The tides of chaos were swirling around them, the beasts of the air were stirring from their sleep and he could feel the anger boiling above them. Whilst he trusted Lancer, and his master, of course, he worried about the safety of his master. She had not yet proved herself in the area of combat and seeing how she might fare when the danger comes rushing in, that was one of his many worries for their series of missions they would undoubtedly embark on.
Bullets shot through the sky, bringing into the surface around them as he reacted almost immediately, rusted pieces of metal gathering around him as a makeshift shield, forming it with his magic to mash together as a shield before Caster, kneeling down behind it as he felt the bullets bounce off and undoubtedly beginning to burn through and decimate his shield. Likely, time was of the essence and he held his hands together in a clasp as he called out to his master.
"I will have to test the extent of this attack! I could have the means to rid us of this nuisance but I will perhaps need to activate one of my Noble Phantasms if we are to stand a chance, allow me to test the limits," He called out, looking to Lancer to ensure he was also secure before quickly dropping his defense, stretching arms out before him and openings his palms.
Focussing on his magic, he summoned sharp brass strips to shoot out from the ground, and to glance and strike the aircraft he could see making another go at them. As the brass shards went flying he took a moment to breathe in the air around him, of course, it was devastated and horrendous but at this moment he felt bliss for the gifts he had received in life, allowing him this miracle of brass and magic that he could defend himself in this modern age. Of course, such a crude machine would not be the thing to kill the immortal king, it would require much more than just a brutish weapon to sever the tether of immortality.
So of course, his Master's safety was his main priority, he had a quest to fulfill.
As his tentative attack died down, he quickly raised the metal around him to create another barrier as he called out to his Master and Lancer. "Lancer perhaps you ensure our master's safety, me and Archer shall endeavour to quell the airborne threat, Archer, perhaps you have a projectile that could fell this metallic beast?" He queried before looking back into the sky, readying himself to counter an attack or to form another barrier should his prior be destroyed by this onslaught of attacks.
This new world was still quite an enigma to King Mu, a far cry from the land he was used to, this land was not China that was one thing that was for sure. But even then, he wondered how his kingdom would fare in such times, was it too a molten wasteland, patrolled by beasts of the sky and those who would dare wander to the open, had his rule allowed such fate to occur. Cause and effect, it was quite an interesting theory, was his being here enough to undo cause and effect. The grail itself would allow such regret to bloom and for those who wish to change history the chance to affect the cause and the effect. Ripples in time.
He chuckled as he awaited, reminding himself the reason for him being here and he had no time to change the fate of those he ruled.
The Rayshift was an experience Mu was quite fascinated with. The idea of one simply flitting from existence and then appearing in another point within the universe of one's existence was, well, amazing. All of this technology that Chaldea had and he was surrounded by was all too much sometimes, always wanting to find out more about this glorious place, especially the vast amounts of creations that Raphael created and had to wander and overseeing operations around this facility.
As if by magic, they were whisked away to a new world, a world that wasn't quite their world but had always been part of the natural world. he couldn't help but allow himself a slight chuckle as he took in the hellish sights around him and his master, readjusting his glasses as he prepared himself for the coming onslaught that no doubt awaited them.
It quickly occurred to him that they had been separated into what he suspected would be two camps. His master had been toprn from the side of the other, leaving them in two separate locations, where the fellow Master was, a mystery. He couldn't care less to be honest as he honed in on his Master and quickly moved closer to her, protecting his tether to this realm, conscious of danger lurking anywhere, waiting to strike. His hands started to sway as he began to prepare himself to weave together some items to protect him and his master, perhaps if danger was imminent he could create some enchanted objects to keep his master impervious from damage.
"patience is quite a virtue my master, I would suggest we survey the area, get a grasp of what the situation this. Whilst fun and awe inspiring as you say, missions can go south at any moment.." he uttered softly as he knelt down, running a hand over the dry clay, letting out a hum as he breathed in the air and held out his hand to his Master.
