Parallel Hearts

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Technically, Caster and Rider are already summoned as well. What I think is that everyone just wants to some sort of development before posting again since there's not much that happened other than the rituals. We may as well at least move forward a bit to allow more replies to come.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

I know the basics of Brynhildr's story but I couldn't find anything that suggested when it happened, in terms of what year or even what century.

I'm mostly just trying to figure out if Bryn was still a Valkyrie when Harald lived, ruled and died and whether she would have any idea of who he was because of her duties. It's not important, since Berserker won't show her any recognition either way, just wondering.

@King Cosmos

Oh, I see. Well, Bryn was banished before the end of the Age of the Gods for sure, otherwise Odin wouldn't be meddling in the affairs of the mortals as directly as he does in her backstory. Or at least I think this must be the case since you know... the Nasuverse likes to be vague about lots of things.

Either way what's certain is that Sigurd's story takes place around the the tail end of the 5th, to beginning of the 6th century. No matter how you look at it, Bryn was sleeping under Odin's curse for at least a few centuries before her beloved knight came to wake her up.

Nevertheless, if Harald ever fought with Sigurd (as his backstory states) it's more or less certain that they would know one another. Bryn was a really well known figure during that time, after all. Plus, her armor and spear are canonically made of mythril, a metal that doesn't exist on this world but anyone involved with Norse mythology probably should be able to recognize on sight.

Brynhildr is really a super distinguished figure in the lore.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Apologies if there are any above average number of typos in my last post. I squeezed sometime to post it as quickly as possible in order to help us move forward soon, but I didn't have time to review it at the moment.

If there's anything hard to understand, please let me know.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

Hifumi remained silent on the way to the main hall. In her mind, the only possibly worst place to perform such a ritual if they wanted to secure secrecy would be the middle of the street, but pointing the discrepancies in Orson's speech and actions could only entertain her for so long.

As soon as they arrived, she spared the time to acknowledge and return Monica's greeting but didn't even bat an eyelash towards the buffoon that followed. She couldn't understand what was happening or what the Director and the idiot-in-a-magus-cloth spoke of even if she cared for it. Instead of that, she focused on a much more important task, wipe away the silver dust and redo the summoning circle in a manner that fit her mystical foundation.

Hifumi knelt on floor in a manner not much different from the foulmouthed mathematician mage that accompanied them, and began to rewrite the summoning circle with her ink and brush. While she did so, she already proceeded with the incantation necessary to do the summoning, though it came not in the form of words, but rather verses in a particularly archaic variation of her native language that was nearly impossible to comprehend even for native modern Japanese speakers.

Her lyrics were nothing short of a short poem of heroism as her hands danced across the floor skillfully. Once she was done, she finished by placing her catalyst at the center of the rebuilt circle, shining golden bridle, no wonder belonging to a marvelous steed.

And so, Hifumi poured magical energy into the lifeless inscription and thus, a legend that transcended time and space was about to be reborn.

𝙰𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛 - 𝙰𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊

Equally, the circle rebuilt by Paula shone and burst to life as a gracious figure coming from the Golden Age of Mankind, the pillar of Western Civilization, Greece during the height of the Age of Gods, took form in its center.

Considering Paula's interest for mathematics, it was natural that the Argonaut who answered her summons wielded a bow. After all, marksmanship is nothing but the purest and oldest form of math applied to warfare and daily life. Even if it's done by instinct, the calculations are still there.

However, this Archer probably wasn't what her Master expected, at least in terms of appearance. Instead of a princess of incomparable beauty, Archer was someone that looked more animal than human. Her swaying tail and ears, as well as her fierce eyes and golden hair that looked like a magnificent mane, turning slowly to the same hue of green as her clothes, all of them gave the impression of beast instead of a person.

Nevertheless, when she turned around and faced her newly christened Master, what came out of her throat weren't the roars of a wild animal, but rather a composed and elegant voice (speaking in an outdated dialect, probably by choice) befitting her Archer's true identity. "I am the Archer Class Servant who answered the call of the Holy Grail. I ask of thee, Master, is thy fight one to protect the future of this world's children?" she said, in a very unusual variation of the words meant as an acknowledgement of the contract on the Servant's side.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

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.

