Create-a-Servant

[Aeif]

Clarent

Traitorous Blade of the Coward Son

Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: C (B/A++)

Description: ... Additionally, through Mordred’s use of it to slay King Arturia there are two conditions upon which Clarent becomes more powerful. The first is that when attacking a Servant of notable royal heritage the blade ranks up, becoming Rank B and more successfully penetrates magical defenses. Secondly, the curse laid upon Clarent dictates that whoever kills its wielder will in the end be killed by Clarent regardless, completing the attack. Thus, the second condition is that if Mordred is slain in combat whilst utilising Clarent its power is upped to A++ and it will make a final deadly attack against Mordred’s killer, manifesting immediately in the form of the Sword of Peace’s heart-piercing oathbreaker punishment, amplified several-fold.

Was going to comment on how ridiculous it seemed for Mordred to be able to kill anyone who kills him regardless of defense, until I realized you could just disarm him and then run him through with his own sword.

Class: Assassin
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Stats:
Strength: D (C)
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: C
Luck: E
Noble Phantasm: B

Lilith doesn't seem to have the means to use her ability unless she's given an extremely large opportunity - e.g. a newbie Magus. Granted, she's a strong 'un, but she's going to need more than just seduction in order to have a chance at winning the war. It seems that she would take a support role (gathering mana, gaining intel through Lilim which would probably be unlikely because even if other Maguses don't notice them, the Heroes would) over actually fighting for the Magus, which would create an extremely bad situation. Her usefulness seems completely dependent on chance.

In my opinion she needs either 1. a passive aura of arousal/seduction/corruption/something in order to weaken nearby enemies and spirits to better be able to deliver her attacks or 2. another rank up in Strength in order to physically be able to grapple someone in order to deliver her attacks, and 3. an escape mechanism (in the form of a specific Lilim?) because she can't do shit in a straight fight. Granted, no Assassin should be able to dominate or match a person in a 1v1 fight without possessing an extreme advantage, i.e. True Assassin and Saber in HF, where he had nigh invulnerability to Saber's Excalibur due to Wind Resistance, but at least previous Assassins have been able to participate in brief skirmishes without the danger of dying outright.

/leagueoflegendsweee

[Vagrant]

He managed to kill Arturia, which is no mean feat, if we're being fair. And that is his most famous singular act, hence his Noble Phantasm crystallises as such. Yeah, it's quite powerful, but then that's why it's a one-use A++ phantasm :P

[Aeif]

I'm assuming we're going by the original story here, with the only differences being genderbending.

He killed Arthuria after a long and grueling battle that would waste anyone's endurance, by impaling himself on her spear and catching her off-guard by doing so, thereby allowing him to deal a fatal wound. It wasn't like he fought Arthuria in a one-versus-one battle - the possible results of which is debatable, considering his homoculous-ism and the accelerated learning ability versus her battle experience. Either way, the fact is that he killed her - but he didn't fight her to kill her. You could poison someone's cup of tea and kill them. Would that be a 'mean feat'? Not really.

I do like how you included the first condition of extra damage against 'nobility' so that his NP isn't completely useless, because it's very likely that Mordred will meet Arthuria all of one freaking time.

[Vagrant]

Mmm, well, in the end he's meant to scale up against Arturia, and as long as she's waving around Excalibur he probably needs something more than a sword that you have to trick someone into making a promise on to square up against her. I didn't want to give him a plain old beam attack, so I came up with something else, but the feedback is useful, nonetheless. I may take it on board and alter it a bit, I may not, will have to sit down and think about it a bit.

[Gunbazca]

@Oddman: neat~ considering her age, she should have stats way better than that really. Just look at Gilgamesh Goldstone Anyway, it has flavor on all the right places so i can't really comment.

And i seem to have hit a rut... Want to construct a sheet but feeling too lazy for it~

[Aeif]

It's really a daunting task. Mordred is fundamentally tied to Arthuria, but Arthuria doesn't really have to give two shits about him because she has her own story.

