Hey, at least Rider is cashing in on his long overdue screen time.
Confringentur 2; a Madoka Magica / Fate/Stay Night sequel
- Thread starter SVS
- Start date
- Crossover
Hey, at least Rider is cashing in on his long overdue screen time.
PlaguePaladin
The Bird Lady
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Same here. As pretty much the only dude who didn't support the construction plan, one of the dudes who worked on her stat sheet, and a proud part-Irish dude, I am sad as well.
- Location
- Around here
True. The sequel has been a better deal to Rider than the first quest was. But that doesn't change my disappointment at us not even attempting to interact with Assassin.
She was the new servant I was most excited about showing off for the sequel, too. More than anyone on the Blue faction, and we stick her with one of the worst jobs we possibly could have. She knows her sister has been summoned, but instead of being allowed to go off and fight, she's stuck building a house for some uppity teenagers. That's not what she was summoned for. She was summoned to fight and kill and also to be payback on Bazett for stealing Lancer away from Caren.
- Location
- Germany
The problem, at least for me, is threefold:
* Asssassin is rude and not really invested in being a team player; most of that is the fault of being summoned in a (for her) shitty Class
* Her master is the most remote to us; except for Oriko, none of us have any strong connections to Caren, delightful as she may be.
* And between the Pleiades and the fake witches and Madoka, we simply don't have enough time.
But I, at least, will try to consider Aife in the future.
- Location
- Around here
Your first point is completely warranted. For as much as I, as the person who created her, would like to see us interact with Assassin and get to know her because I personally had a lot of fun making her, I can understand how her abrasive personality and her unwillingness to be a team player would deter people from wanting to be near her.
However, your second point is... Not so much. In the first quest, you could easily argue that Oriko and Kirika were the most remote to us- Not only did we have an incredibly low opinion of them, but they also lived an hour away from us when all of our other friends lived twenty minutes away or fewer; and yet somehow, we ended up becoming closer to them than we did to Mami or Kyouko, or just about anyone who wasn't Madoka or Archer. So you'll forgive me if I don't think Assassin's remote-ness to us is a good reason for ignoring her.
- Location
- United States
The problem with this is that there is no narrative reason for Homura to interact with her. She's the Servant of the person Homura is most distant to - Caren - and Homura can't really hang out normally with her due to Caren being the adult of the group and seemingly wanting nothing to do with Homura to boot. The only way that would really change is if Caren took an interest in Homura's life (such as becoming a life counselor or a therapist for the many years of physical and psychological torment she's suffered, since Caren is genuinely such a good and caring person) and thus helping them become closer and allowing Homura to actually be around Assassin.
One could argue that Archer could try and get close to Assassin, however he's had very little time to interact with her since she's been summoned and when he has he was the bearer of bad (good?) news. Though it could be argued that without meta knowledge, there's no reason for Archer to prioritize getting to know Assassin over getting to know Saber, who was summoned with Assassin.
Not as much as I'd like, personally. This goes for most of the Servants, who are more like mannequins until spoken to (not blaming SVS, there's just a lot going on at any given moment in the quest, I understand). They don't really take any initiative that would force us to see them or interact with them like Archer does, I'm afraid.
Hey, the construction plan has nothing to do with not seeing Assassin, you could have easily voted to exclude her if you really wanted to - granted as one of the few Servants with the OP Primordial Runes, Aife is well suited to created potent protections against what they'll have to contend with in a Saint attack what with their OP Servants.
*check PMs*
Tbf, Homura has no reason to believe that Assassin is going to go off the rails like she was concerned Oriko and Kirika would, and probably believes that Caren has it covered barring some future action of Aife's.
- Location
- Around here
There's also the fact that we have 14 people on our team, total, when several studies have shown that conversations are best had between 4 people and that any larger than 4 runs the risk of either splintering off into multiple conversations or leaving the rest of the group feeling left out. Hell, even Shakespeare - hate him as I do - was smart enough to never have a scene with more than four active participants at a time. This is why, when I bring it up, I ask that you guys be incredibly mindful of how I'm able to balance conversations and fight scenes, because I really, actually, literally, do struggle to make more than four or five people successfully do anything productive onscreen at a given time.
This ^ goes for everyone else as well. It's really, really hard to juggle huge scenes with 14 active participants. I know we've already had an entire previous quest to develop our five main girls and Archer, but that still leaves 8 people feeling like varying stages of cardboard cutouts when they aren't doing anything. More if you count Hijiri Kanna, who hasn't even bothered to show up lately because I literally cannot find the space to fit her into a scene, even though she's one of the most important new characters of the sequel.
Man, I really need to find a way to give Hijiri Kanna more screen time. She needs it more than Rider does.
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- Location
- United States
Well obviously the answer to this is for us to vote to have Homura - on her school day off or during some free time - invite Kanna along with her muggle friends to hang out and to show Kanna the world outside of magical land - just look at how excited and awed Illya was in F/SN when she could enjoy the mundane world and its many wonders.
While that goes on, we could also vote for Archer to have a Servants afternoon out (probably just some of them), and with Rider along they could quickly respond to anything pressing if they'd need to.
Yeah, definitely gonna vote for these things at some point.
