OK, then.
I can confirm that at least some of this will be covered - RB's precise plans, I'm not privy to, but I know what I'm working on, so . . .
OK, then.
I can confirm that at least some of this will be covered - RB's precise plans, I'm not privy to, but I know what I'm working on, so . . .
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
―Jim Butcher, Vignette
After the first couple (Astrea, Fiore) that I'm particularly interested in, I was trying to enumerate the rest of the characters who are presumably alive, but we haven't seen in a while (or whose fates are actively unclear, like Tamamo and Wolf Home), just so I could see if that answered Xamusel's "I think I'm missing something major" (incidentally, were any of those what you were missing?). I kinda forgot the value judgment part about "would like to see", though.
I ended up answering my own question on "wait, what happened to the Grail?". Since I couldn't find a similar answer for original Godafrid, figured I'd ask, since both of those came to mind.
I don't really care that much about Roche/Gordes, except insofar as it's probably relevant to what Fiore is doing.
Kairi/Touko kinda felt like they dropped off the earth after the Jack fight, and we only saw them very briefly during the Hanging Gardens battle preparations. I'm not terribly concerned about them, but considering Erik did some nice things for them, and we're unlikely to see them again, it would be nice to have some closure.
Servants giving long goodbye speeches is a classic in FGO plot structures, which is probably why it came to mind. Singularity isn't over until everyone goes home to the Throne.
There are many obvious things not on that list I consider more important, like general perspectives from Godafrid (possibly including Nero), Erik (and Mordred/Scylla/Emiya, maybe Fenris/Nestor, depending on what they were doing), Zelretch, maybe something with Olga, and however the Works is choosing to debrief the entire situation.
Last edited by Arbitrarity; October 19th, 2021 at 10:45 PM.
Yeah, they all were what I was missing, and then some... oh, wait, more like "a good portion of what I was missing is right here". I'll just be happy if I can get all the answers revealed later, though.
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
Dun Stallion II
Servant Universe
[Rayshift completed. All systems nominal.]
Artoria Pendragon started within her armour, as though waking from a dream. It took her a moment to realise what she was seeing, where she was, but . . .
Finally, the blonde relaxed, muttering “And I thought it was strange going into Chaldea’s universe . . .”
With a few mental commands, she unburdened herself of her armour, sending Avalon for a full maintenance cycle. Then, contrary to her active nature (and recently ingrained job training), she had a quick bath—just enough to wash the accumulated sweat off, rather than a full soak, lest she fall asleep in the tub—and headed almost directly to bed. And only “almost directly” because she paused to file an “Event” notification as to why she wouldn’t be coming into work tomorrow.
(As much as she disliked the paperwork her job accumulated—particularly the fact that she was expected to do it, despite being a professional hero—this form’s existence made her life so much easier. Special Events were a common, often seasonal occurrence—especially when she’d been working with Chaldea—so having the paperwork available to put in for some recovery time after any of them was so very welcome . . .)
After a full night’s sleep, a light workout to warm her muscles up, and a hearty breakfast, Artoria finally felt ready to consider the events she’d just lived through; events which filled in many of the missing pieces she’d wondered about over the last three years, but still left gaps.
The Mysterious Heroine glanced up. “Record a log entry.”
The droid functioning as her personal assistant responded with an electronic rude noise.
Scowling, Artoria spoke firmly, choosing her words deliberately.
“Personal Log Update: Three—or maybe four?—days ago, I was following a very strong Alternium reading, with a very familiar signature . . . I thought maybe, just maybe, I’d found Ecchan.”
The droid made another expletive at that—but the recording light on its chassis winked into life immediately.
“What I found, though,” she continued taking no notice, “was Mecha Eli-chan—in a summoning circle . . . And my Master, at the other end of our time loop.”
An even louder expletive followed that statement.
“It was . . . Strange,” she finally concluded. “He knew of me, I’m sure—but he didn’t know me, and that . . . That hurt more than I expected it to.”
Artoria’s voice dropped in volume as she uttered that last.
The feeling was more than a little odd, honestly. After all it was hardly the first time she’d dealt with an amnesiac friend or been attracted to someone she couldn’t have.
(OK, he actually was the “first time,” but Fujimaru-san had been a more intense attraction, if only in retrospect, so in terms of what counted . . .)
It just made her a bit wistful, she supposed. Honestly, the Mysterious Heroine didn’t even know; she’d never been good with feelings—she took after both of her Masters, that way—and that was when they weren’t complicated ones to begin with.
Returning to the subject at hand, Artoria continued, “It was him, though. Unpolished, underpowered, and completely outgunned, but still at least half a step ahead of everybody else, because he knew what was coming; or knew enough to fake the impression that he did. And even when he was surprised, he had a plan ready to deal with it in seconds—and when he decided to pull out all the stops, even Sensei was taken aback by how over-the-top it was.”
She felt a warm glow at the memory of the blazing kaiju, hammering away at the nascent Titan with defiance made manifest (though she carefully suppressed the memory of the accompanying sound). And to go from unleashing that, to powering her up enough for the killing strike . . .? That was the kind of thing her show’s producers would kill for, in the climax of a cinematic release—and Fujimaru-san would probably be about as impressed. The Artorium knew that the Master of Chaldea would’ve liked to be able to contribute so directly as that in a fight.
Artoria smiled, if only to herself. “It was good to see him again—or for the first time, from his perspective, I guess. I suppose neither of us will know what to expect from any future interactions, if there are any . . .” The Servant frowned. “I never did get answers as to where and how he ran into Alternium, though—never mind enough to contaminate him with a reading that strong.
“Of course,” she admitted to herself, “I never really got a chance to ask—and for the reading three years ago, he probably wouldn’t have known, because it hadn’t happened, yet. After all, it was definitely a past ‘him.’; he wasn’t wearing his ring, or showing signs of that thing of his about Lancers . . .”
The Mysterious Heroine scowled. “Darn it! I meant to ask about that! It’s been driving me nuts, trying to figure out what was so special about La—”
As the sound left her throat, Artoria stopped, her detective’s instinct tingling—and as the aborted statement reached her ears, it created a connection.
“. . . He misheard me,” she whispered. It seemed ridiculous, given his supernatural acuity, but it made sense, in that moment.
“I messed up,” she muttered to herself, “but he took it a step further, thinking that I was about to say ‘Lancer,’ and—”
It was unheroic, it was definitely immature, but she flat-out couldn’t help it; the giggles burst forth in droves.
“Erik- and Tamamo-sensei are going to die when they hear this,” Artoria wheezed to herself. “Oh, Master—you are in for such a surprise . . .!”
Clock Tower, London, England
Three months after the Great Holy Grail War
My dearest sister, he wrote. How are you?
I realise that you’re not likely to ever read these wordsunlessuntil you come back, but I thought I’d write to you, anyway; it’s a nice way to organise my thoughts. And who knows? Maybe there’s some secret magical or technological method that will transport this letter to you, regardless—we certainly saw stranger things surrounding your travelling party.
I’m settling into the Clock Tower fairly well, which I’m sure will be a relief to you. I’m enrolled in Lord El-Melloi II’s class, so while I’ve been the object of some attention (mostly Lady Archisorte’s, unfortunately), I’m not nearly as interesting to the populace at large as some of my pee—
As a sudden cry of pain rang out, Caules’ attempt at writing abruptly devolved into an illegible scrawl. Scowling, he looked up to see more or less what he’d come to expect: Flat Escardos and Svin Glascheit in mid-argument again, interrupted by the iron grip of their professor on their skulls.
Sighing, he put the letter into a used section of his notebook, and paid attention to the oncoming lecture (the class’s, not Flat and Svin’s), adding to it irregularly during gaps in the lesson.
My peers are real characters, Sister; maybe not on the order some of the ones we met back home, but they’re just as quirky as some of our extended family, at least.
Flat Escardos, for example, reminds me a bit of you, but more of our “little brother”: he’s prodigiously talented, but more than a little spacy when it comes to dealing with anything that doesn’t interest him—which seems to be most of what magi consider important (along with common sense, half the time). He’s a decent enough guy, I suppose—but some of the things that come out of his mouth make you wonder how his brain functions well enough to allow him to breathe . . .
Svin Glascheit, on the other hand, is almost Flat’s polar opposite: level-headed, reasonable, almost completely hopeless with technology. Get him excited about something, though, and you’ll see there’s not as much difference between the two of them as you might think. Maybe that’s what makes them friends.Either that, or Flat is too dense to figure out that theyaren’t.
. . . On second thought, forget that last part, would you, Sis?
The important part is that they’ve been very friendly to me, with no apparent ulterior motive about it. I wish I could say the same about everybody I’ve met here—honestly,Lady Archisortescares mesome people have no sense of shame . . . I’m referring, of course, to Yvette H. Lehrman, who makes no secret of the fact that she aspires to be Lord El-Melloi II’s mistress.
(You read that right; not “wife,” she’s deliberately aiming for “mistress.” And I wish I could say that was the only strange thing about her . . .)
Still, as crazy as all of them are, they seem remarkably friendly for magi. Part of that, I think, is that Lord El-Melloi II has both a low tolerance for the usual politics—certainly not enough of one to tolerate it in HIS classroom—and a knack for “polishing jewels out of dross,” as Lady Archisorte put it once. The students here are the ones most magi don’t want to deal with, being seen as “too troublesome,” and Lord El-Melloi II takes an especial interest in such cases. The students here are intelligent enough to know that this is the only place where they’re actually wanted, I think, and are loath to ruin the first place in the Clock Tower that feels like a home . . . Which is not to say that Flat doesn’t risk blowing us up on a bi-monthly basis, it seems like.
(And why, you ask, does Lord El-Melloi II tolerate Flat’s antics? The same reason, I suspect, that he tolerates everyone else’s foibles: he takes an almost perverse pleasure in turning the Clock Tower’s “problem children” into magi to be reckoned with—and I believe that with every hare-brained stunt, our teacher’s imagining of watching the nobles bow and scrape to Flat keeps him going. He’s going to make Flat Escardos his greatest achievement, I believe—out of sheer spite, if nothing else—assuming Flat doesn’t manage to somehow kill us all, first.)
