Ah damm i missed voting. But the reason for Yi Ti being Jeanne making a rash decision and now being to stubborn to change it is pretty in character.
To be honest im kind of hoping we do in fact run into Dany and become tangled into that whole mess because of her Dragons and everyone assuming Jeanne is an ancient Valyrian witch queen or something like that.
X] Travelling to Mereen
Number of voters: 6
veekie, Bulwark, Macros, typeterra, DeepWaters, SwiftRosenthal
[X] France, a far away land
Number of voters: 5
Bulwark, Macros, typeterra, DeepWaters, SwiftRosenthal
[X] You don't need to know
Number of voters: 2
DeepWaters, SwiftRosenthal
-[X] It was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision made before you realised how far away it was, and you're too stubborn to change your mind now.
Number of voters: 2
[X] France, a far away land
Lera looks at you inquisitively, she's expecting an answer, and you should probably give her one; though how do you go about it without talking about magic or servants...hmm.
"I come from a land far far away from here Lera." You tell her, a half-truth but a harmless one, you deem.
She raises an eyebrow, somewhat unconvinced, "Then how did a girl like you from a faraway land end up here?"
"Its...", whats an effective half-truth? Victim of a shipwreck? No that wouldn't work, how about---
She interrupts you with a blank unamused look, "It's complicated?" You nod at that. She adopts a mischevious smile," Well then miss mysterious, what was the name of this faraway land?", Ah, she thinks you're lying through your teeth with this "Foreigner from a faraway land spiel". And that tone of hers annoys you.
You collect your thoughts and memories of that accursed country, who turned their back on you in your time of need, despite saving them in THEIR time of need. Thanks to being an Avenger class, you live every waking moment experiencing that burning pain again and again. No matter what you do, you'll never forget what you felt when every inch of your skin was burned, to be stoned by onlookers, and to see their hateful eyes as you scream for mercy.
You're an Avenger, you toe the line between sanity and madness solely because your existence is driven by your vengeance and the need to kill those who've wronged you. Yet here you are, in an era where you have no grudge against anyone here let alone even an acquaintance. Lera doesn't count she's a tool for you to use. So, for the first time since your manifestation, you don't feel the need to Avenge the sins done to your past self. Maybe its cause of the French Singularity or even the Counterfeit incident, you don't know, but you think that hatred, that temper the Madman gave you has been, well...tempered you guess, for lack of a better word. You're willing to tolerate more and less prone to do unspeakable things, the survival of that Dothraki tribe is a testament to that change. That's not to say you're like HER now, oh far from it, it's just, maybe that vile, destructive fire within you has dimmed a bit, after being humbled and having no outlet for it to burn in this Era, that fire may have lost a bit of its fuel.
Jeez, your mind must still be frazzled for you to go on such tangents. Maybe the battle at the Time Temple may have left a permanent effect on your mind?
"Hmm, no words, huh? It alright if you don't want to tell me oh mysterious lady." She says while winking mockingly.
You look back at the Woman speaking, sitting right behind you on your horse, her hands around your stomach to keep balance as you hold the reins. She seems to look at you expectantly, waiting for an answer. An excuse.
"I come from France." You say, Lera appears to be taken aback by your sincerity.
"Hey, what's with this change in tone? you were all" She tries to imitate the voice and as she puffs her chest and puts both hands on her hips, ""I'll leave you for dead" and "Don't be a deadweight!"".
"Well, its cause you made me remember things I didn't want to remember."
"From a simple question? My you must moodier than I thought. Is that tough exterior of yours a facade then, are you all soft in the inside?"
"Look, do you want to know about France or not?" that zips her up, sigh, what a headache for her tongue to be really loose. "Right well...France is a kingdom in a continent called Europe."
"I've never heard of nor read about this Europe, is it West of Westeros? Or beyond the lands of Asshai."
"I don't think so? " A lie, " Our maps stopped west, so maybe we're east of Asshai?"
