Create-A-Servant Secret Santa Contest 2022 Edition

[WhiteFrenzy]

Okay but this one has it all. 3 amazing format styles and 3 amazing characters.

I'll take from here, Morg. Godspeed. o>

[DracoScribe]

Wft delrey wyvern and royd's styles in one pool
Whoever you are you matched them pretty well from a glance (i didnt read em fully yet)
Also brownies points for Joshua (Sacred Stones) and those two from Professor Layton whose name I forget off the top of my head as FCs.
its been a while since i played it ok

[Wyvern]

Being a good king is hard. It's those that try that we remember.
Also, Wyvern's Pedro called. He wants to be linked.

I'm pretty sure that the quote is aimed at my Saver King Sebastian too. Since it mentioned someone 'born from wishes'.

[Kamera]

-Wrath of Nature-
A Servant that is strongly associated with natural disasters and earthly phenomena, such as volcanoes, eathquakes, thunderstoms, hurricanes, tsunamis, meteors, etc. They could be Divine Spirits that are the deification of such disasters, or heroes and saints that can create, tame or even wield such phenomenons. Perhaps they could also simply be a personification of a specific disaster (see Koyanskaya).

-West Africa-
A Servant originating from the Western Africa region, with all its diverse range of geography, history and cultures. From the ancient hunters of the Green Sahara, the gold empires of Mali and Ghana, the divine heroes of the Yoruba to the warring chiefs of the Hausa city-states and Fulani emirates.

-Watcher-
A Servant summoned under the Extra Class of Observation, Watcher. Simple enough.

[First Sheet]

---

Top Level Notes

-Wrath of Nature-
A Servant that is strongly associated with natural disasters and earthly phenomena, such as volcanoes, eathquakes, thunderstoms, hurricanes, tsunamis, meteors, etc. They could be Divine Spirits that are the deification of such disasters, or heroes and saints that can create, tame or even wield such phenomenons. Perhaps they could also simply be a personification of a specific disaster (see Koyanskaya).

She is gone, dog. You won't see her again.
Get over it. I have to as well.
If I could see her again, I would probaly ask her why.
And then finish the job.





⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ ─ ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ ─ ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼

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══════════╣ I ╠══════════
I


Mud splashes into his face as his bleeding fist hits the ground below. A proud warrior fights beside him, with a dour expression and scratches covering his body. Warm rain runs through the Master's fingers, mixing with the blood and mud. The sound of metal hitting flesh and grunting pierces the downpour. A woman dematerializes with her Phantasmal Beast twenty meters away. Subdued melodies from a modern musician play as he gets torn apart by bulbous creatures. A lightning clap in the distance announces a Knight's last stance.


“I did not want this, Master of Chaldea.”
declares the regal figure with blood-red glasses from on high. One of his aquatic tentacles nonchalantly throws away a French Saber that struggled to slice through his brackish limbs of water.
“You could have joined me, you know? We both want to save humanity! I wish to unite them under the same cross!"
The ominous rain clouds part like a fresh wound. Red-tinted light spouts out of the sky and as it makes its way to the Tainted Pope, it reflects on the oily, green-skinned army from below the billows. The shine appears behind him like a holy aura. It would have been a serene sight, if not for those gargantuan tentacles that slither through the gap in the clouds. From the Master's point of view, they looked like demonic wings protruding from the preacher's back.
Another, more brutal, sound of flesh hitting blunt metal, and a woman with a large shield is shot through the rain toward the Master. If not for the proud knight of the Fianna, she would have crashed into him.
“Fionn, thank you! Mash! She is badly injured. Please! Use your Noble Phantasm!”
The valiant warrior pushes away another fiend and looks at the rain filling his hand. He turns away from them both as he slowly closes it. He can feel it on his skin. This is no ordinary water. It is tainted with eldritch magic. Not even his Noble Phantasm,

Uisce Beatha

O' Life Scooped with These Hands

, can function with it.
“And your…” but the Master stops as he notices the bleeding wound on Fionn's hip where a water bag should have been.
They are coming closer, the Servants they gathered are scattered and can not reach in time due to the sheer number of enemies. How to win? Fionn raises his hand and…


“Mash, Mash! Stay with us! Come back to your senses! Mash! Please!”
Fionn turns around, reaches for the Master's arm, and roughly pulls him up to stand.
“Forgive me, Master.”
The warrior’s knee digs deep into the mage’s stomach. He spits out what his stressed body could no longer hold, and Fionn catches it with both hands. The Master falls to the ground, holding his abdomen, and watches as Fionn pours the contents into Mash’s mouth. Despite the pain, he smiles as Mash starts coughing and regains her consciousness. But then he sees blood dripping from Fionn's hand. Yet he does not taste his own.
“Your thumb.” he coughs as he gets up, still shaking
“Take good care of Mash.” He smiles while grabbing his weapon. "I made you a knight of Fianna, remember that. We trust our friends and die for them. Allow me this honor, Master.”
“Fionn. The water you scooped for me earlier... It was delicious.”
The legendary warrior lets out a small laugh, and turns toward the false saint with a determined smile on his handsome face.
With a single swing of his lance, a large wave of water pushes the approaching enemies away. The white knight elegantly twirls the weapon above his head and with both hands rams it into the ground in front of him. Blood runs down the shaft of the lance, and Celtic symbols light up on the wet ground.
“My name is Fionn mac Cumhail! Erin’s Savior! The captain of the glorious Knights of Fianna. The man who rose to victory over even Fallen Divine Spirits! I declare victory for Chaldea! You shall not make the Green Isles into your stronghold!
A large sphere of clear water builds up above his head, shining like the finest aquamarine gem.


“MAC AN LUIN!”


Several powerful jets of water with canine heads tear through the surrounding enemies as they hound the Sunken Pope. With a sly kiss on his rosary, his aquatic tendrils rise from the ground and twirl around the necks of these dogs. The pope removes the cross from his lips and the hounds are pulled to the ground, both water streams struggling for control. He lets go of the cross, with only an algae-covered chain preventing its fall. The enemies let out a final gurgling whimper as their heads are smashed by falling anchors.
"Valiant effort," the Sunken Pope declares. "But even overloading your Saint Graph with your Divinity was not enough. I serve the God, you know?"
The tentacles behind him rise and shoot three bullets of black water at Fionn, piercing his chest and leaving a mortal wound.
"Master, do not let him near Mash."
Fionn mac Cumhail, the great hero of Ireland, slumps to the ground, his hand and bleeding thumb sliding down his lance as he converts back into Spiritrons. The Master and barely conscious Mash frown at the still standing lance.
"And there he goes. I applaud the brave last stance, truly. His kind is famous for the bog burials. They live on the "water country" after all. I thought perhaps they may be the first to understand the truth of the waves. Regrettable, I can not offer him those honors. Join me, and we might reunite with him and the others. You see…,"
the False Father continues, but the Master and Mash are not listening. They are captivated by the pulsing dark blue light coming from Fionn's Celtic Magic Circle. After a final glow, the light emits a dark mist that covers the area like a shroud.
"*Sigh* I fear this might not be frankincense," the Sunken Pope laments with a slight smug smile.




”Took your damn time, human. Tried to get here for a while now. Felt there is good fun to be had here.”
The Master can not see the man talking through the wavering haze. But he hears how he takes the lance embedded in the mud for himself.
“He held up his end of the bargain. Fool. I hope the chain summon hurt. At least the stick is mine now.”
“...”
“Whaddya want from me? Help out? Cocky, aren’t ya? Well, let’s see what we got here.”
A blue glow shines through the mist and the mist parts, revealing the new Servant summoned. His disinterest glare goes through the masses of distorted figures.
“Tssk. Looks lame. Sicc’em.”
Howls thunder through the darkness, and hounds with lightning in their breath jump out of the mist. As a pack, they attack the army of Deep Ones and tear their way through like they are easy prey.







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══════════╣ II ╠══════════
II

“Oi, weakling. Status report, pronto. And make it interesting. ...And keep your chick's mouth shut.”


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


They came from the North without ships or barks. Black Mist, which darkened the sky, and thunder, which shook the land, heralded the appearance of the future ruler of the island.

Tuatha Dé Danann

‘Folk of the Goddess Danu’

, they called themselves. The tribe of gods was great in power, and had control over nature through sorcery.
A radiant leader stood among them, who they called King Nuada, the White Bull

---

---

. By his side stood his dazzling mate, Lady Boann, the White Cow

---

---

.


“Boring.”


But they were not the rulers of the island yet. They set their sights on the Hill of Tara, a place of royal and magical power for the current rulers, the Fir Bolg. They conquered the hill and set court there.


The perfect High King of the Fir Bolg, Eochaid, arrived and both parties sent out their ambassadors to meet. Sreng of the Mighty Blows and Beautiful Bres met and inspected each other's weapons with great interest. The spears of the foreigners were light and sharp, requiring skill, cunning, and technique to master. The weapons of the Fir Bolg were heavy and blunt, requiring power, bravery, and honesty to strike true.


Bres acted impressed and suggested splitting the land in two, allowing both sides to rule equally, as Nuada had demanded. Of course, the foreigners had plans to conquer the rest of the land. Sreng refused the offer.
Eochaid and Nuada declared war, and the two armies met in a pass in Connacht. They fought for four days, in a war that would be remembered as The First Battle of Magh Tuireadh.


During the battle, King Eochaid met his demise at the hands of The Mórrígan, who weakened him by using her powers to conceal sources of water from him. In the final showdown, King Nuada engaged in combat with Sreng, the military leader of the Fir Bolg. Despite his prowess with the lance, Nuada was unable to inflict any damage on the skilled and wise Sreng. When the battle had reached its limit, Sreng shouted "Enough!" and with a powerful strike of his enchanted club, he shattered Nuada's magical shield, broke through his blessed armor, and severed his arm from his shoulder.


“Now it gets interesting.”


But the battle was almost over. Only 300 of his Fir Bolg kin remained, and the High King had been slain. The warriors were ready to fight till the end, but Sreng requested mercy. In response, the Tuatha De offered a peace treaty, granting the Fir Bolg a small region of land known as Irrus Domnann in Connacht as a sign of respect.
Nuada emerged victorious, but the victory came at a cost. According to the laws set by Nuada himself when he became King of the Tuatha De seven years prior, only perfect men could hold the title of king. Having lost his arm in combat, Nuada was no longer eligible to rule and was forced to step down. His last act as King was to declare Bres as his successor.
In the following years, the physician of the gods, Dian Cecht, crafted Nuada a new silver arm, earning him the moniker

Nuada Airgetlám

Nuada of the Silver Arm

. This name stuck, even after his arm was replaced with one made of flesh and blood by Miach, the son of Dian Cecht.
However, Bres' rule proved to be misguided, and he was eventually replaced by Nuada again, who would go on to reign for twenty more years. Nuada eventually stepped down in favor of Lugh, the God of Light, who was deemed even more perfect. Nuada met his end in battle against Balor of the Evil Eye, but his legacy lived on as the revered Chief Deity of the Tuatha De and a wise, protective king.


“Are ya finished sucking the old man’s balls, human?”


The story of Nuada and Sreng is a simplified retelling of the complex events that happened between rivaling groups of deities.
Mages of the Clocktower discovered the magical history of this individual.



════════════════════════════════════╣╠════════════════════════════════════


══════════╣ III ╠══════════
III


Nuada's claim to the title of King was questionable, as he was chosen simply as the strongest among the powerful deities of the Tuatha Dé Danann. However, little is known about Sreng, who is believed to be associated with judgement and the line between justice and injustice. With his powerful blow against Nuada, Sreng deemed the tribe unworthy to rule as protectors and used his authority to force out Nuada's negative characteristics. This resulted in Nuada becoming a benevolent leader, but the loss of his arm also meant that he could no longer enact cruelty, a trait necessary for protecting their people. The inability to commit evil acts also led to a lack of understanding of the darkness that still existed among the tribe. This ultimately led to Nuada's abdication of the throne to Bres.
Bres, a kind and amicable individual of mixed heritage, had the potential to be the mediator in finding peace with the opposing Fomorians.


“Bad choice.”


But Bres was not the right leader for the Tuatha De during a time of great conflict. He lacked the impartiality and political acumen necessary to effectively govern and reconcile the opposing factions. Despite his potential for greatness, Bres ultimately failed as a ruler and his story was remembered as such. On the other hand, the story of Nuada Airgetlám

---

---

is one of transformation and redemption, as he becomes a truly worthy king for his people.


“Still not done. Get to the point.”


Yet, it is not a tale of how Nuada found his physical arm and reattached it, no.
The

bad traits were

‘arm’ was

left behind.
And not forgotten.


“Yeah, yeah, that’s me.”


~ ♬ ~


╼_A_S_S_A_S_S_I_N_╾
「 Black Dog of the Storm 」


= Nodens =

════════════════════════════════════╬════════════════════════════════════

Alias Nuada Dorchaelám, Nodons, Mars Nodons, Nodens Neptun, Reverse Thunderstorm, Black Deluge of Heaven Alternative Classes none Origin Celtic Mythology Height/Weight 178cm/75kg Alignment Neutral Evil Attribute Sky

Likes music "that goes hard", brevity, his dogs? Dislikes boredom, manipulator, bovine animals, "females" Talent tracking, "identifying assholes" Natural Enemy Celtic Pantheon, Foreigners (especially Pope Clement I), Mash Armament Birgha, water, mist hounds, an incredibly strong grip Catalyst chain summoning through Fionn mac Cumhail, strange maritime remains that were offered to a god in Lydney Park

STR B ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ END B ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ AGI A++ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ MAN C ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ LCK D- ▒▒▒▒░░░░ ▒▒▒▒░░░░

When he deploys his first Noble Phantasm, it ranks up his already high A+ Agility Parameter further.

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══════════╣ IV ╠══════════
IV

“You point me in the direction and I sicc enemies like the good dog I am.
That’s what you think, ey? I am no lapdog, bastard. I will follow my instincts. Lucky you that they tell me to feast on that weirdo’s throat.
“Fufu, may St. Blaise bless my poor body.”


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


The power of Sreng's Authority may have forced Nuada to lose a part of himself, but it was not enough to completely destroy it.
This part of Nuada took the form of a bunrei, an alter ego which manifests as the darkness of White Bull's Divine Core. It was named after the original, primal, and uncultivated form of Nuada – Nodens.
Nodens would later be associated with the Roman gods of war, Mars, and the sea, Neptune. He was also equated with Silvanus, the Roman god of the wilderness, and on occasion, with Mercury, the Roman god known for his swiftness. Nodens became known as a supreme hunter, both on land and sea, always accompanied by a pack of hunting dogs.
Both Nodens and Nuada Airgetlam were deemed unworthy to rule as kings, yet both possessed the potential to become one. However, only one of them seized this opportunity.


“Ehhh? Who says I wanted to be one?”


Dark Divine Core of the

Dog

Hunter

B
The original, yet degraded essence born from the discarded parts of a Chief God. The Bull is a symbol of wealth and the image of protectors and providers. Hunting in the woods and seas fed the tribe. This made Nuada a deity associated with waters and the hunt. What is war if not hounding the threats to your home? Is cleansing the wounds with water not the first step of healing? These authorities connect to the dualistic nature of dogs as mauling beasts, loyal companions and noble guides to the afterlife, but also omen of impending doom. But this Divine Core is tainted. And that is how a Bull became a mere Dog. Grants Territory Infringement as long as a target is chased and a heightened sense of smell, allowing him to track his prey even from a distance.


“The bull was just for show, while dogs did all the dirty work.”


Presence Concealment A--
A stalking dog with many tricks. Nodens can silently prowl the woods and swim through water without leaving a ripple. By temporarily entering the 'Otherworld' while in calm waters, he can conceal his presence from his enemies. He can also disappear within the magical mist that brought the Tuatha De from the Inner Sea to the Green Isles. However, if Assassin found worthy opponents, his thirst for battle hinders his ability, as his suppressed bloodlust can be sensed by those who have fought fierce beasts in the past.


“They can’t hide from me anyway. Why should I?”



════════════════════════════════════╣╠════════════════════════════════════


══════════╣ V ╠══════════
V

“Fine warm-up. Some were Servants once, ey? And that one over there roughed up your kitten?
She fought this thing and survived? Not bad. Perhaps she’s not like her, after all.”


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


The bunrei is not yet its own individual god. The first thing he saw was the carnage left behind after the bloody battle. This became his mental image of the world. He roamed aimlessly, succumbing to the primal urges to slay any unfortunate creature that crosses paths with him, as he tried to find what he was looking for. His drive was to reunite with

Nuada's

his

wife, Boann. So he travelled and finally found their personal meeting spot, leaving a trail of phantasmal and animal guts behind. It was the Well of Nechtan, a place of utmost importance to the Gods. A mystical place where nine purple hazels drop their white, with

inspiration

imbas

-filled, nuts into the water below. There, they were eaten by the salmons swimming in the well. The combination of imbas and life created

wisdom

awen

, which was imbued into their flesh and fat. Hence, they are known as the Salmons of Knowledge, the same Fionn mac Cumhail once cooked and gained his Noble Phantasm from. When he arrived, he saw Boann washing herself, trying to hide her infidelity with the god Dagda, who had fathered her son, Aengus. Foolish as Nuada was after their partition, he let it happen and allowed her to lie with another god. To hide the pregnancy and foll him, they even let the sun shine for nine months.


