Does anyone know roughly when Brynhildr lost her divinity and was cursed? I'm trying to figure out to what degree she and Berserker would be aware of each other, or at least to what degree she would know of him.
Though, Harald escorted himself to Valhalla for what it's worth. He wasn't collected by a Valkyrie like most.
I was going to write a post, but anything I have to say at this point would just be to push us towards the summoning.
Honestly, I don't see any reason why we can't just skip ahead to when we arrive at the base in Poland. Unless anyone has something they want to do before that point?
“Well, isn’t this a lively gathering? I could hear your shouting as soon as I turned the last corner.” The door to the office opened once to admit yet another magus, a late arrival this time and judging by the small smile on his face a completely unrepentant one as well. He wore a black suit with a white tie and gloves, one hand resting on top a cane that he clearly did not need to help him walk while the other hand held a large metal case, almost as long as he was tall; and he was not a short individual.
“Pardon my late arrival, and my abrupt entrance, it took longer to acquire a suitable catalyst than I anticipated. The former owners were rather reluctant to part with it.” Thomas accented his statement by lowering the large, locked carrying case he held to the ground; the sound the steel container made as it touched the floor was one that indicated the excessive weight it held. His bespectacled eyes swept over the room, pausing slight on each face he found before finally coming to a stop as he locked eyes with the director sat at his desk.
“I overheard the end of your explanation; I can catch myself up on the rest later, but... I must ask. Do you truly expect us to just throw our Servant’s and ourselves into this forest and hope for the best? Not to disparage the efforts of your scouts, but surely given appropriate time we will a way through this forest the Greys have prepared for us? ”
"Okay, let's get this started." That was the words the teacher heard as she looked up embarrassed. “O-oh sorry for making you wait.” She said red faced as she fumbled her deck a bit as she slotted it back in duel disk after standing there in contemplation before his approach.
“R-right ground rules. The rule we were told to tell you is that you get to decide to go first or second. If you want to go first that's ok.” She said meekly. Her eyes looking down at the ground as if embarrassed to have all the eyes staring at her. This wasn’t her native country after all and her japanese was a little rusty.
Kaito took his time preparing his own deck, retrieving it from his pocket and slotting it into his old fashioned duel disk with deliberate care as he considered whether to go first or second. In all honesty it wasn’t a difficult question and his answer was always the same whenever it came up anyway, but he liked to at least give the appearance of considering his options instead of jumping into things hastily. ”In that case I’ll go second.”
“Ok, I’ll go first then.” She said studying her drawn hand of 5 cards. “I’ll keep it simple.” She said smiling. “I’ll set one monster face down, and this card behind it.” She said as she set one monster and one facedown spell/trap. It seemed like such an unassuming play. “Sorry if it wasn’t the spectacular opening you were hoping for.” She said. Shuffling her cards about in her hand as her mind whirred.
If Kaito was put off by his opponents lacklustre opening move then he didn’t show it, his expression unreadable as he looked over his opponents set cards. “I draw.” Kaito added the top card from his deck to his hand before selecting another card and placing it in his centre Monster zone. “I’ll get things rolling by summoning Kabazaul in attack mode.”
A swirl of blue energy appeared on the field, a circular effect reminiscent of a whirlpool, before bubbling upwards like a water spout; a large creature, red-skinned and with a round body like a hippopotamus, rose up from within that spout, announcing its arrival with a roar.
Kabazaul: 1700 ATK Level 4 WATER Dinosaur
“Next I’ll equip it with Phantasm Spiral Crash.” Kaito placed a spell card in the zone directly behind his Kabazaul, the monster glowing briefly with an intense red light which faded but left an aura of the same colour around the creature in question. Behind the dinosaur the outline of a large and fearsome looking dragon could be faintly seen, red eyes glowing menacingly.
“I enter the battle phase. Kabazaul! Attack the face-down Monster.” With another roar, somewhere between the bellow of an elephant and the roar of a lion, the red-skinned dinosaur charged. Heavy footsteps carried it forward towards the face-down card on the teacher’s side of the field.
The Facedown card would flip over to reveal, Blast Magician. The red clad wizard would look up at his adversary and the two would clash off of each other after a short struggle.
Blast Magician: 1700 DEF Level 4 FIRE Spellcaster
“Hmm.” A slight note of disappointment was Kaito’s only reaction as his monster failed to crush his opponent’s, Kabazaul bouncing back to his side of the field as it met a monster with defence equal to its attack. “I end my turn.”
Turn 3: Miss Mihitsune Kaito: 4000 LP, 4 Cards Miss Mihitsune 4000 LP, 3 Cards
“That dinosaur is cool!” The Teacher said giving her opponent a thumbs up of approval of his taste in monster cards. “Reminds me of someone I knew that loved to use Ultimate Tyranno” She said with a soft chuckle before realising she was stalling.
“Sorry I draw.” She said drawing her next card. Adding it to her fanned out hand she looked out towards her opponent carefully. “Alright I’ll change my Blast Magician to attack mode!” She said shifting its position on her duel disk.
Almost immediately the magician stood up clutching its staff in a readied position, ready to attack.
Blast Magician: 1400 ATK Level 4 FIRE Spellcaster
“Alright, let’s step up the tempo. First things first. I’ll activate my field spell! Magical Citadel of ENDYMION” She said as she placed the card down in slot that opened for it on her duel disk. Suddenly the area around them changed, they would be standing in a courtyard, mystic symbols everywhere and behind her stood a gigantic tower.
“Whenever I activate a spell card, my Blast Magician gains a spell counter” She continued, her monster raising its staff, as a single swirling ring of runes appeared near the tip of it.
Blast Magician Spell Counters: 0 -> 1
“Now I’ll show you my favourite method of summoning!” She said with a grin, as she placed a monster card in her spell and trap card zone. What!
“I’ll place Servant of Endymion in my Left Pendulum Zone!” She said as the monster raised up on her side of the field in a column of light. The monster twirled its staff
Servant of Endymion: Left Column, Scale: 2
“When I set a monster in my pendulum zone, it counts as a spell card. So you know what that means.” She said with a grin.
