Confringentur 2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night sequel
- Thread starter SVS
- Start date
- Crossover
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Besieged On Two Fronts
-[X] While you're waiting on Archer to corroborate Rider's side of their misadventures earlier today, discuss the backlash your offensive on the Pleiades Saints will possibly bring
--[X] The Saints won't want to stay on the offensive for long - having managed to trick the Quintet yesterday or no - so you find it likely that they'll front an offensive on Mitakihara soon, possibly even tonight; you're hoping that Archer could look out for things with his Clairvoyance skill for the night if he's willing
---[X] Maybe Caster could deploy some Gate of Babylon-deployed or stave-made familiars across the city's perimeter bordering Asunaro to help supplement Archer's lookout, maybe one or two watching over the remains of the church as well just in case
-[X] Get the standard update on the base building
-[X] (Archer) Show up to the team meeting fashionably late
--[X] With Rider, inform everyone on what went down at the Witch's church earlier in the afternoon, as well as what you've learned from the whole debacle (like how she seems to be able to keep herself and areas of her influence hidden until either someone is specifically looking for her or if she deliberately reveals herself)
---[X] Consult with Lancer or Assassin on just what the script of Runes you saw inscribed on that shard of metal could mean (you'll sketch them out if you have to), whether it be in a closed circuit of its own of if it was part of a greater array; it was written in Elder Futhark, so there's that (include generally the arrays containing the object, just in case either of them or Caster could discern the meaning behind them in relation to the object still in the Witch's basement)
---[X] Given the information you were able to glean from the Witch's Church (the dates, location, and the map of the tiny village the church came from) and through the power of Google, you think that this Witch might be Sidonia von Borcke; is there anything Caster is able to divine about her now that they likely know her identity?
---[X] Lay out what they know of the Witch's currently known abilities for future reference, such as the far more intricate Grief clones she could directly puppet using a Warped Seed as a base, how she's molding Grief siphoned from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed into said Warped Seeds and probably other experiments, how she can make more varied familiars instead of what they're used to now, etc.
Bit worried at how lackadaisical she was over having her apparent workshop being invaded and subsequently destroyed; perhaps she's predicted this outcome and accounted for it in her plans whatever they may be, maybe she was counting on them discovering and attacking her workshop like this at some point due to the whole "puppeting Grief familiar from afar" setup, or maybe she's already accomplished all that she's needed from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed by this point (she's been siphoning off Grief for a long time by now after all, she could have plenty of the stuff stored offsite for all we know).
-[X] While you're waiting on Archer to corroborate Rider's side of their misadventures earlier today, discuss the backlash your offensive on the Pleiades Saints will possibly bring
--[X] The Saints won't want to stay on the offensive for long - having managed to trick the Quintet yesterday or no - so you find it likely that they'll front an offensive on Mitakihara soon, possibly even tonight; you're hoping that Archer could look out for things with his Clairvoyance skill for the night if he's willing
---[X] Maybe Caster could deploy some Gate of Babylon-deployed or stave-made familiars across the city's perimeter bordering Asunaro to help supplement Archer's lookout, maybe one or two watching over the remains of the church as well just in case
-[X] Get the standard update on the base building
-[X] (Archer) Show up to the team meeting fashionably late
--[X] With Rider, inform everyone on what went down at the Witch's church earlier in the afternoon, as well as what you've learned from the whole debacle (like how she seems to be able to keep herself and areas of her influence hidden until either someone is specifically looking for her or if she deliberately reveals herself)
---[X] Consult with Lancer or Assassin on just what the script of Runes you saw inscribed on that shard of metal could mean (you'll sketch them out if you have to), whether it be in a closed circuit of its own of if it was part of a greater array; it was written in Elder Futhark, so there's that (include generally the arrays containing the object, just in case either of them or Caster could discern the meaning behind them in relation to the object still in the Witch's basement)
---[X] Given the information you were able to glean from the Witch's Church (the dates, location, and the map of the tiny village the church came from) and through the power of Google, you think that this Witch might be Sidonia von Borcke; is there anything Caster is able to divine about her now that they likely know her identity?
---[X] Lay out what they know of the Witch's currently known abilities for future reference, such as the far more intricate Grief clones she could directly puppet using a Warped Seed as a base, how she's molding Grief siphoned from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed into said Warped Seeds and probably other experiments, how she can make more varied familiars instead of what they're used to now, etc.
The Witch's anti-precog/pericog measures seem to be AoE over a good portion of the city rather than Fake Assassin's small bubble, so I'm pretty sure this won't work again. What we can do is post-cog her through Caster to hopefully learn more about her motivations and how she thinks/acts in order to try and predict what she'll do next.