“Damn dog. Dirty bitch.”


In a fit of rage, he flooded the sacred spring, destroying everything in its path and mutilating Boann and a nearby dog. The deluge created the Boyne River, named after her.
It is said, on that day, the river of stars in the night sky dimmed significantly.
This event not only sullied the once-sacred Well of Nechtan, but also resulted in its conceptual transformation. Its ‘reflection’ was turned into the dark and ominous Well of Segais, located in the Otherworld. This well was said to be the source of all manner of malevolent and mysterious forces, as described in the old texts of the Dindsenchas. It is seen as another origin of the Boyne river.

Nechtain son of bold Labraid
whose wife was Boand, I aver;
a secret well there was in his stead,
from which gushed forth every kind of mysterious evil.


There was none that would look to its bottom
but his two bright eyes would burst:
if he should move to left or right,
he would not come from it without blemish.

The islands mourned the loss of their Earth Mother Goddess. Nodens did too. He followed

his love

the river

and, consumed by grief and anger, unleashed a series of storms that flooded the land.
As Nodens sought to ease his pain by venting his rage on the terrifying monsters of the sea, he unintentionally became a protector deity for the coastal regions. However, the mundane beasts of the deep soon proved to be insufficient to sate his thirst for battle. But as he hunted the phantasmal beasts of the deep, he found new and more challenging creatures that emerged from much more sinister depths. These battles were only whispered about, with strange remains washing up on beaches after stormy nights as the only evidence of his encounters. Many years later, they were heard by one crazed writer. Some of those rumors claim that he was not just looking for a fight but was in search of someone, but he dismisses any questions of that matter.


“Fuck that guy.”


Hunter of the Great Abyss A
His search led to unknown depths that lie beyond the seabed. A variant of Beast Slayer, specialized in bringing down horrors that lurk beyond. While already comprised of the darkest thoughts of a deity, killing these monsters cemented his twisted mind further. A Mental Corruption that serves as protection against the influences of eldritch creatures and those that command them. Though Assassin may seem disinterested, Nodens possesses a deep understanding of these subjects.


“Unobserved spaces are the preferred places for foreign assholes to gain entry. The depths of the seas, earth, space, the Imaginary Numbers. So predictable. … The fuck you mean, you didn’t even notice?”


Familiars: Mist Hounds B
The God of Dogs’ entourage. They come from within the mist with jaws that could break lightning. These creatures were once

Fairy Dogs

Cú Sídhe

who became mauling beasts made of black mist.
They share Assassin’s skills, albeit at lower ranks. Their eyes can detect even invisible fairies, smell foul beasts miles away, run faster than the wind, can enter and leave the Otherworld at will, and in battle they are especially useful in combatting enemy mounts. But they are considered omens of bad luck, so deploying them lowers Assassin's and others' Luck Parameter the more he summons. Their fighting style is unique, as they hunt their prey by leaping out of dark corners, wet surfaces or the mist that surrounds Assassin.
As familiars, they follow their master's wishes, sometimes even the subconscious ones. Even if Assassin does not show affection to someone, these terrifying hounds may lick an ally's wounds and invoke the remaining Authority of Healing that Assassin still possesses. And among them, there is one that stands out.


“Go on. Pet the dogs if you got a death wish. I won’t stop you. Traces of their former self remain, ya know? That is why they can detect the foreign pests. They are still part of them. Kinda. They stuck around after I freed them. These shits are annoying and steal my prey. But they have some use. Huh? Kind of me? Shaddup, would ya, girl? Consider them more like trophies, or whatever. Oi, stop licking her, Dabilla, you stupid cur."



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══════════╣ VI ╠══════════
VI

Assassin's gaze is fixed on the Pope, his grip on the creature's neck tight.
“Oi, ya done with throwing these slabs of meat in my direction?” He crushes its throat and effortlessly throws it away. Mash only watches in awe. She could barely keep up with this thing’s strength minutes prior.
The rest's too scared, or what?
"Dear Hunter," the Pope responds calmly. "I asked them to keep their distance from what is coming next. Life is precious, you know?"
"Disagree," Assassin replies coldly.
"I figured as much," the Pope says with a sigh. "You are incorrigible, but I will lead you down the righteous path. But first, you need discipline. Allow me to start with a slap on the wrist."
With that, a gigantic watery tentacle emerges from behind the smirking Pope, casting a shadow over Assassin. It slices straight down through the air.
“You talk too much,” he replies unfazed, blocking the attack with his bare hand.
“H-he grasps the water like it is a solid?!” exclaims Mash in shock.


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


Grasp of the Unworthy C
The dirty water may run through your fingers, but the muck remains in your hand.
Assassin invokes his conceptual powers over the Well of Segais, the dark reflection of the Well of Nechtan, which resides below the Boyne River in the Otherworld. It is said that tasting the waters of the Well of Nechtan granted great wisdom. But the waters only brought forth the innate sagacity and noble traits of each individual temporarily. The opposite, the Well of Segais, brings forth the follies of each person.


Due to the circumstances of his creation, Assassin has a feel for the vices of people in positions of power. A mere grasp with his hand could bring forth the worst in them – greed, lust, decadence, thirst for battle, etc. These traits are unworthy of a King and therefore lower respective skills by at least one rank. Additionally, his existence renders him immune to their deceiving words and Charisma, but also prevents him from receiving royal honoraries like from the Crown of Abdication Skill. Assassin can also manipulate water, creating a powerful torrent by gripping a body of water with his hand.


“We all are rabid beasts inside. Mortals and Gods alike. I’m just true to myself.”


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


Memories of Fionn mac Cumhail, moments before he was killed by the pope...


As the storm approached, I stood on the beach, watching as the churning thunderclouds drew closer. My hunting dogs, sensing the danger, had deserted me, unwilling to risk turning against me if he so wished.
Memories of my friend flooded my mind as he emerged from the black mist, surrounded by dozens of lightning-colored visages of the Cú Sídhe.
Bodb Derg was right. I knew I had to act when he told me about him. He was a danger to the gods, the people, and the land. Each step he took brought calamity, and his presence tarnished the name of the Wise King. He was out for vengeance, and his target was Dagda. For the sake of Eriu, I knew he had to die.
I had been promised another glorious fight, just like the one against the Fallen God Aillen. But as I looked at him, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was all just a farce, a way for my friend, the high-king, to eliminate someone who threatened his rule. When was the last time he stepped on land?
Had I been used? Perhaps that's what it meant to be a sworn brother to a King of the Gods. No, he would not have lied to me, his intentions would not have changed the facts, but in the end, I didn't put down a rabid beast,
I ended the life of a suffering dog.
Nuada recognized me as the strongest of the land, with a whistle, he ordered the pack to return to the fog. There was this glimmer in his eyes, like a sleepy child seeing a new toy.
We fought."

Feth Fiada Taranis

The Dark Mist howls with Thunder

Assassin invokes the mystical mist that brought the Tuatha De to the Green Isles. This mist acts as a gateway to the Otherworld, a realm in the Inner Sea the gods chose as retreat, as well as a means to conceal his presence. The properties of this mist vary among the Gods, but as a degraded essence of the Chief God, Assassin's fog is particularly potent. He imbues it with his Mana, creating a cumulonimbus cloud on the ground, allowing him to disappear and reappear at will. His hounds share this ability, making it their preferred hunting ground. The mist unleashes a torrential downpour, gale-force winds, and devastating lightning upon his enemies, tormenting them from all sides. Assassin can imbue his weapon with blue lightning and throw it like a black bolt. Inside the cloud, it chaotically bounces around, adding to the danger from all sides.


"Others created smoke that burned hot or mist that healed. Most of them used it to hide themselves. I to announce myself. Unlike them, I am not scared of mortals."


"I was no match for him.
The spark in his eyes was gone, and his movements were listless as he discarded his weapon.
"Let's get this over with,"
I couldn't help but feel a sense of understanding and empathy towards him. He was tired, worn out from the weight of his boring existence.
A hound, a loyal companion of him I believet, approached from behind him and licked at my wounds, healing them instantly. Without its assistance, I wouldn't have been able to stand.
I apologized, not for what I was about to do,
but for the fact that it fell upon me to carry it out.
I reached for my sword, the same one I had used to defeat Aillen, but my opponent shook his head. "No. The stick.” he said, still devoid of emotion, “I like that one more. You are better with this one."
His words stayed with me, etched in my memory.
I knew what had to be done. But the thought of taking the life of someone who had lost the will to fight, to live even, weighed heavily on me.
But it is for the sake of Eriu, right?”

Birgha Sruth Segsa

Black River of Forlorn Wisdom

“Fine. My turn now.”


Assassin wields the weapon that bears testament to his place in mythology and legend.
The ‘spitting spear’ Birgha was a lance known for being instrumental in the slaying of the Fallen Divine Spirit Aillen by the hand of Fionn mac Cumhail. When said hero manifests as Lancer, it is equated with his god-slaying sword Mac an Luin while keeping the shape of a lance. It is said that it poisons enemies, but its fumes protect from sleep-inducing spells. As a descendant of Nuada, Lancer is able to utilize the water element. The duality of poison and remedy and the syncretic situation of the weapon in the Throne of Heroes allows Assassin to merge this spear with the remaining shadow of the weapon his origin possesses – Nuada’s blade Claimh Solais.
Commonly viewed as a ‘

claimh

Sword

of Light’, its original primeval perception was a ‘

claidheamh

glaive

of lightning’.
This weapon denoted the King of the Tuatha De as a Bull of the Sky, a heavenly Sovereign of Power and Prosperity. When Nodens parted from Nuada, he took the ‘darkness’ with it, so Nuada became a Sovereign of Light, This aspect was further enhanced through the strong association with good weather, after he reclaimed his throne.
Birgha Sruth Segsa manifests as a black polearm, more staff than lance, with a bottle of glowing water at the tip. It changes appearance with each Ascension, as the lance of Fionn mac Cumhail accustoms to its new lord.
The lance ‘spits’ out the magical water from the endless supply of the

Well of Segais

Spring of Corruption

. Sruth Segsa is another name for the Boyne, meaning ‘River of Segais’, a homage to his murder on Boann.


Assassin's presence on the battlefield is concealed by the ominous Feth Fiada Mist that surrounds him. The black haze covers the field and blocks the view of all others. A blue light pierces the darkness. As the mist clears, he is revealed sitting beside the ominous Well of Segais, its dark waters churning with unseen power.


“Greet her for me.”


With a flick of his wrist, Assassin summons a deluge of corrupted water from the well, unleashing it upon his enemies in a devastating torrent. The black torrents are strong enough to mutilate even the strongest of Servants, stripping away their divine protections and leaving them vulnerable to his attacks. The attack leaves behind a dark, corrupted river, which contains the waters of Segais and curses enemies on contact. Stare too long at the black reflection and it might drag you into the waves. The curses will be dissolved by the Counter Force over time, but the new River may remain on the landscape.
Nodens stands tall, with a misty hound by his side, as he surveys the destruction he has wrought, the dark clouds above crackling with lightning and reflecting on the river's raging tide, a fitting backdrop for the god's power.


“She is not in there, Dabilla.”
*Whimpers*


⪻ ─ ⋘ ─ ⪡ – ⫷ ─┤|├─ ⫸ ─ ⪢ ─ ⋙ ─ ⪼


"They are all...drowning? Them?!"
"Dragged to the Otherworld. If there are some Servants left, they might reemerge from the water. Could be they're back to normal too. Wouldn't bet on it, tho."
"Hey, where you going?"
"None of your business. Consider it going for a walk with my dog. ... Gotta check something so it shuts up."



════════════════════════════════════╣╠════════════════════════════════════


══════════╣ Talks ╠══════════
Personality

"What? You wanna talk? Fine, make it brief."


"Huh? Tssk. Yeah, Old Man Nuada should have some dogs as well. Spoiled Lapdogs. A shame for their kind. Not tamed, but weakened. I let mine do as their nature dictates. If their instinct tells them to attack me, they’ve got it coming. None did so far, though."


Nudd ad Geraint:
"I can’t even bother to think about our relation. Just scrub off."


Cu Chulainn (Alter):
"Another dog that wants to hang out? Ah, Curruid Bones. Did I kill that thing or was that you?"


Alexander Scriabin:
"Can you play some hard rock before I kill you? No? Shame."


Jesse Livermore:
"Who'd have guessed. Taurus is a place for assholes."


Carl Jung:
"Hmm, hmm. Most interesting. My guess is that Sreng forced out the shadow of Nuada and formed Nodens. While Nuada was able to integrate his full Self, Nodens is just a whole mess of a man. He is the symbol of a failed Individuation process and is fully Shadow-absorbed. Not only that, he literally killed his Anima and is unable to progress as an individual. Truly a tormented soul. His skill to bring forth the Shadow characteristics of others is basically inviting a Shadow out to play. His title Reverse Thunderstorm is most fitting, too. A storm is created when warm and cold air meet and circulate. Thunder and lightning are the result before the calm after the storm settles, when both air masses mixed and the atmosphere stabilized. Nodens takes a stable atmosphere and reverses it into a situation when a thunderstorm will occur. His authority over weather is basically conceptualized and utilized on the human soul. Most fascinating, most fascinating."
"Oi. I kill you now."
"Please don't, I wasn't even properly introduced yet."


Baldr Jölnir:
"You wanted to talk about the newest Divine Spirit among our ranks, don't you Master? I am happy that my dear companions found new friends to play with. You and Chaldea sometimes wonder about the nature of relationship between the Celtic and Norse pantheon, do you not? I can assure you, they are separate textures, yet closely tied at the very root. Cousins, so to speak. Remember The Well of Mimir? It does sound a lot like the Well of Nechtan. Fufu, I see you begin to figure it out. Figure out the rest. Finding a four-leaf clover is more satisfying than being gifted one."


Fionn mac Cumhail:
"Uggh, great, he is back. Keep that annoying fanboy away from me."


Diarmuid, Lughaid, Ciabhan, Lleu Llaw Gyffes:
"Losers."


Tethra:
"Vindictive. I just killed a few of his flock. So what?"


Mash:
"Dabilla plays with your kitten again, ey? Dumb dog. It is not her. But she likes her anyway. They are just too similar. Eh? Forget I said anything."


Clement I:
"The Master really summoned that octopus to Chaldea for help? He is dumber than I thought."
Foreigner still tries to convert him. His words fall on deaf ears. Despite that, they are a surprisingly effective team.






════════════════════════════════════╣╠════════════════════════════════════


═════════╣ Craft Essence ╠═════════
Craft Essence

"Huh? You had a dream about me and Fionn? Fine. Tell me."


The last Affection


The blond hero removes his lance from the heart of his opponent, blood dripping onto the sand, washed away by the waves. The misty dog beside them begins to whimper.
"What about your pack?"
"They'll manage," he answers, boredly smearing his blood between his fingers. Even with a hole in his chest, slowly bleeding out, he doesn't change his demeanor in any way.
"I like dogs. I think they are the best companions a man could have."
"Oh, are they?", he looks at the dog at his feet, the least threatening of the ones he's seen in the fog before.
"They are not half-bad. Not half-good either."
"Dogs remember the good things you have done for them. No matter what kind of man you are."
"Uh-huh."
"You wanted to..."
"Give me another stab or leave."
The hero nods and leaves in silence. Once his back is turned, blood spills from the god's mouth, and he has to balance himself to avoid falling.
"Before you go. What's the name of your stick?"
"Birgha," he answers without turning around.
"Pahahahaha. 'Spit-Spear'? What a dumb name. To be finished off by that. I almost like it."
With a smile, the hero moves on. He hears him fall to his knees, and after a few more steps, the dog begins to bitterly howl.
For the last time, the hero turns around. There, it sits alone on the beach. With a bloody handprint left on its head.



