FujiwaraPhoenix

Fate/Eternum

@Mystic Writer: Hm...

Well, you can parse a lot of the details from reading the IC, but if you don't want to... Well, there's a few off the top of my head.

-Class is out for a week or so right now in-RP; spring break. We're on the Saturday after it started (the RP kicked off on a Friday).
-I mentioned that fluency in one of English/Chinese/Japanese is mandatory in the city in the OP, I think?
-Gil's got money. The Clock Tower can't Sealing Designation his Master because of its existence. There's more secrets than you see at first glance.
-True Names aren't hidden by pretty much any given Servant because of how the city works. In fact, it's at the point where there have been interviews and stuff done. Historians are foaming at the mouth at this point.
-Fusang being a public thing can be partially blamed on the Animuspheres, too, since Chaldea exists in this timeline. That being said, while Olga is alive, Mashu... Notably isn't.

I don't remember if there's anything else that comes to mind immediately, but... Well, that's a rough overview for now.

The Nameless City — Invite Only!

Zeke von Genbu

"Oh, powered by music, huh? That's an interesting prospect, to be sure, but I'd imagine it'd be difficult to fight underwater. Never heard of this 'karaoke machine', though so—"

"Zeke, Hibiki's already gone on ahead."

There was a brief pause as Zeke stood there, and there was a momentary silence between the Driver and his blade before Zeke ran over to the edge of their elevated platform and looked down at Hibiki.

"Wow, she really wastes no time, huh? C'mon, Pandy; that crowd looks rowdy, and I'm not sure if we can settle out differences like civil folk," he remarked, quickly jumping down from the platform he was on and landing on the next.

He would have jumped down to ground level immediately after, had the one he jumped on not immediately given way under his feet and cause him to freefall twice the distance he had intended to. Tumbling headfirst onto the pavement, Zeke groaned as he pushed himself off the ground and dusted himself off. It was definitely not the worst fall that he had been through, but the injuries weren't something that he had to worry all too much about at this point.

"Ah... That could've gone better..." he complained, cracking his neck before turning to look at Hibiki (who, apparently, had failed in negotiations outright). There was a frown on the Driver's face as he looked at the people who made up the mob, but they looked human enough, and given that they could speak in a manner that he could understand, he wasn't particularly inclined to lethally injure them like he had the crow from earlier.

"Pandy, tag out!" he shouted to the Blade (who had avoided the worst of it by not jumping down with him) before throwing his sword into the air. "Ursula! I'm counting on you!"

There was a brief flash as Zeke's sword disappeared, only to be replaced by a pair of gauntlets; likewise, Pandoria seemed to disappear, only to be replaced by a small, white-haired girl riding on the shoulders of a polar bear.

"Sorry about the sudden call over, but this job needs a little less cutting force!" he apologized as he ran towards the nearest enemy and threw a straight punch into their abdomen. "So, on a scale of one to 'absolutely insane', how bad do you think these guys are? Because I'm pretty sure they're not going to help us find that girl on the screen from earlier—not at this rate!"

@RolePlayerRoxas@Raineh Daze

---

---

The journal itself provided scattered information on the Ancestor's deeds, but there were more than just simple diary entries laying about within the journal itself. A crude map, hastily scrawled on one of the pages, marked four different locations within the vicinity of the estate that the four people present found themselves on.

The first seemed to be the entrance to what seemed like an old, abandoned sewer system (or something of the sort) labeled 'Warrens'; the second, an overgrown forest labeled 'Weald'; the third, a picture of a ruined old stone tower labeled 'Ruins'; the fourth, a small cavern by the bottom of the cliff within the ocean labeled 'Cove'.

The top of the cliff in question was conspicuously missing, but a brief look around the Hamlet would provide the last piece of information to map. There, in the far-off distance, stood a once-grand manor, visible even from this distance, now reduced to no more than crumbling stone and rotting wood.