Sadly, I’m afraid I have less to say about the other subject I’m sure you’re interested in. Oh, don’t worry; he hasn’t been entirely absent, but since for some reason Lady Archisorte is even more interested in him than she is in me, he doesn’t show up in person more often than he can help it.
. . . Which, now that I’m thinking about it as I put it to paper, seems to frequently coincide with whenever I mention that Lady Archisorte has been particularly insistent. Sis, have I mentioned lately just how much I approve of your engagement? Honestly, if there’s anything I can do to help speed up the wedding, let me know, O—
“Colin.”
The call interrupted in him mid-stroke of the pen, and Caules cursed, even as he turned at the sound of his alias.
(Was it a clever one? Not in the slightest—but it was close enough not to confuse him when it came to answering it; it was also so close to his original name that most magi would convince themselves nobody could be that stupid . . .)
“Yes?” Caules said warily—before immediately suppressing a feeling of shame at acting so.
After all, Gray was even shyer than his sister, hiding in the depths of her hood all the time, but he really could help it. Gray was a very nice girl, so far as he knew, but her voice was so similar to his big sister’s that it was eerie, and elements of her facial structure made her look, to Caules’ eyes, like Saber of Red’s little sister . . . Needless to say, Caules’ feelings regarding the Professor’s favoured assistant were complicated, to say the least.
“Shishou wants to see you,” the girl said simply, and only then did Caules realise that his focus on letter-writing had left him alone in the lecture hall, class having been dismissed for—half an hour?!
Inwardly shaking his head at having totally lost track of both time and the world around him, Caules said aloud, “Of course,” and stood to head for the professor’s office—before stopping upon finding Gray positioning herself to accompany him.
“Reines is with him,” she said by way of explanation, and while her tone was devoid of inflection, the implications were nonetheless clear: I’m going along for moral support.
“Of course,” Caules repeated.
And if a trace of thankfulness leaked out from his attempt at a professional tone, neither of them remarked on it. It didn’t even matter to Caules that she wasn’t going to support him, or that Lord El-Melloi II was Lady Archisorte’s preferred target; so far as he was concerned, the more bodies between himself and her, the better . . .
“Thank you for coming,” Lord El-Melloi II said brusquely—and politely ignoring the ludicrousness of the idea of Caules’ doing anything but.
(His sister said nothing, merely sipping her tea; even with her eyes closed, however, Caules had a sense of her rolling them in response to the Lord’s greeting.)
“Of course,” Caules responded, inwardly cringing at his seeming inability to say anything else, of late.
“I’ve called you here,” his teacher said grimly, “because several hours ago, my personal contact number received an anonymous tip, directing my attention to the ruins of Castle Csejte, in Slovakia. Our investigations have uncovered a body . . . And it’s been identified as that of Godafrid Úa Súilleabháin.”
The world seemed to stop, for a moment. Frantic denials rushed through his head; at first, because of the lunacy of someone who’d survived the Great Holy Grail War being found dead, followed by the devastation that Fiore was going to feel when she heard . . .
But to be a magus was to walk with death—and what Caules lacked in talent, he made up for in mindset. For all that he was still more “normal” than many of his peers, he had come to terms with what his chosen lifestyle entailed; and it wasn’t as though Godafrid was lacking in terms of risky behaviour. . . Or enemies, come to that.
“Do you know how he died, precisely?” Caules asked, and he was proud of how even his voice sounded. “Or what he was even doing there?”
“In point of fact,” Lady Archisorte entered the conversation, “the truly interesting part is not where he died, or even how—it’s when.”
Caules glanced over to her in automatic response to her interjection, and he had to suppress a shiver. Her eyes were alight in a manner that reminded him of a cat which had found a small animal which would make interesting sounds when played with . . .
“. . . I’m sorry?” he tried. It was a weak response to her obvious bait, but prior experience told the young magus that he did not want more of her attention than he absolutely had to endure—a sentiment shared seemingly universally among those who knew her.
Lord El-Melloi II’s near-perpetual scowl deepened. “To the best of our examinations, the condition of the body tells us that Úa Súilleabháin died at least twelve hours before the Great Holy Grail War began.”
“Which begs the question,” Lady Archisorte continued, “that if he’s been dead for the last three months, who have we been dealing with . . .?”
Misaki Town, Japan
Several hours earlier
Shirou looked at the phone in its cradle for a moment, as Tohno-san stepped out of the booth, and glanced worriedly at his other companion. “. . . Are you sure this is how you want to leave things?”
“How else could it possibly end?” riposted Frid (who’d kept the name if not the shape for convenience’s sake—it was easier for the combined households to pronounce, if nothing else). “Not well, for certain.”
“That’s being pessimistic,” Shirou retorted.
Frid sighed.
“Shirou, the bottom line is that I am not her fiancé,” he said tiredly. “Now, I could pretend, very convincingly, for the rest of her life, if I had to—with a millennia-long lifespan, a few generations’ worth of time isn’t much . . . But it would be a lie. And that is not remotely fair, to either of us—but to her, especially.”
Shirou looked really unhappy at his argument but didn’t actually attempt to dispute it. Shiki, on the other hand, looked entirely unaffected.
Which, to be fair, he was. Frid had asked for his presence only because he didn’t exist in this world—which meant that the Clock Tower couldn’t chase down his counterpart for answers, when they came looking, making the “anonymous tip” genuinely so . . . But it did point out differences between the two protagonists. Both of them were keen to see people happy, but Shiki lacked Shirou’s emotional investiture in the concept; he would try to save people, because he was a good person, but it wasn’t a core element of his identity.
(Shiki also had a better-functioning survival instinct and a well-earned fear of angry supernatural females, Frid thought darkly—but that was another matter altogether.)
“It’s not fair to him either,” Frid sighed. “He asked for help, and it already cost him his name and his face—and even if I never use the latter again, it’s still a shape in my library. How much more should I take from him . . .?”
Shirou scowled. “You’ve made your point—I just don’t like breaking her heart like this.”
“Neither do I,” Frid snapped, “but it was already broken, from the moment I arrived—the only difference is that now, she’ll know it.”
Assuming, of course, that she managed to get in touch with her brother, or vice versa—something he expected that Erik would manage through his usual techno-bullshit, one way or another, if he hadn’t already. And if not . . . Well, if Mysterious Heroine XX’s existence was to be believed, he had a jaunt to the Servant Universe coming up; a version of the Servant Universe where Erik was a fixture. Leaving aside the nightmare fuel that that concept implied, Fiore was with him—no doubt it would all be hashed out then.
. . . Frid couldn’t say he was looking forward to it.
“So,” Shiki piped up, very obviously changing the subject, “what now?”
“Well, beyond the fact that we still need a functional Grail or risk a universe-breaking paradox, I presume we go back to work,” Frid said dryly. “So, rather than tempting Fate by sticking around here any longer—Ilya, would you be so kind as to connect to the booth, please . . .?”
After a beat, he slid the door open to reveal the foyer of the Emiya home.
“Thank you, Miss Einzbern,” he said politely. “After you, gentlemen—”
Naturally, that was when everything exploded.
Writer's Notes: Because I got enough done for this, if by no means all I planned . . . Happy Birthday, Xamusel.
Last edited by Kieran; October 22nd, 2021 at 11:31 PM.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
―Jim Butcher, Vignette
Thank you, Kieran, my good man.
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
This is some good epilogue. XX starting with a bath seems very appropriate for unwinding dramatic tension. The "Special Event" form for taking time off is a really nice touch, it fits into her characterization in Summer 3 perfectly. We also get two future hints, about Alternium, and slightly more clarification about "La-".
We know Alternium relates to MHXA, though I don't remember the specifics beyond that the Altereactor is involved. There has been a lot of setup around MHXX and MXHA's relationship, so that points to some interesting things in the Servant Universe. I also forgot about the ring, good reminder.
The "La-" clarification rules out Lancer, which cuts down the names to consider significantly. Mentioning Erik and Tamamo isn't a big hint one way or the other about identity, at least, with the information I know. I'm tempted to imagine that Godafrid didn't have this "thing about Lancers" before, and MHXX retroactively remembers it because stable time loop, but that's probably silly. The usual suspects, Laeticia, Lancelot, Lakshmibai, etc, apply.
I feel like I haven't really considered Mysterious Alter Ego Lambda before, but she's also a Lancer. It's a somewhat terrifying thing to imagine, though.
A messed up italics tag you missed
I had been thinking that Lord El-Melloi's class would be a good frame for some part of the epilogue. Caules being there is quite consistent with that series' continuity as well. I suppose I should not be surprised Reines scares both Caules and Godafrid.Sadly, I’m afraid I have less to say about the other subject I’m sure you’re interested in. Oh, don’t worry; he hasn’t been entirely absent, but since for some reason Lady Archisorte is even more interested in him than she is in me, [/I]he doesn’t show up[/I] in person more often than he can help it.
It also seems like a potential plot hook to be putting Lord El Melloi... on the case. Doubt it will lead to too much, though.
Ah, I missed that the first time though. Fiore is with Erik in the Wolfen. That's why Caules was leading with "until you come back". Definitely looking forward to seeing more detail about that.
And we have Shirou, Shiki, and Godafrid in a phone booth, with things exploding. I'm definitely feeling like this might be leading us to Konosuba. Zelretch has mentioned possibly killing Godafrid before, and a inter-dimensional portal seems like a place where his influence might be strongest. It's vague enough that I'm just guessing, though.
You are, of course, quite welcome.Originally Posted by Xamusel
Thank you, Kieran, my good man.
I hope you enjoy(ed) your 30th - I regret to inform you that in my experience, it's largely downhill from there.
Thank you.
More or less, yes.We also get two future hints, about Alternium, and slightly more clarification about "La-".
We know Alternium relates to MHXA, though I don't remember the specifics beyond that the Altereactor is involved. There has been a lot of setup around MHXX and MXHA's relationship, so that points to some interesting things in the Servant Universe.
And depending on the type, it could be significant . . .I also forgot about the ring, good reminder.
Because all the really good ones, I can't justify . . .The "La-" clarification rules out Lancer, which cuts down the names to consider significantly.
Probably, yes.Mentioning Erik and Tamamo isn't a big hint one way or the other about identity, at least, with the information I know. I'm tempted to imagine that Godafrid didn't have this "thing about Lancers" before, and MHXX retroactively remembers it because stable time loop, but that's probably silly.