════════════════════════════════════╣╠════════════════════════════════════


═════════╣ Notes ╠═════════Notes:

sources:
Internet
Castellan
Trust me Bro
in that order


Extra tidbits:

• visual extra: any rotation he causes, be it his lance or vortexes of water, are counter-clockwise. It is “against the sun”, therefore against nature. According to one myth, Boann went around the well that way, which offended the well and caused the flood which killed her.
• Nodens is the older version, with more ‘authorities’ associated with him than Nuada, who is mostly seen as just ‘king’
• The well was named after Nechtan, but due to Nechtan being barely relevant in myth, it was theorized early on it was a name of Nuada.
• Dabilla is the name of the dog that was killed in the flood. it was the lapdog of Boann in one version,
• Making Nuada a Bull Deity is not explicitly mentioned in any source, but the kingly attributes of bulls in myth, his wife, hints in certain literature and the general association of God Kings and Bulls in Indo-European myth led me to this conclusion. Together with all the sword/lance lore in the NP, of course he was a sky daddy like the other heads of pantheons.
• Making Boann a cow is given through her name. The cow has an important standing in Celtic myth. It grants milk, butter, meat, leather and fat, all necessary to the people. The origin story of the black, white and brown cows speaks of a goddess from the sea that sent them, with the white cow, BoFinn, taking the middle route and its path is reflected in the Milky Way. Several Celtic names of it are associated with cows. Some suggested that Boann is an emanation of Danu, the goddess that gave the Tuatha Dé Danann their name. The association led to the belief that the Boyne and the Milky Way are reflections of each other, a common theme in Celtic myth (see Castellan’s Lore). She couldn't be anything but an Earth Mother Goddess in the Nasuverse context.
• So I had a Sky Father and an Earth/Sky Mother. Dividing him into ‘light’ and ‘dark’ basically means good and bad weather. And for the isles, bad weather comes from the sea, of course. But overall, controlling weather is something other gods can do as well. Like Dagda and Lugh…oh well, other Kings of the Tuatha De! Ignore Morrigan.
• Sreng has barely anything going in his myth. With what Castellan laid out in his mythology, the Fir Bolg being associated with sovereignty and kingship felt fitting. It is the only OC thing in the sheet outside the claim that there are "not-good boys" among dogs
• St. Blaise is known for blessing throats
• the degradation of a bull to a dog is a bit of a stretch. there are hints that there mightve been a dog vs bull motif going on in old depictions and the dogs were used in the Cattle Wars, but it was mostly because Nodens was associated with them. Another Extra: the final Ascension shows him with the bullhorns
• Nodens is an Elder God in the HPL mythos, meaning a native god of Earth. He is viewed as someone that hunts the servants of Outer Gods for sports. "...the grey and awful form of primal Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss.", hence the one skill. Appears in two books from the crazed writer himself.
• Yes, I hint that the fairy dogs were once possessed by the Hounds of Tindalos. If the Outer Gods cant properly manifest in the nasuverse on their own, perhaps they cant either and need fitting vessels. Who better than other hounds known for jumping between dimensions?
• Yes, Grasp of the Unworthy is Fishman Karate for One Piece enjoyers
• Fionn claims to have fought Nuada. Right when he was summoned even. Thats not supported in any texts. So it is Nasuverse bullshit. I gave it a reason to exist.
• Bodb Bearg was a good buddy with Fionn, despite the gods at the time keeping their distance from human affairs. He was the King of the gods after Dagda - his father. The Tuatha De are not the perfect good gods and sometimes pretty shady. Yes, GoW Ragnarök is an inspiration here.
• Did I almost tear up imagining the last scene of my own CE? No. You did. Shut up.
• faceclaim is Hydrad from Alchemy Stars. In-game, he and Kleken (the pope) are always at their throat, my impression. Of course there is yaoi art of them.

[Second Sheet]

---

Watcher
Golden Pulse of Change
Oya


https://i.pinimg.com/564x/83/18/eb/8...14dd5d726a.jpg

Magic Resistance A
The Queen of Change is the embodiment of wisdom passed down through generations of ancestors. Through her guidance and connection with spirits, she possesses a deep understanding of the past, present, and future. As a goddess who emerged victorious against Iku, the Orisha of Death, she is immune to modern spells and abilities that utilize the Wind Element or are tainted with the concept of death.

Watcher
A skill that represents the Watcher class' unique bond with the Master. As a Watcher, Oya communicates with the Master through nine powerful wind spirits, eight of which are whirlwinds that carry her voice for communication. The ninth spirit is Egungun, a vessel of ancestral spirits that Oya cares for within the area. These spirits can assist the Master by lending their strength in battle, in return for him helping to resolve their unfinished businesses. Together, these nine spirits grant Oya the title of "Mother of Nine" and symbolize the nine streams of the Niger River, over which she holds great power and influence.

Universal Bird's Eye B
The Eye of the Storm. The ability to comprehend events taking place in the set area where Watcher was summoned. At rank B, Watcher can perceive what takes place in the city, but that is limited to things that can be perceived with sight, hearing or sensing Magical Energy. Oya observes change and the winds carry voices and breaths to her.

Where the Wind Blows B-
Winds find their way. This skill represents Oya's connection to the winds and her ability to navigate through any terrain or obstacle. It grants her immunity to abilities based on restriction and old customs, whether they be physical or conceptual. Oya's connection to the winds allows her to find her way through any terrain, and as the goddess of change, she cannot be held back by traditions or conventions. Additionally, as the goddess who guides souls to the afterlife and stands at the gates of the cemetery, yet never enters herself, she is immune to abilities that are heavily associated with death and cannot enter territories that are drenched in it. This skill replaces Territory Infringement as a Class Skill.

Divine Core of Change B
The goddess of change is the embodiment of the winds of transformation. She brings with her the fury of nature, unleashing thunderstorms, tornadoes, and earthquakes upon her foes. Her name, Oya-ajere, meaning the "Carrier of the Container of Fire," highlights her role as a cloud deity, bringing the lightning that sparks change and transformation. Her storms may destroy, but they also clear the way for new growth and rebirth. And as the guardian of fate and change, she is not afraid to intervene in the fortunes of mortals, using her power to bring about both purposeful destruction and necessary renewal. But as a Watcher, she restrains her meddling in human affairs.
And the change of possessions is something she took a special interest in nowadays, as she is also known to reside in the marketplace, where fortunes are constantly changing.

Dweller of Another Phase E
Watcher resides in the invisible plain that belongs neither to the dead or the living. That is usually the case. Through an unknown method, she is able to manifest as a Pseudo-Servant with the help of a powerful, business-savvy mage of African descent. In order to maintain her status as a Watcher, she must remain at the top floor of the highest building in the city, observing all that transpires without physically participating. However, gaining access to her is difficult, as she exists in a different "phase" than us…aka getting an appointment with her is almost impossible.

Offering to the Blessed Stream B
Oya once faced the heartache of barrenness and nine stillborn. In search of change, she made an offering to the winds in the form of a cloth, dyed with the colors of the rainbow. This offering blessed her with four pairs of twins and a ninth child, all of whom were her reincarnated children. As a reminder of her children and the power of change, Oya wears the cloth to this day. By making a sacrifice, in the form of food, wine, or birds and a pledge to change the status quo, her followers can gain blessings of good health, strong lungs, and increased luck.
Nowadays, she does prefer good red wine and/or monetary donations.


"Ayi Lo Da – 'She Who Turns and Changes'"
Her epithet becomes her Noble Phantasm. It embodies the power of the goddess Oya. As the embodiment of change and transformation, Oya cannot be constrained by the limitations of the class system. Her wrath is unleashed upon those who perpetuate injustice and lies, as she will not tolerate actions that harm without reason. With her ability to command the winds and summon powerful storms, those who dare to anger her will face the full force of her divine wrath.
She veils herself in the hot, dry and dusty Harmattan wind of West Africa, and changes her Saint Graph.
---------------------------------------------------------

Saber
Raging Harmattan Gust

Riding A+
Oya's mastery over horses is well documented, and she is said to be able to ride even the winds themselves. However, her true riding prowess lies in her ability to transform into a powerful, majestic beast. Strongly associated with water buffaloes, known for being ruled by females, and also seen as a gazelle, which gifted her horns to her husband Shango. This skill allows her to move with great speed and power, granting her unparalleled mobility in battle when transformed. But she rarely does.

Magic Resistance B
Oya possesses a strong resistance to spells and incantations. As a Warrior Queen and bringer of death, she does not stand in equilibrium between the realms of life and death anymore. Therefore, her resistance was lowered.

Preceding Whirlwind A
Oya was described as the wind felt before the storm, her husband Shango, appeared. She wields her two machete-like blades with deadly precision. Her fighting technique allows her to strike first, even if the enemy initiates combat. Her nimble footwork and lightning-fast reflexes enable her to deliver devastating preemptive strikes, making her a formidable opponent to those who dare to challenge her. As a goddess who defeated the "fast-striking" death itself, this technique is particularly dangerous against deities associated with death.


At the Boundary C
As a goddess of rebirth, a psychopomp, and a bearer and caregiver to stillborn, Oya is intimately familiar with the process of losing life. Her expertise in this area grants her a deeper understanding of death and the boundary between life and death, allowing her to navigate this realm with ease. Though she may be accustomed to loss, she is unable to comprehend the finality of true death and its implications.

Feminine Intuition B
Oya is a powerful and intuitive goddess, known for her ability to wield her femininity as a weapon. According to legend, she had a vision of her imprisoned husband and sent a lightning bolt to free him. Her compassion and care for others is legendary, as she protected and saved fellow Orishas from fading into obscurity. She is also known for her fierce protectiveness, particularly towards her loved ones, and her ability to inspire devotion in those who worship her. Her connection to stillborn babies and the souls of the dead further solidify her status as a powerful and compassionate mother figure. This skill grants Female Servants low-ranked Independent Action and Revelation, which often manifests as certain gut-feelings regarding different matters. She also empowers and protects them, making them formidable opponents in battle.

Ìwo Mànàmáná - Lightning Horns, Tear Down the Obstacles to Change

The Noble Phantasm of Oya, representing her power as a goddess of storms and change. These two machete-like blades were once her own horns, which she shed for her husband Shango after she was pleased by his apology, granting him power over lightning and thunder. This made him the powerful Orisha of Storms. With these blades, Oya strikes down injustice and clears away obstacles that prevent change from occurring. The blades embody the power of Oya's will to bring about change, and their strikes are said to have the power to transform even the most stubborn of circumstances.

When summoned, Oya summons a powerful wind from behind her that makes her incredibly fast. She holds the blades in an X position and rushes toward the enemy. With a swift slash of both blades, a cross of lightning hits the enemy, revealing each one's weaknesses and shifting the tide of battle after a stalemate. Inevitably, this Noble Phantasm will lead to the change of the outcome, but even she is unaware of what fate holds in store for her enemies.
If an enemy is killed through his Noble Phantasm, it is conceptually the same as 'their grave is marked by an X'. This makes them a spirit in the care of Oya.
She will then return to her Watcher form and can call upon the defeated Servant for aid. They then reside in the Egungun with their Parameter lowered by two ranks, but their Noble Phantasm ranked down by one.


Oya is a powerful goddess from the Yoruba religion of West Africa and is also revered in the Afro-Carribean and Afro-Brazilian religion. She is the goddess of the winds, storms, and transitions, and is considered to be one of the most powerful Orishas in the religion. Oya is known for her fierce and uncompromising nature, and is said to be able to bring about change through her powerful winds and storms.

In her role as a goddess of death, Oya is also considered to be a psychopomp, a guide for souls on their journey to the afterlife. She is said to be the protector of stillborn babies and is often invoked by those who have lost a loved one, because she can empathize with their pain.

Despite her association with death and the afterlife, Oya is also known for her compassion and her role as a mother and protector. She is said to be fiercely protective of her children and her loved ones, and is known for her strong intuition and femininity. She inspired countless women to be fierce like a storm and gentle like a breeze.

In myth, she was able to transform either into a water buffalo or an antelope, most likely vague descriptions of her Divine Beast form, which she will not show no matter what. Once, she charged at her troublesome husband Shango, but he was quick and offered her favorite food as an apology. She accepted and gifted him with her horns, which became his lightning bolts.

Nowadays, she is fascinated by the free market and the change of goods. She always lingered around the markets of her worshipers to prevent unjust deeds, but they can not compare to the global market today. Humanity has their own fate in their hands now, and there is no need for a goddess to enforce change. But the bleaching of the Earth and the appearance of Lostbelts call for her to act again.

[WhiteFrenzy]

Holy mother of Irishmen. ALSO OOOOOYA. GOOD. THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD.

[Kamera]

1.) Indian Servant*
*But they can't be from the Mahabharata or Ramayana. They seem to be the place where most of the Nasuverse Indian servants come from, and I want to see a Servant from some other story!

2.) Original Characters
Most of the Nasuverse servants are based off historical figures, with very few exceptions. Much like EMIYA and Erice, I want to see a servant based off a character from some other Nasuverse property! Show me MoonCancer Hakunon or Archer Gun God or Saber Ado Edem or Caster Zelretch or Rider Guda-- well, you get the idea! No pseudo-servants though, I'd like if you don't stick anymore Gods into humans :P

3.) Proto-Servants
Design a proto-version of an existing Nasuverse Servant, or maybe rework an existing proto servant we don't know much about? Check out Tachie and Gilgamesh as an example, if you want to.

---

13/ Heat Death Ogre








It's late at night when the victim leaves work and starts making their way home. Late enough that even the bustling night life of the city has died down, leaving only drunk men on the bus stops, tired workers inside already closed stations and merciless hunters in the prowling the streets.
Oh, yes, victim. That law abiding, well adjusted persion who decided to stay at work longer today just so that the new recruit wouldn't have to. They aren't even being seen as an individual anymore. The only obvserver is me, and all I see is prey.

/Wasn't there someone else I wanted to chase?

I lunge out of the shadows and into the flickering light of a malfuctioning street lamp, fast enough to cut deep into their arm but not enough to finish the job immediately. The victim flees, because that's how I like it.
Rushing in desperation, looking for help, the victim finds themselves running into an alleyway before long, in a vain hope that they'll be able to lose me there. My chase is slow and creeping, no need to rush. They all react very similarly after all, so I already had their route memorized before they even decided on it. People — no, victims — are so easy to read.

/Wasn't there another one who thought the same thing?

Their back to the wall, they decide to resort to screaming, but my knife plunges into their throat and only bubbles of blood and spit leave their mouth and neck. I drag the knife down through their torso, tearing tissue and bone as the bubbles become a spray that bathes me in red.

/Oh, I've done it again. Old habits die hard.

I look at the corpse only to find nothing. No body, no blood, no alley, no city, no death. Entropic darkness surrounds me and I realize that I shouldn't be. And yet, I am.
In my life, only rejection.

/Inversion.

In my memories, only suffering.

/Forgotten.

In theirs, only death and death and

/Again.

I should be no more. Killed, rejected, erased and killed once again. No longer anywhere, a discarded idea, replaced by new ones.
But you see me, don't you?

STRANGER
"'There's nothing but the mind'. Ironic, huh?"














Basic InformationBasic Information




━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╋━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Alias:	Zoushiki	Classes:	none
True Name:	Shiki Tohno	Source:	Tsukihime
Gender:	Male	Region:	Japan
Height/Weight:	178cm/65kg	Attribute:	Earth
Image Color:	Blue/Red	Armament:	Knives, crystalized blood

STR C	████████████ ████████████
END A	████████████████████ ████████████████████
AGL B	████████████████ ████████████████
MAG E	████ ████
LUK E	████ ████
NP EX	████████████████████████████ ████████████████████████████

Traits:

Earth:	Originally from the world of man, his nature has been thoroughly twisted by both the mixed-blood that runs in his veins and the entity that inhabited his soul previously, the Dead Apostle Michael Roa Valdamjong.
Humanoid:	Though he assumes the shape of a human, it is only a vessel created by the storage consciousness from which he is formed.
Oni:	An inheritor of oni blood who had its qualities active at a young age. Since becoming a murderer, he has become more used to the way of being and living of a murderous oni than to that of his 'fellow' human beings.

KeywordsKeywords

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The Eternal Reincarnator The Serpent of Akasha. Ouroboros. Michael Roa Valdamjong. This Dead Apostle sought to achieve true eternity that went beyond the immortality of vampires, which still allows for the deterioration of the self. Even though souls are still one of the greatest mysteries in the world of magecraft, Roa managed to change what should be unchangeable and transform what should be permanent. He transformed his soul into a phenomena that automatically reincarnates into his chosen vessel at the moment of death, achieving the eternity he so desired.

Entropy The measure of chaos and equality. As the universe always tends towards the equilibrium of all of its parts, that also means everything will eventually be unraveled and spread out. In a smaller scale, any transformation also leaves something behind, there is loss in every process that increases entropy. A mug of hot coffee needs to lose heat to reach equilibrium with the temperature of the room around it.

Yuishiki A buddhist view of reality. Beyond the five levels of consciousness (awareness through sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste and mentality) we find two more layers: ignorance and alaya. Alaya — or zoushiki, storage counsciousness — is the layer in which human consciousness is stored. In it, the seeds of thought belonging to each individual can influence each other and shape the physical world. Reality, then, is not real, but shaped by thought. 'There's nothing but the mind', so said a killer to his friend.

Stranger A bizarre class composed of 'junk data', not too far from the nature of an Alter-Ego, and even closer to the idea of a classless Servant. All possible Servants can be summoned into the Stranger class, in theory. For the conglomerate of entropic byproducts that is Shiki Tohno, this was the most compatible Class possible.

Personal SkillsPersonal Skills

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Death Resistance B ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ A variant of Battle Continuation manifested by the oni blood that runs in his veins. His body is able to reshape itself to guarantee survival, even going as far as making certain vital organs unnecessary. Furthermore, Stranger can abuse this ability to adapt his body for survival in more abstract ways, such as crystalizing his blood into weapons to use in a fight.

