Amelia studied her surroundings, or whatever was left of it, merely two Servants caused this pure entropy and destruction. She trembled at the thought of having to fight against these monstrosities, and wondered if she would be able to compete against the other mages.
The young magus tried to shake away such thoughts and tried to focus on the task at hand, “So this was due to a Caster and Berserker?” Amelia said softly as she began writing in a tome, “Perhaps we can find some clues about their identity around here, we should make this quick, as the enemy Masters would no doubt come back to erase any evidence if they have not already done so, and I’d rather be in town before they arrive. May I ask for your help in looking around Beast?”
Perception:
Observation:
(ooc: So sorry with the lack of replies! My computer pooped out on me so I had to get the link again and blah)
Idaliseviel frowned as she heard these words spill from the Harlow's lips. Her hand to be the one to untie the world? That was the least of her wishes, but what did she exactly wish for in another one of these wars? She paused for a moment to think this over, was it the same thing her previous ancestors wanted? Or did she want something entirely different all together? The silver haired maiden shook her head to clear her thoughts, she won't allow the Harlow's words twist and alter her mindset of what she wanted or believed in.
"I hardly believe you can go around questioning what I can and cannot do, Mr. Harlow. Instead, what do think you are capable of doing in this oh so fragile world you speak of?" The young lady asked him.
Perception:
Persuasion:
Not taking any chances, Amelia searched the area for an escape route, however being unable to find one, with only one entrance and exit, she went for the next best alternative. The blue haired magus grabbed Beast by the arm and hid in the nearest container.
For extra precaution she silently casts an illusioncraft spell (Rank C)
Stealth(5)
9:45AM(?)
The young magus frowned at the stranger's words. She glanced at Beast before cautiously peeking over the debris she was hiding behind. Seeing a wounded and tattered young girl she instinctively stepped out of her cover to aid the child, only to jump back behind the cover and kicked herself mentally at her own stupidity.
Despite the girl's appearance she is still a Servant, a hero, like Beast standing beside her. No doubt running up to one is tantamount to suicide. Because of the enemy's weakened state a normal person would most likely choose to attack to taking advantage of the situation in order to win the war, but due to Amelia's naivety she could not help but be concerned.
"A-Are you alright? What happened to you?" She meekly asked.
Time: 2PM - 4:30PM
Day 1 of the War
After reading the important parts of the book in the early mourning Damian begins to read the book from page one, and continues to do so until about 2:00 PM
Joseline "Daaaaamian I don't wanna do this stuff any more"
Damian walks up and looks down at her books "Hmmm Idk Jo, doesn't look like you did any of it right, I think u'll have to redo it all"
Joseline "NOOOOOOO DAMIAN" [crosses her arms and makes a pouty face]
Damian "Hahahaha" [Ruffles her hair] Comon, lets go see what the Fool is up to.
Damian and Joseline go to the workshop and see Fool working on some kinda weapon, it kind of looks like a small sword with a chain that leads to a weird oversized handle that fits down the length of a persons arm, the workshop has changed in size since the two have been in the workshop, and many of the devices present before have either been changed or disappeared and been replaced with new devices.
On the wall next to where the painting of Damian and ??? Hangs is another painting, this one featuring a picture of four people around a circular table. One of them clearly represents you, one represents ???, the third is Jo, and the fourth is some girl you have never seen before. the four of you are sitting around a moderately fancy table in a relatively nice room. On the center of the table is a giant gold cup, which you interpret to be the holy grail. The shadows that would normally be on guard for your portrayal appear to be tranquil and calm. You are sitting on the center left, and are staring at the unknown girl, who's appearance reminds you of a beautiful doll. You are staring at her with a look of passion, caring and affection that you have previously only shown to Jo. Jo, seated on the far left looks rather happy, she appears to be eating delicious looking food, and enjoying herself. ??? is the only one of you standing and he is looking down upon the rest of the table with a warm expression. In a word you might consider this room "paradise." Though it certainly isn't one you dreamed of.
