SABER
"Your clear summons have been heard and answered, Master, by this Saber of the Knights of Fianna."
Source: The Fenian Cycle
Region: Ireland and Scotland
Alignment: Lawful Good
Attribute: Earth
Armament: Sword
Natural Enemy: Mál mac Ahel
Parameters
STR: B+ | END: B | AGI: B+ | MGI: D | LCK: C | NP: A
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Class Skills
Magic Resistance | A
Fionn mac Cumhail, with Saber and four other knights of Fianna, spent a year, a month and a day in an otherwordly shelter within Mount of Aige mac Iugaine. Their hosts were the children of Midir
of the Yellow Hair
Mongbuide
, Nature Spirits of the
. As thanks for their hospitality, on each of those days, Finn and his knights fought side by side with their hosts against the main faction of the Tuatha Dé, who wished to imprison the sons of Midir after a shift in rulership. It's evident, then, even from just one of many adventures, how the strongest combatants among the Knights of Fianna could repeatedly be met with the world of Mystery and rise up to face many of its heights head on. Had he been summoned in a different Class, this Servant's Magic Resistance might still only top out at B, but as a Saber, his mastery over the nullification of spells is at its most complete.
Riding | B
Saber's animal handling may have been somewhat lacking early on in his life compared to that of some of his peers, but since he managed to rein in his impetuousness, he's very rarely been put to shame by any of the other Knights of Fianna whenever it came to matters of mounts and hounds. Such expertise, of course, is now translated by this Saint Graph into expertise on handling vehicles of all kinds as well. Nonetheless, he doubts he possesses sufficient qualifications to become proper Rider-Class Servant, and thinks that, at least, if such an incarnation of him existed, it would be considerably weaker than his Saber self in a fight. Curiously, although they are neither aids in battle or to the hunt, nor prestigious big game, it seems that limber weasels are among his favourite animals.
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"My name? Of course. Not a hard ask from you. I am called—"
True Name: Mac Lugach
"...seriously? Here, too!? Like I haven't been dealing with this for long enough!? Why do I have to get stuck like this even now!? What's wrong with my first name, huh!? It's not even weird! And Fionn mac Cumhail himself named me! If not for me, get it right for him, damn it! How'd the formatting of my own sheet even cut me off!? No, in the first place, how hard is it to just use my name!?"
True Name: Gaíne mac Lugach
"Thank you. Ahem. My sincerest apologies for that uncharacteristic outburst. Now, please, let's get right back on track, Master."
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Personal Skills
Blessing of the Chieftain of the Fianna | A
A boon that Saber's grandfather Fionn mac Cumhail bestowed upon Saber at a young age and which Saber, in fact, thoroughly embodies himself. It also encompasses the dregs of Divinity that remained within Saber and signify his distant descent from the god Nuada. Due to being so closely tied to Saber's very soul, the nature of the blessing itself and of the benefits it provides often shifts according to the situations he undergoes. In some manners, this Skill is tied to Spiritual Evocation magecraft concerning the soul of Fionn mac Cumhail, as well as the strenghtening of Saber's own, which can, for instance, manifest as Saber's wounds clamping shut.
Once, the wise and valorous Fionn mac Cumhail was the leader of all of the Knights of Fianna spread throughout Ireland and Scotland. His progeny was numerous, and among them were the knight called Dáire
and the young woman called Áine nic Fionn. These two once showed up to him with a bundle and were all like 'Hey, da, we got
extraordinarily drunk, soz' and he was like 'You really screwed up big time. But hey, if I can't have any faith left in you, I can at least have some hope for the kid'. Fionn thus named the kid
, for he could certainly turn into a great man and a great warrior yet, further emboldening the ranks of the Knights of Fianna. Likewise, 'mac Lugach' didn't refer to his true parentage; it was instead an allusion to the many varied talents of the god Lugh, which the child would surely come to possess in time. Yes, it definitely didn't literally translate to 'son of the earthworm' at the time, nuh-uh. And so, Gaíne mac Lugach was brought up by one of Fionn's wives, Mongfinn nic Dubán, until the age of twelve, when the time came for his training to begin in earnest.
Recipient of a Legendary Scolding | B++
There are similarities between this Skill and the one known as Calm and Collected. Both are highly advantageous against mental attacks and interference, foregoing the chaotic reaches of an impetuous mind in exchange for presenting a calm exterior and achieving a perfect evaluation of one's surroundings. In Saber's case, this Skill becomes more and more powerful the more his mind is put to the test by mental assaults. Moreover, this Skill multiplies positive benefits applied to Saber. He can tell when things are genuinely going well, be it thanks to spiritual and material boons, or thanks to the likes of good advice and sincere praise: the feelings that can arise from any of these can greatly galvanise him. This Skill also draws on a collection of rigorously trained and deeply internalised kind manners such that Saber is allowed to reap its benefits even when he's completely seething on the inside. To put it in another way, Saber can harness the powers of forced politeness to a level very few others can.
