[hider=Archer Actaeon, Companion of Artemis] [center][img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/nintendo/images/a/a6/FE_Echoes_Python.png/revision/latest?cb=20170612170728&path-prefix=en[/img][/center] [b]Class:[/b] Archer [b]Name\Title:[/b] Actaeon [i]Companion of Artemis[/i] [b]Short Bio/Synopsis:[/b] The son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, Actaeon was a Theban hero who, like Achilles, was training by the centaur Chiron. He was a skilled archer and hunter and for a time was a hunting companion of Artemis, though it was far from an equal relationship as the hunter had to swear deference to the Goddess which was enforced by ritual. One day, while out hunting with his dogs, he came across the Goddess bathing naked in a spring and was so moved by her beauty that he approached her and tried to make himself her consort. Whoever Artemis rejected Actaeon and as revenge for seeing her naked and for transgressing the hunter’s sworn deference she forbade him to speak, warning him that he would be turned into a stag should he say a word. However upon hearing his dogs approaching he called out to them and was immediately transformed; seeing his reflection in the calm waters of the spring he saw what he had become and fled, pursued by his own hunting dogs who no longer recognised him. In a bid to save himself he raised his eyes towards Mount Olympus, but the Gods did not answer his plea and he was torn to pieces by his dogs. After his death his hounds were distraught and could not be consoled under Actaeon’s former teacher Chiron created a statue in his likeness so lifelike that the hounds thought it was Actaeon. [b]Stats:[/b] • [b]STR[/b] - C • [b]END[/b] - C • [b]AGI[/b] - B+ • [b]MAN[/b] - D • [b]LCK[/b] - E • [b]NP[/b] - B [b]Class Skill:[/b] • [b]Magic Resistance C:[/b] Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals. • [b]Independent Action A:[/b] As a hunter Archer is used to acting alone, and being a Servant with low Mana requirements he is not particularly dependent upon his Master for support. With this skill it is possible to take action even without a Master. At Rank A, it is possible for a Servant to stay in the world for about a week without a Master. [b]Personal Skills: [/b] • [b]Artemis’ Curse A:[/b] For the sin of seeing the virginal Goddess naked and the transgression of breaking his sworn deference to her for daring to ask to become her consort, Artemis forbade Actaeon from speaking. This curse persists even now; if he speaks he will be turned into a stag, losing access to all of his skills, and he will be hunted down by his own hounds once more. • [b]Art of the Hunter B:[/b] Once a hunter skilled enough to be a companion of Artemis herself, Actaeon knows well the abilities required to track and stalk prey. As a result, once he had set his sights on a quarry he is able to find and follow the faint traces left behind by his target as they move through the world and gains increased speed when moving in pursuit of his prey. • [b]Eye of the Mind (False) C:[/b] Time spent hunting all manner of creatures have honed Actaeon's intuition and danger sense to a keen edge and has sharpened his eyesight to be able to spot the slightest movement of both prey and predator. [b]Noble Phantasm: [/b] • [b]Name/Title:[/b] Kynigoús tou Kataraménou Kynigoú [i]Hounds of the Cursed Hunter[/i] • [b]Rank:[/b] B • [b]Type:[/b] Anti-Army • [b]Range:[/b] N/A • [b]Maximum Number of Targets:[/b] 50 • [b]Description:[/b] The hunter Actaeon used a pack of 50 extraordinarily skilled hunting hounds, from the swift Thoos (quickfoot) to the fierce Therodamas (Savage), each trained to aid him in his hunts, such as the skilled tracker Ichnobates (Tracer) or the cunning Poemenis (shepherdess). This Noble Phantasm allows Archer to summon his hounds to join the hunt once more. Though only normal hounds in life through being sublimated as a Noble Phantasm they have become entities equivalent to Monstrous Beasts, capable of threatening even Servants when put to the hunt. [hider=Hound stats and skills] [b]STR[/b] - C [b]AGI[/b] - B [b]END[/b] - C [b]MAN[/b] - E [b]LCK[/b] - E [b]Magic Resistance D:[/b] Cancels Single-Action spells. Magic Resistance of the same degree of an amulet that rejects magical energy. [b]Independent Action E:[/b] It is possible for the hounds to continue to manifest without requiring additional mana for several hours. [b]Beastly Logic B:[/b] A combative way of thinking suitable for a beast. It's not useful for finding weak points, but the speed of thinking focusing on killing the enemy swiftly increases. [/hider] [/hider] [hider=Cleo Forsberg, Weaver of Fate] [img]https://i-h2.pinimg.com/564x/e2/b0/91/e2b091c5f407bf7fac27641a186cc534.jpg[/img] [b]Name\Title:[/b] Cleo