King Cosmos

Fate/Rising Sun

Thomas Gardner

“Ah…yes. Very good.” Kiyohime. Thomas wasn’t familiar with the woman or her legend, but he understood enough about her to know what she was capable of; that would have to suffice for now, anything else would need to wait until tomorrow. At the very least he grasped that she was as mad as her title of Berserker would suggest and that her mind seemed to be entangled in some delusion about his relation to this man Anchin. He himself doubted that the roots of his family tree reached as far as Japan, but if keeping up the illusion helped him keep the volatile woman under control then he wouldn’t try to challenge it.

Her devotion and enthusiasm towards him was disconcerting, but as long as he was careful not to lie she should pose no threat to him. And after spending decades navigating the murky waters of the Order’s regular meet-ups he knew his way around words. “Our goal for tonight is information above all else, we should avoid conflict as much as possible.” If he so much as managed to acquire a clear image of someone’s face he would be able to start making preparations to track them down with his magecraft. If possible the only fights they would engage in during this war were ones that he had meticulously prepared for, and no others. “That being said, should anyone spot us… well, I’ll be counting on you to protect me, my dear.”

@Gummi Bunnies

----

Saber Bokuden

“Hmm, not Benkei.”

Saber was the picture of casual as he leant on the railing of the bridge next to his Master, one arm resting on the railing and the other on the hilt of his blade. The swordsman hadn’t moved an inch as the other Servant appeared, apparently unconcerned with the bow that was almost, but not quite aimed in their direction. “Personally, I’d prefer if we could just skip the duel and go straight to being friends, you know? You seem like the type who knows when to take it easy.”

If Archer was putting on a ‘friendly idiot’ act then so was Saber. Should things go south then he was prepared to pull his Master out of there in a flash. Protecting her was more important than any tactical advantage they could gain from this meeting after all.

@KoL@Anza@Crusader Lord

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

Oberon sat up. Pain suffused his body, sinking through his skin and muscle before soaking into his bones and pooling in his joints, creating a discomfort that wasn’t dissimilar to the feeling you were left with the day after straining rarely used muscles. He felt tired, thirsty and hungry, but at the same time strangely energised and the world looked… brighter?

He stood up and found that his new body, if it could be called new when he hadn’t really transformed, felt alien to him. He thought he might be taller, but he couldn’t be sure, and as he looked at himself he definitely felt like his body had matured in a way he couldn’t really define in a very short span of time. The sudden growth probably explained why he was so sore, like he had undergone an unnatural growth spurt and was now paying the price for it. Digbie, beside him, had undergone a much more drastic change; Oberon desperately wanted to analyse his new form to see what information he could glean from it, especially with that Digbie had said about his transformation maybe being unique, however his MP was apparently empty and his analysis skills used Mana if he remembered correctly. Any analysis would have to wait.

The information he had been given, both that he could comprehend and that he couldn’t, demanded his attention, but he had more pressing matters to deal with first. The Sprite left the cave and walked immediately towards the stream before kneeling at its bank and cupping water into his parched mouth. He drank until his thirst was quenched, before standing and walking back to where they had stored the food they had gathered. Their stores had been depleted quite a bit by now, but there was still enough to sate the hunger of a creature as small as he was hopefully; they would need to gather more before long.

With his basic bodily necessities dealt with, Oberon finally turned his thoughts back to the system messages he had received and the new capabilities of his evolved form. It seemed he had failed to gain any variances, like he had hoped; he had rolled the dice and come up short it would seem, but he knew that was a possibility but, while disappointing, he had accepted that risk from the start. Besides, it was hard to feel despondent about what he hadn’t received when he was distracted by what he had gained; an increase in experience for his healing spells and his Light Affinity, which had finally ticked over into a proper skill, as well as an increase in Monster Analysis for some reason.

When had he last analysed a monster? And why did he gain the experience now? Could it be related to the garbled information he couldn’t decipher? The last time he had seen anything like that was when he had analysed the Black Knight, but even then it had only shown question marks rather than being distorted to this extent. Had something happened while he had been transforming? He would need to ask the others what they thought once everyone was free.

For now he needed to deal with the issue of his lost MP, which was itself a mystery, which he did by settling down somewhere where the sun was shining through the treeline above and activating his Gather Light skill. Now that he had an affinity for Light-based spells it made sense to make more use of them, including when he was recovering Mana. It would also make more sense to focus his efforts on developing Light-aligned spells before anything else, as now that he had a basic spell of almost every element he could easily access he could use the element he was best at to develop new forms of spells; combining Light with his Wall spell or trying to forge it into a shape other than a ring for example. Light Affinity meant he could make progress more quickly when using Light than using anything else, which would hopefully speed up the process significantly. That was the general idea behind his attempt to create elementals out of Light specifically a while ago… or was it just yesterday? It seemed like so much time had passed since the cave for some reason, when it had been two or three days at most.

