Fate/Paroxysm - a Fate Quest

"I don't believe we'll require your assistance, Executor." You don't want to be beholden to Ivanov's group, and you'd rather this Zoric be... pretty much anywhere but here.


He raises his hands. "Fine, I won't push. Just thought I'd help." He moves to leave, then turns. "Good luck with the War. You two seem like good kids. Archer, Caster." He nods to each as he departs.


You turn to Caster. "Shouldn't you have been able to detect him coming in? Isn't this your territory?"


Caster frowns. "My Sanctuary is not fully complete, but yes, I should have. Hmm. I'll have to work on that. In the meantime…"


You and the group all turned your attention to the box.


You explain your plan. It will require coordination between you, Archer and Caster. You will open the wards while Archer will open the box physically, and Caster will ready a barrier to protect the inside of the box as soon as he can detect it.


"Three… two… one… go!" Archer's strength easily breaks the lock and forces open the lid just as you slide your athame through the wards, slicing them open, revealing a sheaf of papers, just as a small fireball goes off in the box. You fall backwards instinctively, and when you get up, you see Caster looking pensively at the interior of the box. You let out a frustrated breath as you look past a shimmering barrier to see that the papers inside are burnt… though you see some parts are recognizable.


"Well. That could have gone better." You muster your dignity and make sure the pages have stopped smoking before taking them out and spreading the sturdier ones on the table.


LeBlanc peers at them closely. "More Grail designs?"


You put your hand to your forehead. "But I'd wager a year of my family's income that these are the real designs for the parts Roark worked on. Which means the last few hours have been a complete waste of time!" You feel ready to murder someone.


The thought flows through your mind and settles in the pit of your stomach. Tonight is the night where the War was meant to kick off in earnest.


LeBlanc looks at you. "It's about time, isn't it?"


"Yes. The Lesser Grail is to summon the First Key tonight." The Keys were to be a means for the Grail War to end in a manner besides brutal battle and death, an attempt to "civilize" the Grail War to a degree. The first was to be summoned in a burst of mana, a test of speed and luck to be the first to claim it. "We need to be part of this."


---


The night is clear and you can see the stars from the tower of the remaining half of the Tabernacle. Archer is scanning the horizon as you keep your eyes to the heavens.


LeBlanc approaches you, a pair of silver knives in his hands. He offers one to you hilt first and you take it. "With what you told me about Berserker, I thought… Caster blessed them. They're not real weapons, just cutlery, but they might help."


You nod and keep watching. You can feel the mana building now as the seconds tick till midnight. A glow is starting to gather in the sky, visible to those with magical sensitivity alone.


As the mana gathers, you see that, again, something is different than expected. Not one, but three distinct lights appear, swirling about each other in a complex, chaotic dance. You wait with bated breath as they form a whirlwind, then, as the mana seems like it's about to flare again and you prepare to shield yourself, they flash outwards, shooting stars that blast themselves across the city. One shoots towards the north, to the hill overlooking the bay. One streaks south, towards the forest, and one goes downtown - near the Naval base.


LeBlanc and Archer look at you for direction. Where are you headed?


[ ] North, to the hill overlooking the bay, where the estates of those with means are located.


[ ] South, towards the forest where Berserker's Master makes her lair.


[ ] Downtown. It's closest to you, but also centrally located - you might run into any Master here

"To the south. We'll face Berserker if we have to. Better the devil we know.." LeBlanc nods grimly. "Archer, let's-" you let out a small cry as Archer grabs you in a fireman's carry and leaps off the spire of the Tabernacle, sliding down it before landing at a run.

"No time, warchief! Time to fight!" You hear the excitement in his voice, and remember that this was a man whose battle lust led to the death of his own people. Well, at least it seems properly directed tonight. Caster seems to have summoned a silvery warhorse - some construct,you assume, and is riding alongside you with LeBlanc behind him. He has changed his robes for red armor and a cape - cosmetic change or a Mystic Code, you're not actually sure.