Day 6 Chapter 20
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Delaying The Witches
You really need to learn not to be optimistic. It never ends well for anyone.
The witches do not break when their weakened comrade falls to your team's onslaught; instead, they stand firm, feasting on the spilled corruption of their fallen comrade. That statement is quite a bit more literal that you would have liked it to have been; the fake witches devour not just the two fake Grief Seeds dropped by their comrade, but the asphalt and grass and dirt stained black by its spilled Grief. In an instant, their injuries are healed, and their bodies shift, bubbling and bursting; the first of the two spreads its arms wide, leaping into the air on newly-formed wings of Grief; while the second stands upright, its body bulging with muscles like a strongman. The pair tear away from the battle and make a beeline south, you assume towards the church.
"I can hit them," Archer says to you. "But this next one is going to drain you pretty hard, so be ready. I'll do my best to cushion the impact to you, but you might want to have a Grief Seed ready just in case."
"Understood." As if preparing to yell with your lungs, your body reflexively draws in air. But your shout comes not from the lungs, but from the mind. "Everyone! Slow those things down however you can! Don't let them get away!" You turn your arrows towards the witch in flight, not even needing to speak a word to Tomoe-san to relay your intentions to her. You draw back on your bow, while Tomoe-san readies a volley of muskets. You take aim, but the misshapen bird-bat-and-is-that-part-of-a-crocodile witch is too fast for you to draw a bead on.
"I've got it!" you hear a voice calling from down on the ground. It's Kirika, who swings her arms wide as she launches chains from underneath her frilly cuffs. Jagged black claws line every link of the chain, digging deep into the witch's body as they wrap tightly around it. Each time the witch struggles to escape, the clawed chains dig in deeper. "I can't hold it forever!" Kirika calls out; she's losing her footing against the witch as it struggles to break free from her bindings. "Hit it now, you dummy!"
Neither you nor Tomoe-san need to be told a second time. A spray of blue and gold washes over the witch, binding and freezing it in place while the witch still on the ground is dealt with. That witch, Rider has cut off from escaping; its enhanced musculature doing nothing as Rider continues to ram it back into the kill zone with his chariot. You imagine Kyouko must be feeling the burn from Rider's constant use of his chariot, but no more than the witch is feeling the burn of her Sowilo runes, tongues of fire lashing the witch in place. The flames cast long shadows in the shape of the witch, and Nurse Ortensia responds to the opening given to her by- No way. There's no freaking way that actually works. Seriously? What is this, some stupid ninja anime?
Against the odds, against common sense, Nurse Ortensia has flung a series of small, needle-like blades at the muscled witch's shadow; and they've actually managed to pin it in place. What the hell. That doesn't actually work. You refuse to believe it. You've seen a lot of weird things in your time as a puella magi, but for some reason you absolutely refuse to believe that something so stupid actually works, even though you're clearly seeing it work right before your eyes.
"Alright Homura, brace yourself," Archer says. You ready your body for whatever Archer has been preparing. "Gáe Bolg!"
"So, anyone wanna tell Godzilla ta stay away from Mitakihara from now on?"
The damage done to the surrounding area by Archer's attack is minimal - in fact, most of the damage came from either the witches themselves, or from the attacks used against them - but there is something oddly fitting about Kyouko's jab when there are two large craters sitting in the places where once there were witches. Sifting through the blasted rubble of the craters, it almost looks like Archer's attack has vaporised tonight's prizes, until- "Ow!" Kirika catches her foot on an over-sized lump sticking up from the ground and falls flat on her face.
"Are you okay?" Oriko asks as she helps Kirika to her feet. Sending Kirika on her way with a kiss, Oriko then attempts to move the lump so no one else can trip on it, only to reveal that the lump is, in fact, not just an over-sized lump at all. "Well, here's one of them, at any rate," Oriko says, holding up the first of tonight's two prizes, a fake Grief Seed engorged well beyond the usual size, but not so engorged as to be called a Grief Fruit just yet.
A quick examination of the second crater reveals the other of the two; like the first, the second fake Grief Seed is engorged. There is no sign of the two fake Seeds dropped by the first witch to fall; likely, these engorged Grief Seeds are meant to encompass two Seeds each.
"Tonight was certainly... Unexpected." You really don't know what else to say about tonight. "Can we talk about how the last two witches were able to mutate when they ate the Seeds dropped by the first witch?"
"I don't know," Nurse Ortensia says. "Can you? I assume that isn't something they've ever done before, but do you have any idea what that means?"
You really don't have any idea of what that means - and without further information, you likely never will - but you still have a few thoughts rattling around inside your head. "Maybe she's experimenting, or her attempts to accomplish whatever her goal is are getting more bold. These-" for lack of a better term, "-new model witches were obviously made to be adaptable, but that just raises further questions. Why didn't she start with these? Or for that matter, why didn't the witches she sent out to us start out already engorged on Grief? Why is she only just now starting to send them out in groups?"
"Maybe she has problems controlling that many familiars at once?" Oriko suggests. "Or at least, she has problems controlling many more of her larger familiars. I only start to have trouble controlling my drones when I've got well over a hundred and I'm trying to make too many different shapes with them; but if she's got the experience she can probably stretch that level of control out to a few more larger familiars. We don't really know how or how well she can control her familiars; maybe she's moving up gradually, trying to see what her limits are?"