Now that he had Lesser Force he should try and use that as much as possible as well, as developing what was essentially telekinesis could only come in handy. He still had yet to try out some ideas he had had regarding using Mana Shape on a spell that was already in place as well, something that had been held in the back of his mind since before the fight with Rattleskull. There were some things he wanted to try with multi-target spells using Minor Heal All as a basis as well, not to mention trying to create other kinds of buffs like the Shield spell or Regeneration, as well as exploring some of the more unusual spells and elements that he had seen in his skills list or in his analyses…

The problem, it seemed was having too many ideas and not enough time to act on them. Perhaps he could explain his ideas and theories to the others and ask them to help, or perhaps he just needed to prioritise and only focus on the ideas that would be the most useful to them and ignore the rest. For some ideas, at least, he had a stockpile of fourteen skill points that he could use to skip the experimentation phase.

“System: Put nine skills points into Gravity Well.”

Action Report

Drink until quenched
Eat until sated
Use "Gather Light II" to restore Mana
Spend nine skill points on "Gravity Well"

Fate/Rising Sun

Thomas Gardner

So far this war had not lived up to Thomas’ expectations, but he was having a thoroughly enjoyable time nonetheless. The battleground was decidedly more… rural than he had anticipated for one, but at least he wouldn’t have to worry too much about collateral damage when there was so little collateral to damage in the first place. Before departing he had ensured that he still had access to ample funding so that he might secure whatever resources he needed, even after cutting ties with his old compatriots, but it seemed that such measures were unnecessary; he could probably buy this entire town if he wanted to by the looks of it. Instead he had opted for purchasing a small dwelling on the outskirts of town, a little run down but suitable enough for his needs, before spending the better part of a day securing it with a complex array of bounded fields and other apotropaic methods.

His Servant too, was a surprise. The catalyst he had ‘borrowed’ from the Order had proven to be less effective than he had hoped; instead of summoning a fabled hero from Britain’s distant past he had summoned, well, her. How effective she would be in this war would remain to be seen, but his first impression was not a hopefully one; she was not a warrior or a witch or anything of the sort, just a young woman who fell to madness after her love was rejected. Being allied to such a character in a war like this seemed more likely to cause him harm than his enemies.

“Berserker.” Still, he intended to see this through one way or another. At the very least he could see who his foes were before deciding what course of action to take. “What do you say we take a walk around town? See what we can find,hmm?”

@Gummi Bunnies

Fate/Rising Sun

Saber Bokuden

“When it comes to fighting, ‘walking away’ is always an option.” Whether the words were meant for him or not, Saber heard them. Ever since being summoned he had not strayed far from his ‘Master’, even if she herself hadn’t noticed it. Though it had been years since he had served under anyone, as a samurai or otherwise, he still remembered that sense of duty and responsibility; as the one who had summoned him it was his job to guard and protect Subaru. “If you don’t want to bloody your hands then don’t; it’s as simple as that. Just walk away.”

Everybody had their reasons to fight, the young musician included, but that didn’t always mean they were prepared for it. Saber himself had grown past the need to fight long ago and had adopted a more pacifistic approach, yet nonetheless he found himself on the battlefield again with a goal in mind.

He entered the room that Subaru had been playing music in a moment ago, waiting as the musician put her instrument away. “There are always alternatives to fighting, but this is a war we’re talking about; once you make the decision to stay it’ll be harder to back out later if you change your mind. If you continue down this path then you won’t be clean by the end of this; blood will be shed whether you like it or not. But, as your sword, I can at least take the burden of killing onto myself. If that’s what you want.”

@KoL

Fate/Rising Sun

Master of Witchcraft

Name: Thomas Gardner
Title(s): Magister Templi, Third Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Gender: Male
Age: 63
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Objective for the Grail: To bring the Holy Grail to the Golden Dawn, if only to throw it in their faces.

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 aggressively diplomatic; 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.

History: Thomas comes from a long line of Magus; not the most impressive line, nor the oldest, and their name hasn’t always been Gardner, but a long line nonetheless. 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 all but lost during this period.

Thankfully they managed to outlast the witch hunters and the family survived, though diminished in size and power. Over time they began to recover and the complexity of their crest grew in leaps and bounds, however 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. That being said, 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 every step of the way.