Bit worried at how lackadaisical she was over having her apparent workshop being invaded and subsequently destroyed; perhaps she's predicted this outcome and accounted for it in her plans whatever they may be, maybe she was counting on them discovering and attacking her workshop like this at some point due to the whole "puppeting Grief familiar from afar" setup, or maybe she's already accomplished all that she's needed from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed by this point (she's been siphoning off Grief for a long time by now after all, she could have plenty of the stuff stored offsite for all we know).
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- Location
- Around here
In case you've forgotten how I'm handling runes, Primordial Runes are based on the Elder Futhark, while modern runes are based on the Younger Futhark. The only difference between the two is that the Elder Futhark has more characters than the Younger (and, by Fate rules, is that much more powerful by merit of being that much older). We, entirely by ourselves and without help from Lancer or Assassin, can easily determine what set of runes we're dealing with simply by comparing the runes we saw to the Elder and Younger Futhark charts, and seeing whether any of the excluded characters appear or not. If any excluded characters appear, then we automatically know we're dealing with the Real Deal, and if no excluded characters appear then there's no way even Lancer would know, without knowing how old the metal we found was or what the rest of the inscription looked like.
I should clarify, there's no problem with asking them if they have any ideas as to what the runes could be part of, but we don't need to ask them which runes they are. We've got the tools to figure that out on our own.
You really do not need to be using Caster for this. I've given us more than enough clues to figure out the identity of the witch, and in fact two people have already done so. If you would really prefer not to have that reveal spoiled for yourself, then that's fine, but in that case don't expect to have me have Caster outright give you the answer.
Even more so than the second part of the original story, this is a mystery thriller, with plenty of mysteries for us to solve. I want to see that you guys are able to figure this stuff out on your own without me outright giving away the answer. I'll give you the clues, but you have to be the ones to put the pieces together for yourselves. If you're right I'll tell you, and if you're wrong... Well, who knows what could happen if you proceed on incorrect assumptions?
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[X] Plan Besieged On Two Fronts
- Location
- United States
Edited the vote.
Didn't want to metagame as I doubt Archer would personally know anything about her or that area of the world, though granted Archer does knows how to use Google. Edited the vote to imply him Googling it before arriving fashionably late.
- Location
- Around here
I know it's a fine line to walk between "we know information our player character couldn't know" and "we know something, so our player character should also know that" but I know in this case the information is all lain out for us, so us having Archer know this stuff after seeing the information I've given us isn't the same as us having Archer know who Assassin or Caster of Blue are despite never having met them. Plus, I know we've used Google in the past.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan Besieged On Two Fronts
Day 6 Chapter 16
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Besieged On Two Fronts
When Archer said he would probably be late coming to tonight's team meeting, your thoughts didn't immediately turn to dinner. Dinner, sure, there's no doubt your parents had a wonderful dinner shortly after you saw Archer leaving the mall. You just know your mother well enough by now to guess what dessert was. Your eyes dart to the headphones nestled within the plastic bag you're holding; you sure are glad you decided to pick these up when you did.
You knock on the door to Tomoe-san's apartment. "It's me," you say. Tomoe-san opens the door for you, and you bow before taking your shoes off. "I apologise in advance, but Archer is going to be later than usual."
"Not a problem at all, Akemi-san," Tomoe-san says. "Please, come in."
Kyouko is waiting at the table when you arrive, gorging herself on pastries. Sayaka must envy her, you think as you watch her devour Tomoe-san's snacks. If she tried to eat like Kyouko does, she'd get fat in no time, regardless of how much exercise she gets. Kyouko nods to you as you sit down at the table, and you respond in kind, before asking Tomoe-san "How did you do in your school's sports festival?"
"Not terribly," Tomoe-san replies. "I believe I could have done better, but my classmates were fine taking second place."
"Only second?" Kyouko asks. "How the hell d'ya manage that in a field full of muggles?"
"The class which took first had a disproportionate number of boys who are in the school's various athletic clubs. I did as best as I could, but I'm only one person. I can't control for the biology of my classmates."
Each subsequent knock on the door brings with it more faces that aren't Archer; Hitomi, Nurse Ortensia, Oriko and Kirika; and as each new entrant takes their place at the table, you say to them in turn "I apologise in advance. Archer is going to be later than usual."
Eventually, it reaches a point where Kyouko, eyes rolling, says "Then forget about Redman, Spooky. We don't need him ta tell us what shit we're in; Rider was there too, remember? Or did smooching Pinkie melt all yer remaining brain cells?"
Tomoe-san meets Kyouko's jab with a disapproving look; the rest of the team attempts to move on; only Kirika holds her interest on Kyouko's words. "Oh? What's this?" she asks, leaning in until she's right in your face. "Is my Little Sis finally seeing some action from her girlfriend?" With a "Come on, Oriko, I'm just curious!" Oriko has to reel Kirika in - quite forcefully so - but that doesn't stop her from prying. "So, you want to tell me how far you two have gotten, then? How far are you two thinking of going in the future? How about-?"