Damian: "Hey Fool, whats that your working on?"
Fool: "Ah nothing jeune Damian, just one of my many projects" [continues to tinker with it while talking, almost seeming to not be paying attention to Damian]
Damian: "Well while your doing this I got a list of stuff for you to make, here" [hands Fool a list] "Let me know if you need anything to make this stuff"
(flash grenades, intercoms, a Swiss army knife with nearly endless variation of small applications and a weapon Davinci thinks would suit Damian)
Fool glances at the list "Hmmm yes, for these things I will need (insert what he needs here)
Damian: "Alright I'll be back after I get the stuff and take care of some things, Shade come here"
Out of Damian's shadow appears Shade "Hows it goin boss, got anything tasty to morsel on?"
Damian makes a (-.-) face "You don't eat Shade, now listen, watch over Jo, make sure she doesn't go running off, and if I'm not back by 7 make sure she eats something, got it?"
Shade "Sure thing boss!"
Damian leaves the junk yard and quickly makes his way to the pawn shop a few blocks over and gets all the things Davinci asks him to get.
He then spends a couple hours in the Eastern city area communing with the shadows and asks them to alert him should any mages go through this area and to take note of what the mages look like (50 MP to commune properly if needed)
After a little while he feels he has to stop putting this off. He takes the phone out of his pocket and dials the only number on the phone.
Damian: "Hi....So tell me more about this partnership you had in mind"
(we can PM a conversation from here if you'd like)
Amelia grew increasingly worried, her role...? Besides classes does each Servant have an assigned role as well? Or is it because that was instructions given to her by her Master?
Beast's response as put her on edge as she was different from her usual energetic self maybe she could ask what class the Servant is but her inquiry could wait.
They came here to find out more about the battle, and perhaps the identity of Caster and Berserker, however her investigation was cut short as she'd rather not fight someone over it.
"R-Right then, we'll just get out of your way. Good day!" she replied trying her best to smile in this situation
Amelia sulked at the comment, "Uuu.. Even a Servant thinks I'm weird..." she cried softly before getting herself back on track. If a Servant is here the Master shouldn't be too far behind and no telling how man other unexpected guests might pop up.
The blue haired woman already figured the two Servant classes here, it's a shame she didn't have time to figure their abilities or identities but one shouldn't get greedy. "We were just here for the same reason as yourself; just to investigate but um we don't want any trouble." Amelia explained as she walked around the Servant keeping a reasonable distance. Once the magus made enough distance she should be able to make her escape into town, she wouldn't follow her into a public area. Hopefully. Maybe.
Athletics to escape, observation to keep track of the Servant's movement
Athletics(5)
Observation(15)
Damian: "The [location]? wtf why there?!”
???: "Because it's a safe place where there are no other masters”
Damian: "Whatever >.> how should I find you once I’m there”
???: "Just ask anyone who works there for me”
Damian: "Alright shouldn't take me too long to get there, cya there Glasses" Damian makes his way to [location] walks into the front entrance and goes up to the receptionist desk,
Damian: "Where can I find ????"
Receptionist: “Are you Mr. Damian? one moment please he's been expecting you” she makes a phone call and ??? comes shortly after
???: "Ah good to see you. Come with me." ??? leads Damian to an area that is labeled 'authorized personnel only' Damian closes the door behind them and the two start walking down a corridor with multiple doors
Damian: "So what makes you so important around this place?"
???: "I manage and own this [location]" he hands Damian an ID card "This will let you access most of the facilities in this hospital, should you need them"
Damian:"Thanks *Damian puts the card in his pocket* So you want to work together right? if you expect me to form some kinda ‘alliance’ with you we need to talk about a few things, first of all you already know what I want the grail for, so what do you need it for? A nice set of prescription binoculars?"
???:" Haha, no nothing so trivial. Truth be told I don't actually need the grail to attain my wish, all I need is a moment of time before it is used to study its properties before someone makes a wish on it. As such I want to form an alliance with you, since I have calculated that it is the safest way to attain my goal with the least casualties."
