FujiwaraPhoenix

Fate/esoterica

Astrid Kim

Once her Servant had relaxed and responded in turn, Astrid nodded and quietly put the spear in her hands away. There was a bit of silent brooding about the idea of 'bringing honor to one's family' being taken as the reason for why she was here, but in this case it was probably better not to debate too much about it. Despite being a Servant, after all, the Lancer in front of her was once (and still probably was) her mother's superior, in all senses of the word.

Before she could respond to the idea of 'beginning', however, the sight of Lancer casually casting rune magic in the air caused Astrid to pause and stare. The words were familiar to her, of course, but there had been no indication that she could perform such spells without a medium over the course of her upbringing.

Or maybe that was because her mother never taught her as much...?

"Beginning... Well, that seems logical enough," she responded, watching as something burning fell to the ground. "Give me a moment to clean up the boundary and we can leave. I'm more curious as to what you mean by 'invitation', but I'm assuming it has something to do with whatever you just killed over there."

@KoL

Archer

The response from his Master caused Archer to nod in turn, and after a bit of a pause he placed the cup he was drinking from back down. Concealing the presence of a Servant was nothing too impossible, and though he was no Assassin, the old man had enough confidence that being discovered was still far from likely.

Tapping the coffin-gun on the wall twice, the Archer watched silently as it dematerialized before he moved to pick up his own outfit—an overcoat and a trilby—and put them on in turn. Leaving his Master to wander about unprotected would be the height of folly, after all.

"Very well. If you wish to explore this backwater town, then I shall follow. Perhaps there might be something of interest in the meantime," he remarked, spinning his cane casually in the air before planting it on the ground. "I, myself, am not particularly accustomed to how the American underworld works, but there is no better time than the present to find out."

@King Cosmos

Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

Once Tyaethe had managed to apprehend the drider and remove the golem from their path, Tiral let out a bit of a sigh and crossed his arms. Their opponent had been carried over to the Captain like one might a sack of flour, and given her current position, the likelihood of her actually pulling any surprise attacks was almost nonexistent. That didn't mean that he was simply going to let his guard down, though.

The girl's vehement denial of what had transpired caused the mage-knight to stare silently, a mix of disbelief and irritation clear on his face. The battlefield was no place for naivety or stupidity, and it was clear to see that one or the other was clearly in play.

"There was no such—" he began to say before the person they had been seeking finally made their way out of the shadows. Without missing a beat, Tiral gripped the dagger in his hand and began to prepare a counter-spell. On the off-chance that another attempt was made for the Captain's life—or any of theirs, for that matter—he would be ready.

"For some reason, I doubt that simple testimony would be reliable after all of the subterfuge and assassination attempts that have occurred today. Call it intuition," he remarked, staring coldly at the woman looking down on the group.

Fate/Transcendent Paradigm—Take 3 (Closed)

Kumozaki Keisuke

Once Tomoe had called his attention towards the new Berserker, Keisuke stood by and listened silently to the latter's words. The obsession that the newcomer—Atalanta—had with protecting children was a bit odd, but given that her current class was 'Berserker' the Enforcer decided to give that a pass. It wasn't like the goal wasn't noble, but given that she was a Berserker it was mildly difficult for him to try and figure out what might constitute as 'not seeking to bring harm to children' given the unpredictable nature of what might be to come.

Assuming, of course, that they came out of this ordeal and if she decided to follow them back (if she could).

"Yes, I understand. Atalanta, we would gladly accept—" he began to say in response before Nero promptly stole the stage and began to speak at length to the Berserker. With an awkward cough, Keisuke took a few steps back before noticing the other Caster requesting praise. Though it was true that she had done well in handling the Valkyries inside of Nero's Noble Phantasm, the fact that she had also spent a good amount of time cowering was also worth considering.

"A-ah... Yeah. Sure. You did your best, huh?" he asked, a smile half-full of pity on his face as he patted her on the head.