This dry riverbed was an omen, something must have caused such a desolation. And if that cause was still roaming, they had best reunite with the other servants. King Mu was a king, but even he knew he was likely to fail if he tackled the cause solo.
"Hmm, upon second thought, shall we investigate the cause? For now, I reccomend we keep a distance and not interfere too much. Shall we progress to the source of fire my master?"
Mu gave a light chuckle as he listened to the commands of his Master. She truly was a courageous firecracker who was always down for whatever adventure came her way. It was truly admirable to watch her in her element and he was intrigued to see how she would fare in the coming mission, the other Caster had surely found an interesting scenario for them to embark into, he never seemed the boring kind.
"Oh but of course, trust shall always be paramount in working together, we are all but different shards from different sides of this long history, if we are to work together, we must get to know each other," He gave his usual vague answers as he looked back over to Lancer and gave a light chuckle, shaking his head. "Well you have my eternal gratitude, fire burning us two down would be the antithesis of an anti-climax but of course there's always..." With that, the Archer had deemed it a fit moment to arrive into their small congregation. As soon as he arrived he gave her a wide smile with a closed mouth.
"Archer, I'm glad to see you have arrived, with the upcoming mission, you would not want to miss the show we may be thrust into, I await to witness you in battle, as I have yet to see your combat prowess, perhaps then I can truly believe your status as Queen?" He said, wryly giving her a jab as he made a quick pivot as he began swanning down the corridors towards the rayshifting area, already ready to depart on this so-called mission. Perhaps this would be akin to his campaign to Kunlun and would allow him to achieve pure immortality, his true reason for being here. Whilst he seemed to endure Saber and Archer more than the others, their pursuit of carnal interaction was slightly offputting, but he understood their need to bare an eventual heir and create something of an immortality spiritually.
"Well, master, shall we depart to the rayshift, we wouldn't want to let our dear Artist down, a quest is always waiting and we must be the ones to quell the problems that present themselves to us. Archer, your carnal instincts are second to the mission, if you intend on jeopardising our goals for your own desires, then I will not stop the others to take any necessary actions," he announced giving a wry smile as he adjusted his glasses and began his way towards Rayshifting.
Caster had been preoccupied on this delightful day of Chaldea, taking the time to wander and finding himself in a storage cupboard, embracing the serenity that awaited within, taking the time to enjoy the bliss of isolation for a few moments as he had developed a new theory of immortality, for it was possible mortality could be merely a concept of perception, one that the universe upheld. If someone perceived you as a mortal, then you could die. But if no one perceived you at all?
Then who knows.
He emerged with a sigh, readjusting his glasses as it occurred to him that it was likely his Master was already active and on some kind of valiant journey. Just thinking of her ambitious spirit made him chuckle, it always reminded him of his journey to Kunlun and that heroic Charioteer. He sauntered through the halls towards the canteen, somehow radiating a wayward aura as well as one of authority as he entered the canteen, preparing himself for something of a feast, or perhaps somewhere to just sit and observe the chaos that undoubtedly would occur with some of his fellow Heroic Spirits.
"Apologies for my absence, the pursuit of eternity brought me away from my usual duties," he announced as he entered, his robes gliding along with him as he approached Charlotte and Yasuke, eyeing up the others with a curious glance. "Lancer, I am pleased to see you have kept us tethered to this mortal coil whilst I was busy, Master I suspect you engaged in behavior with risk attached? A treacherous road that could harm not only yourself but the three of us as well." He gave Lancer a warm smile of sincerity and gave his master a chuckle, happy he walked in on them talking about some form of adventure.
He turned his attention to his fellow Caster, his gaze shifting to one of interest and intrigue, one he often held with the man, always intrigued by his means and his history. A man of the arts was always a man that Mu held in high standing, the arts kept his legend alive after all, without art, culture would be nothing.