Damian: "You expect me to believe that? With the power of omnipotence and everything you could ever want within your grasp, you simply want to 'look at it'? You already know my intentions thanks to this illusive 'mind reading computer’ you have, but I don't have that kind of luxury. How do I know I can trust you?"
??? stops by a room "please look here." Damian looks into the room and sees a beautiful girl sleeping in a bed hooked up to some machinery, she is about Damian’s age and looks exactly like the girl from the painting. "That's my daughter...as you can see she's very sick."
Damian suddenly feels strong attraction toward this girl, he looks away, confused by his own feelings "What’s wrong with her?, and what does that have to do with my question, it seems like you would need the wish for her" *Damian tries to make his voice sound its normal gruff self*
???: "The nerves that control her body, even those that control her heart and lungs aren't working. Her body has been maintaining its self by using her magic circuits as a replacement, but they are incompatible with her body and are decaying faster than they can be generated. Once they are gone she can no longer replace them. I'm in the process of creating replacement circuits that will regenerate no matter how badly they are damaged. The Holy Grail is made of just such circuits. It has been able to regenerate its self from nearly utter destruction. I only need to study the grail to be able to reproduce its regenerative powers in my daughter. After that you can have it."
Damian: “Makes sense I guess, what’s the kid’s name?"
*he looked at her again out of the corner of his eye*
???:"Irean"
Damian: "Is Irean.....can she last until we finish this war? how long can she stay hardwired like that?
???: "She'll last up to a year and a half if I don't finish my research...although that's only if you can count 8 months of being totally comatose as 'living.' But for now she's just sleeping"
Damian: “So not long” *Damian takes another good look, and has a hard time looking away from her* “Let’s go" Damian wanted to be out of eye sight of her, his emotions for this girl made him lose focus of why he came here "Well that makes things a little better, but there are still things about you that don’t sit right, for one thing, that computer you have, it gives you far too much info on me, if we do become ‘teammates’ I’d like to know where it is and to be able to use it.” The two walk farther down the hall and enter what appears to be a private office. In the room there is a giant screen with an input console that is hooked up to what look like bookshelves of hard drives mixed with magical technology, which farther run large cables down the room into the wall.
???:"I'd be more than happy to let you use it, but without my magic circuits it doesn't work. As for how it works, it merely runs simulations of all possible outcomes of an event, isolates the most likely results and gives you an answer."
Damian: "This looks expensive Glasses, tell me, how rich are you?"
"I was rich, this was, but that was before added my own funds to this machine" he taps one of the shelves "I actually have only purchased 4 of these. The rest are built up from multiple generations of multiple families, pooling together their resources to make a device powerful enough to make prophetic predictions. Simple put, this is about 200 years’ worth of investment from 10 different families."
Damian: "So you’re telling me you have no money? I mean, to own and manage the [location] you must get some good income from that, at least 3 pairs of glasses".
???: "True, I am not poor, but I am currently not rich ether, and the moron poisoning the city's water isn't helping ether. I you need some money however I would be happy to provide some."
Damian: "It’s not that, its just an idea....I'll share it with you if I feel like I can trust you more, for now don't worry your pretty little head about my financial situation, I can get by on my own By the way, you've been pretty compliant with my questions, surprised you don’t have questions yourself, though I guess this machine makes that job easy"
???: "Not exactly, I can see general outcomes and the most probable result of my actions, as such I have seen several different ends to this war. For instance one where I question you thoroughly and end up fighting against you, one where I don't show you this room in which you died and I lost the war, I've even seen one where I have a son and daughter in-law..." he smiles pleasantly at the comment, while Damian blushes looks away at the comment
Damian: "Well I guess you wouldn't want that, I'd probably be too much for you to handle, it makes sense that you'd be afraid to ask questions" *Damian turns back with a smirk on his face "So if you don't want answers then what do you want, nothing comes for free, and it seems like your offering me a whole lot for very little. If there’s one thing I learned everything has a price."
???: "All I want in this world is to see her free to run around in the open again. All I want is to see her happy."
