Parallel Hearts

Fate/Crimson Dusk

@vancexentan

PS: Perhaps I should be a little more clear about this in order to avoid problems. The reason why I asked who you would be willing to take in when I apped a Servant is simply because you seem to be underestimating the capabilities of the Archers you mention as "balanced" by quite a lot. It feels like you are only looking to see who has a big nuke as an NP, or hax skills and deciding to ban them, but you forget that Servants (canon ones at least) have feats to exemplify and compare their abilities as well.

Just to point out three of the primary ones you seen to be taking too lightly just because they don't have an Enuma Elish, or Brahmastra under their NP section:

- Arash: While he does have an incredibly powerful NP, it's not practical to use so let's ignore it for the sake of argument. He's still the Archer with the longest range shots in the whole franchise, with the capability of shooting so fast and with such power that even Arthur has a really hard time defending against his arrows. At his best, he can literally cover the whole sky with arrows that hit like a truck, with enough power and area of effect to demolish the best part of Shinjuku if need be in one single volley.

- Tristan: Not only he's actually a Saber with a bow (thus being to hold himself in melee with great ease), but also just read Failnaught's description and you'll realize what kind of terror he's capable of inflicting on others.

- Atalanta: She's the second longest ranged shooter in the franchise (literally she can shoot people down from the other side of a valley), but also is able to track Jack the Ripper despite the fact that not even Chiron (with his far greater potential) was be able to. She's also an expert and hiding, and moving silently, and the fastest mortal of the Greek Age of the Gods (with only Achilles being able to outrun her). Also, she can snipe people across a pitch-black forest with super fast arrows painted in black so that it's impossible to see them coming (and thus, all but impossible to dodge).

There's a lot of other things that I could say but I guess that the gist of it is that it's not only NPs and skills that make up a Servant. Abilities, technique, and the potential implied traits granted by their legends and lore make a lot of difference as well.

Just to be clear once more, this isn't me being condescending or anything like this. I just want to make sure whether or not you understand the potential of Servants that don't have a NP capable of blowing a city in a fell swoop

I'm sure that the enemy is capable of many things, and I certainly am going to take whatever is it you say that they do and accept it. I just really want you to understand what Atalanta is capable of doing or not, so that you don't affect her with things she's supposed to be able to counter.

I hope that was understandable. And apologies if it sounds too forceful, but you really come across as someone who only looks at the raw stats sheet of the Servants and forgets to check their feats and abilities. Also, apologies if I misunderstood this side of yours as well, but when you said that I was "overhyping" Brynhildr, or that Arash is a "normal" Archer, or that Lancelot's Knight of Owner is "useless" in a forest, it got more or less evident to me that you don't know what many Servants are truly capable of.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

The idea is the servants go in first, clear out the more physical obstacles, Monica, and other illusionists/skilled masters dispels them, we move forward. The Greys are directly in the middle of a circular forest. There is no going around them, and they're purposely holding themselves shut up in their own territory. They're forcing us to attack them in their territory in order for this war to actually continue. The enemy servants uses the traps, and defensive terrain to pick their fights. Some of the aggressive ones may make bolder moves.

The true danger lies in the servants being backed with fake images, and hampered terrain. They are also effected by it but know better because they're aware of what is where.

@vancexentan

I see.

But why is it that Caster can't be the one handling any harmful spells instead of putting humans who can be killed by a breeze (from the point of view of a Servant) in harm's way?

Also, while I see these issues, I still ask you to understand that Atalanta won't be significantly impaired by illusions and bad terrain. Or rather, knowing her feats in canon (again singling out Jack inside the Mist, especially when Murder of the Misty Night and Presence Concealment are also part of the equation, is supposed to be nearly impossible to do). And as far as bad terrain goes, that's the sole reason why Crossing Arcadia even exists, to cross through incredibly bad terrain (and even jump over enemies in battle) while suffering little to no impediment.

I'm not trying to trivialize your obstacles, but in this case, Atalanta's skills and abilities are more or less a serious counter to everything you mentioned. And that's not even taking her Archery into the equation.

Again, I don't doubt that a Caster can make it hard for her to navigate around. Hiding in a hole behind tons of bounded fields is more or less what Casters are *supposed* to do best. But illusions (regardless of grade), traps (since she does know how to lay traps to hunt Phantasmal Beasts of Age of the Gods caliber, even if she doesn't have the tools to lay them down while being summoned as a Servant she still has the experience and senses to notice them way ahead of time), and uneven terrain, are things Atalanta is perfectly equipped to deal with.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

@vancexentan
PS: I should say that I'm not complaining about the circumstances of the story specifically, like Caster reducing Atalanta's efficiency, but rather trying to understand why the human mages have to be involved in what amounts to a mass suicide by going face first into this death trap that's nigh impossible to cross even for one of the Servants most well equipped for the job in the whole of Fate lore.

