Matou Shinji and the Broken Chains (HP/FSN CYOA)

[alfheimwanderer]

Ah, fair enough. Those two will work.

Choice 358: [x] Getting a good vantage point of the island as a whole so he knows where he is; [x] Testing his abilities, and finding out what the heck is up with this mantle

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Choice 359: As Matou Shinji headed out into the wilderness after a surprisingly decent breakfast with Ramona, the boy considered his priorities and found that they hadn't really changed from when he first left the village. He still needed to find out where he was in relation to the rest of the island - and to try and get a handle on the kind of dangers that lay between him and the center, where Elesa either was or would be.

And, well, while he was doing that, it would probably be a good idea to see just what his body and mind were capable of, to make sure the vials/ofuda that Ramona had recovered for him were intact and would function as intended, and to see what this mantle about his shoulders was, and where it had come from.

What's his strategy?

[ ] Find a place to camp while Zelkova scouts (with the familiar carrying a flow ofuda), so he can better test his abilities in peace
[ ] Proceed on foot, with Zelkova watching his back - a high level overview of the island's layout isn't enough
[ ] Just climb a tree where he is and look around
[ ] Go into spirit form to avoid any physical obstacles, while sending Zelkova in another direction to cover more ground
[ ] (write-in)

[Malorius]

[x] Proceed on foot, with Zelkova watching his back - a high level overview of the island's layout isn't enough

This is going to delay the results, true. But.

Camping seems like the fastest solution, but it leaves us to practice without overwatch, open for ambush. Climbing a tree is simply not enough. And the amount of Fading actions appearing in recent votes makes me suspect that there is an addiction already at play. Just no.

There is no ideal solution here.

[sileaf]

If we are testing, a safe place seems better.

I want to get testing done first before exploring the area.

[X] Find a place to camp while Zelkova scouts (with the familiar carrying a flow ofuda), so he can better test his abilities in peace.

I am hoping Shinji is taking precaution that he isn't testing anything more than ofuda on his own

[Malorius]

Sileaf, you basically vote to discard orienting and focus on testing. Is that what we really want?

[sileaf]

Isn't it a vote whether we do orienting or testing first?

Now that i reread, my vote is basically option one...so fixing it

[Malorius]

I judged that all options include both our general goals, just in different levels of priority.

The first one is trying to do maximum in both without regard for Shinji's safety. The second is trying to train on the move, which is harmful for results - middle ground. Third is quick scouting of surroundings to proceed with full training after it. Fourth is maximized scouting with all training left to nebulous "later".

Feel free to correct my assumptions, Alf.

[sileaf]

Camp is meant to be a place deemed safe though?
And yeah there is risk, rather than Zelkova being far away, maybe he is just out of sight? And shinji can just flow to zelkova's side.

I vote for testing/training first because it makes more sense to prepare before exploring rather than having to fight without knowing how much his ability changed or finding out it doesn't work.

[Skull Leader]

[X] Find a place to camp while Zelkova scouts (with the familiar carrying a flow ofuda), so he can better test his abilities in peace

I agree with sileaf here. Makes far more sense to bunker down for a bit, learn the mantle's ability while Zelkova figures out where we are so that we can go toward the center of the island to Elesa, assuming she does not find us first.

I admit it is somewhat risky to split the pair up especially since Shinji is being hunted down and has no armor. But the mantle's ability to help Shinji hide is super critical to learn. Though if he starts turning into other people's forms, he going to make it that much harder for Elesa to find him (if she is of course even fooled by the item). But we learned flow and picked it out of all the other ofuda to make during the break for a reason. It should help at least lessen the danger of splitting the team.

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 359: [X] Find a place to camp while Zelkova scouts (with the familiar carrying a flow ofuda), so he can better test his abilities in peace

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Choice 360: Having decided to camp out for a bit to test his abilities, while Zelkova scouts, the next question is where make camp. Given that Ramona mentioned appearing at the shrine they'd cleared during the preliminaries, that facility was presumably not too far away (and he was sure Zelkova could find it for him, so he could flow to it), but perhaps it would be better to find somewhere not as visible from the air.

[ ] Send Zelkova to find the shrine so he can flow to it - its a known good spot
[ ] Find the campsite that Mischa once stayed at - it has a Wiggentree, so it will be safe from beasts, at least
[ ] Find somewhere very sheltered, like a cave
[ ] Just set up camp where he is, using his ofuda to create a boundary

[sileaf]

Shrine has risk of meeting other champion
Mischa's former camp risks Mischa being there plus i remember there's potion ingredients growing there too
Camp where he is risks Shinji's safety from beasts and stuff

Cave it is. It is obscure and chance of stumbling into a quest.

