Create-A-Servant 3

[DelRey]

What a nice group effort Foreigner has become

Was there ever an event or just normal collaborations when multiple creators made one servant? Just curious to see how those sheets end up looking when multiple brains come up with ideas

[Tabris]

If nothing else, focusing on Tokohito finally made me get out of one creative rut (I've been obsessing over a Scathach-like court dancer -- has anyone got an idea how one can dance their way to the Root? -- since mid-month, and have read entire poetry anthologies and histories of Tang and Sui Dynasty China to no avail, so I'm quite glad for the break)... and into another.

Royd, would you mind me taking your sheet for a little concept improvement of my own? I've finally gotten myself a decent description of Basatan, and with everything else I've gathered, I think I can make a sheet that's worth embarrassing myself for.

[DelRey]

dancing to the root? Nagata Toshaka attempts to reach the root with martial arts, attaining a state of Nirvana. Dancing is a sport as well and one may be able to reach a state that may allow to take a glimpse into magic. i think with that connection one may be able to work with.

[Dullahan]

google nataraja

[Kamera]

there's also the mevlevi whirling dervishes

[NMR-3]

And Ame-no-Uzume dancing to bring Amaterasu out of her NEETcave.

[RoydGolden]

Servant Foreigner:

Appearance:

Source

True Name: Percy Fawcett

Alignment: True Neutral

Alternate Class: Berserker

Armaments: Hunting knife, rifle

Strength- C
Agility- B
Endurance- A
Mana- C
Luck- C+
NP- A

Personality

Foreigner is a strange person. From the outset he appears to be a polite and dignified gentleman-adventurer. Yet due to his Insanity Skill warping his mind he sees (non-Servant) humans other than his Master as merely "beasts" fit to be slain and butchered. Foreigner is more comfortable in "untamed" environments like jungles and crumbling ruins far away from the hands of man. He finds present human civilization to be a disturbing alien world where he must constantly keep his guard up in order to survive. In "civilized" areas this gives Foreigner a wild-eyed demeanor, constantly jumping at every shadow and pointing his rifle at the first loud noise.

Foreigner is an incredibly driven and obsessive man. He'll stop at nothing to reach the Nameless City he glimpsed in his dreams and prove to the whole world he was right about his theories. No matter what has to be sacrificed, how many of his companions die along the way--- all will be worthwhile if he just manages to reach that exalted place. Foreigner is unaware that he's already discovered the Nameless City, so every time he's summoned in a Grail War he'll keep on pursuing it anew. An endless cycle of discovery and disappointment befitting a Heroic Spirit who spent their life longing for that which was ever beyond their reach.

As he still believes himself to be in his original life, Foreigner has no wish on the Holy Grail. Instead, his delusions lead him to equating the Grail with the Nameless City he seeks. If he actually obtained the Grail, Foreigner's wish would end up unconsciously manifesting the Nameless City in reality- which would assuredly spell a great calamity for the world.

Likes: exploration, discovery
Dislikes: "savages", being unable to prove his discoveries
Talents: all the skills necessary for an adventurer, singleminded pursuit
Natural Enemy: Alexander Rice

Class Skills:

Existence Beyond The Domain- N/A
A Skill inherent to the Foreigner Class, asserting one's existence outside of time and reality. As his extradimensionality is instead expressed through Foreigner's Transgressor Of The Other Side Skill, this ability has been lost.

Insanity- C+
Having glimpsed the forbidden city that lies beyond humanity's common sense, Foreigner has been afflicted with the madness of "Searching".

As his whole legend is defined by endlessly seeking out the Nameless City, he is unable to accept that he actually found it. To compensate Foreigner's mind has frozen in the time of his final expedition. He believes he's still on that doomed journey, refusing to listen to any evidence to the contrary- that includes him being dead and having become a Heroic Spirit.

Foreigner's perceptions are also warped to match this delusion. He sees his surroundings as a hostile alien landscape he must struggle to surmount. If summoned in a modern city, it'd appear to Foreigner as a deep and twisted jungle littered with bizarre concrete spires. Likewise, Foreigner treats any humans who aren't himself or his Master as wild animals or hideous "savages" scarcely more than beasts. They are either enemies to be driven off or resources to be harvested for food. As Foreigner doesn't realize other humans are human, he sees nothing evil in his actions. His Master is the only person Foreigner accepts as a human, equating them to one of his adventuring companions from life.

To Foreigner, it seems like he's one of the last humans left in a world full of monsters. His enemies must be left with quite the opposite impression.


Personal Skills:

Origin To The Archetype- B
Foreigner helped inspire several famous adventurer heroes in pop culture, including Indiana Jones and Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World. This Skill grants Foreigner access to many abilities relating to the adventurer archetype he inspired, even ones he never possessed in life. Amongst them are hunting, tracking, navigation, marksmanship, knife-fighting, herbal medicine, trap disarming, ancient glyph reading and a variety of other Skills at C~B rank.