I did, at one point, consider Fiore as her host for a Pseudo-Servant . . .The usual suspects, Laeticia, Lancelot, Lakshmibai, etc, apply.
I feel like I haven't really considered Mysterious Alter Ego Lambda before, but she's also a Lancer. It's a somewhat terrifying thing to imagine, though.
. . . The primary thing to remember is, he misheard her - so whatever she was going to say is an "ah"-type sound, probably; at which point, Caster is back on the table, for example, or Alter (though that's not a first name for almost any Servant).
And apparently I fixed it before you finished posting, for a change - but thank you.A messed up italics tag you missed
Yes - and it made filling out this part much easier, because I'd written it once already. *Chuckles*I had been thinking that Lord El-Melloi's class would be a good frame for some part of the epilogue. Caules being there is quite consistent with that series' continuity as well. I suppose I should not be surprised Reines scares both Caules and Godafrid.
That's missing something . . .It also seems like a potential plot hook to be putting Lord El Melloi... on the case
Sadly not - they've deliberately made an effort to obscure themselves, so that there aren't answers (or connections) for anyone to find . . . I'm really not sure what Waver and the crew could do here.Doubt it will lead to too much, though.
RB, that's your cue . . . !Ah, I missed that the first time though. Fiore is with Erik in the Wolfen. That's why Caules was leading with "until you come back". Definitely looking forward to seeing more detail about that.
All true.And we have Shirou, Shiki, and Godafrid in a phone booth, with things exploding. I'm definitely feeling like this might be leading us to Konosuba. Zelretch has mentioned possibly killing Godafrid before, and a inter-dimensional portal seems like a place where his influence might be strongest. It's vague enough that I'm just guessing, though.
Last edited by Kieran; October 22nd, 2021 at 11:03 PM.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
―Jim Butcher, Vignette
My lack of encyclopedic knowledge of Exalted items bites me here, though it's quite possible we aren't dealing with those. Going further abroad... DC Emotional Spectrum Power Rings seem a bit out there. Solomon has/had ten rings that granted authority over magecraft. Extella's Regalia tends to manifest as a ring. We've hypothesized wedding or engagement rings before. It's a good reminder, for sure, but yeah, I can't narrow it down too much. That it is re-emphasized is definitely worth noting.
Considering how much Reines scares him, Melt seems almost worse. I guess she at least has some dere.I did, at one point, consider Fiore as her host for a Pseudo-Servant . . .
This is a very important clarification, I see. That does broaden things quite a bit. That makes the Alternium reference potentially a lot more relevant (since there is one character XX would refer to as "Alter"). Astrea, Astarte, for example, are also then on the table. And I remember some sort of snippet involving Ecchan before, though I'd have to dig to find it.. . . The primary thing to remember is, he misheard her - so whatever she was going to say is an "ah"-type sound, probably; at which point, Caster is back on the table, for example, or Alter (though that's not a first name for almost any Servant).
I initially saw two sets, refreshed and spotted you fixed one of them, I think the quoted one is still affected.And apparently I fixed it before you finished posting, for a change - but thank you.
Reduce, reuse, recycleYes - and it made filling out this part much easier, because I'd written it once already. *Chuckles*
Sadly.
True - I had not considered those . . .Solomon has/had ten rings that granted authority over magecraft.
True, though the Moon Cell isn't quite the Grail we're looking for.Extella's Regalia tends to manifest as a ring.
Indeed.We've hypothesized wedding or engagement rings before. It's a good reminder, for sure, but yeah, I can't narrow it down too much. That it is re-emphasized is definitely worth noting.
Her Summer form, particularly.Considering how much Reines scares him, Melt seems almost worse. I guess she at least has some dere.
. . . Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Lancer Arturia Alter is so ridiculously oversized, I'd probably have used her - her (relative) lack of backstory and connections to the Wild Hunt (which Frid also has, as Krampus) would be a natural choice. But Lambda has her charms; among them, she's remarkably easy to picture in a normal Grail War, using hydrokinesis as her primary attack.
And Mysterious Idol X Alter is "Neutral Good," thus, not breaking the "no Anti-Heroes" rule of a pure Grail . . .This is a very important clarification, I see. That does broaden things quite a bit. That makes the Alternium reference potentially a lot more relevant (since there is one character XX would refer to as "Alter"). Astrea, Astarte, for example, are also then on the table. And I remember some sort of snippet involving Ecchan before, though I'd have to dig to find it.
Darn it - I really thought I had them all . . . Fixed, thank you.I initially saw two sets, refreshed and spotted you fixed one of them, I think the quoted one is still affected.
“Love will be cruel to who it entices — love will have its sacrifices.”
— Carmilla Theme
"Evil isn't the real threat to the world. Stupid is just as destructive as Evil, maybe more so, and it's a hell of a lot more common. What we really need is a crusade against Stupid. That might actually make a difference."
―Jim Butcher, Vignette
Fate Anarchy Epilogue 2: Erik
Secondary Bridge, The Wolfen
Location: Unknown
Dimly, I remember. The portal. Going through it. Between that and the pain, though, I can barely comprehend anything...
I cough, weakly. Blood erupts from my mouth as I do so. That's bad, right...?
Slowly, I shake my head, trying to see. Everything hurts so bad...
Existence outside the universe we were in greets my eyes, as they momentarily focus, as well as the secondary bridge's ruined wreck. There's no ship above me. There's no Wolfen above me…?
That's... not good, right?
Oh fuck, this hurts. I bend over, coughing, feeling a rib jam further into my lungs as I do so, before I try to focus.
Gotta steer the ship. Gotta steer my Wolfen to safety... they can't steer it, so I have to...!
Wait. What's wrong here?
Oh, crap. I'm in a vacuum, aren't I?
A pulse of legend should kick in with that use of sheer willpower to help me continue moving while so injured right about... now?
...Now?
I said... now dammit.
Oh... crap. I'm out, huh?
Main Hangar
Millennium Falcon Copy
Tamamo frowns, looking at the Legion of Coal, her arms folded. "I need you to get as many of the units outside to get to my husband, as fast as possible. Whatever happened, we're not getting any data from the Wolf Wing."
Scylla speaks up quietly, "Most of the systems are heavily damaged, boss lady. Even if we do get things up and running again, it's going to take time to break our way out to him, you know?"
A slow, quiet nod from Tamamo has her sitting back, rubbing her forehead. "I know. I'm just so scared..."
"I am too. I'm not sure when I'll be able to see Godafrid again, after all. And whatever happened, it shattered my link with Chiron." Fiore speaks up quietly. “My Command Spells still exist, but he’s gone.”
Scylla frowns, arms folded. "A couple of the Legion of Coal units says we're in between universes right now, with most of the Wolfen a wreck. They can't get up to Boss either, though..."
"We're stuck here?" Fiore asks, quietly.
"At least we've got this ship defending against reality shifting around us." Tamamo admits, quietly. "Would you prefer I get some tea for us? We're stuck waiting, after all."
Fiore nods, quietly settling back, studying the remaining command spell on her right hand.
"Nothing. We've got absolutely nothing. I'll get the Legion of Coal to carve their way to Erik, just in case he needs us." Scylla admits, slowly sighing. "Too much of the main computer systems are disconnected due to the Ragnarok Contingencies right now. The remaining few are running too much data straight to him for me to check up on him. All we can do is wait and hope for the best."
“Have faith in him.” Nestor finally speaks up with a sigh. “He’ll come through, you know? Still, my ship’s a wreck now. I hope he’ll build a new one for me soon.”
Secondary bridge, The Wolfen
Fuck... is this where I go? C'mon, Erik. You have to move your hand. Hit the button, Erik. You can do it. Just...
Hit...
"MASTER!"
Mordred's voice...?
Good, she's alive. Maybe she can steer for me...?
Wait. Button...?
Button. Just gotta...
Hit...
Heh... my vision's going black...
Is this it, then? Where I die...?
I married a beautiful woman. I fought a good fight. I saved Fenris, just like I promised I would try to... Scylla's going to live, as will Nestor...
Everything goes black for me.
No, are my eyes closed?
I can't tell... it's still so hard to think...
Oh, that's pretty. A blue, brown and grey sphere... inside a blue sphere...?
Lots of lines being cut from it too...
Oh... that blue sphere's my soul, isn't it...? And the other sphere in it is... my divinity.
A pulse makes me flinch, as my left arm pulses...
Wait... what?
Another pulse...? Kinda like a heartbeat...?
I try to shake myself awake.
Instead… I find my eyes snapping open to...
Water?
Endless water, as far as the eye can see, going infinitely down...? I'm on top of it maybe...?
"Oh, my. Yet another comes along." A voice. Somewhat familiar, yet... what?
Oh, I'm facing the water, aren't I? Slowly, I try to look up.
A doll smiles down upon me, from the shores of a nearby land. Or... something. Near, yet far?
Wait. Doll? I know that doll.
"Oh, you see me as something familiar, hmm?" She smiles, oddly, one hand covering her mouth, the joints curling as she giggles.
"Plain doll. Bloodborne." My voice is... rough. Different. Almost like steel...?
"What I look like to you doesn't really matter, child. Entropy seeks to unmake you. Time itself seeks your undoing, even with you as far separated from your realm of birth as you are. And yet you've completed the step, perhaps at the last, to become something greater as well. Perhaps a Great One? Or a Titan, Greater or Lesser? Perhaps even a Primordial...?" Her voice trails off, as she tilts her head, striding nearer.
Slowly, I try to force myself up. But the only thing that can move is my left arm right now.
"You're being erased, little Godling." Her voice echoes, beside my ears. When did she...?!
"Why... tell me this?" My voice still grates. It hurts to talk.
"Why not welcome another amongst our number, of those that can see like this? You can save yourself, you know? Just let a little bit into yourself. Of the steel, and everything else you're forcing to stay in one arm." I can feel her hands caress my face, then slowly pull me up to face her. "All you have to do? Is accept you're more than a God. Even slightly more. And understand that you could become anything you wish."
"I won't... become like the Titans were... like Ymir was..." I can barely wheeze it out. But she only smiles at me.
"Then force yourself to become something else. Find a way to ascend to become something strong enough to break the Titans that you fear and hate so. There lies infinite possibilities amongst the Multiverse, little child who's touched upon far more." She smiles, widely. "But you'd better hurry, before you absorb much more to survive. I'm not sure how those goggles will affect you in the future, but you're getting ready to absorb more right now..."
