Hey, cool, people! Nice to see all this interest; I'll probably drop an OoC in a few hours or something.
Now, question answering time again.
@Instigator: Nope, no Lovecraft access in this world. Even if there was, it's not something I'd allow a player to have access to, since... Well, look at the usual end result of people coming into contact with those beings.
But yeah, no, no Lovecraftian horrors here, friend.
@Silvan Haven: Great question! Yes and no. It's more of a collaborative effort in this case, where the RPer in question is more giving stuff to be vetted first. If I like the name or the ideas of the Anchor better, I'll shift plans accordingly and retcon before they're formally introduced to the RP itself.
Basically, if you want to do the extra work, then by all means do it, and if it fits with what I had in mind (or is better), it'll become the new canon.
The main thread for the RP is now live! You can get a quick link to it from here.
Fairstone City, located on the West Coast of the United States, is a city that only recently crossed the boundary between 'urban' and 'not'. Supporting a hefty population of over 750,000 people and comfortably situated alongside the water, the growth of the region is not something to be looked down upon.
Of course, that only applies if viewing the city from a "normal" perspective. To the groups of Contractors—Anchors—acting within society, Fairstone is simply another region to spread their influence—especially considering that the United States as a whole may as well still be a relatively clean slate for them to expand into. To what ends that influence may be used or what it holds in store, of course, matters not to those who seek not to gather or to destroy, but instead protect with the powers they hold instead.
That, of course, refers to the members of Soulflame: a new faction of Contractors, based within the United States, that only sprang up in the last few decades. Their goal, simply put, is to keep the multi-faceted war between the Anchors at a standstill and prevent the encroachment of their progress into the nation any further. Though their goals may clash at times, it remains to be seen what will come of all these groups meeting in this land.
Magic
Magic, as it stands here, is all based around 'contracts'. Contractors, people who perform these rites, are able to borrow the abilities and powers of higher beings (a category that includes deities, angels, demons, youkai, etc.;) and use them for themselves. No contract is without a cost, of course, but one thing remains constant regardless of the parties affected: to break a contract means to pay a 'fee', and things like that are never cheap.
Contractors and Contracts
Contractors are, as stated earlier, are the people who make 'contracts' with higher beings. Their ability to contract with specific higher beings usually depends on a person-by-person basis—while bloodline may play a role in how often a certain figure contracts with a family, it is not a one-size-fits-all sort of deal. In fact, the opposite is true; sometimes, a completely normal person may have a higher affinity towards making a contract with an upper-class deity than an nth generation descendant of a carefully pruned bloodline. The difference, of course, lies in the ability to make contact in the first place and the affinity between said person and the target deity.
Contracts, unlike most binding law documents of the modern era, are flexible—they bend, change, and warp depending on the parties involved. Most Contractors are low-level contractors in any given organization. In other words, they can only invoke elements and ideas that their contracted party has dominion over (for example, Zeus and lightning magic go hand in hand). As a Contractor gains more familiarity with a deity's power, then they can seek to 'improve' the contract that they already hold. The means to do so, of course, differ on a case-by-case basis, but that steps beyond the power of simply invoking an affinity and into being able to create a sentient familiar of their target deity if they so choose, as well as higher-level magic, proficiency with equipment that said deity might be famous for, and so on and so forth. This, naturally enough, leads to a rank that people are seldom able to even see in action—directly borrowing the authority of a deity to act as they so desire. Even the lowest class of higher being is difficult to become attuned to, but even doing that goes beyond what most middle-level Contractors will be able to defend against, much less fight directly.
Contracting a being usually requires some sort of connection—whether it be by sheer luck or some sort of connection (usually in the form of something the Anchor has). There is always some degree of luck involved in making contact in the first place, though, and more often than not higher beings will take offense if you cut off communications with them midway. Negotiating is not the only way of creating a contract, of course, as higher beings are often subject to their own whims and may cut an easier or harsher deal depending on what they see from the one making contact in the first place. Rarely will they reach out on their own to make contact with a human, though, and rarer still will they break their word. Gods of trickery and some Outliers, of course, are the exceptions to all of this, and though not all Outliers are malicious, they may hold their own goals as more important than the lives of a single (or many) humans.