@VitaVitaAR@Crusader Lord@Rune_Alchemist@KoL

Chronicles of a Lost War

Byron Cauna

The beastman glanced at Malachi as the older man began to panic and simply let out a sigh. He was not wholly dismissive of the half-elf's panic; no, there was some part of him that was also gnawing away at the back of his mind, asking if this was really the right decision. But all the young man could do now was rationalize that decision—that, if he had stayed behind, he might have been made an example of, and his family might have followed suit.

But it was definitely too late for any regrets now, after the deed had been done.

Aerarius' own comments were a sound suggestion to Byron, and he nodded in agreement. Had the old sage been in his usual condition, it might have proven just as well to pose as an old hermit and his disciple, emerging from the mountains after years of ascetic training. Something to that degree might have been plausible, and it would mean that he wouldn't be wandering into town without direct support.

"That makes enough sense. I guess we should count it a blessing that there weren't any assassins to try and assassinate us the second we stepped out," he remarked, nodding his head in agreement. "While I'd be a bit more willing to scout ahead, the old man down there doesn't seem to want to wait. I'm going to follow and make sure they don't cause too much of a panic; I'll regroup with you in a bit."

Opting to slide down the mountainside to catch up with the others as they moved off towards the town, Byron quickly made his way to the front of the group before deciding to start walking again.

"I'll take point here; as Aerarius pointed out before I got here, everyone else stands out a bit too much for people who just popped out of nowhere," he said, making sure to not fall behind the half-elf in doing so. "I'm going to see if we need to con or bribe our way in first, though given how the place looked, I'm not sure how necessary that will be."

---

The town itself seemed to have the most basic of fortifications at first glance, which caused Byron to frown in mild concern as he pressed forward ahead of the group. There were a pair of guards at the gate closest to them, which itself seemed to lead to a worn dirt path into the forest. It was certainly not the most impressive display of military might, given that their equipment seemed vastly inferior to anything that he had seen even among the rank-and-file soldiers of the Alliance, but at the very least it meant that they might be easier to convince without further issue.

As soon as he stepped onto the path and began walking towards the gate, though, the two guards—one male, one female, upon closer inspection—seemed to straighten their backs and stood at attention.

"Welcome to the town of Lefine!" the man said, almost as if reciting from a script. "Are you and your... Er... Companions over there... Adventurers, by any chance?"

"Adventurers? What sort of asinine response—actually, no, this is something I can use."

"Mmm... I guess you could call us something like that? We're more freelancers, though, and we kind of... Got lost a while ago. Lefine, was it? Do you mind if we enter?"

"Well, the entry tax is five copper per person if you're adventurers or merchants, but since you don't have IDs, it should be forty copper for the four of you," the girl responded. There was a brief pause (and a bit of wide-eyed staring) as Byron pulled out a single silver coin from his pouch and handed it off to the female guard.

"I really don't feel like waiting any longer to explore this fine place, so you two can keep the change," he said, leaving the slack-jawed guards behind as he walked back to the group. Their reaction, of course, was not lost on him, but it was probably better that he had paid a silver coin rather than fishing for nonexistent copper pieces instead.

All things considered, it would probably come back to bite him later—doubly so given that neither of the guards were paying as much attention to the other people with him as they were the coin that they had been handed. Gauging their reactions as ones of confusion and mild worry, Byron took the chance to move ahead and push his luck a little bit.

"Well, I assume there are no problems here, correct? Or are my companions unwelcome here?"

"Oh, no, nothing of the sort, good sir!" the man said, the arm holding his spear visibly shaking as he spoke.

"Good sir? I don't like the sound of that."

"Most certainly not! P-please, by all means, explore our humble home to your heart's content!" the girl followed, with both soldiers now moving to the side to allow them to pass.

With a somewhat forced smile, Byron simply nodded and walked forward, the rest of the group following close behind.

"Okay, that worked, but I'm not sure if I like the outcome. You three should probably split up and try to gather some more information; let's meet at the town square over there once you're done."

