Raineh Daze

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Round the front, the ashigaru phantoms had met a similarly grizzly fate. Shot, crushed, bisected, and generally approached with more firepower--and monstrous force--than was typical for a warring states-era battlefield, the spirits collapsed into dark ooze. Unlike round the back, the initial defence seemed to have been overwhelmed by the force presented, leaving the way clear to proceed through the surrounding walls--

Only for a harsh rebuke to ring out for the first of the vanguard team into the building proper. More arquebus-wielding ashigaru, fanned out to cover the entrance--although without much in the way of cover themselves, beyond their melee counterparts advancing on those that actually dared to intrude. Some stood in what had once been smaller gardens between the various hallways, but most stood lining themselves as the entrance headed away from the floor.

---

Sakura

Hm, maybe she should... yes. A small portal opened underneath the arquebus-reloading ashigaru, dropping it in front of Zhao where it could more easily be dispatched. That should let them get in without being shot at? Of course, maybe they could just try running past everything, but then they'd probably be surrounded and potentially stabbed to death violently...

And portals didn't leave much room for looking around. Not good, that, when you didn't know the cause.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Edwin rubbed a gloved hand against his chin. "If you want some practice that's more directly applicable to fighting a dragon, I could ask Parv and we could go outside the city. Do some things that Candaeln can't handle."

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Talderia

"Nobody stays dead here, that's not all that special. Tyaethe's killed Ed at least a dozen times," Florian supplied, shrugging before patting the disappointed and pouting Randon on the head.

"Your words suggest that you are not copies, or... whatever much of the population here is," the prince added as a shadow passed overhead, "If you were, then you would undeniably know this. Nor would it be likely that the chance to leave would be held in front of your face, nobody has ever been offered such a thing."

Once again, a shadow briefly passed over and, if someone were to look up, they would see a shammer of red-gold--

Before the ground shook under the weight of a dragon landing before them, its position visibly awkward for some seconds as it adjusted to one more comfortable that still avoided crushing the gardens. Or any of those present, for that matter. Quite unlike the usual presence of a dragon in a populated area, there wasn't a panic, or anyone reaching for their weapons--Prince Erion was even smiling slightly at Thrinax's arrival.

"Erion is correct. None in this place with an analogue in the world proper have ever been without an awareness of whatever their original self is experiencing," the dragon stated, the bassy rumble of his voice an odd contrast to the perfect, modern accent of Aimlenn, "I can tell you that it is, for example, raining across southwest Ithillin."

Thrinax leant forward, breath uncomfortably warm as he inspected the assembled knights. "Disappointing. If you wish to leave, you will improve; I know not what your second obstacle will be, but I shall be the last."

---

While the journey to the city had uncovered some important information--two thirds of their obstacles, along with the regular occurrence of festivals--it couldn't be considered entirely good news. Prince Erion's retinue might not have the individual prestige of the Iron Roses' forebears, but it was a group renowned for its teamwork and managing to form enough of an armed force on its own to contain Talderia's initial destruction.

And the less said about "we have to defeat a dragon", the better. At least it wasn't Volkstraad.

The information available within Candaeln was less useful for any immediate plans to leave, although Lilette could not only confirm the information about the nature of those living here in detail, she also had some understanding of the nature of its inhabitants. That was, as far as she or any other healer, or even random scholars, could tell, everyone was physically identical to some point in their life, even if their memories carried on until death. But on the spiritual level... in many regards, it looked and acted like a soul, yet it undeniably wasn't quite a duplicate--and the slight texturing to any mana used by the place's inhabitants showed that there was some other influence.

General diagnostics in that regard indicated that everyone there should have been wasting away and dying rapidly, though, so maybe it was for the best they were confined here.

The one thing the scholars could agree on was that even if the 'how' wasn't clear, there were plentiful theories that were all possible under the auspices of normal magic--nothing Merilia was displaying was witchcraft in and of itself. Except, of course, the utter scale of the place. That had to involve something else... but they hadn't answered that question in thousands of years, it wasn't likely to end any time soon.

Still, at least the knights were willing to train them. Or the rather grumpy-seeming one-armed rabbit that had taken up a room nearby.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Mansion Front

On the rooftop above, an armoured, spectral figure was taking care to level its arquebus at the targets below, the red pinpricks of its eyes shining with a dim glow not too different from the smouldering length of match sticking out of the antiquated weapon. But it was hardly the only one of the ghostly soldiers, nearly a dozen ghostly spearmen dropping off the roof with no sound other than the creaks made by their armour and rushing forward with spears poised to stab the interlopers.

