Matou Shinji and the Price of Victory (HP/FSN CYOA)

[Dracueri]

[x]Crafting
[x]Empathy
[x]Logic
[x]Composure

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 212: [x] Crafting
Choice 213: [x] Empathy, [X] Logic
Choice 214: [x] Composure

---

Choice 215:Yes, that was it, Tohsaka decided. The path to success was not one that she could discover simply by walking down well-trod roads. Whether it was her family's magecraft, techniques from the West, or secrets from the East, all these were things others already knew about to some degree. Granted, those roads were much easier to walk, given that there were others who had gone before her whose expertise and experience could be used to her benefit (for the right price), yet by the same token, anything she learned from them could be countered - especially if the people who instructed her proceeded to tell others what they had taught her (or used that knowledge for their own gain).

Her future had to be invented - forged, as it were - by her own hands, if she was to truly make her mark on the world.

[+1 Conceptualization]
[+1 Interfacing]
[+1 Inland Empire]
[-1 Savoir Faire]
[-1 Empathy]

A noble - ambitious - goal, though one that was quite fitting for an Average One who aspired to greatness. Not a quick or easy path - or a cheap one, at that - though thankfully, she had a lifetime to create the perfect set of tools for herself, and would eventually have access to all the funds she needed for all the materials for the iterations upon iterations of items she would have to go through to reach that point, once Kotomine stopped meddling as much in her life.

In the meantime, she did have certain limits. Limits on time imposed by the need to attend school. Limits on how much she could spend without uncomfortable questions from the fake priest. Limits on her knowledge and skill, which would make anything she worked on take longer - which meant she couldn't do everything she wanted. Not right away.

She had to focus.

Thus, she decided, the first things she would try to were...

[ ] Wand-Type Mystic Codes: Every magus worth their salt tended to have a wand-type mystic code, at least. Even her father had used a staff, so it stood to reason that this was something she could do.
[ ] Mobility Enhancement Items: While she had a gift for Visual Calculus that served her well in knowing what an opponent was about to do (as evidenced by her occasional spars against Kotomine), Tohsaka Rin had learned the hard way that it didn't matter what she knew, if she didn't have the speed to act on it.
[ ] Armor (or some kind of defenses): In a serious fight, it was more or less a given that one would take some hits. However, it might well be possible to reduce how many hits one took and how badly they affected her, so that she could keep going when others fell.
[ ] Pharmaceuticals: When most people thought of crafting, they thought of armor, weapons, or other accessories. They often overlooked the value of various stimulants and other chemical aids. After all, through the judicious use of those, she could work out how to reduce her need for sleep, so she had more hours a day to work with, increase her reaction speed or pain threshold - invaluable in a fight, gain a state of enhanced focus that would help her do better when it came to studying or other tasks, or help improve the rate at which she developed muscle tone (among other things).

[skulkidcachi90]

.....

[Skull Leader]

[] Armor (or some kind of defenses)

Ah talking with Alf makes me willing to go Pharms.
Switch to [X] Pharmaceuticals

So ok Pharms enhance Rin making her stay up longer, and overall help her be able to make the next item better. While not some grand item like the others, in the end the Pharms can boost her so that she makes better items at a later date.

[skulkidcachi90]

[X] Pharmaceuticals

[Dracueri]

[x]Pharmaceuticals

[Daiki]

[X] Pharmaceuticals

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 216: [X] Pharmaceuticals

---

Choice 217: It might be ambitious, but Tohsaka Rin figured that instead of trying to build an amplifier-type Mystic Code or one that enhanced one aspect of her combat style, it might be better to learn how to enhance herself via chemical means. After all, a wand might be useful while she was using her magecraft, and armor or a mobility enhancement device might be handy in combat, but realistically, when was she going to get a chance to actually use any of those? No - it was far better to learn how to tinker with her body, developing methods to minimize her need for sleep, reduce the amount of pain she felt so she could cast for longer or train harder, with the limits of the body being something that could be fixed with the application of the right chemical tools.

...this was all easier said than done, of course, since this required access to a variety of medicinal herbs and equipment that weren't exactly available off the shelf - at least not from a Japanese grocery store or konbini. This all had to be specially ordered from suppliers who didn't ask too many questions - especially since Japan had extremely strict laws regarding illegal drug use, and it wasn't as if she was a licensed nurse, pharmacist, or practitioner of traditional herbal medicine. Still, it wasn't as if magi always (or usually) followed the law anyway, so she managed as best as she could, brewing up some very interesting concoctions - and reaching out to Kyoto for some aid once they made contact with her over the Fujou matter.