"Ah, it is our Italian friend, what brings you to us at this hour?" he addressed him with a smile, intrigued by the nature of his being here, knowing that if Raphael was conversing with his Master then something must be afoot, a mystery that he would quite like to get his teeth into. He held no ill will towards caster, both of them had mystery behind them and he held them as his equal but was always suspicious of him none the less, and he was well aware that lancer was not his biggest fan.
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Name: King Mu of Zhou Title: Son of Heaven Class: Caster Gender: Male Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Height / Weight: 180cm/70kg Source: Chinese History/Mythology _________________________________________________________________________________________ Personality: King Mu is an odd one to be around, a charismatic leader with a liking for the obscure and somewhat morose, he is always saying proverbs and making little jokes that only he gets, quoting some kind of wisdom only he understands. He doesn’t talk in riddles though, if he sees a problem and a trouble that is affecting someone, he will always give advice, be it for better or for worse, Mu suffers from the problem of being excited by the possibility of a great tale of which he could experience.
Causing such experiences was his speciality after all, and he seeks nothing else than to truly experience that taste of immortality one more time in his new form and meet new people, even if he can be quite upfront and mysterious, he has good intentions even if they are layered with curiosity and mystique. Besides his calculating and precise way of thinking, Mu is also very open to enjoying the sweeter things in life, especially feasts.
Bio: King Mu was always destined to be a king, born into his father’s failure, he aspired for greatness as a king but aimed even higher, to accomplish much more than any king of Zhou would ever reach. Not much is known of him as a child but he took the throne with comfort after his father’s failures in the south led to his death. Immediately, Ji man became King Mu of Zhou, making his mark on the dynasty with its most pivotal years, reforming the kingdom from a broken and corrupt hereditary system to a much more prosperous modern system based on intellect and competence.
Although his role as a mystic adventurer is well known, his military and political accomplishments are nothing to laugh at, quickly squashing out invaders from the west and spreading the influence of Zhou further east into more of China, succeeding in bringing more tribes that he encountered under his command not through warfare, but through discussion and agreements, his atmosphere being enough to sway others to serve under his banner.
He would later engage in more wars and battles, culminating in peace but it was true that he was never fully happy with the length of the mortal coil, realising he had to reach immortality for his rule to achieve what he so badly wanted. He put the word out and one such hopeful brought to him a fully functioning automaton, hoping that displaying his ingenuity to create artificial life would maybe help King Mu. Whilst thoroughly impressed and in awe at such brilliance, this was not the method that he chose.
A brave charioteer and a court was formed to escort King Mu to the mystical mountains of Kunlun where it was said immortality could be achieved. The charioteer escorted him upon his chariot of five horses to the mountains beyond the heavens, to Kunlun, where he could taste the peaches of immortality. Upon arriving there he met the Queen Mother of the West with whom he feasted for days upon days before eventually being fully rejuvenated and returning, having tasted the fruits of immortality, he had found himself happy with his findings but never truly reaching the true immortality he had strived for, but many theorise that upon meeting the great Queen Mother, he had realised that he must pass at some point, so his immortality whilst potent, was not perfect.
And so King Mu of Zhou died, aged 103, leaving his descendants to rule, but his story became immortalised, his actions immortalised, and his spirit it lived on.
Weapon: Magic _________________________________________________________________________________________ Parameters: Strength: E Endurance: D Agility: D Mana: B Luck: A _________________________________________________________________________________________ Class Skills:
Territory Creation – A: Because of his large association with Kunlun and the feast with Queen Mother, King Mu is able to recreate the feast area, making a large expanse of land resemble the glimpse of paradise, creating his own workshop where he can expend much less mana and also bumps up his Blessing of the Queen Mother to be able to heal more lethal wounds. Whilst in his territory other allies can feel their wounds begin to regenerate as well.
Item Construction – C: Allows Mu to create talismana related to his tale that can produce various effects all related to mystic tales associated with him. Also allows the creation of peaches that can imbue those who ingest them with healing that can restore mental effects but not physical injuries.