"Maybe she has trouble keeping them together?" Kirika suggests. I mean, I don't really know the first thing about doing stuff with Grief, so maybe making stuff from Grief's harder than it looks if you're not, like, super-intimate with the way Kyubey's system works?"
"Or maybe she's just trying to conserve her stores of Grief?" Archer suggests. You were wondering when Archer would slip away from that rooftop he had perched on and come join the rest of the team. "Assuming she's not able to get back to her workshop for awhile, she may be trying to conserve the Grief she has stored elsewhere. We don't know how much she was able to move off-site before Rin and I got there, and we don't know how long it'll be before she's able to get through Rin's Bounded Field and get back to work, so for all we know she's working with limited resources and wants to conserve what she can."
Oriko, Kirika, and Archer all raise good points; you'll be sure to keep them in mind for later. "Hopefully she's never able to return to her workshop," you say to Archer. "Now, something else has come up. According to Caster, the Pleiades Saints are dealing with their own witches over in Asunaro. I'd like it if you could go and observe them. Don't attack; them; just observe. I want to know what's going on in Asunaro."
"Can do," Archer says. "I'll report back if I see anything interesting."
[ ] Wat do?
You really need to learn not to be optimistic. It never ends well for anyone.
The witches do not break when their weakened comrade falls to your team's onslaught; instead, they stand firm, feasting on the spilled corruption of their fallen comrade. That statement is quite a bit more literal that you would have liked it to have been; the fake witches devour not just the two fake Grief Seeds dropped by their comrade, but the asphalt and grass and dirt stained black by its spilled Grief. In an instant, their injuries are healed, and their bodies shift, bubbling and bursting; the first of the two spreads its arms wide, leaping into the air on newly-formed wings of Grief; while the second stands upright, its body bulging with muscles like a strongman. The pair tear away from the battle and make a beeline south, you assume towards the church.
"I can hit them," Archer says to you. "But this next one is going to drain you pretty hard, so be ready. I'll do my best to cushion the impact to you, but you might want to have a Grief Seed ready just in case."
"Understood." As if preparing to yell with your lungs, your body reflexively draws in air. But your shout comes not from the lungs, but from the mind. "Everyone! Slow those things down however you can! Don't let them get away!" You turn your arrows towards the witch in flight, not even needing to speak a word to Tomoe-san to relay your intentions to her. You draw back on your bow, while Tomoe-san readies a volley of muskets. You take aim, but the misshapen bird-bat-and-is-that-part-of-a-crocodile witch is too fast for you to draw a bead on.
"I've got it!" you hear a voice calling from down on the ground. It's Kirika, who swings her arms wide as she launches chains from underneath her frilly cuffs. Jagged black claws line every link of the chain, digging deep into the witch's body as they wrap tightly around it. Each time the witch struggles to escape, the clawed chains dig in deeper. "I can't hold it forever!" Kirika calls out; she's losing her footing against the witch as it struggles to break free from her bindings. "Hit it now, you dummy!"
Neither you nor Tomoe-san need to be told a second time. A spray of blue and gold washes over the witch, binding and freezing it in place while the witch still on the ground is dealt with. That witch, Rider has cut off from escaping; its enhanced musculature doing nothing as Rider continues to ram it back into the kill zone with his chariot. You imagine Kyouko must be feeling the burn from Rider's constant use of his chariot, but no more than the witch is feeling the burn of her Sowilo runes, tongues of fire lashing the witch in place. The flames cast long shadows in the shape of the witch, and Nurse Ortensia responds to the opening given to her by- No way. There's no freaking way that actually works. Seriously? What is this, some stupid ninja anime?
Against the odds, against common sense, Nurse Ortensia has flung a series of small, needle-like blades at the muscled witch's shadow; and they've actually managed to pin it in place. What the hell. That doesn't actually work. You refuse to believe it. You've seen a lot of weird things in your time as a puella magi, but for some reason you absolutely refuse to believe that something so stupid actually works, even though you're clearly seeing it work right before your eyes.
"Alright Homura, brace yourself," Archer says. You ready your body for whatever Archer has been preparing. "Gáe Bolg!"
"So, anyone wanna tell Godzilla ta stay away from Mitakihara from now on?"
The damage done to the surrounding area by Archer's attack is minimal - in fact, most of the damage came from either the witches themselves, or from the attacks used against them - but there is something oddly fitting about Kyouko's jab when there are two large craters sitting in the places where once there were witches. Sifting through the blasted rubble of the craters, it almost looks like Archer's attack has vaporised tonight's prizes, until- "Ow!" Kirika catches her foot on an over-sized lump sticking up from the ground and falls flat on her face.
"Are you okay?" Oriko asks as she helps Kirika to her feet. Sending Kirika on her way with a kiss, Oriko then attempts to move the lump so no one else can trip on it, only to reveal that the lump is, in fact, not just an over-sized lump at all. "Well, here's one of them, at any rate," Oriko says, holding up the first of tonight's two prizes, a fake Grief Seed engorged well beyond the usual size, but not so engorged as to be called a Grief Fruit just yet.