---

It didn't take long for the combined efforts of Siegfried, Ortlinde, and the other conscious Valkyries to transport the wounded back to the town, and the addition of Atalanta to their ranks meant that tracking Fenrir down became fairly straightforward. The wall of ice had taken a bit of effort to break through simply because of how densely packed the magical energy inside of it was, but eventually the structure caved and allowed them to pass through—Keisuke, of course, remained worried about that as they continued moving throughout the night. The Archer and two Sabers at his sides continued to discuss a strategy for taking down the massive wolf, and in the end they had developed a rudimentary plan to deal with the wolf who ate the Sun.

The plan of attack was relatively straightforward—lead with a ranged assault upon their enemy to distract it, then send those more suited to close quarters combat in to handle both the corrupted Brynhildr and the giant wolf in two separate teams. The rest, they would play by ear.

It wasn't long before the Berserker had led them to the gaping maw of a cavern that descended into the earth, with fresh tracks from the giant wolf they were tracking still visible under the moonlit sky.

Tomoe Gozen

With their stratagems laid out, Tomoe silently nodded as the group collectively entered the cavern. The light from the other Valkyries' weapons and the flames from her bow were enough to make sure that their descent downwards wasn't prone to sneak attacks, but after a certain point the unnatural red glow from the cavern walls was enough to light their way down instead.

Once they arrived at the bottom of the pit, though, it expanded into more of a subterranean arena that well and beyond dwarfed what any of them had expected. In the center, just barely visible to Keisuke, was a stream of some unearthly black liquid coalescing into a deeper chasm; with it, of course, was the great wolf Fenrir that they had been chasing and the wounded and now-unconscious Brynhildr being submerged inside whatever it was that was gathering in the center.

"It doesn't seem to have noticed us yet," Tomoe stated, drawing back the bowstring on her weapon and preparing an arrow. "Let us end this hunt and slay this beast, once and for all."

There was a moment of silence as the Archer drew the arrow back further, and the Valkyries with them slowly rose into the air as they raised their spears one by one in preparation for the signal.

When Tomoe's arrow was loosed, the rest of the blindingly bright weapons followed. With a snap of its head, Fenrir let out an unearthly howl that seemed the shake the entire cavern before loosing a variety of beasts from that very same pool of liquid at them.

"The rest of you, go strike down that youkai! We shall hold off the rest here!" she declared, loosing arrow after arrow at the oncoming horde of shadowy enemies.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

Fate/esoterica

Astrid Kim

Once the half-Valkyrie managed to snap herself back to her senses instead of accidentally blurting out more embarassing nouns at the Servant in front of her, she took a deep breath and righted herself. She had never seen the woman in front of her before, but her mother gave off the same sort of atmosphere, if only weaker. In other words, the one she had brought forth was another Valkyrie, which... All things considered, was something that she should have expected.

"Ah... Right. Mother had mentioned something along those lines..." she mumbled sheepishly before producing the replica weapon from her clothing. "Though if you had to ask about your reason for being called, I believe that's less your fault and more of mine. Honestly, I am only here at the behest of my mother, who insisted that I come to find 'brave warriors' or something to that degree. I'm not entirely sure how any of this functions, but... That is a quick summary. If you want to speak with her, I would be happy to try and set somethi--are you all right?"

Cutting off her dialogue midway through, Astrid stepped forward with a worried look on her face. Even if a Servant was a supernatural being whose existence defied expectation, a universal sign of pain like that wasn't anything to scoff at.

@KoL

Archer

An old man, equally dapper in appearance despite his own greying hair and aging looks, let out a soft chuckle before taking a sip of his tea. There was a brief pause before he answered, but there was a devilish grin on his face as he spoke.

"Ah, but Master, we have the element of surprise on our side so long as we stick to the darkness," he stated, picking up his cane and tapping it against the large coffin-esque weapon leaning against the wall. "Nobody would be able to grasp my true identity based off of my attacks alone--after all, even you had misgivings about who I was when I was called forth. But revealing my weapon once would give away information to our enemies, and that would most certainly lead to further conflicts where we bleed away any secrecy we may jave held otherwise. Masquerading as a pair of old dandies on a trip may give us far more leeway in scouting our opposition than attempting to draw first blood, would it not?"

With that said, the Archer took another sip from his cup, savoring the aroma and deep taste of the drink in front of him before lettig out a deep sigh.

