Raineh Daze

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"I thought the pair of us could give you practice against something... well, it's not quite dragonfire, but I reckon it'd be similar enough for any practical purpose."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"About over there," Cyrus answered, pointing... well, it was a good ways down the street, but the change from white stone to nearly white stone marked it out. Honestly, if the city wasn't so gleaming, the pale grey would probably have blended in. "The rare buildings from other places tend to be close together."

@The Otter

---

"Wait for a better day." Edwin answered with a shrug, pausing to let out a shrill whistle, "When she gets like that, she'll act when she has to, but I've never seen anyone pull her out of it enough to be helpful. Goddesses know that Cyrus has kept at it here, too, but that's not gone any better. If the best him and the captain have done is getting her to drop the statue impression and at least stay active..."

He trailed off as Parvan jogged up, ducking a casual swing as the other knight grumbled about not being a bloody dog. Even if he answered the call.

At least it didn't take long to catch up on what they were doing. Or why they'd been talking about Tyaethe.

"I'd not ask her for training, anyway," Parvan added, the pair now going back out through the entrance and along the trail they'd first come in from. His eyes scanned Renar again to check. "No offence, but you're not the 'overwhelming power' type, and that's all she's really good for teaching unless you want to know the habits of particular beasts." Except, one must assume, dragons beyond the blindingly obvious. "Good for practising against once you've caught up some more, though."

@Psyker Landshark

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"Ah, don't worry about things like that where an elf's concerned. As long as she's getting something out of it, time's always going to be on her side. She can manage a little inefficiency here or there. Her mum was the same way when she joined--not all shy like, but she'd give the squires lots of pointers, even if Flori or the captain would be better practice. I wasn't surprised when she picked up healing."

The blonde man blinked a few times at the change in conversation, stopping at a roadside stall to pick up something while he thought it over.
"Probably? There's a couple of trees, I can't say I know if it's the same one. You should ask Lilette something like that. Or Shorty, once you get out."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"It's what he's famous for, and it's impressive to watch," Cyrus said, already turning around towards the gate, "I'm not one for magic, but mixing elemental magic and swordsmanship like that is a rare talent. From the sounds of it, Lilette's daughter must have similar interests--though I bet Erich's got a bunch more power-focused tricks too."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Cyrus nodded along with the explanation as he was given a tour of Candaeln--he'd not met Lilette's daughter, and the how or why of people being brought into here wasn't on the large man's mind--until the Cazt question was raised. "The old man? Sure, he comes up occasionally, and his estate is one of those places that never fits the city. It's normally the shorty that visits but most of us have been over for dinner once or twice."

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Round the front, the ashigaru phantoms had met a similarly grizzly fate. Shot, crushed, bisected, and generally approached with more firepower--and monstrous force--than was typical for a warring states-era battlefield, the spirits collapsed into dark ooze. Unlike round the back, the initial defence seemed to have been overwhelmed by the force presented, leaving the way clear to proceed through the surrounding walls--

Only for a harsh rebuke to ring out for the first of the vanguard team into the building proper. More arquebus-wielding ashigaru, fanned out to cover the entrance--although without much in the way of cover themselves, beyond their melee counterparts advancing on those that actually dared to intrude. Some stood in what had once been smaller gardens between the various hallways, but most stood lining themselves as the entrance headed away from the floor.

---

Sakura

Hm, maybe she should... yes. A small portal opened underneath the arquebus-reloading ashigaru, dropping it in front of Zhao where it could more easily be dispatched. That should let them get in without being shot at? Of course, maybe they could just try running past everything, but then they'd probably be surrounded and potentially stabbed to death violently...

And portals didn't leave much room for looking around. Not good, that, when you didn't know the cause.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Edwin rubbed a gloved hand against his chin. "If you want some practice that's more directly applicable to fighting a dragon, I could ask Parv and we could go outside the city. Do some things that Candaeln can't handle."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Talderia

"Nobody stays dead here, that's not all that special. Tyaethe's killed Ed at least a dozen times," Florian supplied, shrugging before patting the disappointed and pouting Randon on the head.

"Your words suggest that you are not copies, or... whatever much of the population here is," the prince added as a shadow passed overhead, "If you were, then you would undeniably know this. Nor would it be likely that the chance to leave would be held in front of your face, nobody has ever been offered such a thing."

Once again, a shadow briefly passed over and, if someone were to look up, they would see a shammer of red-gold--

Before the ground shook under the weight of a dragon landing before them, its position visibly awkward for some seconds as it adjusted to one more comfortable that still avoided crushing the gardens. Or any of those present, for that matter. Quite unlike the usual presence of a dragon in a populated area, there wasn't a panic, or anyone reaching for their weapons--Prince Erion was even smiling slightly at Thrinax's arrival.

"Erion is correct. None in this place with an analogue in the world proper have ever been without an awareness of whatever their original self is experiencing," the dragon stated, the bassy rumble of his voice an odd contrast to the perfect, modern accent of Aimlenn, "I can tell you that it is, for example, raining across southwest Ithillin."

Thrinax leant forward, breath uncomfortably warm as he inspected the assembled knights. "Disappointing. If you wish to leave, you will improve; I know not what your second obstacle will be, but I shall be the last."