A quick examination of the second crater reveals the other of the two; like the first, the second fake Grief Seed is engorged. There is no sign of the two fake Seeds dropped by the first witch to fall; likely, these engorged Grief Seeds are meant to encompass two Seeds each.
"Tonight was certainly... Unexpected." You really don't know what else to say about tonight. "Can we talk about how the last two witches were able to mutate when they ate the Seeds dropped by the first witch?"
"I don't know," Nurse Ortensia says. "Can you? I assume that isn't something they've ever done before, but do you have any idea what that means?"
You really don't have any idea of what that means - and without further information, you likely never will - but you still have a few thoughts rattling around inside your head. "Maybe she's experimenting, or her attempts to accomplish whatever her goal is are getting more bold. These-" for lack of a better term, "-new model witches were obviously made to be adaptable, but that just raises further questions. Why didn't she start with these? Or for that matter, why didn't the witches she sent out to us start out already engorged on Grief? Why is she only just now starting to send them out in groups?"
"Maybe she has problems controlling that many familiars at once?" Oriko suggests. "Or at least, she has problems controlling many more of her larger familiars. I only start to have trouble controlling my drones when I've got well over a hundred and I'm trying to make too many different shapes with them; but if she's got the experience she can probably stretch that level of control out to a few more larger familiars. We don't really know how or how well she can control her familiars; maybe she's moving up gradually, trying to see what her limits are?"
"Maybe she has trouble keeping them together?" Kirika suggests. I mean, I don't really know the first thing about doing stuff with Grief, so maybe making stuff from Grief's harder than it looks if you're not, like, super-intimate with the way Kyubey's system works?"
"Or maybe she's just trying to conserve her stores of Grief?" Archer suggests. You were wondering when Archer would slip away from that rooftop he had perched on and come join the rest of the team. "Assuming she's not able to get back to her workshop for awhile, she may be trying to conserve the Grief she has stored elsewhere. We don't know how much she was able to move off-site before Rin and I got there, and we don't know how long it'll be before she's able to get through Rin's Bounded Field and get back to work, so for all we know she's working with limited resources and wants to conserve what she can."
Oriko, Kirika, and Archer all raise good points; you'll be sure to keep them in mind for later. "Hopefully she's never able to return to her workshop," you say to Archer. "Now, something else has come up. According to Caster, the Pleiades Saints are dealing with their own witches over in Asunaro. I'd like it if you could go and observe them. Don't attack; them; just observe. I want to know what's going on in Asunaro."
"Can do," Archer says. "I'll report back if I see anything interesting."
[ ] Wat do?
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- Location
- Germany
[X]Wild Speculation
-[X] What this means?
--[X] The witch tries to improve on the Fake!Witches
--[X] Could this be another try to create a mega-witch akin Walpurgisnacht or Kriemhild Gretchen?
--[X] If our witch is a mage - could this power be an attempt to reach the Root (Archer)
-[X] What do we need to talk about?
--[X] How is everybody?
--[X] What are the grief levels of everybody?
--[X] Next dinner's on us - this was a good job, even if the enemy had an ace in the hole
Additionally: Damn I'm glad we managed to nuke the shit out of the witches. The idea that we have von Neumann witches running around doesn't make me happy.
-[X] What this means?
--[X] The witch tries to improve on the Fake!Witches
--[X] Could this be another try to create a mega-witch akin Walpurgisnacht or Kriemhild Gretchen?
--[X] If our witch is a mage - could this power be an attempt to reach the Root (Archer)
-[X] What do we need to talk about?
--[X] How is everybody?
--[X] What are the grief levels of everybody?
--[X] Next dinner's on us - this was a good job, even if the enemy had an ace in the hole
Additionally: Damn I'm glad we managed to nuke the shit out of the witches. The idea that we have von Neumann witches running around doesn't make me happy.
[X] Plan Stealth Archer
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- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Stealth Archer
-[X] Do you have any idea what that means?
--[X] It's quite obvious that the Witch made these things quite adaptable, though it begs the question of why she's not been sending them already mutated or engorged on their comrades' Grief, or in groups like today
---[X] Is it a control problem, a lack of Grief and saving on resources problem, an instability problem, etc.?
-[X] You heard that the Saints are dealing with their own Witches tonight as well, so send Archer under concealment to observe them engaging these false Witches while the rest of you have a team meeting
--[X] (Archer) Use Carnwennan, Secret of Pedigree, and the Hat of Invisibility to secretly observe the Saints; do not engage under any circumstances
-[X] What do you need to talk about tonight?
--[X] They've got to step up on looking for the Witch before things escalate even further; perhaps some of their Servants could search for her during school hours?
--[X] Now that you have a general plan for the Mystic Code you and Oriko will be making to supplement Hitomi's Prana shortage, start working on it
---[X] Maybe one ring for Hitomi wears that receives magical energy when she needs it, which draws from rings other people are wearing? A bunch of prana transmitters and a single receiver, basically. Doesn't have to be a ring, could be a pendent, bracelet, etc.