She looks at you with amazement as her eyes light up in with wonder, what a curious girl she is, and a well-read one too come to think of it, which makes you question how she ended up a slave to Dothraki in the first place. That very woman motions you to continue, questions for another time then.
"France is... beautiful, there's this village my father took me once in Alsace, it was close to Domrémy, where I lived. I think its name was Riquewihr or something like that, but anyways, they made the sweetest white wine there, and every sip just made me go" you pucker up your lips and bring a closed at hand towards then, "Muah!" you exclaimed as you spread your previously closed wrist and brought slowly bring it down to hold the reins. Lera laughs lightly at your theatrics. " But that wasn't the only thing I loved at the time, I was young, I think I was 12 summers at the time."
"And Your father let you drink?"Lera asks in a scandalous tone
"Oh no no no" You shake your head, "I was a very sneaky child, I always find where the nooks and crannies are, and not even my Town Guard of a father knew where I was half the time."
Lera Oohs at that and you continue, "Anyways, there was this Chur--" Calm down, calm down, "temple in the middle of town, and it had this large belltower that overlooked the entire village, very beautiful, very inviting. So I did what any young girl of 12 summers would do."
"You climbed it?" she asks with a sceptical look.
"I did." You smile proudly at that. "Snuck in upstairs during mass--prayer time, and no one noticed. " You sweep your hand horizontally before raising it slowly, "Then I took the stairs and went higher and higher up the tower stairs until I ran out of stairs. So, by being either brave or stupid, little me jumped on to the rope connected to the part that made the bell ring. I held on tightly since the drop would outright shatter every part of me, and it's terrible luck having someone die during prayer. Though despite all that I wasn't even scared, I just wanted to see what was at the end of that light, what sort of thing will I see when I reached the highest peak."
"My, you must've been so brave when you were young, the thought of me doing that when I was only 12 summers is impossible to imagine," Lera says in amazement, and you let out an embarrassed chuck and adopt a sheepish smile, even now you never really did know how to deal with other people's admiration.
"Well, we have a saying in France, "À vaillant coeur rein d'impossible." it goes. It means, "For a valiant heart, nothing is impossible"" You put a fist on your chest as you say that. You notice your horse neighs and speed up when you did that, and it's the first time you notice that the Dothraki tribe have receded to the horizon and you could barely see it.
"Beautiful..." She says engrossed, Lera shakes her head to regain her composure and asks a question, "so what did you see?"
"Heaven" You slipped, and you try to withhold a grimace. Being reminded of God's empty promise always put in a sour mood but you continue, "I saw rolling hills of green, vibrant vineyards stretched across miles upon miles of land, and the forests looked so safe and inviting and very much dark green. The village seemed so small, and its people were like ants going about their insignificant business. The sight of it was etched in my mind and made me realise one thing. That us humans are so small compared to" God's, " creation, how we are all so caught with our lives that we never bother to notice how amazing the land we live on is, and how..." You pause, searching for the right words as you scrunch up your eyebrows and narrow your eyes. No matter how much you deny it, your purpose back then wasn't to destroy France, but the opposite. You cannot deny the feelings SHE had and "how...how much I wanted to protect my country so that all of France could see what I saw in that bell tower, not the sight of blood or smoke or defeat, but of beauty and wonder."
Reality brings you back from a blissful reminiscence by way of horse shit. The sound of defecation and its excrement dropping to the ground as the horse neighs interrupt you. You look back at Lera sheepishly, "Ah sorry, I've gotten on a long tangent there, it's been a while since I've thought of France with any emotions other than..." hatred, "regret" you lie to her.
"France sounds like a beautiful place." she says softly and reverently, "and you really had me there with your speech, you sure you're not some kind of Queen or commander?"
"No, I just get overly enthusiastic" You lie.
"Huh... you should take me there someday."