"Let the children run themselves ragged as the adults handle the dirty work. That is how the world runs, am I correct?"

@King Cosmos

Fate/esoterica

Astrid Kim

The flight to Redrock had, surprisingly enough, gone without incident. It was a miracle to the woman who, now lying prone on her bed in the middle of her hotel room, though that something terrifying would happen en route, and that she would somehow accidentally end up among the deceased before any of this had begun. There were enough movies and shows that she knew of the idea of a 'battle royale', even putting aside those games that her clients' children found all the rage these days, but with that knowledge had also come some rather lofty expectations.

"Aaah... It hasn't even been a day since I've arrived and the jet lag is draining me of all my willpower..." she moaned to herself, fumbling to pull out the few pieces of paper that her mother had (hastily) written on before her flight. It was a summary of the ritual that was to be used for the sake of summoning a Servant to fight alongside, one that Astrid honestly was still trying to figure out. She couldn't argue about the supernatural, though; after all, her body was proof enough that it did exist.

After a few minutes of contemplating sleep, Astrid finally managed to push herself off of the bed and ordering a cup of coffee from room service. It was late, after all, and trying to find a chain coffee store open at this time of night was, frankly put, a dumb idea.

---

With a warm paper cup of coffee now in hand, Astrid silently slipped out of the hotel and made her way off to some deserted area in the forest nearby. There was a brief hesitation as she reached a clearing, but that was soon brushed out of mine as the woman slowly began to pace around, dropping stones engraved with runes around the perimeter. Each shone with an otherwordly light as she moved to the center and, with a complicated expression, began to copy the circle her mother described onto the earth below.

With that settled, Astrid began to recite the chant written out for her, slowly causing the mana in the air to twist and bend around her. All at once, the half-Valkyrie felt a familiar presence in front of her, though it was quite distinct from what she knew. She faltered for a moment, worried about what the end result could be, before simply deciding to continue; she had quite literally shed blood to complete this, after all.

As the summoning finished, though, what stood before Astrid was a white-haired woman wielding a lance, and her response at this point was almost instinctual in nature.

"E-elder sister? No, aunt? Wait, what am I saying?!"

@KoL

Fate/esoterica

• Name: Astrid Kim
• Age: 28
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "I'm aware that I look a little young, but that does not change much of anything. I would recommend you not underestimate me."
• Personality: Given her lineage, one might expect Astrid to be constantly seeking for battle, but that is far from the case; while she is somewhat quiet around strangers, her job as a translator has given her reason to be more curious and adventurous, often taking chances to explore the world and travel abroad whenever she is able. She is polite and professional, even outside of her job, but her guise slackens when among friends and allies, and she becomes a bit more playful (though still somewhat stoic) when around them.
  To enemies, though, Astrid shows no hesitation nor remorse in cutting someone down, be it verbally or physically. As she does have the morals of a modern era human, the latter is less oft used, but a few altercations in the past with less savory folks have led to more than a few broken bones in self-defense.
• Skills: Astrid is well-versed in the nuances of spearplay and taekwondo, having been instructed in both from a young age by both of her parents, and even without the influence of any sort of magecraft, she is able to strike, defend, and counterattack far faster than the average human is able to. Aside from combat, though, Astrid is versed in multiple languages (English, Danish, Hangul, Mandarin, and Japanese) and is fluent in each of them. Besides that, though, she can sing—quite well, in fact, though that is something more reserved for the karaoke room.
• Abilities: As the child of a Valkyrie and a human, Astrid has inherited qualities from the former that would make even some modern magi balk and hunt her down, should they be known. First among them, of course, are the wings—while they do not appear on her person on a day to day basis, Astrid can summon her own at will and use them to fly about. These may only last a limited amount of time per day (an hour or two on average), but consume no mana to use and may regenerate when not in use. While they are active, Astrid's eyes turn red to signal their activation.
  Beyond that, though, Astrid has knowledge of primeval runes and how to activate them. The runes themselves are rather multipurpose, able to stun, disarm, defend, or attack depending on the situation; the downside, of course, is that she must prepare any that she wishes to use well in advance of any fights.
• Brief Backstory: The child of a Korean soldier and a Valkyrie that wandered the Earth long past the Age of Gods, Astrid was brought up in a very militant household. Though not as warlike as her mother might have hoped, the half-valkyrie still showed considerable physical prowess, likely in part due to her own heritage, and thus was put through a rigorous training regimen from a young age. Despite her own quiet personality, though, Astrid never shirked from either classes or training, and eventually the young woman ended up with a job as a translator at a major Korean firm. Even with the blood of a Valkyrie running through her veins, though, Astrid herself never sought out brave warriors as her mother once did?the pursuit of an energetic life in an era of (relative) peace was enough for her. All that was thrown out the window, though, once the Command Seals she now bore appeared on the back of her left hand.
  The summary from her mother, once she had passed on the information, was brief: this was a ritual to grant a wish, and thus would be the perfect place to find warriors worthy of entering Valhalla. The Command Seals were a sign that she, too, was a participant in this grand battle, and she would have no right to refuse.
  With no room to argue (unless she wanted to fight her mother, which in and of itself was a disaster waiting to happen), Astrid took a temporary leave of absence from her job to travel to Redrock, in hopes of at least coming out alive so she could return to a life where she didn't have to worry about blades coming at her throat like her mother had so oft sung of when she was a child.
• Assets:
  