---

While the journey to the city had uncovered some important information--two thirds of their obstacles, along with the regular occurrence of festivals--it couldn't be considered entirely good news. Prince Erion's retinue might not have the individual prestige of the Iron Roses' forebears, but it was a group renowned for its teamwork and managing to form enough of an armed force on its own to contain Talderia's initial destruction.

And the less said about "we have to defeat a dragon", the better. At least it wasn't Volkstraad.

The information available within Candaeln was less useful for any immediate plans to leave, although Lilette could not only confirm the information about the nature of those living here in detail, she also had some understanding of the nature of its inhabitants. That was, as far as she or any other healer, or even random scholars, could tell, everyone was physically identical to some point in their life, even if their memories carried on until death. But on the spiritual level... in many regards, it looked and acted like a soul, yet it undeniably wasn't quite a duplicate--and the slight texturing to any mana used by the place's inhabitants showed that there was some other influence.

General diagnostics in that regard indicated that everyone there should have been wasting away and dying rapidly, though, so maybe it was for the best they were confined here.

The one thing the scholars could agree on was that even if the 'how' wasn't clear, there were plentiful theories that were all possible under the auspices of normal magic--nothing Merilia was displaying was witchcraft in and of itself. Except, of course, the utter scale of the place. That had to involve something else... but they hadn't answered that question in thousands of years, it wasn't likely to end any time soon.

Still, at least the knights were willing to train them. Or the rather grumpy-seeming one-armed rabbit that had taken up a room nearby.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Mansion Front

On the rooftop above, an armoured, spectral figure was taking care to level its arquebus at the targets below, the red pinpricks of its eyes shining with a dim glow not too different from the smouldering length of match sticking out of the antiquated weapon. But it was hardly the only one of the ghostly soldiers, nearly a dozen ghostly spearmen dropping off the roof with no sound other than the creaks made by their armour and rushing forward with spears poised to stab the interlopers.

---

Yakumo Sakura

"Oh, you were right, we're in a ghost story!" Sakura exclaimed, seeming... still far too cavalier about the ghostly soldiers that seemed to be attacking them, "But I don't think these are samurai. Even the ones with swords seem a bit..."

Cheap? Chipped? The swords definitely weren't any good, and the armour was definitely something made with a one-size-fits-all philosophy in mind. Or, presumably, it had been, the spectres' equipment definitely had an air of battle damage around it. Although, "we're under attack by ghostly ashigaru!" wasn't all that much of a step up from "we're being attacked by ghostly samurai" in practical terms, and it rather made the story worse...

Of course, as someone who was mostly brought on for her support abilities and not combat, there wasn't much that Sakura was equipped to do when spears were being brandished in her direction, save step backwards through a convenient portal to make sure she was screened by the actual combatants. One gateway briefly opened by the matchlock-aiming ghost's side, a tentacle briefly tugging its weapon down and making the first shot go wildly awry into the floor. Given the reload time, that one was... hopefully not a threat.

Fate/Illuminate Histoire

Tonight.

She had once again made a visit to the overseer, once again asking if they could just properly start this. No doubt most of the other Masters were already in place, so what good was it to hold off on starting? Yet she had been insistent they hold off and wait--what if this war were to be abnormal? What if killing a Servant early somehow lead to another manifesting? To make sure everything remained as secretive as required, the Church forbade taking any action...

Having to listen to the church was galling, yet it was unfortunately necessary. Even with a Servant by her side, taking on the Church was hardly a good move--and it would allow them to focus all of the Masters on herself at once.

Astariel drummed her fingers on the rough handle of the stone blade. As if that would have been a problem if the old man had listened, and allowed her to use this as a catalyst once more. What were the chances that a second war would have stood a chance against Heracles? Controlling him would still have been no problem, and if he was that averse to repeating a failed attempt then they could have used any container but Berserker. But he had been the one with the potential catalyst and insistent on trying something new.

At least Saber wasn't weak. Or, she assumed so; it was hard to imagine summoning a weak Saber, especially one that could so greedily draw on her own vast mana reserves. That, without catalyst, she hadn't summoned something from the Nibelunglied had been quite the surprise; as the owners of the Rheingold, it was almost the only obvious choice for their family to summon without influencing the results somehow. Yet, this blonde had been summoned instead of Siegfried, it was quite unusual.

But, her visit had paid off. Either the last Servants had been summoned, or enough, or the church had some premonition. Finally, the war would be allowed to begin. But that was tonight.

First... first, she would have her maids make her a cup of tea. And draw a bath. Then, maybe, there would still be time to visit one of those little bakeries she had seen? Obviously, the maids could make anything she asked for, but that required knowledge of what it was... and it would be more efficient if she wanted to try lots of things...

---

At the church, the war's overseer seemed... bored. As it turned out, being the overseer of the war demanded little time and attention--and unlike prior overseers, she had almost no parochial obligations, having only come to Japan for the sake of acting as the church's main representative in this war. Many of the Masters had already been through for one reason or another--the Einzbern being particularly demanding and impatient--and now it seemed that the start of the war was imminent.

Maybe having to actually maintain secrecy would be more exciting? It would no doubt be more interesting than furthering her Japanese lessons, given that it seemed nearly all of the Masters were foreign and would rather that she spoke something else instead.

Hopefully the last one wouldn't give her any funny looks. Yes, a nun was in charge this time rather than anyone of higher rank. Yes, her hair was silver. No, she wasn't albino, or a homunculus, or anything other than a human. Could they stop asking?