----[X] You don't have to make all the transmitters now, focus on making the receiver first and then the transmitters as you and Oriko can make them
Sooo, maybe this is an excuse for a (pseudo?) interlude to see how the Pleiades Saints are dealing with the Witch's familiars, and their general reactions to the things? If they're bunched up now like they were in Mitakihara, that's gotta cause some reactions among them as well.
To clarify though, the Warped Witches were trying to get to the remains of the church, correct?
-[X] Do you have any idea what that means?
--[X] It's quite obvious that the Witch made these things quite adaptable, though it begs the question of why she's not been sending them already mutated or engorged on their comrades' Grief, or in groups like today
---[X] Is it a control problem, a lack of Grief and saving on resources problem, an instability problem, etc.?
-[X] You heard that the Saints are dealing with their own Witches tonight as well, so send Archer under concealment to observe them engaging these false Witches while the rest of you have a team meeting
--[X] (Archer) Use Carnwennan, Secret of Pedigree, and the Hat of Invisibility to secretly observe the Saints; do not engage under any circumstances
-[X] What do you need to talk about tonight?
--[X] They've got to step up on looking for the Witch before things escalate even further; perhaps some of their Servants could search for her during school hours?
--[X] Now that you have a general plan for the Mystic Code you and Oriko will be making to supplement Hitomi's Prana shortage, start working on it
---[X] Maybe one ring for Hitomi wears that receives magical energy when she needs it, which draws from rings other people are wearing? A bunch of prana transmitters and a single receiver, basically. Doesn't have to be a ring, could be a pendent, bracelet, etc.
----[X] You don't have to make all the transmitters now, focus on making the receiver first and then the transmitters as you and Oriko can make them
Sooo, maybe this is an excuse for a (pseudo?) interlude to see how the Pleiades Saints are dealing with the Witch's familiars, and their general reactions to the things? If they're bunched up now like they were in Mitakihara, that's gotta cause some reactions among them as well.
To clarify though, the Warped Witches were trying to get to the remains of the church, correct?
- Location
- Around here
Strange to see someone who isn't Enetious raising a point like this.
No, they were on their way to invade Russia in winter. They must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque to wind up in Mitakihara.
- Location
- United States
Oh please, every mage does everything they do in order to try and reach the Root... eventually down their family line, unless they aren't the average Magus. Witches tend to be some of the most traditional of Magi though, so it's pretty much a given.
Then again, the Witch may be looking for whatever's summoning the Servants directly in order to use that to reach the Root. There's always that, since most Magi are well aware of the Holy Grail and its purpose of being a device to reach the Root.
[X] Plan Stealth Archer
Considering our problem witch was tapping from Wally's giant Grief Seed, I think we can safely rule out "a lack of Grief" as an issue.
Considering our problem witch was tapping from Wally's giant Grief Seed, I think we can safely rule out "a lack of Grief" as an issue.
- Location
- Around here
Every other mage at the Clocktower:
Hitomi: "Oh, I don't really care about something like that. I'm happy just learning for learning's sake. I don't need to reach the Root to be content with my magecraft."
Forget being a first-generation mage, that's the real reason Hitomi is going to make waves at the Clocktower.
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- Location
- United States
To be fair, we don't know just how much physical Grief these things need to be made with, nor do we know how quickly the Witch was able to properly extract and store the Grief or when she refined a method of actually extracting the stuff from Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed. The Witch may also be working with a limited amount now since as far as we know she no longer has access to Walpurgisnacht's Grief Seed.
Until Rin goes through whatever tomes they managed to extract from the Church, they'll likely remain unaware of the full scope of the Witch's operations. Hopefully that won't be long, though.
- Location
- Around here
I know Rin is smart, but how quickly do you really think it will take Rin to translate the stuff she stole? For all she knows, she swiped some ancient tome written in a now-dead West Slavic language of which Sidonia is the world's only remaining speaker. Maybe what she stole doesn't even have Sidonia's notes. Maybe it does; how quickly can Rin crack Sidonia's code?
I'm not saying this to be contrary or to sound like a dick. I just want to keep you in a realistic mindset when dealing with the stuff we stole. Remember, some of those books were so old they fell apart when they hit the floor. Do you think something that old was written in a language that a modern person could easily understand? You shouldn't assume that Sidonia will be writing her notes conveniently in a modern language Rin is fluent in.
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Mazeka
You must be joking
- Location
- United States
[X] Plan Stealth Archer
Some points outside of this vote:
1. I do recommend Archer getting the Servants together for a little powwow, if only to give the newbies some screen time. Hell, our Saber has gotten even less characterization than Assassin has.
2. If we are to understand Sidonia's motives and goals, we will have to question her on our next encounter. Even bantering or taunting her a bit may cause her to give up some useful intel by accident.
3. Here's my interpretation of Confringentur-verse: When Kami Madoka and Akuma Homura ascended in the canon PMMM universe, the shockwaves from both entities rewriting their local reality echoed across the multiverse. Quest!Alaya, the god of a universe where FSN and PMMM exist concurrently, took notice and chose to intervene in their own realm. Seeing that the Homura of its universe was not too far gone, Archer and six others were dispatched post-haste.
Some points outside of this vote:
1. I do recommend Archer getting the Servants together for a little powwow, if only to give the newbies some screen time. Hell, our Saber has gotten even less characterization than Assassin has.
