Raineh Daze

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

Miina's response was less reserved, staring slack jawed at Éliane's whole-hearted endorsement of more or less invading her home under the pretext of protecting it from invaders. Not that she had a massive attachment to the country as a whole, the place was obviously too weakly united for that… but she cared about the geography. The forests, and the freedom to move about as they would (although she preferred the warmer parts), and not needing to deal with huge built-up settlements like she'd seen in Osprey and everyone else had taken to so well that they could only be familiar with the whole concept. Far more than Miina herself was, at least.

Also, the older woman's attachment to big guns and things that made loud bangs did not speak well for how any hypothetical war would go for the forests as a whole, even if she was happy to write off the people or the lifestyle.

If she was indicative, at least.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Fiadh

(and Tyaethe)

"Oh, thank you!", the fairy said, taking the offered pastry and chewing away at it, thinking about Fionn's offered suggestion, "Oh, I could be a noble, but I'm not one, and if I was one then I would be a lot stronger. If I was stronger I could be a noble, but I don't know how you could do that for me, darling."

"I know a lot about how magic goes off when you disrupt it. Rogue summoners or mages aren't that rare," Tyaethe countered, raising an eyebrow. Well, if she didn't want the compliment…

"Maybe Fiadh could be a diplomat? It's her or the captain," she suggested. Best to put forward everyone else, she didn't enjoy the idea of having to directly represent the crown when there were better options. Somehow, she doubted a fairy queen would treat her with any more respect than Fiadh did… or Gertrude, come to think of it.

"Oooh, I can do that!"

"What's a diplomat?"

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Tyaethe Radistirin

"I don't think there's anything much we can do on that front, the usual procedure for when we negotiate with the fey is to enter into their realms…" Tyaethe mused, continuing to walk forwards, "It's too obviously manipulative if we want to pull a queen to somewhere safer. Oh, you might be able to find some other fey of considerable power, but you still have to negotiate with them. No, better to just send those with the authority to negotiate on the behalf of the church or the crown… give the fey some reason to meet with you."

With that, the vampire knelt down in front of the circle, looking blankly at the complexity for a second before just shrugging and running her hand right through the lines, a corona of crimson light around the appendage. "Fionn's right, why are you even keeping her in there? She's as much of an ally right now as a fairy can be… no offence meant."

"Darling!" Not that the fairy seemed to care, having attached herself already quite firmly to the knight in question, now that the circle was disrupted.

"Impressive circle, though," Tyaethe added after a moment, "Normally, that level of magic would fry the entire thing. This one grounded it and didn't fail catastrophically."

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

"Umm, h-he's right," Miina added, glad that someone else had gotten the body of the explanation over with before she'd found her voice to do it… after all, doing the entire explanation herself would have been annoying for anyone else to listen to, and she wasn't good at explaining anyway, she'd probably have wanted to go through all the context of how they knew this and that would mean explaining what they were doing in Osprey, and the middle of the desert at that, and then there was all the fighting and—this was why it was a good thing that Rudolf had taken over. It saved everyone a lot of time and distraction, really.

"We m-met a priest of the G-Goddess, and he explained… s-so we need to do the p-p-protecting! But, eh-heh, w-we'll need as much help as you c-c-can give," she continued nervously, realising that she was putting herself forward a bit much. But this was her home! Even if the important thing that made it such wasn't part of the land, "Although I know th-that it would be hard to g-get all the villages and such to w-work together…"

Or talk at all. Or find them. Hmm, it was odd that Valheimr had started with Osprey. Not that she was really complaining… or maybe they'd already taken root here and nobody noticed? It wouldn't even be that hard…

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

"Then the Emperor is dead, and the Dragonfires lie unlit for the first time since the Interregnum," the elf surmises, tearing her gaze from you and affixing her gaze to the tower rising over the city behind. As she thinks this news over, the weight of her attention being removed is a relief—before it flicks back, cold and heavy as ever. "Still, then, there is some time before the Daedra are free to interfere, even with the events of Red Mountain…"

Her proclamation is ominous, along with confusing. How could a far-off location and the Emperor's lack of an heir possibly tie back to the Daedra? But such is the nature of wizards, to know much and explain little, and she carries on without a break, her look decidedly more interrogative. "And what of you? You are manifestly not one of the Emperor's bodyguards, nor do you have the bearing of a spy, and a successful assassin would have left through the same means they arrived, not followed this route to its end."