If she was already going to owe them one major favor, owing another two or three probably wasn't going to hurt - much, in the long run. And if she owed them things, it would be in their best interest to ensure that she succeeded so she could repay them, right? Even if she had to sign some sort of agreement to work for Fujou Kohaku at some point in the future, in payment for the herblore and other knowledge that had been imparted.


[+1 Interfacing]
[+1 Electrochemistry]
[-1 Authority]

Still, eventually the girl found living in Fuyuki, under Kotomine's watchful eyes, a mite too restrictive for her tastes, especially as she was coming to trust him less and less. The fake priest was just a bit too composed, and enjoyed making her uncomfortable just a bit too much for her liking - and given what she was working on, she didn't trust that he wouldn't sell her out to the authorities in exchange for a suitable price. She'd seen odd foreigners visiting the Church on the Hill, after all - most notably a flashy blond man with chilling red eyes.

She didn't know what he was up to, but if pressed, she would solemnly swear that he was up to no good.

Thus, she made arrangements to go to Britain, to the Clock Tower, where there was a great deal of institutional support for magi - and far less concern about trifling matters such as breaking the law (so long as it wasn't the law of the Association). As a Second Owner of a Spiritual Land, and the head of her family, she was entitled to a spot there, after all.

Yet no sooner had she arrived in London and settled into the dorms when she'd received news about someone else from Fuyuki - one Matou Shinji, who had apparently shocked the notables of Tower by coming to the Winter Gala with one Illyasviel von Einzbern, the heiress to the Einzbern family, with rumor having that two Magicians had stopped to talk to the two during the gala. Given that he'd left Fuyuki years ago to seek his fortune as a witch, she was unsure of how - or why - the boy could have possibly attracted the attention of Magicians, much less why the Einzbern heiress had deigned to attend with him, unless there was some scheming afoot regarding the war by the Matou and Einzbern.

...which made it all the stranger that not long after, the Einzbern would wipe out the Matous.

Her initial response, of course, was influenced by...

[ ] Authority: How dare the Einzbern transgress on her spiritual land? They might be wealthy and have legitimate grievances, but they needed to know their place.
[ ] Logic: There had to be some reason why they did this, and she needed to find out what it was. After all, it was quite possible that she would be next, if she ever left the safety of London
[ ] Pain Threshold: Her sister...they'd killed her sister...
[ ] Composure: She would not crack - she could not let anyone see her crack from this. Weakness was death.

Choice 218: Aside from that, of course, the attack rudely awakened her to the fact that perhaps the day when she might need to defend herself from hired killers would come sooner, rather than later, meaning she needed both something practical for her combat style, and also that she needed experience.

For something practical, she figured that it would be most beneficial to build...

[ ] Wand-Type Mystic Codes: Every magus worth their salt tended to have a wand-type mystic code, at least. Even her father had used a staff, so it stood to reason that this was something she could do.
[ ] Mobility Enhancement Items: While she had a gift for Visual Calculus that served her well in knowing what an opponent was about to do (as evidenced by her occasional spars against Kotomine), Tohsaka Rin had learned the hard way that it didn't matter what she knew, if she didn't have the speed to act on it.
[ ] Armor (or some kind of defense): In a serious fight, it was more or less a given that one would take some hits. However, it might well be possible to reduce how many hits one took and how badly they affected her, so that she could keep going when others fell.

And that she should go for...

[ ] Quantity over Quality - (One of each of the above - low quality)
[ ] Quality over Quantity - (One of the above - high quality)
[ ] A balance (One, possibly two, of the above - Medium quality)

[skulkidcachi90]

[ ] Pain Threshold: Her sister...they'd killed her sister
[ ] Mobility Enhancement Items
[ ] Quality over Quantity - (One of the above - high quality)

[Daiki]

[x] Composure: She would not crack - she could not let anyone see her crack from this. Weakness was death.
[x] A balance;
>>>[x] Wand-Type Mystic Code
>>>[x] Mobility Enhancement Items

I like the idea of Rin using one main mystic code, while using extra items to get the job done. She doesn't have to rely on the wand-type all the time, but having something that can support her for spells, when she runs out of consumables (something that happens as much as Shinji changing equipment), etc... can't be bad thing.

Also, I prefer evasion tanks over damage sponges (especially in settings where ailments can screw you over badly).

Have nothing against swapping the wand for armor if need be, btw. But at the bare minimum, I would like her to get mobility.