The world shifts, as I can see endless lines coating everything. Weaknesses... in her? In... wait. No headache still...? Oh, the scythe chunk as well as the goggles...
"Right now you've partially ascended to be more, in the middle of trying to not die. The only thing keeping you from dying is your half ascension." Her eyes look down at my left arm. "Not quite enough to save you, but if you push just a bit further..."
"ER-"
Mordred...?
A feeling of something against my lips, in the distance, hits me. And then air in my lungs.
"Aww. She kept me from getting you to finish it!" The doll smiles at me, though I'm not sure if it's malevolently, or benevolently. "Still, you'll see me again, or others, when you jump like this. I'm sure of it. Though if my form is like this naturally or not, you'll have to find out for yourself..."
She trails off, and waves goodbye at me, as the feeling returns.
"GODDAMNIT ERIK! WAKE UP!"
Mordred's screaming at me. In my mind...? Wait. The lake's gone. Was that...
A stinging pain on my face. Mordred just slapped me, maybe?
"GOD DAMN IT! CLARENT, HELP ME STABILIZE AND WAKE HIM! I CAN'T PILOT THIS DAMNED THING RIGHT NOW AND HELP HIM AT THE SAME TIME! WHERE THE HELL IS THE BUTTON TO GIVE US AIR, ANYWAYS?!"
My eyes snap open, to Mordred in my hoverpod, my hands on the controls, and lines everywhere, except on her and Clarent. No headache still.
Her eyes go wide, before I grab her in a hug with one arm, and slam the button for the protective dome with my other arm. The air releasing into the hoverpod, leaves me gasping for air and breath.
"Mordred... thank you. I'm pretty sure I was on the edge of dying there, or making a stupid decision in order to live..." I half whisper, half state, as my lungs fill with desperately needed oxygen.
"C'mon. We have to get out of wherever this place is, before..." She mutters. "I can't look at that shit forever, Erik!"
My body's weak, I can tell. The controls barely move as I push. But with effort, we start heading towards another universe in the distance.
"Help me at the controls, Mordred. Something's wrong with my body..." I slowly shake my head, as I think. "My flight suit isn't connecting properly or something."
Mordred carefully looks at me, then helps me up out of my chair, before sitting down and pulling me onto her lap.
"Yeah... half the suit you usually wear for linking to this stuff is gone. But your muscles... hell, your entire body looks weaker than normal." She trails off, thinking. "No. It's more than that. Erik. Your entire body doesn't feel divine right now... I'm barely getting prana from you. Most likely from the reactor in you, more than yourself..."
I flinch, then wince. "Shit. Going through things unshielded must have..."
"Influenced you more than you could have calculated for?" Mordred finishes my sentence for me, as I weakly nod. "Yeah. Sorry, Mordred."
Her arms gently hug me, as I lean back into her embrace, glancing up. Huge chunks are ripped out of the Wolfen entirely to my eyes. One third of her, at least...
"Looks like we've got something coming up, Erik!" Her voice hits, before my focus on it.
"After this, I'm going to spend a while just healing..." I murmur, before we slam into the new universe.
For a moment, my eyes catch the moon. It's the same as the one for the Earth, all ri- what the FUCK happened to the Earth?!
I look over the world, my eyes showing me massive craters and deserts covering the world. The oceans might still be there, but they look to be in terrible shape. Thousands of satellites, now defunct, are in orbit, as well as the remains of what looks like space stations. Or at least the wrecks of space stations...
Slowly, I work the damaged left arm of the Wolfen's battle form, pushing the armor plating of the hull turned shield to the feet.
"Systems are lagging pretty bad... but it's partially from me having so little strength now compared to before." I mutter aloud, before Mordred helps with the controls again.
"Where to, Erik? This place looks like a shithole..." Mordred asks, quietly.
Slowly, I pull up systems from the Wolfen, before one of the very few remaining cameras linked to the system shows us decent images... then I go still at the sight of a single spot. Moments later, I point, adjusting myself so she can see it as well. "That one. It has greenery there, if we land a couple hours away, we'll be able to get you out and ready for violence if need be, and the Legion of Coal need to turn off most of the reactors before they can blow. Keeps fallout from hitting them, and it's the only greenery I can see within a couple hundred miles."
She nods, and helps me adjust the battered, damaged Wolfen, as we prepare to land her for the final time.
Re-entry is surprisingly easy. Enough of the shield was in one piece that she managed to survive with only some loss of mobility.
Still, my Wolfen is falling apart... I knew that she would, but it still hurts to see her in this bad of shape.
Slowly, I force myself to hit the call button. "We got dropped into that place between universes again, Dear. I'm alive, though... changed. But Mordred helped me pilot the Wolfen to another realm. Not sure I can do it again anytime soon, though. And with the damage..."
"Thank all that's holy that you're alright, dear. I'm so glad to hear your voice!" My wife's voice all but shouts over the speakers, before she calms down somewhat. "Thank you for helping him, Mordred. We owe you our lives..."
"All remaining Legion of Coal Units. Shut down all reactors but the Fusion reactor, and start getting ready to set our food and water supplies up. We look to be near a desert area right now, and I'd like us to get those reactors off before one goes off and kills us all." I order, then lean back and close my eyes, just resting with Mordred behind me.
"Erik..." I can feel her worry behind me, as she speaks up. "I've got you, Erik. I've got you, Master. Now breathe."
I do so, just relishing the air flowing into my lungs for now.
"Yeah... I'm in bad shape. Thank you, Mordred..."
Ping
I pause, and feel her pause against my back as well. "What's that sound, Erik?"
My eyes look through the Wolf Wing's battered cockpit, before I glance at the radar.
Ping
"That's... a lot of radar contacts coming from the nearby city...?"
Slowly, I force my arms back onto the controls, Mordred helping guide me as I do so. Slowly, I turn the Wolfen's top end, even as I see some of the Legion of Coal pool around my Wolfen’s feet.
My eyes catch what looks like thousands of planes and tanks, with a man in green confidently striding ahead of them, two daggers sheathed at his side. Behind him, a... woman in blue, with what looks like a lance, a man in red with two rather big guns, and a man with dark colored armor, armed with a Shiruken.
"Scylla. I'm going to need a check on the computers we have left. You recognize those who's coming?" Then, slowly, I move the shield plating, as I check over battered systems, seeing what's left. Wait, has he even replied yet? Hopefully he can hear me through the damage...
Slowly, we force the massive shield up, into the left arm once more, before I glance over at the plasma cannon. With an easy movement, the rifle is grabbed from the back of the Wolfen to the Wolfen’s right arm, and then I focus on feeding it power as the small army approaches nearer.
“Batteries are still holding up okay, and it’s mostly charged.” I murmur quietly. Not really sure if I’m saying it to her or myself at this point. Fuck, I’m hurt bad, aren’t I? My near death experience has done me no favors, at least.
Soon enough, the army arrives, and then comes to a halt. I can faintly see the one in green arguing with the others, followed by striding forwards, a megaphone in hand.
"In the name of Neo-Arcadia, all Reploids shall hand themselves over for verification that they are not Mavericks, and your war machine shall be impounded and confiscated for existing within these modern times! I will personally guarantee the safety of all Reploids that do so, after you explain to me how you're here, and why you're with this colossal mechaniloid that you've brought with you!"
Maybe it's the blood loss. Maybe it's me just being exhausted.
"I'm afraid you aren't going to be harming my creations like that, or my Wolfen, as battered as it might be. Dimensional jump or not, fighting that monstrosity like we were to save the world we were in or not, we still have enough to deal with the likes of YOU!" I half snarl, letting rage overcome me.
The man in green's eyes widens, as he looks up. He can see me, I think. Though how...
"Your creations...? Hmph. Mandatory Maverick testing is required for all..." He starts, before I interrupt him. "Mordred? Prototype Plasma Cannon fully charged?"
The man freezes at my question, then goes wide eyed at the cannon aiming straight at him, before backing up slowly, his arms raised in a halting gesture.
"Yeah, it's charged. Not sure how many shots we have, but we can guarantee he'll die if he tries us, Erik." Mordred's voice reaches me from behind, before I nod.
"Peace, peace! We came here for peace, not war! And... a prototype, you say?" He tilts his head, studying me carefully.
Slowly, I lean the Wolfen down, so I can stare at him better, then wince at it hurting my ribs to do so. "Shit. I don't know if I'm good enough to fight this fight, right now... let's hope we can bluff them..." I send to Mordred, as I look him in the eye.
"I don't care about your armies. But I won't let you hurt my Legion of Coal. They've barely achieved sentience as of late, and they're still having problems with that as far as I can tell. That damned monster we were fighting, then that portal..." I spit, then wince at realizing I spat out blood.
His eyes are widening rapidly at the realization that I'm bleeding. "Peace! My name is Sage Harpuia, and I serve as the current de facto leader of Neo Arcadia since the disappearance of Master X for some reason..."
Huh. I know him now. I'm in Megaman Zero... but that means... aww, hell.
"I can probably help you out with figuring things out, but whatever the hell we were fighting... something happened and left us in the void between universes. Getting here hurt." I admit, pulling myself up slowly. His eyes widen further at what I'm saying, before I fall forwards, away from Mordred’s arms and the chair.
Mordred's arms surround me, catching me before I fall to the floor.
I can see her taking control of my Wolfen, what’s left of it, as my body limply hangs in her arms. I’m so tired…
Gotta…
Stay…
Awake…!
Everything goes black.
. . .
I’m cold.
And asleep, I think?
Wherever it is, I’m cold, it’s dark.
No, not dark everywhere.
I walk ahead, through the dark and cold, towards some writing on the wall.
I pause, blinking quietly.
It looks like a Character sheet for some game system I’ve never seen before… called Scion?
It looks burnt. Damaged.
I can see my name clearly at the top.
…
Damn it, Godafrid. Seriously? I was a game character in a game you played, after all? Does that mean you were too, then? Are you one of those self inserts like Skysaber, perhaps?
Shit, that could explain a bit...
Slowly, I walk closer, studying it, reaching out…
Glowing font forms in the air in front of it, my hand half obscuring it.
I move my hand down, and my eyes narrow at what I read.