Lucky Survivor- A+
A Skill born from Foreigner's reputation in having survived countless ill-fated expeditions where all his companions died. When Foreigner fails any Luck check or saving throw, his allies on the battlefield will be forced to mirror the same check. If even one of them fails, the results of said failed roll will be transferred to them, sparing Foreigner himself. Should multiple allies fail, the penalty is allocated to the one nearest Foreigner or failing that, randomly amongst them.

Foreigner will appear to miraculously escape unscathed from various disasters, while his allies perish around him. Foreigner himself is ignorant of this Skill's true nature, believing he's just unnaturally lucky and his allies' deaths to be merely tragic coincidences.

Transgressor Of The Other Side- C
A Skill denoting the Servant's existence as one who stands astride the boundary of this world and another. Foreigner is connected to the Nameless City of Mist, an otherworldly place he managed to set foot in before his death. His essence is split equally between the two realms, allowing Foreigner to "step" between them at will.

By shifting into the Nameless City Foreigner becomes out of phase with the World's texture. His body becomes wispy and intangible like mist, letting Foreigner slip through attacks and obstacles as if they didn't even exist. From Foreigner's point of view the rest of the world dissolves into mist when he uses this Skill while his own body remains solid.

However Foreigner can only stay in the Nameless City for six seconds at a time before needing to return to reality. He's also unable to interact with anything in the "real" world while inside it, which includes picking up objects or attacking enemies. Shifting realms costs a certain amount of Mana from Foreigner every time he does it, so he can't just spam this Skill endlessly either. Attacks that can cross dimensional boundaries are theoretically capable of still reaching Foreigner in this state.

Noble Phantasm

Nameless City "Z"

Lost City Swallowed In Mist

Rank: A

Type: Anti-Unit

The legendary city Foreigner glimpsed in fitful dreams, embarking countless expeditions into the jungle to discover it. Ultimately, Foreigner never managed to find the city he so ardently searched for, and died alone somewhere in the Brazilian Jungle without ever fulfilling his dream. At least, that's the truth known to history. However, some legends whisper another ending to his tale. That Foreigner finally managed to find the fabled city, but that in doing so he was spirited away to another plane of existence.

The Nameless City--- a concept told of in the mythos of H.P Lovecraft. According to the story it was the last remnant of an ancient civilization that predated humans. Though believed to reside somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, the city's true geography is ill-defined as it was known to mysteriously shift locations. Anyone who learned of the city would become obsessed with discovering it, eventually driving them to madness or death.

Viewed in this light, the Lost City that Foreigner sought after and baptized with the name "Z" is undoubtedly just another manifestation of the Nameless City.

As Foreigner is clueless of his status as a Servant, he's unable to deliberately invoke this Noble Phantasm. Instead only a Command Seal from his Master can "coax" him into using it. Upon doing so Foreigner enters a dream-like trance, where he begins reciting the words "That is not dead which can eternal lie, and in strange aeons even death may die", a couplet from the mad poet Abdul Alhazred who allegedly composed it after dreaming of the Nameless City. He then concludes by invoking this Noble Phantasm's true name.

At this point a thick eerie mist blankets the surroundings, isolating completely both Foreigner and his opponent from the outside world. Then from the fog emerges outlines of stone spiraled obelisks, crumbling ruins and other ancient monuments of a forgotten and unspeakable civilization. Worse yet, the opponent feels the unescapable sensation of being watched. Innumerable shadows observe them from every nook and cranny, darting out of sight the moment they look. These are the true denizens of the Nameless City, the shapeless horrors that lurk at the edges of human consciousness.

On Foreigner's cue all of them descend on the opponent. Shrieking and hissing they jump, skitter and lunge from the murky gloom, jubilant at the prospect of new flesh. Countless claws, fangs and still more indescribable appendages flash to tear the unlucky "sacrifice" limb from limb. Only Foreigner himself is spared this onslaught due to being acknowledged as a "dweller" of the Nameless City.

Afterwards, the mist recedes, leaving the City along with its latest victim to fade as dewdrops before the break of dawn. Foreigner himself desperately claws and grasps at the dissolving image, once more finding the city he dedicated so much of his life to uncovering slip away like a mirage. He collapses to the ground, a broken man, before getting up and renewing his resolve to continue his endless search.

This is a digression but--- the final book in Conan Doyle's Professor Challenger trilogy- which was heavily inspired by Foreigner himself- depicted its titular hero venturing into an otherworldly realm known as the "Land of Mist". Was it a mere coincidence, or had the author who famously dabbled in occultism inadvertently brought to light the truth of Foreigner's final fate?