  • Declaration of the Great God (False): A degraded copy of a degraded copy, this is a replica of Gungnir based on the weapon that her mother owns. That being said, it does not have the same functions as the copy; rather, it functions as a weapon able to smite Demonic and Undead enemies with a much higher efficacy than other ones might, as well as being able to withstand a much higher strain from combat than what might otherwise be expected from combat; in theory, it is usable in combat as a Servant, but Astrid would never be able to do more than fight defensively against an enemy in that scenario.

Fate/esoterica

• Name: Astrid Kim
• Age: 28
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: "I'm aware that I look a little young, but that does not change much of anything. I would recommend you not underestimate me."
• Personality: Given her lineage, one might expect Astrid to be constantly seeking for battle, but that is far from the case; while she is somewhat quiet around strangers, her job as a translator has given her reason to be more curious and adventurous, often taking chances to explore the world and travel abroad whenever she is able. She is polite and professional, even outside of her job, but her guise slackens when among friends and allies, and she becomes a bit more playful (though still somewhat stoic) when around them.
  To enemies, though, Astrid shows no hesitation nor remorse in cutting someone down, be it verbally or physically. As she does have the morals of a modern era human, the latter is less oft used, but a few altercations in the past with less savory folks have led to more than a few broken bones in self-defense.
• Skills: Astrid is well-versed in the nuances of spearplay and taekwondo, having been instructed in both from a young age by both of her parents, and even without the influence of any sort of magecraft, she is able to strike, defend, and counterattack far faster than the average human is able to. Aside from combat, though, Astrid is versed in multiple languages (English, Danish, Hangul, Mandarin, and Japanese) and is fluent in each of them. Besides that, though, she can sing—quite well, in fact, though that is something more reserved for the karaoke room.
• Abilities: As the child of a Valkyrie and a human, Astrid has inherited qualities from the former that would make even some modern magi balk and hunt her down, should they be known. First among them, of course, are the wings—while they do not appear on her person on a day to day basis, Astrid can summon her own at will and use them to fly about. These may only last a limited amount of time per day (an hour or two on average), but consume no mana to use and may regenerate when not in use. While they are active, Astrid's eyes turn red to signal their activation.
  Beyond that, though, Astrid has knowledge of primeval runes and how to activate them. The runes themselves are rather multipurpose, able to stun, disarm, defend, or attack depending on the situation; the downside, of course, is that she must prepare any that she wishes to use well in advance of any fights.
• Brief Backstory: The child of a Korean soldier and a Valkyrie that wandered the Earth long past the Age of Gods, Astrid was brought up in a very militant household. Though not as warlike as her mother might have hoped, the half-valkyrie still showed considerable physical prowess, likely in part due to her own heritage, and thus was put through a rigorous training regimen from a young age. Despite her own quiet personality, though, Astrid never shirked from either classes or training, and eventually the young woman ended up with a job as a translator at a major Korean firm. Even with the blood of a Valkyrie running through her veins, though, Astrid herself never sought out brave warriors as her mother once did?the pursuit of an energetic life in an era of (relative) peace was enough for her. All that was thrown out the window, though, once the Command Seals she now bore appeared on the back of her left hand.
  The summary from her mother, once she had passed on the information, was brief: this was a ritual to grant a wish, and thus would be the perfect place to find warriors worthy of entering Valhalla. The Command Seals were a sign that she, too, was a participant in this grand battle, and she would have no right to refuse.
  With no room to argue (unless she wanted to fight her mother, which in and of itself was a disaster waiting to happen), Astrid took a temporary leave of absence from her job to travel to Redrock, in hopes of at least coming out alive so she could return to a life where she didn't have to worry about blades coming at her throat like her mother had so oft sung of when she was a child.
• Assets:
  