Blast magician swirled his staff and gained another ring of runes near the tip
Blast Magician Spell Counters: 1 -> 2
“But that's not all, my field spell also gains spell counters!” She said with a grin as the massive tower gained a small ring of runes near the top.
Magical Citadel of Endymion Spell Counters: 0 -> 1
“I’ll also activate my upstart Goblin, I draw a card, and you gain 1000 Life points.” She said smiling at her opponent. As she drew the card from the deck, Kaito enveloped in a green aura that quickly faded.
Kaito 4000 LP -> 5000 LP
“And of course that means my Blast magician and citadel, and even my servant of Endymion. They all gain spell counters!” She said with a grin. The Giant tower behind her gained another larger ring of runes.
Spell Counters
Blast Magician: 2 -> 3
Magical Citadel of Endymion: 1 -> 2
Servant of Endymion: 0 -> 1
“And now the final part of your first hurdle, I’ll activate my spell card. Spell power Mastery!” She said placing the picture of a shadowy spellcaster channeling a spell. “With it I can add one Endymion card from my deck to my hand, and place a spell counter on a card. I’ll add my Magister of Endymion to my hand, and place a spell counter on my Citadel! Of course they still all gain spell counters!”
Spell Counters
Blast Magician: 3 -> 4
Magical Citadel of Endymion: 2 -> 4
Servant of Endymion: 1 -> 2
Her Citadel gained two more large rings. “And I’ll normal summon the magister I just added to my hand.” She said as she placed it into her monster zone.
Magister of Endymion: Level 3 EARTH Pendulum Spellcaster, ATK 1500
“I think that's enough spell cards, time for some monster effects, I’ll activate the effect of my blast magician, by removing 3 spell counters from it, I can destroy a monster with 2100 or less ATK, I’ll be destroy your monster now!” She said as the blast magician raised its staff.
Spell Counters
Blast Magician: 4 -> 1
Three of the four rune circles around Blast Magician’s staff flew away from their slow orbit, trailing streaks of arc-lightning as they headed straight for the Kabazaul on Kaito’s side of the field. They formed three rings around the dinosaur, before detonating in a blast destroying it. Kaito raised his arm to cover his face against the resulting cloud of dust, his furrowed brow visible above his sleeve.
The ghostly image behind Kabazaul remained for a second longer, thrashing around soundlessly in either pain or rage before it too was destroyed, fading from existence as the equip spell was sent to the graveyard alongside the monster.
“Alright that clears the field. Battle phase! Magister, Blast Magician! Direct attacks!” She said pointing at her opponent with a grin. “Magister also gains a spell counter when he declares an attack”
Spell counters
Magister of Endymion: 0 -> 1
Endymion and Blast Magician both raised their staffs firing off a bolt of arcane energies together at Kaito. Zapping him with the full knowledge of their arcane minds.
Kaito braced himself for the attack, ducking his head lower behind his raised arm and closing his eyes before the bolts of magical power struck him. The two attacks erupted in a plume of smoke that obscured Kaito’s side of the field for a few moments; as he waited for the dust to clear, the only thing he could hear was the life point counter of his duel disk ticking down the damage he had just taken.
Kaito 5000 LP -> 2100 LP
“Turn end.” She smiled simply.
Turn 4: Kaito Kaito: 2100 LP, 4 Cards Miss Mihitsune 4000 LP, 1 Card, 2 Monsters, 1 set card, 1 Field Spell, 1 Pendulum Scale
The smoke surrounding Kaito finally cleared, the young duelist looking a little concerned as he saw just how many cards his opponent had in play compared to his empty field. Once he realised the teacher could see him he forced his expression into a more neutral state, straightening his posture and drawing another card from his deck.
“My turn. I draw.”
Seeing the card he had drawn, Kaito placed it on the field without bothering to add it in his hand first. On Kaito’s side of the arena, etched into the flagstones of the courtyard and replacing the existing magical symbols a six-sided sigil began to appear, drawn by an invisible hand. “I play Dust Barrier. You seem to like your spells, but with this in place they won’t have any effect on my Normal Monsters.” As the sigil completed itself, the lines at each corner connecting to each other, a translucent barrier like a beam of sunlight peering through the clouds separated Kaito’s field from his opponents.
“Ah but I still benefit, I gain a spell counter on my citadel, Servant and my Blast Magician!” She said as they gained a ring of runes each.
Spell Counters
Citadel: 4 -> 5
Blast Magician; 1 -> 2
Servant: 2 -> 3
Kaito’s eye twitched as three more rings appeared on his opponent’s side of the field; it seemed he couldn’t even play his own spells without the teacher benefiting. “Now I’ll play a Monster. I summon Giant Red Seasnake in attack mode.” Another whirlpool like effect bubbled up from within the spaces between the courtyard’s flagstones, a large and dangerous looking snake with a frilled head erupting from its centre.
Giant Red Seasnake: 1800 ATK Level 4 WATER Aqua
“Then I’ll equip it with Phantasm Spiral Wave.” Placing another spell card on his duel disk, the giant snake began to glow with an aura similar to the one that had appeared around Kabazaul earlier, this one yellow in colour, as another ethereal image of a monstrous serpent appeared behind it with glowing yellow eyes. “With this my monster is not destroyed the first time it would be destroyed by battle.”
At the same time, another ring of runes faded into existence around Miss Mihitsune’s monsters and tower.
Spell Counters
Citadel: 5 -> 6
Blast Magician: 2 -> 3
Servant: 3 -> 4
“Giant Red Seasnake! Attack Blast Magician!” The snake burst into action, swimming through the air just above the ground with an undulating motion as it raced towards the spellcaster with three rings of runes surrounding it.
“I won’t let my monsters die so easily. Magister effect activate!” She said raising her hand up. “By removing 3 spell counters from my side of the field, I can special summon a monster that can use spell counters, From my deck! And the monster I’ll choose is Defender, The Magical Knight!”