Personal Skills:
Charisma – B: In all stories and tales, Mu has always been revered as a competent King who would rally others to his cause with nothing but words, an inspiration to all around him with a beautiful way with words. This rank allows Mu to inspire those who follow him with a rank up in endurance for a limited time, this can also be applied to the Automaton.
Queen Mother’s Blessing – C: King Mu always strived for immortality and its rumoured that he had accomplished it due to his long age but had decided he had seen enough of life and had chosen to retire of his own accord. As such, the eternal blessing of the Queen Mother who he had met at Kunlun always hung with him, restoring his body. At this rank, minor wounds inflicted on Mu heal quickly but larger more dangerous wounds take much more time, mortal and fatal wounds cannot be regenerated by this at all and require proper rest for this skill to regen them, but the skill regenerates minor wounds almost instantaneously.
Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven – A: This skill denotes the many mythical tales of King Mu and his association with all things mystical. Although he was never a magic practitioner in life, this skill allows him to utilise the mysticism that he always lived around. Allows him to use wind and water based magecraft as well as spells and tricks related to the Feast at Kunlun and minor usage of clockwork parts as projectiles. _________________________________________________________________
NOBLE PHANTASMS
Title: He Who Dreams of Eternity Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Self Range: 1 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: King Mu’s legacy was always attached to immortality, for he would give anything to reach those blessed fruits and travel the distance to finally achieve his dream. Not only does his tale reflect this, but his age at the end of his years shows that he had gained true restoration, allowing him to live to 102, but many rumours surrounding the legend of his visit to Kunlun and his achieving immortality still circulated.
As such, summoned as Caster, Mu has the ability to activate this Noble Phantasm with these words, his belief of immortality and his drive for eternity encompassing him within a peachy mist, as it envelops his body it allows him to achieve temporarily immortality. Whilst the mist enshrouds him (this can only last for 2 minutes at a push) he is rendered essentially immortal, whilst this in effect he can still fight and interact with others but Charisma and Queen Mother’s Blessing as well as Automaton, Gift of the King are sealed whilst this Noble Phantasm is in action. For all intents and purposes, Mu becomes indestructible but no stats are changed and any conditions he was suffering are healed up but after the Noble Phantasm passes he is just as weak as he was before. He cannot use this Noble Phantasm more than once in a short period of time and this can be restrictive to his Master.
Title: Automaton, Gift of the King Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Unity Range: 0-10 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: One of his most famous tales is the tale of an inventor gifting the King of Mu his prized Automaton, a fully operational mechanical human that can think and feel for itself, when it was presented to him, he was at first apprehensive but appreciated it nonetheless, a gift that would forever be incorporated into tales of the heavenly king. He treats the automaton as his loyal servant and its legend almost precedes him.
Upon uttering its name Mu summons a humanoid shaped automaton, with stats at all D rank and can mentally command the creation to carry out his bidding if he otherwise occupied but the automaton also has its own personality and can be quite cocky, when activated with no instructions it will just tease and lounge around. The automaton can be destroyed but can be later resummoned even after death showcasing that it can always be rebuilt.
Fighting Style: Utilises wind and water magecraft to fling spells and protect himself with constructs related to Tale of King Mu.
_________________________________________________________________________________________ Name: King Mu of Zhou Title: Son of Heaven Class: Caster Gender: Male Alignment: Chaotic Neutral Height / Weight: 180cm/70kg Source: Chinese History/Mythology _________________________________________________________________________________________ Personality: King Mu is an odd one to be around, a charismatic leader with a liking for the obscure and somewhat morose, he is always saying proverbs and making little jokes that only he gets, quoting some kind of wisdom only he understands. He doesn’t talk in riddles though, if he sees a problem and a trouble that is affecting someone, he will always give advice, be it for better or for worse, Mu suffers from the problem of being excited by the possibility of a great tale of which he could experience.
Causing such experiences was his speciality after all, and he seeks nothing else than to truly experience that taste of immortality one more time in his new form and meet new people, even if he can be quite upfront and mysterious, he has good intentions even if they are layered with curiosity and mystique. Besides his calculating and precise way of thinking, Mu is also very open to enjoying the sweeter things in life, especially feasts.