"We kissed," you say, matter-of-factly. "Everything else beyond that is between Madoka and myself."
"If we're going to sit around talking about our loves lives, I'm afraid I've got you all beat." Nurse Ortensia says that so obviously; of course she has you all beat. She's an adult. She's been an adult for longer than Oriko and Kirika have been dating, so of course she has more experience than everyone else. Actually, do you know how old Nurse Ortensia really is? You know she's Oriko's older cousin, but do you actually know by how much older she is? "So we can either get back to business, or I can regale you all about the time I let the avatar of All The World's Evils have his way with me." Hitomi coughs into her hand, her cheeks flushed and her eyes looking anywhere but in Nurse Ortensia's direction. But Nurse Ortensia's boast does its job, creating enough awkwardness that everyone else settles down.
Since Kyouko is the most eager to get things moving, you allow her to have Rider speak first. He gives his account of what happened that afternoon with Archer and Tohsaka-san; the ancient church that left Archer and Tohsaka-san feeling spooked, the underground workshop lined with ancient tomes and equipment for distilling Grief, and the chamber set up to siphon Grief from the Seed of Walpurgisnacht. He speaks of the witch - likely a familiar herself, based on his description - and the encounter with her and her familiars.
"I had been wondering what we were dealing with regarding those fake witches," Oriko says as Rider concludes his account. "I thought there might be any number of reasons as to why fake witches were all originating from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, but I don't think I would have guessed that..." As Oriko muses, the words "A witch..." escape her lips. "What does that mean for us?"
"It means you're in for a rough time," Nurse Ortensia says. "That kind of witch - the real kind, not the wraiths and familiars you girls have been dealing with - are dangerous. You'd only want to pick a fight with one if you had an irreconcilable desire to meet a painful end."
"It's not just a matter of these fake witches appearing as a consequence of something we've done anymore. We're facing enemies on multiple fronts, then," you say. "The Pleiades Saints from Asunaro, and now this witch right in our own backyard."
"Well, what if we were to tell the Pleiades Saints about what we've found?" Tomoe-san suggests. "Perhaps we could enlist their aid in defeating this witch, since they're so concerned about the damage the fake witches have done to Asunaro."
"Fat chance," Kyouko says. "Even if we ain't the ones responsible, there ain't a chance they'd work with us. At least, not as long as we're working with Big White and Crazy; and I know I ain't working with them as long as that pink bitch is on their side. Getting real fucking sick of always seeing her ugly mug."
"And I don't want to work with that monocle-wearing bitch either," Kirika adds. "She hurt Oriko."
"Whether we want to work with them or not, we need to be willing to address how our actions last night are going to be treated by them," you say. "I doubt the Saints will want to remain on the offensive forever, so we should be prepared for another major offensive move from them soon." It's doubtful, but you won't exclude the possibility that that offensive will be tonight. "It would be a good idea for us to set up a watch - possibly a role Archer could fill once he arrives - and maybe asking Caster for some additional defenses wouldn't be a bad idea either." Speaking of Caster.. You turn to Tomoe-san, Oriko and Nurse Ortensia, asking the three of them "How are our servants coming along with base construction?"
"Assassin apparently threw a temper tantrum after Archer told her her sister had been summoned as a servant," Nurse Ortensia says.
Oriko, unfortunately, has the task of corroborating Nurse Ortensia's story. "Lancer pulled her off before she could do any real damage," she says."But it would probably be a good idea for them to spend a little extra time reinforcing the foundations, just in case she disrupted something."
"Caster also had some words of wisdom for Archer when they spoke," Tomoe-san adds. "I hope he will have taken Caster's words into account when he went down into the witch's workshop."
"Sorry I'm late." Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "I got held up in traffic. Boy, it is rough out there, let me tell you." You give Archer a look, and Kirika opens her mouth, presumably to make some comment about what he was really doing that kept him busy, but she stops. Whether it's because he knows where she works now and could easily reveal her secret to Oriko or anyone else, or because she sees the look Nurse Ortensia is giving her and doesn't want to tempt Fate by speaking up, you won't try to guess. "Anyway, hopefully Rider's already given you girls an account of what happened earlier this afternoon, because I've got a few things I need to add to that."
"Yeah, I already gave them the gist of things," Rider says. "You figure something else out?"
"I did," Archer says. "Inside the workshop there was a map framed on one of the walls of a little town called Marien Flus. I did a search of the name, and that brought me to the small Pomeranian village of Marienfließ, founded in 1228, the same year that my structural analysis was able to pick up any history for the church."
Kyouko raises her hand, asking "So, like, ain't a Pomeranian a kind of dog?"
"Yes," Archer says, to much snickering from Kyouko and Kirika, until he adds "But before that, Pomerania was the name for an historic region south of the Baltic Sea, located in what is now Germany and Poland. Marienfließ, currently known by the name Marianowo, falls on the Polish side of the border, which is important to note because my structural analysis was identifying the church as being from a Polish village."
