[color=springgreen] [center] [h1]  Ravel “Speedstar” Livoria D’Arby [/h1] [/center] [/color] 


[center] Wednesday, November 17th, 2015
WJ Marriott, Room 603 [/center] 

[@kusanagifire]

A flash of light seemed near blinding as she took her eyes off for but a moment, only for the ritual to have been completed. She had done what she needed to do. Ravel had utilized the Grail to bring forth her “card”. The Servant that would act as a means to obtain the Holy Grail and cement Ravel’s victory. 

However, the being before Ravel was definitely not what she had expected. Throughout her understanding of mythology, the existence of females from the most powerful positions was limited. Though there existed legends like the monster war queens of the Land of Shadows and other such existences, Ravel felt it a bit disappointed that she was not able to grab something like King Arthur considering what she had summoned was female. And King Arthur being female would just be stupid, right? 

Well, that didn’t matter. At the very least, Ravel was given what she was given. Perhaps she could have procured some sort of summoning catalyst as to better grab the card she wanted. But that didn’t matter. The past was merely the past, and to act in such a remorseful way was not going to benefit anyone. 

A simple question was uttered by the Servant Ravel had summoned. 

[quote] "Apologies," Saber spoke, turning her gaze and a smile towards the girl before her. "I must ask, are you to be my Master?" [/quote] 

[color=springgreen] “But of course,” [/color]  Ravel simply informed the person before her. Getting a better look at her own Servant, her armor weathered and to a degree damaged. Even if the Knight before her was a female, at the very least she seemed seasoned. Then again Servants exist outside the bounds of human understanding. It would not be impossible for, say a 154 cm tall woman to fight against a 253 cm tall behemoth of a man. Perhaps Ravel was judging the person before her based solely on these appearances. 

[color=springgreen] “I am Ravel Livoria D’Arby. That is D-A-R-B-Y. With the Command Seals on my hand, I believe I am the one to summon you. Might I ask who was the class and Heroic Spirit that had answered the call to my summon?” [/color]

Ravel had given way to a curtsy with her knees. Though she had understood that she would be summoning a Heroic Spirit, the culmination and idealized heroes from mythology, at the very least she felt that manners were important. Though controlled through use of a Command Seal, a Servant was not equal to a familiar. Even those beings that had transcended the knowledge of Magecraft into something more tuned to Magic would not be able to form a contract with a Servant. Thus, the Grail acts as a medium in order to allow these beings, Servants, to exist in the world. If anything, the Master of the war was more akin to an anchor than a true “master”. The magus existed only to support the Servant in such a way to keep them from dematerializing. And considering that a traditional magus would be no less than a pincushion to any Servant’s power, it would be wise to 1) keep one’s Servant in the world as a means to combat enemy Servants, and 2)  keep infighting to a limit. 

Of course, the former is pretty obvious. Magi without a Servant are at a complete disadvantage to someone with a Servant. Even if Servants did not surpass modern humans in terms of strength, a 1v2 fight would almost always be disadvantageous to the “one” as long as they didn’t have any sort of cheap survival trick. 

The latter is a bit harder at times to completely avoid. Of course, it is assumed for Servants summoned by the Holy Grail they wish to defeat their opponents and obtain the cup. Perhaps they had failed in their life and wish to fix what they had wronged? Perhaps they were simply in it to prove their legends against heroes they had never fought against in life? Or perhaps they had more simplistic wishes they wanted to continue on with. As long as the “desire to win” existed within a Servant’s heart as well as the Master’s heart, it would not be unthinkable they could at least try and keep fighting to a minimum. 

In the event that a Master is unable to control their Servant, the founders of the Grail System had also created the idea of a “command seal”. Whomever invented such a binding must be given their due credit. Perhaps to an extent the command seal was more wondrous than they system of the Grail itself. The ability to compel a Heroic Spirit 3 times was something incredible within itself, and a failsafe system like no other to ensure a degree of control to one’s own Servant. 

But either way, Ravel knew that she would win this war. At least, she knew she had to win this war to make sure that her family remains prosperous.