[x] Find somewhere very sheltered, like a cave

Edit:
The mantle will be fun. I am thinking Shinji can use it to pretend to be a Servant and Master (Psst...Sakura) interchangably to make it as if he is a normal participant.

Or allying with Rin and use it to be her body double at times too.

[Skull Leader]

[X] Send Zelkova to find the shrine so he can flow to it - its a known good spot

A cave is a bad idea. First Shinji/Zelkova has to find one, which takes time. Then there is the issue of whatever is inside the cave since wildlife likes caves as well. And given that we already found one cave near the old Team Camp, I really do not want Shinji to stumble onto it again, half remembering it. All while standing at the burnt corpse with the Sprites flying around that might affect Shinji. And from there its the wet tunnel or that wonderful rock that leads us to a prison. No caves please. This is not the time for a side quest. Complete the current goals of figuring out where we are, and figuring out the Mantle before stumbling onto another quest.

The old base is good enough for our purposes. It is not like we want to stay there for long. And frankly being spotted from the air can be a good thing, as we want to be spotted by a certain Thunderbird.

And sileaf, I am confused, why would Shinji ever willing dopplergang himself into the form of Sakura...she is dead. There is no scenario that I can think of in the upcoming HGW where looking like Sakura would be a good thing. And as for looking like Rin, I think that this Rin would heavily twist Shinji's action of looking like her. "Shinji must be curious about my body or attracted to it since he seems to want to play with my body but was too much a gentlemen to just take me"

[sileaf]

Maybe, maybe not.
There is too much uncertainty in what kind of cave they will find (dice roll?)

Well...being outed as demi-servant will make him somewhat a speciment to be studied?
Or it isn't a big deal? I don't know how it will be viewed if it is known or what kind of trouble it will attract.

[Malorius]

[x] Find somewhere very sheltered, like a cave

Let's not get into fights if we can help it.

Misha's previous camp is out because the probability of his visit there to harvest is higher than most other places on island - it's simply not wise.

There is bound to be someone oh so clever to stay in the known location, and we don't want to meet anybody now. We are a persona non grata on this tournament, unfortunately.

I don't want to be found by Elesa until we are finished with training. A man should have some secrets even from his friends. Especially from his "friends". She is a nice girl, I guess, but that's a very... questionable... Noble Phantasm we are talking about here. Mantle is full of bad juju conceptually, iirc.

If we choose to hole up, let's go all the way.

[Skull Leader]

I don't want to be found by Elesa until we are finished with training.

I am sorry but come on. She has the armor that we need so we do not die as soon as we get hit (assuming that Shinji not fused, which is super likely when he sending Zel away). Caves are not mystically save areas. You also have to find them which wastes time. But more importantly how long do you really think she is going to spend looking for Shinji before she just gives up and considers him involation to their agreement. I don't think we have altogether a lot of time to waste. Getting spotted by her early is a good thing.

And what god darn reason do we have to hide this training of his Mantle? She already knows far more than Shinji does about what happen against the Jinn. She saved him...stop treating her like she is some enemy. Sure she might not like Shinji enough to be a friendly ally but there is nothing this Mantle does that going to surprise her if we hide it from her. And given that Shinji suppose to be helping her as by the contract, then Shinji is not going to go around hiding the Mantle's abilities from her when his life is at stake when they run together.

The time for Shinji to hide anything from Elesa was over as soon as Shinji signed that agreement. He going to have to show all his cards if he going to survive the first floor of where he is planning on going, let alone the rest of the place. Hiding stuff from her will get Shinji killed.

Frankly if you wanted to go find a cave, then you all should have just taken the Fading Potion as you could find a cave far faster and far safer than trying to find a cave entrance that wildlife/champions will use.

A cave is a waste of time and runs counter to what we need at the moment so I am strongly against it. If Shinji had a cave he knew about, then sure go for it. But the cave that he might remember from last time is ill suited for Shinji's needs and is also known by others.

Edit: Had an idea just now. Shinji is an earth element user. Could he just like do what people do in Minecraft here for a first night shelter and dig a small room underground with his earth power? Like make a small cave so that he can practice his ability without having to really find a big cave on his own. I could get behind this as no one would know about it other than Shinji and Zelkova. It might need an air source but that can be hidden.

[Skull Leader]

Change vote to [X] Write in: Dig a small earthen room underground using Zelkova and Shinji's Earth ability so that he can have a safe unknown place to practice in.