Giving him a weapon that is made to counter one hero gimps him of any noteworthy fighting ability, and making it so that the curse affects every person who kills him while he has his sword makes him somewhat... overpowered, considering that the NP and his identity could only be revealed after a fatal blow, where the attacker would already be dead or near-death.

Honestly, I think the 'Vow of Peace' portion works better, as long as it works on a single unit basis instead of a multiple unit basis - as long as it only affects the first person who breaks the 'vow'. It's still somewhat powerful, but it's much more manageable.

[Vagrant]

To be fair, she's never been recorded as particularly powerful physically, and is in the Assassin container, whereas Gil was actually recorded as a glorious being of amazing feats as well as having the age thing backing him up, and a stronger container. Just her age probably doesn't mean all that much, and it's probably not even all that much older than Gil to be honest, since he's 4500 years ago and as far as I can remember from the Young Earth Literalists the stories of Eden from the bible set it about 6000 years ago.

Honestly, given that the story of Adam is probably derived from the tales of Adapa or Alulim, it seems just as likely that Lilith is a legendary figure like Herc or Medusa, or else a wraith-ish being like the Hassan or Sasaki Kojiro. A wraith-type "First Woman" Assassin would explain her weakness relative to her supposed age, actually.

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It's really a daunting task. Mordred is fundamentally tied to Arthuria, but Arthuria doesn't really have to give two shits about him because she has her own story.

I'll say. Coming up with a relatively unique Phantasm that is both on a level around that of the highest tier Servants whilst also not being stupidly OP and also being faithful to his legend is somewhat tough, that's for sure.

[mAc Chaos]

Well, the Clarent final attack could be dodgeable like Gae Bolg at least. Instinct + Luck

[terraablaze]

But the Artoria could have possibly dodged it. Impossible, it is an attack that will always hit her.

[Mellon]

Calling Mordred "OP" is ludicrous considering that Gawain is running around with an Excalibur knockoff (sorry, "sister sword") and triples his (already high) stats during the day (to the point where he is basically invulnerable) and Lancelot also has an A++ rank Holy Sword (another sister sword) and the ability to turn machineguns and fighter jets into NPs.

I would expect Mordred to be at least equal to Lancelot and Gawain in power (infact, I would consider all of the Knights to be broken as fuck) and capable of fighting Arturia on an equal level, NPs and all. He is the "big bad" of Arturian Mythology in a way (and the ultimate cause of Camelot's downfall) and the counterpart to Arturia.

This is not an RP. Unless the hero in question can stomp Gil, "overpowered" as a concept does not exist. Being broken is what being a Heroic Spirit is all about.

Frankly, I would be tempted to turn the concept of "only strong against Arturia" on its head and make an NP which makes him extremely hard to kill by anyone who is not Arturia (not impossible, but hard). Something like how Mordred, the archetypical "traitorous knight" can only be killed by "his rightful king" or something like that.

[terraablaze]

Some Knights of the Round may be more OP then others. I certainly wouldn't expect the knights that are mostly just mentioned and get one or two stories to themselves to be as powerful as Gawain, Galahad, Lancelot, Artoria, or Mordred; not without good reason anyway.

[Mellon]

Some Knights of the Round may be more OP then others. I certainly wouldn't expect the knights that are mostly just mentioned and get one or two stories to themselves to be as powerful as Gawain, Galahad, Lancelot, Artoria, or Mordred; not without good reason anyway.

I agree, I was referring to mostly the more famous ones. Not those who are just mentioned once or twice. I would add Kay, Ector and Bedivere to that list (as being relatively famous/powerful).

[terraablaze]

Now that I think about it my list is kind of an oxymoron considering I included Galahad, a knight who was only important for one story even if it was one of the bigger and more well known ones. Now THAT is a Knight of the Round I want Nasu to write about considering Nasu seems to have shunted Arthur's search for the Holy Grail after her lifetime. What does Galahad do in a world where there is no search for the Grail and he dies on the field of battle?