She said as the shielding guardian appeared on her side of the field.
Spell Counters
Blast Magician: 3-> 0
Defender, The Magical Knight: 2000 DEF Level 4 LIGHT Spellcaster.
“So who are you attacking now huh?” She asked.
“My plan hasn’t changed. Giant Red Sea Snake, destroy Blast Magician.” The monster, which had hesitated as Defender appeared on the field, surged forward towards its original target, closing in on Blast Magician with its fangs ready to strike.
Blast Magician would be struck by its fangs, but its body would hold firm as a shielded arcane barrier would appear around it, The force however would cause the teacher to stagger back. “The effect of my Defender activates, by removing a spell counter from my side of the field I can prevent the destruction of my Blast Magician.”
Spell Counters
Magister of Endymion: 1-> 0
Miss Mihitsune 4000 LP -> 3600 LP
Upon seeing that Blast Magician was still on the board Kaito responded with a slight narrowing of his eyes, brows lowering to show his displeasure. However, since his Giant Red Seasnake had survived until the end of the battle phase after battling, he could activate the effect of his equip spell.
“Now the other effect of Phantasm Spiral Wave activates. I summon Phantasm Spiral Dragon from my deck.” The duel disk ejected a card from Kaito’s deck, which he took and placed in his monster zone. Behind Giant Red Seasnake the ethereal image of the wyrm began to solidify and become real; the Phantasm Spiral Dragon reared back its head and let loose a deafeaning cry.
Phantasm Spiral Dragon: 2900 ATK Level 8 WATER Wyrm
“The equip card Phantasm Spiral Wave transfers over to Phantasm Spiral Dragon and you discard one card from your hand.” Pulling two more cards from his hand Kaito slotted them into the open spaces on his duel disk. “I play two more cards face down and end my turn.”
The teacher sighed as she sent a lightning vortex from her hand to the graveyard. That would limit her options.
Turn 5: Miss Mihitsune Kaito: 2100 LP, 0 Cards, 2 Monster, 1 Equip Spell, 2 Set Cards Miss Mihitsune 3600LP, 0 Card, 3 Monsters, 1 set card, 1 Field Spell, 1 Pendulum Scale
“My turn right, Draw.” She said drawing her next card. Nothing particular impressive.
“I’ll activate Spell Power Grasp!” She said place the spell card. “With it I can place a spell counter on one of my cards and add a copy of this card to my hand.” She said placing the counter on Citadel and her deck whirring as she pulled out another copy of the card.*
Spell Counters
Citadel: 6 -> 8
Blast: 0-> 1
Servant: 3->5
“And now I’ll activate the effect of my blast Magician once more! Using 5 spell counters from Citadel of Endymion I can destroy your Phantasmal Spiral Dragon!!” She said pointing at it. The Circle runes flying towards her opponent’s monsters.
Spell Counters
Citadel: 8 -> 3
As before, the circles surrounded Kaito’s monster, the wyrm thrashing against the restraints before they detonated. The monster was destroyed, the cloud of dust and smoke from the explosion rolling over Kaito’s half of the arena.
As the cloud began to clear Kaito swept a hand in front of him, disturbing the dissipating smoke into swirling eddies as he activated one of his face-down cards. “I activate Torrential Reborn. When a Water monster I control is destroyed and sent to the graveyard I can bring them back to the field.” From high above them the sound of rushing water could be heard as a sudden deluge fell towards the arena, the cascade forming a temporary waterfall. Within the water a pair of glowing eyes could be seen, a large silhouette forming within the curtain and as the water ceased to fall Phantasm Spiral Dragon was left in its wake.
Phantasm Spiral Dragon: 2900 ATK Level 8 WATER Wyrm
“What’s more, you take 500 points of damage for each monster brought back by this effect.”
Miss Mihitsune 3600 LP -> 3100 LP
She looked at the monster and nodded slowly to herself. “Ok this has become a little more difficult. No matter.” She said as she pointed to her monster in the pendulum zone. “I activate the effect of my Servant of Endymion “By removing three spell counters from it I can special summon it from the pendulum zone, and one master from my deck that can have spell counters placed upon it.”
There would be quiver on the field as the very citadel tower swung open its great gate, revealing a very large and very opposing magician. Oddly shaped staff in hand, he stepped onto the battlefield. The Largest and opposing of them all.
“I summon. Endymion, The Mighty Master of Magic!” She said with a triumphant glee.
Servant of Endymion: 900 ATK Level 3 WIND Pendulum
Endymion, The Mighty Master of Magic: 2800 ATK Level 8 DARK Pendulum
Spell Counters
Servant: 0 -> 1
Endymion: 0- > 1
Eyes widening, Kaito craned his head back to be able to see all of the monster his opponent had just summoned. It was certainly impressive, but even so it’s attack didn’t match up to that of his own monster; the outcome of this duel hadn’t changed.
“Alright, I’ll activate the effect of my Servant Of Endymion, by discarding a card I can place a spell counter on every card that can have a spell counter on it!”
Spell Counters
Citadel: -> 4
Servant of Endymion: 1 ->2
Endymion: 1 ->2
Blast Magician: 1->2
Defender, the Magical Knight: 0 -> 1
Magister of Endymion: -> 0 -> 1
The Massive amount of rune rings that appeared were a spectacle. The runes swirling around her board with great mysticism. She then narrowed her eyes. “Alright Endymion I see the path to victory.” She said quietly to herself with a chuckle, the teacher of magics looking back at her for just a moment and giving a simple curt nod. “Alright, Battle phase, Servant of Endymion attack that Giant Red Seasnake!”
Kaito had to wonder why someone would launch an attack against a monster so much stronger than their own; there had to be some trick involved, either an effect of Servant that he didn’t know about or something to do with that face-down card that his opponent hadn’t used yet. Either way, he wasn’t going to let this teacher have their way. “I activate Justi-Break.”