2. If we are to understand Sidonia's motives and goals, we will have to question her on our next encounter. Even bantering or taunting her a bit may cause her to give up some useful intel by accident.
3. Here's my interpretation of Confringentur-verse: When Kami Madoka and Akuma Homura ascended in the canon PMMM universe, the shockwaves from both entities rewriting their local reality echoed across the multiverse. Quest!Alaya, the god of a universe where FSN and PMMM exist concurrently, took notice and chose to intervene in their own realm. Seeing that the Homura of its universe was not too far gone, Archer and six others were dispatched post-haste.
Day 6 Chapter 21
- Location
- Around here
[X] Plan Stealth Archer
"So, what do you plan to do about this witch?"
It would have to be either perfect luck, or perfect foresight, that the sandstone table Caster 'donated' to Tomoe-san's living room is perfectly-sized to fit the seven of you. Nurse Ortensia, who speaks first, sits with her back to the window. To her left sits Oriko, and sitting clockwise from her are Kirika, you, Tomoe-san, Kyouko, and Hitomi, who is forced to take the other seat next to Nurse Ortensia.
"We have to step up our search for the witch before things escalate further," you say. "We've been dealing with her familiars for a month now, and yet it's only thanks to Archer going out to search on Caster's word that we even know who was behind them. If we let this go on for any longer, who knows what could happen before we've finally stopped her." How many more buildings full of innocent civilians will have burned down?
"Maybe we could have our servants search for her while we're in school?" Tomoe-san suggests. "It wouldn't be fair to expect Archer to be the only one going out to search for her, so perhaps we could all have our servants pitch in when they're able to?"
"Wouldn't that get int he way of your base being constructed?" Nurse Ortensia asks. "You girls might already be looking at a setback because of Assassin's temper tantrum; pulling her off construction duty might be for the best if you can't trust her to behave while on the job, but can you really afford to risk a longer setback by pulling Lancer and Caster off of construction duty? At least they have been doing their work."
"It ain't like they're th' only servants we've got," Kyouko says. "I mean, I ain' gunna volunteer Rider again 'cause he already had his turn earlier today, but we've got Saber and Berserker we could send out ta look, don't we?" Kyouko playfully nudges Hitomi with her elbow, adding "Sorry he ain't good fer much else, Seaweed. I know it sucks, but at least there's still some way he can contribute, right?"
Hitomi is forced to reluctantly nod her head. "Yes, I suppose you are correct, Sakura-san. It's unfortunate that my low rank as a master has caused Saber's parameters to suffer, given the circumstances, but at least there's still something he can do. He hasn't really had the chance to enjoy seeing Mitakihara, either; perhaps he'll enjoy the chance to get out of my house and get some fresh air."
"Actually, Shizuki-san, your problem supplying Saber with mana should hopefully be a thing of the past very soon," Oriko says. "I've been going over what Akemi-san and I were talking to you about the other day, and I think I'm just about there."
"Really?"
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear, Mikuni-san," Hitomi says, her voice sounding more enthusiastic than it did before. "I really did mean to be useful when I decided to join the team; I never wanted the rest of you to be held back because of me."
Oriko nods, retrieving a notebook and a plastic sandwich bag containing a single silver ring from her school bag. Nurse Ortensia pulls herself away from the table as Oriko scoots over beside Hitomi. "It's like this," she says, laying out her notebook for Hitomi. "You'll be wearing this ring; let's call it the receiver. The receiver will be inscribed with an Inguz rune courtesy of Akemi-san, and will be programmed to take mana from these other rings-" Oriko's hand traces the line she's drawn between the receiver and the five other rings. "-we'll call them transmitters. Each of us will wear a transmitter, and when you activate the Inguz rune on your receiver, it'll pull mana from one of us."
"There's one thing I'd like to add to what you've worked on," you say to Oriko. "We can make Hitomi's receiver, but before we do any work making the transmitters I think we should figure out... I think 'priority order' would be the best way to put it. That is, do we want the receiver pulling from whichever transmitter is closest? Do we prioritise pulling from whoever has cleansed their Grief Seed most recently, or do we want a blanket preference on pulling from whoever has the most mana available at the moment?"
"All excellent things to consider, Akemi-san," Oriko says; "And you're right, we can work out the finer details of the transmitters after we've finished work on Shiuki-san's receiver."
Here you are once again, in Asunaro. Seems like just two days ago you were here, removing the enemy's Archer servant from the War. Now if only removing the remaining six servants were as easy; but no, you promised Homura you wouldn't engage the Saints, no matter what. You're only here to observe, so you've gone to as many lengths as possible to keep yourself concealed from their sight.
You still don't know how they managed to spot Homura's team coming in and coordinate their trap in such a short amount of time.
Off in the distance, you can see a flock of sparrows circling over a cluster of buildings. You wonder if that's the same flock of sparrows you saw circling Homura and her friends last night, or if Asunaro just has a huge problem with obnoxious city birds. No matter; there's something much more interesting to train your eyes to than a flock of birds. Because that looks like a pretty intense battle going on.