[Seika]

I agree, I was referring to mostly the more famous ones. Not those who are just mentioned once or twice. I would add Kay, Ector and Bedivere to that list (as being relatively famous/powerful).

Welsh Cei and Bedwyr are broken as hell. The strongest of his court, before all the bloody foreigners came along.

[Mellon]

Now that I think about it my list is kind of an oxymoron considering I included Galahad, a knight who was only important for one story even if it was one of the bigger and more well known ones. Now THAT is a Knight of the Round I want Nasu to write about considering Nasu seems to have shunted Arthur's search for the Holy Grail after her lifetime. What does Galahad do in a world where there is no search for the Grail and he dies on the field of battle?

Frankly, I would like to see Galahad portrayed in a sort of deconstruction of the "perfect knight" image he has in the actual legends.

Heck, the Grail Hunt can fully happen during Arturia's lifetime, because in the end she did not get it (and Galahad decided to die). What I would love to see would be a Galahad who would be fanatically trying to win the Grail so that he could change his decision to die, because he believes that he betrayed his knightly code (by dying before Camlann and thereby not being capable of fighting alongside Arturia in the end).

Whereas Arturia is trying to remake the past (to have someone else chosen as king), I would like Galahad to be completely fanatical about going back in time to save the kingdom and Arturia. The perfect representation of "knightly loyalty that lasts forever".

Welsh Cei and Bedwyr are broken as hell. The strongest of his court, before all the bloody foreigners came along.

Yeah, I remember Kay being a sorcerer knight capable of becoming a giant (along with some other stuff) and Bedivere knowing dark magic and being one handed and still the fastest Knight of the Round (I remember something along the lines of him killing seven dudes while the rest hadn't even drawn their blades).

Granted, it has been a while since I have gone over Arthurian stuff.

[Ratman]

Galahad would be generally ridiculous, most likely.
Since his two main candidates for NP are the Grail itself and a shameless Caliburn knockoff, from what I remember.
Galahad gets summoned, goes "but what do you mean fight for the Grail, I have it-" and then angels come and drag him back to heaven.
The want-to-help-Arturia plot would propably work, but he would then end up being something like Gawain, except without the trashtalking. Maybe in the possible "Galahad meets All Evils of the World, what happens" regard, something could be worked out.
Or, have a Church agent summon Galahad and have Galahad keep shattering his perception of faith. That theme is a bit beyond the intellectual and themathical horizons of your usual Type-Moon, though.

I'd love to see Kay summoned as well. He was one funny, funny guy.

[Mellon]

The want-to-help-Arturia plot would propably work, but he would then end up being something like Gawain, except without the trashtalking. Maybe in the possible "Galahad meets All Evils of the World, what happens" regard, something could be worked out.

Naah, not really. Gawain was all about serving a king. Which is why he got such a hardon for Leo. He basically called it quits on Arturia and moved on from Arturia to the next possible "king" candidate. "To do things better next time" basically.

Whereas Galahad would be all about serving his King (Arturia). I don't really see him swearing to serve another (not in the capacity of their liege at the very least), because a perfect representation of knightly ideals would have only one king, no other. And his loyalty would be undying, no matter the circumstances. Therefore, completely driven to save his King and Kingdom would be the natural expression of that loyalty. Or something like that.

As said, it is merely how I would like to see him.

EDIT: Frankly, there is no reason to even give him the Grail. He has enough material even without it.

[Matsu]

I'm liking this one. Everything makes a lot of sense and is explained well. If anything I think she's a tad weak, considering first women and all, though I suppose she might have lost some of that in return for her demonic/monstrous abilities.

I didn't want to make her OP'd. Unfortunately, while trying to keep things reasonable, I neglected her strength ^^'

am I the only one who reads "birthed HUNDREDS per day" and then look at C rank endurance thinking that is mite low?