Damian: "I don’t mean that, I mean why me? I've got very little to offer you, and I'm not the most trusting of people, it seems like you would want one of the other however many people in this war, I mean if you have info on me you probably have info on them"
???: "To an extent, however there are side effects to teaming up with any of the others that are less beneficial for example if I was to team up with Berserker's master ...the world would come to an end. Saber, half the planet dies and I still don't get the grail. Lancer, I end up winning the war, but my daughter is already dead. You get the picture."
Damian: "So what I bring to the table is your best chance at saving your daughter, that makes sense…for now I’ll trust you, still I'd like one of my familiars to be here, specifically in this room, so I can know what questions you ask this computer, also I want to know all the info you have on the other combatants, I will seek them out in my own time and work on how best to get rid of them and lastly I want to know all of your magics. In exchange I will share with you my Servant's name, and allow you access to his abilities, I think they would be most useful to you. Sound Fair?
???: "Feel free to leave a familiar here, don't give me any information on your servant, I don't know anything about him/her other than it is of the Fool class, and neither of us like the results of you telling me that. As for servant information, this machine is intentionally cryptic, and often doesn't give specifics, but here is what I can tell you about the other servants is...[left out of game]"
Damian: "Good, It seems I won’t have to do any Glasses stomping in the near future, *summons a mini-shade out of his shadow* I want you to stay here, follow this guy around and report anything he doesn't tell me and anything he asks this computer. *starts walking out the door* If you don't need anything else I think I’ll be off"
???: "Ah take these." He hands you a jar of candy looking pills. "They temperately double your strength magically. Needless to say they won't work on servants. And be careful while using them. they will double your strength speed and stamina for 30min, but after it wears off you will have half your strength speed and stamina for an hour. you could consider it borrowing from your future strength."
Damian:"...thanks, cya around."
Ryder: "Ah yes, my old friend is somewhere off in the heavens, you are simply his representation, hmmm that makes me think do you know everything about me? All my dark secrets that the world didn't know, or are you simply what the world made of you?"
Sentinel: "Idiot. Of course I'm me you moron! And like I could forget any of my comrades in arms so easily." Sentinel kicks Ryder in the face the same way she used to on many occasions while she was alive.
*picks self off of the floor rubbing face* "Ooooh I almost forgot what that was like, well I had to be sure old chum, haha I'm not fully aware of all this grail is capable of. I've missed you a great deal, its been far too long"
Sentinel: "Well knowing you you've probably spent at least half of it asleep." The two continue to catch up on lost time, what Ryder has been up to, the state of the world, politics, the finest drinks to be had, until 2 o'clock comes around
Ryder checks his pocket watch "Well I think that enough for now, let’s see what my men have come up with." *the two walk back into the room where Shadow is. “So what have you managed to dig up for me?”
Shadow: “Not much so far, just a few tips on some of the magic families and a few individuals Ryder might want to take note of” *Shadow hands Ryder a list*
Ryder: *reads over the list* “Alright let’s get started, Shadow gather my protégés *the three protégés gather*Here’s the plan, Shadow I want you to start working on finding out if some of these families have contestants in the war, then find out what magics they use, what kind of resources they have, and what their wishes are if they have contestants.*****specifics left out **********
Ryder: Sentinel and I will go visit the Nishimiyas and the Martellis, they are weak magical families that shouldn’t be too much of a hassle, but may prove a valuable resource. Afterwards I will go visit Ms. Nightingale, hopefully her services are within my price range. *Ryder and Sentinel make their way to the Nishimiyas’ and arrive at around 2:15 to find it’s a small average house.
Ryder: hmmm seems harmless enough but just to be sure (detection magic A 25 mp for magic traps, people and presence…There are two people home and boundary field that detects when people enter or leave the premise)
Ryder: Ah a boundary field, interesting it wouldn’t be too hard to avoid detection, but let’s let them know I’m coming, doesn’t want to scare them off.* walks up to house knocks on the door*
A woman opens the door.