The remaining face-down card on Kaito’s side of the field flipped up, briefly revealing the image on its face before it was obscured by the multiple bolts of lightning that shot out from it. Each monster on Miss Mihitsune’s side of the field was struck one after another, starting with Servant and working up to Endymion himself. “When you attack a normal monster I control, all monsters on the field are destroyed except for face-up attack position normal monsters.”
Her monsters stood firm, as Servant returned to her hand, and a dispelling effect struck every monster on her field freezing them of the effects of the lightning. Endymion looking enraged at Kaito’s insolence. “The Effect of Endymion, by returning 1 card with a spell counter to my hand, I can negate the activation of that effect and destroy it!” Teach said as she gently twirled servant. The only card in her hand. “Plus Endymion gains her counters!”
Spell Counters
Endymion; 2 -> 4
The flow of electricity suddenly reversed, the bolts turning back on themselves and striking Kaito’s face-up card instead. Justi-Break broke apart, leaving Kaito with a perturbed look on his face as he glared up at the enraged Endymion. “Okay then.”
“Endymion attack that Giant Red Seasnake, with Calamitous Curse!” Teach declared, point at the monster. Almost immediately after Endymion raised his staff, the monster would be annihilated by a massive pillar of arcane energies.
Kaito 2100 -> 1000 LP
“With that I’ll place Servant back in my pendulum zone.” She said placing the monster back where it belonged “This of course adds spell counters back to all of my cards.” She said, opting of course to not endanger the citadel by using blast magicians effect.
Spell Counters
Citadel: 4 -> 5
Blast Magician: 2-> 3
Turn 6: Kaito Kaito: 1000 LP, 0 Cards, 1 Monster, 1 Equip Spell Miss Mihitsune 3100LP, 0 Cards, 4 Monsters, 1 set card, 1 Field Spell, 1 Pendulum Scale
“I draw.” Kaito drew his next card with slightly more force than was necessary, his agitation over this duel beginning to show through in small ways. ”I equip my Phantasm Spiral Dragon with Phantasm Spiral Crash.” A red glow overtook the colossal wyrm, fading to a faint aura outlining it, and a creature of equal stature appeared behind it, like a shadow come to life with glowing red eyes.
“I attack your Defender with my Spiral Dragon. With the effect of Spiral Crash I’ll inflict piercing damage even if it’s in defence mode.” With a mighty roar the dragon charged towards the shield-bearing knight.
“I’ll meet your attack head on, Defenders effect will activate, preventing its destruction!” She yelled back
Spell Counters
Defender: 1 -> 0
Phantasm Spiral Dragon clashed into the heavy shield and for a moment it looked like Defender was going to be crushed beneath the assault, only to rally and throw the dragon off instead. “Even if it survived you still take the damage, and that let’s me activate its other effect.”
Miss Mihitsune 3100 > 2200
The red glow surrounding Phantasm Spiral Dragon began to fade, while at the same time the shadow standing behind it grew darker and denser until there were two Phantasm Spiral Dragons arranged before Kaito. “When I deal life point damage to you I can summon another Phantasm Spiral Dragon from my deck. What’s more, the equip card moves to the Spiral Dragon I just summoned.” To illustrate this, the newly arrived Spiral Dragon began to shine with a red aura and a third dragon appeared behind the two, barely visible.
“Lastly, I get to change one of your attack position monsters to defence mode.” On his opponent’s side of the field, Endymion dropped to one knee and held his staff outwards as if in defense. The teachers eyes sparkled.
“You have two of them? Interesting most interesting. Endymion you ok?” Her Monster spoke not a word as it stared at the enemy with what seemed like studious intrigue and mired fury
“Since he was summoned during the battle phase, my Spiral Dragon can attack this turn. Phantasm Spiral Dragon, crush her Endymion.” Like with the last, the second Spiral Dragon charged towards its target.
“Understand this now Kaito, I said I wouldn’t let a single one of my monsters be destroyed, especially not the monster has is my soul! I activate the effect of my Magister of Endymion!” She said raising her arm.
“By removing 3 spell counters from my side of the field, I can special summon a spellcaster monster that can have spell counters placed upon it from my deck. The monster I’ll be summoning will be one of the citadels pet projects! Mythical Beast Medusa!” She placed the magically infused monster down on her field. It hissed and growled,
Phantasm Spiral Dragon halted in its charge, momentarily distracted by the new arrival. Kaito too was curious about it, especially why the teacher had decided to summon it now of all times. This was his chance to take out Endymion while it was vulnerable, but he couldn’t discount a potential threat. “Phantasm Spiral Dragon, attack Medusa.” The large wyrm shifted its weight to point itself at the new target before resuming its charge, clawed feet digging into the flagstones of the courtyard as it pushed forward.
“Big Mistake.” She said simply “I activate the effect of my Medusa! By removing 2 spell counters from my side of the field I can halve the attack of your spiral dragon!” She declared pointing to it
Spell Counters
Citadel: 5 -> 3
Phantasmal Spiral Dragon ATK 2900 -> 1450
The Spiral Dragon crashed into Medusa, the impact having far less of an effect that it should have given the previous difference in attack values. Instead of being destroyed, Medusa wrapped its tentacles around the Phantasm Spiral Dragon, squeezing the wyrm as it tried to break free until the monster broke apart. A moment later the third, shadow-like dragon also faded away as the equip card was also destroyed.
Kaito 1000 > 950
Preventing destruction, negating card effects, summoning monsters on his turn and now halving his attack; this teacher certainly had a lot of annoying effect monsters. “I’ll end my battle phase. Since my Phantasm Spiral Dragon battled this turn and still has Phantasm Spiral Crash equipped, I get to summon another Spiral Dragon from my graveyard.”