  • Declaration of the Great God (False): A degraded copy of a degraded copy, this is a replica of Gungnir based on the weapon that her mother owns. That being said, it does not have the same functions as the copy; rather, it functions as a weapon able to smite Demonic and Undead enemies with a much higher efficacy than other ones might, as well as being able to withstand a much higher strain from combat than what might otherwise be expected from combat; in theory, it is usable in combat as a Servant, but Astrid would never be able to do more than fight defensively against an enemy in that scenario.

Of Gods and Men—An Urban Fantasy RP

Steven Fan

As soon as everyone else present chimed in about his plan being less than ideal, Steven held his hands in front of him and took a step back. He was a lawyer, after all; things like combat strategy and mission planning weren't things that came naturally than him, so he was quick to cede to the people who did know what they were doing.

"Fine, fine, fair point. Let's go with Donovan's plan, then; seems a lot less prone to disaster than mine, anyhow," he stated, shrugging his shoulders as the issue of casualties came up. It was kind of a given that people would probably die in the midst of the operation (hopefully not on their side), but he had to admit it still had to be addressed.

"I'd rather not kill if we could help it, but if it can't be helped, then you have the all clear to take them out. That should be it for the lead-up to this whole debacle, though, so let's get this show on the road."

With a deep breath, Steven began to follow behind the detective, hoping that their team's muscle would be able to cause enough havoc to let the rest of them handle their job without discovery.

It wasn't likely, of course, but it didn't hurt to hope.

@Tominas@TheFake@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR

Fate/Transcendent Paradigm—Take 3 (Closed)

Kumozaki Keisuke

The Enforcer massaged his forehead as he listened to the explanation given to him by Siegfried, rapidly attempting to piece together a general overview of what had transpired based on that. As things were now, pursuing Fenrir past the giant wall of ice with the current party was a bit too risky; a the very least, Keisuke wanted everyone to be on the same page before diving headfirst into the fray.

"I—You—Aaagh, I can't really refute that argument..." Hildr said, sighing and shaking her head in response to Skuld's comment. "Fine, we'll work with you in dealing with that creature, but remember that if you show any sign of betrayal, we'll be the first to take you out. Are we clear?"

With a somewhat shaky truce now in place, Keisuke let out a slight sigh of relief and glanced down at the crater where the unconscious Thrud was being tended to by the Valkyrie named Ortlinde. If anything, it seemed that Arturia had done enough of a number to make her wholly unable to fight. That being said...

"She won't be awake for a while," Ortlinde stated, staring straight at Keisuke as she stood up. "Nor will the others that you have defeated, for that matter; I request that they be allowed to rest while we pursue Fenrir as a group."

After a moment of though, Keisuke turned towards Siegfried, who simply nodded and motioned towards the town.

"I shall come with you to bring those who are unconscious inside the gates. Once they are all secured, we can move out in pursuit of Fenrir; I trust this is sufficient for your cooperation?" the Saber said, to which Ortlinde simply nodded.

"That's fine by me, but I'll stay here with the rest of the group you have," Hildr remarked as Ortlinde picked up Thrud's body and began to fly towards the town's walls. "Your Archer did a number on me, but I guess I should count myself lucky that it wasn't that Saber over there that Thrud went to handle. If the circumstances were a little different and you had been born in a different era, we might've brought you to Valhalla ourselves. Could I ask for your name?"