"So, where's this all leading?" Kyouko asks. "So we know the witch is Polish; don't that mean she's real stupid? Ain't that how the jokes always go?"
"It's leading to, I have a pretty good idea of the witch's actual identity," Archer says. "My structural analysis for the church stopped reading any history in 1620, and in 1620 a woman who was living in the church at that time was accused of, tried, and executed for witchcraft. Her name was Sidonia von Borchk, and given the evidence I have reason to believe that she is our witch."
This time, it is Tomoe-san who raises her hand to ask a question. "Assuming you're correct, I have two questions," she says. "First, assuming your guess is accurate, wouldn't that make this witch at least four hundred years old? How is that possible?"
"Witches, once they reach adulthood, are practically immortal, and they don't age either," Archer says. "Can I assume your second question has to do with how she's still alive, despite allegedly having been executed?" Tomoe-san nods. "There are three possibilities that stand out to me. The first is that Sidonia never actually died. This is the least likely, since her trial was highly documented and her execution was public. It wouldn't be impossible for her to fake her own death, but unless the entire court and her executioner were in on it, it would be incredibly difficult under the circumstances. The second possibility is that she came back to life, somehow. I don't know the full extent of her abilities as a witch, so it's not impossible that she's versed in a brand of magecraft that would allow her to call her soul back to her body after her death but before her soul returned to the World."
Archer grows quiet as everyone waits for him to give his third possibility. In your heart you're already dreading it. "The third possibility is that she's a servant. I don't know who would have summoned her or who is now pulling her strings, but it's possible that we're dealing with a rogue Caster servant just as much as it's possible for her to still be alive."
"Is it possible that she's the Saints' Caster?" Oriko asks. "I don't believe we've met or heard them talk about their Caster servant yet; is it possible?"
"It's possible, but she would have to have gone rogue quite some time ago if she were their Caster," you say. "Especially since she's the one responsible for the fake witch infestation the Saints have blamed us for. I doubt they'd be so easily fooled by the Incubator if the servant responsible were one of their own."
"Well, regardless of how she's here now, what do we know about her?" Tomoe-san asks. "She can make and control familiars made from Grief, but aside from that we're rather quite in the dark about her abilities, aren't we?"
"She's getting better at that, actually," Archer says. "That clone she made was really intricate, and her control over it was incredible. She's also able to make smaller familiars, and not just the massive ones we've been fighting. I don't know if that's also a sign of her improvement, or if she's just been experimenting with more varied familiars, but it's something." Archer turns to Oriko and Nurse Ortensia, adding for them "She was also working on something else that I saw. It was a shard of metal surrounded by magic arrays on all sides. It had some of the Old Runes inscribed on it, but I was only able to make out four of them, since the rest were illegible."
Borrowing a pen and a piece of paper, Archer sketches out the metal shard he found, a trapezoidal shape inscribed with the runes Dagaz, Ansuz, Isa, and Nauthiz. Archer passes the scrap of paper over to Oriko and Nurse Ortensia. "Could you make sure Lancer and Assassin see this? I'd like to know if they have any clue what this could be part of. If it helps, it was black on one side, and I think it was supposed to be silver on the other, but the metal was too tarnished to really tell for sure."
Oriko nods, reaching for the scrap of paper as she says "Yes, we'll make sure Lancer and Assassin see this."
[ ] Is there anything else you want to discuss? (write-in)
Regarding the Pleiades Saints, do you
[ ] Go on the offensive; go out actively looking for a fight
[ ] Go on the defensive; shore up and wait for them to come
[ ] Wat do?
When Archer said he would probably be late coming to tonight's team meeting, your thoughts didn't immediately turn to dinner. Dinner, sure, there's no doubt your parents had a wonderful dinner shortly after you saw Archer leaving the mall. You just know your mother well enough by now to guess what dessert was. Your eyes dart to the headphones nestled within the plastic bag you're holding; you sure are glad you decided to pick these up when you did.
You knock on the door to Tomoe-san's apartment. "It's me," you say. Tomoe-san opens the door for you, and you bow before taking your shoes off. "I apologise in advance, but Archer is going to be later than usual."
"Not a problem at all, Akemi-san," Tomoe-san says. "Please, come in."
Kyouko is waiting at the table when you arrive, gorging herself on pastries. Sayaka must envy her, you think as you watch her devour Tomoe-san's snacks. If she tried to eat like Kyouko does, she'd get fat in no time, regardless of how much exercise she gets. Kyouko nods to you as you sit down at the table, and you respond in kind, before asking Tomoe-san "How did you do in your school's sports festival?"
"Not terribly," Tomoe-san replies. "I believe I could have done better, but my classmates were fine taking second place."
"Only second?" Kyouko asks. "How the hell d'ya manage that in a field full of muggles?"