When Thomas first received word of the Holy Grail war in the east he tried to keep it a secret, wanting to enter the war himself without the Order learning of it, but it was not long before others found out and the expected arguing and politics began. The Golden Dawn wished to send a member to participate, but all wanted the glory for themselves and none could agree on who to send, other than that it should definitely not be Thomas. 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 make the decision for all of them and leave; he acquired a suitable catalyst from the Golden Dawn by what some would consider theft and headed for Japan, 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. However his theft of the catalyst would turn out to be pointless, due to the peculiar nature of this war.

---

Magecraft:
General Magecraft – The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is more than capable of teaching novices the basic magecrafts to the same level of competency as the Clocktower.

Elementalism – 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 himself has a dual affinity for fire and earth.

Bounded Fields – While knowledge of and even proficiency in the use of bounded fields is expected in the higher members of the Golden Dawn, Thomas has taken this understanding even further. He is capable of casting Advance Bounded Fields and Bounded Fields that are supremely hard to detect; over the course of many years he has honed his ability to combine Bounded Fields with his other specialties, particularly Sympathetic Magic, to create some interesting effects.

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 Magecraft – 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.

Weapons:
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 ‘Thomas’ 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. However, due to the innate protection against invasive magecraft that all Magus have, against them this ring is only useful for drawing blood from an open wound.

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.

Fate/Rising Sun

Well, I think I came to a decision.

I guess that Saber could an interesting partner for Subaru. We can pair up if you want to.

@KoL

Yeah, that sounds good to me. It seems like they might be a good fit.

I, the Demon King, Will Summon My Own Damned Heroes!

He had never been here before.

He hadn’t remembered it, the vision he had seen during his first evolution, but now that he was here he could remember getting stuck before passing through the cave’s ceiling, his ascent halted by something with piercing blue eyes that had interfered in some way. There was no interference this time however and he got to fully experience the sensation of floating upwards, the sensation of being weightless both because he was no longer bound by gravity and because he had no body at the same time. It was disorientating at first but he soon grew used to it. He was experiencing the vision as was intended now, albeit from a slightly different vantage point than before, his physical location further north than it had been last time.

Strangely his Mana Sense seemed to be active in this form; he could see the wispy fog that marked concentrations of Mana even from this high up, giving him a different view of the world than he would have had otherwise. A large tree at the centre of the forest glowed with the green hue of what he assumed to be Nature Mana, while the mountainside was speckled here and there with pockets of denser fog that marked the location of something important. Perhaps the locations of mineral deposits or some substance that contained high amounts of Mana?

To the west and a little north was a tower that glittered with tiny glints of Mana, like the pinpricks of stars in the night sky. And just like the stars, to be visible from this far away they must have each represented a ridiculous amount of power and energy.

He rose higher and higher until he could see nothing more than the world itself, rotating below him as he stared down on it from far above. The last time he had been in this state he hadn’t been able to do anything other than wait, but now he felt like he could move or do something. With the entirety of this strange new world laid before him, there was only one thing he could think to do.

He used his fusion Analysis skill on everything that he could see.

Action Report

Used Fusion Skill [Analysis] on EVERYTHING

@Zeroth

Fate/Rising Sun

Saber - Sword Saint

“My art is different from yours. It consists not so much in defeating others but in not being defeated.”

Name: Tsukahara Bokuden

Title(s): Sword Saint

Class: Saber

Gender: Male

Attribute: Human

Alignment: Neutral Good

Personality: Bokuden is a warrior who has fought in many battles, defeated multiple famed opponents, and who feels he no longer has anything to prove. The adventurous spirit he had in his youth has been sated, having travelled the country three times over on pilgrimages, and his desire to prove his strength and his skill has been replaced by a calm and assured confidence in his own abilities.

He is a warrior who seeks to avoid unnecessary conflict, a rarity for a samurai born and raised in a tumultuous time of war and bloodshed, who would rather talk his way out of a fight that draw blood if possible.

Objective for the Grail: “It’s a small and somewhat selfish wish, but I’d like to see the school I created restored to its former glory. My techniques were given to me by Takemikazuchi , so to see them lost to time and war saddens me.”

Biography: Bokuden was born in 1489 as the second son to Yoshikawa family, Shinto priests of the Kashima shrine who were in the service of the Kashima clan. The Kashima shrine was considered to be a holy place of Budo, or Japanese martial arts, as a thousand years prior a priestly celebrant named Kuninazu-no-Mahito built an altar at Kashima Shrine and by praying day and night he attained the secret techniques of the Divine Sword; these techniques were passed on mainly to the Yoshikawa family by the Shinto priests of Kashima Shrine. These secret techniques are called Kashima-no-Tachi (the Sword of Kashima) and, as the time passed, their name was changed from Kashima Jōko-ryū to Kashima Chuko-ryū. As a child Tsukahara Bokuden was taught the family heirloom of Kashima Chuko-ryū by his father Akikata.