Forsberg [i]Weaver of Fate[/i] [b]Age:[/b] 25 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Short Bio/Synopsis:[/b] The Forsberg’s are an old family from Scandinavia which can trace their lineage back to the days when Vikings still ruled that part of the world. They have a long standing reputation among practitioners of magecraft of Nordic origin for being some of the premier experts in Seidr, a style of magecraft that is less common or even tolerated compared to the more well-known runic style. They are known to the Association but are not a part of it or even on particularly good terms with them; the Forsberg’s proficiency with and occasional usage of curses to meet there goals mean that the Association has a somewhat low opinion of them. Seidr magecraft seeks communion with the spirits and, in the past, the gods themselves. The Forsberg’s use it to view the course of fate, viewing multiple intertwining futures, before holding council between their higher ranking members to determine what to do with this information, i.e. whether to intervene or leave events to play out as they will. If they decided the latter then a member, often the heir or even the current head in some situations, would be selected to take care of such things. However, over time the declining state of magecraft in the world has caused the Forsberg’s ability to change fate to wane even as continuing improvements to their crest have increased their proficiency to view the future. When news of the upcoming Holy Grail War reached them, it was decided that the current Heiress, Cleo, would be sent to participate. If she won then Cleo was to use the Grail’s wish to once again give their family the ability to weave the threads of fate as they used to at their peak. [b]Magecraft:[/b] The core of her family’s magecraft, built up over centuries and passed down through their crest which Cleo now possesses, is Seidr. Seidr is a form of Norse shamanism and divination used to discern and even guide the course of fate, working within its structure to bring about change. It is mostly focused on forging connections with spirits in order to carry out a variety of tasks such as viewing the future or creating blessings or curses. With experience practitioners of Seidr can use various rituals to enter an ecstatic trance and interact with the world of spirits in a more direct manner to produce greater effects; however this leaves the user completely defenceless. As Seidr magecraft primarily deals with spirits, as well as the rituals and divinations that are their specialty, the Forsbergs are also skilled at more general shamanistic practices such as contracting, binding, modifying, fortifying and processing spirits. This also includes the creation of familiars. It should also go without saying that Cleo has a good grasp of the general magecrafts as taught to her by her family before she even began to learn the secrets of Seidr and passed to her through her family’s magic crest. [b]Mystic Codes:[/b] • [b]Ceremonial Distaff[/b] – A distaff is a tool used for spinning fibres, a short staff around which fibres are wrapped to keep them separate, which also has a connection to Seidr magic and its usage in “spinning” the threads of fate. The distaff Cleo has in a mystic code passed down in her family for generations, even centuries, which has the effect of easing her passage into the world of spirits and strengthening her connection with it, thereby allowing her to enter a trance quicker as well as making the effects of her magecraft stronger. It is a three feet long staff made of wood with a rounded knob at the tip; it is decorated in brass and the wood shows signs of once having been painted, but any colour it once had has faded with time. • [b]Necklace of Protection[/b] – A charm necklace holding a number of pendants each carved with a different rune, the combined effects of which grant Cleo protection from bewitchment and curses of rank D or lower. [b]Misc/Other/Trivia:[/b] • The Forsberg magical crest is very old by most standards, first created over 900 years ago • Cleo holds a dual affinity for Earth and Water and an Origin of Fate • Her command seal has the appearance of three crossed staves [b]Special Boon:[/b] [i]Superior Magical Skills – Seidr Shamanism[/i] As some who communes with spirits on a near daily basis, who has contracted, bound and dealt with spirits of all kinds thousands of times within her lifetime, someone who is backed by the knowledge and teachings of nearly a millennium’s worth of shamans and Seidr witches, the proficiency and effectiveness of Cleo’s shamanistic abilities should not be underestimated. Especially not in a war of familiars such as this. For what are Servants after all, if not another form of spirit? [/hider]