---

So here's my second Foreigner in a row, and another sheet that's been gathering dust on my WIP folder for a while. This is a more unconventional Foreigner in that he isn't connected with an alien god or monster but rather an entire city that lies outside mankind's common sense. As usual feel free to drop by with comments and critiques. Thanks for reading!

[DelRey]

that is a really interesting concept for a Foreigner. Instead of beings empowering him, he becomes one from encountering a mythical place.
If i have found that person and thought about making him a foreigner, I would probably have connected him to the Dreamlands. It is too long ago since i researched the Dreamlands for Freud, but there should be a region hidden in mist somewhere. Maybe Leng or something.
I will remember this concept.

But one thing that is strange
how does he activate the NP if he isnt aware of his Servant status. And if he is aware of this ability, why doesnt he cast it right away to reach it? And why is he broken afterwards when he finally found a way to get there anytime now? Having the NP makes sense, knowing/using it seems strange to me right now

and all who read right now, go vote in the contest. They deserve some feedback and points there

[RoydGolden]

that is a really interesting concept for a Foreigner. Instead of beings empowering him, he becomes one from encountering a mythical place.
If i have found that person and thought about making him a foreigner, I would probably have connected him to the Dreamlands. It is too long ago since i researched the Dreamlands for Freud, but there should be a region hidden in mist somewhere. Maybe Leng or something.
I will remember this concept.

But one thing that is strange
how does he activate the NP if he isnt aware of his Servant status. And if he is aware of this ability, why doesnt he cast it right away to reach it? And why is he broken afterwards when he finally found a way to get there anytime now? Having the NP makes sense, knowing/using it seems strange to me right now

and all who read right now, go vote in the contest. They deserve some feedback and points there

My idea with his NP is that he can only glimpse it fleetingly instead of being able to actually look around there and explore (and of course, prove it to others). Hence why he seeks the Grail to go there "for real". And NP invocation is probably something he'd do in a dream-like trance/not entirely aware he's doing it to explain how he can without knowing he's a Servant. But maybe I should've made that clearer in the sheet itself.

And I second your last remark. I'm surprised how few people are voting in the contest. You'd think at least everybody who submitted an entry would care enough to vote...

[RoydGolden]

Update: Added a bit more to his NP description clarifying how he invokes it. Thanks DelRey!

[asterism42]

If nothing else, focusing on Tokohito finally made me get out of one creative rut (I've been obsessing over a Scathach-like court dancer -- has anyone got an idea how one can dance their way to the Root? -- since mid-month, and have read entire poetry anthologies and histories of Tang and Sui Dynasty China to no avail, so I'm quite glad for the break)... and into another.

Royd, would you mind me taking your sheet for a little concept improvement of my own? I've finally gotten myself a decent description of Basatan, and with everything else I've gathered, I think I can make a sheet that's worth embarrassing myself for.

Not a Root thing but: Izumo no Okuni, semi-legendary inventor of kabuki. She would dance to solicit donations for her shrine, and miko are associated with both sacred and secular dances.

[Tabris]

Not a Root thing but: Izumo no Okuni, semi-legendary inventor of kabuki. She would dance to solicit donations for her shrine, and miko are associated with both sacred and secular dances.

Thanks for the suggestion. What I was thinking was that she would unwittingly dance her way so close to the Root (think Taoist winged sage, but utterly human and obsessively focused on perfecting her craft) that the Counter Force took notice and eventually instigated not only the An Lushan rebellion in order to dispatch of her, but introduced footbinding as a custom for fashionable Chinese ladies, with the desired effects.

Now, how to make that even more Nasuverse-compliant... or I can focus on my Tokohito sheet instead, which is going swimmingly! An itchy dragon and a wounded tentacrab in a custody battle over a six-year-old vagrant: what could possibly go wrong?

[RoydGolden]

Now, how to make that even more Nasuverse-compliant... or I can focus on my Tokohito sheet instead, which is going swimmingly! An itchy dragon and a wounded tentacrab in a custody battle over a six-year-old vagrant: what could possibly go wrong?

Ah, so you are working on your own Antoku sheet then? It'll be fun to compare our different takes on the guy...

[The Fair Tyrant]

Percy Fawcett: Well that was a lovely sheet. Would be irritated at getting sniped but I'd written up about 20 words for him so whatever. It's kinda weird that the Nameless City just rips apart its victims without any secondary effects (given that it's supposed to be some great calamity if fully summoned by Fawcett's wish) but otherwise the characterization and skills are great.

[Kabalisto Koga]

Percy : A really interesting servant Royd i must say ! A interesting concept around the city ,but there could be more info about the city or the shadowy beings in my opinion like are they also harm his Master or how he himself act and react with his Master ?

As i am for some days not at home i wish you all here a Great new year !

Sadly couldn't i finish them currently but in the next days i will reveal and show you a Germinidas and Shapur II Lancer servants !