This should still cover the advantage of the cave idea but at least prevent it finding a place that already has someone or something in it. An earthen bunker could be useful to have at a later date you never know.

[alfheimwanderer]

I don't want to be found by Elesa until we are finished with training. A man should have some secrets even from his friends. Especially from his "friends". She is a nice girl, I guess, but that's a very... questionable... Noble Phantasm we are talking about here. Mantle is full of bad juju conceptually, iirc.

If we choose to hole up, let's go all the way.

Back into a cave is it?

Also, SL brings up a fair point about the contract - should Elesa believe Shinji to be in violation of it, well...the breach of contract clauses built into those scrolls are pretty stiff.

I'm on #fatehg again, btw.

[sileaf]

The purpose of the training is so shinji doesn't get killed by wildlife and hostile champion.

Skull leader brings out fair point about Elesa already knowing more than us and those geass's violation is decided by Elesa? *sigh* better find her soon after then after training.

This works to hide from view, might want to set up bounded field around it too.

Basically camp where he is but out of sight?

[X] Write in: Dig a small earthen room underground using Zelkova and Shinji's Earth ability so that he can have a safe unknown place to practice in.

[Malgos]

Change vote to [X] Write in: Dig a small earthen room underground using Zelkova and Shinji's Earth ability so that he can have a safe unknown place to practice in.

I guess I'll throw my vote in for this then.

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 360: [X] Write in: Dig a small earthen room underground using Zelkova and Shinji's Earth ability so that he can have a safe unknown place to practice in.

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Choice 361: Under the circumstances, Shinji wasn't willing to take the chance that someone would discover him while he was in the middle of his experimentation, in the event that they were hostile (like Mischa). Even if they weren't, the prospect of someone like Labelle finding him when he was like his was...embarrassing.

'I don't want her to see me like this...'

Nor did he want to meet Elesa without figuring out how his abilities had changed, since he thought things would go...poorly if she thought he was holding back, or deliberately sabotaging her by acting inept.

As such, taking over Mischa's old campsite was probably a foolish idea - it had too many ingredients nearby for someone not to want to salvage things from it. The shrine might be better, but a building was an obvious source of refuge - and place to check for treasure or other things (speaking of which, he did need to find an artifact for Touko, but that could wait), and well, it was likely something else had moved in after the defeat of the trolls and their dark master. And as for a cave...

'No. I've had enough of caves for now.'

At least, he'd had enough of natural ones, inhabited by beasts, spirits, or what have you. The concept of being underground to avoid detection was still sound, so he asked Zelkova to create a small underground room with his Earth abilities, a space which he could practice and line with ofuda so that what was within would not leak to the outside.

That done, he sent his familiar off to scout, with a flow ofuda in case a good vantage point was located, while rigging his wand to produce light.

What is most important to him to test? (Sort from highest [1] to lowest priority [5])

[ ] The mantle
[ ] His ofuda
[ ] His vials of potions
[ ] His earth/water abilities
[ ] His runic abilities (light enhancement of clothing)

[Skull Leader]

Ranking I can do.

Mantle>Runes>Ofuda>Earth/Water>Potions

I think we are in the hole to test this Mantle so have to go with that one first. I am not even going to debate this. End of story it goes first.

Runes - I put second in the hopes that we can at least have some protection or enhancement as an underlayer. I am not sure how good it would really be when done by Shinji and quickly but it is better than nothing. We can't half ass this one. We either need to go high like 2nd or shove it at the very bottom. This thing would take some time and making it even more half ass would be bad.

Ofuda 3rd because before we start using them left right and center we need to make sure that they are in good condition and will work without having issues with them since they were slightly burned. If we can make a couple more non-flow, I am not going to complain too much as long as we don't spend that much time in this hole. But I don't think we need to stop everything and go hog wild with them at the moment. Consider this Elesa is likely to be find with Shinji taking time to make Ofuda for their expedition into Hell. Rune layer for his protection not so much.

Earth/Water are our main magic tools so any work on that is good in my book. Thought I do not want to move it any higher than middle since too much magic in this hole is likely to attract unwanted attention. But considering that we just built this hole I don't think we really need to excerise these two skills for now. We have more important things to work on in my mind.

Potions and Elixir I think can wait, even if this IS the potion championship. We need to not ignore them but I rather get all the other stuff up and running before we turn to potions. Thought I can see swapping fading with Earth/Water so that we can work on the information given by Ramona and try to figure out how to resist some of the negatives calling of being a sprite. And I am just going to admit we are not here to win the PC any more. I want to finish our potion but survival takes priority.