First Emperor's False Edict
Si Wáng Jiè Mìng
Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Team
Rank: C
Range: -
Max Targets: -
"Let's see, what does this letter say here..? Ah yes. By the grace of the Heavens, His Majesty the First Emperor orders you to die. Alright, get to it then!"
A Noble Phantasm representing Rider's rise to power, both Huhai as Emperor and Zhao as his chancellor. Huhai was the eighteenth son of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and second in line for succession after his older brother Fusu. However, several ministers disliked the older prince, and afraid to lose their position and authority under his rule, they conspired to get his younger brother crowned as Emperor. Led by the young prince's mentor Zhao Gao, the group falsified an edict written by the recently deceased First Emperor, ordering Fusu to take his own life. While some protested this edict, they were powerless to stop it, since they considered the Emperor's words to be the commandment of Heaven itself. Thus, Fusu took his own life, making Huhai next in line for the throne. Afterwards, similar falsified edicts were distributed, pushing a number of the new Emperor and his chancellor's political enemies to do the same. While some of them survived, nonetheless they soon fell to assassinations and political conspiracies.
This Noble Phantasm is a crystallization of the falsified edict's absolute authority. A constantly active Noble Phantasm, without releasing its True Name, any letter penned by Rider's hands will carry a powerful mental interference spell prompting the recipient to carry out the command inscribed within the letter. These recipients will see the letter as "someone who holds absolute authority over them". This authority figure may differ according to the recipient; it may be a Master, one's parents, employers, seniors, or anyone else. Those without sufficient mental resistance Skills (rank C or above) will fail to know any better and will carry out these commands without question, no matter how odd, unrealistic, or out-of-character the letter may sound. The letter could also be read by multiple people at once, pushing small groups of people to mobilize and follow its command.
By releasing its True Name, this Noble Phantasm invokes the authority of Heaven itself, requiring mental resistance Skills of rank A or above to cancel. When used on a Servant, its power rivals that of a single Command Spell (meaning it would take a single Command Spell from their Master to dispel its effect). As a downside, however, this false edict can only be directed towards a single individual, namely the first person to read the letter, so Rider must take caution not to let it be read by the wrong recipient. Its mana cost is also significantly higher, meaning they must use it sparingly and only in certain situations where they hold a definite advantage.
Chariot of Lies, Deceive This Foolish World
Zhi lù Wéimǎ
"Umm, for some reason I always have this uneasy feeling whenever I use this Noble Phantasm... but my teacher told me to use it, so he must've figured out some way we can win! I trust him, after all."
Type: Anti-Army
Rank: C
Range: 2~50
Max Targets: 100 people
There was one anecdote describing an exchange between the Emperor and his chancellor before the Emperor's fall. In it, it was said that the chancellor brought a deer before the Emperor, but presented it as a horse. Seeing this, the Emperor laughed and said "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?". Afterwards, he brushed it off as a joke and went on with his day. Unbeknownst to him, it was a test from the chancellor to determine who is and isn't loyal to his cause. He issued the same test towards other ministers in his court. Some insisted that it was a deer, while others, wanting to be on the chancellor's good side, called it a horse. The chancellor executed everyone who called the deer a deer. Afterwards, supported by a band of loyal followers, the chancellor staged a coup to replace the Emperor with another puppet ruler, which resulted in the Emperor's death and the fall of the Qin dynasty, which followed shortly. This incident provides the basis for the Chinese idiom "point to a deer and call it a horse", which refers to the act of deliberately accepting and propagating a falsehood. According to some sources, the same incident has also been cited as the etymology for the Japanese word
baka (fool).
A Noble Phantasm representing Zhao's abilities to force others to accept a lie in order to earn his favor. Combined with the Qin dynasty's knowledge of the occult, this Noble Phantasm takes the form of a chariot pulled by a wooden deer automata. While the deer itself is slow, possesses barely any combat potential and is relatively fragile for a mount, its true power lies elsewhere...
Upon unleashing its True Name, Rider establishes a bounded field and forces everyone within it to undergo a "resolve check". Those who fail this check will find themselves crumbling before Huhai's charisma and Zhao's cunning. Afterwards, simply by stating that the deer is something else (a horse, dragon, phantasmal beast, etc.), these people will undeniably see the chariot as the mount in question. On the other hand, as long as there is a single individual believing this lie, the deer will adopt characteristics of the mount in question (for example, calling it a dragon would greatly increase its agility and endurance (due to a dragon's hard scales), as well as the ability to fly and breathe fire. Its strength is proportional to the number of believers.
While it's not impossible to defeat Rider under these circumstances, it would be much easier to do so by disabling this Noble Phantasm first. In order to do that, those who did not succumb to the resolve check must convince the believers to believe otherwise, normally through certain mental purification Skills. Easier said than done, however, as Zhao brands these nonbelievers as "enemies of the state". Within this bounded field, their parameters will gradually drop and the believers are inflicted with a spell that makes them extremely hostile towards anyone who tries to convince them otherwise.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by DelRey