[Lambda-Nu]

Hey, is there anyone who’d be willing to proof-read my compilation? I want to make sure I have everything correct before I post it next page.

[DelRey]

the milestone compilation? sure gimme

[Justiciar Hux]

Beast VI: i have only two words for this.
holdt
fvck
This is true Roma, the essence of humanity's capacity to push onwards through the stars, taken to its logical extreme in the negative; he's inverse Quirinus, essentially. You've handled the idea brilliantly, making him both a dark mockery of Quirinus, and the exact opposite of Beast II, while mirroring her own feelings about the evil she commits. That selfsame knowledge that they are doing the wrong thing, but the compulsion and raw, brutal desire to see their goal through to the end.
That is truly an Evil of Humanity, and deserves the title in full.

Imhotep: A well-crafted sheet, with checks and balances, safeguards beyond safeguards to ensure that the power he gains could soar as high as that of the High Priest of Egypt, while as fragile as the position was compared to the Pharaoh.

Antoku: Precious child.
Done in a quite lovely manner, with a crystalline tragedy akin to a rolling wave crushing a city. If that giant crab doesn't have several defensive skills atop of its high raw defense, I'll be disappointed.

Percy Fawcett: An interesting take on an archetypical figure, whose exploits inspired some of the greatest minds in literature. I really do like how you've weaved in the inexplicable ability of Fate's Conan Doyle to write about exploits that he could not have possibly witnessed, though Holmes implied that Watson himself was Conan Doyle. Which still fits, as only someone with a strange capacity to be at the side of the World's "First and only consulting detective" could observe the impossible, such as the feats of Fawcett in the end of his life.

---

On a separate note, I'd like to see what the local market would want to see next; the second Crypter Pseudo-Servant (Ophelia - the Moirai), or an interludial Servant (der Todesengel) with the corruption of the modern era conflating him with a fictitious villain of even greater magnitude, yet similar ideals?

Or, in short, would y'all be interested more in the Fates or Davros Mengele?

[Tabris]

Moirae, please. I... was trying to make a Servant sheet for those three ever since I heard of FGO's mecha-god take, but after seeing that particular Paris-smitten Lostbelt Hera sheet... well, I tried.

On a different note, I've been having quite a bit of trouble trying to flesh out my own Foreigner Tokohito sheet, given its unique nature (a Divine Spirit and an Outer God cohabiting the same host, barely cancelling each other's effects) and my decidedly imperfect knowledge of Lovecraftian fiction (I don't like most horror stories, and in any case I haven't read a book of Lovecraft or his successors). To anyone who knows their way around Skill and Noble Phantasm interactions: please shoot me a PM; I am very much open to collaboration for this Servant attempt, as I am loathe to abandon it just as I have my immortal Root dancer sheet, and will credit you for your efforts once I finally post the sheet.

In the meantime, I'll finally be posting a Servant sheet that wouldn't embarrass me, either later today or tomorrow. Either Saber Go-Toba or Berserker Go-Daigo, whichever one I finish first.

[Criarino]

Beast Watt: That's really awesome! I'm really glad my ideas helped to create such a great sheet. You did a great job fleshing out my initial ideas (when reading some parts I was like "woooo that's cool, it's almost like how I imagined it!") even the parts that I was having trouble with.
The way you implemented the skills was absolutelly perfect, especially the nega skill.
Of course I couldn't help but compare some details to the story I had first imagined, so here are some comparations if you are curious (these are in no way critics, just pointing some differences in our takes):

-First of all, Cailleach's appearence. IIRC, 'Cailleach' means literally "old hag" so I imagined her like this, a old woman, contrary to how you described her appearence.
-Cailleach's name. Scotish mythology is a convoluted thing, and as such there are many different names for the deities. Cailleach is only one of those names, and isn't even widelly accepted. I would put some references to her other names, like "Humans know me by Cailleach Bhéara, A' Chailleach Bheurrach, Digdi, Milucra, or simply Cailleach" or some other crazy shit like many voices saying the different names at the same time
-You choose more the "progress" part of the factory, in my mind, I went more with the "consumption" part, as in his "hunger" was so much that even his own ideals were consumed, he himself was also assimilated as part of the machine, leaving only ghosts, echoes of his old ideals. The madness was the key part of my idea. He was already kinda mad when meeting Cailleach for the second time, so much so that even the godess was afraid of him and cried in terror while she was devoured(like Aldrich from DS3), her curse simply made it more apparent afterwards.
-The NP is similar, but also different. I imagined something like his whole factory is already inside him (like a reality marble), while his body itself is no more than a lifeless husk, as the factory consumed all it had in him. The NP would manifest as "tentacles" controling the dead body as a puppet, and reaching out grabing and consuming everything like a steampunk Lovecraftian horror. I even thought of using distortion effects (like that one Armstrong sheet) and may other things to make it truly convey the feeling of madness.