Closed System EX ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Also called Small Zoushiki. A skill representing the unique circumstances that define his existence at the moment. The universe tends toward entropy, towards a future in which everything is spread out in perfect equilibrium. Irreversible change towards energy equality: that is entropy. In a closed system, entropy can only increase. Shiki and Roa are one such system. They always tend towards each other. In other words, this skill is a mirror. In most situations, it’s immortality not unlike the one possessed by Roa’s seventeenth incarnation. Since Stranger and the vampire tend towards equilibrium, any damage inflicted on Shiki is halved, with the remnant being reflected onto Roa and vice-versa, but since the Dead Apostle possesses regenerative qualities, Shiki will heal as well. …However, due to the actions of a certain vengeful young man, The Infinite Reincarnator has been eliminated from this in particular world. Despite this, Stranger still tends towards equilibrium with him. What that means is that Stranger's very own existence fades as his self attempts to reach equilibrium with one who is no longer there. “Shit! It’s always me, always! A last fuck you from the bastard that tried to take over my head?! I don’t deserve this!” His existence is still held together by two factors: The Death Resistance attributes of his oni blood and the small zoushiki generated by the seventeen minds that make up his Saint Graph. Death Resistance B allows him to modify himself to assure survival. Through it, the mass of data composed of ‘Minds’ within him are changed to serve as substitutes to the necessary functions of the ‘Body’ and ‘Soul’ that he is lacking. Small Zoukishi is the self-contained world formed by the discarded minds of Roa's previous incarnations, in other words: Stranger Shiki Tohno. By observing one another, they can affirm their own existence. In summary, Stranger is a fragile existence highly susceptible to instant death effects and can only affirm his existence through constant self-confirmation.

Mental Pollution C+++ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ A distorted mentality that prevents mutual understanding and shuts out mental interference. Mixed-bloods can be overwhelmed by the oni blood in their bodies, undergoing Inversal Impulse. Having committed murder due to the frenzy induced by that state, Stranger is fundamentally at odds with human society, and though his oni blood isn’t thick enough to trigger a transformation into Crimson Red Vermillion, the possibility is always there, hence the numerous plus modifiers.

Suspicious Shadow E ▇▇▇▇ Hearing incoming footsteps even though no one's around. Seeing a passing shadow hide behind the corner just as you look to check. Having terrorrized Misaki town, Stranger is adept at inducing and taking advantage of people's paranoia. His target's will to fight declines and a variety of bad status effects are applied as he approaches.

Information Erasure A+ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ The removal of information from the memories of all eyewitnesses following the conclusion of an engagement. A skill that he’d naturally have due to his nature as a man assumed dead and a nocturnal serial killer, but that has also been ranked-up due to the uncertain existence caused by Closed System EX. At this rank, even regular interactions can be forgotten before long. “It’s happening again Akiha, why is everyone forgetting again? Stop, no!”

Noble PhantasmNoble Phantasm

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━╋━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

EVIL AT EVERY CORNER fusion, eroding attachment Anti-Unit Class Rank EX ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Range: 1~2 Max targets: 1 Eroding Detachment is the second ability Stranger’s awakened oni blood granted him. A fusion-type skill that allows him to consume the flesh of others in order to restore his own body. Going beyond just the physical qualities, this ability is more akin to a curse and allows Shiki to form a connection through which he may consume another’s lifeforce to sustain himself. By making use of this ability, Shiki can make up for his shaky existence by extending the Closed System between him and Roa. This power manifests as a translucent snake created out of his own blood, which then leaps out of his body to bite the target. The one attacked has the connection imposed on them, through which all members of the system have to deal with the increasing entropy. The effect this has on his hold of reality is small, but Stranger can repeat this process, including more and more people into the system. An ironic vampire-like effect belonging to one who avoided the condition of Dead Apostle in this summon due to lacking his originally tainted soul. Due to being part of his zoushiki, the people targeted by this NP are not affected by Information Erasure A+, lest they might forget about a 'part of themselves'. Since learning of this, Shiki has become obsessed with spreading this curse, and has increased the frequency and violence of his attacks night after night. The only issue is that the system doesn’t only affect him… As the existence of all those included is strengthened and reaffirmed, someone else might slither out of the darkness of erasure to join them. Eternal, like a snake eating its own tail.

ProfileProfile




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BackgroundBackground




The soul of a living being is unchangeable, the substance of the self that keeps their blueprint consistent even if the body or mind are lost. Many scholars have tried to understand and analyze the soul, but one particular man elucidated its nature deeply enough to attempt to become a truly eternal existence that goes beyond the fake immortality of those tied to the physical world.
To preserve the purity of his existence, the Dead Apostle Michel Roa Valdamjong transformed his unchangeable soul into a changeable phenomenon that preserves the purity of his self while reincarnating in the body of independent beings.




Those chosen to be his vessel are taken over by him as they become older. It’s not that Roa replaces the original person, rather, they were Roa from the start. Their personality simply ‘changes’ due to how strong the first personality and memories of Roa are, but they also possess their own memories and experiences, as well as those of all who came before. A perfect system of self-preservation.




But it is, nonetheless, transformation. There cannot be transformation without entropy.
As the universe tends towards equilibrium, a single being holding the gathered

soul

information

of so many lives is not acceptable, despite Roa’s efforts. Something is always left behind.




Humans are redundant systems; the soul also contains the information otherwise exclusive to the mind or body. Therefore, that’s all the Serpent of Akasha needs. In death, his body is destroyed and the soul was always Roa’s own, so what of the mind?




Junk data that won’t aid the vampire in his next incarnation, the perfect ingredients for a Stranger-class Servant.




“Annoying, so annoying! Stop talking about that guy, it doesn’t matter anymore dammit! This is about me. You remembered me, didn’t you?!”









PersonalityPersonality

Likes:	■■■■■, ■■■■■
Dislikes:	Shiki Tohno
Talents:	Killing
Natural enemy:	The Count of Monte Cristo
Alignment:	Chaotic Evil

A conceited, short-tempered murderer who can only feel joy when killing. Once hopeful to meet his family after being isolated from them for years, his mind was slowly twisted to serve the plot of another and he ended up envying and hating his one friend for taking over his life.




Rejected by his friend and family, his own self being eroded by The Infinite Reincarnator, he died a pitiful death without ever achieving anything.
What should’ve been the end of a regretful existence was preserved due to the mechanics of Michael Roa’s immortality. Abandoned like the shed skin of the Serpent of Akasha, relegated to a state between existence and non-existence until he was observed by the one who summoned him.




As a Servant, his mentality appears to have deteriorated even further. Now he is even being rejected by the world itself due to the very entropy that kept him alive, held together only by the mass of Minds that form his Saint Graph.
This is a Servant composed of the minds of every incarnation of Michael Roa Valdamjong. An unstable being that could fade away at any moment.




He lives this new existence in constant stress and anger, unable to come to terms with the hand he has been dealt.













Craft EssenceCraft Essence

Drinking, Dreaming Moon




A meeting with one who managed to understand death,
his friend, reaching out to him through the dark veil.
Not only reaching, but understanding.
Eyes that could see who he really was.




It was just a dream, really. Those death-seeing eyes only predicted the one they truly wanted to see...
but still.
A faint recollection lingers.




Earnestly laughing and crying.
Coming to terms with one's own life.
An old scene left behind for the sake of new experiences.




That night of reconciliation? As the moon disappeared...
That too was left behind, forgotten.

Author's NoteAuthor's Note




Kagetsu Tohya got me thinking about Tsukihime again. Together with the incoming end of Cosmos in the Lostbelt, I couldn't help but relate the discarded histories there with the original Tsukihime being 'left behind' by the remake. Having that concept, it was only natural to go with a character based entirely around the concept of being left behind, forgotten. Especially because the Remake (I assume) didn't even tackle Shiki, who is only going to feature in Red Garden. Going for the Stranger-class was only natural then, it ecompasses everything that defines him in a way no other class could.
I did attempt to write for the other two prompts but it's surprisingly hard to research indian mythical chacters not from those stories, and while the Prototype prompt is one of the most interesting in this contest, I struggled a lot trying to define what a Prototype fan-servant would even be and couldn't figure out a way to write one without tying them directly to the unused Servants of Old Fate. That realization really drained my interest there because it would inevitably lead to tying the Servant to Fate/Prototype itself which, to be frank, bores me to no end.
I did have an idea I wanted to play with though, so maybe I'll tackle it someday if I figure out a way divorce it from the Tokyo Holy Grail War.

[BnEl15]

Pool 13:
GAA reference is always appreciated.
Also there's somerhing hilariously ironic about the title "Gatekeeper of Freedom", but I can't put my finger on what...

[Kamera]

By the way, Prompt 16 is supposed to be for username Dreamerless, who has gone AWOL for some times now... Add that to the Wall of Shame, I guess.

[WhiteFrenzy]

Add that to the Wall of Shame, I guess.

Added.

[Baron Magnus]

For shame!
Also great entries so far. Haven't seen a stinker yet. Worst I've seen is off-looking text.

[Ismail2002]

Then you gonna hate my sheet it's the biggest pile of a stinker of sheet-making ever

[Kamera]

Fairies - Those otherworldly ethereal beings that reside in the Reverse Side of the World and influenced folklore the world over. Either a Servant that is a Fae themselves or someone else who had a notable interaction with them. It also doesn't have to be a strictly European fairy either, since Nasu correlates Arcueid as an Elemental, therefore if you can justify it then by all means use an African, Asian, Native American etc creature as the basis.

China - From the cradle of civilization in the Yellow River, to the modern day: That's what, 5000 years of history and/or legend to draw upon so surely there must be something to tickle your fancy. As a sweetener, I'll even throw in other groups of people that kinda fall under that umbrella such as the Mongols during their rule over China or the people of Tibet under the control of the Yuan and Qing Dynasties for example.

Revenge - "Hello. My name is [Servant], you killed my father, prepare to die". Someone who is defined by their seeking to right the injustice done to either themselves or a wider situation at hand. The obvious answer to this prompt would be any kind of Avenger Servant and that certainly is acceptable, but do keep in mind that you can still create a fleshed out character who sought some kind of revenge in any Class - Mordred being one canon example who is still a Saber.

---

From the dawn of the Yin dynasty, over thousands of years, our ancestors have always kept records of our history, and told our story.
Every page collected here is the fruit of their painstaking efforts and wisdom.
Thanks to them, the cultures and values embodied by our forefathers continued to stand the test of time.
Opening this work connects us to Emperors, warriors, and sages of the distant past.
This allows humanity to learn of their origins, and their destination.


One man made it his life's mission to ensure that these words would outlive all others. That the wisdom of our ancestors would never fade away.
Times will change, empires will rise and fall, wars and political turmoil will shake the nation countless times...
And yet, the past will continue to shine like a beacon of light, illuminating the path towards our tomorrow, and the days beyond.

Ruler of the Ever-Expanding Records
-- The Grand Historian, Chronicler of the Passing Ages --

"Greetings. Might you be my new Liege? You have summoned Sima Qian, former Grand Historian of the Han dynasty, under the esteemed Emperor Wu. Ah, but there is no need for you to pay any mind to those official titles. I left them behind long ago in pursuit of my own dreams. As of now, I am but a mere chronicler. I have manifested under the Class of... Ruler? I expected Caster, but I suppose I wouldn't mind an adjudicator position if it gives me more opportunities to continue my work. Now then... I'll be relying on you to show me everything this new age has to offer, Master!"
~ ♬ ~



Source


"A question, Master; what do you think history is? There are many answers to that question, depending on your own beliefs. Some would consider it a record of our triumphs and follies as a species. Others would wield it as a 'weapon' by crafting intricate narratives to influence the masses. One thing for sure, the past has a way of shaping the future in ways we cannot always imagine. Therefore, to learn all we can from our forefathers and reach the best possible future, we need a rational, impartial arbitrator to keep history not just intact, but untarnished. That... is my duty as Grand Historian."


Class: Ruler
Other Classes: Caster, Voyager
True Name: Sima Qian
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Origin: China (2nd century BC)


Parameters:


STR: E
END: B
AGI: C
MGI: C
LCK: B
NP: EX


Likes: Historical research, travelling, learning and observing different cultures
Dislikes: Those with no respect towards history, dogmatism, judgmental people
Talent: Piecing together past events from historical evidence, documenting events in an unbiased manner
Natural Enemy: Qin Shi Huang
Armament: Magecraft, weapons acquired from his Noble Phantasm
Catalyst: One of the seven bamboo slips containing the original manuscript of Records of the Grand Historian
​

Class Skills


Magic Resistance (C)

Grants protection against magical effects. Differing from the Resistance effect that merely rejects Magical Energy, this ability cancels the spells altogether. Cancels spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of greater magecraft and Greater Rituals. Despite possessing extensive theoretical knowledge on ancient Chinese magecraft from his research, Ruler does not have much personal experience with magecraft, resulting in the Skill's average rank.


"I did serve as something of a court magician for a time, so I have a bit of experience in that field, but it's nothing exceptional for a man of my era. My knowledge on Xia to Tang-dynasty magecraft and mysticism is strictly limited to the theoretical realm, pieced together by old relics, written accounts, and word of mouth. That said, while my natural resistance does not amount to much, I'm sure my knowledge could still prove useful in devising countermeasures."

True Name Discernment (Grand Historian) (A++)

A variation of the standard Ruler Class Skill where another Servant's identity, Skills, and parameters would be displayed upon direct encounter. Unlike the standard True Name Discernment, this effect is not displayed through supernatural ability or special privileges. Rather, it simply denotes Ruler's extraordinary power of observation and his penchant for research. While this "discernment" process is not instantaneous, Ruler can quickly gather crucial information about another Servant with but a single glance. Naturally, this is initially optimized towards Chinese Heroic Spirits from before his time, but as he spends more time learning about the history of the world both before and after his time, it is possible to increase this Skill's potency even further. This is also supported by one of his personal Skills, Era Observation.


"Haha, come now, where's the fun to be had if all the answers are handed to you on a silver platter? It would be like buying a finished puzzle artwork, or an assembled model kit! As a historian, research is part of the fun! Ahem, when you dabbled in this field for as long as I did, you learn that the past is never really gone. Rather, they are still here. Alive, with traces of them observable almost anywhere so long as you know where to look. I learned that even a tiny piece of fabric or a few lines inscribed upon a centuries-old bone could tell us so much about how our ancestors lived. When it comes to that sort of research, discerning the identities of fellow Heroic Spirits should follow more or less the same principle, yes?"

God's Resolution (C)

A Class Skill of the Ruler class and is the privilege of the Ruler presiding over the Holy Grail War: the right to use Command Spells against Servants. Two Command Spells can be used for each Servant participating in the Holy Grail War. Cannot re-purpose the Command Spells of others. Ruler seemingly possesses this Skill only due to his Class.


"Hmm, were I summoned in a standard Holy Grail War, I would not hesitate to perform my role as an arbitrator as best I can, but truth to be told... while I may be impartial, I personally do not think I am well-suited for this position. A historian's duty is simply to record the past as they truly are. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not our place to deliver judgment upon those which has passed. To explicitly condemn or glorify any specific aspect of history based on personal values would mean allowing my own biases to stain that impartiality which defines my work as Grand Historian. I know we may be talking about two different definitions of 'passing judgment' here, but... perhaps I am simply uncomfortable with the act in general. My apologies, Master."

__________________________________________________



Personal Skills


Chronicler of the Changing Times (A)

An "upgrade" of Human Observation and its improved variant, Cultural Observation. The father of Chinese history. A man who completely redefined how history is written for over a thousand years to come. His most famous work, Records of the Grand Historian, became a foundation upon which Chinese culture, history, and civilization is built. Through his extensive research and evidence-gathering, he is capable of hypothesizing not just an individual's entire life and preferences, but also how entire societies were run on a much larger scale; their livelihoods, traditions, culture, and a multitude of other variables. The man claims that there is nothing special to his methods, meticulous as they may be. According to him, his motives amount to little more than an ever-burning curiosity, tempered by understanding.


"Ask any historian about their favorite historical event, and I'm sure they can recite every significant date, name every significant person, and describe every other happening that may have followed or preceded the initial event. There is nothing wrong with that outlook, but personally, I believe history is more than what the initial surface-level data would lead you to believe. History is more than a series of significant events happening one after another. Amidst all the wars and revolutions, it can be easy to forget that the people involved in such events are also... humans, just like you and me. They had their own fears, their own hopes and dreams, their own habits... who knows, maybe they even laughed at the same things we do now! The moment you begin treating these figures as humans rather than data, and learn to place yourself in their shoes... that's when you have truly grasped the essence of history; people living and moving forward, one day at a time."

Storyteller (B)

A Skill that displays one's amazing eloquence with verbally narrating tales and legends. It is completely different from the written craft of literature, and adapts to the mood and mental state of the listener by selecting the most appropriate way of reciting the story, a storytelling ability specialized in improvisation. Ruler's attention to precision in language creates detailed images and characterizations which, coupled with his mastery of narrative form, produced a work of history which reads with the progression, and sometimes suspense, of a novel. For more imaginative minds, reading the Records of the Grand Historian is akin to entering a time machine and losing yourself in the past. In a way, he truly did manage to "keep the past alive" within the pages of his magnum opus.