"The class which took first had a disproportionate number of boys who are in the school's various athletic clubs. I did as best as I could, but I'm only one person. I can't control for the biology of my classmates."
Each subsequent knock on the door brings with it more faces that aren't Archer; Hitomi, Nurse Ortensia, Oriko and Kirika; and as each new entrant takes their place at the table, you say to them in turn "I apologise in advance. Archer is going to be later than usual."
Eventually, it reaches a point where Kyouko, eyes rolling, says "Then forget about Redman, Spooky. We don't need him ta tell us what shit we're in; Rider was there too, remember? Or did smooching Pinkie melt all yer remaining brain cells?"
Tomoe-san meets Kyouko's jab with a disapproving look; the rest of the team attempts to move on; only Kirika holds her interest on Kyouko's words. "Oh? What's this?" she asks, leaning in until she's right in your face. "Is my Little Sis finally seeing some action from her girlfriend?" With a "Come on, Oriko, I'm just curious!" Oriko has to reel Kirika in - quite forcefully so - but that doesn't stop her from prying. "So, you want to tell me how far you two have gotten, then? How far are you two thinking of going in the future? How about-?"
"We kissed," you say, matter-of-factly. "Everything else beyond that is between Madoka and myself."
"If we're going to sit around talking about our loves lives, I'm afraid I've got you all beat." Nurse Ortensia says that so obviously; of course she has you all beat. She's an adult. She's been an adult for longer than Oriko and Kirika have been dating, so of course she has more experience than everyone else. Actually, do you know how old Nurse Ortensia really is? You know she's Oriko's older cousin, but do you actually know by how much older she is? "So we can either get back to business, or I can regale you all about the time I let the avatar of All The World's Evils have his way with me." Hitomi coughs into her hand, her cheeks flushed and her eyes looking anywhere but in Nurse Ortensia's direction. But Nurse Ortensia's boast does its job, creating enough awkwardness that everyone else settles down.
Since Kyouko is the most eager to get things moving, you allow her to have Rider speak first. He gives his account of what happened that afternoon with Archer and Tohsaka-san; the ancient church that left Archer and Tohsaka-san feeling spooked, the underground workshop lined with ancient tomes and equipment for distilling Grief, and the chamber set up to siphon Grief from the Seed of Walpurgisnacht. He speaks of the witch - likely a familiar herself, based on his description - and the encounter with her and her familiars.
"I had been wondering what we were dealing with regarding those fake witches," Oriko says as Rider concludes his account. "I thought there might be any number of reasons as to why fake witches were all originating from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, but I don't think I would have guessed that..." As Oriko muses, the words "A witch..." escape her lips. "What does that mean for us?"
"It means you're in for a rough time," Nurse Ortensia says. "That kind of witch - the real kind, not the wraiths and familiars you girls have been dealing with - are dangerous. You'd only want to pick a fight with one if you had an irreconcilable desire to meet a painful end."
"It's not just a matter of these fake witches appearing as a consequence of something we've done anymore. We're facing enemies on multiple fronts, then," you say. "The Pleiades Saints from Asunaro, and now this witch right in our own backyard."
"Well, what if we were to tell the Pleiades Saints about what we've found?" Tomoe-san suggests. "Perhaps we could enlist their aid in defeating this witch, since they're so concerned about the damage the fake witches have done to Asunaro."
"Fat chance," Kyouko says. "Even if we ain't the ones responsible, there ain't a chance they'd work with us. At least, not as long as we're working with Big White and Crazy; and I know I ain't working with them as long as that pink bitch is on their side. Getting real fucking sick of always seeing her ugly mug."
"And I don't want to work with that monocle-wearing bitch either," Kirika adds. "She hurt Oriko."
"Whether we want to work with them or not, we need to be willing to address how our actions last night are going to be treated by them," you say. "I doubt the Saints will want to remain on the offensive forever, so we should be prepared for another major offensive move from them soon." It's doubtful, but you won't exclude the possibility that that offensive will be tonight. "It would be a good idea for us to set up a watch - possibly a role Archer could fill once he arrives - and maybe asking Caster for some additional defenses wouldn't be a bad idea either." Speaking of Caster.. You turn to Tomoe-san, Oriko and Nurse Ortensia, asking the three of them "How are our servants coming along with base construction?"
"Assassin apparently threw a temper tantrum after Archer told her her sister had been summoned as a servant," Nurse Ortensia says.
Oriko, unfortunately, has the task of corroborating Nurse Ortensia's story. "Lancer pulled her off before she could do any real damage," she says."But it would probably be a good idea for them to spend a little extra time reinforcing the foundations, just in case she disrupted something."
"Caster also had some words of wisdom for Archer when they spoke," Tomoe-san adds. "I hope he will have taken Caster's words into account when he went down into the witch's workshop."