Your group covers ground more quickly than you would have thought possible… it's the first time Archer's gone all out and the experience is exhilarating. Even with Reinforcement, you'd never match this. You let out a small laugh as he turns a corner and actually drifts for a second before changing the direction of his momentum.

As fast as you're going, it only takes a few minutes to cross the distance to the south, and you spend it crafting a tracking spell for the Grail Key's signature. By the time you're near the forest, you have it ready, and you tell Archer to let you go, and LeBlanc and Caster join you shortly.

At first the night seems silent, but your senses soon take in the subtler sounds out here - crickets chirping, the wind rustling and the distant sounds of the city that carry. The moon is bright and the stars are full, and the trees are not thick enough to block vision.

Your tracker is a charm bound to a simple chain, and it directs you deeper - not directly towards the lair of Berserker's master, but you have no reason to think that will make you safe. Somewhere out here, she's prowling the night, with a madman empowered by a wolf god.

Archer scouts ahead, fading into even the patchy plantlife here, leaving you feeling irrationally isolated. LeBlanc's youth and reedy frame nearby don't exactly inspire confidence, nor does the silver steak knife in his hand. Caster has ditched the horse construct, but kept the armor - perhaps he can handle himself, but against Berserker?

Archer sends to you. Two up ahead. Not Berserker, another Master and Servant. How should we handle them? Honing in on the link, you see through Archer's eyes. The Master is an older man, overweight, perhaps in his fifties, with a brown hair and a full beard. His Servant has East Asian features with a peculiar hairstyle - the front half of his head is shaved and the back bound into a ponytail. He wears a long dark blue tunic and pants and carries a three pointed spear, almost a trident. Lancer, then, and not one you know.

Do you:

[ ] Approach the new pair and with the intent to fight

[ ] Approach the new pair with the intent to talk

[ ] Try to get past them undetected.

A benefit of having an Archer with Presence Concealment is being able to pick your engagements. This Master doesn't have your tracker - he has the look of a professional mage, but presumably he hasn't been studying the Grail like you have all evening, and is relying on his magical senses to search for the Key's mana. It'll get him there eventually, but it's imprecise.

We go around them.. You say the same quietly to Caster and LeBlanc, and both do their best to lay low. Archer calls out a path for you and you move at a quiet scramble around the new pair - to the best of your knowledge, you're not detected and leave them behind.

It does occur to you that there are now two reports of polearm wielding warriors in this Grail War. 7 Servants of 7 Classes, that's a central tenet. And yet… the mana influx. What exactly had the Grail done with the extra mana it had absorbed? Moving the Greater Grail wouldn't have used all of it. From what Archer had said, some of it had been directed into the Throne of Heroes itself.. Summoning extra Servants… that might be just possible. Did you have more than 6 competitors? Not a reassuring thought, but there's little you can do about it right now.
----
Perhaps 10 minutes later, you're closing in on the Key's location, still moving at pace, making use of Reinforcement as best you can. You're no woodswoman, and neither is LeBlanc, but you've compromised by taking short hops between established trails. Your heart is pounding and you feel the tension of the night getting to you. Any moment now you expect to be attacked by a slavering wolfman commanded by a tiny shaman with the eyes of a madwoman. LeBlanc looks little better, his hand gripping his knife so tightly it's gone white.

Archer is moving ahead and spots the Key in a clearing, resting on a log. It's simple in appearance, a golden orb the size of an egg emblazoned with runic inscriptions. He's waiting on the outside of the clearing, and you and LeBlanc catch up, Caster lagging behind. LeBlanc steps forward, stating eagerly, "That's it!" just as Archer frantically throws up a hand to block him, but his foot has already breached the Bounded Field of the clearing and triggered the trap.