Of course, breaking a Contract is a severe thing, and one that is often punished by those who are most in tune with that being on Earth. Whether that means a fine, the disappearance of family, eternal torment, or even death... Once again depends on the level of authority that a deity has and the sway of those who are contracted to them.
Hierarchies of Beings
Higher beings can be divided into four distinct categories: 'Upper Deities', 'Deities', 'Supernaturals', and 'Outliers'. Contractors will ever only contract one Upper Deity if all the stars and planets align and they were born under an auspicious star (a fancy way of saying that they hit the jackpot when they were born) or if they managed to somehow work hard enough to catch said deity's eye, but all the others are, for the most part, open for discussion with people who can contact them in the first place. Of course, most Contractors opt to make a Contract with a single Deity (ideally) and maybe a Supernatural (or a few, depending on their strength), but once again, this only really applies to those who have the potential to do so. Contracting two or more Deity-level beings is almost never seen, but the rare cases that do manage such a feat are valued highly by the Anchors that they are a part of.
A general idea of each category is as follows:
Upper Deity: These are the most famous among their respective pantheons, and are names that are known the world over for their power. Odin, Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, Osiris, Horus, Ra, Izanami, and Izanagi are just a few examples of this class of deity. This category also includes beings such as archangels, such as Gabriel and Michael, as what the three major monotheistic faiths of the modern era see as God is notably absent among this list.
Deity: These are the other gods and archangels not mentioned among the prior listing. Though they may not necessarily pale in comparison to upper deities in terms of strength, they are also more open to conversation with humans in general. Examples of this include Thor, Athena, Ganesha, and so on and so forth.
Supernatural: Anything not encompassed by "Outlier" resides here. This category includes demigods, people who were deified after death, and even a few named creatures famous for their feats in life reside in this category. A common trait, of course, is that they all share some form of divinity or divine ancestry.
Outliers: This is a category that contains a mishmash of beings that may be considered 'less viable' or 'secure' than the other three. Examples of beings in this category are beings such as the Titans, beasts such as Fenrir, the giants of Norse mythos, or possibly even some of the famed beings that terrorized Japan (such as the Yamata-no-Orochi or Taira-no-Masakado). Not only is contacting these being more difficult, but it is also INCREDIBLY dangerous to do so without prior preparation, as many will just as easily swallow a Contractor whole as they might simply strike up a conversation. Of course, named demons (such as those in the Ars Goetia) are also among this number.
Other Supernatural Creatures
Creatures not in the listing of 'higher beings', such as dragons and their ilk, do exist—however, they are few and far between, and most are now either kept in secret captivity, hidden away within the far reaches of the earth, or hide right in the middle of human civilization. All of them are intelligent to some degree, but they cannot contract with higher beings (unless they gain enough power to be directly subordinated) and can only be taken on as familiars by humans otherwise.
For the sake of this RP, beings in this category are not playable as a 'main' character. They can act as pseudo-NPC tagalongs, though, but only a maximum of one per player (and even then on a case by case basis).
Anchors
Anchors are the factions that represent any given pantheon of a religion—for example, there exists an Anchor for Greco-Roman gods, one for Norse gods, and so on and so forth. Generally, members of an Anchor will be contracted to one or more beings under the domain of their pantheon (or sometimes, none at all), but each one's individual goals vary wildly depending on their abilities, history, and sometimes even sub-faction.
For the purposes of this RP, only three characters from other Anchors will be allowed in—this number is subject to change based on the population of the RP at any given time. Each Anchor's name will be hidden until they become relevant in the RP, at which point the 0th post will be updated with their information in turn.
Soulflame
Soulflame is a group that originated in the United States (and is based in the United States) that has been slowly gaining traction ever since the end of World War II. It wasn't until this point, when the other Anchors had to retract resources to help their home nations recover from the war, that they were able to form in the first place.