"See, before my time, historians mainly wrote about kings and royalties; their lineage, significant dates in their reign, their accomplishments, and so on... oftentimes also embellishing these accounts with a dash of mythology or supernatural feats. Basically, unless you bear the Mandate of Heaven, there is little to no chance you would appear as anything more than a footnote in those old records. As you can see, I took a different approach. Despite what they may tell you, the world does not revolve around royalty. The people deserve to know about their own heroes. Naturally, this also means packaging history in a manner that even the lowest of commoners would find enthralling."

Unbiased Historian (B)

Another testament to Ruler's thoroughness in conducting research. Aside from his refusal to sing nothing but praises of his emperor, Ruler employed numerous methods to minimize bias in his accounts, believing that a historian should be absolutely impartial in recording their work. He interviewed multiple people with conflicting accounts, sought multiple literary sources, and compared different evidences side by side, among other things. While he generally treated the figures featured in his work with respect, he did not shy away from pointing out their flaws and shortcomings. Regardless of his own political and moral views, Ruler constantly maintains a neutral standpoint on documenting history, no matter the possible consequences.


This unbiased attitude manifests as one of Ruler's means of offense, allowing him to conjure small knives capable of temporarily dulling or cutting out a target's emotional state. With every cut made, feelings such as rage, sorrow, mania, or even madness would seemingly lose their edge, gradually pushing the affected target into an "empty", emotionless state. This may also inflict temporary memory problems, or seal certain abilities associated with those powerful emotions.


"Treat the past- the kings, emperors, legendary heroes and conquerors- with respect, but keep your wits about you. Speak of good where there is good, yet admonish evil where there is evil. That is not to say I am absolutely immune to sentimentalities either. Ashamed as I am to admit it, I am still a human with my own views and beliefs. Try as I might to suppress them in my work, there may still be certain parts where I subconsciously allowed those ideas to reveal themselves. I apologize if that is the case. Still, a truly exceptional work of history will be read for centuries to come, by people in search of truth and understanding, much like ourselves. That is why I believe it would be unbecoming for a historian to tarnish the pages of history with their own agendas and prejudices."

Taoist Magecraft (D)

Denotes proficiency in magecraft based on ancient taoist practices. A set of abilities Ruler acquired during his time in the imperial court, including but not limited to astromancy, healing magecraft, mental purification, and even some limited degree of clairvoyance. While his work required him to possess some knowledge of the art, he never truly devoted his life to the way beyond what was strictly necessary for his work, which might explain the Skill's low rank. Due to his own personal beliefs, he usually prefers to seal away the clairvoyance effect conferred by this Skill.


"Back then, the position 'Grand Historian' entailed more than what you might expect of historians in this day and age. We recorded history- mainly the Emperor-centric narratives, sure, but more than that, we also served as royal scribe, court magician, advisor, astronomer, and astrologer. As for my own views on taoism... I have nothing against the practitioners, but it's not a path I could truly dedicate myself into if it wasn't for my work. As with any school of thought, I acknowledge that there are some valuable lessons to be learned there, while others, I simply cannot bring myself to agree with. Take their views on astrology and divination, for example. We predicted and interpreted the future of the state and government from the movement of celestial objects. I know not how accurate those predictions were, but determining what has yet to happen seems to contradict a historian's duty. The future is not shaped by the hands of one man, but many. Not even the moon and stars could predict them with such certainty."

__________________________________________________



Noble Phantasm


Compendium of Truth and Remembrance
Tàishǐgōng Shū


"The wheel of time moves ever forward with each passing day, taking humanity towards their next destination. It is by examining records of the distant past that we gain the knowledge necessary to build our future. Now, then... allow me to add another page to the records. Records of the Grand Historian... manifest."

Type: Anti-Populace
Rank: EX
Range: 1-500
Max Targets: -

Records of the Grand Historian, also known as Shǐjì. Ruler's greatest work; a massive historical chronicle spanning nearly three thousand years- from before the mythical Xia dynasty to the 1st-century BC Han dynasty- and continued to influence the nation for two thousand more. The work is far from perfect, contemporary historians have found a number of historical errors and discrepancies brought forth by newly-discovered evidence and historiography methods. Even so, there is no denying that for a man of his time, using the resources available to him, the work presents a fairly accurate portrayal of his era, as well as the numerous eras that came before. It is through his efforts that certain names, cultures, ideals, and ways of life are preserved to this day


A multipurpose Noble Phantasm crystallizing Ruler's efforts to research, document, and immortalize the past.

Invoker of the Truth

The first, most basic application of this Noble Phantasm allows him to conjure replicas of armaments documented in his records. This includes traditional Chinese swords and spears, siege weapons, armor, and low-ranking mystic codes, among other things. While versatile, these summoned armaments are fated to fall apart after a short time or several uses due to Ruler's lack of firsthand knowledge regarding their components and forging process. This is especially true for armaments which originated from eras long before his time. In fact, the more temporal distance there is between the era of the conjured armament and his own time, the lower said armament's "durability" would be. As a Servant, this issue can be partially remedied simply by obtaining firsthand experience witnessing or using these armaments and refining the information written in his records. Of course, in a standard Holy Grail War, the opportunity to meet another Chinese Heroic Spirit willing to openly showcase their weapons and techniques to the Ruler summoned to said war is exceedingly rare. Furthermore, even if he has enough theoretical knowledge to wield these armaments effectively, his lack of practical experience and scrawny, battle-avoidant stature makes him a poor combatant in general, although he could temporarily bestow these armaments to others.

Seeker of the Truth

The second application of this Noble Phantasm is based on Ruler's determination to record the past and "keep it alive". Upon True Name release, Ruler conjures a single "blank page" and integrates said page into the world. From there, this "page" automatically records everything- every event, interaction, and happening- within the established area of effect. Upon recalling this "page", the recorded information is essentially "saved" within this Noble Phantasm. Afterwards, Ruler is able to invoke any saved pages as an additional "layer" above the world's texture. So long as this temporary layer is active, he can freely "rewind", "pause", and "fast-forward" the events recorded within the page. This allows him to investigate past events with pinpoint accuracy, by inspecting obscure details and other objects of interest he might have overlooked the first time around. While this projected layer lacks any offensive combat potential, being mere illusions placed on top of the world, Ruler may also use this effect for the purpose of psychological warfare, for example by conjuring images of armies, warriors, and other events from the distant past.


The two main constraints of this Noble Phantasm are range and duration. The greater the range, and/or the longer the duration of the "recording", the greater the mana cost imposed on Ruler's Saint Graph. Thus, unless he has access to a massive source of mana, Ruler must carefully consider his priorities, depending on what the situation requires. Nonetheless, this is usually Ruler's favorite application of his Noble Phantasm, one that he would use most often whenever he finds himself in an arbiter and/or investigative role. A perfect method to recover the "truth" that may have been lost to time and conspiracy.

Holder of the Truth

The final application of this Noble Phantasm is one that Ruler normally refuses to use outside of the most dire of circumstances.For centuries, the Records served as something more than a monument to remember and honor the past. It was a source of truth. Before the existence of more modern historiographic methods and the discovery of new evidence, many names, events, and traditions were known only because Ruler mentioned them in his work. Even now, there are still certain sections of the Records lacking corroborating evidence (alternatively, evidence might have existed once upon a time, but they had long been lost for a variety of reasons). Thus, Ruler holds the only proof that these fragments of history exists at all. A "key" to the truth.


Ruler holds the ability to perform "edits" on any new pages conjured through his second Noble Phantasm. While these edits permanently seal the page from being "replayed" as explained above, it tampers with the memories of every individual caught in its range, save for Ruler himself. It cannot erase physical evidence, but it can greatly distort how past events are perceived and interpreted by the affected individuals. While this effect wears out naturally after some time as humanity's collective unconsciousness rapidly struggles to correct itself, for a time, Ruler is free to manipulate the very foundation of the "truth", akin to a puppeteer manipulating their pawns upon a perfect stage. Naturally, Ruler dislikes even thinking about this application as it goes against his personal values as Grand Historian.

__________________________________________________



Ascension 2


Source


"What do you think of this outfit, Master? I added a more modern touch to my old travel attire, and I think it turned out all right. What? Did you think a historian wouldn't keep up with fashion trends? If anything, I learned that fashion is an integral part of society throughout the ages. It is a symbol of status, tradition, lifestyle, and more. Really, when you think about it that way, historians should be one of the most fashion-conscious people there is... whenever they're not absorbed in writing, at least! I know I can spend weeks in my study after a good excursion, haha!"

__________________________________________________



Lore

W-Wait, are you sure about this, Master? You're asking me to write my own abridged autobiography? Er, I mean, I remember writing sixty or so biographies as part of the Records, but writing my own is an entirely different matter, you know? For one, what would my father say if he finds out I've been indulging myself in the spotlight like that, or what if I let my biases reveal themselves? That would be a disgrace upon my honor as a historian!


...Hm? This is not "The Story of the Grand Historian", but "The Story of Sima Qian"? Would anyone even be interested in such a story?
Sigh, very well, just this once, I will tell you what I can of my life, not as a historian, but simply as myself...

Act 1

I was born just a few years before the Jiànyuán era- which translates to around 145 BC according to modern calendars-, under the reign of Emperor Jing of Han. I come from a long line of government officials and historians. My father served as Grand Historian before my time, and according to his tales, my ancestors had worked closely with Emperors as far back as the legendary Emperor Yao (24th century BC). I never could verify these claims my father made; there was no method that allowed me to verify my family line that far back. Still, even if these accounts may have little in the way of historical basis, stories of my ancestors' loyalty, servitude, and virtues filled my head as a child. For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to continue their great work.


As the previous Grand Historian, my father once spoke to me of a certain idea. A massive undertaking that would span decades. Centuries of our nation's history collected in a single work, one that would forever change how history would be perceived for centuries to come. It was nothing more than vague plans and short drafts at the time, but I shared his enthusiasm all the same. Thus, I spent most of my childhood accompanying my father as he traveled across the nation. I believe it was at around that time that my interest in history and culture initially bloomed.


My father retired from his position as Grand Historian when I was in my teenage years, and the position remained vacant for some time. He was too old to travel, though he still remained active in our estate, mostly drafting out his plans and writing what little he could. I officially started working as a civil servant at the same year my father retired. By all accounts, I could have gained a lofty position from the get-go by utilizing my father's connections, but I refuse to ever consider such an option. My father, and his father before him... they all worked hard to earn society's respect and admiration. To forego all process for the sake of wealth and reputation would be an insult to their legacies.


I was accepted to the imperial court of Emperor Wu just a year later. It was a job I had always wanted ever since I was a child, and so I set out to present His Majesty with nothing short of my absolute best. Over the years, I performed every assignment I received in the Imperial Palace to the best of my abilities. In my spare time, I continued to help out my father at home and visit several places of interest whenever I had leave. In any case, I do not mean to boast of my accomplishments, but over the next few years... it was not especially difficult for me to rise through the ranks and even earn the Emperor's praises.

Act 2

110 BC. The day of my official appointment as Grand Historian was drawing near. None in the imperial court ever doubted my capabilities, and even the Emperor saw fit to involve me in various important affairs. Unfortunately, on the day of my supposed appointment, rather than heading to the imperial palace, I was instead called home to my father's estate in the Shaanxi province. My father... he was not long for this world, and in his final days, he demanded to see me.

"When Zhuanxu was sovereign, he ordered officials Zhong and Li to govern heaven and earth separately. From the time of Emperors Yao and Shun, generations of the Sima family served as officials in charge of compiling history. Examine heaven and humankind, understand the changes, and put them forth for ages to come."

That was the vow of the Sima family, which my father asked me to recite to him on his deathbed. He gifted me with the family heirloom; an old brush supposedly used by our ancestors in both writing history and other official matters alike. Soon after, he left after imparting one last message to me; to be responsible for every word, and every stroke I make with that brush. That was how I inherited my father's dream, to complete the Records of the Grand Historian, come what may.


The next scheduled appointment of high-ranking officials would not arrive until three years after my father's death, so I continued to offer my services to the Emperor in the meantime while working on the Records on the side. Finally, I was appointed to my father's old post in 107 BC. Sima Qian, Grand Historian... for a time, the title does have a nice ring to it, if I may say so myself. As soon as I was appointed as Grand Historian, I wasted no time proposing my late father's project to the Emperor. Easily enough, he was quite receptive to the idea. While certain parts of the Records can be somewhat... radical for the time it was written, filial piety- the virtue of honoring our parents, ancestors, and those who came before us- was, and arguably still is a cornerstone of our civilization, though perhaps my father's past exploits in the imperial court may also have played a part on why this project was accepted so easily. Whatever the case, with the project approved, aside from my usual duties as Grand Historian, the Emperor also gifted me with funds, carriages, access to the imperial records, and other resources that allowed me to continue and even expand the scope of my work.

Act 3

The next few years were arguably the most satisfying and enriching years of my life. There is little to say regarding my court duties, but my efforts to complete the Records? I can give you some ideas of what I did.


As I did in my youth, I traveled across the country. I visited ancient tombs and battlefields, old palace ruins, and other places of interest in search of evidence. I interviewed people to receive firsthand accounts of battles waged decades ago. I compared conflicting viewpoints and the words of bitter enemies to find the truth hidden underneath layers of biases, animosity, and misunderstandings. I frequented libraries in search of official documents to corroborate the validity of my other methods. Those were but a few things I did to complete the Records. In search of the truth, and in pursuit of my late father's dream.


...Unfortunately, as fun as that was, those years did not last forever. A certain incident forced me to step down from my position.


99 BC, a man was brought in chains before the imperial court and sentenced to death. This prisoner was Li Ling, an general and an old friend of mine from back when I initially started out as a regular official. He was charged with treason for his shameful defeat to the raiding Xiongnu tribe near the border. While military failure alone usually aren't enough to warrant such harsh treatment, there was an exacerbating factor to this case. Prior to his skirmish with the raiders, Li Ling had previously boasted that he could crush the Xiongnu with little trouble, in a matter of days. He underestimated the enemy, refused backup from the Emperor, and neglected certain basic maneuvers such as protecting supply lines, all which led to a catastrophic defeat.


Now, there is no denying that to a certain extent, Li Ling brought this upon himself. His arrogance clouded his judgment, and it was only right that he received punishment for his failure... but death? Personally, death always feel so... final. Incompetent officers can be dismissed, replaced, or reeducated, but what would executing one accomplish? Even if my friend were to die, the problem with the Xiongnu would still persist. If anything, they would simply have one less general to worry about. Executing Li Ling would accomplish nothing... unless the Emperor planned to make an example out of him, but even then, there are many better ways to motivate your troops and prevent a similar failure from occurring.


So that was my perspective on the matter. The question was... should I say it to the Emperor? Even for a so-called Grand Historian, disagreeing with the Emperor- the Mandate of Heaven- would still be an unthinkable act. Furthermore, defending my friend might ruin the Emperor's impression of my impartiality and my vow of servitude to him. It would also go against everything my ancestors accomplished in the imperial court. I was at a crossroads then. Had I stayed silent, I could have maintained my position as Grand Historian. I would have been set to live a comfortable life, free to work on the Records and follow my ancestors' lot with all the resources and privileges available to me.


...And yet, I could not. I believe that was one of the few times I actually presented my own views in the open. For once, I allowed my own moral compass to prevail... and I was punished for it. I fully expected a death sentence for myself, but perhaps after seeing my sincerity, or acknowledging my past accomplishments as Grand Historian, the Emperor gave me a more... lenient sentence. Li Ling was spared, while I was castrated, dismissed from my post, and stripped of my privileges. Comparably more lenient than death, but still...

Act 4

Allow me to preface this section by saying that I have no regrets. I chose that path knowing the risks, and while it took a while for me to deal with my fallout with the Emperor, I do not begrudge him now. My dismissal was disgraceful, but I did not allow myself to be consumed by hatred and regrets. On the bright side, the Emperor did not mind me continuing my work on the Records, though I no longer had access to his endorsements.


All that said, it's not as though I could effortlessly just... pick myself up after that incident. It may not be such a big deal to you now, since I believe it is no longer a common occurrence, but in my time, castration was effectively the second-worst punishment a man could receive beside death. How so? Remember when I said filial piety was one of the core values of our society back then? Our bodies are given to us by our parents. By our ancestors. Our bodies are sacred, and serve as a way to honor those who came before us. Therefore, a permanent, purposefully-inflicted "defect" upon the body was comparable to humiliation not just upon yourself, but your entire family line. The shame would stay with you until the end of my days, and afterwards. I am not ashamed to admit that for some time, I feared that my ancestors would look at me with contempt and disgust the moment I entered the afterlife. I was too ashamed to stand before my father's grave. To be buried alongside my family. The sorrow was too great. I drowned them in alcohol and other frivolities, causing progress on the Records to stall indefinitely. After all, what was the point of it all after I brought nothing but shame to my ancestors?