[Skull Leader]

[X] Pain Threshold

I want to pick Logic here. After all the mystery is not something I think Shinji should be hiding. But this Rin on figuring out that Shinji's actions for just a simple girl caused HER sister to die...well I am not sure the going to take kindly to that, especially with the two not having a positive relationship. Maybe after she spends time on the squad would I be willing to risk this. Shinji not the one that killed her sister but he did cause the events to happen.

Choice 218: This one I fairly flexible on. If you don't pick a Wand type MC, there is the wand that we requisition. And if you do make a wand, well you can hand Luvia the other wand. Win-win either way. And for the armor defense vs mobility, well Rin's already got the illuminati Suit so if you build an item that boosts defense you can make the suit boost DEX. Or vice versa. The question is at what level of quality item does it take to match or best the Suit in a category?

Frankly I think its not a bad play to do something similar to Rin as we wanted to do with Shinji. IE have a armor that protects Rin on the outside and the layer that boosts Rins reaction-time or mobility (we can figure that out after we finish her build).

So the question to me is do we go the best Armor possible (Not bulky armor but something more to protect against magic mind you)? Or lower the quality to get a wand made as well. Or heck you could make both Armor and Mobility option and then use the Suit to boost her strength, etc.

I feel like Luvia should already have a wand like codex, meaning Rin should just use the wand we already got. So I will vote according.

[X] A balance
- [X] Armor
- [X] Mobility Enhancement

Side note Based on Daiki's post: Why go mobility over Armor when you go do both. I am not talking wrap Rin in magical full plate here. But having her have a bit of both worlds. There are times where you simply can not dodge an attack (Area attacks, Being caught flat-footed, etc) and has we proven before there is shit out there that your armor can't tank. That is at least the logic I am using here. For the record Wand/Mobility Rin also works.

[Dracueri]

[x]Pain Threshold
[x]A balance
--[x]Armor
--[x]Mobility Enhancement Items

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 217: [x] Pain Threshold
Choice 218: [x]A balance; [x]Armor + [x]Mobility Enhancement Items

---

Choice 219: People, Rin had learned over the years, didn't tend to look up very much. Not that she could blame them, since they didn't exactly have wings, nor lived in a world where they had to watch out for threats from the sky. Still, it was something she thought she could take advantage of in her combat style, as opposed to simply being able to move faster, hit harder, or take more damage before falling. After all, one did not necessarily need to hit harder to get through an enemy's defenses - just to hit them where their defenses weren't (or better yet, their attention wasn't). And while playing into an opponent's expectations wasn't necessarily a mistake if you were more skilled or powerful than they were, when one wasn't, that was often a recipe for disaster. In a spar or ritual duel, sure, there were rules to consider and play by, but in a battle to the death...it was better to do something unexpected. Something that one's foe likely had not prepared for.

Thus, when she sought to design something practical for herself, she didn't look into boots that doubled her speed, or let her jump higher, or such. What she designed - and made, with some assistance - was what she called a glide cloak - a mantle that she could wear over her garments that looked good and served a day to day for purpose of keeping her dry in inclement weather, but which, when triggered by a small pulse of prana, could snap into a different, more rigid, configuration that would enable her to glide through the sky from high places...or just give her a bit more air time and jump distance as needed.

The assistance she required mostly had to do with securing the lightweight magically-reactive materials she needed for this, with various enchanted wires woven into a framework of spider-silk, with a thin coating of wyvern scale applied to the outer surface for style...and to provide some resistance against interference from enemy prana (as well to provide a bit of armor that would serve to blunt the effects of enemy spells - at least single-action ones). And to ensure that it was capable of being used at a moment's notice, she embedded several jewels into the collar of the mantle, with a particularly large one serving as a fastener (and a rechargeable energy source for the item), and others serving as "switches" and "capacitors" to distribute prana through the cloak as needed, with a ring linked to each of the smaller jewels giving her the ability to control the mantle on the fly - something useful both for maneuvering through the air, as well as for using the cloak to intercept a spell or two, if need be.

Of course, using rings to control the mantle wasn't nearly as elegant of a solution as what she'd originally envisioned, in which the mantle had been something much more like wings, with the Code grafted to her magic circuits, so controlling it would be as instinctive as walking, but well, one step at a time. She was still relatively new to this sort of thing, and unlike someone like the legendary Aozaki Touko, she was no master of the craft. Thus, the workarounds like the rings and jewels, which had to be charged and maintained, but well, she could always build a better version later.