A whirlpool of swirling water, larger than any of the ones before, appearing on Kaito’s field. “You can try and protect your monsters as much as you want, but the sea is relentless.” A wing appeared first, bursting forth from the water with a splash, soon followed by a pair of curled horned attached to a hideous head filled with vicious fangs. “I’ll summon my monsters as many times as it takes, I’ll chip away at your deck like the tide against a cliff face” The Phantasm Spiral Dragon fully emerged from the whirlpool, glowing with a yellow aura as the Phantasm Spiral Crash card transferred its effects. “I’ll remove the foundations of your tower one wave at a time.”
“I end my turn.”
Turn 7: Miss Mihitsune Kaito: 950 LP, 0 Cards, 2 Monsters, 1 Equip Spell Miss Mihitsune 2200LP, 0 Cards, 4 Monsters, 1 set card, 1 Field Spell, 1 Pendulum Scale
She smiled at his response. “I suppose I should end this then? I draw” She said drawing her card. “I change Endymion to attack position.” She said as her monster changed position standing up. Staring down at the enemy dragon-serpent. “Alright, time to welcome you to the academy with a bang. Medusa! Use your effect to halve the attack of one his spiral dragons.”
Spell Counters
Citadel: 3-> 1
Phantasmal Spiral Dragon: 2900 ATK -> 1450
“And Endymion, Finish them off, Climatic Calamity Curse!” She said with a grin on her face. As Endymion proceeded to magically nuke Kaitos monster into the dirt with a giant pillar of arcane energies.
Kaito 950 > 0
Winner: Miss Mihitsune!
It was only after the duel ended that the shyness and embarrassed look slowly crept back on Miss Mihitsunes face. She started bowing profusely. “Sorry Sorry Sorry, I was meant to go easy on students.!” She spoke hurriedly jumbling her words together in her apologetic embarrassment.
“But I do believe that you showcased enough. Thanks for the duel.”
Letting out a sigh Kaito removed his dec from the duel disk, the remaining holograms on his side of the field fading away. He closed his eyes, head falling forward as he spoke to himself under his breath. “I did say I wanted a challenge didn’t I?”
Raising his head again, seeing the embarrassed teacher bowing and apologising, Kaito gave a bow of his own and called out to his opponent in a louder voice. “Thank you for the duel. Does… does this mean I’m accepted?”
“Well, I can’t give you confirmation just yet, but I have a strong feeling that you are. Since even though you didn’t win, you showed the qualities for the potential to be a great duelist.” She said smiling.
“Right. I’ll… guess I’ll just wait and see then.” Turning away from the teacher, hopefully before she noticed how defeated he looked, Kaito stepped down from the arena and returned to the stands.
Name: Thomas Gardner Titles: Magister Templi, Third Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Age: 63 Gender: Male Master of: Berserker Command Seal Location: Back of his right hand Origin: Linking
- Personality: On the surface Thomas is a polite and charming individual, the very picture of an English gentleman. Having spent the better part of his life as part of what is essentially a secret society Thomas has developed a way of dealing with people that can best be described as diplomatic and restrained; he is friendly, approachable, and amiable and yet rarely if ever gives any sort of hint towards his true feelings or motivations.
A determined individual who is not easily swayed by others and someone with the fortitude to forge his own path and follow his own goals even if others seek to place obstacles in his path, yet savvy enough to toe the line and not make enemies unnecessarily. Such social acumen was needed to survive in the Golden Dawn, especially when he is seen as such a… controversial figure by many.
Biography: Thomas comes from a long line of Magus; not the most impressive line, not the oldest and their name hasn’t always been Gardner, but Thomas’ family have been practitioners of Witchcraft in Europe and Britain since the middle ages, engaging in both sides of the art as both black witches focused on curses and hexes and white witches focused on protection from the former.
Even with this age the Gardner Magic Crest is not as well developed as it could be. Being a witch in Britain has always been a hazardous occupation and the family has been forced into hiding a number of times over the years as the craze of witch-hunting rose and fell in popularity. In particular the writing of the Witchcraft Act of 1604 was nearly the death of the Gardner line and their Magic Crest was nearly lost during this period.
Thankfully they managed to outlast the witch hunters and the family survived, although diminished. Over time they began to recover and the complexity of their crest grew in leaps and bounds although it wasn’t until Thomas’s grandfather and great grandfather that the family truly began to flourish. They are the ones mostly responsible for making the family what it is, at least in terms of wealth and influence. However, it was also his grandfather than nearly ruined them.
Thomas’ grandfather joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn after being invited to be a member by another magus via their joint association with the Clocktower. Being a talented Magus in his own right his grandfather quickly rose through the ranks but was at the same time a controversial figure who upset a lot of people by publishing books on occultism. The books were complete nonsense which he saw as both a way to make money while also having some fun but others in both the Golden Dawn and the Clocktower saw it as potentially threatening to reduce the amount of mystery in the world by revealing secrets about Magecraft. In the end he was acquitted and no punishment was given, but the Gardner name was forever tarnished by the accusations.
This controversy has directly affected Thomas as well and means that a number of people within the order have taken a disliking to him on principle. It doesn’t help that his style of Magecraft is seen by some as out-dated, archaic or even barbaric in nature; it seems even Magi are not immune to developing certain stigmas around witchcraft. There have been numerous occasions where people have tried to question whether or not his family should even be allowed to keep their association with the order, citing his grandfather’s past discretions as reasons, and whether or not Thomas and his obsolete style of magecraft can possibly contribute anything of worth to the order.
This did not prevent him from climbing the ranks to become a member of the highest order of the Golden Dawn, as progress through the ranks is determined by skill and learning rather than politics, but he had to fight his way through opposition most of the way.
When Thomas was contacted to take part in the Holy Grail War by the Association there were many who sought to argue against his participation, that he should not be allowed to represent their order, even going so far as to suggest that the seals should be removed and given to someone else. Rather than argue in his own defence or try to convince the order to sanction his participation in the Holy Grail war Thomas opted to simply leave; he acquired a suitable catalyst from the Golden Dawn by what some would consider theft and left, lacking the resources of the order to which he may or may not still be a member but backed by the considerable wealth of his family.