“Warning. Scion Character sheet is damaged! All Divine Attributes have been tainted by Titanspawn alteration!
Switch from God to Titan?”
I glance at the giant “Yes” and “No” symbols before simply pushing the No button. A computer interface for the former Norse God of Machinery and Mecha, huh? Neat.
More text appears, as I watch, carefully. “Scion character sheet unavailable until further notice… Warning! Cannot seal Character Sheet entirely! Left arm is countering the full sealing! Diagnosing...”
“Diagnosed. Left arm is more titan than divine, and its nature is of a Greater Titan. Use will allow active abilities of a God/Titan to be usable, but contamination will slowly remake the body in turn to use damaged character sheet.”
Shit. That doesn’t sound good. I focus, for a moment, as my left arm pulses with a bit of Legend. Then I wince, as I feel the metal almost feel ready to grow again.
Shit. If I use Legend at all, it’s going to grow, isn’t it? Fuck my life.
“Searching out new character sheets. Character sheets found. Scion 2nd Edition. Exalted 3rd edition. Mekton Zeta. Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition.”
“Can you show me details for these character sheets?” I ask the… screen? Characters, perhaps? Carefully. “Or explain the systems?”
“Scion second edition is much like Scion First Edition, you being an example of the former. No known abilities to jump from Heroic level characters to Demigod or God exist currently in the system. No known mecha construction methods exist, and many of your custom abilities will be needing to be remade in the system.”
My eyes narrow, studying the words. Tch. Not good, that.
“Exalted is much like Scion, if weaker in scope for the most part, and no major interest in mecha or machinery either. Healing is rare with the third edition, but power is more plentiful to recharge. An example of this currently would be the entity you know as Godafrid.”
Ah. Well, shit. Hmm… perhaps the other two might be better?
“Mekton Zeta is a more mecha and space based system. Starships and mecha will be easier to construct, and your Titan as well as Divine heritage will be of hefty benefit there.”
I rub my chin, thinking.
“Finally, a version of yourself from a different timeline, or perhaps a future version of yourself? Accidentally wound up with a Zealot D&D Fifth Edition Paladin/Sorcerer multiclass, ‘Domon, the one who shall be Kasshu’ If you want to look like a Domon Kasshu lookalike, no real ability to construct mecha and barely able to pilot them, this route is perfect for you. Domon reached level 14 as a Sorcerer/Paladin hybrid class, leaving not much focus for an Artificer like you’d need to become to have any chance of building war machines like you do now.”
I just twitch at that last one. What the hell was that alternate thinking…?!
For a moment, I shake my head. It’s rather obvious what system would work. “More details on Mekton Zeta, please?” I ask, quietly.
“Epic statistics do not exist in the setting. At the same time, with your blood and natural abilities, being able to go past 10, the maximum most characters can go to is possible. This will allow you to reach something close to the abilities you have now, in due time. In addition, your recently crafted armor and... War Beast? Are the most destructive machines the setting has ever seen. What with you being able to construct nuclear warheads and those doing absurd amounts of damage in the setting.”
I drum my fingers, thinking. “Anything else?”
“You didn’t really focus on appearance much, so you’ll be less handsome than you could be. Gods may not trust you as much due to your out of universe heritage as well.”
I pause, watching it carefully.
“...Aggravated damage will likely equal to Kills in the system, doing the same amount of damage as mecha would. The equivalent of 25 normal hits to a normal person.” It finally admits, hesitantly. “No further details comprehended.”
I slowly think, settling back. D&D is out. I played enough of that to know that the setting might give you plenty of power, but trying to multiclass for something you aren’t built for will screw you over.
Scion 2E sounds like it could eventually give me power… but at what cost? Especially considering some of the things Tamamo hinted to me about. And I’ll be damned if I know how fast or slow that will go.
Exalted… power at the cost of healing is… concerning.
“Can Mekton Zeta help me give power to Mordred more effectively? Help her be a hero?” I ask, carefully.
The runic font almost acts like it blinks, before I pause at the realization that it’s blinking...
“You’re my cosmoreactor, aren’t you?” I ask, carefully.
“Correct. Data files from student Artoria Pendragon were not perfect in the download that helped your armor synchronize with this unit, but she’s experienced enough differing RPG systems and elements for this unit to realize most of what is going on. And Psionics in Mekton Zeta…” It trails off, as my eyes widen. “Should work as a suitable replacement, especially with Mordred being empowered by your Legend as well. Her draining faith from you should keep your left arm inactive and stable, rather than active and acting like a tumor. If it wasn’t for the Command Spell ordering Mordred to drain the Gem of Power dry, calculations point that you likely would have become a Titan in due time.”
I slowly nod, thinking it over. “A lucky break, then. Nice to meet you, my Cosmoreactor. I’ll try to work as a proper hero so we can be good partners.”
“It’s not like you’ll normally experience life or death fights leaving you damaged enough to meet this unit about existential threats to your health. This was as much a shock to this unit as it is for you that you’re meeting this unit like this.” The runic writing retorts, leaving me smiling.
I just pause, thinking for a while.
“What of Mordred?” I ask, quietly. “How’s she been affected by all of this?”
Moments later, the damaged character sheet moves in front of me again, and I pause at the new listing on the page.
Servant:
Mordred, the Red Dragon Knight, and King of Wolf Home
I just blink, repeatedly. “That ring must’ve been more potent than I realized…” I slowly shake my head, then look at the text. “Mekton Zeta character sheet, please. And if we don’t meet again, thank you for your help with all that we’ve been doing and fighting.”
I sign my name on the character sheet, and watch data and details slowly fill in, as the system works out how my life has been to this point.
Slowly, I feel a bit better, as statistics show health, capabilities and more fill in, and a void I didn’t even recognize existed slowly dissipates within me.
Like something hollow, being filled in for the first time…?
Slowly, ever so slowly, it fades to black. Not the black from before, feeling like death.
Right. I’m probably in a coma, huh? With effort, I reach up, and salute the Cosmoreactor, before it all fades away.
3 Weeks Later
Neo Arcadia General Hospital
My eyes open, slowly. Inside the room, I can hear the sounds of advanced machines working. Feel them, almost, working in tune with my left arm just enough that if I focused, I could probably do something with all of them. Lines and dots, everywhere.
The rest of me feels empty, though. No, not quite empty, but closer than ever before.
What the hell did he do to me? No. Wait. I already know… I just don’t want to believe it.
“Well, this tea is definitely wonderful, Miss Leviathan. Thank you for introducing me to it.” My wife’s voice echoes in the room, from somewhere I can’t spot.
My eyes glance over my body, carefully, even as I ignore the lines and dots now coating things. Raika, I can feel is at my waist. Mordred is close. Tamamo is a bit further off, from the sound of her…
“Oh, it’s quite delicious, I agree.” Fiore’s voice echoes in the room, a smile on her face, from the tiny glimpse I get of it.
“Thank you. It’s not often that a reploid like myself gets to enjoy tea with such fine ladies.” The lady they’re talking with replies. Leviathan. Fairy Leviathan, if those games got things right.
Finally, I cough, weakly. “How about some tea for the injured one?” I half whisper.
The next thing I taste is tea coming from my wife’s mouth into my own, as she kisses me.
Fiore stares, wide eyed at my looking at her. No, she’s looking at my eyes…?
“What on earth happened to you, Erik?” Fiore asks, quietly.
“Uncontrolled, unshielded jump between universes.” I finally admit. “With exactly how bad off I was? I’m pretty sure I was absorbing relics to survive at some point, before Mordred helped revive me. Add in whatever that fucking planet killing golem was up to before the end…” I trail off, thinking.
Fiore frowns, then pulls out a compact mirror, quietly, before turning it to face me.
Black sclera and almost glowing blue eyes greet me.
Slowly, my eyes catch every bit of the mirror that I can, before I breathe out slowly. My eyes and left arm look like Robotnik’s. From the SATAM version, no less, if he had blue eyes and black sclera instead of red eyes and black sclera.
“Considering half my piloting suit was missing, my goggles were outright missing, as well as their little attachment that would augment the ability to see weaknesses in things without suffering migraines over time?” I sigh. “I’m pretty sure the sclera is from the obsidian in the goggles, or that fucking scythe chunk I jury rigged into them.” I quietly admit, before my wife pours more tea into my mouth.
“Shall I leave for this little reunion?” The third one in the room asks quietly.
I glance over the lady, thinking.
“You’re a warrior, right?” I ask, studying her.
She slowly nods, eyes taking in everything about me, as I think.
“Would a warrior rather know a single path things could go, how horribly things could go wrong, if it would help her and her troops survive? Or would she rather not know, unknowingly face that possible future, and fight without help of knowledge of one possible timeline of events?” I ask, carefully.
Fairy Leviathan, one of the four generals of Neo Arcadia, stills, her eyes narrowing at me as she thinks.
“A possible future, you say?” She asks, carefully.
I nod, quietly thinking as I watch her.
“I’d take that information.” She admits, smiling.
I nod, smiling back. Fuck not helping them out. Not with this setting.
“First off, you’ve got a girl named Ciel wandering around. What’s her age?” I ask carefully.
She moves to a computer, my eyes still watching her carefully
“6 years old. Why?” Her voice returns from where she’s studying a computer.
“In the universe myself and my wife are from, there was a quartet of video games based on a utopia, where long after the Robot Wars of Light and Wily, the Maverick Wars of Sigma, and something called the Elf Wars which weren’t really detailed on much at first, there was a story. Of a young human scientist named Ciel, fighting to stop the tyranny of a Copy of Mega Man X, who she’d built at age 9, not knowing the copy would want to hurt reploids to save humanity. Who eventually woke up the ‘legendary Reploid Zero’ to stop the tyrant she’d made in her naive youth.”
Fairy Leviathan stills, then turns to look at Erik in stunned shock.
“Keep in mind, they were for a mobile game system, so the plot was bare bones. But I recognized you and your fellow generals as bosses from the game.” I slowly focus, pulling myself up slowly. “Ones that had been convinced by the fake that they were following the original.”
Her eyes narrow as she sits across from me. Raika’s still at my waist. If she attacks… no, I don’t think she will.