Also if we are assuming the lilim she can call the services of provide her with SIGNIFICANT mana (not sure how much that is) she should probably have a + in the mana parameter

Who says they couldn't have been eggs? Who knows how primordial demons reproduce. Also, mythologically speaking, this was before women were "cursed with the pain of childbirth".

As for how much Mana... Well, the method should be about as efficient as Caster Medea's was.

In my opinion she needs either 1. a passive aura of arousal/seduction/corruption/something in order to weaken nearby enemies and spirits to better be able to deliver her attacks or 2. another rank up in Strength in order to physically be able to grapple someone in order to deliver her attacks, and 3. an escape mechanism (in the form of a specific Lilim?) because she can't do shit in a straight fight. Granted, no Assassin should be able to dominate or match a person in a 1v1 fight without possessing an extreme advantage, i.e. True Assassin and Saber in HF, where he had nigh invulnerability to Saber's Excalibur due to Wind Resistance, but at least previous Assassins have been able to participate in brief skirmishes without the danger of dying outright.

I think I'll borrow one of those ideas. Thank you.

@Oddman: neat~ considering her age, she should have stats way better than that really. Just look at Gilgamesh Goldstone Anyway, it has flavor on all the right places so i can't really comment.

Again, didn't wanna make her OP'd. When I got to her Monstrous Strength skill, I thought about the possibility of putting her in the Berserker class instead, and having her assume the form of a female demon, but it doesn't really seem fair to give a servant the strength of the third strongest beings in the Nasuverse- much less an Assassin.

To be fair, she's never been recorded as particularly powerful physically, and is in the Assassin container, whereas Gil was actually recorded as a glorious being of amazing feats as well as having the age thing backing him up, and a stronger container. Just her age probably doesn't mean all that much, and it's probably not even all that much older than Gil to be honest, since he's 4500 years ago and as far as I can remember from the Young Earth Literalists the stories of Eden from the bible set it about 6000 years ago.

Honestly, given that the story of Adam is probably derived from the tales of Adapa or Alulim, it seems just as likely that Lilith is a legendary figure like Herc or Medusa, or else a wraith-ish being like the Hassan or Sasaki Kojiro. A wraith-type "First Woman" Assassin would explain her weakness relative to her supposed age, actually.

And you pretty much captured my original idea for her with that last sentence (before the omitted one, didn't want this to be unnecessarily long)
I'll get to work on buffing her up to a reasonable degree... Rearrange some stats, add a new skill and... I might scrap the second NP, or... Well, 3 NP's isn't that far of a stretch- hell, Perseus had 5...
I was so expecting to come back and have her bashed for the ridiculous OHKO NP. Color me surprised : p
I'll get to work on it now. I appreciate the constructive criticism... And kind words ^^'

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To offer an example of how ridiculously OP'd she could be, her Strength parameter would have been EX with Monstrous Strength being used to it's fullest ability.

[Matsu]

© elseeker

Class: Assassin
Gender: Female
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Stats:
Strength: D (C+)
Endurance: B
Agility: B
Mana: C
Luck: E
Noble Phantasm: B

Class Skills:

Presence Concealment: A+
Able to become one with the night, this skill makes it possible to disappear completely and become almost impossible to be detected, although efficacy will decrease once preparations to attack are taken. Only active at night.

Personal Skills:

Information Erasure: B+
Due to her myth being largely excluded from major Mythological texts, she has the effect of "fading away" from the memories of other's. The effect is subconscious giving her little if any control over it. This effect is enforced even within digital recordings by a closed-circuit camera in broad daylight. However, evidence of the engagement is not removed from the scene, and by way of logical deduction, the Servant's identity may be revealed, but even then, knowledge of previous battles with them will be forgotten.

Monstrous Strength: B (A++)
After centuries of fornicating with and bearing the young of primordial demons and phantasmal beasts, she naturally developed traits of said "beasts", namely, their awesome physical strength. The true nature of the ability would allow her to take on a more demonic form, and give her strength which would rival that of a certain Greek hero, however, being summoned as an assassin the only way it manifests itself is a rank up in strength.