@King Cosmos

I'm pretty sure she lost it when she chose to marry Sigurd.

@vancexentan

She got banished and demoted to mortal by Odin way before she met Sigurd. It was after she supported a human king that was supposed to lose a battle against another king who was blessed by Odin.

When Sigurd awoke Bryn from her slumber she was already a mortal for a long time.

You can find it all on her description in the wiki, though the full details are on Prototype Fragments which is certainly hard to get.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

On my end, we can move right ahead, for sure.

I don't think there's anything else to do before arriving straight on the base since we could just assume that everyone knows everything about all Servants, unless one of them is feeling like keeping secrets.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"Well now, if that isn't a surprise," Hifumi said after she listened to Orsons's words. "Half of what I meant to say is pretty much the same idea the Director just talked about. Bounded fields are my forte, if we can locate their keystones—or whatever is it that they use to mark their boundaries—it's just a matter of time for me to be able to undo a section of it. Or..."

"I can also try to rewrite bounded fields. But this isn't something I believe that will be helpful unless we can secure the whole boundary line at once which would be rather hard to do given the circumstances."

"Lastly, my second plan is something that I believe some of you might appreciate. We can just try to destroy the boundary lines without having to deal with the bounded field itself. It's a temporary measure since any decently created bounded field would be able to repair itself as long as the keystones remain intact, but it's the easiest path ahead. Sadly, my magecraft isn't suited for such brute force applications of power."

"That said, I can at least cut sections of it temporarily which should be enough if we ever find ourselves in dire straits."

"Either way, if we are done here, I suppose that we can move forward, right?"

Fate/Crimson Dusk

Alright I'll allow the mystic code. If it were on a more offensively capable mage I would be more hesitant but as it stands Gandr is the only spell capable of real offensive style, and it is a cast from body, not mana.

@vancexentan

Thanks.

Like I said, she's not a fighter so it's alright.

Hifumi's deal is being an specialist mage with a very great deal of skill in a narrow field of expertise. Fighting is naturally not part of it.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

@vancexentan
Ok, there you have it, an edited CS:

Master

Name: Murasaki Hifumi「紫火風水」
Nicknames: N/A
Age: 19 years
Gender: Female
Master of:
Command Seal Location:
Origin: Circular Flow「The Wheel of Samsara」

Personality: Hifumi's has a complicated personality as is expected of any human being. However, her regular self is a bit of diva. Because she's truly gifted and from a respectable bloodline, she tends to have a very big ego. Even though she's really self-centered, she's able to back up her words more often than not. That said, confusing Hifumi's ego with cruelty isn't appropriate. She's more likely to ignore than to torment others if they don't interest her. However, she does have a soft-spot for those she considers "interesting individuals", regardless of what that means.

Biography: A descendant of the one and only Murasaki Shikibu who's an extraordinarily talented writer and mage on her own merits. She was born out of an arranged marriage, to the Second Owner of Japan's most powerful spiritual grounds—the city of Kyoto. From her earliest childhood, Hifumi never disappointed her parents, always showing what the combination of a privileged bloodline and proper upbringing can do. Not only did she excel at magecraft, but also in her mundane tasks as well. In fact, by the time she concluded high school and moved to England to continue her magecraft education at the Clock Tower, Hifumi had 4 published novels all of which are on track to become modern classics of the Japanese literature.
It's expected that after learning about the Holy Grail War—a ritual that she was well acquainted with since it originated from her homeland—Hifumi jumped at the chance of taking part of it. After all, it's nothing short of her obligation to recover this "wish granting device" and bring it back to where it belongs.