The young Gaíne met with Fionn and the Knights of Fianna at the Rock of Dog-Droppings. There, he was warmly welcomed by his grandfather, and, in turn, swore fealty to him, joining the ranks of his knights at last. Thus, his training began. And, at first, it went disastrously. Horribly bad. Just the absolute worst. He wasn't just awful, he was so terrible that he was actively interfering with everyone else's performance, haughtily mistreating everyone's hounds and entourage without a smidge of restraint or self-awareness. They immediately stopped calling him Gaíne because it was absurdly unfitting and Mac Lugach only stuck because, well, they had to call him
something, and he
was the grandson of their leader, so, yeah. Eventually, it got to the point where the bulk of the other knights left him behind and went as a group to tell Finn that it was either Mac Lugach or them, and that they should've left the brat at Dogshit Rock to begin with. And so, Fionn soon pulled his grandson aside, and asked him what he'd even done to get all of the Fianna to hate him. Young Mac Lugach boasted that the only way he could make sense of it was that they all clearly hated how much faster and how much of a better fighter he was.
Fionn took a deep breath.
Despite the volume, the exact contents of what Fionn told Mac Lugach never became known to another soul. In most tellings of the tale, it often gets glossed as all sorts of wise advice on humility, generosity, and kindness. Either way, from that day on, Mac Lugach, who left the meeting with eyes nearly bulging out of his eye sockets and limbs shaking from head to toe, abruptly turned to a new leaf. He became famed far and wide as one of the most valorous of the knights, one of the most beloved by his comrades in arms: simply one of he was one of the best to ever do it. Even now, he hasn't forgotten any of those teachings, not even for a moment.
Strong and Keenly Destructive | A
One of Saber's many epithets, very representative of his fighting style as a Saber, often based on overwhelming his opponents at close range through extremely precise bursts of explosive power. The active component of this Skill enables him to raise his Strength and Agility by temporarily drawing on more mana and, let's be honest, channeling all of his suppressed anger, whether petty or profound, in a masterfully controlled way. Passively, this Skill heavily reduces the damage Saber takes from projectiles and completely nullifies the stopping power of all projectiles below A-Rank, enabling him to rapidly close the distance with his opponents of any Class. Lastly, as long as Saber is engaged in melee with an opponent, this Skill leaves no avenues of to disengage, cancelling out all means below A-Rank with which the foe may try to nullify bonuses on Saber or maluses on themselves.
Unfortunately, even after Mac Lugach amply redeemed himself, the usage of calling him by name only in the rarest of occasions stuck, especially among the poets spreading tales of adventure, who tended to agree it often worked out better for the metre anyway. Well, one day, by a hill by the sea, Fionn mac Cumhail and his entourage found ten women carrying heaps of treasure. Their leader introduced herself as Áife nic Alb mac Scoa, and the rest were her serfs. She had fled from her husband, the prince Mál mac Ahel, and come from Scotland to Ireland with the hopes of putting herself under the protection of the Knights of Fianna, whose tales she'd learnt to admire. Brave, bright Mac Lugach, she confided, was the one she most wished to meet in person, to finally discover what kind of person this knight, the only one whose deeds were more famous than his full name, could really be.
Mac Lugach was out hunting elsewhere and missed all this, but Fionn, whose generosity had yet to start waning, filled him back on the details as soon as he came back, assured him that his battles would be the battles of all the knights as well, told him not to mess this up, and left him and Áife nic Alb to each other, which was honestly really awkward for him at first. He put up a mask of conventional polite courtesy at first, unsure on what to do about this strange woman from another land that got so interested in him specifically in part on the basis of something he disliked about the way others treated him. However, as the evening went on and they continued to converse, his admiration towards her grew more and more, and a feeling of genuing anger towards the violence of Mál mac Ahel swelled within him, burning far more bitterly than any of the grudges he'd experienced before. When the Scottish prince came with his batallions to demand Áife nic Alb back, Mac Lugach didn't hesitate for a moment to meet him in the field of battle. Their fight went on and on, almost covering each completely in the other's blood, but Mac Lugach, closing the distance for one last time, finally cut off Mál mac Ahel's head.
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Noble Phantasm(s)
Weapon-Rack of Valour of All Fían-Life
AIDLENN GAISCID NA FIANNAIGECHTA UILE
Type: Unknown | Rank: A | Range: Variable | Target(s): Variable
Perhaps the most meaningful epithet of Saber. Given the name of this Noble Phantasm, you might expect Saber to have access to the weapons of all other Knights of Fianna, or to be able to perfectly imitate their fighting styles. This isn't a wholly wrong assumption. However, that is not the case. He's much more than a blind imitator. He can be considered a repository of the virtues of the Knights of Fianna, because, learning to follow with convinction in time the path they had laid out for him, he came to share that valour organically, and they all came to trust him when it counted to the point that they would even go as far as letting their most prized weapons in their care. Or, at the very least, that was the situation during the prime of Saber's life, when his life with Áife nic Alb flourished and the Knights of Fianna were fighting as one rather than slaughtering each other. Saber's recreations of his comrades' many weapons, as they seemingly appear from thin air, are actually simply similar projections uniquely suited to his own needs and fighting style. Saber's recreations of his comrades' feats, at a closer glance, are actually completely new inventions, taking inspiration from the singular deeds they'd performed to create techniques belonging only to himself. Contrary to those that hold the opinion that the new must always be inferior to the original, Saber wouldn't have it any other way. And, in his mind, the other Knights of Fianna would feel the same.
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Interactions
Lancer - Fionn mac Cumhail
"I never thought meeting you in the prime of your youth would be possible, let alone that it would be so inspiring. (Seriously!? I knew grandfather used to be different when he was younger, but this is too much!! I've been supposed to take lessons in humilty from this pompous fop all this time!? Will he quit bragging already and shut up about how popular he is for a moment!? Hey!! Are you messing with me, old man!? Damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you, damn you!)"
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Originally Posted by tsugumi
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