@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@Lugubrious@Crimson Paladin@VitaVitaAR

Chronicles of a Lost War

Byron Cauna

With the preliminary scouting done, Byron turned towards the (considerably younger) sage and nodded before starting down the cavern. There was no desire on part of the young man to watch what was essentially an old geezer in a young girl's body (implications be damned) figure out a change of clothing, and he had as much a desire as the others to see how the world had changed in the time he had been gone.

"If you want a light, I'd be happy to provide," he remarked in response to the automaton's request, spinning his left hand in the air as he created a glowing orb of light right above it. "We'll be going on ahead, then; I just hope there isn't an ambush waiting for us outside."

Leading the way forward, Byron turned his head towards Malachi and nodded in assent. If the spell had been a failure, then there would at least be a few guards standing by, or possibly some other sign that people had been there in the few hours' time that he felt like he had been asleep. But his nose did not lie, and the scent of life was definitely nonexistent all the way down here.

"I am fairly certain that the spell itself worked, but that only brings up further questions. For example, what became of those that remained in the Alliance after we were sealed away here? For the leaders, death is a certainty, but the people..."

There was a tinge of worry in the young man's voice as he trailed off, but Byron soon shook his head, as if to brush away the worries in his mind.

"No, there's no way they simply killed everyone inside. There would be no point in a conquest without people to rule over, after all. But... Thirty years, they said? My siblings must be older than I am by now," he remarked, a halfhearted smile on his face as the group neared the stairwell out of the cavern. The light filtering in through the exit made his own unnecessary, and the spell was thus dispelled as he began to climb out.

Exiting that long passage would reward them with the sight of a land that had long since been free of war, with their vantage point providing a clear view of the plains and a forest closer to the base of the mountain. The blue sky and bright sun caused the beastman to pause for a moment as his eyes adjusted, but the landscape that he had returned to was tranquil, if not mostly unfamiliar to him. That went double, of course, for the small village that could he could barely make out by the edge of the river that flowed down from the mountain and through the aforementioned plain. As much of a breath of fresh air that the view in front of him was, though, they still had a job to do.

"You know, I don't recall a forest being here when we went in..." Byron said, a hint of unease in his voice as he glanced behind him to make sure that the others were close behind. "And you'd think that there would be someone waiting here to get us up to date on what had happened in the last few years. Should we assume the worst-case scenario?"

@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@Lugubrious@Crimson Paladin@VitaVitaAR

Chronicles of a Lost War

Byron Cauna

Almost as if in response to his own remarks, one of the coffins (after a bit of 'encouragement' from the one inside) slid open to reveal the demigod lying inside. There was but a slight smirk on Byron's face as he watched her get up and look at him, as the young man was well aware that all of those present were many decades his senior, at minimum. If anything, though, this meant that his own awakening was both not a fluke and not the only success. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

One by one, the others woke up, and Byron gave each a passing nod—save Aerarius, whose own awakening was immediately proceeded by a flying plate of stone barely missing the beastman's body by a few inches. He had moved out of the way the second it had gone flying, of course, and the lid crashing into the wall opposite the coffin and shattering apart caused Byron to give a nervous laugh in return.

"Might want to dial the strength down a bit, buddy," he remarked, crossing his arms as he looked at the rest of the room. Though he had failed to process it at first, the distinct lack of one old man and the existence of a small girl in his place had finally caught up to him, and Byron could only hold back a snicker. It seemed that the others were handling the job of mocking the sage, which left him to walk up to the half-elf who was already getting ready to leave.

"One hell of a thing to wake up to, huh?" he asked, quietly placing his hand on the magic circle in front of the double doors blocking their exit. With a deep breath, Byron activated the magic therein, causing each of the coffins (opened as they now were) to light up. A few moments later, though, and that light had disappeared; in exchange, the doors slowly swung open, revealing the long cavern that they had walked down to get here in the first place. It seemed completely untouched, which was probably a good thing; given that they were tucked away in a mountain, there probably wasn't much else that they could hope for.

"Doesn't seem like there's even been any signs of life down here for the past few decades, at least; we should be in the clear."

@Rune_Alchemist@Raineh Daze@Lugubrious@Crimson Paladin@VitaVitaAR

Chronicles of a Lost War

@Raineh Daze: Good to go.