School of Magecraft: While Western Magecraft isn't her forte, the basics of the General Magecraft taught at the Clock Tower are like a children's play for Hifumi. Along with knowledge of what may as well be considered a mage's best friend—the nordic Curse Gandr.
However, the Foundation of her magecraft lies in the exploration of art. Most specifically, in the written form. It's a subtle type of magecraft excelling at Bounded Fields—especially when combined with Hifumi's talent wit Imaginary Numbers—and Mental/Sensory Manipulation. In a way, it can be considered the perfect magus' art, a product of boundless at beauty and refinement. Or at least this is what Hifumi thinks of it.

Skills/Spells List:
【Gandr】The only actual directly offensive known by Hifumi. It's essentially a simple sickness curse that has been crank up enough to the point it becomes capable of hitting targets with a power similar to a handgun's bullet. It's a really simple and economic spell—with plenty of interesting variations—for a mage of Hifumi's talent, which allows her to use it more or less at-will (in a manner similar to Rin).
【Bounded Field Creation】The primary use of her magecraft, however it's not a combative one but rather the ability to generate advanced bounded fields with a wide range of effects. Given the fact that this falls under the category of a ritual, the concept of daily usage really doesn't apply here but for simplicity's sake 12/day is probably more than she'll ever do.
【Imaginary Numbers Magecraft】Imaginary Number Space manipulation, this isn't a magecraft that can normally be used on its own but rather as a mean of augmenting Hifumi's Bounded Fields, as such it falls under the same limitations as them.
【Japanese Witchcraft (Poetry/Lyrics)】A specialized form of magecraft derived from onmyōdō and other forms of Far Eastern withcraft styles. As expected, it's forte are curses and spiritual manipulation, applied to writing. A sympathetic type of magic that relies on producing the likeness of others—and thus, influence their—through words rather than a physical or spiritual connection.

Based on the axiom that "a writer creates a world whenever they put their hands to work", a universal through that—even to this day—is recognized by anyone who has ever read a book in their life. With the same ease, that they create a world, they do change and shape our perception of reality itself.

Words are powerful weapons. "The pen is mightier than the sword" and, for this reason, shaping reality with them is easy.

While the bounded field creation aspect is what Hifumi focuses on the most, using her words to create barriers, and zones that are almost completely cut from reality—shaped by nothing but the power of her imagination—thanks to her ability to tamper with Imaginary Numbers Space.

In fact, her strongest bounded field is simply the ability to create a "line" that separates space by producing a small "gap" leading to Imaginary Numbers Space. While it's not wide enough to use for travel or to dump others into, it's a barrier of near total isolation that displaces space around itself. She can also create bounded fields that camouflage the space around themselves, curse others and a number of any other advanced effects.

Naturally, this also allows her to store her magic in specially prepared mystic codes in the format of scrolls, in a manner similar to that of those who practice Gem Magecraft.

Specific uses other than bounded field creation and alteration are:
【Curses】The ability to change other's fate. It can go from giving them a headache, causing them to stub their toes on a staircase, all the way to tripping down stairs, losing the lottery, to even deadly sickness and outright death by accident or illness. On the other hand, these can also heal, help you find a lost item, find your way out of a maze, among any number of benign ways to alters one's fate. Sadly, a curse to win the lottery is a bit too high level for Hifumi. Effects that rely on affecting the bodies and minds of others who also possess large magical energy reserves are notoriously hard to accomplish, but alteration of external fate is far more possible. 12/day
【Rewriting】Altering existing magecraft to fit one's needs. As long as Hifumi is able to comprehend the workings of someone else's foundation, she can rewrite their magic to fit her will. This is not very useful in a combative manner (like the rest of her magic) but can work like a dispelling effect. It really shines when dispelling and altering the effects of lingering magic (especially those that relies on glyphs), making it very suitable for destroying others' bounded fields, and counter cursing. 12/day.
【Imaginary Song/Phantom Poetry】The ability to create a world through words and reflected shadows. This is not an illusionary trait but rather the shaping of Imaginary Numbers Space into something that can affect reality through the careful application of words. In essence, it creates "that which does not exist". Hifumi uses this to produce Imaginary Familiars able to influence the world around herself. However, since they aren't real and "do not belong" in reality, their appearing is vague and foreboding to anyone who hasn't read, or heard, the story Hifumi created for them. In essence, they look like blobs of shadow given physicality, but since they aren't real their shape is limited by the observer's imagination until it's "fixed" by an external source. A concept similar to that of the Schrödinger's Cat, in which the reflected shadows both exist and not until being confirmed or denied by an onlooker. This can also be used to generate "phantom attacks". However, as expected of Imaginary Numbers based effects, they are almost worthless against "things that exist" but very powerful against things that "don't exist" including others spells and all manner of spiritual bodies. Though, it's unlikely that Hifumi is powerful enough to seriously harm any existence greater than a familiar or non-incarnated demon. 12/day