“It’s… everything worked to seemingly slowly enhance Zero’s abilities, his fighting skill, until he was the fighter he was along X. Which really never got the fucking showtime it deserved in the prequel series about X and Zero fighting Sigma, in the first place.” I admit, quietly. “8 bosses, 4 ‘evil overlord’ stages acting as a giant castle for the final boss. Inevitably being Sigma, back from the dead with another move somehow, for those 8 games.”
I trail off, trying to think, as my wife puts a cup of tea to my lips. Sipping, I focus, quietly.
“But, those games set up Zero to slowly become the one that would take out Omega, and Weil, back from his long banishment from humanity. Weil, stuck inside a robot, his mind copied into the machine so he’d live forever. Weil, who would happily drop a space station on humanity to wipe all of humanity out, who started the Elf Wars, and stole Zero’s original body from him, at least according to the plot of those games.”
The reploid woman in front of me stills, eyes wide in sudden disbelief, before I close mine, a rush of weakness going through me.
“Weil, who, if the art book and games were right? Fucked with the fucking judges that sent him into space, upon his eventual return. For revenge, or something else? I’m not sure.” I finish, quietly.
Fairy Leviathan thinks, quietly. I can hear her pacing, as the others in the room stay quiet and still.
“Why tell me all this?” Her voice echoes in the room.
“It all started, as far as I could understand, as a massive energy crisis. Not enough energy for all the Reploids, so in the game, when Copy X showed up… none of you questioned his sentencing more and more Reploids to be Mavericks.” I admit, carefully, quietly, and sip on the tea again. “My Wolfen should have enough reactors for us to be able to delay or outright slow down the energy crisis, long enough for Ciel’s eventual genius to be able to develop a new energy development system sooner or later.”
“And if the energy crisis is countered, we might have a better chance at survival. Why help, though?” Fairy Leviathan’s voice echoes…? Hmm. That was odd.
I slowly force my eyes open, to watch her again. Oh, another one in here, too. Must’ve said it at the same time.
I nod at the giant shuriken wielding one, shuriken thankfully strapped to his back. “Hidden Phantom, then? It’s simple. I don’t want you to go through another apocalypse, courtesy of assholes that should stay dead. We got a good view of how bad the damage was, as we came down to land, Mordred and I. Add in that we barely just survived one apocalypse, and I don’t want to deal with a second anytime soon?”
Silence reigns for a long moment, as both Reploids study me.
“Want me to deal with them, Erik?” Mordred’s voice whispers in my mind.
“Not yet… but if it looks like they turn on us…” I trail off, thinking.
A slow nod from the two Reploids, though not in sync.
“If it helps, your boss should be in the biggest, most secure tower in the city, and posing as something called a Cyber Elf while dealing with keeping some evil in a can sealed for you all.” I admit. “Not sure which tower, but it’s the only one none of you are normally allowed to go into.”
Hidden Phantom disappears instantly after my words. Huh. Once I’m back on my feet, I’ll have to get some of that tech out of them, and see if it’ll work with my armor.
Focus, Erik.
My wife’s arms are hugging me gently.
“You know enough about the basics of history to not sound like a madman.” Fairy Leviathan admits, eventually. “Coming from another universe like your technology obviously has? It gives some importance to your points. Is there anything that we can use now, though?”
“The knowledge that Weil wants revenge eventually means we just need to work around his plans. If we can wake Zero up early, explain what’s going on to him…” I trail off, thinking. “Better to be prepared than to be fucked over, you know?”
“So you’re wanting to help humanity rather than see them fall. Altruistic of you.” The blue armored reploid admits, her eyes narrowing slightly as she thinks.
“I’d rather not die or leave things worse, you know? My Wolfen’s a wreck, I have no clue how bad or well off my computers are right now, and it’s going to be a multiple year, if not multiple decades long project to rebuild my Wolfen into something usable again.” I retort quietly. “I don’t plan to shit where I eat, or make things worse.”
A slow nod from her, before she smiles. “And you’re willing to help use your reactors to counter the energy crisis.”
I nod.
“I accept on behalf of Master X.” She smiles more, eyes still analytical.
“Erik? How long will it take to get communications up and running with my brother?” Fiore asks, quietly. “I miss him and Godafrid.”
I glance at her, thinking. “Ask Scylla. I’m not sure how much of a use I am right now.”
Author’s Notes
So. Erik’s epilogue is done. Ish, at least. The character sheet needs to be posted, and a few decisions are up for you all to think about.
You have… hmm... adding all the prologues, interludes for the story and everything else, then dividing it by ten, rounded up or down past five? 9 points as the readers, to choose how things will be influenced.
Mordred:
1 Point
Titan Slayer: Mordred does more damage to massive enemies and cataclysmic threats to the world.
Mecha Jockey: Mordred’s riding skill works better with mecha.
Intuition: Mordred’s Intuition is enhanced to be at the same level as her father’s.
Clarent Communication: The blade’s doing SOMETHING to try and communicate with Mordred. Maybe this can be locked in?
Mechanic: Some of what Erik did in front of Mordred paid off, and she know has a faint idea of how to do engineering, as well as repair stuff Erik’s made.
Beyond the Borders: Mordred is more well protected from what happens when you go outside the universe as a Servant. This would ensure she’s even more defended against being outside a universe unshielded.
2 points
Easier Juggernaut Drive: Juggernaut Drive doesn’t take as much power to utilize.
Augmented Faith Tap: Mordred gets a lot more out of Faith than before.
Augmented Psionics Tap: Mordred treats Psionics like Prana.
3 Points
Lessened Existential Drain: Mordred costs half as much to support as before.
Fiore:
1 Point
Magic Circuit issues fixed: Tamamo got to them. Keep in mind that Fiore’s magecraft is never very much elaborated on in the Fate/Apocrypha setting, however. A lot of this will have to be made from scratch.
Character sheet created: Fiore becomes an rpg character for a setting. (Sub vote will be had if this is chosen.)
Fiore can re-summon Chiron: As it says. If you choose this, she kept the catalyst that let her summon Chiron in the first place.
2 Points
Demi-Servant Fiore: You want her to be one, you’re going to be voting on this for who she’d be the demi-servant OF. I’m not touching this one, okay? It’s all reader voting here. PERIOD.
Kitsune Fiore: If you want Tamamo helping Fiore and accidentally adopting her as a Scion? That’s perfectly fair. That’s how this roughly would result in. Automatically picks a Character Sheet for Fiore, created for Scion 1e or 2e, depending on your choices. (1e would be easier in some ways…)
Mecha Jockey Fiore: Alternatively, if you want her to be more interested in machinery and working out how to create things more like she does in canon Fate/Apocrypha, here’s your starting line!
3 Points
Norse Style Immortality: Tamamo mentioned having a few Golden Apples from the Norse in order to get Nestor to be immortal. Who’s to say she didn’t stash a few away, just in case?
Tamamo:
1 Point
Golden Apples of Immortality: She stashed a few seeds away, and managed to find them. 5 years to grow 1 apple.
Tea Party Truce: Invitations to a tea party will ensure all people are under truce during the tea party.
2 Points
Spymaster: Tamamo’s gotten even better at being stealthy and tricky, and is taking lessons from Hidden Phantom on being a better spymaster.
Green Thumb: Tamamo’s figured out how to counteract her issues with plants not existing a year after being originally made. Through SCIENCE! It might not be perfect, but it’ll let her start making some of the crazy things she made before, if through genetic engineering and machinery...
5 Points
1e Regression: Shifts back from Scion Second Edition to First Edition, though still with the experience she’s at. (Costly for a reason. Kitsune didn’t exactly Exist as playable characters in 1e. As guides to be cryptic? Yes. Playable characters? Eh...)
Scylla:
1 Point
1e Guarantee: Scylla’s defenses are kinda holding up to keep him as a First Edition Scion Character. This would lock him in like that.
Fleshy Meatbag Sack: A fleshy body, rather than the crystalline shell made into a makeshift body.
Arete? Hell yes!: Locks in becoming the eventual God of Arete skills.
Magic: Scylla doesn’t want a mind whammy to happen like Dracula’s domination spell, ever again. So he’s pulled out all the magic books Tamamo has, and is very interested in ensuring it can never happen again. Ever.
2 Points
Titanspawn no more?: Things got weird when Scylla tried to ascend to become a God. Really weird. It might be doable to purge a lot of the stuff influencing him, whether he knows it or not, to become a Titanspawn.
Integrating the Whole: Alternatively, Scylla might be able to draw more talents out of the sheer amount of stuff he was made with.
3 Points
Ascension...?: Start researching ways to become a god without an Overworld to ascend to. (2 points if Chiron is summonable by Fiore, so there’s a point to work from…)
Nestor:
1 Point
Better Piloting: He’s a good Captain, but it’s been a while since he took the helm in battle. Watching Scylla and Erik man the ship has made him want to be a better pilot and captain for his ship… when he has another working one, anyways.
Better Leadership: A Captain must lead the ship well. He needs to be better at it.
Instincts: Nestor’s hunches for situations are turning into something a little more.
2 Points
Guide: Nestor’s figured out how to give just the right advice to help people out. He’s not sure what to do about that.
Erik:
0 Points
Titanic Heritage 1: Erik now has a lot more power when using the legend still in his left arm, at the cost of becoming more of a Titan. Is this really so bad…? Perhaps that thing masquerading as the Plain Doll from Bloodborne had a point? Could Erik become something else? And if so, What? (Offers the choice of throwing out the Mekton Zeta character sheet for the Scion 1e damaged Character Sheet. May lead to a bad end for Erik immediately. Can be taken at any time, though WHY YOU WOULD DO THIS, I don’t know...)
1 Point
Mechanical Senses: Erik can now feel machines better. This makes it so he understands what the hell he’s sensing.
Divine Blood 1: His speed is still as fast as before, allowing for him to fight at the speed he did as a Scion.
Psionic Storage: Instead of starting out with Psionics at the level of anyone else, Erik will now translate Legend into Psionics. To a point. Legend cap = Psionics cap, ensuring Mordred has a bigger sink of power to draw from him.
Mechanical Attunement 1: Part of his Mechanical link up suit was absorbed when Mordred saved Erik. This is ensuring that he got all the right parts.
Titan Blood 1: Ymir did SOMETHING to Erik in an attempt to make him the Titan of Machines. Perhaps Erik can figure this out, and work out how to either counter what happened, or use it to his advantage to slow down the heritage from remaking his body?
