Beloss

Fate/Empty Providence

Someone summoned Joe Pesci, only to realize he was a woman all along.

Fate/Empty Providence

@Yukitamas

If the shot is headed toward the thickest part of your armor, and you are confidant that it will be deflected, then yes you can hurt yourself more by trying to move out of the way, and instead having the arrow hit a more lightly armored area.

Also keep in mind that Hercules skin does not work the same way as Armor and Babr-e Bayan does. If an A rank attack hits Hercules, then he gets hit with an A rank attack, and his invulnerability basically does not exist. Babr-e Bayan and Armor heavily subtract from the power of an attack even if they are penetrated.

If Hercules sees an NP arrow being charged up and thinks that it's in the A rank range, it makes sense for him to try and deflect it. Rostam seeing an arrow that was not charged up, or released via name or anything, had no reason to suspect it was anything more than an especially fast glittery arrow, which would do minimal damage to him even if it was an A or A+ ranked attack.

Yes, Agility does cover a wide variety of things like dexterity, finesse and raw speed, all of which contribute to being able to dodge or deflect arrows, hence why it's harder for Rostam with his C rank vs Hercules with his A rank. When you have less of any one of these things it covers, dealing with fast moving objects becomes harder for you.

Fate/Empty Providence

Hercules has A rank agility, and saw it coming before it was within a few instants of him. It also had to be charged before it was fired.

Fate/Empty Providence

Alex Bradan

The Scuttle, docked in the Fuyuki harbor.

---

Alex listened to his Servants list of conditions and nodded at each one of them as they were presented. There was nothing to far off the mark here, though he chuckled softly when the Servant concluded. He held up his right hand displaying the command spells that were etched there. "If I decide to write a complaint you'll know in a hurry."

Jibes aside, he approved of his Servants basic outline, and found himself relaxing slightly. Their basic ideas of method at least were in accord, and from there pretty much everything else could be dealt with as it came. A loose, practical method of negotiation, that was what Alex Bradan liked best.

"Don't get me wrong Mr. Archer. I like to think of myself as a passable Magi, and I'm smarter than a good half of those old blood Clock Tower fucks. I don't intend to give you a reason to desert me." He moved over to one of the little circular tables that lined the wall of the chamber and moved several jars of reagents away before takeing his seat on the bench and lighting a new cigaret.

"To specifics then. This ship has been etched with my personal bounded field, while we are on board we should have some measure of security. I wouldn't want to sit in dock with a crack team of Enforcers on my tale, but most of these other competitors won't be that. More to the point, this ship is seaworthy. I don't plan on staying in the same place, and if things get hot enough, I intend to bring her far out to sea before circling back in to throw them off the scent. None of this should be a problem for you though, so long as you allow me to perform Transferal of Consciousness on you. It will let me to see through your eyes, let us coordination over long distance."

He paused takeing a puff or two on his cigaret before continuing.

If they try to attack us on the open waves that should give you the advantage. I cant think of a more coverless field. In fact, if it comes to it, luring some of them out over the water to shoot them down might not be so bad an idea. If you have the firepower to pull it off we could turn this rig into a mobile weapons platform, which brings us back to what your real name is, or at least, what your capabilities are.

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@Cu Chulainn

Fate/Empty Providence

@Asuras Hey fancy font. Typical for the Illuminati who control everything and have all the money!

Anyway, I would like to propose a toast to Hugues de Payens and the upcoming illuminati order. Long may they reign behind the scenes!

youtube.com/watch?v=dSpOjj4YD8c

Fate/Empty Providence

@Moonlit SonataI see, so by mitigating the dammage I presume you mean shifting the damage to a place like grazing his side, or clipping his shoulder, or hitting him at an angle that was not dead on.

In any case, I am not complaining of the finnal result. I think what happend works very well for the story, and it's natural for him to be overconfident.

I also never thought that Rostam and Gilles de Rais would be having quotes in common.

Fate/Empty Providence

@Moonlit Sonata Very interesting... now you have me guessing archers. I am thinking of someone like Houyi... There are a lot of archers :P

Now that the event is over though, I have a few questions about technical things for future reference.

So, when I started, I was operating under the rough impression that a Hero with C rank agility would have a very limited ability to do things like dodge or deflect arrows with their weapon. This seems to be a game for Servants with B rank agility and up, since Mordred finds deflecting Chiron's arrows tricky.

When you put down that it was a super speed arrow even by Servant Standards, I figured that dodging or deflecting it was entirely out of the question, especially since it was also a surprise attack at a very opportune time for the sniper to strike.

Anyway, then you put down that Rostam would have been wise to try and dodge. Was this actually meant as an option for him? I sort of figured at the time that I would be god modding if I put down that he had dodged, or partially dodged a superspeed arrow.

Fate/Empty Providence

@DrowsyPangolin
Ah, thank you!

Fate/Empty Providence

sorry I took so long. I had to think about how I would handle this. There are a lot of things this whole arrow event lines up with really well, and it took me a while to decide how he would react.

Fate/Empty Providence

Rostam

Back Yard, Abandoned House

---

For a brief moment as the shining dart penetrated him Rostam's eyes shot open, his face twisting in pain, drained of color as agony and pure astonishment mixed together on his face. His mighty frame trembled and he let out a short barking cry of pain, as one who tries to scream, but finds his breath to short to do so.

His master was saying something, but he did not hear. Healing magic began to wash over him, but he did not notice. All his attention was riveted to the house from where the unexpected bolt had come. For a moment he looked completely bewildered.

Then he burst out laughing.