The goal of Soulflame is, in essence, to keep North America neutral in any power-grabbing schemes on part of any of the Anchors. They exist as a deterrent to the Anchors but also seek to aid in a more globalized world. In other words, they incorporate technology into their operations just as much as they do Contracts and familiars and other such concepts—a fusion of old and new, if you will.
Most, if not all player characters in the RP should be a part of Soulflame.
Notes
RPers may only have up to two characters in the RP, not counting any pseudo-NPC subordinates.
I'm not going to be TOO picky about who can access what level of being, but at most there should be a single lower-middle level Contractor among the starting group (assuming the number of RPers is somewhere around five to seven). Two people with Upper Deities at most, and if an Upper Deity is contracted, no other Contracts at the start. Deities are fine in general, but keep to a single Contract party for now.
I want to stay away from 'teens save the world' in general, so the ideal age range is about 20-24 on average for a younger member of any given group. Child geniuses may be options, but... One at most, and I'll be scrutinizing any form like that for detail.
If you plan on making an Anchor character, I want to see the rest of the form before I give the name or goal. The character will help inform the rest of the group's actions and structure, for the most part... Assuming it gets through my QA.
If you want to figure out where a specific being lands on the hierarchy chart, you need only ask.
Any other questions? Also feel free to ask here; I don't mind attempting to answer any inquiries that pop up.
In any case, here's a form for those interested.
Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
History:
Affiliation:
Level:
Primary Contracted Party:
Abilities:
Skills:
Other:
Of course, since this is an interest check, nothing will be set in stone until a suitable amount of people throw their hats in the ring. This RP will remain open for the forseeable future, after all, so please, feel free to poke your head in if you wish to join.
There was a distinct sagging of Leo's shoulders as he heard Klaus' estimate for the office's renovations. While the young man wasn't exactly fazed by the projection of time in and of itself, it was still kind of hard to wrap his head around a New York City that did stuff... Well, normally, really. Under ordinary circumstances, even the city could be rebuilt in a few days' time.
Maybe that was just a glimpse into how warped his sense of scale had become in Hellsalem's Lot.
"So... In other words, it'll take a while, huh?" he asked, sighing. It was possible to hire people to help (which was a bit risky) or ask the others here to lend a hand (also risky), but that really couldn't be helped assuming they wanted to get Libra up and running again.
Ennis' sudden entry into their conversation caused Leo to clam up, however, as the topic of Libra had been drilled into his head as something that shouldn't be discussed by its members. After all, making known the fact that they were agents was bound to cause trouble, not to mention how that might all lead into the topic of his All-Seeing Eyes of God. And so, Leo did what he thought was smartest given the circumstances.
Take a big sip of water and let Klaus respond for the both of them. It wasn't a life-threatening situation, after all, so it was probably fine to let the person who was better at talking to talk in their stead.
The waiter who Meteora called over pondered her questions for a moment before shaking her head no.
"Well," he began, hands crossed over the tray in front of himself, "the nearest subway line is a few minutes' walk away, ma'am, and I don't believe any of the nearby buildings have been undergoing recent renovation work. However, the manhole—"
Before he could speak any further, though, the smell of food and the arrival of the waiter who had taken their order earlier (with a fair amount of dishes laden with food on a pair of trays) caused him to draw back. The fact that his co-worker was eyeing him for seemingly gossiping on the job didn't help matters either, and so he meekly stepped back to help put the plates of food out in front of the patrons.
Yuyuko's eyes seemed to shine at the assortment of food laid out in front of her, and, rubbing her hands in excitement to try this foreign food, only gave a cursory glance to the side to see that the wine that Ennis had ordered was being poured out. Tipping her own glass out slightly, the ghost watched as the deep red wine filled her cup before smiling towards Youmu.
"Of course, that much is certain. Just as a great sake should be paired with a great flower-viewing party, no?" she replied before turning towards Youmu. "Youmu, come now, you should try some of this as well. You might not get this chance ever again~!"
Hinanawi Tenshi
Tenshi had a proud smirk on her face as Mordred said that she could tag along—not that she would listen if she was told otherwise, of course, but the fact that she hadn't been told to up and leave was more than enough to inflate her ego. The arrival of Evangeline on the scene was somewhat expected and somewhat unwanted, but at the same time it didn't seem as if Mordred had any idea about where to go.
