Personal Skills
Le Roi Danse (A+)
The King of Dance. The Prince of French Musicians. Revolutionary of Court Ballets. Those are but a few titles Lancer was known for in life. A multi-talented performer, Lancer redefined the French baroque movement through his musical compositions, court ballets, and operas. In place of slow and methodical movements which had been the norm prior to his rise to fame, Lancer introduced fast-paced, livelier ballets inspired by both folk and popular dances of the time, such as gavottes, menuets, rigaudons, and sarabandes. Ultimately, it can be said that Lancer's brand of baroque creates a contagious sense of joy, capable of pulling up even the most downtrodden of spirits from their slump.
Lancer's compositions invoke a sense of mania within his audiences. Every music and every dance is passively laced with this mental interference effect that becomes more powerful overtime, eventually clouding the affected targets' judgment with the overwhelming desire to break into song, party, and make merry. Lancer can also integrate other musical and dancing styles to his creations, replicating any beneficial effects and expanding his repertoire.
"Well, most people called me a hedonist, after all. Not that I mind. What's wrong with living in search of pleasure? If you ask me, I consider baroque as a dance of yearning. A yearning to be free, to escape from all the troublesome conventionalities and obligations of the world. You can spend years enrolling in some fancy academy trying to comprehend the long history and profound intricacies of song and dance, but what's the point if you're not enjoying yourself in the middle of it all? Come now, we dance to liberate ourselves from our burdens, if just temporarily! That's why the least you can do is leave all your baggage at the door! Tonight, nothing exists beyond the dance floor!"
French Overture (B)
Lancer's invention,
a popular melody widely known in the Baroque period. The overture normally consists of two parts enclosed by double bars and repeat signs. The two parts are complementary to each other, one slower to establish the rhythm and one faster to add "color" to the initial motif. The first section usually ends with a dominant harmony followed by a tonic ending, while the second ends with a brief recollection of the first, sometimes even repeating some of its melodic content.
This overture manifests as two smaller conducting staffs that constantly hover around Lancer, automatically aiding him in combat. One staff is slower and weightier, focusing on damage, while the other is faster. The two complement each other, with the lighter staff baiting the opponent into a guarding position, while the heavier one aims for a blind spot created by the first strike. While their damages aren't anything exceptional, one would require extensive mind and body coordination to survive an onslaught from these two staffs. As a secondary effect, based on the utilization of melodic repetition in the overture, a successful strike from one staff inflicts a mark on the target's body. If that mark is struck by the other staff, the target receives extra damage, alongside a different-colored mark. Should that mark be struck by a different staff, the extra damage is doubled, and another mark is created. This process can stack infinitely until it a strike is successfully blocked by the target.
"
Is it hard to synchronize my movements with these two staffs floating around? Well, I can't say I've known a single day of combat prior to my manifestation as a Servant, but what's life without a few spices called unpredictability, am I right? A true prodigy should be able to adapt their footwork to account for every possible dance partner, and this one is no exception. The enemy is not your... enemy. They are your partner, with whom you'll work together to create a performance worth remembering. Ha, how's that for 'sagely advice'!?"
Musical Monopoly (A+)
A Skill denoting Lancer's aggressive approach to marketing his style. He was ruthless in his pursuit of power and used his influence with the king and other high-ranking members of society to crush rivals and establish a monopoly over stage music. Not only did he frequently held operas and court ballets to advertise his brand of baroque, he even went so far as to shut down other schools and rent out venues which greatly limited these other styles' development process. At the height of his influence, it was said that no opera could be performed in the country without his explicit permission, with him controlling ticket prices as well. Unsurprisingly, this earned him no small number of enemies who tried to attack his reputation through slanderous rumors and accusations.
This ambition of his manifests as the ability to shut down any art-related Skill or Noble Phantasm ranked lower than A (and partially weakening any abilities ranked A and above) within his immediate surroundings. Furthermore, while he does not possess Territory Creation, he is able to hijack any C-ranked or lower territory to give himself some extra mana and reinforce his combat potential. This rank limitation is removed entirely if said territory is created by a fellow artist (performance venues, theaters, dance studios, and so on).
"Now, now, Master. It's impolite to look at anyone else when your dance partner is right in front of you. Anyways, becoming the loudest voice in the room was starting to feel a little too easy for me back then, so I changed my goal to the next logical step; becoming the only voice in the room. As for those other artists crushed under my feet? Well... did they ever prove me wrong? If they're so pissed about my style, they should've spent more time perfecting their own or coming up with a piece that would prove their little routines could still be relevant in the era. Instead, they resorted to petty rumors and the like. It was pathetic, really. It's not my fault they had zero drive towards self-improvement!"
Sun King's Patronage (A-)
Fragments of a distant memory. A tumultuous, decades-long friendship between the most powerful man in France and the country's greatest artist. The Sun King Louis XIV funded many of Lancer's projects, defended the artist from the numerous accusations made against him, and attended many of his performances. On the other hand, Lancer dedicated many of his operas and compositions to his closest... friend. Together, the two assembled the Petit Violons, a violin orchestra open to Lancer's radical ideas. Basically, his friendship with the king created an environment where Lancer was able to cultivate his talents to reach new heights. Unfortunately, this relationship soured in their later years...
A combination of Golden Rule and Mana Burst (Flames). Upon its activation, it becomes significantly easier for Lancer to amass wealth. His luck greatly increases, as if receiving a blessing from the very heavens. In combat, he is able to exert control over heat and flames to a limited degree based on the king's obsession with "becoming the sun". That said, due to how their relationship ended, Lancer can only invoke a small portion of this authority. The moment he activates this Skill, its rank would steadily drop, slowly losing its effectiveness, until it reaches the bottom rank of E. Afterwards, it would take a full 24 hours- a single rotation around the sun- to "recharge" this Skill back to its original rank. Thus, relying on the flames or the supernatural luck brought about by this Skill is usually a poor idea for longer, more drawn-out battles.
"I'd rather not use this Skill if I can help it. It feels like paying off a debt using your ex's credit card. Ah, um, t-that's not to say we were ever like that, I swear! I know this may not sound so convincing coming from me, but our relationship was nothing like that! F-For one, I don't think he swings that way, and I fully respect his life choices! It's just that after all is said and done, he's still a... precious friend of mine. And due to my own shortcomings, I... couldn't repay his kindness when he needed me the most. Yeah, that was it. Nothing more, nothing less."
Source
Originally Posted by Morg van Destro
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