I did not. Your secret is safe with me until someone on our side asks. I see what you mean, though. That is not a normal church thing. None of it is. I don't even think it's normal for this church." the barest hint of excitement touched Decival's voice. They both understood that this meant the first stage of war, battlefield preparation, was already underway.
"We're coming in." Decival warned those inside before opening the doors of the church. A look at the interior only further cemented the idea that major modifications were being done, as nearly all resemblance to a house of God had been lost in favour of new defences and facilities.
"Impressive. Exceedingly so." Approval shone in Lancer's voice as he surveyed the room. Perhaps he found some rightness in the idea that a holy place had been dismantled in favour of function and utility. "I wonder... This may be the work of a fellow Servant. If a hero of industry is here, we will have much to discuss."
"But if they had to take apart the pews..." Decival frowned, and began moving in search of the workshop where these things had been made. "All the materials will be gone soon. We will have to work something out with whoever has been doing the prep work, and it might involve someone stealing paper clips."
A brief silence fell over the pair.
"That was a joke, Lancer. You see? Because it would be inefficient to-"
"Moving along, Master."
Both of them, with heads full of plans, set to work in the allied complex.
Age: 31 Gender: Male Master of: Lancer Command Seal Location: Back of his right hand. Origin: Accumulate
Personality: Idiosyncratic and full of curiosity. Decival's manner could be referred to as "inhuman," but this is not so shocking among magi. He could be called cold or aloof, but this would be inaccurate. He cares too much for everything he sets eyes on to express it. His own magecraft cannot elicit a reaction from him, but he seems to be amazed with the feats of others. Once again, it is simply because his self-respect is high. Since the art of curses is highly neglected in Western Europe, he finds a Grail War to be a fine opportunity to prove its usefulness.
He is unable to look down on anyone, and his extensive time in the bunker means he is excited to meet the people of the world, mages or otherwise. In regards to the Grail, he sees it as something which should be desired by anyone, whether they have a wish or not, purely for utility.
Biography: Multiple families of magi find that their recorded history contains an ancestor creating an artificial life form that could have gone on to be the first Tetraleonid. In any case, Decival and his predecessors have are distinctly unnatural, not entirely unlike alchemical homunculi. While generally known to be pseudo-nomads in and around Finland, the Tetraleonids created a sealed underground complex in Iceland three generations ago and are rarely seen outside of it. In fact, it is believed that Decival's mother has never left the complex, and his father, an unwanted second child from a smalltime lineage, has not left it since marrying her.
Decival's training in magecraft was fairly light at first, with his mother being almost completely focused on "raising him right" and exposing him to art and mental challenges. With his father's assistance, he was able to keep up an effective understanding of magecraft until age 8 when his mother completely switched gears. He proved to have quite a knack for alchemy, and brought the minor curse-based elements of the Tetraleonid arts to a much more prominent level. He showed a high interest in the outside world and made several forays out for the sake of obtaining materials. Decival began making advances on the Clock Tower at age twenty, boasting a comprehensive knowledge of his craft and offering various things from teaching services to item crafting. Although he had some odd practices and was never ever allowed to teach, he managed to build up a sufficient relationship that he was called upon for the sake of supporting Association magi in the Holy Grail War.
School of Magecraft: The Tetraleonid style of alchemy is greatly lacking in regards to the transmutation of materials, particularly in an "active" sense that could be used in combat. Rather, Decival uses alchemy largely in a slow and preparatory manner, focusing on gathering, storing, and manipulating various energies and forces. His secondary art, brought into focus largely by him and used in conjunction with alchemy, is curses. While he has some proficiency in fast-activation offensive curses, his expertise is in using his two crafts together, gathering grudges and storing them or giving them form.
Amount of Magecraft Mana: A-
Gandr Shot (13/day): A simple and quick to use curse that functions as a projectile, reducing a struck target's physical health. Rather that following the path of raising a Gandr to dealing real direct damage, Decival instead boosts it to inflict nausea, pain, and sickness.
Disperse (7/day): With hasty useage of Tetraleonid alchemy, "energy" attacks like fire, lightning, and pure mana can be countered and negated.
Coercion (4/day): A curse that can be washed away with magical energy during casting. In other words, something only useful on normal humans or weak/subdued magi. Once in place, it is much harder to shake off, and allows for control of a target's body and even magic circuits. Rather than mind control, it is physical in nature.
High Disperse (2/day): Similar to Disperse, but on a larger scale. A barrage of "energy" magecraft or a single massive spell could be defended against. With a dash of curse, it can be used to meddle with the power inside a foe's body, momentarily preventing their use of magecraft as well as causing a severe chill and general loss of energy.