"Sorry I'm late." Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. "I got held up in traffic. Boy, it is rough out there, let me tell you." You give Archer a look, and Kirika opens her mouth, presumably to make some comment about what he was really doing that kept him busy, but she stops. Whether it's because he knows where she works now and could easily reveal her secret to Oriko or anyone else, or because she sees the look Nurse Ortensia is giving her and doesn't want to tempt Fate by speaking up, you won't try to guess. "Anyway, hopefully Rider's already given you girls an account of what happened earlier this afternoon, because I've got a few things I need to add to that."
"Yeah, I already gave them the gist of things," Rider says. "You figure something else out?"
"I did," Archer says. "Inside the workshop there was a map framed on one of the walls of a little town called Marien Flus. I did a search of the name, and that brought me to the small Pomeranian village of Marienfließ, founded in 1228, the same year that my structural analysis was able to pick up any history for the church."
Kyouko raises her hand, asking "So, like, ain't a Pomeranian a kind of dog?"
"Yes," Archer says, to much snickering from Kyouko and Kirika, until he adds "But before that, Pomerania was the name for an historic region south of the Baltic Sea, located in what is now Germany and Poland. Marienfließ, currently known by the name Marianowo, falls on the Polish side of the border, which is important to note because my structural analysis was identifying the church as being from a Polish village."
"So, where's this all leading?" Kyouko asks. "So we know the witch is Polish; don't that mean she's real stupid? Ain't that how the jokes always go?"
"It's leading to, I have a pretty good idea of the witch's actual identity," Archer says. "My structural analysis for the church stopped reading any history in 1620, and in 1620 a woman who was living in the church at that time was accused of, tried, and executed for witchcraft. Her name was Sidonia von Borchk, and given the evidence I have reason to believe that she is our witch."
This time, it is Tomoe-san who raises her hand to ask a question. "Assuming you're correct, I have two questions," she says. "First, assuming your guess is accurate, wouldn't that make this witch at least four hundred years old? How is that possible?"
"Witches, once they reach adulthood, are practically immortal, and they don't age either," Archer says. "Can I assume your second question has to do with how she's still alive, despite allegedly having been executed?" Tomoe-san nods. "There are three possibilities that stand out to me. The first is that Sidonia never actually died. This is the least likely, since her trial was highly documented and her execution was public. It wouldn't be impossible for her to fake her own death, but unless the entire court and her executioner were in on it, it would be incredibly difficult under the circumstances. The second possibility is that she came back to life, somehow. I don't know the full extent of her abilities as a witch, so it's not impossible that she's versed in a brand of magecraft that would allow her to call her soul back to her body after her death but before her soul returned to the World."
Archer grows quiet as everyone waits for him to give his third possibility. In your heart you're already dreading it. "The third possibility is that she's a servant. I don't know who would have summoned her or who is now pulling her strings, but it's possible that we're dealing with a rogue Caster servant just as much as it's possible for her to still be alive."
"Is it possible that she's the Saints' Caster?" Oriko asks. "I don't believe we've met or heard them talk about their Caster servant yet; is it possible?"
"It's possible, but she would have to have gone rogue quite some time ago if she were their Caster," you say. "Especially since she's the one responsible for the fake witch infestation the Saints have blamed us for. I doubt they'd be so easily fooled by the Incubator if the servant responsible were one of their own."
"Well, regardless of how she's here now, what do we know about her?" Tomoe-san asks. "She can make and control familiars made from Grief, but aside from that we're rather quite in the dark about her abilities, aren't we?"
"She's getting better at that, actually," Archer says. "That clone she made was really intricate, and her control over it was incredible. She's also able to make smaller familiars, and not just the massive ones we've been fighting. I don't know if that's also a sign of her improvement, or if she's just been experimenting with more varied familiars, but it's something." Archer turns to Oriko and Nurse Ortensia, adding for them "She was also working on something else that I saw. It was a shard of metal surrounded by magic arrays on all sides. It had some of the Old Runes inscribed on it, but I was only able to make out four of them, since the rest were illegible."
Borrowing a pen and a piece of paper, Archer sketches out the metal shard he found, a trapezoidal shape inscribed with the runes Dagaz, Ansuz, Isa, and Nauthiz. Archer passes the scrap of paper over to Oriko and Nurse Ortensia. "Could you make sure Lancer and Assassin see this? I'd like to know if they have any clue what this could be part of. If it helps, it was black on one side, and I think it was supposed to be silver on the other, but the metal was too tarnished to really tell for sure."
Oriko nods, reaching for the scrap of paper as she says "Yes, we'll make sure Lancer and Assassin see this."
[ ] Is there anything else you want to discuss? (write-in)
Regarding the Pleiades Saints, do you
[ ] Go on the offensive; go out actively looking for a fight
[ ] Go on the defensive; shore up and wait for them to come
[ ] Wat do?