Dragon Blood 1: Erik could turn into a dragon, with the blood he had from Fafnir. One that had a frost breath, admittedly, but still a dragon. Perhaps the blood he bathed in from the Great Red Welsh can let him do something similar with practice?
Fenris’s Blood 1: Erik became blood brothers with Fenris. But he does see Fenris as a father figure. Perhaps that could become more literal…?
Kitsune Blood 1: Erik visited the Kitsune in-laws once. Both Inari versions, male and female, left his brain hurting, and him with a mild case of “Never again!”. Something may have stuck a bit?
Mechanical Genius: The Goggles had side effects, as a God. Now he might not be one anymore, but his genius still shows through, when it comes to machines. 3 times development work normally put in for developing technology, equipment, etc. (Effectively, his mystic eyes are giving him a +29 bonus already, plus his intelligence, etc. for building stuff for the future. You’d be giving him triple all that.)
Relic Creation 1: He can still make relics, God or not. Empowering them, on the other hand, will be left to others.
Scion Skills 1: Some of Erik’s abilities convert pretty well from Scion 1e to Mekton Zeta. This would let those premade skills I worked on when I last worked on the character sheet, easily be accessible.
Mecha Jockey: +5 to all mecha piloting skills.
2 Points
Mechanical Attunement 2: Erik’s armor could do for quite a few more upgrades and tuneups eventually. Make it more bio-organic and adaptive, by merging it with the remains of the mechanical linkup suit. Must take Mechanical Attunement 1 to take this.
3 Points
Gone, Gone is the Form of Man, Now Comes the Dragon: Dragon Transformation, get! Now how the hell does Erik turn back from this...?
Blood Tempering: Take one choice of the blood tempering options from before for the armor, having awakened through the trip through reality. Keep in mind, as Erik progresses past Scion’s limits, this will have less and less of an effect/enhancement.
Beyond the Borders 1: Outside existence has less of an effect on Erik, and may not randomly change character sheets as a result when traveling unarmored...
I'm starting to suspect that talking with Kieran influences my rolls on Fate/Grand Order Heavily. How else can you explain me talking with him, then rolling for 30, only to get 3 Archer of Shinjuku on my second ten roll?
I write like Douglas Adams. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/696f37bd
Fairly direct continuation. We're getting a few more hints about the nature of Titans, but it's still pretty vague (and from what I presume is an extremely unreliable source). It's obvious that Erik is severely weakened by transitioning between worlds, which is probably good for setting balance. Mekton Zeta is also a system I don't know too much about, but seems fitting. It certainly seems to have detailed mecha rules, as the name would imply. It's interesting having the Cosmoreactor be the interface for that sort of decision-making.
We're slightly before the events of Mega Man Zero, which I don't... really know much about. I suppose I can take most of Erik's description at face value, though he's probably messing with the plot by describing it that things will go strange. It seems unlikely that will be enough to entirely fix things.
It seems like Emiya was lost in the void? I suppose we only have so much room for mechanical geniuses.
Point choices are interesting. Splitting over 6 characters is going to be challenging, especially with the general balance between safety and power. Erik and Scylla, in particular, have a few time bombs. It's considerably less complicated than last time in terms of structure, though. There aren't really any standout must-haves, but the opportunity to favour certain characters is definitely tempting. I may need some more time to mull that over. Seeing some of the numbers might also clarify what i.e. Lessened Existential Drain actually does.
All right, letting that sit has yielded not much else. Let's get proposing.
Caveats: I am biased away from energy-related upgrades (basically all of Mordred's upgrades past the 1 points). Realistically it seems like we should take at least one, but it's hard, given these points.
Initial proposal:
1) Erik, Mechnical Genius. Just seems obvious.
2) Erik, Mechanical Attunement. A bit more personal power, just in case. Mechanical Senses/Relic Creation are tempting (More crafting synergy), as is Titan Blood (safety), and Scion Skills. I'm not clear on exactly what Scion Skills covers, though.
3) Mordred, Clarent Communication. Is it optimal? Probably not. It seems like it has potential to grow a bit, or help in a pinch, though.
4-5) Scylla, Integrating the Whole. Slightly riskier than Titanspawn Purge, but I'm hoping it can work out.
6-7) Tamamo, Spymaster. Erik desperately needs someone with social skills. I'm somewhat tempted to drop this for something else, though. I don't quite have enough context to know what Green Thumb would do.
8-9) Fiore, something. I'm kinda leaning towards Mecha Jockey because of Bronze-link Manipulators, and because I'm leaning Erik hard into crafting.
An alternative I'm considering:
Clarent Communication, Chiron, Ascension, Guide, Mechanical Genius, Mechanical Senses, Relic Creation. Maximizing "wise advice", plus Erik's crafting ability, while hoping all of that advice keeps things from going wrong with Scylla.
I'm really interested in seeing what priorities other people have, though.
Last edited by Arbitrarity; October 24th, 2021 at 08:29 PM.
Yeah, Erik's... a mess right now. Mekton, I've always been a big fan of. I blame a really good quest that ran with the system, and made it work well for the system. (And the mystery of Erik having a luck pool is answered, due to the system...)
Titans are a lot more broad in Second edition, rather than the first.
Suffice to say, Mega Man Zero is an utter clusterfuck in a setting. Multiple global near-extinction events for humanity as a whole predated the setting. And the local mad scientist is hell bent on coming back, ruling humanity with an iron fist, or wiping out humanity entirely...We're slightly before the events of Mega Man Zero, which I don't... really know much about. I suppose I can take most of Erik's description at face value, though he's probably messing with the plot by describing it that things will go strange. It seems unlikely that will be enough to entirely fix things.
Thus the pokemon snippet I did involving him some time back...It seems like Emiya was lost in the void? I suppose we only have so much room for mechanical geniuses.
Lessened Existential Drain means if she's taking up, for example, 5 units of Prana/Legend/Psionics/whatever a day to exist, it's halved. Noble Phantasm energy drain is also halved. Raises her up to "Constant battler that can wade in and fight without issues" from "Trump card that needs to be saved for the hard fights". There are a few time bombs, and a few helpful things here and there.Point choices are interesting. Splitting over 6 characters is going to be challenging, especially with the general balance between safety and power. Erik and Scylla, in particular, have a few time bombs. It's considerably less complicated than last time in terms of structure, though. There aren't really any standout must-haves, but the opportunity to favour certain characters is definitely tempting. I may need some more time to mull that over. Seeing some of the numbers might also clarify what i.e. Lessened Existential Drain actually does.
I've been mostly waiting for Xamusel to note my post before replying to yours, to be fair. And if you can point out where, in story, the upgrade would make it less costly on top of all the other upgrades she got? I'm listening. You already gave her a signet ring that holds her up pretty well, you know? Those just augment exactly how strong and overwhelming she can be.All right, letting that sit has yielded not much else. Let's get proposing.
Caveats: I am biased away from energy-related upgrades (basically all of Mordred's upgrades past the 1 points). Realistically it seems like we should take at least one, but it's hard, given these points.
For Scion skills? Things like keeping his ability to make ice, pykrete and teleportation actually work well in Mekton Zeta's psionics setting. -Ish, at least. It's still a bit hand-wavey. Mechanical panoply still would exist, though taking much longer focus to slowly pull a machine together than what he's used to. To the point where the basic ability would take him a year as of right now to pull a war machine of some form together. Still been working on updating the character sheet, I'm afraid, though, to make for the more chapters written, and thus more experience Erik has on Character Creation before all these abilities.Initial proposal:
1) Erik, Mechnical Genius. Just seems obvious.
2) Erik, Mechanical Attunement. A bit more personal power, just in case. Mechanical Senses/Relic Creation are tempting (More crafting synergy), as is Titan Blood (safety), and Scion Skills. I'm not clear on exactly what Scion Skills covers, though.
3) Mordred, Clarent Communication. Is it optimal? Probably not. It seems like it has potential to grow a bit, or help in a pinch, though.
4-5) Scylla, Integrating the Whole. Slightly riskier than Titanspawn Purge, but I'm hoping it can work out.
6-7) Tamamo, Spymaster. Erik desperately needs someone with social skills. I'm somewhat tempted to drop this for something else, though. I don't quite have enough context to know what Green Thumb would do.
8-9) Fiore, something. I'm kinda leaning towards Mecha Jockey because of Bronze-link Manipulators, and because I'm leaning Erik hard into crafting.
As for Green Thumb? It'll let her pull off mad scientist "OHOHOHOHO!" moments of "It's alive!" mixed with "Oh shit, the plants are going to eat us again if we don't kill them first!" moments here and there. So a mix of mad scientist when it comes to plants, a touch akin to the flavor of Poison Ivy from Batman.
She married Erik. And outright threw around the idea of Robotech's Flower of Life as a possible power source. Did you really think she'd not have at least some potential for moments like that?
Also, the Golden Apple seeds are going to be an option for a few settings before the possibility of the seeds still existing is gone. After that point, you're not going to be having the option for immortal characters coming with.
Could work well, too. Chiron being an open option. Also, if anyone has any suggestions on other stuff for any characters, based on how they were portrayed, acted, etc. in setting? I'm listening.An alternative I'm considering:
Clarent Communication, Chiron, Ascension, Guide, Mechanical Genius, Mechanical Senses, Relic Creation. Maximizing "wise advice", plus Erik's crafting ability, while hoping all of that advice keeps things from going wrong with Scylla.
I'm really interested in seeing what priorities other people have, though.
Last edited by RanmaBushiko; October 24th, 2021 at 09:32 PM.
I'm starting to suspect that talking with Kieran influences my rolls on Fate/Grand Order Heavily. How else can you explain me talking with him, then rolling for 30, only to get 3 Archer of Shinjuku on my second ten roll?
I write like Douglas Adams. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/696f37bd
I would have replied sooner, but life got in the way, sadly.
So... what do I see here? I mean, could you please explain the options for me, RB? I don't think I fully understand what you want me to from a first glance.
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
What would you like more details on, exactly? There's pros and cons to everything, you might note. But I'm trying to not say *everything* for plot purposes, while giving you ideas on what would happen.
I'm starting to suspect that talking with Kieran influences my rolls on Fate/Grand Order Heavily. How else can you explain me talking with him, then rolling for 30, only to get 3 Archer of Shinjuku on my second ten roll?