It started as a small strangled chuckle, and then increased until he was laughing freely and uncontrollably. It was not a laugh of amusement, or derision such as were common to powerful men, but a laugh of joy. The laugh of someone who is experiencing a moment of pure and simple happiness. Blood poured from his mouth, staining his beard, while tears ran from his eyes in rivers. He lifted his arms clumsily, trying to wipe his face, and then spat out blood, only to begin laughing again helplessly.

Around him Prana surged briefly, and, with some effort, he managed to choke out the word "R-Rakhsh!" in between his laughter.

Beside him an immense horse, larger even than he was, appeared in a swirl of white. If Rostam was a giant, then this noble beast was a giant among giants. A horse, 11 or 12 feet tall that looked larger and heavier than an elephant. Despite its size and magnificence, somehow the most notable thing about it was the look of nearly human intelligence in its face.

With a herculean effort, Rostam rose unsteadily to his feet and mounted the mighty beast, his chuckling reverting to gasps of pain for a moment before resuming.

"R-Rakhsh! Charge! Ha-hahaha- ah oh!- ahahaha! The enemy is there! Trample that house to pieces! Ahh! Ahahaaha!"

The horse shot its rider a glance over its shoulder that an outside observer might have sworn was exasperation, and then began riding in the opposite direction. With a lightning quick motion the horse snapped its head forward snakelike, and caught Lorelei Baggett around the waste in its massive teeth as it passed her. Had it finished its bite the beast would have clipped her in half at the waist, but with remarkable restrain it instead simply held her firmly in its jaws, her head and upper body locked within its cavernous mouth.

Then it thundered away, the ground shakeing beneath the tread of its hooves as it ran faster than the wind, leaping over houses and bounding through yards at a pace that even a Servant would have found incredible.

"Wait! Rakhsh! Haaaa- ahh- ha! Where are you going? Turn around! We must charge! No! Hahahahah! Wait! Go back you faithless animal! Dont you understand! Hahaah!"

Between a bleeding tiger striped giant swaying painfully in the saddle and laughing like a madman, a horse larger than an elephant, and the lower body of a young girl sticking out of its mouth, any potential lookers on would have had quite the shock.

---

Somewhere in Persia, around 500 BC

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Magnificent he was, the greatest of heroes. They said he had bathed in the fountain of immortality, and thus become invincible. With his diamond headed arrows of light there was no armor, no hide of dragons which could stand against him. Wielding his bow with the skill of the gods the mighty one unleashed a hail of shining darts against his adversary, pincushioning his target.

Rostam returned fire, drawing and loosing his great bow with equal skill, yet one by one his arrows snapped harmlessly against the targets skin.

Rostam could only cast away his bow and charge forward, bellowing like a bull as he tried to bring his mighty hammer down on the skull of this man, this warrior whose powers rivaled his own. Never before had his dragon skin been pierced by human hands, or his own arrows failed against human skin, but against this bowman he had at last met his superior.

He pushed forward, screaming in rage as the diamond tipped arrows buried themselves in his ribs, arms, legs and neck. It was the first time that another human had ever threatened his life, had challenged his standing as the mightiest in the land with any hope of success, and he found that he hated this upstart.

The bowman had not retreated at his approach, had not fallen back an inch before the rapid advance of the champion, and despite his injuries Rostam now saw victory before him. If he could but close the space between them, he would end this intolerable fool with a single blow.

Another arrow sunk into his chest, and then he was within grips of his enemy, his mace arcing through the air to reduce this man to a bloody paste.

The mace of Sam, the crushing club of heroes which had reduced demons and monsters to atoms, struck the head of Esfandiyār and rebounded harmlessly, as if it weighed no more than a twig.

Then the hero Esfandiyār threw away his bow, drawing his sword in a flash. Rostam found himself fighting for his life. It did not matter how hard, or how many times he struck. Against this man a hail of blows that would have slain the Demon King Arzang Div ten times over fell harmlessly.

It had been the Simurgh in the end that resolved the conflict in his favor. Nothing more.

The arrow, shafted with tamarisk, fletched with the feathers of the Divine Griffin flew straight and true from Rostam's bow, takeing the beautiful Esfandiyār through the eye, and snatching away his life. Against the arrow of the Simurgh even one who had bathed in the fountain of immortality could not be saved.

The moment he did so his hatred evaporated, and he saw the peerless nobility of the one who now lay stretched out on the sands in death. He had slain him, the one man on earth who he might have called an equal, through a cheap trick. Kneeling over the body of Esfandiyār, Rostam had wept as long and loudly as the man's own followers.

---

Present day, leaving the abandoned house

---

Now again Rostam saw the shining arrow of light streaking towards him. Felt it pierce his flesh, and knew instinctively that it was fatal.

How strange it was that within a few moments of his summoning his very deepest wish would be granted without having to lift a finger. And so he laughed with boundless joy.

---

Alex Bradan

The Scuttle, docked in the Fuyuki harbor.

---

"So tell me, my Master, who exactly are you, and what would make you worthy of being my master?"

Alex looked at his newest familiar with a discontented expression. He had chosen to give him a crooked answer, turning it back on him instead. Well, that was fine for now he guessed. If nothing else he could at least rely on his cards to give him a rough idea of the man's character when he next had time to read them. Still though, already he could see that this was a lot less like interacting with a spirit, and more like a simple exchange between to humans, regardless of how much prana this 'man' seemed to be pissing out of every pore in his body.

I'm Alex aren't I. He said simply. I'm low on cash and time, so geting a relic was out of the question. This is my boat. I summoned you. Your history 's important because your famous, and that gives you superpowers or something. I don't get extra magic for being a celebrity, so mine is pointless. I want the Grail and I'm willing to get myself killed, or sink my trawler to the bottom over it. If you don't like me, write a complaint and I'll consider giving you a bonus at the end of the month, a favor for a valued employee."

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@Holy Grail @Cu Chulainn @Moonlit Sonata