Familiar Creation: C
Having given birth to thousands of lilim, she retains the ability to call upon them at will. While none of the lilim that she birthed directly still exist in the present era, the spawn of their spawn's spawn still linger the Earth, offering themselves to Magi as Familiars, in exchange for certain "services". She can call forth any living lilim, and have it to do her bidding. Though effective useless in combat against a Heroic Spirit, they do have their uses, namely espionage, assassination and energy gathering.

Poisonous Aura: A
The term "a bundle of hatred" would apply to her quite well. All of the hatred and negativity that she bore worked it's toll on her subconscious, and eventually changed her on a cellular level, mostly affecting her Magic Circuits. As a result, her Prana is literally toxic. As a result, her mere presence can cause subtle changes to the area around her. For example, if she were to remain remain materialized in an area for too long, her poisonous Prana would cause vegetation to rot, water to be polluted, and without proper protection from the flowing Prana, eventually humans would become ill.
The effect is passive, but she can utilize it in a few ways. Infusing weapons with it, for example, or gathering up a large amount then unleashing it as a wave, similar to Prana Burst, to create a toxic smokescreen if needed for an escape.

Noble Phantams:

Lilim's Hunt: Delight of the Sacrilegious Daughter
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Army
This can be used either one of two ways:
1) Using her Familiar Creation skill, she can call upon the lilim to go about the city to seduce humans. Seeing as the lilim are shapeshifters, they can assume either a male of female form. If they chose to merely mate, then the sexual energy stored up through coitus is converted into Prana, and offered to their Mother. If they chose to kill, they will bring the corpse back to their Mother as a sacrifice. Seeing as the latter method is more effective in gaining Prana, that is generally the one used. Assassin can use this to stockpile massive amounts of Prana, which she can either use herself, or transfer over to her Master.
2) A particularly old, intelligent, and powerful lilim can be called upon, given a specific task to target an opposing master. They will then take on the form of the Magi's ideal lover, and then seek to seduce them, only to kill them as soon as their guard is down.
They posses enough physical strength to overpower an average human, and some weaker Magi, but even in large numbers, they would be little more than a nuisance to a Heroic Spirit.

Aeshma Daeva: Fiend of the Wondering Spear
Rank: B
Type: Support
Being the Queen of Lust and mother of the succubi and incubi, it was only natural that she would draw the attention of the demon of passion, jealousy, and rage. Hebraic tradition hold that these two were united in an unholy union while she still walked the earth. Drawing from that myth, she can call upon the "demon" that still haunts the living, Asmodeus.
A wraith-like spirit which, like herself, pre-dates the Age of Gods, and is mentioned in numerous Mythological texts. Similar in nature to a Heroic Spirit himself, he can be summoned to do battle in her place, but this service comes not without recompense. It requires a massive amount of Prana to maintain the wraith's presence, which can either be provided by Assassin or her Master. He takes the form of a demonic humanoid with massive wings, and wields an enormous lance. Though his presence cannot be maintained for long, he is a fearsome opponent, even for a Heroic Spirit.

Real Identity:
Shortly after Gaia's actualization as an existence, God created the first human, Adam out of the dust of the ground and then breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, causing him to become a living soul. God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, placing him above all other creatures. When they passed before him in pairs, male and female, Adam-being already like a twenty-year-old man felt jealous of their loves, and though he tried coupling with each female in turn, found no satisfaction in the act. He therefore cried: 'Every creature but I has a proper mate!', and prayed God would remedy this injustice.

God then formed Lilith, the first woman, just as He had formed Adam, except that He used filth and sediment instead of pure dust.

Adam and Lilith never found peace together; for when he wished to lie with her, she took offence at the recumbent posture he demanded. 'Why must I lie beneath you?' she asked. 'I also was made from dust, and am therefore your equal.' Because Adam tried to compel her obedience by force, Lilith, in a rage, uttered the magic name of God, rose into the air and left him.