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- Location
- Around here
There are multiple spellings of Sidonia's last name, so I've chosen to spell her name as Borchk, which is how the name is spelled on her family crest. Since I saw some people speculating that she might be a rogue servant, I've included that as one of Archer's possibilities for how she's still alive despite allegedly being executed in 1620. Whether that's the correct possibility or not is, obviously, still up in the air.
[x] Important questions
-[x] Ask the nun if she was serious when she said she had fucked Satan.
--[x] Is she still seeing him regularly?
---[x] If so, that means Mami is still the only non-Servant in your group that's single.
-[x] How hard would it be to cleanse Wally's Grief Seed of Grief?
--[x] We know there's already a workshop down there, even if Archer collapsed the only way we knew how to get down there, so getting to it isn't as big an issue as it was before.
-[x] Split up into two groups.
--[x] One patrols the Asunaro boarder.
--[x] The other group, having Nurse Ortensia and Hitomi and a volunteer will look around Mikitahara for the witch or any of her familiars.
Ortensia and Hitomi have kind of been useless when fighting the Saints so far. Actually the've been a hindrance since we've always had a Servant stay back to babysit them. Besides, the nun is more specced for fighting the Grief Monsters.
-[x] Ask the nun if she was serious when she said she had fucked Satan.
--[x] Is she still seeing him regularly?
---[x] If so, that means Mami is still the only non-Servant in your group that's single.
-[x] How hard would it be to cleanse Wally's Grief Seed of Grief?
--[x] We know there's already a workshop down there, even if Archer collapsed the only way we knew how to get down there, so getting to it isn't as big an issue as it was before.
-[x] Split up into two groups.
--[x] One patrols the Asunaro boarder.
--[x] The other group, having Nurse Ortensia and Hitomi and a volunteer will look around Mikitahara for the witch or any of her familiars.
Ortensia and Hitomi have kind of been useless when fighting the Saints so far. Actually the've been a hindrance since we've always had a Servant stay back to babysit them. Besides, the nun is more specced for fighting the Grief Monsters.
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Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
Grammar nitpicks.
Asunaro?
A historic region?
And given the evidence?
But aside from that?
You can replace these words with a full stop instead.
- Location
- Around here
Your other points are correct, though I would have greatly preferring if you pointed them out to me in private and not in public, but on this one I meant what I typed. The use of "An" preceding a word beginning with the letter H is correct in British English.
PlaguePaladin
The Bird Lady
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] NMS
[X] Enetious
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[X] Plan Speculation & Splitting The Party
-[X] Is there anything else you want to discuss?
--[X] Yes, ask Archer how likely it is for Sidonia to be a Servant despite having what seems to be an extremely rare object from the Age of Gods what with the Primordial Runes on it; it seems more likely to you that either she is still alive and found it in her many centuries of life, either that or she is a Servant and another party gave it to her for some reason
---[X] If she was summoned and given that object to study (possibly in order to counter the Quintet's own use of Primordial Runes), is it possible that the Incubator might be the one responsible? It is capitalizing on the Witch making these Grief-based familiars of hers, and there's very little reason why the Witch would release her familiars in only Asunaro in addition to Mitakihara in spite of there being more neighboring cities than that (and closer ones too like Kazamino). The Incubator would also have the means of finding such a rare magical artifact considering it's expansive hivemind network.
--[X] So... Nurse Ortensia did it with Satan? Is she still seeing him, or have they parted ways since then?
-[X] Go on the defensive for now; shore up and wait for them to come
--[X] Split up into two groups, one will patrol the Mitakuhara-Asunaro border and the other will search for signs of the Witch within Mitakihara proper
---[X] The Mitakihara search team will be comprised of Nurse Ortensia, Hitomi, and a volunteer; they shouldn't engage the Witch unless it's necessary
Primordial Runes are super rare, like pretty much only Touko having found a few copies of the Runes and that's it, rare. The fact that the Witch has an object with Primordial Runes inscribed on it is telling, especially since she herself wasn't from the Age of Gods whatsoever. I suspect that this is just an item she came across in her many years of life, though it is possible that someone else for whatever reason gave it to her after she was summoned as a Servant.
It's a bit rude to keep on rubbing the fact that she's not seeing anybody in Mami's face over and over, so omitted that. Also we know very well just how much Grief would be in Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, and that is to say way too much. It could take many years to siphon off that much Grief, and where would they put it? The Sword of Paracelsus could only burn so much at a time, and that takes magical energy from Homura's Soul Gem so they can't automate the process (even if they can cleanse her Soul Gem for free, but I doubt she'd want to stick around Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed 24/7). They are not draining Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed of Grief anytime during this quest with their current methods, I could tell you that. Caster won't even GoB it due to hating corrupted stuff (at least in his Archer version, which probably carries over), so that's a no go as well.
-[X] Is there anything else you want to discuss?