At the age of 10 he was requested for service and adopted by the Lord of Tsukahara Castle, Tsukahara Tosanokami Yasumoto. This man was the advanced student of the founder of Tenshinshouden Katori Shinto-ryū, and he taught Bokuden the style called Katori Shinto-ryū. From his early life Bokuden was taught two styles of Kashima and Katori by his fathers and, during his early years, he already distinguished himself as the one having outstanding skills in swordsmanship.

At the age of 17 Bokuden set out on his first of three pilgrimages, during which he found his first real taste of combat against the renowned swordsman Ochiai; Bokuden defeated him easily and chose to spare the man, only for his humiliated opponent to try and ambush him later in revenge. Bokuden killed the more skilled opponent with a single cut and was then forced to take the Ochiai’s place in the armies of the local daimyo as a result. He spent the next few years fighting in fierce battles, often on the front lines, and didn’t return home until nearly thirteen years after his departure.

Upon returning home the first time, he isolated himself for prayer as Kashima shrine at the advice of his master to repair the spiritual damage of many life-or-death encounters. It was a rigorous ascetic practice that lasted about 1000 days, during which he stayed at Kashima Shrine and practiced the art of the sword, praying to the deity of warfare, Takemikazuchi. Through this ascetic training Bokuden acquired the secret techniques of “Hitotsu-no-Tachi”, or “One Stroke”, from Takemikazuchi who appeared to him in his dreams. Combining these techniques with his existing style, Bokuden then began to call his style Kashima Shinto-ryū from then on.

Tsukahara Bokuden became the lord of Tsukahara Castle at the end of his second pilgrimage at the age of 45, taking a wife who unfortunately died only ten years later. By the time of his third pilgrimage he was famous enough to be followed by a large retinue on his travels, attended to by eighty followers and bringing along multiple spare horses and three large hawks which flew at the head of his procession. It was at this point that he decided to take on a student in order to pass on his techniques and experience to the next generation.

In his later years, Bokuden handed over his place at Tsukahara Castle to his son in order to convert to Zen and become a Buddhist priest. He died at the age of 83.

Weapon: Odachi and Kodachi (long sword and short sword)

Parameters:
STR: B
END: C
AGI: A
MGI: E
LCK: A

Class Skills:
Magic Resistance (B) – Aside from being a famed Samurai, Tsukahara is also the latest in a long line of Magus; his family, in their service of the Kashima shrine, were diviners practiced in the art of Urabe fortune telling. Although never trained as a Magus himself, Tsukahara still possesses magic circuits and has some innate protection against Magecraft. Cancel spells with a chant below three verses. Even if targeted by High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals, it is difficult for them to be affected.

Riding (C) – Most vehicles and animals can be handled with above average skill. However, cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts.

Personal Skills:
Eye of the Mind (False) (A) – Eye of the Mind represents a natural talent to foresee/sense and avoid danger on the basis of an innate 6th sense, intuition, or prescience that has been further enhanced by experience and skill. In life Tsukahara was a preternaturally skilled swordsman, one who was able to defeat many famed opponents and take part in multiple battles at the site of the fiercest fighting without once being injured by his opponents.

From his first duel with live blades at the age to 17 to his retirement from combat in old age, defeating all challengers and surviving ambushes and assassinations, Tsukahara killed over 200 men without once feeling the sting of a blade. It could be said that Tsukahara’s swordsmanship is at the level where trying to attack him with a melee weapon of any kind of pointless. He doesn’t have the best of luck with arrows however.

Kashima Shintō-ryū (A++) – A school of traditional Japanese swordsmanship created by Tsukahara Bokuden after spending 1000 days training at the Kashima Shrine and praying to the deity of warfare, Takemikazuchi. It was said that Takemikazuchi appeared to him in a dream and taught him the secrets of “Hitotsu-no-Tachi”, or “one sword/stroke”, after which he renamed his style Kashima Shintō-ryū after the shrine. As the creator and first master of this style, Tsukahara has a rank above A in this skill.

Created during a time of feudal war, the school's techniques are based on battlefield experience and revolve around finding weak points in the opponent's armour, thus giving Tsukahara an advantage against armoured opponents that he might otherwise have difficulty fighting. The style also contains a number of iaijutsu techniques that allow for striking as the sword is drawn.