...still, to do so, she needed actual experience, so she could refine what she had made. Preferably not via taking a contract to go after a rogue magus, vampire, or other such though - or one that would need her to leave Britain at all, given that the Einzbern were still out there, and she had no idea what their motives were, or whether they were after her.

Which was why, when she heard about an opportunity for mercenaries at an outfit called "Albion", located in London of all things, through the networks she'd cultivated at the Tower (mostly because she wanted to keep tabs on what the Edelfelts and others were up to), she figured it was a good an opportunity as any. It wasn't as if there was likely to be an excessive amount of danger in Britain, under the nose of the Clock Tower, and apparently they were looking for a large number of contractors, so her inexperience probably wouldn't count against her.

What might, however, was her reaction to the individual who apparently would be her superior officer - someone she had thought long dead, along with the rest of the Matous. It was a reaction driven by...

[ ] Logic: Can this actually be Matou Shinji? There are shape-changers, after all, and devices capable of letting the user wear a different guise.
[ ] Electrochemistry: Whoever this is, he radiates a sense of power and confidence. She wants to know more about him - whoever he is.
[ ] Pain Threshold: She will not give whoever this is the satisfaction of seeing her surprised - or shocked at the reminder of what happened to her sister.
[ ] Composure: Whoever this is, he doesn't seem comfortable being asked to lead, so why should she trust herself to his command?
[ ] Interfacing: His equipment...that suit he was wearing, seemed very interesting. She had to know more about it. Where did he get it? What could it do?

In the end, however, the job interview, such that it was, was salvaged by the leader of Albion, one Gilderoy Lockhart, who seemed a very capable leader. Handsome, confident, and intelligent, he never seemed uncomfortable, no matter what she asked or said, with answers that satisfied her - more or less. Knowing that she wasn't expected to be on the front lines, learning that she was to be generously compensated, and that Albion would offer items to her as a signing bonus (including a loan of that very interesting set of armor), convinced her to accept.

After doing so, however, and beginning to familiarize herself with what to expect from her assignment, she found herself confused - mostly by the individual who called himself Matou Shinji, but acted nothing like the boy she remembered - well, except for his lack of Composure, she supposed. This person was apparently a hero who had single-handedly fought off an invading army? Had represented the witches of Britain in some global potions tournament and taken second place? Had been awarded accolades for valor (one even called the Order of Merlin, of all things)? Who was he, really?

To find that out, she decided to...

[ ] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto and ask if he knows anything about this turn of events - or this alleged Matou Shinji
[ ] Contact the Einzbern - ask them what happened in Fuyuki in her role as Second Owner - perhaps there would be answers
[ ] Ask Emilia, the other member assigned to the squad - she seems...familiar with him
[ ] Ask Miss Kyrelight - someone she remembers from the Tower, who is currently serving as the...maid? Huh.
[ ] Gather more information on her own - surely there must be records other than those kept by Albion - perhaps newspapers, or other such?

[Skull Leader]

[X] Logic: Can this actually be Matou Shinji? There are shape-changers, after all, and devices capable of letting the user wear a different guise.

That reaction is too wonderful not to pick along with the Interfacing reaction. But I can get behind Rin getting more LOGIC even if she reaches a True conclusion even if its wrong (not the full story). Given time I think she would learn that its unlikely that he is a shapechanger (unless this person been doing this for years). Especially when every one around Shinji can basically confirm that yeah he acting just like how Shinji would be.

[X] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto and ask if he knows anything about this turn of events - or this alleged Matou Shinji

its either this or gathering more info herself. Contacting Einzbern sounds like investigating a separate issue to me (the feud that caused the death of her sister). Yeah she might learn about Shinji from the Einzbern viewpoint but that secondary to the main issue that would be brought up in that investigation.

Talking to a squadmate about Shinji works but really why would Rin trust that source as she does not know her squadmate. Same with Mashu, the maid is a paid employee of Shinji, thus has a known bias. At least by reading newspapers she would get the *whole* truth...snicker.

Anyways my point is that Rin at least knowns and trusts (somewhat) the Kaiduka so whatever info she gains from him about Shinji has value to Rin. It might not be the most indepth source but its a good starting point.

[skulkidcachi90]

[ ] Interfacing: His equipment...that suit he was wearing, seemed very interesting. She had to know more about it. Where did he get it? What could it do?


[] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto and ask if he knows anything about this turn of events - or this alleged Matou Shinji

[Dracueri]

[x] Interfacing: His equipment...that suit he was wearing, seemed very interesting. She had to know more about it. Where did he get it? What could it do?