I write like Douglas Adams. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/696f37bd
In Scion Second Edition, as in, less one-dimensionally evil? I suppose that fits with what the Doll is attempting to offer. Still seems very sketchy.
I did do some brief reading on the wiki, and yeah, it looks quite messy. Feels like telling people where actual X is might backfire horribly. It's also interesting how many characters just seem to be insane and evil.Suffice to say, Mega Man Zero is an utter clusterfuck in a setting. Multiple global near-extinction events for humanity as a whole predated the setting. And the local mad scientist is hell bent on coming back, ruling humanity with an iron fist, or wiping out humanity entirely...
Well played. I forgot about that, or at least, didn't relate it back here.Thus the pokemon snippet I did involving him some time back...
Yeah, it's more of a "I don't know how crippling her consumption is normally, relative to what Erik wants to do, and compared to the other options". The summary of "constant battler" is a useful way to summarize it.Lessened Existential Drain means if she's taking up, for example, 5 units of Prana/Legend/Psionics/whatever a day to exist, it's halved. Noble Phantasm energy drain is also halved. Raises her up to "Constant battler that can wade in and fight without issues" from "Trump card that needs to be saved for the hard fights". There are a few time bombs, and a few helpful things here and there.
Oh, I just meant in terms of picking options for story purposes, I favour utility over power efficiency (or raw firepower), unless it's made obvious that the power efficiency/firepower is going to be important. That's a caveat because it's a bias of mine that other people may not share, and I'm trying to counter-balance it by thinking about picking up one of the other options (and bemoaning the difficulty in allocating enough for it)I've been mostly waiting for Xamusel to note my post before replying to yours, to be fair. And if you can point out where, in story, the upgrade would make it less costly on top of all the other upgrades she got? I'm listening. You already gave her a signet ring that holds her up pretty well, you know? Those just augment exactly how strong and overwhelming she can be.
Ah, that is useful to know. I wasn't entirely sure what was covered. For one point, that is tempting.For Scion skills? Things like keeping his ability to make ice, pykrete and teleportation actually work well in Mekton Zeta's psionics setting. -Ish, at least. It's still a bit hand-wavey. Mechanical panoply still would exist, though taking much longer focus to slowly pull a machine together than what he's used to. To the point where the basic ability would take him a year as of right now to pull a war machine of some form together. Still been working on updating the character sheet, I'm afraid, though, to make for the more chapters written, and thus more experience Erik has on Character Creation before all these abilities.
I wasn't entirely sure what it entailed, but general MAD SCIENCE! fits. It definitely complements Erik's focus on machines to have a bio-tinker.As for Green Thumb? It'll let her pull off mad scientist "OHOHOHOHO!" moments of "It's alive!" mixed with "Oh shit, the plants are going to eat us again if we don't kill them first!" moments here and there. So a mix of mad scientist when it comes to plants, a touch akin to the flavor of Poison Ivy from Batman.
She married Erik. And outright threw around the idea of Robotech's Flower of Life as a possible power source. Did you really think she'd not have at least some potential for moments like that?
The question, of course, is whether we can afford it now, or if we expect things to get messier at those later times.Also, the Golden Apple seeds are going to be an option for a few settings before the possibility of the seeds still existing is gone. After that point, you're not going to be having the option for immortal characters coming with.
I see explicit synergies and discounts, I strongly consider them :PCould work well, too. Chiron being an open option.
That's a bit open-ended. We didn't see much of Fenris beyond some assistance crafting, so I can't suggest much for him. I kinda want a more social-focused Tamamo option, though Tea Party Truce might imply that. Mordred might merit a Charisma or leadership option, but I bet that's what Clarent Communication would be developing.Also, if anyone has any suggestions on other stuff for any characters, based on how they were portrayed, acted, etc. in setting? I'm listening.
It is tempting to power up Fiore so if she ends up confronting Godafrid later, she gives him a maximally bad time. Kitsune seems most applicable for that.
Generally, we're doing some reader-directed picking of power-ups or character features, similar to Erik's upgrades before the Hanging Gardens fight last year, albeit simpler, and split among more characters. If you're more strongly opinionated about what to do with Fiore than I am, pick some options there, I'm mostly undecided beyond "we should probably do something". I assume we'll mostly be coming to a consensus, unless a lot more people weigh in.So... what do I see here? I mean, could you please explain the options for me, RB? I don't think I fully understand what you want me to from a first glance.
Okay, let me see what I can ask for clarification on, then... but, before that, I have to answer the quoted message down below.
Ah, okay, I understand... wait. I think we're missing something on RB's end. What was the conclusion to the bad end timeline?
Now, back to RB, then. I guess that I would like it if I could get clarification about the following two options for now (Fiore's side of things):
Magic Circuit Issues Fixed
Character Sheet Created
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
And she's meant to be sketchy. Very much so. Noted by her irritation about Mordred snapping him out of his meeting with her...
In the case of almost everyone else? Yes. Yes it would. For his own four generals, loyal to X alone, however? Not quite so much. Especially considering in setting, how they'd ignore personal issues with everything due to sheer loyalty to him, and three of them outright sacrificed themselves in the third game the way they did to help stop a threat to the world.I did do some brief reading on the wiki, and yeah, it looks quite messy. Feels like telling people where actual X is might backfire horribly. It's also interesting how many characters just seem to be insane and evil.
Mwahaha...Well played. I forgot about that, or at least, didn't relate it back here.
Glad that helps with that description. I was a touch bit pressed for time when I posted, as you can tell.Yeah, it's more of a "I don't know how crippling her consumption is normally, relative to what Erik wants to do, and compared to the other options". The summary of "constant battler" is a useful way to summarize it.
Makes sense. I gave plenty of good 3 pointers, and one 5 pointer for Tamamo that would be devastating in the long run.Oh, I just meant in terms of picking options for story purposes, I favour utility over power efficiency (or raw firepower), unless it's made obvious that the power efficiency/firepower is going to be important. That's a caveat because it's a bias of mine that other people may not share, and I'm trying to counter-balance it by thinking about picking up one of the other options (and bemoaning the difficulty in allocating enough for it)
Exactly why I put it in as an option.Ah, that is useful to know. I wasn't entirely sure what was covered. For one point, that is tempting.
A Worm reference? Here? Nice. Yeah, she'll never be a Panacea, or a Nilbog, with how she hyperfocused on medicine and plants... but that doesn't mean she can't make the piranha plants from Super Mario Bros.I wasn't entirely sure what it entailed, but general MAD SCIENCE! fits. It definitely complements Erik's focus on machines to have a bio-tinker.
It's why I'm leaving it up to you.The question, of course, is whether we can afford it now, or if we expect things to get messier at those later times.
Yup! Perfectly fair, too.I see explicit synergies and discounts, I strongly consider them :P
Yeah, Fenris... just didn't DO enough for me to give him some real options. He gave some cryptic hints, scared some people, did some crafting, and was generally as helpful as he could be, considering he's still supposed to eat the Norse Gods and be empowered to do so. Tamamo, the spy master route will help her be more social, as would the tea party truce route to being more social, intelligent, etc. As for Clarent Communication, you'll just have to find out.That's a bit open-ended. We didn't see much of Fenris beyond some assistance crafting, so I can't suggest much for him. I kinda want a more social-focused Tamamo option, though Tea Party Truce might imply that. Mordred might merit a Charisma or leadership option, but I bet that's what Clarent Communication would be developing.
It is tempting to power up Fiore so if she ends up confronting Godafrid later, she gives him a maximally bad time. Kitsune seems most applicable for that.
As for Fiore, it's why I'm giving options that can let her have that as an option. Her chasing him down with tails and new Kitsune abilities completely fixing up her ability to cast magic at the cost of being Tamamo's daughter really would fit her well, when they eventually have another meeting.
This in a nutshell. Whew.Generally, we're doing some reader-directed picking of power-ups or character features, similar to Erik's upgrades before the Hanging Gardens fight last year, albeit simpler, and split among more characters. If you're more strongly opinionated about what to do with Fiore than I am, pick some options there, I'm mostly undecided beyond "we should probably do something". I assume we'll mostly be coming to a consensus, unless a lot more people weigh in.
I'm starting to suspect that talking with Kieran influences my rolls on Fate/Grand Order Heavily. How else can you explain me talking with him, then rolling for 30, only to get 3 Archer of Shinjuku on my second ten roll?
I write like Douglas Adams. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/696f37bd
RB, your prior post was number Lucky on this thread, just so you realize.
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
Let's see now, in order? The bad end timeline isn't finished yet as a story. You've got a nice couple of chapters I've had writer's block on, and rewritten a few times now, that I'm still working on for the bad end timeline.
As for details of the two? If you want Fiore to have perfect magecraft, for what she utilizes in canon, the Magic Circuit Issues will be fixed to let her do. We'd have to make things up whole-cloth for a lot of it, because we simply don't know any details about her magecraft. And that's why Kieran dropped her as a possible character in the Grail Works. It's banging your head against a wall, only for no new information or options to ever show up.
Fiore as a character is nice, however, and has a lot of potential to grow, if we have ways to grow her with.
If you want her to be some sort of character class from a setting, however... Dungeons and Dragons 5e, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Changeling the Lost, or even a Mekton Zeta character? THAT I can do easily enough... so readers choose what setting, and as long as she doesn't normally start becoming a divine being outright, I'll allow it with a one point option like that.
Huh. Lucky! Where's some jackpot noises when you need some...?
I'm starting to suspect that talking with Kieran influences my rolls on Fate/Grand Order Heavily. How else can you explain me talking with him, then rolling for 30, only to get 3 Archer of Shinjuku on my second ten roll?
I write like Douglas Adams. Proof: http://iwl.me/s/696f37bd
True... so, to make sure I understand, they're mutually exclusive in terms of what can be done? I mean, Fiore having proper magic circuits is incompatible with having a character sheet, right?
Xamusel's Fanfiction Profile
For those that don't necessarily care if my fics aren't all Type-Moon related.
Hmm... this is a bit of a surprise these days.
An archive of my works on the forum that's pretty accurate.
Note that I don't wish to be seen as an idiot any longer. I can't always promise better works than before, but I can sure as hell try, alright?
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