To be frank, though, she didn't, either.
"Did something happen back at the ba..." she began to ask, trailing off as something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
Or, more accurately, a lot of things: crane machines, lined up row after row inside an arcade on the block ahead. It seemed as if the chaos hadn't really spread enough to cause everywhere to close down shop, it seemed, and despite the situation it seemed like there were still a fair few people inside this early in the morning. In an instant the Celestial jumped beside the Knight of Treachery and, pointing towards the arcade, gave a wide grin.
"We should check that place out! I've never seen one back in Gensokyo... Or even heard about them from that weird child from the Outside World yet, for that matter. Come on!" she said excitedly, an almost childlike naivety about her as she gleamed at the pair she was with.
"Alright, then, Nanoha," the Private responded, letting a little laugh slip as her companion entered the car soon after she did. "And yeah. He's a bit of a brickhead sometimes, but he certainly cooks some good food. I'd be happy if you could slap him upside the head for me a few times if he's a bit too lax on the job, though."
The banter had raised the mood of the atmosphere, at the very least, and the drive to the aforementioned restaurant in Yoyogi felt like it passed in the blink of an eye. Private Minami, of course, could see where Nanoha was coming from with regards to the idea of 'going to a normal school to make friends', but that celebrity factor was going to be a worry that would poke at the back of her mind for a while to come.
"Well, it's not a matter if you can afford it or not, but..." she trailed off before shaking her head. "No, it's fine. If it's just that, then I can help fill out the paperwork for your transfer without too much trouble."
The rest of the ride went by without incident, and before long the pair had arrived at their destination: a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant that seemed to have few (if any) patrons inside. The smell of freshly-cooked fish and white rice wafted out of the entrance as the Private opened it up, and the sound of a ringing bell followed by a "Welcome!" from the chef caused Minami to respond in turn.
"It's been a while, Sakajima! Everything fine here?" she asked, taking a seat at a nearby table as the chef turned towards the pair.
"Yeah, just a few earthquakes is all. What the heck's been going..."
Of course, said chef began to trail off as he took a look at Nanoha and stared blankly for a moment.
"Hey, wait, don't tell me..."
"Yep, it's just as you think. Anyways, Nanoha, just ask him for whatever you want. If it's Sakajima, he'll manage... Somehow."
"A first name basis, too... You can't be serious," Sakajima laughed, shaking his head in disbelief before smiling. "Ah, whatever, talk can come after food. Just tell me what you want, and I swear on my pride as a chef that I won't disappoint you!"
The giant wolf (now stuck in Hibiki's iron grip) flailed around for a moment, glancing around in slight disorientation as it searched for the cause of whatever had suddenly swatted it out of the air. Its teeth remained firmly clamped around the sword in its mouth, however, as it finally realized that it was a human that had caught it. After realizing that it wasn't going to be released any time soon (and that it couldn't attempt to do so due to some unseen force), the wolf simply let out a whimper and relaxed. It had been trained to fight, after all, but if the people in front of it weren't hostile (well, maybe except for the one that had launched it here in the first place), then maybe it would be fine.
Of course, that situation changed as soon as the sound of a horse neighing combined with the revving of a bike engine began to approach the group, and soon enough that same biker from earlier that had attempted to dissuade them from moving further into Ikebukuro was in front of the group once more. She seemed to turn towards each of the people present in turn, half in disbelief, before immediately typing out something onto her phone and showing the resulting message to the group.
"What's going on here?! Without even figuring out why that wolf was jumping around the city, you decide to slap it down and capture it! I was following it to see what it was planning, but—Aaagh!"
It was clear that the biker was frustrated by their actions, of course, but it wasn't like she could help the situation any right now. The wolf, on the other hand, silently glanced warily towards the center of the region. It almost looked like worry—if, of course, any of the people present could discern that sort of emotion from an animal's visage.