Spikes of leather wrapped bone erupt out from hidden places under the ground with whirring sounds like loosed arrows. Archer is in front of you blocking, but LeBlanc is a moment too slow, and goes down pierced at the shoulder and torso. Caster is at his side at a moment, his hand glowing gold, but you don't have time to check how the healing is going, because you hear a woman's laughter echoing from the darkness.

"Well, that's one down, and a lackey of the Church, too! Good luck healing him, even a Caster should have trouble with the death-curses I laid on those old bones!" Focusing, you get ready to call forth barrier magic on the one hand, and offensive magic on the other. It doesn't seem like she intends to let this be a fight between Servants. "Now, I see you've brought a hunter to this Grail War. I appreciate that. But it won't matter. I'm not going to let anyone stand in my way. I, Tomomi Saikou, will bring back the Age of Gods, just as it should be!" She steps into view, wearing the same robes she was wearing before, but you see that she has markings in blood on her face. She bears a staff with charms of bone dangling from the top. And behind her, you see the nameless man who was called the Beast of Gevaudan. "Rage, Berserker! Tear them apart!"

Berserker lets out another of those growls that seems to come from something much larger than a human, and suddenly his muscles start to swell, his limbs stretch. The muzzle bursts off of him as his jaws lengthen, and the manacles about his hands break, leaving only a collar and leather cuffs that somehow grow with him.

He's huge, dwarfing even Archer - maybe 9 feet tall and far more wolf than man- midnight black fur, fangs and claws that gleam in the darkness. He lets out a roar that echoes through the trees, and you feel a twinge of ancestral memory, of those of your kind who hid in caves and huddled around fires because of their terror of what lurked in the dark.

There's no time to ask if Archer can take this beast, no time at all, because Berserker's leaping at you right now, fangs outstretched. Archer pushes you out of the way and gets his blowgun-spear up in position, but it only scores Berserker's side. It still spoils Berserker's leap and he ends up landing in a crouch. You see the scratch already healing - truth to the werewolf legend? Some part of the werewolf legend that's been projected onto his summoning of him? Tomomi healing him? In this moment you can't say.

You back away as Archer leaps into a tree and fires several blowgun darts into Berserker. From your discussions with Archer, you know the darts are poisoned with a venom designed to affect spirits - but given how difficult Servants are to harm with such things, it's a minor advantage at best, especially against a Servant like Berserker. Berserker simply runs at the tree he's perched in and slashes the trunk with a single swipe of his claws, making Archer leap to another. This won't last - Berserker has the strength and agility to go treetop to treetop too if he wants.

You never had too much confidence in the silver knife you carried, but it's now obvious there's no way you could engage Berserker with it, blessing and legendary weakness or no. There's simply too much chance of him taking your head off before you could stab him, even if a single stab would do the job. But that's not the only option.

Do you:

[ ] Order Archer to use his Noble Phantasm. It won't kill Berserker outright, but it will change the dynamic of this fight significantly.

[ ] Tell Archer to lure Berserker away while you go after Saikou. You've got to be more of a mage than this crazy woman, and even if Caster is distracted, he's still another Servant here.

[ ] Try to get the silver knives to Archer. He can probably make far better use of them than you can.

You don't want to unleash Archer's Noble Phantasm so early - not when there may be another way. Lead Berserker away from here. I'll take care of Saikou, and then he won't be a problem. You're surprised at how calm and focused your thought-voice feels, and you detect Archer's surprise on the other side. He laughs as Berserker leaps into the tree next to him and he pulls out his machete to slash at the creature's claws with his left hand, then leaps backwards, landing another dart. Alright, Warchief. Show this shaman what you're capable of.

You look to your allies - Caster is dragging LeBlanc back the way you came, out of the field of fire. If he could be freed to fight, he could likely crush Saikou, but it looks like he's still dealing with whatever curse is on those bone spears.

You contemplate hiding, trying to buy time for Caster to finish, but you discard the thought. You don't know how long it will take. Besides, the darkness seems to be Saikou's place, not yours.