Adam complained to God, who at once sent three Angels to fetch Lilith back. They found her beside the Red Sea, a region abounding in lascivious demons, to whom she bore children at the rate of more than one hundred a day. 'Return to Adam without delay,' the angels said, `or we will drown you!' Lilith asked: `How can I return to Adam and live like an honest housewife, after my stay beside the Red Sea?', 'It will be death to refuse!' they answered. `How can I die,' Lilith asked again, `when God has ordered me to take charge of all newborn children: boys up to the eighth day of life, girls up to the twentieth day. None the less, if ever I see your three names or likenesses displayed in an amulet above a newborn child, I promise to spare it.' To this they agreed; but God punished Lilith by making one hundred of her demon children perish daily; and if she could not destroy a human infant, because of the angelic amulet, she would spitefully turn against her own.

Thus she lived, and escaped the curse of death which overtook Adam, since they had parted long before the Fall. For centuries, she wondered the Earth, and her legend spread, strangling infants and seducing dreaming men, any one of whom, sleeping alone, may became her victim. She was eventually killed by a European Magus in the 12th century.

An improper Heroic Spirit, only admitted into the Throne of Heroes due to the unintentional side-effect of her mass infanticide over the centuries. A few of the infants she is responsible for killing would have eventually grown up and commit acts which would threaten the balance of the world, and she was responsible for stopping them. Ironically, if you were to add up all the instances in which, by killing a certain child, she saved the world and prevented the counter force from acting, they would likely equate to many more "heroic deeds" than a lot of proper Heroic Spirits.

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... Ok, I feel confidant about the Poisonous Aura skill addition... But I'm not too sure about Aeshma Daeva... It is not an ass pull, it's actually recorded in Hebraic Mythology, but... More constructive criticism, please. Is this good as a final edition or could she be better?

[Seika]

A nameless scrap of gold. It emitted only the faintest power, but it was all he had, all a poor son of a poor family could muster up for a War he'd never wanted to be in. Damn the debts, damn the manipulations of old, rich bastards, and damn the contracts that were meant to get him out of both!

Matthias threw it into the circle at the climax of his chant. It flashed, catching the light, and fell to the ground.

The it flashed again, brighter. And again, brighter still. It built into strobing bursts of blindness, until all he could do was turn shut his eyes and turn away.

At last, they stopped, and Matthias shuffled himself back around to see what the hell had happened.

There, in the circle, a huge (and hugely muscled) man. Red-haired, red-bearded, and red-faced, as if he'd spent too long at the wine. He had no shirt, showing off impossibly broad shoulders decorated with traceries of blue, oddly setting off the ruddy chest-hair. And around his throat was a thick golden circle of metal. A bright diamond sparkled at its centre, drawing the eye.

As Matthias stared, the giant spoke with a rumbling voice that carried the seriousness of an avalanche.

“Hueil mab Caw, of the Saber Class. And if ye think I'm calling ye 'Master', ye're dead wrong.”


Class: Saber
Name: Hueil
Gender: Male
Master: HYPNOS
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Parameters
Strength: B
Agility: B
Endurance: C
Prana: D
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm: B+


Class Skills
Magic Resistance: C+
Anti-magic.
Although he tried, Merlin's tracking spells could not be evaded for ever, and Hueil was eventually tracked down. His particularly independent stance allows him to resist spells of dominance more effectively.

Riding: B
Skill in handling steeds and in mounted combat.
Hueil's kingdom was poor enough that he had experience with few beasts of legend. However, he was a proficient rider otherwise, striking in his raids with exceptional speed, always outrunning the warnings before they could reach the next town, or the responses before they could pin his troops down. A perfect raider.