Mystic Codes:
"Ink blacker than shadows
Paper whiter than snow
A fox's tail brush dances in the poet's hand"

A conceptual set of implements used for Hifumi's art. They are amplifier type mystic codes helping her focus and control the flow of her magical energy much better than if she were to do use undignified tools to work her craft.

"A robe of the finest silk
Twelve layers within
A maiden wears it"

A magnificent twelve-layered ceremonial kimono, used solely by those who belong in the Imperial Court as princesses and ladies-in-waiting. A set of formal wear that Hifumi usually doesn't make too much use of because it's cumbersome to wear and seriously limits her mobility for daily life purposes. However, if she wears it while practicing her writing, inside of her workshop, it further amplifies her magecraft skills to a nearly unbelievable level. It's a tool that stores an enormous supply of magical energy, soaked into every of its fibers.

For all intents and purposes, whenever Hifumi is wearing her ceremonial robes, she can use twice as much magic as she would normally be able to. Even though the output of every individual spell doesn't change, just their quantity that increases.

Amount of Magecraft Mana: A

Other: She has a pair of servants to help her with the complex process involved in the preparation of her magecraft, as well as work as maids serving her in all needed purposes.

I didn't actually change anything but rather just elaborated further on what her magecraft is supposed to be able to do. I hope that this makes Hifumi more interesting since now people have an idea of what to truly expect of her.

Fate/Crimson Dusk

𝙼𝚞𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚒𝚏𝚞𝚖𝚒

"Apologies, I may have gone a little too far when I questioned the director's ability as a magus," Hifumi said, answering not to Orson's fit of rage but rather to the Church ape who perhaps was a more sensible person at some level. Nevertheless, even though she said so, she never meant it, not that it would be evident from her usual neutral voice. This circus was more than proof enough that Orson was no doubt one of the many who bought his position at the Clock Tower, instead of earning it.

Either way, that didn't matter at the moment. Not when the others were finally coming in, or getting up, to leave.

While Hifumi couldn't agree more about the fact that this meeting had been nothing but a massive waste of time, she hadn't said everything she wanted to yet.

"I believe you have misunderstood my words. I said that the Greys are laughable. I never said, or meant to say, that I would be underestimating them. That they are hardly worth the title of magi and, nevertheless, spit in our face with their so-called 'superiority' is a major offense that any real magus wouldn't take lightly."

"That said, I do question the purpose of this reunion in the first place. How are we supposed to build a strategy based on flawed——no, nearly non-existent information?" Hifumi said, looking at the files provided by Orson.

"If there's no information to be had about our opponents' abilities, what good is it to know that they are entrenched within a fortress protected by a powerful bounded field? That's only natural of any magi. Only a fool would rush into their territory without thinking ahead."

"Just knowing that their forest is 'impregnable', and 'hidden from commoner's eyes', without knowing anything specific about their individual abilities, and the identities of their Servants, tells us nothing. So, what kind of strategy are we even supposed to come up with?"

"However," Hifumi said while tracing her fingers over one of the photos of the dead scouts, "I do have a strategy—actually, two—that no one seem to have come up with yet. I can speak it if you are interested. Otherwise, I'll keep it to myself until you are willing to listen to it. That said, I too would like to move forward with the ritual. What I have to say can be explained in the journey to our destination. There's no point in remaining here if there's no actual information to be gained from these files."