-
Magecraft Section:
School of Magecraft:
Elementalism (Fire and Earth) – Those in the First Order of the Golden Dawn must study the concepts of elementalism and prove their understanding before moving on to the next level. Every member of the Golden Dawn who has advanced past this stage not only knows how to use magecraft that matches their affinity, they also have knowledge of all the other affinities they cannot use. Thomas in particular has a particular affinity for fire and earth.
European Witchcraft – An old form of magecraft not much favoured within the Clocktower due to its close association with curses, European Witchcraft is as much to do with the protection and prevention of curses and afflictions as it is with creating them. Thomas is well versed in the common practices of European Witchcraft including scrying, divination (particularly that will allows for objects/people to be found), healing and protection from harmful magecraft. His particular focus in this area is in the creation and use of Poppets and other items.
Sympathetic magic - A style of magecraft dictated by the laws of Sympathy and Contagion based on the idea that one can influence something, even people, based on its relationship or resemblance to another object. Thomas gained a basic understanding of this craft through his studies of European Witchcraft which makes use of Sympathetic Magecraft in places, particularly in the creation and use of Poppets. Finding himself particularly interested in the subject Thomas continued his studies in this area over the course of decades in order to become a true master of the art, even beyond what is often associated with European Witchcraft.
European Witchcraft – Lesser Healing – 4 casts Divination: Locate Person (Requires an item with a link to the target) – 3 casts Scrying – 2 casts Item Creation (Requires material components) – N/A Poppet Creation (Requires items with a link to the target and the creation of a doll) – N/A
Sympathetic Magic – Inflict Pain (Requires a Poppet with a link to a target) – 7 casts Inflict Harm (Requires a Poppet with a strong link to a target) – 3 casts Inflict Death (Requires a Poppet with a very powerful link to a target) – 1 cast
Mystic Codes: Grand Poppet – The ultimate expression of Thomas’ art, the Grand Poppet is an item created by Thomas over the course of decades using the principles of European Witchcraft and Sympathetic Magecraft. It is a humanoid figure; a doll woven out of Thomas’ own hair and stained with his blood, creating a Poppet so steeped in Contagion as to be considered unwise or even obscene by other practitioners of his craft, were they to learn of it.
The aim of Sympathetic Magecraft if often to create an object that in some way resembles the object or person that the Magus is attempting to manipulate, but in many ways the Grand Poppet is more real than Thomas is and as such it attracts much of the harm that is intended for him whether that be magical in nature or physical.
Ring of Vampirism – A Mystic Code in the form of a ring which allows for the extraction of blood from a person over short distances, which is then stored inside a small internal reservoir. This object has an extremely short range, between five and ten feet at the most, and works best when in direct contact with the target with greater distances slowing the process of extraction. The target feels no pain and the quantities of blood being extracted are so small as to cause no negative effects to the target.
Image Capturing Glasses – A simple pair of glasses capable of capturing and storing an image of whatever the wearer is observing at any given time and recalling that image when requested.
Amplifier Staff – A simple amplification style Mystic Code resembling an ornate cane or walking stick. Intended to be used to strengthen Thomas’ elemental magecraft in particular should he ever need to get his hands dirty.
Amount of Magecraft Mana: A-
Other: Thomas is proficient at administering first aid and is skilled at sewing and carving sculptures.
The system message informing him that his Mana Burn had subsided was a relief; although the status effect hadn’t negatively affected him too much, what with multiple sources of Mana regeneration to draw on to overcome their reduced effectiveness, the threat of overworking himself and doing even more damage to himself had been like a weight on his shoulders that had prompted him to slow down. Now that it had passed he didn’t have to worry about that anymore and he didn’t have to be so hesitant with his experiments.
Speaking of which, it seemed like he was on the right track with his idea of drawing material into raw Mana to change its properties. Although merely submerging the Mana in water wasn’t enough for it to change its properties, the Mana instead being washed away which had its own implications, actively trying to draw water into the sphere produced the desired effect. The Mana Orb became translucent, blending into the water itself, only visible by the thin boundary between it and the actual water and the feel of it against his palm, before it too was washed away as he stopped concentrating on maintaining its shape.
Pulling his hand from the water, Oberon stepped back from the stream’s edge and gave this result some thought. It was possible to create elementally-aligned Mana by drawing an element or power from that element into a spell of raw Mana like his Mana Orb or by infusing a material with Mana like with the Stone Shot spell; he’d seen this happen with multiple elements now and had proven that it could be done on command like he had just done with the stream. The question now was… what were the limits of this?
It was fair to assume that magic in this world had a set number of elemental natures that it could take on, starting with the classical elements of fire, earth, water and air alongside more esoteric examples like nature or light; these elements were probably already known by the more knowledgeable magic users in this world, barring a few really weird examples. The scientific idea of the period table of elements from his world wouldn’t apply here; no iron or copper magic, just a generic ‘metal’ element, no helium magic, just ‘air’. Perhaps it was more conceptual in nature; the different elemental types driven by this worlds expectations of what was an element and what wasn’t with the effects of those spells affected by the subconscious will of the user as he had somewhat seen already. The Sprite supposed it didn’t matter much anyway, but it was interesting to think about; as scientific knowledge in this world advanced, would magic evolve with it as the common consensus changed?
More relevant right now was to think about what other elements were at play. Light Mana existed; did that mean shadow magic was a thing? Darkness Mana? Would bathing a Mana Orb in shadows and trying to draw their power into it work? That would be something to try tonight, perhaps. If he could find something made out of metal he could experiment with that as well; there was nothing at hand at the moment, but once they met up with those Goblins again maybe he could trade them something for one of their salvaged items. There was also the stream to work with; he hadn’t actually done anything with the water orb, bubble orb or whatever it would be called and he would have to go back to it later.