---

Yakumo Sakura

"Oh, you were right, we're in a ghost story!" Sakura exclaimed, seeming... still far too cavalier about the ghostly soldiers that seemed to be attacking them, "But I don't think these are samurai. Even the ones with swords seem a bit..."

Cheap? Chipped? The swords definitely weren't any good, and the armour was definitely something made with a one-size-fits-all philosophy in mind. Or, presumably, it had been, the spectres' equipment definitely had an air of battle damage around it. Although, "we're under attack by ghostly ashigaru!" wasn't all that much of a step up from "we're being attacked by ghostly samurai" in practical terms, and it rather made the story worse...

Of course, as someone who was mostly brought on for her support abilities and not combat, there wasn't much that Sakura was equipped to do when spears were being brandished in her direction, save step backwards through a convenient portal to make sure she was screened by the actual combatants. One gateway briefly opened by the matchlock-aiming ghost's side, a tentacle briefly tugging its weapon down and making the first shot go wildly awry into the floor. Given the reload time, that one was... hopefully not a threat.

Fate/Illuminate Histoire

Tonight.

She had once again made a visit to the overseer, once again asking if they could just properly start this. No doubt most of the other Masters were already in place, so what good was it to hold off on starting? Yet she had been insistent they hold off and wait--what if this war were to be abnormal? What if killing a Servant early somehow lead to another manifesting? To make sure everything remained as secretive as required, the Church forbade taking any action...

Having to listen to the church was galling, yet it was unfortunately necessary. Even with a Servant by her side, taking on the Church was hardly a good move--and it would allow them to focus all of the Masters on herself at once.

Astariel drummed her fingers on the rough handle of the stone blade. As if that would have been a problem if the old man had listened, and allowed her to use this as a catalyst once more. What were the chances that a second war would have stood a chance against Heracles? Controlling him would still have been no problem, and if he was that averse to repeating a failed attempt then they could have used any container but Berserker. But he had been the one with the potential catalyst and insistent on trying something new.

At least Saber wasn't weak. Or, she assumed so; it was hard to imagine summoning a weak Saber, especially one that could so greedily draw on her own vast mana reserves. That, without catalyst, she hadn't summoned something from the Nibelunglied had been quite the surprise; as the owners of the Rheingold, it was almost the only obvious choice for their family to summon without influencing the results somehow. Yet, this blonde had been summoned instead of Siegfried, it was quite unusual.

But, her visit had paid off. Either the last Servants had been summoned, or enough, or the church had some premonition. Finally, the war would be allowed to begin. But that was tonight.

First... first, she would have her maids make her a cup of tea. And draw a bath. Then, maybe, there would still be time to visit one of those little bakeries she had seen? Obviously, the maids could make anything she asked for, but that required knowledge of what it was... and it would be more efficient if she wanted to try lots of things...

---

At the church, the war's overseer seemed... bored. As it turned out, being the overseer of the war demanded little time and attention--and unlike prior overseers, she had almost no parochial obligations, having only come to Japan for the sake of acting as the church's main representative in this war. Many of the Masters had already been through for one reason or another--the Einzbern being particularly demanding and impatient--and now it seemed that the start of the war was imminent.

Maybe having to actually maintain secrecy would be more exciting? It would no doubt be more interesting than furthering her Japanese lessons, given that it seemed nearly all of the Masters were foreign and would rather that she spoke something else instead.

Hopefully the last one wouldn't give her any funny looks. Yes, a nun was in charge this time rather than anyone of higher rank. Yes, her hair was silver. No, she wasn't albino, or a homunculus, or anything other than a human. Could they stop asking?

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Yakumo Sakura

The pouting girl wound up sulking for much of their briefing, doing her best to stick to the background... a task made easier by her size, then more or less impossible by dint of still being bright pink more than anything. While everyone else was running around making preparations, she drank her coffee and asked for more information... well, a map, more than anything, although going over the scenario again had her getting more and more excited for some reason.

When the group stepped through the portal and started to split up, Sakura was practically bouncing on her feet next to Zhao, frustration at her less than professional attire lost. Why she was excited... well, he was sure to find that one out in a second, as was Masaru. "Hey, hey, Zhao, doesn't this look like the setup for a horror story?"

That explained it. Of all the people she could be friends with, her closest was basically one administrative accident off being a slasher villain.

"'A motley group of characters all go to a dilapidated mansion people keep disappearing at', that's a classic, although at least we know people have been getting killed... oh, right, and we know better than to split up. That's in the manual, too, and it's even more important in a situation like this. I wonder if it's some sort of urban legend monster, or maybe we're going to get lucky and it's going to be a proper yūrei? I've always wanted to meet one of those, and this setup is just like..."

