[center][h1]Kilian[/h1][/center]

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Kilian had not been in the country nearly as long as he would have liked. Granted, a part of him would rather not have bothered with this entire song and dance but the call of the command seal was not lightly ignored. If it was a proper, old Grail War, the clamor would have been even more obvious, more driven, far more political maneuvering between those who wanted power and those who, by the seemingly fickle nature of the Grail, were selected to stand as Masters for the conflict. Master, a humble title in the face of it, but one that held a dangerous mixture of independent action and intense self concern. Coupled with the seemingly random nature of selecting a Master of the War in normal circumstances, well, it made predicting and planning dangerous. Of course, this was no ordinary Grail War, oh no, that would have made things too, well, easy wasn't the word. Predictable, maybe, but almost nothing about this could be considered predictable.

The man mused to himself as he prepared his safehouse, at least one would assume it was a safehouse. The exact location was not pertinent for now, rather it was a rather modest, utterly unassuming looking rental property, one that had no idea to what was about to be hosted in Sako City. Kilian was dutifully reinforcing the location's warding and magical defenses, runes being employed to apply far more permanent, far less immediately noticeable effects. Each Rune hidden out of physical sight, ready to spring alive at a moment's provocation. In reality, if one were to breach the defenses and reach the innermost sanctum, by virtue of escalating defenses, they would be surprised at what they would find no doubt. But that was for an eventual deliberation, as of right now Kilian had done all he could to the property to prepare. For now, it was the waiting game for the War itself to start proper. 

Thus far everyone seemed to be playing by the old rules, something that suited Kilian fine for now. Play the game, follow the motions, watch and see if this contest was worth betting it all on. He had no promises, no certainty that this Faux Grail War would provide anything close to what he desired. His own Wish should this prove fruitful was, by many metrics, rather mundane and theoretically attainable without this whole contest. All the more reason to not play too risky, too desperate when this many pieces remained on the board, to use a boardgame analog. Of course, the Masters were only half the puzzle, as he was reminded of rather clearly when he happened to have summoned a most curious Archer indeed.

Archer, a man who, upon initial interactions, proved to be the kind of amicable Kilian was. Initial discussions had proven pleasant enough, by all accounts, and Kilian had agreed to give the Servant leave to learn the lay of the City, observe the other pairings of Master and Servants where possible, but do not engage yet if at all possible. It was too soon to strike, not when it was unclear whether or not alliances could be struck until the more powerful, more isolated duos could be removed from the board of play. He had no considerations that Archer, alone, could handle an entire Grail War on his own. But only a fool assumed that, even in a contest where there is only one victor, that the other players could not be useful in the moment, when greater threats abounded. As such, Kilian knew it was wise to depart for the Church, to formally announce his presence, and see which other Masters decided to play by the same rules. In the same bond that the other masters shared with their servants, Kilian would inform Archer of his plans.

[color=lightblue]<"Archer, I will be departing for the Church to speak with the Overseer, and get a measure of how the other Masters might play the game. Do let me know if anything interesting comes up before things begin proper.">[/color]

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[center][h1]Assassin[/h1][/center]

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[i][color=fff200]"Fuck's sake, Jekyll, why are we tottering around this worthless foreign city like a homeless lacky?"[/color][/i]

Assassin calmly walked the tourist centric parts of Sako City, humming gently to himself as he walked idly about, at least idly at first glances. He was getting a lay of this, despite his lesser half's complaints, lovely city of Sako. Knowing the layout, how things moved, how the city felt at its most basic level would show him how to maneuver safely out of sight, out of mind, even more so than he already did. It also, amusingly, distracted Hyde quite easily, too focused on complaining about being in some 'shitty foreign city', as he refused to repeat the more crass words of his lesser half. Intelligence gathering and sight seeing were easily mixed into one, and he was practically ignored even by the regular denizens of the city, flittering about on their daily lives, and even those of more import, of more consequence. 

Of more consequence... Assassin found that being summoned to a contest of War, of conflict and violence, for the sake of the Holy Grail itself quite peculiar. Jekyll knew the Arthurian legends and mythos that, eventually, surrounded the Grail itself. Then, the Holy Grail, as more Christian influence bled into the Arthurian belief. Or, so his well read outlook had been prior to his eventual demise at the hands of increasingly involuntary transformations. Or so his memory was, at any rate, he had passed when he had no more control. What happened afterword, apparently, left him a candidate of being summoned as Heroic Spirit, though the idea of an Assassin being Heroic was amusingly odd indeed. He had an innate understanding of his capabilities, of...[i]Hyde's[/i] capabilities. As much as he was loathe to admit it, and as much as Hyde was to gloat, they needed his lesser half. But Hyde alone could not accomplish this, as Jekyll was quick to remind. He was too impulsive, too eager to shed blood and engage in the base vulgarities that he had been created to satisfy to begin with, things that a gentleman like Jekyll could never submit to. 

[color=8dc73f][i]"Be silent Hyde, if you would for once. You will have your cruel pleasures before long, I fear, on foes more than your equal, and quite certainly your better. We are Servant first, we answer to our Master before anything else."[/i][/color]

The Master that summoned them, a curious but well mannered woman of Far Eastern descent. On the surface of it, quite well mannered and reserved, qualities any woman could strive for. But Jekyll thought he recognized something behind the urbane, something that struck too close to home, but he spoke not on the matter. If it came up, he would council her to the best of his humble abilities. Especially given Hyde was going to be of no help what so ever in the regard. Fortunately, all the trappings of utterly calm, ordinary city life had left the lesser half so bored to tears that he couldn't be bothered to act up for now. A small relief, though the twinge of disdain at the thought reminded them both that, even in their thoughts, the out of power half still listened, and was around. The Master herself reached out, through an intrinsic link shared between the two during the duration of this Grail War, and answered in a tone both pleasant and kind, the natural way of Jekyll and a clear indication he retained a steady hand of control for the moment.

[color=8dc73f]<"As you wish Master, you will be first to know if anything of note arises. A shame to depart such a lovely district so soon, but alas.">[/color]

Assassin would gently alter his path, diverting off the main path through Sako he had been wandering on, aiming towards the route to the Church. He would play the role of a sight seeing tourist, his innate properties as an Assassin and as Jekyll making that ever easier, keeping a careful, discreet eye on the path of the Church, seeming to meander back and forth, moving towards the Church in a measured manner. Hyde's displeasure was a near constant presence in the back of Jekyll's mind currently, but the presence of so much soothing, calming energy that such a place would bring, well, was a tonic against the madness, temporary as it was. Ensuring the route was safe for his Master, he would await her arrival and report anything unusual that might appear along the way at such a time.