The sudden "generosity" of the new Caster caused Keisuke to pause for a moment, half unsure of what to make of the act before deciding that looting the corpses of the risen wasn't exactly all that bad of an idea. Sure, it wasn't exactly... Ethical, in any sense of the phrase, but without anything else to do to get them any actual food (and given that the snacks that Nero had packed didn't exactly count for all that much in terms of nutrition), it was... Well, it was better than nothing.
It took a little bit of waiting, of course, but eventually Skuld had managed to get enough weapons and armor (that looked to be of half-decent quality, though getting them into the town without excessive wariness was a trial all its own) to trade for some goods. The merchants, of course, were happy to oblige, as even if they weren't in the best of shape all of what they had been given could be remade into something better. Probably.
It had been a few hours since they had finished purchasing whatever it was that they had needed, and given that Siegfried was currently being given a place to stay on behalf of the townsfolk for protecting them, the group had all ended up... More or less relaxing and preparing for the skirmish to come. That in and of itself was fine, at least, but with the sun starting to set it was only a matter of time before combat would begin anew.
Tomoe Gozen
As she watched the sun slowly begin to set, the Archer took a deep breath before picking up her bow from where she had laid it down earlier. If what Siegfried had told them held true, then it would only be a matter of time before the undead would come to assault the city's (now reinforced) walls. Of course, this was a siege regardless of how one phrased it, and that only meant that her role as the rearguard was all the more important.
"Master, should we be heading out soon?" she asked, looking towards Keisuke before receiving a slight nod in return.
"It's... Just about sunset, so that'd probably be for the best. Siegfried?"
"My wound from earlier has recovered thanks to those pastries from earlier, so I should be ready for combat. Let us depart."
Almost as if on cue, the setting sun heralded the rise of more of the undead from beneath the snow, but what caught the Archer's eyes was the ghastly blue flame that was slowly encroaching upon their current position. The culprit was obvious enough, given what had happened the night before, but what was more intriguing was the fact that the Servant was now being flanked by wolves; not only that, but the undead rising from the earth seemed to be far greater in number than the hordes that they had decimated the night prior.
"Hm. Do you think this is a response to our arrival last night?" Keisuke asked, calmly surveying the snow-covered fields with a stern gaze.
"Almost certainly. In any case, let us begin tonight's trial," the Saber responded, taking a deep breath as he leaped off the town's walls and into the horde of zombies before beginning to cut his way through. As if on cue, the Servant in the distance also began to close in, the wolves by her side in close pursuit.
"No fancy stratagems or trickery? How fortunate," Tomoe remarked, a glint in her eye as she began to fire away at the wolves in an attempt to lessen their numbers before they reached the walls. The zombies, at the very least, she could leave to the others to clean up for the moment.
Tiral simply nodded as the Captain went along with Indrau's suggestion, only taking the offhanded mention of the orcs' numbers in passing. To him, something as vague as 'a lot' would serve no purpose in judging their numbers other than to mentally remind himself of various debilitating spells that could reach across the area. In terms of efficiency, there was one idea that came to mind, but... Well, if anything, he'd have to see how large the enemy forces actually were before putting any plan into action.
Taking after Tyaethe, the mage-knight promptly dismounted from his horse and tied its reins to a nearby tree before attempting to scout out the enemy forces from their location. Hopefully, the enemy wasn't already aware of their movements toward their encampment; otherwise, it was very likely that they might be forced to retreat before the fight event began.
"Captain, how do you wish to proceed from here?" he asked, peering through the brush before attempting to set up a weak clairvoyance spell. Ideally, it wouldn't have enough of a magical response to trip the enemy's sensors (assuming they had any), but that also meant that the quality of what they would see in turn wouldn't be particularly clear, if anything.
The hawk-winged Caster gave a slight, bittersweet smile as only one of the Knights in their group took her tea. She acknowledged the fact that her medicines might not have the intended effect on Mordred, all things considered, but even so, having the situation defused to this extent was still better than nothing.
"Good, good~! It's better to be relaxed before you go to the fray, no? It's a shame, Archer, but I guess it can't be helped," she remarked, giggling for a moment before her Master made a suggestion of her own to help the team out. It certainly wasn't something she was opposed to, after all—making Mystic Codes and all that. If anything, it meant more time alone with her Master, and there was no way she'd pass something like that up.