It probably wasn't too reassuring that all the stories and films she was mentioning now seemed to be schlocky gorefests rather than anything of partcular merit or complexity. Their mission definitely shouldn't go that badly.

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Garden

There was a small but polite cough as the elf watching them stood up--the green hair perhaps helping her to blend into the scenery a little much, but nonetheless having made it quite the poor spot to choose for a private conversation. At least, without asking Lilette to have left first, which might have helped.

"Why Miss Amy is able to determine that your... sister is not what she seems does not make it a deep secret. From as much as Tyaethe has told me about her... abilities, I expect that any sufficiently skilled healer, or many trained mages would be able to determine the same, if they wished to and wanted to make the observation. The shape and workings of the mind and soul are necessary subjects of study for the former, and often attractive for the latter, even if the ability to manipulate the latter is limited."

The elf's disapproving frown shifted into a small smile, "If you truly wish to avoid anyone else from discovering, avoid the collegiate mages of this Talderia. They have long had a particular fascination with those topics of study, and the chance to observe those from the outside world directly as a comparison will have them beating down the gates in no time."

@Octo@6slyboy6

---

Kitchen

"It's more fun if you don't play by those rules," Parvan said airily, ignoring the grumpy hmph from Raya, "Much more skill involved than just seeing who can keep the straightest face when they get lucky." Not that he gave much time for anyone to object to that oversimplification, "And if you ever want to make it more fun, then you can call out which cards are swapped. Oh, and there's a few spare decks lying around, if you want to get in on it properly."

"Which is why you all stop when Cyrus plays?" the hundi added.

"There's only so much disappointed looks anyone can take!"

Edwin's objection, oddly enough, didn't seem to be to the idiot part. Maybe he was used to it. "It's not like she remembers me as anything. Tyaethe and Lilette still know whatever happens to their original counterparts. She just... wasn't mad enough to do whatever it is she does when someone does something she won't accept in reality."

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Yes.

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Okay, that one kind of misses the tone mark on the RP by a wide margin, sorry. The idea is that while there are all these old magical lineages and random mystical things dating back centuries, they're generally presented--especially with regards to characters--in a much more modern context, alongside urban legends and general internet horror stories. "Here's a vampire straight out of the dawn of colonial empires" is just too far to really fit in. Particularly when the entire bio treats everything that's happened since the turn of the millennium as bsaically a footnote. We really don't want someone with 400+ years of combat experience and supernatural abilities in a cast mostly in their 20's or early 30's.

Plus, on entirely practical levels, "I am preferably nocturnal and will burn to death if my clothes are damaged" is a terrible idea when every other character does this as their day job.

@Sanity43217

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Kitchen

As might have been expected, Raya had no poker face whatsoever, or any attempt to conceal the backs of her cards--the girl was simply scowling down at her drawn hand as if expecting it to change anything. Of course, when it came to actually betting--the little pastries distributed out to the various players rather than pooling in front of Parvan--she was the first to drop out, nibbling away on part of her pool and looking over the newcomers with a bored expression.

Undoubtedly, the white rabbit knight would be the first of the little group to be out of the game. If not because she was so abjectly bad at it, but because she'd have eaten everything that she could possibly be playing with before long. At least she didn't take not being recognised by Gerard too harshly... even if it was for entirely the wrong reason. "Oh, I suppose it could be hard to tell my brother and me apart... I'm Raya, naturally."

Still, the other two of the old knights were a lot harder to read--Edwin looking bored with the entire thing, even as he pushed the bet up, and Parvan smiling away. And of course, both their hands were good. Not implausibly, but enough to pull a draw with Renar unless he wanted to push hard on the exact card values...

Although, from the slight quirk of Parvan's eyebrow, that hadn't been the hand Edwin was dealt. Not that it was clear when he could've swapped it.

---

Talderia

"Oh, there's nothing wrong with your clothes, I was merely curious what sort of fighters Flori had faced. My sister and I weren't included in the exercise, after all," Randon said with a shake of his head... and hands that were all too willing to help Fionn inspect his tunic. Preferably by taking it off. Maybe there was something wrong? Who was he to complain, and this would get him a better look.

A nervous laugh followed by a sigh was all Florian's acknowledgement of the debacle being put on before the prince. He, at least, appeared to be taking it in stride. Or simply following Fleuri's lead and ignoring the sideshow entirely.

"Training? That would explain the request I was given..." the prince said slowly, nodding, "The Stormcaller asked that my retinue be prepared to stop any from heading eastwards. I thought perhaps that she simply wished to rearrange the landscape, although the lands around Talderia itself have been kept accurate since the city fell in truth, but this makes more sense. "Does the mirror knight speak truth, then? You have been brought entirely from the world?"