For now there was something else Oberon wanted to try. He raised a hand and produced a Mana Orb, holding it in the palm of his upturned hand and keeping it there. From there he tried to focus on the ambient Mana in the air around them, tapping into the same kind of senses that he used during his mediation to pick up on and draw into the dispersed field of raw Mana that seemed to exist in everything. Once he had a sense of that power he tried to change his perceptions, focusing not on the raw, unaligned Mana but the power in the air itself, power which he could hopefully channel directly into the Mana Orb rather than into himself. This would likely be harder than drawing power from the water or infusing it into the ground, since the air was looser for lack of a better word, harder to grasp. Nonetheless Oberon was willing to keep trying until he saw some sign of success.
Conquering the elements one step at a time seemed like a good of his efforts.
Cast 'Mana Orb' Attempt to draw power from the air into the 'Mana Orb'
Name: Thomas Gardner Titles: Magister Templi, Third Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn Age: 63 Gender: Male Master of: Berserker Command Seal Location: Back of his right hand Origin: Linking
- Personality: On the surface Thomas is a polite and charming individual, the very picture of an English gentleman. Having spent the better part of his life as part of what is essentially a secret society Thomas has developed a way of dealing with people that can best be described as diplomatic and restrained; he is friendly, approachable, and amiable and yet rarely if ever gives any sort of hint towards his true feelings or motivations.
A determined individual who is not easily swayed by others and someone with the fortitude to forge his own path and follow his own goals even if others seek to place obstacles in his path, yet savvy enough to toe the line and not make enemies unnecessarily. Such social acumen was needed to survive in the Golden Dawn, especially when he is seen as such a… controversial figure by many.
Biography: Thomas comes from a long line of Magus; not the most impressive line, not the oldest and their name hasn’t always been Gardner, but Thomas’ family have been practitioners of Witchcraft in Europe and Britain since the middle ages, engaging in both sides of the art as both black witches focused on curses and hexes and white witches focused on protection from the former.
Even with this age the Gardner Magic Crest is not as well developed as it could be. Being a witch in Britain has always been a hazardous occupation and the family has been forced into hiding a number of times over the years as the craze of witch-hunting rose and fell in popularity. In particular the writing of the Witchcraft Act of 1604 was nearly the death of the Gardner line and their Magic Crest was nearly lost during this period.
Thankfully they managed to outlast the witch hunters and the family survived, although diminished. Over time they began to recover and the complexity of their crest grew in leaps and bounds although it wasn’t until Thomas’s grandfather and great grandfather that the family truly began to flourish. They are the ones mostly responsible for making the family what it is, at least in terms of wealth and influence. However, it was also his grandfather than nearly ruined them.
Thomas’ grandfather joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn after being invited to be a member by another magus via their joint association with the Clocktower. Being a talented Magus in his own right his grandfather quickly rose through the ranks but was at the same time a controversial figure who upset a lot of people by publishing books on occultism. The books were complete nonsense which he saw as both a way to make money while also having some fun but others in both the Golden Dawn and the Clocktower saw it as potentially threatening to reduce the amount of mystery in the world by revealing secrets about Magecraft. In the end he was acquitted and no punishment was given, but the Gardner name was forever tarnished by the accusations.
This controversy has directly affected Thomas as well and means that a number of people within the order have taken a disliking to him on principle. It doesn’t help that his style of Magecraft is seen by some as out-dated, archaic or even barbaric in nature; it seems even Magi are not immune to developing certain stigmas around witchcraft. There have been numerous occasions where people have tried to question whether or not his family should even be allowed to keep their association with the order, citing his grandfather’s past discretions as reasons, and whether or not Thomas and his obsolete style of magecraft can possibly contribute anything of worth to the order.
This did not prevent him from climbing the ranks to become a member of the highest order of the Golden Dawn, as progress through the ranks is determined by skill and learning rather than politics, but he had to fight his way through opposition most of the way.
When Thomas was contacted to take part in the Holy Grail War by the Association there were many who sought to argue against his participation, that he should not be allowed to represent their order, even going so far as to suggest that the seals should be removed and given to someone else. Rather than argue in his own defence or try to convince the order to sanction his participation in the Holy Grail war Thomas opted to simply leave; he acquired a suitable catalyst from the Golden Dawn by what some would consider theft and left, lacking the resources of the order to which he may or may not still be a member but backed by the considerable wealth of his family.
-
Magecraft Section:
School of Magecraft:
Elementalism (Fire and Earth) – Those in the First Order of the Golden Dawn must study the concepts of elementalism and prove their understanding before moving on to the next level. Every member of the Golden Dawn who has advanced past this stage not only knows how to use magecraft that matches their affinity, they also have knowledge of all the other affinities they cannot use. Thomas in particular has a particular affinity for fire and earth.
European Witchcraft – An old form of magecraft not much favoured within the Clocktower due to its close association with curses, European Witchcraft is as much to do with the protection and prevention of curses and afflictions as it is with creating them. Thomas is well versed in the common practices of European Witchcraft including scrying, divination (particularly that will allows for objects/people to be found), healing and protection from harmful magecraft. His particular focus in this area is in the creation and use of Poppets and other items.
Sympathetic magic - A style of magecraft dictated by the laws of Sympathy and Contagion based on the idea that one can influence something, even people, based on its relationship or resemblance to another object. Thomas gained a basic understanding of this craft through his studies of European Witchcraft which makes use of Sympathetic Magecraft in places, particularly in the creation and use of Poppets. Finding himself particularly interested in the subject Thomas continued his studies in this area over the course of decades in order to become a true master of the art, even beyond what is often associated with European Witchcraft.
European Witchcraft – Lesser Healing – 4 casts Divination: Locate Person (Requires an item with a link to the target) – 3 casts Scrying – 2 casts Item Creation (Requires material components) – N/A Poppet Creation (Requires items with a link to the target and the creation of a doll) – N/A
Sympathetic Magic – Inflict Pain (Requires a Poppet with a link to a target) – 7 casts Inflict Harm (Requires a Poppet with a strong link to a target) – 3 casts Inflict Death (Requires a Poppet with a very powerful link to a target) – 1 cast
Mystic Codes: Grand Poppet – The ultimate expression of Thomas’ art, the Grand Poppet is an item created by Thomas over the course of decades using the principles of European Witchcraft and Sympathetic Magecraft. It is a humanoid figure; a doll woven out of Thomas’ own hair and stained with his blood, creating a Poppet so steeped in Contagion as to be considered unwise or even obscene by other practitioners of his craft, were they to learn of it.