You stride forward into the golden light of the Key in the clearing, athame held in your left hand, the red crystal of your Amplifier Code glowing. "The Age of Gods is over. The world belongs to humans and mages now, and I'm not letting you give it back."

She smiles widely. "You must be Naja Mishra, yes? Those of my followers who know of the Association said you were someone to watch. Let's test that." She levels the staff at you, speaking an incantation in what you think is Japanese. Swirls of dark green mana form around it in the shape of serpents that fire forward at you - some kind of curse.

With your right hand you form a barrier and with your left strike with the athame, infusing it with mana as your slash at those serpents you can't block as you move to the right, keeping her in your view. Once her spell ends you raise your right hand, your family's Crest channeling "Pyros!" as you fire a stream of white-hot fire at her like a blowtorch.

She speaks again, chanting quickly, and a barrier of spinning air attempts to disperse the blast, but some makes it through and she reels back with a burnt shoulder. Your assessment might be right - you have an edge in Magecraft. Your family's spells have been developed in the cutthroat competition of the Watchtower, while you guess she didn't have the benefit of such a formal education.

She calls up a swarm of other curses, bedeviling things like imps that fly and sting you, but while they dart in and bite at you, but you focus through the pain as blood runs down your skin. You throw the athame at her, and when she tries to shield again, this time raising earth, she hisses with frustration when the mana imbued into the knife lets you move it to slice through the shield's enchantment.

You try not to think about Archer as you hear the faint sounds of battle elsewhere in the forest. As this struggle with Saikou eats into your mana you can only be grateful for his Independent Action. Berserker must be a strain on Saikou's resources, another help to you here. Archer's blocking his link with you, trying not to distract you, but you can still feel him take a hit and you firm your resolve.

Saikou's blocking with mana infused shields. For a magus trained by nature-spirits, that's probably an instinctive way of fighting. She no doubt has ways to handle curses as well, but what about an attack she can't block with a shield? There's something you've been working on, not traditional at all, but you shout out the spell, as quickly as you can. Even as she shouts another command and the swarming curses double in size and rip at your flesh again with renewed vigor, blood running down your clothes, you chant:

"The Sun gives life,
Our hearts beat with borrowed flame,
Blessed be the salamander,
Thief of fire,
Let night and winter steal away breath."

Mana leaves your hands in a wind and a circle forms around Saikou, and you feel the spell latch into effect as the heat in the air around her and within her body is forcefully pulled away. She calls up another shield, but there's nothing to block - the spell is pulling away from her, not attacking her directly. You see her skin whiten and start to go blue, and realize with a sick pain that you're going to kill someone. You could offer surrender, but you know she won't accept, and stopping channeling the spell will only give her time to recover, maybe call up something truly terrible. Archer, LeBlanc and Caster are all counting on you.

Just as you see her start to shudder and jerk in what you hope are the final throes of death, a warm, masculine voice says, not unkindly, "I'm afraid I can't let you kill her." You feel something strike you several times in the back and you go numb from torso down, falling down onto your hands, your concentration on the spell breaking as you land on your side, giving you a view of the interloper.

The mystery Master from before, choosing the worst possible moment to arrive, his Lancer in tow. He stands over you while Lancer goes to check on Saikou while you watch helplessly. The Servant looks up and shakes his head. "Another few moments and she'd be dead. She still might. She needs healing."

You look up at the Master and try to appeal to him. "She.. doesn't deserve it. She's insane."

He shakes his head. "She probably doesn't. But it's part of who Lancer is."

"Stop him. Use a Command Seal." You're desperate, there's no reason for him to listen, but you try.

"I'm not ready to kill a helpless woman tonight by leaving her to die. I hope the War doesn't come to that." He goes to the Key and takes it off the log.

Before he goes, you have time to make one more plea to him.

[ ] "My Servant… he's fighting for his life against Berserker out there. Help him. I'll owe you."

[ ] "My friend… another Master. He's nearby. She hurt him, badly. Caster was trying to heal him… maybe Lancer can help."