" I should..." You say, absently. You stare listlessly into the horizon, the sounds and visions coming back to you. The curse of being Avenger makes you remember that accursed day as if its happening right now. You don't mention to Lera that when you came back from that trip, you were treated to the sight of Domrémy in flames.
------------------------------------------------------------------ [X] You don't need to know
Number of voters: 2
-[X] It was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision made before you realised how far away it was, and you're too stubborn to change your mind now.
"I want to go to Yi Ti to learn about something."
"Learn what exactly?"
"Well, obviously..." uhhmmm..."I wanted to know more about..." Lera looks at you, quizzically, "You don't need to know."
Lera seems unimpressed at your statement, "You mean you don't have a bigger goal other than just going to Yi Ti?"
You laugh at that, " Hah, who do you think I am Lera? of course I have big plans for Yi Ti." You just haven't thought of it yet. You can't tell Lera that you mainly Eeny-meeny-miny-moe'd you're destination on the map, and your finger just happens to land on Yi Ti.
"Jeanne, why is your face red?" Your face is definitely not red, nuh-uh.
"It's skin condition Lera, it comes from time to time."
"Right, of course." Lera she says unconvinced.
"Look all you need to know right now is that we're going to Yi Ti and that's final". It'd be very embarrassing if just change destinations midway, even more so after the whole "I'll just kill the danger" spiel.
Right, You're going to this Yi Ti, and nothing will change your mind. Nothing at all...
Though if Lera doesn't stop chuckling right now you'll burn all of Essos dammit.
The old man continues, " I am Malaquo Maegyr, an esteemed Triarch of this city, may you please enlighten us as to the reason of your presence?"
"Hail, Malaquo Maegyr, I am Jeanne d'Arc, and the lady behind me is Lera Stassaris, she is my interpreter for these lands. We will take a ship to Mereen here so we won't stay for long. "
Malaquo nods to himself as his entourage whispers to each other, "Of course, of course, let it be known that the Volantis, the first daughter of Valyria, does not fail in treating its guests whose veins courses with old Valyrian blood." He claps twice as two guards come up to him, he faces them and commands, " give her the best room in the merchant house and tell them that it's under my authority and that I will pay for the expenses."
Finally, food and shelter from the get-go, and you didn't even have to fight for it.
Lera comes up closer to your ear and whispers, "Careful Jeanne, the man just wants to curry favour before the other Triarchs do."
"Is it cause of the white hair" you whisper back.
"Yes, she answers, he's probably hoping the luxurious accommodations he'll be giving will incentivise you to stay here longer. Or at least long enough for you to be a pawn of his schemes."
"Don't worry Lera, I can always burn this city to the ground to dissuade him of any notions of making me a pawn", Lera pales at what you've just said, ahh, your tongue is becoming loose like her, she's quite the bad influence.
You're escorted to what you think is the inn, though you could be fooled to thinking that its a palace of a lord, a four-story ornate building that towers over the market area. You enter in to be treated with the sight a large common room with hundreds of chairs and tables. The sound roaring sound of a hundred trade deals and business plans saturates your ear before going silent. A hundred merchants, captains, possibly pirates all stop to look at you. White of hair and dressed in black-menacing armour, you probably make for an exotic sight. You remember your experiences as a commander and walk down to the reception with the authority of a king, the men in your way step aside and bow halfway down to you. You hear them murmur, "Ābra hen Valyria" to themselves.
After being assigned a room by the receptionist, you walk three flights of stairs up to your room. Well, then you think you won't be lying when you say that walking through the brothels, slave markets, and other places of scum and villainy is worth the sight you see right now. A fountain at the centre of the room with a balcony looking out to the city. There's a huge King sized bed at the left side of the room, though you notice its the only bed there. The peach coloured bricks glisten as sunlight seeps into the windows and the balcony.
"so where to?" Lera asks.
You are currently located in the North Market.
Currently, you have 50 honours (Volantian currency) from selling your horse
You have a maximum of 5 actions in a day. Therefore you can only do 5 things to do in the vote below.