--[X] Yes, ask Archer how likely it is for Sidonia to be a Servant despite having what seems to be an extremely rare object from the Age of Gods what with the Primordial Runes on it; it seems more likely to you that either she is still alive and found it in her many centuries of life, either that or she is a Servant and another party gave it to her for some reason
---[X] If she was summoned and given that object to study (possibly in order to counter the Quintet's own use of Primordial Runes), is it possible that the Incubator might be the one responsible? It is capitalizing on the Witch making these Grief-based familiars of hers, and there's very little reason why the Witch would release her familiars in only Asunaro in addition to Mitakihara in spite of there being more neighboring cities than that (and closer ones too like Kazamino). The Incubator would also have the means of finding such a rare magical artifact considering it's expansive hivemind network.
--[X] So... Nurse Ortensia did it with Satan? Is she still seeing him, or have they parted ways since then?
-[X] Go on the defensive for now; shore up and wait for them to come
--[X] Split up into two groups, one will patrol the Mitakuhara-Asunaro border and the other will search for signs of the Witch within Mitakihara proper
---[X] The Mitakihara search team will be comprised of Nurse Ortensia, Hitomi, and a volunteer; they shouldn't engage the Witch unless it's necessary
Primordial Runes are super rare, like pretty much only Touko having found a few copies of the Runes and that's it, rare. The fact that the Witch has an object with Primordial Runes inscribed on it is telling, especially since she herself wasn't from the Age of Gods whatsoever. I suspect that this is just an item she came across in her many years of life, though it is possible that someone else for whatever reason gave it to her after she was summoned as a Servant.
It's a bit rude to keep on rubbing the fact that she's not seeing anybody in Mami's face over and over, so omitted that. Also we know very well just how much Grief would be in Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed, and that is to say way too much. It could take many years to siphon off that much Grief, and where would they put it? The Sword of Paracelsus could only burn so much at a time, and that takes magical energy from Homura's Soul Gem so they can't automate the process (even if they can cleanse her Soul Gem for free, but I doubt she'd want to stick around Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed 24/7). They are not draining Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed of Grief anytime during this quest with their current methods, I could tell you that. Caster won't even GoB it due to hating corrupted stuff (at least in his Archer version, which probably carries over), so that's a no go as well.
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- Around here
Is there an actual name to accompany this plan? Because "NMS Alter" doesn't exactly give an idea of what's happening. At least, not to anyone who isn't following along with the discussion who doesn't know NMS's original plan.
Does this also include Saber, is he expected to be the volunteer, or is he going along with the other team and not his master?
It's become something of a brick joke at this point, and I fear it won't entirely stop until there's a punchline. The punchline being, as far as I can tell, Mami being forced to go ice skating with Caster while everyone else goes ice skating with the SOs.
WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
Pathetic
If it is so rare, then how do you figure the Incubator got their hands on it? I feel like just "We are Many" isn't enough to find a super-rare artifact. I don't care how many there are; Kyubey's still just this small not-furball. They're not gonna be able to uncover much.
[X] Enetious
- Location
- United States
Changed it. We summon NMS Alter when?
This is just taken from NMS' vote, though if I had to say then Servants stick with Masters when they can.
EDIT:
The Incubator has been interfering with Human affairs since they were in caves, so it definitely has the historical databases enough to narrow down probable locations of where surviving Elder Futhark runes could be. Plus, y'know, literal aliens with advanced alien technology/magic, and having ample opportunity to scan the magical signatures of plenty of Primordial Runes so that it could just scan the planet for them (whether that's from orbit or from networking its' many bodies across probable locations where Elder Futhark runes originate from, who knows?).
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WanderingTwix
Posting something good once in a full moon
- Location
- United Kingdom
Uhh, right. Guess I don't know what Incubator's are really capable of.
- Location
- Around here
A small not-furball who has been meddling in human affairs for between 75,000 and 300,000 years. I understand your argument, but at the same time it's not completely unreasonable to think that Kyubey might have spotted something of interest at some point. We don't even know what it is that Sidonia is working on; we just know that it's something very old - at least 1,300 years at the youngest - and that would most likely have been used and owned only by someone from the educated and magically capable elite.
Also aliens.
- Location
- Germany
- Location
- Around here
That depends; do you think you can afford my rates?YesI love it. Can I bribe you?
EDIT: Since I don't want to double- or triple-post, I do need to stress that we are 3-3 for votes and are in need of more votes to break the tie. @Mazeka, @K4lepo, @alphacassiopeiae, if any of you have a vote to contribute, it would be most appreciated.
Also, I've updated the character page for our antagonists. We now have portraits for all of the Saints bar Satomi and Niko, complete parameters for all the servants of Blue besides Caster and Assassin whom we haven't met, and our mystery woman and the fake witches have been updated to account for new information. Be sure to check them out if you ever need a refresher on what the de-FGO'd servants of Blue can do in a fight.
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