The aim of Sympathetic Magecraft if often to create an object that in some way resembles the object or person that the Magus is attempting to manipulate, but in many ways the Grand Poppet is more real than Thomas is and as such it attracts much of the harm that is intended for him whether that be magical in nature or physical.
Ring of Vampirism – A Mystic Code in the form of a ring which allows for the extraction of blood from a person over short distances, which is then stored inside a small internal reservoir. This object has an extremely short range, between five and ten feet at the most, and works best when in direct contact with the target with greater distances slowing the process of extraction. The target feels no pain and the quantities of blood being extracted are so small as to cause no negative effects to the target.
Image Capturing Glasses – A simple pair of glasses capable of capturing and storing an image of whatever the wearer is observing at any given time and recalling that image when requested.
Amplifier Staff – A simple amplification style Mystic Code resembling an ornate cane or walking stick. Intended to be used to strengthen Thomas’ elemental magecraft in particular should he ever need to get his hands dirty.
Amount of Magecraft Mana: A-
Other: Thomas is proficient at administering first aid and is skilled at sewing and carving sculptures.
Class: Berserker
True Name: Harald Wartooth
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Servant of: N/A
Weapon: Two heavy oak clubs
Wish: To engage in glorious and noble battle once more
Parameters: STR: B+ CON: A+ AGI: D+ MGI: D LCK: A
Class Skills: Mad Enhancement C: Although sane enough to become King of Denmark and rule unopposed for 50 years, he fought like a madman on the field of battle, charging in the ranks of his enemies without armour and wearing only his royal insignia. This skill is drawn from that wild style of fighting, ranking up all of Harald parameters by 1 except MGI and LCK and robbing him of his ability to speak and be reasoned with, though glimpses of sanity can be seen in his eyes at times.
Personal Skills: Unwounded A: “He went before the armed battalions and gave the raging dangers of war a chance. Yet the spears flung at him could no more harm him then if their blades pointed backwards. When others saw this fighter's woundlessness, they were taken aback and shame spurred them to attack him still more fiercely. Harald, unwounded, killed them with his sword or sent them fleeing."
A variant of Battle Continuation that allows Harald to not only continue fighting after taking mortal injuries, but to appear unwounded no matter how much damage he sustains. This skill is equivalent to Battle Continuation A and allows Harald to continue fighting even when afflicted with deadly injuries and can remain alive as long as one does not receive a decisive fatal wound. Additionally, enemies who attack Harald and who see that their attacks seemingly did no damage, will receive a minus modifier on their strength parameter (if a physical attack was used) or any Noble Phantasms at rank A or below (if Harald was damaged by them).
Military Tactics C: Before battles it was said that Harald would receive guidance from Odin himself about how to win his battles; often this just amounted to forming his army in a wedge shape and charging into the heart of the enemy army, but as these tactics led to Harald conquering all of his enemies you can’t really argue with results. In his maddened state this skill is not suitable to be used to lead troops into battle, but still provides Harald with a boost to the power of his Anti-Army Noble Phantasms as well as being better able to defend against his enemies Anti-Army Noble Phantasms.
Regeneration C: It is said that Harald earned the name “Wartooth” during a battle against Veseti, the Lord of Scandinavia, during which Harald’s two front teeth were knocked out only for them to grow back instantly. Harald will heal from injuries faster than most other Servant’s and at a reduced mana cost for his Master.
Noble Phantasm(s):
Name: Grav Varer Title: Final Tribute to a Fallen King Rank: C+ Type: Anti-Army Range: 2-50 Maximum Number of Targets: 250
Description: Upon realised that Harald had been killed during the battle of Bråvalla his opponent, the King of Sweden Sigurd, brought a stop to the fighting and order that Harald’s body be found. The two armies searched for the rest of the morning and eventually found Harald’s body under a pile or corpses piled high enough that a wagon couldn’t drive over it. Sigurd constructed a funeral pyre and placed Harald’s body on it, along with his horse, and bade Harald to ride straight to Valhalla and secure lodging for those who had perished. Thereafter, all the chiefs walked around the pyre throwing weapons and gold onto it.
This Noble Phantasm is an manifestation of the final tribute paid to King Harald on his funeral pyre, a collection of weapons and other items burnt alongside his body and sent to Valhalla with him; the sheer size of that final battle means that Harald has thousands of weapons in his possession, many of which were wielded by warriors worthy of being sent to the Throne of Heroes themselves. Grav Varer allows Harald to summon this vast armoury to the field; sword, spears, axes and even shields and pieces of armour.
As a Berserker Harald does not have much control over this Nobel Phantasm, which if anything makes it more dangerous, and using it causes hundreds upon thousands of weapons, each of which is on the level of a D rank Noble Phantasm themselves, to rain down from the sky.
Name: Ubøjelige Egetræ Title: Weapons Strong Enough to Withstand the Kings Might Rank: D Type: Anti-Unit Range: 1 Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: Berserker’s strength in battle was so great that any sword he tried to wield would break upon his enemies. No blacksmiths in his employ were able to create a weapon which would last more than a few battles in his hands and he would often find himself fighting hand-to-hand or searching for discarded weapons to use. It wasn’t until he picked up these heavy oaken clubs, little more than thick, sturdy wooden bludgeons, that he found a weapon which would not break under his strength.
While nothing more than simple heavy oaken clubs in truth, these weapons favoured by Berserker took on a legend of their own among his men and his enemies for being the only weapons he ever wielded, aside from those sword which he died holding, which he did not break in battle. These weapons are synonymous with the image of Berserker in battle and as such became Noble Phantasms when he was summoned by the grail; unable to be broken by any test of strength or powerful impact.
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