And yet, despite all the respect I held and still hold for them... it was not my ancestors who sobered me from my downward spiral. One night, I was drunkenly rereading certain completed sections of the Records when I came across a certain realization... King Wen of Zhou expanded the Book of Changes when he was imprisoned. Confucius wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals in his old age, with as his body withered away. The poet Qu Yuan of Chu composed his most famous work, Encountering Sorrow, after he was slandered and banished from his homeland by the king he served. Sun Tzu finished the Art of War after he was grievously injured and lost his leg in battle. Ultimately, no great man ever accomplished anything worthwhile without facing their fair share of hardships throughout their lives. These old tales that had fascinated me for the longest time... they allowed me to stand back up in the face of adversity. Despite everything that happened, the shame I had brought upon my ancestors... I had not betrayed the family vow just yet. My father's dream was still alive, and so long as my hands could muster enough strength to pick up that brush, I resolved to finish the Records no matter what. Stories of our nation, and the men and women who shaped its future deserves to be known far and wide.

"I too have ventured not to be modest but have entrusted myself to my useless writings. I have gathered up and brought together the old traditions of the world which were scattered and lost. I have examined the deeds and events of the past and investigated the principles behind their success and failure, their rise and decay [...] in one hundred and thirty chapters. I wished to examine into all that concerns heaven and man, to penetrate the changes of the past and present, completing all as the work of one family. But before I had finished my rough manuscript, I met with this calamity. It is because I regretted that it had not been completed that I submitted to the extreme penalty without rancor. When I have truly completed this work, I shall deposit it in the Famous Mountain. If it may be handed down to men who will appreciate it, and penetrate to the villages and great cities, then though I should suffer a thousand mutilations, what regret should I have?"


- Sima Qian, in a letter to his friend, Ren An, 96 BC

Act 5

That was how I got back to writing. Again, it was not easy, but those legendary figures of the past... they taught me to heal and move forward despite my shame. I began working as a palace eunuch, and while my position was nowhere as close or as privileged as the Grand Historian I was in the past, it was enough to make a living and fund my usual excursions. On a related note, I learned from my acquaintances in the palace that the position of Grand Historian was abolished not long after my dismissal- though I am not sure whether the Emperor simply deemed the position no longer necessary, or if its duties were subsumed under different titles and ministries- making me China's last Grand Historian. As I grew older, I taught disciples and employed assistants to help me with both research and writing.


And then, at 91 BC... It was finished. My late father's dream. The dream I inherited and spent almost my entire life pursuing. Records of the Grand Historian. At first, there were only two copies of the Records; one sent to the imperial archives and the other kept in my estate. However, over the next few years, fragmented copies began to surface, and the contents of my magnum opus spread far and wide, from the imperial capital of Chang'an to the rural villages near the Great Wall. By the time of my grandson Yang Yun, the Records was practically available in every library across the nation. Scholars and poets alike dissected the work, and even the Emperor praised me for its value in both educating the citizens and keeping the memories of our forefathers alive.


Of course, I did not stop working just because the Records were completed. In my old age, I continued to share my passion for history with like-minded individuals, ensuring that this renewed method of historiography would not be forgotten after my generation. At times, I accompanied my disciples on their own excursions all over the country and wrote smaller projects where I could. I also taught my own children and grandchildren to appreciate the value of history. I remember how my grandson could recite the first few lines of the Records before he was ten.


Thus, I spent my final years content, having lived a satisfying life with all its ups and downs. In my final moments, I smiled as I closed my eyes, certain that my ancestors would be proud of me.

__________________________________________________



Description



Source

Bond 0

Likes:
"Naturally, I love history. Discovering traces of humanity's past and writing them down for the future. Aside from that... my personal preferences are unworthy of note."


Dislikes:
"Fufu, I fail to see how any of that matters. The mere act of favoring one thing over another compromises your credibility as a historian. I am not here to deliver judgment on what I like and dislike. I am simply here to observe."

Bond 3

Likes:
"You would be mistaken to think of me as some sort of hermit constantly locking myself in my study to complete my work. Writing is but half the fun! After all, what is there to write about without sufficient material discovered through research? And so, truth to be told, I enjoy those excursions to faraway places. Just taking in new sights, exploring ancient ruins and landmarks while hypothesizing how the people of the past lived their lives under the same sky... it is a feeling like no other, I tell you."


Dislikes:
"Prejudice and uninformed assumptions are the greatest enemies of any historian, no matter the era. We are humans, so some degree of bias is inevitable. Still, that does not mean we shouldn't try to maintain our impartiality. Ideally, history books are not written for yourself or the head of your government. They are written for the people, regardless of class, occupation, or social standing. And you never know how fragments of the past could influence the future. All things considered, it's just as my father taught me; be responsible for every word you write down. Even now I still hold that lesson close to my heart."

Bond 5

Likes:
"There is one more thing I love about history, apart from the usual educational and philosophical aspects of it all. It's... rather simple, to be honest. The feeling that you are never truly alone. No matter what hardships await you, it's highly likely that someone, somewhere, at some point in time faced battles similar to your own. Some may have triumphed while others failed, but there is something... uplifting in knowing that you are neither the first nor the last to face those predicaments. Cliched as it may sound, history saved me when I was at my lowest. Considering your circumstances here in Chaldea, I wonder if you ever feel the same?"


Dislikes:
"Those who would willingly turn their backs on the past. I understand that history is a very broad topic, and not all of is pleasant to talk about. There are wars and atrocities too terrible to describe, among other things. Even so, that is no excuse to close your eyes and pretend none of those ever happened! If anything, that is all the more reason to talk about those! We learn from the past so that we do not repeat the same mistakes our ancestors did! So that the same tragedies would never happen again! To willingly blind yourself towards any event that does not fit your worldviews and agendas would be the height of folly!"


Wish:
"Oh yes, I have a wish I'd like to make, though it's nothing you should waste a Holy Grail on. As per the Class, I have no desire for that artifact. I simply wish to remind future generations to keep the past alive. It doesn't have to be my own, but seeing the youths of today open their history books with that twinkle in their eyes... it brings a proud smile to my face. Reminds me of myself when I was at their age. So long as they maintain that sense of appreciation and childlike wonder towards the past, I believe the Human Order will continue to thrive even centuries to come... and everything I and the other historians worked for would have been worth it."

A straight-laced historian who places much value in proper methodology and court mannerisms. Initially, it can be difficult to ascertain if Ruler even has a sense of self. A force of habit from his days in the imperial court, he is highly uptight, refusing to even speak unless given explicit permission by the Master. Getting him to reveal his own personal feelings on any matter is a much more difficult task. He regards everything with the calm, methodical impartiality befitting of the Grand Historian, skillfully evading any attempt to probe into his personal beliefs with a smile. In public, he possesses an unnatural talent at blending into the background, where he may silently observe and chronicle events as they unfold. And yet, while some may mistake him as an empty void who possesses no views and beliefs of his own, that is not the case. If anything, he is highly willing to entertain various ideas- pointing out their virtues and flaws alike- while keeping his own as tightly-kept secrets. Again, a remnant from his younger days where one misspeak against the Emperor could cost him his entire career, if not worse.


As the Master spends more time around him, it may be possible for them to get Ruler to "loosen up" and reveal his true personality. Underneath his stern exterior, Ruler conceals a more adventurous, enthusiastic side to himself. The topic of history both before and after his own time continues to fascinate him, and he continues to devote most of his time to piecing together historical chronicles through interviews, literary analysis, artifact-hunting, and any other method available to him. Thus, in a place so filled with history such as Chaldea, it's no surprise that he would act like an overexcited child who received a 1000-piece puzzle on Christmas morning, even if he might initially try to hide his excitement.


The only thing Ruler enjoys more than piecing together history is introducing the value of history to anyone who would listen to him. There's no denying that he has a way with words, and he uses this eloquence to speak of ancient civilizations in a way that would absolutely enthrall his listeners. Based on this initial fascination he ignited through these tales, Ruler hopes that he could continue to stoke the people's interest in those who came before, possibly even creating new historians in the future.


As for his own personal beliefs... Ruler claims to be a Confucian, but perhaps there is no singular term that could be used to define his beliefs. While Confucius was a source of inspiration for him, he does not shy away from openly disagreeing with some of its principles and keeping his mind open to different schools of thought. He refuses to completely devote his life towards one belief system, believing dogmatism would dull his capabilities as a historian.


Ultimately, underneath Ruler's stoic, uptight exterior lies a man with a lot to say. A Grand Historian who accumulated centuries' worth of human wisdom, with a sincere wish to pass them on for future generations.

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Ascension 3


Source


"Another ascension... you have my sincerest gratitude, Master. While I will remain under your employ for the foreseeable future, you would do well to remember that history serves no Master. It favors no one, nor does it resent anyone. As Grand Historian, it is my duty to present history as they simply are. Er, not that you need to hear this, in my humble opinion. After everything you've been through, and the bonds you've formed, I'm sure you know how to treat history with the respect it deserves. Anyway, I look forward to our continued partnership."

__________________________________________________



Relationships

Servants associated with rebellions:
"I wrote about rebels as well in the Records. Section four, Hereditary Houses. To be exact, Hereditary Houses of Chen She, detailing the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising, also known as the Dazexiang rebellion. As the title suggests, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were rebels. Criminals who defied imperial authority and became a significant threat to the Qin. I believe that was the first time such extensive details on the incident were made available outside the imperial archives. As to why I decided to write about them... because history should not be tailored to fit the wills of Emperors. Ideally, an Emperor should understand the hearts of their people, but the truth is hardly ever that sweet. At times, the rebels and criminals are the ones who understand the desires of the common folk better than royals ever could... and good or bad, everyone deserves to know of their deeds."


Servants known for sacrificing their lives for a greater cause:
"Men have always had but one death. For some it is as weighty as Mount Tai; for others it is as insignificant as a goose down. The difference is what they use it for... I remember saying that to Ren a long time ago. It would be wrong to romanticize death as some sort of glorious concept. That would dismiss the sorrow and loss felt by those left behind. And yet, it would be equally wrong to say your beliefs and accomplishments would fade into nothingness the moment you die. Now, if I may ask for a brief interview... are you satisfied with how you lived your life?"


Watcher-Class Servants:
"Why I do not qualify for the Watcher-Class? Haha, a fine question. See, it is reasonable to assume most historians could manifest as Watchers. The act of chronicling the past does imply the use of observation, after all. That said, perhaps I was too active in my 'observation', not that I mind. I can never be content in distancing myself from the world and watching over proceedings from a distance. Even if my duty is to uncover and immortalize the past, I want to take a proactive role in gathering new evidence and piecing them together. That is why I am unfit to take the seat of a mere observer."


Herodotus (Shiki-Pon):
"Though our times and societal circumstances are wildly different, I admire your passion, esteemed predecessor. I suppose they don't call you the west's Father of History for nothing! Er, or did that title fall to your disciple? Apologies, I'm not quite sure... Haha, I suppose that's just the fate of every scholar, or perhaps even every human being when you think about it. We built upon the foundations laid by our predecessors, and one day, our breakthrough will be used as another foundation in turn. Such is the nature of human progress. I am proud to have laid a brick upon the ever-growing path that is our history."


Thucydides (LeadDemon):
"​Men such as us have no right to shed tears, huh... you are not entirely wrong. Even as wars, plagues and other calamities ravaged the world, the only thing we can do is persevere; pick up our brush and write so that those events- and those who fell to such tragedies- will never be forgotten. Lamentable as that may be, that is simply the way of the world."


Pliny the Elder (NMR - 3):
"A scholar from the other end of the Silk Road? A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Haha, our fields of study are different, but it would seem that we are united by our thirst of knowledge. Nothing is ever truly beyond human understanding, and I can understand the lengths you would go in order to pursue the truth. Be it unearthing ancient civilizations or staring eldritch beasts in the face, the lure of learning is simply too great to resist!"


Lady Sarashina (Pinetree):
"Emperors and historians will pass away, but history will be preserved. Our words will outlive us... my father said something to that effect a long time ago. To pour out every desire, every mundane and extraordinary thought, every last drop of joy and sorrow in your heart on paper like that... it is a talent that eludes me. You are no historian, girl, and yet a part of me envies that innocence of yours all the same. May your words continue to resound in the hearts of your readers, for another thousand years and counting."


Sir Thomas Malory (BnEl15):
"Er, don't get me wrong, history is certainly shaped by numerous 'heroes' who fought for all that is fair and just. I dedicated one section of the Records for them. Still, isn't there something... off about his definition of 'heroism'? It's as though he glorified those knights as larger-than-life figures while forgetting their more human aspects. That obsession is... mildly unsettling, if I may be honest."


Ovid (RoydGolden):
"Hm, the west sure has a different outlook when it comes to addressing their deities... and it seems you are partially responsible for it. I do agree that no authority figure should remain beyond reproach, though, whether they be Emperors hiding behind their Mandate of Heaven or even members of the heavens themselves. Reasonable criticism hurts no one. The lack of it does, however. How would you improve yourself if you shut out any voice pointing out your shortcomings?"


Anna Komnene (Jishara):
"I understand that feeling of wanting to preserve your father's legacy, but you would do well not to let that personal vendetta cloud your judgment. Humanity is complex. To single-handedly categorize the world using such arbitrary terms such as 'civilized' and 'barbaric' would be an oversimplification. Do not be afraid to learn more and understand your enemy's perspective. After all, understanding one thing does not necessarily mean accepting or forgiving them."


Consort Yu:
"I am familiar with what happened at Gaixia. I even wrote your husband's biography in the Records, but... well, this is unexpected. To think there was such an event transpiring right under our noses! Another side of history to which most remained clueless... haha, even now, I continue to encounter new information! New pieces to integrate to the puzzle! You have my thanks, Master. Chaldea truly is a wondrous place! Now, madam, would you grace me with an interview? I'd love to get a fresh new perspective on the Chu-Han contention, as well as the preceding centuries, if you do not mind. Um, please? Pretty pleaaase?"


Any genderbent Chinese Servant from before the Han dynasty:
"The records are... mistaken? Well, now that I am aware of this fact, I refuse to become an agent misinformation. Everyone, please line up in front of my study. Enter when you are called, and if you consent, I will conduct a thorough reexamination of your entire lives. Oh, and Master? In the meantime, could you gather every copy of the Records you can find here? It might take a few days, but I will personally edit every mention of their genders, as well as amend every other discrepancy brought forth by my past error! Worry not, I am not overworking myself. My historian's integrity simply cannot allow these errors to persist the moment new information comes to light. It is what my father would have wanted."


Emperor Wu of Han:
"Please, there is no need for apologies, your Highness. You had your duties, and I had mine. We simply had different priorities on what we wished to accomplish in this life. I cannot claim to be an expert on human relations, but I believe partings- whether they are caused by something as permanent as death or as subjective as ideological differences- are inevitable so long as we remain human. After all, history has taught us that change is the only thing constant in this world. That said, I am honored to have another opportunity to work beside you here."


Li Ling:
"My old friend? I... do not think he is present here. For the record, despite everything that happened between us, I still dedicated a small section of my work describing his conflict with the Xiongnu. My Emperor was right when he said that there were numerous tactical errors he could have easily avoided if he had just spent more time training his men and perfecting his strategies rather than boasting before the imperial court. Even so, despite all his flaws, there is no denying that Li and his men risked their lives for the safety of the nation. The people deserves to know their protectors."


Qin Shi Huang (Lostbelt):
"Ugh, universal conquest and authoritarianism I can accept to a certain degree. Personal feelings aside, tyrants and conquerors are a dime a dozen throughout history, after all. Whatever tactics and governing styles you utilized, it's highly likely that someone else in the past had tried something similar. It's the anti-intellectualism and hoarding of knowledge that I can't bring myself to forgive! Employed on such a large scale, your people were basically cattle! What value is there in progress if you're the only one benefiting from it!? Tch, the way you think so little of humanity irritates me to no end."

__________________________________________________



Final Ascension



Source


"Ah, it seems my story is nearing its conclusion. In the grand scheme of things, Servants are ephemeral beings. One day, your journey will come to an end, and the time of partings will arrive. That said, when the time comes... I don't think I have any regrets left, after everything I've seen. The world is built by the people of the past, who fought each other, acknowledged each other, and failed again and again in pursuit of their ideals. Humanity still has a long way to go, but so long as you all continue to cherish the past while directing your gazes to the future, one step at a time... I believe I can be content with that, personally speaking."

__________________________________________________



Bond CE


Epilogue: Of Sights and Proceedings Yet to be Chronicled
~ ♬ ~


Source

Second year of the Zhēnghé era (91 BC).


Sima Qian, the former Grand Historian, was fifty four.
He looked on from his terrace after sending his disciples off to to deliver the Records to the imperial palace.
And so it was finished. The magnum opus of his life. The dream he pursued for almost an entire lifetime.
For the first time ever since his dismissal, he felt pride in his chest, accompanied by... a certain sense of emptiness.


What now..?