[x] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto and ask if he knows anything about this turn of events-or this alleged Matou Shinji

[Daiki]

[x] Interfacing
[x] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 219: [x] Interfacing; [x] Contact the Second Owner of Kyoto

---

Choice 220:To Tohsaka Rin,the oddest thing about the meeting was how one of Albion's agents - whoever he was - possessed such fine equipment. As someone who had some modicum of skill at crafting, it was clear to her that Lockhart must have someone on staff who was a veritable genius at creating such items - or that he had access to a supplier with this level of technology. Either way, whatever her misgivings, the promise of access to such examples of fine work - with one being lent to her, to the resources needed to conduct her own work, and possibly to others skilled in creating such items was rather enticing.

She was less than pleased that she had to agree to refrain from taking the item apart, or attempting any of the more invasive ways in which such items were usually studied (for the purposes of learning how they were made so one could replicate them), though that also had interesting implications. The restrictions suggested either that the armor had not been created in-house, but by an third party (and was also quite expensive and thus not standard issue), or that if the source was in-house, these items were difficult to make and required rare expertise, if not rare materials.

What was more interesting, of course, was what she learned about "Matou Shinji" from the Second Owner of Kyoto - that the being calling himself by that name was not the original Matou Shinji (who was unfortunately passed away during his adventures on the Isle of Thule), but an autonomous construct created by him, inheriting his will and memories. This bit of information gave her more than a bit of pause, as it lent some credence to the wild rumors about Matou Shinji that had been flying about since his appearance at the Clock Tower gala some time ago - specifically, the rumor that he had been Aozaki Touko's apprentice. That would explain his ability to create such a thing, to be sure, though she doubted that it would be quite to the same quality as his Master's creations. Possibly there was a degree of memory loss or skill loss involved then?

She'd wondered how it was he'd come to craft this, and how he'd managed to animate it - perhaps a curse of some sort, or by using part of his soul, depending on how desperate the circumstances were? As she recalled, Aozaki Touko did hold the patent for a perpetual curse engine, and it was possible that her apprentice had come to learn the basics of how such a thing might be possible, so...

'I suppose I can extend him the benefit of the doubt. Even if what is written in the dossier does seem...a bit beyond reasonable.'

Even so, she did eventually end up underestimating him - and some of the others she worked up - leading to an accident during training in which she was badly injured and needed extensive treatment, which she was only just now returning to duty after finishing. It had been a close call, but she couldn't fault him or anyone else involved.

The fault was hers. She'd been weak, and had failed to account for...

[ ] "Matou Shinji's" Draconic nature - She'd panicked in sparring, after seeing him just heal from being hit by fire spells, and had unthinkingly escalated, leading to him doing the same
[ ] Emilia's deadliness in close combat - she'd assumed that the buxom, flirtatious woman was perhaps an intelligence specialist of some kind, but that assumption had left her open to being hit
[ ] The fanaticism of Albion's foes - they might be individually weak, being practitioners of witchcraft, but weak did not mean harmless. It didn't take *that* much force to kill someone, after all - just a bit properly applied
[ ] Her own fears and insecurities - she'd frozen up when an incident occurred that reminded of the Fourth War, leading to her injury. This could not happen again

[skulkidcachi90]

[ ] "Matou Shinji's" Draconic nature - She'd panicked in sparring, after seeing him just heal from being hit by fire spells, and had unthinkingly escalated, leading to him doing the same

[Skull Leader]

I want to pick Her own fears and insecurities here but I feel like it has a bad side effect of that choice saying that the enemy or her allies could not hurt her normally. That the very reason why she was hurt was simply her freezing up at the wrong time cause of her own issues. I feel like by placing the blame all on herself she will be seriously underestimating non-magus threat levels.

Rin will likely want to investigate more on whoever is picked to be the cause of Rin's injury. So that she can learn about their capabilities to prevent a repeat incident. With Shinji, she might learn to respect his abilities and why a Construct is in the core the leader of a team. With Emilia she might learn of the amazing Shapechanging abilities of Emilia and want to work with her better. Or she can learn more about what wizards can do.

I think we said this in the past before but Rin really needs to learn about Wizards and their capabilities. They might not be as powerful as a magus but there are still very dangerous in their own way. So with that in mind, I have to go...

[X] The fanaticism of Albion's foes - they might be individually weak, being practitioners of witchcraft, but weak did not mean harmless. It didn't take *that* much force to kill someone, after all - just a bit properly applied