Disengage (B) – In his later life Tsukahara grew tired of constantly feeling the need to prove himself against strong opponents as he was already extremely confident in his abilities and he began to see the merit in avoiding conflict as opposed to having to constantly show himself to be the best. This mentality culminated in the creation of the “No Sword Style”, where Tsukahara defeated an arrogant younger opponent by tricking him into jumping off of the ferry they were on to have a duel and then promptly leaving him on an island alone. Has the effect of returning battle conditions to what they were at the beginning of the match (1st turn) and restores the condition of this Skill to the initial value.

Noble Phantasm:
Name: Divine Sword Style - One Stroke
Title: Strike Without Fear of Reprisal
Rank: A
NP Type: Anti-Unit
Range: 1-2
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: The ultimate technique granted to Tsukahara Bokuden at Kashima Shrine; taught to him in a dream by the God of Warfare Takemikazuchi at the end of his 1000 days of ascetic training. A counter attack delivered at the last possible moment before an opponent’s attack reaches, avoiding all damage and striking the opponent with an unavoidable swing of Tsukahara’s sword. However, while powerful this Noble Phantasm can only be used when Tsukahara has had a chance to view his opponent’s fighting style or techniques.

The essence of this technique lies in the wielder’s ability to accurately judge the distance between oneself and the opponent’s blade and in choosing the right moment to strike; if done correct the swordsman has nothing to fear as the enemies blade will never reach them and they are therefore able to devote all of their energy towards attacking at the moment they commit to an attack and leave themselves open. It was this technique that allowed Tsukahara to defeat his toughest opponents without receiving so much as a scratch in return.

It can also be used defensively, as even if Tsukahara’s sword cannot reach the enemy this Noble Phantasm can be used to parry or deflect attacks, as was done during his duel with a master of the naginata where he was able to intercept and destroy his opponent’s weapon before winning the duel with his next strike.

Master of Witchcraft

Name: Thomas Gardner
Title(s): Magister Templi, Third Order of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Gender: Male
Age: 63
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Objective for the Grail: To bring the Holy Grail to the Golden Dawn, if only to throw it in their faces.

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 aggressively diplomatic; 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.

History: Thomas comes from a long line of Magus; not the most impressive line, nor the oldest, and their name hasn’t always been Gardner, but a long line nonetheless. 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 all but lost during this period.

Thankfully they managed to outlast the witch hunters and the family survived, though diminished in size and power. Over time they began to recover and the complexity of their crest grew in leaps and bounds, however 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. That being said, 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 every step of the way.

When Thomas first received word of the Holy Grail war in the east he tried to keep it a secret, wanting to enter the war himself without the Order learning of it, but it was not long before others found out and the expected arguing and politics began. The Golden Dawn wished to send a member to participate, but all wanted the glory for themselves and none could agree on who to send, other than that it should definitely not be Thomas. 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 make the decision for all of them and leave; he acquired a suitable catalyst from the Golden Dawn by what some would consider theft and headed for Japan, 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. However his theft of the catalyst would turn out to be pointless, due to the peculiar nature of this war.

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Magecraft:
General Magecraft – The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn is more than capable of teaching novices the basic magecrafts to the same level of competency as the Clocktower.

Elementalism – 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 himself has a dual affinity for fire and earth.

Bounded Fields – While knowledge of and even proficiency in the use of bounded fields is expected in the higher members of the Golden Dawn, Thomas has taken this understanding even further. He is capable of casting Advance Bounded Fields and Bounded Fields that are supremely hard to detect; over the course of many years he has honed his ability to combine Bounded Fields with his other specialties, particularly Sympathetic Magic, to create some interesting effects.

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 Magecraft – 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.

Weapons:
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 ‘Thomas’ 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. However, due to the innate protection against invasive magecraft that all Magus have, against them this ring is only useful for drawing blood from an open wound.

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.

Fate/Rising Sun

The unfortunate thing being that it's like every Japanese Servant has completely forgotten the concept of armour exists, somehow. xD

@Raineh Daze

Quick, someone make a Date Masumune sheet.

Fate/Rising Sun

Created during a time of feudal war, the school's techniques are based on battlefield experience and revolve around finding weak points in the opponent's armour, thus giving Tsukahara an advantage against armoured opponents that he might otherwise have difficulty fighting.

A slight advantage at getting past armour, but mostly it's just a skill to represent his swordsmanship and his status as the style's creator. It's similar to Yagyu's Shinkage-ryuu skill.