Forget the three witches Sidonia sent to Mitakihara; the Saints have to contend with five witches. You don't see the enemy Saber anywhere - Gods above, is he really going to just not show up to any fight that doesn't involve Brynhildr? - but you do see Lancer, Rider, and Berserker. Rider, as far as you can tell, is holding back. That makes sense; you imagine if Ramesses II were to go all-out it would cause more damage to the city than the witches would; but Lancer and Berserker are each giving it their all. Spears fly and runes light up the night sky, shield and sword clash against blackened flesh, and Grief is spilled on the ground wherever the witches are struck. You see the fire and lightning of Wakaba Mirai and Asami Saki as they lash out at the nearest witch, while the orange-haired girl you saw fighting with Kirika attempts to use her bare fists to fight. Violet bolts of energy soar over several city blocks to crash into a witch that's bound in place by chains made of asphalt; the work of Kanna Niko and another Saint you know only as the - former? - master of Atalanta, no doubt. Finally, you see the girl who looks like Kazusa Michiru; she swings her staff at the nearest witch within reach, causing violet explosions to erupt over the witch's body as her staff makes contact.
And what's this? The battle is kicking up quite a storm, but a few blocks away you spot a head of pink hair herding a crowd of people away from the scene. She's definitely giving off the vibes of a servant, but she's dressed in mundane clothes - a red blazer, white skirt, and black stockings are hardly enough to clue you in to this servant's identity - and acting in a completely mundane manner.
You count off on your invisible fingers; Saber is unaccounted for, and Archer might be dead, but we've got Lancer, Rider, and Berserker all present and fighting. There's a chance, however slim, that Sidonia is - was - the Saints' Caster servant, so is the woman helping with the evacuation their Assassin? She'd be in a decent position to treat the wounded if she were, so maybe...
Watching this, you can almost see where the Saints' anger is coming from, however misplaced their blame might be. While the witches that have attacked Mitakihara were always stopped before they reached populated areas, these five seem to have been dropped right in the middle of a busy late-night hot spot. Assuming Asunaro's other witch attacks have been like this, then you can see why the Saints would be angry with whomever were at fault for their appearance.
Well Archer, this sure is a fine mess you've wandered into.
Do you
[ ] Leave and report back to Homura with what you saw
[ ] Hold position, report back to Homura but keep watch
[ ] Disobey Homura's orders and
-[ ] take one of their servants out while they're distracted
-[ ] get involved; throw some arrows at the witches and hope for the best
[ ] Move on, try to see if Sidonia is somewhere in all of this
[ ] Other (write-in)
"So, what do you plan to do about this witch?"
It would have to be either perfect luck, or perfect foresight, that the sandstone table Caster 'donated' to Tomoe-san's living room is perfectly-sized to fit the seven of you. Nurse Ortensia, who speaks first, sits with her back to the window. To her left sits Oriko, and sitting clockwise from her are Kirika, you, Tomoe-san, Kyouko, and Hitomi, who is forced to take the other seat next to Nurse Ortensia.
"We have to step up our search for the witch before things escalate further," you say. "We've been dealing with her familiars for a month now, and yet it's only thanks to Archer going out to search on Caster's word that we even know who was behind them. If we let this go on for any longer, who knows what could happen before we've finally stopped her." How many more buildings full of innocent civilians will have burned down?
"Maybe we could have our servants search for her while we're in school?" Tomoe-san suggests. "It wouldn't be fair to expect Archer to be the only one going out to search for her, so perhaps we could all have our servants pitch in when they're able to?"
"Wouldn't that get int he way of your base being constructed?" Nurse Ortensia asks. "You girls might already be looking at a setback because of Assassin's temper tantrum; pulling her off construction duty might be for the best if you can't trust her to behave while on the job, but can you really afford to risk a longer setback by pulling Lancer and Caster off of construction duty? At least they have been doing their work."
"It ain't like they're th' only servants we've got," Kyouko says. "I mean, I ain' gunna volunteer Rider again 'cause he already had his turn earlier today, but we've got Saber and Berserker we could send out ta look, don't we?" Kyouko playfully nudges Hitomi with her elbow, adding "Sorry he ain't good fer much else, Seaweed. I know it sucks, but at least there's still some way he can contribute, right?"
Hitomi is forced to reluctantly nod her head. "Yes, I suppose you are correct, Sakura-san. It's unfortunate that my low rank as a master has caused Saber's parameters to suffer, given the circumstances, but at least there's still something he can do. He hasn't really had the chance to enjoy seeing Mitakihara, either; perhaps he'll enjoy the chance to get out of my house and get some fresh air."
"Actually, Shizuki-san, your problem supplying Saber with mana should hopefully be a thing of the past very soon," Oriko says. "I've been going over what Akemi-san and I were talking to you about the other day, and I think I'm just about there."
"Really?"
"Oh, that's wonderful to hear, Mikuni-san," Hitomi says, her voice sounding more enthusiastic than it did before. "I really did mean to be useful when I decided to join the team; I never wanted the rest of you to be held back because of me."