Personal Skills
Pillaging: B
Ability to resupply through destruction and theft.
Although Hueil does not qualify for Independent Action, this skill can be used to simulate it. By laying waste to an area, he can temporarily take in far more of its ambient mana than should be possible, using it to resist the pressure of the World, shore up weaknesses in his parameters and heal any wounds taken.

Monstrous Strength: C
The blood of monsters. In exchange for degeneration from humanity, the hero can temporarily increase their strength parameter by a rank.
Caw the giant first came out of the woods of the North to establish his kingdom in the chaos as Rome retreated from Britannia. He was a tyrant, but fought well and hard to keep his kingdom secure, slaying Gwiddon Orddu, the Blackest Witch, and the boar Ysgithrwyn Benbeidd, and scalping the rival giant Ysbaddaden Penkawr. Thus, the people submitted to his occasional rapes and ravages. He had twenty-three sons, and Hueil was the foremost, who came to inherit his father's kingdom. Hueil can take on the strength of giants for a period of time.


Noble Phantasms

Eil Thaleithyawc

Pride of the Champion

A torc of ancient Britain, set with a brilliantly shining gem. The defiant declaration of a battle-lord, daring all others to try for the glory of felling them. Though they were forged long ago, it was only in Arthur's time that men were bold enough to wear such a thing around their necks – Tristan and Kay of Arthur's court each owned another – and soon after, cowards destroyed the three artifacts in fear of the ghosts of their mighty possessors.

The torc immediately draws attention in battle, equivalent to Mystic Eyes of Incitement. It may be counteracted by Magic Resistance of B-rank or higher. If any enemy of Hueil fails to avoid its effects, they are immediately drawn to attack him. In compensation, Hueil's parameters are increased for each opponent he fights beyond the second. The torc's stone shines more brightly as the odds increase, drawing more and more to the fight.

As a declaration of bravery, the gem cannot be covered up by any means. Indeed, true warriors will be able to perceive it even through solid materials if they are within range.

Rank: B
Type: Anti-Army
Maximum Targets: 100 people
Range: 1-10 (1-100)

Bai'r Glun

The Prince Does Not Kneel

A sword imbued with the whimsy and defiance of Hueil. Against royal figures claiming sovereignty over him, parameters are temporarily doubled. He may re-roll all checks made by opposing skills associated with rulership, such as 'Charisma'. Additionally, it makes his knees quite invulnerable to being cut, pierced, or buckled by force. He will never have to bend a knee to anyone so long as the blade is at his side.

Because it also wounded King Arthur, whose blood was never spilt, Bai'r Glun may be invoked as an active Noble Phantasm to make the knees of another vulnerable. Any supernatural protection of deflection or invincibility will be bypassed, though plain armour will still serve as defence.

Rank: C+
Type: Anti-Personnel
Maximum Targets: 1
Range: 1-2


Legend
When Arthur inherited the island of Britain, it was fractured. The recent departure of the Romans and the Saxon invasions had caused the old tribes to reform and establish all their petty kingdoms once more, whilst other new realms also sprang up in the gaps. Uther had united them for a time to fight the barbarians, but in the years since the High King's death, Britain had pulled itself apart again. Although Arthur's assumption of the throne was welcomed by most, particularly with the evidence of his ensorcerelled sword and unaging looks, a few were not so happy.

One such was the northern chieftain Hueil, son of Caw, perfectly content with his forested land and the twenty-two of his brothers who held it in subordination to him. (The twenty-third, Gildas the Wise, had preferred to submit to Arthur and was promptly exiled by the rest). When Arthur's emissaries approached to ask for his acknowledgement of Arthur as rightful King of all Britain, under whom all other Kings ruled, he had them thrown out. He promptly showed the extent of his displeasure by going on a raiding spree of Arthur's kingdom, burning, pillaging, and having rather a merry time, as he judged it.