Woman: Yes can I help you?
Ryder: Hello Madam, my name is Baron Von Goolish I am here on behalf of my benefactor who wants to get in contact with as many “gifted" individuals in this city as possible,
if you wouldn't mind I'd like to speak with you and anyone else in your immediate family, your family has been noted to have special talents
Woman: If you're talking about Hikari's hobbies we're already correcting that
Ryder: Ah, sorry ma'am perhaps I'm not being clear, I am referring to your family's magical abilities
Women: I see, so what do you want with a second rate family like ours?
Ryder: Employment madam, our group seeks to pay you for time spent assisting us in recent event, do you mind if I come in?
Woman: Very well come this way. Ryder and sentinel are taken to a small living room and offered seats
Ryder: Have you by chance heard of the "Holy Grail Wars"?
Woman: I can't really say, What's it to you
Ryder: Well in case you are unaware *explains basics of the war, the Grail, servants (though I don’t directly mention that Sentinel is a servant) and I focus on the amount of death usually associated with these events* Our group seeks a swift end to this contest, and for that we need as much help as possible, even if that help is as you say a ‘second rate family’. At the very least we would like to avoid conflicting interests with any mages, so I come to you today seeking your input.
Women: Well I hate to break it to you but Hikari isn't here right now. You'll have to try again later.
Ryder: You've mentioned this Hikari twice now, is she you sister?
Women: Daughter
Ryder: Ah, well if you'd deliver my message I'd be happy to talk to Hikari some other time; could I give you my number?
Women: Sure
Ryder: Right then I'll be on my way then *puts phone number on table* good day madam, hope to hear from you again
The pair leaves the small house as the dour is quickly closed on them.
Ryder: Well that was interesting; I hope some fruit bears from this endeavor, though I highly doubt it. For now let’s go seek Ms. Nightingale then, we wouldn't want someone to employ her services before us. And she will be much easier to persuade at the right price.
10:00 AM
Amelia quickly made her way towards the exit, looking back the Servant stared at her but did not make any other movements. A chill ran down her spine which made her run even faster, Beast’s voice reached her ears asking her to wait but her fear prevented her from doing so. The blue haired magus felt disgusted at her own cowardice, she apologized to Beast under her breath for the fact that she was stuck with a weak Master.
Lost in thought Amelia plowed into someone outside the docks, “Ah! I’m terribly sorry!” she cried as she bowed several times, and then glanced over the blonde woman for any injury, “I’m really sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you hurt anywhere?”
(ooc: Hello friends I have returned, Finals have ended! So I'll be more free to reply from now on.)
9:15 AM (ish?)
Idaliseviel blinked curiously at the Harlow before her, she rested her elbow on her arm that was wrapped around her waist and rested her chin on he back of her hand. "Oh? You seem pretty firm and set on with this noble duty of yours. I just find it funny how you proclaim how it's your duty and how it's destined to be something by the Harlow family, yet you still need the Grail's help on achieving this?" She started, pulling her hand away from her face as she smiled at the man.
"If it was destiny, then fate must be cruel to taunt you with this noble task, since it's been how long since the Holy Grail War has been going on, but the Harlow family has yet to end pain, suffering, and war just in general? It seems like to me you're the one actually lacking conviction in the war." The homunculus ran her hand through her long, silver hair.
"I'm not saying your cause is pure, because being the unifying hand to guide the world into bliss is very honorable. I'm just not sure if you're doing this out of your own free will, or if it's been thrusted upon you by your own family members." She pulled up her hand and covered her mouth, "Perhaps I said too much and made too many assumptions. If so, my apologies, Mr. Harlow." The silver haired maiden then curtsied to show some respect.
A surprised expression appeared on Amelia’s face. Once again she found herself in another predicament, it was safe to assume the lady in front of her was also a magus, in the worse scenario the Master of the Servant she met earlier. Like before the girl would preferably avoid confrontation so she would need to choose her words carefully.