Given that a cursory exploration would easily have showed that there was no way for the assassins to get in aside from this woman's assertion that nobody had entered in weeks—and the lack of evidence that they had been camping along the path, waiting for the Emperor's group to pass—it does seem likely that any successful assassin must have used some magical means to enter. And if they could get in that way, why not leave the same? It makes sense.

"So, one group or the other must have permitted your survival. But why?"

The Elder Scrolls IV: Cyrodiil

You finally emerge from the darkness of the storm drains into a sunny afternoon—the first real sunlight light after weeks in a cell whose bars were long obstructed by grime and debris. It's so bright to be blinding, forcing you to pause to adjust, and think about how different it was to be out now. Days spent fleeing through old passages and older caves, first trying to scramble by and avoid alerting every goblin in the area, and later with the Emperor and his dwindling cadre of bodyguards.

An Emperor that was no longer amongst the living, his final request a very physical weight against your body. A single, crystalline amulet, warm and humming even through the cloth Baurus had hastily wrapped it in, hiding it as best as possible before tasking you with conveying it to its rightful owner. This, perhaps, is the one guarantee that the dark, dank underground was real, out in the humid warmth of the Nibenay Basin.

As your eyes recover, you can make out a robed figure standing just ahead, the waves of Lake Rumare lapping against the hem. Was this it, then? Had the assassins found you already, beaten you through the winding paths out of the city? No: your eyes adjust more, and it's clear that this isn't the heavy, red robes the assassins had been wearing, rather the faded and travel-worn ensemble of a travelling hedge mage or simple conjurer, its original colours long faded to muted greys and browns.

This stranger was tall—obviously of high elf descent, her skin a burnished bronze far darker than the usual high elf. Perhaps part dark elf? The silver-white braid wasn't any better a clue. And as she steps closer, it's clear that even for such an elf she's abnormally tall and lean, almost impossibly tall for a man or mer. Yet more imposing than the height is her eyes, almost-glowing shards of blue glass that fix you in place.

"You aren't who I was expecting to meet here. The Emperor, perhaps… or failing that, one of his guards. None have entered in weeks, which means… tell me, what leads you to flee the city this way? Your attire seems… ragged." The stranger's voice is sharp, and even if she weren't armed—the sword belted at her hip is unmistakeable, and of finer make than anything you've seen the city watch carrying, and that's not counting the staff—you've met more than enough magical cultists and even goblin shamans over the past weeks for the robes to be a warning of their own.

@VitaVitaAR

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Fujiwara no Mokou

Mokou gave Suguru an odd look. To recognise the existence of Japanese nobility but not her family? Had they really fallen that far as to be forgotten…? Or was he just completely oblivious to history? Well, he was right: it wasn't really important, aside from maybe giving another reason to go fight those taoist immortals now and then if they wanted a reason more than "we're all immortal, why the hell not?"

"It's a medicine and only one person can make it. Trust me, you'd want rid of this eventually," she answered, shaking her head. Well, if he could find someone else, maybe it would be more bearable… but his very surprise at the concept made it seem doubtful. And there was no way she was letting slip the other method to obtaining the hourai elixir.

As they wandered into the mausoleum, she couldn't avoid noticing that it was very similar to the same one the immortals had built—ah, the jiang shi's owner was one of them, right? But, taoists, that explained a lot. "The taoists in Gensokyo have something like this. I don't know how fast they could get it up, but it's its own sealed world. She could hide it in a crack."

And she only knew that because there was no way anyone was hiding that entire temple they'd sprung up without it being visible. Confirming there was nobody home to fight had been way too slow.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

"A Queen without a realm wouldn't be much of a queen, now would she? And everyone knows you have to approach royalty properly, you can't just go up and be rude and violent." Fiadh asserted, pausing, "Well, unless you're also a Queen, then maybe you could have a competition over it. Or if you really wanted to be one and were desperate!