"Of course, I don't mind helping my Master here with a project like that. If everyone else here is fine with that, we can get to work... Tomorrow, maybe? If there's nothing else to worry about, of course~!"
The Caster's response was not something Keisuke was particularly happy about, though that didn't mean it wasn't an answer he hadn't expected. It had been fairly obvious at a glance that Brynhildr was corrupted, but if even a Caster-class Servant from an era as old as hers couldn't figure out an answer, then the problem was probably rooted in something deeper.
"Hm... Well, it can't be helped, then," Keisuke remarked, shrugging his shoulders as he turned to Siegfried. "We should regroup with the others now; do you know their current location?"
"They seem to be at the marketplace right now," Siegfried remarked, leading the way as if expecting that might be Keisuke's next question.
Tomoe Gozen
"...So, nothing, then?"
The Archer couldn't help but sigh, not only at how things had progressed, but also at her own incompetence. She was a warrior before she was a speaker, but even so...
"Archer. Caster. Lancer. We're back... And with company."
The sound of her Master's voice caused Tomoe to turn, only to see that a young girl with the signature of a Servant was following after both him and Siegfried.
"Have you had any progress?" Keisuke asked, to which the Archer simply shook her head in defeat.
"I regret to inform you that I strayed from my goals and failed to obtain any relevant information. Saber is currently attempting to trade for some food for you and possibly learn of things by means of small talk... Or so I presume. That being said, though..."
"...Nothing to trade?" Keisuke concluded before sighing. "Well, we can talk about our plans for the night over lunch or something of the sort, assuming we can get something to offer..."
With the other orders taken (and Mr. Sharpton's face blanching at Ennis' order of wine), the waiter for their table nodded and simply marked everything down before leaving to deliver their order to the kitchen. The official treating them was crying inside at how fast his expected budget for the meal had been overshot, but all things considered, it was a small price to pay for... Well, people who could down two giant wyverns flying around the city without breaking a sweat. Leonardo, however, seemed just as worried as their host, though for different reasons entirely.
"Ah... I wish I had a suit or something. This place feels way too fancy with my usual clothes all worn-out like this..." he moaned to himself as the shaking of the water in the glasses became more pronounced. As soon as Leo noticed it himself, though, he paused and quickly glanced outside the window. It didn't seem like there was anything outside, even with his All-Seeing Eyes of God, but the floor was shaking nonetheless.
"Maybe... From underground...?" he wondered out loud to himself as the shaking slowly began to subside... Or, at the very least, began to move away from their location.
Whatever had just passed was leaving now, and it wasn't like they could simply blast through the ground to figure out the cause without causing even more issues for everyone else here.
"I-in any case... Klaus, does the office have the same layout as the one we had back in Hellsalem's Lot? I don't mind sleeping on the couch again, but that's really only if the place doesn't need to be remodeled overnight. Actually... Without the usual staff, how long would it even take to make the place look like normal again...?"
Yuyuko, on the other hand, was calmly staring straight at Ennis. After all, she had only ordered food at the end of the day, and had no idea what all those fancy drinks on the menu even tasted like. In other words, the woman in front of her would probably know what alcohol here was worth trying, if anything.
"Hm...? Was that a bottle of rare alcohol or something of the sort that you just ordered?" she asked, leaning forward with a bit of a gleam in her eyes. "Would you mind letting me have a taste when it arrives? After all, fine drinks are best enjoyed with company, are they not?"
Hinanawi Tenshi
The Celestial wasted no time in following after Mordred, opting to glide along to floor to catch up with the blonde knight rather than run in order to move faster. She, of course, shared similar sentiments about how the meeting had panned out, but at the very least there was someone here who gave her an easy route out of that boring meeting. It reminded her of those gatherings full of officials that her father made her attend on occasion, and those were always boring enough to put her to sleep.