History is an ever-expanding concept. Therefore, technically speaking, his work is never done.


The hustle and bustle of Chang'an, the toils of farmers in the countryside, the political intrigues taking place in the inner palace...
None of them should ever be forgotten.


Yes, I cannot rest just yet! There are still so many sights left to see, so many lives to preserve, and so many things to write down!
I should begin scheduling my next excursion and draft out a sequel to the Records!


He returned to his study, opened an empty bamboo slip, and picked up his old brush, which had accompanied him for decades.
Now, where should I begin...
Ah, a title, even a provisional one should do for now.
The man closed his eyes, contemplating his past accomplishments while searching for inspiration.

Source



Source



Source

The man put down his brush, leaving the slip empty.
He shook his head and returned his brush to its display case.


Historians will pass away, but history will be preserved.
A familiar voice echoed in his head.


Tomorrow, next week, next month, next year...
Humanity will continue to march forward, one day at a time.


Wars will be waged, empires will rise and fall, discoveries will be made...
So many things, and he doubted he could live to see anything more than a tiny fraction of this future.


"Still... I think that's all right."


He was no longer alone.
His dream was no longer his own.
The dream he once inherited from his father had been passed down to many men and women who shared his passion.


"So long as that passion remains alive and passed down from parent to child, teacher to student... no matter the era, I think the future will be in good hands."

Creator's Notes

Welp, a belated Merry Christmas, whoever you are! I... have no clue on who my prompt-giver may be this time around. I won't name names here, but let's just say my usual suspects don't seem to fit the prompt here.


- As the prompt said, as a civilization, China had about 5000 years of history behind it, making this a very broad prompt with hundreds of possible Servants to write (though I'm not ashamed to say I only had like... less than five on my backlog when I first received this prompt, most of them vague ideas and not all of them really has that "oomph" I'm going for... so who better to represent this prompt than the guy who chronicled roughly 2/5th of the entire history of China? Who knows, without him, China might be known for its 3000 years of history rather than 5000.


- My main inspiration for this guy came from this informative one-hour program. That's a real recommended watch from me, since I don't think this sheet- while I'm satisfied enough with how it turned out- fully does him justice.


- Hope you all enjoyed that mini-tribute to the other historian (and similar people) sheets here. Feels only fitting for this guy.


- The NP was initially inspired by Moody Blues from Jojo, though his status as Grand Historian did give me a few more things to work with (wank).


Anyways, I hope you're satisfied with this present. :marie:

[WhiteFrenzy]

Then you gonna hate my sheet it's the biggest pile of a stinker of sheet-making ever

Nah. At least you presented one.

Also HOLY SHIT THIS POOL 17.

[Kamera]

Mission Failed Successfully: A Servant who is known not for their trumphs but for their losses. Heroes who tried to achieve something great yet failed to succeed in what they set out to accomplish, either serving as living examples, or as horror stories about failure and its consequences.

Dino Thunder: The spirit of the ancient world and its apex creatures beckons to you. You must create a servant who draws their power from their connection to an ancient being. Whether by name association, field of study, or just plain happenstance, the servant you create must have a connection or relation to the great lizards of the past!

Lover: The most popular Fanmade Class in the forum, the Heroic Spirit of Romance and Affairs. The servant must be one that exists in canon Fate, only it must be Lover version of them. So long as it makes sense for them to possess the Class. Failing that, a Servant known to possess many affairs or a legendary romance will do!

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Lover

“Love is like the most precious gemstone, don’t you think? Although strong it is also fragile, though it is beautiful it is easily tarnished and if fought over it can prove quite deadly…”




True Name: Zellandine
Epithet: “The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest”
Region: The Netherlands (Arthurian Mythos)
Hidden Attribute: Earth
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Likes: Children, Flowers
Dislikes: Ogres, Solitude
Talents: Ballet, Hand-Spinning
Natural Enemy: Wicked Step-Mothers


Parameters
STR: (D) END: (E) AGI: (C) MGI: (C) LCK: (E) NP: (C)

Character

—”My

Master

Prince

shouldn’t have to face this burden alone. Casting away my meekness as a woman, I shall battle the heartless at the price of my hopes and dreams. May those who accept their Fate find happiness, may those who defy their Fate find Glory…”


Lover takes the form of Zellandine, the woman who became the Origin for the classic folktale “Sleeping Beauty”.


Preferring to go by the cuter nickname of “Zell”, this noble Lady radiates the aura of a perfect woman due being given the many Gifts of beauty, wit, grace, dance, song and so on from the Patron Goddesses who attended her birth. But first impressions can be deceiving, as Zell is ethereal to the point of having an indirect, airy attitude to most things which makes her come across as difficult with her constant aphorisms and metaphors. The reason for this is that the Curse of eternal sleep still lingers in her body and she is constantly drowsy as a result. Having been raised in a family that was obsessed with their lineage from the god of war - Mars, Zell was always expected to outperform the other girls and so she is secretly vain and likes to show off, especially when demonstrating her talents such as ballet. However this merely serves to mask the loneliness and isolation she feels, especially ever since she was locked away at the top of the castle’s tower for so long. This is exemplified by her desire to stay by her Master’s side at all times so she does not risk falling asleep alone for she fears waking up too late and finding the damage that was done by her accursed Noble Phantasm.


Perhaps because of her relationship to the Goddess Venus, or maybe it is because she is the Origin for the story “Sleeping Beauty”, but Zell has a very romantic-tinted view of the world and thus constantly compares life to that of her beloved fairy tales. In particular she believes that Love is the most important emotion and the key to happiness. To this end she has decided to once again search for her Prince Charming and if summoned by a male Master that she approves of, she will dedicate her life to helping him achieve his dream no matter the cost to herself. This is something of a double-edged sword as it grants her the drive to go beyond her normal limits but will also tempt her to resort to debased acts that her virtuous knight husband Troylus would disapprove of. Speaking of the man, the reason why Zell is willing to seek another spouse is because she harbors the desire for a perfect family life. Yet there is one line Zell would never think of crossing, and that is harming children in any situation - not after being deprived of seeing her own child growing up.


In a Holy Grail War, Zell is a strange sight to behold - a lone woman, dancing ballet silently on the battlefield. The humans scattered about nearby stumble around in a drunken stupor as if intoxicated by her beauty. As the opposing Servant draws closer, Zell draws the spindle that she was using as a hairpin out and holds it like a makeshift dagger. Thus begins the Fantasie-Ouvertüre of two Servants clashing their weapons and spirits, looking like some sort of grotesque dance. Since Zell is more than serious in this state, she is not above using the humans caught by her powers as shields since she is weaker than most Servants. For this reason, fighting the other Servants directly is usually reserved as a last resort, and the primary strategy would be to locate the other Masters and discreetly prick them with her spindle to activate her Noble Phantasm and kill them.


(As an aside, it is said that Love and Hatred are two sides of the same coin, and there exists deep within the Throne of Heroes, a record of Zellandine’s Saint Graph that manifests as the most terrible of Avengers, hellbound on punishing Troylus and other such sinners for their crimes, using the castle’s spinning wheel modified into a torture wheel as her Noble Phantasm.)


Her Wish upon the Holy Grail? Upon seeing the divine radiance of the Holy Grail, Zell understands why her descendant Galahad would think it belongs in Heaven rather than on Earth. Having witnessed such beauty, Zell realizes that perhaps the true desire she has is to reincarnate alongside her husband and child and together live a simple, happy life for once.

Skills

Class Skills

Devotion - (B)
The signature Skill of the Lover Class. An ability which corresponds to the strength of the Servant's feelings towards those they love. Similar to how the flowing of noradrenaline might cause a distressed mother to lift a vehicle off of her child, so too can this Skill create a state of “Agitated Delirium” that allows the Servant to raise their physical Parameters for a short period of time. As Zellandine was never a fighter in life, she is at a natural disadvantage in a Holy Grail War against the other Servants. Nevertheless, if it’s for her Prince Charming, then Zell will try her best and with the power of love flowing through her, she will feel a burst of energy as her strength and speed stats increase by two Ranks for several minutes at a time. However the more she tries to utilize this Skill within the same day, the more the returns will be diminished.


Object of Desire - (A)
The signature Skill of the Lover Class. The power connected to the feelings of love and obsession a Servant inspires in someone else. It functions as a passive charm Skill on the level of a mental attack, so much that being in their presence can incite feelings of affection, obsession, protectiveness and lust. For Zellandine, it seems that the Gifts bestowed upon her by the Goddesses were a bit too powerful and this causes humans to lose their senses when they see her face to the point where before he realised it, Troylus had violated her. Even now in the modern age, any unguarded humans that get too close will be overcome with desire and attack her. Even a Servant can be affected if their Magic Resistance is too low, forcing them to fight with their face shielded. For Zell, as she is not a direct fighter, this Skill is useful in having nearby civilians stumbling around her in a drunken stupor as they get in the way of an enemy Servant and may even try to attack them if they perceive the Servant as being a “rival in love”.


Personal Skills


Balet Bitvy - (B)
A battle methodology for non-combatants that attempts to substitute the coded systems of martial arts with that of performative dance, gymnastics and acrobatics. Having been blessed with the Gift of “dance” from a Goddess, Zellandine channels the rhythm contained within her body, her surroundings and even her enemy in order to move in time with her opponent partner and keep up despite her lack of combat experience. To some this can make her surprisingly tricky to deal with if they are not used to facing a person moving in such unexpected and unpredictable ways. Since she has a flair for the dramatic, Zell cannot resist adding in her own terminology by shouting things like “Arabesque Attack!” and “Dégagé Dodge!” as she bounces around the battlefield.


Divinity - (D)
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not. At high levels, one is treated as a mixed race of a Divine Spirit - a demi-god. This Skill has an effect which reduces special defensive values called "purge defense" in proportion to the Divinity's Rank. It can break through Skills such as Protection of the Faith and Enlightenment of the Sacred Fig. As a descendant of the Roman Divine House by way of the war god Mars, Zellandine naturally has this Skill but only at a low Rank due to the generational diffusion of the bloodline amongst humans. In sharp contrast to her father’s insistence, Zell does not view herself as any different from other humans despite her blood nor her interactions with the divine on a regular basis.


Golden Rule - (C)
A Skill that constitutes not the amount of one's wealth, but rather the ability to acquire it through both talent and luck. As the daughter of the most powerful Lord in all of Zeeland, Zellandine is used to the finer things in life, but she gave it all up in order to elope with her beloved knight Troylus and travel the world with him. As a result, when it comes to gathering resources, whether it is winning at card games or finding a lottery ticket stuck to the bottom of one’s foot, Zell has a moderately increased aptitude for getting lucky at a critical moment. She would call it just dumb luck and not at all useful as a Servant, but one never knows…in Fairy Tales it is often due to contrivance that a protagonist finds the necessary item to save the day.

Noble Phantasm

— “The trees entangle their arms and stretch upward into the sky. The budding leaves devour the light, adding depth to the forest's darkness. The Hunter who does not notice the claws in the shadows quickly becomes the Hunted…”


The Sleeping Forest
La Belle au Bois Dormant


[Type - Anti Unit], [Noble Phantasm Rank - C], [Maximum Range - 800 Metres], [Maximum Number of Targets - All Within Range]


The crystallization of the “Sleeping Beauty” folktale is of course materialized as Zellandine’s Noble Phantasm. The Curse of eternal sleep inflicted upon her by the Goddess Themis flows throughout Zell’s body and unless she maintains concentration then it will once again start to leak outwards, flowers bloom under the ground that she walks, thorny vines spring up and entangle buildings and vehicles - with all those trapped within the forest enclosure will experience the same overwhelming drowsiness that Zell is constantly under. As this Noble Phantasm originated from Themis’ Curse, it is far stronger than the mere psychic attack that is Zell’s Object of Desire Skill and only a Servant with considerable Magic Resistance will be able to avoid having first their strength and then their magical energy slowly drained away, leaving them an empty husk. Because of the random destruction this can cause, Zell is reluctant to ever use it while fully conscious.


Simply leaving the forest cage will be enough to cure the effects of the Curse, but doing so is no easy task as the wall of thorns will try to attack and restrain anyone attempting to get in or out. Most of the people who fall victim to this will be any panicked civilians caught inside who tried to flee before succumbing to their sleep. Any competent Servant wouldn’t have much trouble with the vines and even if they could not pierce the wall they could simply retreat to a safer location. The other way to dispel the Noble Phantasm would be to find Zell who is hidden within the depths of the Sleeping Forest and either wake her from her slumber or outright kill her. It is because of the mass havoc that such a Noble Phantasm can cause that Zell tries to avoid falling asleep in public places, but its activation may be an inevitability if she is fighting against another Servant and she is thereby knocked unconscious…


--------------


—"The pretense of clashing swords to prove one’s might is humorous at best; a drop of a Curse on the tip of a needle, now that is the art of death at its finest."


Dornröschen
Kiss from a Briar Rose


[Type - Anti Unit], [Noble Phantasm Rank - E~A], [Maximum Range - 2~3 Metres], [Maximum Number of Targets - 1 Unit]


When it is finally Zellandine’s time to get serious, she simply removes the spindle Dornröschen that was resting above her forehead as a makeshift hairpin and stabs herself in the neck with it. As the blood spurts out of the wound, it swirls through the air around Zell like a red vapor and comes together to form a misty specter of a giant Ogress. As the enemy looks on in shock, Zell explains that the entire time she was under the cursed sleep, she was assaulted by all her worst nightmares and even now she fears the wicked Ogress that kidnapped her children to eat them.


With a mighty roar, the spectral Ogress lunges at Zell and attempts to crush her with its huge arms. As Zell dashes towards the enemy Servant and bounces past them, they will likely try to defend themselves against the charging Ogress, but they will realize it is nothing more than a Wraith that will reform its mist body over and over again, and that Zell is right behind them ready to strike. Should she succeed in drawing blood with Dornröschen, then the Ogress will shatter and this time it will be the enemy Servant’s blood that forms into a Wraith based on what they have nightmares of. The stronger the Servant’s magical energy, the stronger their Wraith will be which is the reason behind the Noble Phantasm’s undetermined Rank. But for Zell who is not a violent person, it is most fitting to see her enemies face their worst fears and be crushed by them.

This Noble Phantasm though powerful is not without its drawbacks. The most obvious being that against some Servants it will simply be impossible for Zell to score a direct hit with Dornröschen since she lacks the speed or strength to get past their defenses. Even then, there are many Noble Phantasms wielded by Servants that could permanently vanquish the Wraith that Dornröschen summons. Lastly, being a hero means overcoming one’s fear and should they do that, the Wraith will become as harmful as a gentle breeze. Should any one of these scenarios occur, then Zell will be defenseless and with no other way to protect her Prince Charming, be forced to simply charge at the enemy with her spindle in hand in a futile final glory attack.

Lore

Once upon a time, there existed a Scottish Knight named Troylus. He was madly in love with the maiden from Zeeland, Zellandine and so when he had heard something had happened to her, he rushed across the ocean as fast as he could. Arriving in the country he learned that the maiden had fallen into a mysterious sleep and couldn’t be woken at all. But Troylus’ troubles had already begun as the woman who gave him lodgings didn’t want this stranger saving the princess before her own son could, so she mixed some herbs into Troylus’ food that made him into an amnesiac and without his senses, Troylus wandered around aimlessly for days.


Taking refuge in the nearby temple and falling asleep, Troylus had a dream where the most beautiful woman came to meet him in the temple and commanded him to rise, for he had a girl to save. But as Troylus’ mind was still in a haze he just babbled nonsensically to which the holy woman grew frustrated and ran her fingers along her tongue before caressing the young man’s face, and then jamming her wet fingers into his ears. Instantly Troylus was under a psychic shock as his memories and reason came flooding back to him and he questioned who this stranger was. Revealing herself to be the Goddess of Love, Venus - she explained she would do everything in her power to aid the knight in curing Zellandine.


Sprinting to the landlady who cursed him, Troylus found her son who had stolen his stuff whilst he was absent and declaring him not worth the effort of killing by the sword, Troylus picks up a shield and clubs the boy into submission. With his weapons and armour recovered, the knight sprints back to the castle but even after getting past the moat, he finds he cannot climb the insurmountable tower she has been placed in. Praying to Venus to help, suddenly a gust of wind blasts Troylus and he sees a stranger approaching, walking on the water of the moat. The hooded figure asks where Troylus is but when the knight tries to play dumb, the mystery man says ain’t nobody got time for that and the price for helping is that Troylus has until the stroke of midnight to cure Zellandine, upon which he must leave the country immediately. As soon as Troylus agreed, he found himself blasted through the air as his unknown helper used the Force to launch him into the single open window of the tower.