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

Miina Malina

&

Ranbu no Izayoi

Once Rudolf had taken his leave, Izayoi took the opportunity to kneel in the pews and pray while Cid and Miina conversed. For his part, Cid didn’t push Miina too much farther, simply taking Miina’s answer at face value with a knowing glint in his eye.

”Well, you have free reign to line your clothes up and dry them, though you’ll likely have to find an inn for the night. I would offer shelter, but this chapel is rather small, lest you find the idea of sleeping on hard stone appealing. But I’ll leave you for now, child. A good bit of the exterior still requires a touchup.”

He strode off, whistling a cheerful tune while Izayoi finished her brief prayers, rising.

Miina dithered for a little bit, uncertain about approaching Izayoi given how she had just run away from the ship like that. Maybe it would all be fine, since they had met up now… or maybe the older Mystrel would demand an explanation on the spot, and she hadn't come up with anything yet except the truth. That still felt like a very bad thing to lead with.

But… this was an opportunity. Something that Izayoi had pulled off during the battle on the ship seemed frankly unbelievable; how could a single woman split the sea？Miina had almost convinced herself that she'd simply dreamt that part.

Having taken Cid's advice and laid out her damp clothing, Miina finally slunk over as quietly as she could. “Umm… d-did you r-really cut open the sea?”

Izayoi glanced behind her, an eyebrow raised. Of course. She sighed. The one time the spell she’d invented as a youth had been actually useful for a change, and she finds herself held at arm’s length over a fool girl’s joke of a technique.

”It truly is not quite as impressive as the results make it appear to be. My master rightfully derided the technique as borderline useless when first I demonstrated it to him. Any fool with a working knowledge of materia theory and thirty seconds to spare in the midst of battle could achieve the same result. What happened at sea was one of the only situations where it had any sort of use, and I still required far too long to prepare the technique.”

She shut her eyes for a moment, lost in memories of nearly two decades past.

”That’s all?” Her master raised his thumb and forefinger to pinch his brow in irritation upon seeing the fifteen-year old Mystrel complete her attack. ”And tell me, where would you find the time to complete the counter-rotations in the heat of battle? You cannot shorten the materia channeling any further without shattering it, and focusing on invoking two magics at once unavoidably taxes your body. Useless, unless your foe is either blind and deaf or half a mile away. Cease wasting your time in the middle of the night and actually sleep, girl.”

Izayoi opened her eyes once more, turning to Miina. ”Simply put, even with absolute mastery of materia, there is no way to eke out additional power to shorten the process of creating a localized hurricane with both Aero and Haste. I suspect that Eve could do the same with wind alone through sheer magical power-” She cut herself off, considering Miina and staring intently at the girl. Well. That was a possibility, wasn’t it?

“Oh… s-so it’s not a sword t-technique?” Miina questioned, head tilting. She thought that Izayoi had maybe just cut through the sea entirely… but, really, using materia made far more sense, although it wasn’t something that she would have ever thought to do. Combining two contradictory magics, using magic meant for enhancement on an offensive spell? Most combinations would be quite pointless… but it was quite an impressive way to make a localised hurricane. A shame that she didn’t have two materia like that to play around with, if it came to it.

“W-Wouldn’t something like t-t-that be useful when airships are involved? Even w-with thirty seconds…” That was her second thought, that Izayoi was really understating the utility of localised weather phenomena when they’d already shown issues with running into Valheimr opposition that strained what a small group could reasonably damage. At least, without Eve maybe pulling something like this out.

Izayoi let out an amused huff as she regarded Miina, shrugging.

”Against a lone airship that’s not deployed any sort of support, perhaps. The magic does not hold together long, however. By the time it would impact an airship, much of its force would have dissipated already. This all said,”

Her expression turned somewhat serious once more as she folded her arms, glancing down at the shorter woman.