Even sending other Servants there, instead of finding a way around, would be a bad idea in my view if it's so impossibly hard to get through this forest no matter how skilled at this one specific field of activity you are.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Sincerely, she'll be opposed to the idea of having humans go with them inside enemy territory. Even other servants dragging around behind her are a detriment to Atalanta's skill at operating independently unless they can keep up pace with her (which is nigh impossible, especially in a forest as impossible to cross as this one seems to be).

The idea of having humans follow the Servants into a death trap right at the heart of enemy territory is nothing short than asking for suicide.

Also, while I'm sure that there are people who can make it hard even for Atalanta to do her job, especially when it comes to Casters. You should also keep in mind that (among the canon Servants) she's the second best Hunter (losing only to Herc) and fights toe to toe with Arash for the title of best Bow(wo)man over all when it comes to actual Archery skills.

If there's something out there that even she would have difficult hunting while inside her favorite niche terrain, sending normal humans there would be nothing short of suicide which doesn't make any sense at all for me.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Atalanta will certainly help but the Greys, and Enemy Caster as previously stated have made sure this forest is anything but ordinary in other words a lot of traps, and illusions. They're in for the defensive play just something to keep in mind.

@vancexentan

I see.

Though this is nothing that Atalanta hasn't dealt with before either in her legend or by demonstrable feats. If she can accurately track down and shoot Jack inside her mist, there's little to nothing in the Nasuverse that she can't notice. And as far as traversing magical forests go, she is born and raised in Arcadia at the prime of the Age of the Gods with the blessings of the Goddess of Archery and Hunting backing her up.

If it's a woodland, and especially if it's at night, it's safe to say that it's impossible for Atalanta to not be able to traverse it no matter how high the defenses laid around it are.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

By the way.

Yeah it was overcrowded and abrupt. Plus people were feeling bad because we were running like 3+ different things to detect enemies and search for traps, and still got jumped. So this time around hopefully you can keep in mind when we make perception checks, or send cannon fodder in to test for landmines and whatnot.

Anyway splitting up is usually good. Leaving teammates to guard the base or try different paths through the forest is probably a smart idea.

@ManyThings

If tracking and woodland traversing & navigation are that important, you can just leave that to Atalanta. Those are some of her specialties after all.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"I see," Hifumi replied as someone else—a man named Jack, apparently—who had just entered the office spoke to her. She didn't show any signs of an overt reaction, but the truth is that every moment that passed made her less and less impressed with this group. Judging by the faint smell of blood that she could feel wafting from Mr. Jack, and the way the other men behaved, she was finally able to figure it.

There are truly magi who think with their fists rather than their brain, huh?

Hifumi brought a finger to her lips and smiled mischievously. "That much goes without saying, does it not?" she said in a disarming tone.

"Perhaps I should have been more specific with my question, right? I was—am—more interested in the reason why I—or rather us—were summoned here instead of being sent straight away to our destination. Is a briefing really necessary when the situation is this clear cut? Or perhaps it maybe to make us aware of the stakes at hand? The nature of the Holy Grail War? Or something else entirely? Having an inquisitive mind is only natural for us magi, is it not Mr. Jack?"

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I wouldn't count on Hifumi being part of any battles. A mage isn't supposed takes such a direct action in a conflict between Servants, after all.

For the most part, she's going to play by the book, keeping inside her workshop while being both protected and hidden by several layers of bounded fields.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

Hifumi didn't imagine the day could get any less interesting. Introductory Formalcraft classes were far below her level, yet she had to preserve her reputation and thus gave her whole attention to her morning classes.

Thankfully, she had an appointment that felt like it would ease her up, in the afternoon.

Until the time came, she spent the rest of her break at the library examining an unpublished manuscript said to belong to Britain's greatest writer—William Shakespeare, a man that's often compared to her own ancestor when it comes to prominence in their respective literary spheres.

—𝚇 𝚇 𝚇—

Hifumi arrived at Director Orson's office as soon as the appointed time came.

The room was simpler than she expected it to be. Perhaps it was a statement of the man's sobriety, nevertheless the fact that it was occupied by three old—and unappealing—men made she frown in an almost imperceptible way.

"It's only expected..." she thought as she closed the door behind herself.

As soon as she did so, Hifumi bowed and introduced herself, "Good afternoon, I'm Murasaki Hifumi, of the Fujiwara Clan. May I ask why is it that you summoned me?" she said in a tone.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Not that I'm trying to discuss the way you do things or anything like this but, writing in a concise way—using only as many words as needed—requires far more skill than you are giving us credit for.

Even on this same franchise, which isn't known for being brief (or simple), almost always everything you need to know about a character that's not related to their abilities—backstory, personality, etc.—can be summed in a single paragraph as we see across the many entries of it.

It's only natural that some people would try to write in a way that feels like the source material we are all sharing, is it not?