Bio: King Mu was always destined to be a king, born into his father’s failure, he aspired for greatness as a king but aimed even higher, to accomplish much more than any king of Zhou would ever reach. Not much is known of him as a child but he took the throne with comfort after his father’s failures in the south led to his death. Immediately, Ji man became King Mu of Zhou, making his mark on the dynasty with its most pivotal years, reforming the kingdom from a broken and corrupt hereditary system to a much more prosperous modern system based on intellect and competence.
Although his role as a mystic adventurer is well known, his military and political accomplishments are nothing to laugh at, quickly squashing out invaders from the west and spreading the influence of Zhou further east into more of China, succeeding in bringing more tribes that he encountered under his command not through warfare, but through discussion and agreements, his atmosphere being enough to sway others to serve under his banner.
He would later engage in more wars and battles, culminating in peace but it was true that he was never fully happy with the length of the mortal coil, realising he had to reach immortality for his rule to achieve what he so badly wanted. He put the word out and one such hopeful brought to him a fully functioning automaton, hoping that displaying his ingenuity to create artificial life would maybe help King Mu. Whilst thoroughly impressed and in awe at such brilliance, this was not the method that he chose.
A brave charioteer and a court was formed to escort King Mu to the mystical mountains of Kunlun where it was said immortality could be achieved. The charioteer escorted him upon his chariot of five horses to the mountains beyond the heavens, to Kunlun, where he could taste the peaches of immortality. Upon arriving there he met the Queen Mother of the West with whom he feasted for days upon days before eventually being fully rejuvenated and returning, having tasted the fruits of immortality, he had found himself happy with his findings but never truly reaching the true immortality he had strived for, but many theorise that upon meeting the great Queen Mother, he had realised that he must pass at some point, so his immortality whilst potent, was not perfect.
And so King Mu of Zhou died, aged 103, leaving his descendants to rule, but his story became immortalised, his actions immortalised, and his spirit it lived on.
Weapon: Magic _________________________________________________________________________________________ Parameters: Strength: E Endurance: D Agility: D Mana: B Luck: A _________________________________________________________________________________________ Class Skills:
Territory Creation – A: Because of his large association with Kunlun and the feast with Queen Mother, King Mu is able to recreate the feast area, making a large expanse of land resemble the glimpse of paradise, creating his own workshop where he can expend much less mana and also bumps up his Blessing of the Queen Mother to be able to heal more lethal wounds. Whilst in his territory other allies can feel their wounds begin to regenerate as well.
Item Construction – C: Allows Mu to create talismana related to his tale that can produce various effects all related to mystic tales associated with him. Also allows the creation of peaches that can imbue those who ingest them with healing that can restore mental effects but not physical injuries.
Personal Skills:
Charisma – B: In all stories and tales, Mu has always been revered as a competent King who would rally others to his cause with nothing but words, an inspiration to all around him with a beautiful way with words. This rank allows Mu to inspire those who follow him with a rank up in endurance for a limited time, this can also be applied to the Automaton.
Queen Mother’s Blessing – C: King Mu always strived for immortality and its rumoured that he had accomplished it due to his long age but had decided he had seen enough of life and had chosen to retire of his own accord. As such, the eternal blessing of the Queen Mother who he had met at Kunlun always hung with him, restoring his body. At this rank, minor wounds inflicted on Mu heal quickly but larger more dangerous wounds take much more time, mortal and fatal wounds cannot be regenerated by this at all and require proper rest for this skill to regen them, but the skill regenerates minor wounds almost instantaneously.