”You could cast both of the requisite spells naturally, yes? Perhaps you can take this technique and actually make something of it. I would not be averse to teaching you its mechanics if you wish.”

“Um… y-yeah, but I’ve never c-c-cast two things at once,” Miina said, nodding along. She knew the individual components, yes, but the idea of trying to focus on holding two spells together at once… she’d say it was completely impossible, but if they were such diametrically different processes as white and black magic, she could imagine it would be easier to make an attempt? Catastrophic interference was still a risk, and the backlash for failure would be unavoidably focused entirely within her body… but the effort of will would be much lower than trying to cast two distinct spells of the same approach at once.

“I d-don’t think I should s-start with a hurricane, eheh… b-but I’d be happy to learn!” Oh, she’d rather it have been swordsmanship, that required a lot more closeness… but their swords were very different. And she’d probably be less distracted this way, which was… definitely a good idea if internal damage was a risk. Hm, if only there was some way to make it easier… “D-Do you think I c-could borrow one of th-those materia…?”

Only one, because she still needed to learn how to cast the second spell while channelling the mana for its opposite number, but it would be much less to focus on at once… and she didn’t want to get too distracted, she was already having ideas about what you could maybe do to someone else’s magic this way, Slow in particular.

Izayoi nodded, reaching up to her left gauntlet and popping her Time materia out of its socket. With both Ciradyl and Neve around to throw around enhancement magics, it wasn’t as if she needed her own, worse Haste for herself at the moment, lest she wind up separated from the others. The only other one of her techniques she actually required the materia for was her masterstroke, and considering what happened a week ago, Izayoi wasn’t exactly eager to utilize the arte again for now.

”As it stands, leaving the city will be more trouble than it's worth, and it would be foolish to practice this in a populated area. We can begin with theory, if you require time to become used to the spellwork.” She placed the green orb into Miina’s palm.

“Wh-Why would leaving be t-trouble…?” Miina asked. That… hmm, she could see why people might not want her to leave, but… it wasn’t like they would do much if she vanished properly, and it wasn’t like getting out of Costa del Sol would be too hard, and Izayoi could definitely follow her even through the more obscure paths…

That aside, the younger Mystrel couldn’t help but find her attention drawn to the materia. These things… they were still so odd to her. Obviously, her brother had managed to find a couple before he had to leave home for good, so she’d had plenty of time to get used to them, but… it felt so strange that magic could be compacted like this. Normally, she’d only make use of them if she couldn’t think of any other way to leave a sticky situation, and she was pretty sure the other one was just a confidence boost more than anything useful. But this? This was something that she’d had to spend so much time learning and practising.

And it was a tiny little orb anybody could mess with. Miina wasn’t sure whether to be offended or not.

”You missed the excitement when you were…really, what were you doing?” Izayoi sighed slightly, just barely managing to keep the exasperation from her voice..

”It isn’t anything that has you endangered, is it? Keep your secrets otherwise. But the local guard had an eye out for Neve. Apparently, her teachers are none too happy about slipping the leash from them. And given that they lead this country, we would have had to speak to them at some point regardless. So we negotiated a deal: the guards will arrange transport to the capital for us tomorrow, so long as we stay within city limits.”

Miina blinked, then said the first thing that came to mind, “Oh, th-they weren’t there f-for me?”

…

Why did she say that?

This time, Izayoi's much louder sigh was punctuated by her pinching the bridge of her nose.

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Fujiwara no Mokou

"Ah… I lost exact count, it was about the same time the capital was moved there," Mokou answered, shrugging. Over a thousand sounded right, there had obviously been all those centuries in the middle where forone reason or another… time didn't have much meaning. It still didn't, really; why count the exact passing of the seasons and years when you had an endless number to wait for? It would be like counting how many times she'd killed Kaguya, or eaten mushrooms because there was nothing much else to go by in the forest.

"The name's Fujiwara no Mokou."

Was there really a reason to expect they'd all ended up in the graveyard? The Jiang Shi was normally found in one, so she probably just wandered until she was somewhere familiar, and aside from Suguru, they'd just been running from the streets. It was a nearby open area, after all.