The girl took one, two steps back and kept her guard up. “I-I am,” she replied softly, “We came to inspect the storm last night but realized it to be too hazardous to linger any longer.” Amelia stayed quiet for a few moments before deciding that she should try to get some information too, “Um.. W-What about yourself?”
”A detective, it should be safe to share information with her, plus if I don’t tell her anything she may wander into that white Servant and get herself hurt.” the young lady thought as she let out a small sigh of relief.
"My name is Amelia, a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Amelia stated with a bow, "Unfortunately there is a powerful familiar per-se at the scene so it would be rather dangerous for you to go in alone, but I was able to find some info before making an... unsightly exit.”
The blue haired woman took a quick peek at her Servant before returning her attention to the blonde in front of her. “It wasn’t a terrorist attack but a fight between two magus, whether they themselves were at the scene I cannot ascertain, but they were using their familiars to do battle. Um... the nights will probably become more dangerous from now on so a PSA telling civilians to stay away from open secluded areas could help. Oh I’m sorry I never got your name.”
Intuition(17) and Insight(5)
Idaliseviel frowned upon hearing the Harlow's answer to her question. They were just going to continue to talk in circles at this point and it was starting to bore her really. Although, she managed to irritate him enough to reveal what class his servant was, a Ruler class. She used her peripheral vision to glance at her maids standing beside her who seemed to be on alert, being sure that there would not be any change to harm their mistress. She knew with them around, and Saber being even closer, she didn't have much to worry about. She made a choice to decide to ease off the subject, to see if she could manage to leave without any more conflicting moments between the two. After all, fighting in daylight isn't something she wanted to do, especially this early.
"If I push him more, I might risk myself and my servant into battle, but that would allow more insight about what Ruler is capable of, and that gives us more information about a servant in this war. But at the same time, that's risking our well being since I'm unaware of his potential. I guess it'll be safe to just back off now unless forced to battle.
"Very well, if you insist, but I'm not very convinced." She sighed as she adjusted a strand of her silver hair behind her ear, "I believe that's enough chatter for today, I do have other plans; I hope I haven't interrupted your daily routine as well." The Homunculus gently picked up the ends of her dress and pulled at it lightly to make another, elegant, curtsy.
Persuasion (10) and Will (14)
“No! Nonononono! Wait! Please wait!” Amelia pleaded as she stood in the detective’s way, there’s no telling what may happen if Renei runs into the Servant earlier, and she couldn’t tell her about Servants and Masters, but she needs to do something.
“If it was a regular familiar I wouldn’t have deemed it was dangerous either, but I suppose that the term familiar is incorrect, as they’re more akin to ghost liners. In addition two of them fighting each other caused the destruction of the port, they’re not to take lightly,” she explained as quickly as she could in one breath.
Persuasion(5)
Will (15)
(WELP, LET'S GO BACK TO SAVE ONE.)
Idaliseviel blinked at the Harlow's sudden questioning. "My hand being the one to guide the world into peace? That's surely a very nice thought isn't it? And certainly something hard to obtain within this fragile world." She paused for a moment before having a warm, yet almost mischievous smile pull across her pale cheeks, "And yet, I don't feel very pressured about this daunting task. It would be a shame for this world to crumble in our hands and fall through our fingers, I rather like it in Fuyuki."
She delicately laid her hand on her chest, "I believe I have been the one who is blessed with the Grail's power, being from a prestigious family that has been in this war since the beginning itself, I'm the one who should best deserve it, no?" Another small smile appeared on her face, "There are reasons why the Grail always chooses certain families each time it reappears, and what I want, in all honesty and kindness, is far more deserving than your cause. I want to do more than just unite the world, Mr. Harlow. I want to make sure the glue never wears out or falls apart again, and be sure that it's secure enough for years and years to come."
Perception (10) Insight (16)
Amelia bit her lip, she didn't like fighting yet despite her pleas Renei seems excited. "How reckless..." the magus thought quietly to herself, reluctantly she made a small nod and replied with a trembling voice, "Alright, I'll come, but if it becomes dangerous please retreat."