Oriko nods, retrieving a notebook and a plastic sandwich bag containing a single silver ring from her school bag. Nurse Ortensia pulls herself away from the table as Oriko scoots over beside Hitomi. "It's like this," she says, laying out her notebook for Hitomi. "You'll be wearing this ring; let's call it the receiver. The receiver will be inscribed with an Inguz rune courtesy of Akemi-san, and will be programmed to take mana from these other rings-" Oriko's hand traces the line she's drawn between the receiver and the five other rings. "-we'll call them transmitters. Each of us will wear a transmitter, and when you activate the Inguz rune on your receiver, it'll pull mana from one of us."
"There's one thing I'd like to add to what you've worked on," you say to Oriko. "We can make Hitomi's receiver, but before we do any work making the transmitters I think we should figure out... I think 'priority order' would be the best way to put it. That is, do we want the receiver pulling from whichever transmitter is closest? Do we prioritise pulling from whoever has cleansed their Grief Seed most recently, or do we want a blanket preference on pulling from whoever has the most mana available at the moment?"
"All excellent things to consider, Akemi-san," Oriko says; "And you're right, we can work out the finer details of the transmitters after we've finished work on Shiuki-san's receiver."
Here you are once again, in Asunaro. Seems like just two days ago you were here, removing the enemy's Archer servant from the War. Now if only removing the remaining six servants were as easy; but no, you promised Homura you wouldn't engage the Saints, no matter what. You're only here to observe, so you've gone to as many lengths as possible to keep yourself concealed from their sight.
You still don't know how they managed to spot Homura's team coming in and coordinate their trap in such a short amount of time.
Off in the distance, you can see a flock of sparrows circling over a cluster of buildings. You wonder if that's the same flock of sparrows you saw circling Homura and her friends last night, or if Asunaro just has a huge problem with obnoxious city birds. No matter; there's something much more interesting to train your eyes to than a flock of birds. Because that looks like a pretty intense battle going on.
Forget the three witches Sidonia sent to Mitakihara; the Saints have to contend with five witches. You don't see the enemy Saber anywhere - Gods above, is he really going to just not show up to any fight that doesn't involve Brynhildr? - but you do see Lancer, Rider, and Berserker. Rider, as far as you can tell, is holding back. That makes sense; you imagine if Ramesses II were to go all-out it would cause more damage to the city than the witches would; but Lancer and Berserker are each giving it their all. Spears fly and runes light up the night sky, shield and sword clash against blackened flesh, and Grief is spilled on the ground wherever the witches are struck. You see the fire and lightning of Wakaba Mirai and Asami Saki as they lash out at the nearest witch, while the orange-haired girl you saw fighting with Kirika attempts to use her bare fists to fight. Violet bolts of energy soar over several city blocks to crash into a witch that's bound in place by chains made of asphalt; the work of Kanna Niko and another Saint you know only as the - former? - master of Atalanta, no doubt. Finally, you see the girl who looks like Kazusa Michiru; she swings her staff at the nearest witch within reach, causing violet explosions to erupt over the witch's body as her staff makes contact.
And what's this? The battle is kicking up quite a storm, but a few blocks away you spot a head of pink hair herding a crowd of people away from the scene. She's definitely giving off the vibes of a servant, but she's dressed in mundane clothes - a red blazer, white skirt, and black stockings are hardly enough to clue you in to this servant's identity - and acting in a completely mundane manner.
You count off on your invisible fingers; Saber is unaccounted for, and Archer might be dead, but we've got Lancer, Rider, and Berserker all present and fighting. There's a chance, however slim, that Sidonia is - was - the Saints' Caster servant, so is the woman helping with the evacuation their Assassin? She'd be in a decent position to treat the wounded if she were, so maybe...
Watching this, you can almost see where the Saints' anger is coming from, however misplaced their blame might be. While the witches that have attacked Mitakihara were always stopped before they reached populated areas, these five seem to have been dropped right in the middle of a busy late-night hot spot. Assuming Asunaro's other witch attacks have been like this, then you can see why the Saints would be angry with whomever were at fault for their appearance.
Well Archer, this sure is a fine mess you've wandered into.
Do you
[ ] Leave and report back to Homura with what you saw
[ ] Hold position, report back to Homura but keep watch
[ ] Disobey Homura's orders and
-[ ] take one of their servants out while they're distracted
-[ ] get involved; throw some arrows at the witches and hope for the best
[ ] Move on, try to see if Sidonia is somewhere in all of this
[ ] Other (write-in)
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PlaguePaladin
The Bird Lady
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Leave and report back to Homura with what you saw
On the plan, it's short and maybe not the best plan ever, but after what happened when Wakaba went in, they're not going to be too understanding. And they will find us if we go in; beyond a certain point, there's nothing Carnwennan can do to save us if we're standing right next to a Servant.
You cut off here.
On the plan, it's short and maybe not the best plan ever, but after what happened when Wakaba went in, they're not going to be too understanding. And they will find us if we go in; beyond a certain point, there's nothing Carnwennan can do to save us if we're standing right next to a Servant.
- Location
- Around here
That was something that I left hanging in case I didn't have enough to say when I wrote Archer's part. I should go and erase that, since I'm never going to actually fill it in at this rate.
Speaking of Wakaba, it just hit me how many character with pink hair the sequel has. There's Madoka, sure, but then there's also Mirai, Sidonia, and Assassin of Blue. I inadvertently quadrupled the number of pink-haired girls from the original to the sequel.