"Hey, wait up! If you're gonna explore the place, then I'm gonna tag along! No ands, ifs, or buts!" she declared as Mordred walked into a store of some sort to buy some food. Tenshi was momentarily awed by how clean the place was compared to the shops in the Human Village, but quickly brushed it off before going off to buy some food of her own. There wasn't necessarily anything that struck her fancy, though, so in the end she decided to pick up an onigiri (with just an umeboshi inside, of course) for a snack. After all, her target was already leaving!
Without any further fanfare, Tenshi dropped a pair of 100-yen coins on the counter before continuing to give chase.
"Actually, do you know this place, or are we just going to wander around until we find something interesting?"
The Private glanced at the people present as they split up, leaving just Nanoha behind to take her up on the offer to eat. Of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but if possible she'd have liked to keep tabs on the others...
"Oh, was she sleeping? Well, I wouldn't want to disturb her, then," she said, crossing her arms as she walked out of the room and towards her own (personal) car parked alongside the road. "We're going to be riding to Yoyogi for breakfast, if you don't mind. There's a nice cafe there run by an old friend of mine, and knowing how much of a workaholic he is, the place is probably still open. Assuming nothing weird happened overnight, at least... That's a flag, isn't it?"
Once she opened the door to the driver's seat, however, the Private paused before remembering the exact details of Nanoha's request earlier. Given what she knew, it wasn't as if the young lady in front of her was going to simply slip in as a transfer student this easily, especially given her semi-superstar status even among children...
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask, Ms. Takamachi, but is there any school that you had in mind? The things being taught in a normal classroom might be a bit too low-level for your liking, so I was thinking that you might want to try your hand at some high school or college courses... Not to imply anything, of course!" she said hastily before slipping into the car and starting up the engine. Of course, this was all assuming that those schools were still open after the chaos (which was likely), but even so...
Shokuhou Misaki
The sudden arrival of a man who wouldn't look out of place in a yakuza film or Chinese gangster movie caused both Misaki and Miku to flinch and stop in place. From just his actions alone, the former had a premonition that her ability, as usual, wouldn't work (which itself was starting to become a bit troublesome). The girl beside her, of course, seemed hesitant to move, which was more than enough of a cue for Misaki herself to start trying to help them squirm out of the current situation.
"To be quite frank, sir, I have no idea what's going on over there," Misaki stated, gesturing to the chaos that was only now beginning to unfold. "It does seem that way, though; I'm not sure why there's a giant wolf in Ikebukuro in the first place, though..."
Hopefully, this would be enough to at least cause the man to leave them alone; attempting to take over his mind seemed like nothing if not an exercise in futility, and that... Wasn't exactly a possibility that she wanted to entertain for the moment.
The wolf was, quite obviously, taken by surprise when Tohka attacked it (or, more importantly, the sword it was wielding) mid-leap. The impact threw the large beast straight towards Hibiki, but despite that fact the sword remained firmly within its grasp. Of course, the wolf was not some magical creature that could easily shift direction and orientation in midair, and thus was thrown completely prone towards the brunette.
With the matter of handling the fairies settled, the mage-knight calmly followed behind the rest of the group (and away from their miniature guides). It was already settled that their method of assaulting the enemy base (given the current squadron of knights) would be a frontal assault, and given that Tyaethe was probably going to be leading the charge, there wasn't much to worry about in regards to breaking through. The problem instead became protecting everyone else, though. All things considered, it was probably for the best that he would simply act to protect the Captain and the rest of the Knights as they charged in. To that end, though, it was probably better to act independently so as to not be caught up in the crossfire on the off chance that the enemy launched another blast like the one he had deflected away from the captain on the battlefield earlier.
"I second that suggestion," Tiral added, nodding his head in assent. "If anything like the attack that was fired at the Captain was directed with any higher amount of force or intensity towards us, I do not believe we could come out with all our bodies... Well, intact."
Of course, further elaboration on their method of attack would be ideal, as committing wholly towards an attack on a magician holed up within their base was suicidal without proper measures taken...
And, quite admittedly, they didn't have enough of those to hand out to everyone present in the first place. If anything, attacking the base from multiple angles might be ideal, but that necessitated scouting out the enemy encampment first...
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