Tale of King Mu, Son of Heaven – A: This skill denotes the many mythical tales of King Mu and his association with all things mystical. Although he was never a magic practitioner in life, this skill allows him to utilise the mysticism that he always lived around. Allows him to use wind and water based magecraft as well as spells and tricks related to the Feast at Kunlun and minor usage of clockwork parts as projectiles. _________________________________________________________________
NOBLE PHANTASMS
Title: He Who Dreams of Eternity Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Self Range: 1 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: King Mu’s legacy was always attached to immortality, for he would give anything to reach those blessed fruits and travel the distance to finally achieve his dream. Not only does his tale reflect this, but his age at the end of his years shows that he had gained true restoration, allowing him to live to 102, but many rumours surrounding the legend of his visit to Kunlun and his achieving immortality still circulated.
As such, summoned as Caster, Mu has the ability to activate this Noble Phantasm with these words, his belief of immortality and his drive for eternity encompassing him within a peachy mist, as it envelops his body it allows him to achieve temporarily immortality. Whilst the mist enshrouds him (this can only last for 2 minutes at a push) he is rendered essentially immortal, whilst this in effect he can still fight and interact with others but Charisma and Queen Mother’s Blessing as well as Automaton, Gift of the King are sealed whilst this Noble Phantasm is in action. For all intents and purposes, Mu becomes indestructible but no stats are changed and any conditions he was suffering are healed up but after the Noble Phantasm passes he is just as weak as he was before. He cannot use this Noble Phantasm more than once in a short period of time and this can be restrictive to his Master.
Title: Automaton, Gift of the King Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Unity Range: 0-10 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: One of his most famous tales is the tale of an inventor gifting the King of Mu his prized Automaton, a fully operational mechanical human that can think and feel for itself, when it was presented to him, he was at first apprehensive but appreciated it nonetheless, a gift that would forever be incorporated into tales of the heavenly king. He treats the automaton as his loyal servant and its legend almost precedes him.
Upon uttering its name Mu summons a humanoid shaped automaton, with stats at all D rank and can mentally command the creation to carry out his bidding if he otherwise occupied but the automaton also has its own personality and can be quite cocky, when activated with no instructions it will just tease and lounge around. The automaton can be destroyed but can be later resummoned even after death showcasing that it can always be rebuilt.
Fighting Style: Utilises wind and water magecraft to fling spells and protect himself with constructs related to Tale of King Mu.
Top Floor Room, Mansion, Downtown Residential District
America.
What an annoying coincidence that the one place he had thought about visiting for a relaxing vacation and wasting all his money was the first place he had been made to send out to participate in this Holy Grail War. The very concept of using legendary heroes to achieve a personal goal was odd, but nonetheless interesting and even if he had at first objected in the end he realised, he could accomplish some great things with this opportunity. He had arrived around few days ago and had promptly arrived at his base with his fellow Masters, summoning his Servant after setting himself up in the top floor room.
It was a good set up, his workshop was methodically organised, shelves of his ingredients and components covered the walls and in the centre of the room a large cauldron, Jeremiah himself sat on a chari before his desk that was pristine and only had his books and writings on it by the sides, his flasks and chemistry equipment were his main iterest, mixing some materials together as he worked on one of his usual explosive concoctions. He sat back in his chair and adjusted his glasses.
His new allies were interesting to say the least, and whilst he wasn't hostile to them he didn't interact with them as much as he should have. He would go down later to discuss strategy with them, but sometimes not sharing information could prove more essential. Assassin of Black could be anywhere, just like his. If information got leaked, having him not be in collaboration would mean that his information could not be stolen.
Assassin had been an interesting summon and he respected him. His reputation was impressive and a good match for him, himself being from a family of magus assassins. Now, to allow Assassin to do his work.
He had set Assassin out to scout the surrounding area and hummed before contacting him telepathically.
"Assassin, have you ensured the safety of the surrounding area? Make sure you keep yourself concealed and try to locate any enemy servants, I can hear the others discussing familliars, I'd advise going north and keeping an eye on our allied Servants, if they encounter any trouble, perhaps you can take them by the surprise and hit them with an effective flank attack, keep me updated on the surrounding events, after we can figure out the true names of the enemy, we can pinpoint their weaknesses."
He sighed and finished off his concoction. Perhaps now would be a good time to discuss tactics with his allies.