He came so far as northern Wales, and Arthur himself went on a mission behind the lines to discover information in the town of Rhuthun. As a disguise, Artoria dressed in women's clothes, believing no-one could associate a mere girl with the High King of Britain. Unfortunately, her status as an impersonal symbol for the kingdom had hardly given her extraordinary acting skills, and her beautiful appearance had made a great impression on Hueil in battle. He identified her, but pretended himself to be a common man himself, and for the rest of the day he courted her as a young man might do to a pretty girl. This allowed him to steer her away from any truly useful intelligence she could have obtained, but mostly gave him the endless entertainment of flustering Artoria, who was so inexperienced in emotion, love and seduction.

At the end of the day, he regretfully announced that all good things had to come to an end, revealed both his own identity and that he knew hers (and that he found it quite brilliant that she managed to fool everyone in Britain), and pulled out his sword to kill her. Unarmed and in skirts, she fought back with only her bare hands and whatever magical enhancement she could call up. Though he stabbed her through the knee, she drove him off and limped back to camp to retrieve her sword and sheath. It was one of the longest times King Arthur ever bore a wound.

Finally, Arthur caught up with Hueil on the Isle of Man. There, they fought for a second time, and Arthur killed him. Without his might, his brothers soon lost the war, and their kingdom was conquered, brought under Arthur's banner. Though Hueil had never submitted, all the others did so, and converted from their pagan religion to Christianity. So were the children of Caw named among the three Kindreds of Saints.

For all that he had disagreed with his brothers, Gildas held them far more dear than he did Arthur. When he heard the news of Hueil's death and his kingdom's fall, he threw every manuscript of his which had a complimentary remark about Arthur into the sea, and made him the tyrannical figure of the island his chronicle Of the Ruin and Conquest of Britain and many other Things. Although he would not speak of Arthur directly, wishing that his name never be remembered, that the vile, tyrannical figure of Magoclune refers to him is beyond doubt. For that man is named as 'dragon of the island, the destroyer not only of king's realms but of their lives'; 'you whom [God] made greater than nearly all the other leaders of Britain, not only in kingdom, but in the standing of your rank among them'.


Notes

Spoiler:

The Monstrous Strength explanation is an attempt to reconcile the human (and somewhat prominent) Caw found in Culhwch ac Olwen with the monstrous giant seen in a biography of Saint Cadog. Obviously, there are timeline issues, since he slays the boar on Arthur's horse and the giant at the behest of Culhwch, Arthur's younger cousin, but sod 'em. We'll say that after his and Hueil's death, the bards of the court appropriated Caw's deeds for Arthur's glory with the blessings of his family (though Hueil is also mentioned in Culwch ac Olwen, and he still retains his title of 'never submitted to a lord' and is mentioned as an enemy of Arthur).

For a possible etymology and interpretation of the 'thaleithyawc' title, I follow Rachel Bromwich in her notes to the Triads. For that matter, most of this is syncretised and culled from her book, so I owe a great deal to her indeed. The whole Noble Phantasm title means 'The Second Torqued One', where what seems to be an early version of Tristan is the first, and Kay the third.

Bai'r Glun is taken from the tale of Hueil catching Arthur in women's clothing, dancing with other girls. Having already wounded the king in the knee and having been sworn to silence about it in exchange for a peace treaty with Arthur, he noticed the tell-tale limp. He couldn't restrain himself from saying "Da iawn yw downshio velly oni bai'r glun" - "it'd be good dancing except for the knee". Having broken his promise, he was beheaded by Arthur.

My version of Hueil catching Arthur in women's clothing did turn out rather more reminiscent of a Shakespeare comedy (lolcrossdressing, lolmistakenidentity, loldisguises, lolfallinginlovewithpeopleyoushouldn't). Because, really, that's the perfect set-up.

The part about Gildas is mostly taken from known tales, probably made up to explain the lack of references to Arthur in Gildas, who would have been within a generation or so of him if he were a historical figure. However, the translations from Gildas' Fall and Conquest and their use in establishing a link with Arthur himself are mine. (The translation is accurate, though I've definitely taken the interpretations which help along the scenario I constructed).