Decival's alchemy is applied with prep time using special materials and mana from the environment, and as such cannot be properly defined by instant activation and daily uses. He can hastily put together various kinds of items depending on how long he has. Most notable are curses given form as "imaginary demons." A demon's capabilities vary wildly based on the effort of its construction and additional things infused into it. However, the grandiose name should not mislead one into thinking these are anything more than high-end familiars along the lines of golems.
Other: Decival has a knack for painting. While not at all a fighter, he is somewhat durable and resistant to physical trauma and conditions. Also, he has brought along a number of minor things from the family complex.
Raw Metals: Decival's skill with material alchemy is still enough that he can transmute these metals into components for the physical portion of a mystic item he crafts. Enough for about five handheld constructs, or something bigger.
Curse Grenades: The most basic combination of curses and alchemy, medium-power thrown explosives that scatter a damaging curse over the area. They are useful as a method of repeatable attack that do not rely on daily castings, but Decival only has fifteen of them unless he actively takes the time and energy to craft more.
Specialized Canister: A handheld tool for more easily containing things for later use in alchemy. A versatile tube that can hold objects or energy in a safe and stable way.
Class Name: Lancer Nicknames: Matematico Primario Alignment: Neutral Good Servant of: Weapons: His Noble Phantasms. His thoughts. Wish: For mankind to open their minds to new information..? As he learns more, his desire changes.
Magic Resistance D (EX): The ability of the three knight classes to cancel unfriendly magecraft targeting Lancer. Normally, he can only negate single-action spells, but as he gains a better and better understanding of a school of magecraft, he slowly moves towards the level of being able to ignore it entirely.
Natural Born Genius A++: A Skill stemming from one's unparalleled natural knowledge. Allows the use of most Skills, excluding those inherent to the body (such as Divinity) or ones unique to particular heroes, at proficiency of C~B Rank. Since Lancer made advancements in so many different fields, he has access to a wide range of abilities, but those related to the supernatural may not be accessed.
Item Construction (mundane but advanced Inventions) Disengage Human Anatomy Understanding Incitement Knight Tactics Marksmanship Martial Arts (Pankration, Chinese, Swordsmanship, etc.) Military Tactics Modern Sciences (a wide variety of things unlikely to be useful in a Grail War) Riding Self-Suggestion Single-Mindedness Torture Techniques
Innovation of Understanding A: A ability granted from a strong association with the dispelling of myths and the expansion of knowledge to the heavens, even if it is not wholly deserved. All sorts of things can be analyzed. An understanding of the mystical can be used to give good advice to the users of abilities regarding their technical elements. Against opponents of high mystery or divinity, combat power is increased.
Pioneer of the Stars EX: A very literally deserved skill based on his reputation in the eyes of humanity, which stretches beyond his actual achievements. All difficult voyages and challenges are made achievable, even if it is only a transition from a 0% chance to a 1% chance.
Orbit B: An unusual ability. Lancer can quickly revolve his position around a targeted solid object or person at extreme speeds far surpassing his natural movement.
Base Parameters Strength: D Endurance: D Agility: C Magical Power: C Good luck: A Noble Phantasm: A+
Name: Antico Cannocchiale Rank: C Type: Anti-Unit Range: 1~3/infinite Description: Lancer's very own telescope. It is a tool meant for observation, with its length and significance only barely qualifying him as a Lancer. At the same time, his class in turn makes it into a viable melee weapon, with its "magnification" ability acting as a plus modifier to Lancer's strength in regards to attacks made with it and allowing it to clash with heroes' blades without even degrading in viewing ability. Of course, it is also top-notch as a telescope that can be used to see clearly in any conditions and reveal all sorts of secrets. An important tool for Lancer's observation of battles and abilities that brings out the best of his analysis, and counters attempts to hide from his sight from sources C rank or lower.
Name: Profondo Spazio Re Rank: A+ Type: Varies Range: 0~100 Description: The absolute culmination of Lancer's status in the eyes of humanity, going far beyond what he achieved in life. Wisdom regarding the location and positioning of celestial objects taken to its extreme. Miniature existences of such objects as perceived by mankind can be temporarily conjured for battle. Things like "shooting stars," "moons," and "planets" may appear and be launched on the battlefield, obviously being extreme miniatures of the real things due to ancient humanity's lack of a sense of scale when looking skyward, so stars are just motes of light while a planet would be the size of a large building. In other words, these are the variations appearing in myth and folklore rather than the genuine article, something that annoys Lancer to no end.
With a true name release, Lancer's ultimate anti-fortress attack in the form of a "sun" can be materialized.
Although he is somewhat young, his legend is strengthened thanks to associations with the mysteries of the heavens that have caught humanity's wonder for all of its existence.