Tomoe Gozen

Tomoe hesitated for a moment as the Servant in front of her spoke before quietly nodding and leading her back towards Keisuke. There were other Servants on hand to stop things from going south, including the 'Valkyrie' that she had been fighting up until recently, but...

"Master," she finally spoke, bringing the Enforcer's attention over to herself and the cat-eared Servant behind her. "This is the one who held off the corrupted Lancer while we were engaged in combat. She has requested to speak with you."

There was a momentary flash of stress that passed over Hildr's face once the word 'corrupted' was mentioned, but no more than that; she simply remained silent to see what was to be said.

@KoL@VitaVitaAR@Raineh Daze

Fate/esoterica

• Name: James Moriarty
• Class: Archer
• Appearance: "Leave everything to this old dandy, Master."
• Personality: Moriarty is, at first glance, an eccentric old man with a habit of self-deprecating jokes and a penchant for causing mischief. After all, while every other Servant around him is young and spry, here he is as an old man of around fifty! That being said though, Moriarty goes have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to dughter figures, and it has been proven that a little girl referring to him as 'papa' can change him from 'old man with a love for trouble' to 'doting father'.
  Or so one would believe. While that is as much a part of his personality as anything else, a Moriarty who is wholly focused on his hobby of evil is cold, calculating, and willing to sacrifice any and all things to achieve his goals. He loves evil in all forms, and will not hesitate to lead his Master down the same path should they catch his fancy.
  Which aspect he ends up gravitating more towards, of course, depends wholly on his Master.
• Stats:
  
  • Strength: C
  • Endurance: D
  • Agility: A
  • Mana: B
  • Luck: A
  • Noble Phantasm: C
• Class Skills:
  
  • Magic Resistance: D
  • Independent Action: A+
• Personal Skills:
  
  • Magic Bullet Shooter: EX
    A skill originating from the phantom Moriarty was fused with, "The Freeshooter". Moriarty's bullets, shot out from the massive coffin-gun that he uses, can not only fire the magical bullets that always hit their mark, but also a variety of missiles (which are distinctly not bullets) and other such projectiles.
  • End of the Spider's Thread: A++
    Moriarty's own knowledge of criminal underbellies and his control thereof extends itself to the manifestation of this Skill. Plans of evil, that he may or may not have involvement in, will eventually reach his ears, and he can, in turn, manipulate them in subtle ways to bring about larger, long-standing effects.
    To smear good and defile law while remaining perfectly unknown but to a select few—that is this old dandy's modus operandi.
  • Evil Charisma: A
    Having been acknowledged by the esteemed Sherlock Holmes as having connections to every criminal underbelly, this skill manifests as the ability to weave people with evil in their hearts to do as he wishes. From robbery to murder to conspiracy, all is within the realm of possiblity for the Napoleon of Crime.
• Noble Phantasm(s):
  
  • Name: The Dynamics of an Asteroid—The Ultimate Crime
  • Rank: A+
  • Type: Anti-Army, but can become Anti-City or Anti-Country if strengthened
  • Appearance: Under ordinary circumstances, this is assumed to be the coffin-gun that he uses to fight with.
  • Effects: The True Name and power of this Noble Phantasm embodies Moriarty's desire to commit the ultimate crime—so perfect in execution that nobody, not even his nemesis Sherlock Holmes, could find out the cause. While under standard restrictions, Moriarty gains the ability to fire out a massive barrage of bullets and missiles at his targets before finishing them off with a massive laser fired from the tip of his weapon.
    
    Mini-spoiler

    Beyond that, though, his Noble Phantasm, when fully invoked, has the ability to summon a massive asteroid at any location that he so chooses. It holds no special properties other than being considered an 'object that can harm Servants as well', but the destructive force that such a massive object colliding with the Earth would have is evident enough. Should Moriarty be strengthened by another outside force, this Noble Phantasm would be enough to eliminate an entire city or even country off the face of the Earth, with no trace left behind.
    Truly the 'perfect crime'.
• Alignment: Chaotic Evil
• Changes: N/A