Arriving in the lady’s bedchamber, Troylus found Zellandine in her eternal sleep and no amount of pleading would awaken her. Praying once again to Venus for help, the Goddess revealed that only true love would cure the girl. Reason and Discretion told Troylus that no true knight makes a move on a woman without her consent, but the angered Goddess breathes into his ear and Troylus finds his willpower melting away as does his clothes, and so he “gathers the fruits of love” with the unconscious Zellandine. Basking in the afterglow, Troylus shrieks when he hears a voice behind him and jumps straight into his suit of armour but it turns out only to be the mysterious stranger sitting in the windowsill, who reminds him it is midnight and to uphold his promise. Hearing a disturbance, the guards rush in only to see a knight in armour flying through the window on the back of a giant bird. When Zellandine’s father heard of this, he declared it must have been the God Mars, come to cure his daughter.


Nine months later, the sleeping Zellandine spontaneously gave birth to a son, who unable to reach his mother’s breast, started sucking on her finger, only to cough up a piece of flax. Suddenly Zellandine started to awaken and the whole castle celebrated, with her aunt explaining what had happened. At the day of her birth, a feast was held to honour the three Patron Goddesses who would come to bless her with Gifts and each Goddess was given a golden knife but in the rush to prepare, one knife fell under the table and thinking she had been left out, Themis curses the newborn Zellandine that one day she will prick her finger on some flax and fall into an enchanted sleep. Taking pity on the baby, Venus counters the curse by declaring that a true act of love will save Zellandine. But as the aunt finished talking, a half woman half bird creature swoops in and abducts the baby before departing - leaving the pair stunned silent.


Upon hearing this, Zellandine’s father declares this too must be the work of Mars and hushes everyone to secrecy. Zellandine herself only cares that without her chastity, Troylus might not marry her anymore…but figures what Troylus doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Speaking of the man, Troylus starts to have dreams about his true love and decides enough time has passed and so he crosses the seas once again to Zeeland to see how his lady is doing. As he arrives he sees a tournament is being held and the victor gets to marry Zellandine. Naturally he enters as the Masked Battler from Scotland, and one by one trounces the competition.


But Zellandine’s father was having none of it and told her that he would choose the suitor for his daughter to marry even if the foreign knight managed to win. Distressed, Zellandine secretly met with the masked knight and begged him to steal her away to Scotland where her love Troylus was waiting for her. But the knight merely ripped off his mask and revealed his identity to the lady who proceeded to swoon. As fast as he could, Troylus explained everything that had happened and how he planned to escape with her. As they mounted the getaway horse, Zellandine called to her maid and left a message to her father that this too is the will of Mars who is abducting her to be his bride.


…What? You were expecting an explanation of what that bird-thing was and where the baby went? Sorry dear listener, but that is a story to be spun for another time…

Relationships

Artoria - “Lord Arthur, I am grateful to you for restoring Britain’s glory after the Caesar’s invasion. I hope you will forgive the rash actions of my descendant.”


Brynhildr - “How romantic, sleeping surrounded by eternal flames, waiting for the bravest of heroes to rescue you. I wonder if Sigurd is anything like my Troylus.”


Lancelot - “No matter how many generations pass, I can still see the sweet face of Troylus in yours.”


Habetrot - “Ah, the spinning wheel. The start of all my troubles, yet I can’t help but want to give it another try.”


Hendrik van der Decken - “Another lost soul, doomed to suffer until they find true love. T’is a common tale as of late.”


Ishtar - “Lady Venus, is that you?”


Julius Caesar - “Hmm…on the one hand, I suppose I should be nice to the spouse of Lady Morgan, but you did invade and ruin my beloved’s homeland and that I cannot forgive.”


Meltryllis - “Oh, a fellow lover of Ballet. What would you say to a little pas de deux?”


Morgan le Fay - “From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for raising my child in my absence.”


Oberon=Vortigern - “Bleh, how can the child of such a noble lady turn out so wretched?”


Van Gogh - “I had hoped to speak to the Sunflower artist about commissioning works to paint our lovely Dutch scenery but I wasn’t expecting to find someone named Clytie.”

Creator's Notes

If it wasn’t obvious by the reference to an alternate Avenger Class, then Zellandine wasn’t originally designed for this Pool of Prompts, instead she would have been for Pool 13’s “Fairy Tale” prompt with a Spinning Wheel Noble Phantasm based on Yugioh’s “Thorn Prisoner” archetype of cards. However I unfortunately hit a snag with the intended Servant Sheet for Pool 18 and so I had to discard it and I had to make some last minute alterations to Zellandine to make her fit the Lover Class both mechanically and thematically, so I hope it isn’t too disappointing.


If you’ve never encountered the Chivalric Romance that is “Le Roman de Perceforest” (which I doubt any of you have given its uber obscurity), the best way I could describe it is that it is an anthology collection of tales designed to give an Origin Story to Britain and many of the Arthurian characters thereof, which is why it is interesting that it coincidentally contains the earliest written account of the “Sleeping Beauty” fairy tale and that she would be Lancelot’s ancestor of all things (it’s a small world after all). Other backstories of note would be stuff like the child knight Passelion being the ancestor of Merlin, and King Arthur being descended from Alexander the Great - certainly puts a different spin on the Banquet of Kings scene in Fate/Zero.


Lastly, it should go without saying but I let some of the later expurgations seep into this sheet since y’know, it might be a Zellandine sheet at heart but I’m sure people still wanted to see some of the iconic Sleeping Beauty motifs included like the Briar Rose, as well as the masterpiece of ballet that is Tchaikovsky’s “The Sleeping Beauty”. Huh, I just realized that I have French, German and Russian words knocking around in this sheet, just goes to show how beloved the fairy tale is across Europe.


The Faceclaim this time is Akiza Izinski from the anime “Yu-Gi-Oh: 5D’s”. The obvious connection being her association with thorny roses because of her powers. But I always wondered what that thing was in her hair and upon seeing the concept art thought it totally kinda looks like a spindle and so I incorporated that into the sheet.

[WhiteFrenzy]

It's always a treat to see more Lover servants. This class needs all the love (pun intended).

[Kamera]

Outsider Caricatures= Figures that are made up for a certain culture and people by people that lived outside of them.

Cultural Zeitgeist = Figures that encapsulate the idealized version of their people's ideals and culture.

Cultural Antithesis = Figures that encapsulate the sins and taboos of their people's ideals and culture.

[First Sheet]

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Source: KarlaFrazetty


Class: Berserker
Other Classes: N/A
True Name: Turandot
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Place of Origin: Turandot
Stars: 3/5


Parameters:


STR: D
END: D
AGI: C
MGI: C
LCK: C
NP: B


Height: 181cm
Weight: 120lbs
Likes: Holding power, riddles
Dislikes: Amorous suitors
Talent: Ruling kingdoms
Natural Enemy: Hwang Jini
Attribute: Earth
Traits: Humanoid, Female, Weak to Enuma Elish
Armament: A dagger
Catalyst: A headdress from a Turandot costume


Class Skills:


Madness Enhancement C: A constant, simmering madness and obsession with destroying anyone who does not live up to her standards of worth.


Personal Skills:


Nessun Dorma A: The sublimation of the night in which she decreed that none shall sleep, instead tracking down her suitor's name, on pain of death. A constant aura of sleep deprivation soaring around her and weakening anyone around, at a touch nullifying sleep as those contacted gain an urge to follow her commands.


Golden Rule (Beauty) B: The sublimation of her extreme beauty, which supposedly convinced many princes to try at the riddle challenge. A predestined fate of extreme beauty akin to that of a goddess that is unmarred.


Riddler A: The sublimation of her extremely skillful riddles which managed to defeat countless princes. The ability to create incredibly skillful riddles at her will to describe anything that she wishes. These riddles exert a minor fascination effect but do not actually harm their target.


Noble Phantasm(s):


Enigmi
Three Riddles


Type: Anti-Unit
Rank: B
Range: 20 meters
Max Targets: 1


The sublimation of her three riddles, upon failure of the target would be executed. This manifests, when the true name is called, into her voice, choosing a target, suspending a guillotine over them, and forcing them to answer three riddles very quickly. If they get even one of them wrong, the guillotine immediately falls.


Lore: Turandot was a princess written about in the Book of One Thousand and One Days, who became adapted by Gozzi and then later by Puccini. She was incredibly beautiful and thus many princes attempted to woo her. So she imposed a challenge: She would ask three riddles to her challengers. Any challenger who answered all three right would get her hand. Any challenger who failed to would be beheaded.


Personality: A serious and stern person who loves the power that she holds. She actively hates having to deal with any suitors who show up, so will immediately activate Enigmi to try to destroy them as soon as possible. Thus, her wish is to eliminate her capacity for being wooed and remove all suitors.


Relationships:


Hwang Jini: "So you searched out a suitor using my tactics?"


Empress Wei: "Good you got over your sickeningly-sweet lovey phase."


Empress Lu: "Poison? Clever. Wish I thought of that.


Han Xin: "Never trust anyone. That's something I've learned."


Bao Si: "I can't say I understand you, but I do sympathise with your plight."


Wang Zhaojun: "..Birds falling from the sky? How?"


Xi Shi: "Never. Trust. Anyone. Not even your closest friends and allies."


Yuenu: "Vengeance, huh? Need any aid?"




Creator Notes: My submission for Outsider Caricatures.





[Second Sheet]

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Source: AFBA

Class: Saber
Other Classes: N/A
True Name: Queen Victoria
Alignment: Neutral Good
Place of Origin: United Kingdom (19th Century)
Stars: 5/5

Parameters:

STR: B
END: A
AGI: C
MGI: B
LCK: C
NP: A

Height: 192cm
Weight: 100lbs
Likes: Peace, elegance
Dislikes: Chaos, bad manners
Talent: Serving as Queen
Natural Enemy: Ranavalona I, Lakshmi Bai
Attribute: Man
Traits: Humanoid, Female, Weak to Enuma Elish
Armament: Cortana
Catalyst: A picture of her, the word Victorian

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance B: The turn towards mysticism in her era permits her a higher amount of magic resistance then expected of a modern Queen.

Riding C: Saber rode horses and was fairly good at riding them, gaining an average rank which allows her to control normal steeds.

Personal Skills:

The Victorian Era A: The sublimation of the era named after her and all the effects within. The mysticism of the era, in particular her mourning customs, permit her to recall the spirit of a recently deceased at her will. She also gains a resistance to illness thanks to innovations in medicine. The technological innovations can be understood and used by Queen Victoria, channeling electricity or messages through her sword. The Pax Britannia grants her a peace-making function. And due to the motif of the "Stiff Upper Lip", she gains Bravery at rank C.

Protection from Assassins B: The sublimation of the many times people attempted to assassinate her, though she managed to get out nigh completely unscathed. She has the capacity to see through and completely ignore Presence Concealment below or at B rank, and gains a resistance to sneaky blows, especially those from pistols and other such weapons.

Grandmother of Europe A: Her status as "Grandmother of Europe", thanks to her status as grandmother to many of the leaders of the countries, manifesting in a skill. Any European servant will instinctively gain a positive feeling towards her as a "grandmotherly figure". In addition, she can manifest her "children" in the form of miniature automata that are granted life via a procedure akin to knighting.

Imperial Privilege A++: Her status as Queen of the British Empire, manifested as a skill. The capacity to draw on skills such as Charisma, Military Tactics, Knighting, Protection of Britannia, and so on.

Noble Phantasm(s):

Cortana Nie Enstellen
The Sun Shall Never Set On My Reign

Type: Anti-Fortress
Rank: A
Range: 100 meters
Max Targets: 1000 targets

The sublimation of the titanic reach of her reign, both in domain, it reaching its apex, and in duration, being the longest reign of any British monarch to that point. This manifests in her sword, Cortana, which absorbs light from the sun as she moves. This light passively fuels her, revitalizing her and pronouncing the "continuation of the reign". It can also be used offensively, used to add a tip to the blade that serves as the sharp part, for Cortana has a blunted end. When the true name of this Noble Phantasm is called, she raises her sword before pointing it forwards, launching an immense beam of light that banishes all shadows and hiding effects while claiming the domain passed through as "under her reign". Of course, it also deals hefty amounts of damage.

Lore: Alexandrina Victoria, better known as Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was Queen Regnant of the British Empire for almost 64 years. She was the namesake and the epitome of the Victorian era, named after her, an era of technological advancement and return to mysticism. She was a constitutional monarch.

Personality: A strict and stern person, usually. She enjoys elegant balls and soirees, but constantly watches for even the smallest slip in manners, although she will usually forgive and ignore them. She dislikes the harsh horrors of war, and feels that it should be more peaceful, but acknowledges that at some points it must be done. Her wish for the Holy Grail is to have continued her reign, and lead Britain into an even more glorious future.

Relationships:

Lakshmi Bai: "I truly admire your valiance. And... I apologize for my role in your sorrow."

Ranavalona I: "You murdered your own people!?"

Tamar of Georgia: "It seems you lead your kingdom into a golden age as well. How wonderful."

Antipope Clement VII: "Why do you enjoy the horrors of war?"

Empress Wei: "We are not amused with your assassination attempt, Empress."

Creator Notes: This is for the Idealized Era part.





[Third Sheet]

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Source: IrenHorrors

Class: Caster
Other Classes: N/A
True Name: Carman
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Place of Origin: Irish Mythology
Stars: 5/5

Parameters:

STR: C
END: B
AGI: C
MGI: A
LCK: C
NP: A

Height: 198cm
Weight: 100lbs
Likes: Strength, control, her children
Dislikes: Losing her children
Talent: Cursing the land
Natural Enemy: Anqi Sheng
Attribute: Earth
Traits: Female, Humanoid
Armament: Runestones
Catalyst: The poem about her, summoning at the festival named after her

Class Skills:

Item Construction E-: Despite being an incredibly powerful magus, she neglected item creation, focusing on destruction.

Territory Creation A: The capacity to create a powerful Temple to support her magic, although she will tend to constantly wander.

Personal Skills:

Blight On The Land A: The sublimation of the blight on the land that she placed when she began attacking the kingdom. The capacity to place blights on the land that she walks through, her very step filled with powerful curses that eat away at the soil and at the Mana. This works within opponent territories, but not within her own.

High-Speed Divine Words A: A skill that assists with magical incantations without requiring the use of her Magic Circuits. She also doesn't need to perform chants, with even incredibly powerful curses and hexes being as quick as an extremely basic one-line spell. Lastly, the spells that she speaks are in a language that isn't understandable to mortals.

Famine A: The famine that she caused, sublimated into a skill. The capacity to "starve" others of mana, her very presence over-consuming mana in the vicinity and growing to the size that it can through the mana that it can. Thus, no harm can be done to her through lowering her mana supply, unless it is cut off, for her mana consumption fits the environment.

Noble Phantasm(s):

Dub, Dothur, Dian
The Children of Eternal Destruction

Type: Anti-Fortress
Rank: A
Range: 100 meters
Max Targets: 3 targets

The sublimation of her three children, Dub, Dothur, and Dian. She has the ability to manifest each of them, each extremely powerful entities on par with a Divine Beast. Dub is a sentient cloud of shadow who can coalesce at will, and every touch with it causes blindness. Dothur is an amorphous entity capable of taking on many guises and casting similar spells as her, and changes others' alignment to Evil. Dian is an entity of blades and spears, constantly churning and spilling more blood then they ever should be able to, causing an infectious yearning for violence.

Oenach Carmen
Lest The Famine Return

Type: Anti-Army
Rank: C
Range: 30 meters
Max Targets: 100 targets

The sublimation of the festivity that was held after her death, to ward off famine. When she dies, her spiritual core cracks into a shower of miasma that infects the territory of the Grail War, absorbing mana at a rapid rate. Once this mana accumulated hits a certain point, she returns back with the mana that she consumed. This can only occur once every three days, and can be stopped through purification or mana drain.

Lore: Carman was a Celtic witch who invaded Ireland during the Age of Gods. She brought along her three children, Dub, who is Darkness, Dothur, who is Evil, and Dian, who is Violence. They nearly destroyed Ireland before the De Danann rallied and sent four of their greatest to entrap her children, and then her. A festival was founded after her death.

Personality: A manipulative and cruel person. She loves causing as much harm as she can to others' domains. She is naturally unsuited to having a Master, and will immediately attempt to destroy her Master, switching her Mana supply to the Leylines. If she fails, however, a grudging respect will be built. If she came in contact with the Grail, she would corrupt it, empowering her Three Children to once again lay waste to the land.

Relationships:

Locusta of Gaul: "I like your style! Time for me to rip it from you!"

Anqi Sheng: "How dare you try to stop me? Me! The greatest magus of all time!"

Lubna of Cordoba: "What a wonderful library. I wonder, shall I lay waste to it?"

Antipope Clement VII: "Finally, a challenge!"

Jakob Fugger: "Shall I take your wealth away? Why not?"

[BnEl15]

Did... Did Venus snap Troylus out of his trance by giving him the ol' wet willie?

[Skull]

Oh snap, it’s *that* Pool...

[WhiteFrenzy]

LMAO @ double Queen Victoria.

Also holy shit, you actually did the 3 prompts. You're mad. You're absolutely mad.

[Kamera]

For Pool 20, it's for Ismail2002. He did submit a sheet, but he has requested for it not to be posted because it's incredibly barebones. Well, I hope it can be finished eventually and posted to the main thread. If anyone want to see it, you can just PM me I guess.