That should be everyone, then? Yeah.

Chronicles of a Lost War

Byron Cauna

"If we are to fall here, then you must live on. I have the utmost faith that you should carry on our legacy, should it all be destroyed by the time you awaken."

The last words of the leader of the Tiarden Alliance were still stuck in Byron's mind as he watched the doors to the chamber close. The humming of the room itself—a byproduct of the thousands of layered magical circles starting up—was somewhat unnerving, but at this point it was far too late to have second thoughts. All of the 'heroes'—himself included—had already been placed into their own stone coffin. The structure he found himself in, etched from top to bottom in complex markings both inside and out, soon began to glow with a dim white light as the lid slowly closed over him.

With one last sigh, the beastfolk closed his eyes and waited. At this point, there was nothing left to do but that, anyhow.

---

Waking up from being sealed away felt like waking up from a short nap to Byron, if anything. The beastfolk had expected something as dramatic as being 'sealed away for the future' to have had a more substantial impact on his body, but given how he felt exactly the same as he had when the lid to the coffin had been closed, well...

Needless to say, it was a tad underwhelming.

"Well, at least those old men didn't skimp on what it took to make this thing work, huh?" he asked himself, slowly shifting his arms as he pushed the stone block on top of him. It took a few moments for it to budge, but once it opened even the slightest bit, the rest of the work was done automatically. The smell of stale air was not the most enticing thing to return to, but given that he didn't look like a piece of jerky after getting out, the only thing that the beastfolk could assume was that the magic had, in fact, worked.

Probably.

As far as he knew, the mechanism to open the double doors leading outside had to be operated by all of those present within. Hopefully, none of the other coffins had suffered a malfunction in the years that they had spent... Sleeping? Was that the right word for it?

"Hey, if anyone else is up, now's the time to get out of bed. Pretty sure sleeping on stone isn't very good for your backs," Byron called out, stretching his limbs as he waited for a response. A lack of responses would be worrisome, but ideally there wouldn't be any corpses in here to have to discover.

@VitaVitaAR@Rune_Alchemist@Crimson Paladin@Lugubrious

Chronicles of a Lost War

Alright, then. One slot left on hold; finish that ASAP, then.

First post about to go up, so I'm closing other signups now.

Fate/Eternum

@Mystic Writer: Alright, char's accepted. Move the form over whenever.

We'll... Well, we'll figure something out about Helena eventually. I hope?

Fate/Eternum

@Mystic Writer: Alright, let's look at the edited forms here...

Okay, let's go.

1. Let's look over this last paragraph from the Master form, for starters, shall we?

From that point in the family lineage his line developed traces in the Americas and Europe, more specifically England. It took hundreds of years, but they never gave up. They took their time to gather resources while remaining somewhat skeptical of the Mage Association. And while they were not on the same level as the highest tier of mage families, they retained some degree of influence in the world of mages.

This feels both contradictory and vague to me. I'm not entirely sure how a family that remains 'skeptical' of the MA garners any level of influence, if any; you can't be influential if you don't have strings to pull, and the MA actually has a large enough sway in most issues regarding magecraft (given that it consists of the Wandering Sea, Atlas, and the Clock Tower) that they can essentially send Enforcers out as fixers regardless of standing if you look too 'dangerous'.

Or, y'know, the usual Sealing Designation problem.

2. I think we should loop back around to the oddity of giving someone a form to work with and asking for a 'trade'. While the matter of asking someone else to use a character or using one that has a direct correlation/chosen with another character in mind has been a core thing among the characters present, I don't know if it's entirely normal to write that form yourself. Normally, I'd delegate the process to the person to be using the character, for the dual purpose of seeing if they understand the character and also to be piloting someone who they have, in essence, had the time to do some research/thought on.

I think this issue becomes nonexistent if you decided to pilot both halves of the pair (we have someone using both Altera and her Master here, for example), but otherwise... It feels a bit odd to be giving a character for someone else to use, rather than proposing one. Does that make sense?