[] Look around the inn
----[] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[] Make deals with some merchants
----[] hire some sellswords
----[] Train Lera in the ways of combat
----[] Write in...
[] Go to...
----[] The Warrens
-----[] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
-----[] Kill some criminals
-----[] Write in...
----[] Temple District
-----[] Burn that temple to the ground
-----[] Mess with the priests (or they mess with you)
-----[] Write-ins...
----[] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
-----[] Make some deals with merchants
-----[] Buy a slave
-----[] Write-ins...
----[] Old Towne
-----[] Learn more about its black walls
-----[] Talk to a Triarch or even Maegyr
-----[] Learn more about Volantis from the words of its aristocracy
-----[] Write-ins...
----[] The Docks
-----[] Find a captain that will take you to Mereen
-----[] Buy a ship yourself ( Min price at around a few thousand honours)
-----[] Write-ins...
QM note: Hope you guys don't mind the dialogue heavy scenes, I've been trying to understand Jeanne's character these past few days and these Dialogue scenes help with her characterization. Also updates from here on out will not be regular due to the exams.
QM note: Hope you guys don't mind the dialogue heavy scenes, I've been trying to understand Jeanne's character these past few days and these Dialogue scenes help with her characterization.
Oh, I certainly don't mind. That was a great scene.
As for the choices...
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
Basically, taking two actions to train and equip Lera, so that she might take care of herself without us having to baby her too much - and I also think this could make good scenes in the next update. As for the rest, it's simply a matter of starting to search for a ship while listening to rumours. We don't need more companions, so I don't think slaves or sellswords are worth it, and if we're leaving, investing in local business don't seem useful. We're in no particular hurry though, hence not taking all the boat-related actions right away. The fighting pits are here for fun and profit.
Maybe we'll burn the temple just before leaving, if we're in a mischievous mood.
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
Good plan, Lera needs to be at least somewhat able to stab things. And she definitely needs supplies which is rather redundant for Jeanne if she can still subside completely on the mana she generates with her skill.
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
Adhoc vote count started by Mathen57 on May 21, 2019 at 11:45 AM, finished with 5 posts and 5 votes.
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
[X] Plan Prepare for the Journey
-[X] Look around the inn
----[X] Find some captains who're going to Mereen
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
-[X] Go to...
----[X] The Warrens
-----[X] Earn some money in the fighting pits ( and possibly make a name for your self.
----[X] Market Bridge/Bridgeton
-----[X] Buy some equipment ( Armour, weapons, supplies for you or for Lera)
-----[X] Listen to the rumours in the local tavern
"Well, I'll make you less useless than you are now." You speak with an imperious tone.
"Less useless? I'm your translator!" Lera shoots back incredulously.
"And there's no use for you if you're a dead translator, you've got to learn how to defend yourself Lera. So I won't have to look after you constantly." Your interpreter opens her mouth, but you don't give her the chance to speak. She squeaks when you grab her hand and walk out of the room, "Come, Lera" you demand. You're out of the room already as the sound of sloshing water from your room's fountain gradually fades.
"Where exactly are we going?" She asks with an air of annoyance.
"Fighting pits, you're going to watch me fight while I earn the money to buy your equipment."
" Do I even have a choice? I'm just a skinny girl; I can't fight! I'll be dead seconds into one. Besides, talking is all I'm good for, and you'll waste your time training me." You've already walked down 2 flights of stairs and nearing the lobby as she says this. You stopped abruptly and turned around to meet her in the eye. You're around the same height, which is convenient. Lera trembles a bit at your piercing yellow eyes as you put your hand on her shoulder.
"Listen here Lera, I will never be with you all the time to babysit you, not when you sleep, eat, or shit" Lera's face transforms into a rictus of disgust, "You'll have to learn to be independent! And so that I won't have to keep looking after you, but that's beside the point. Lera", You say as you close the distance between your face and hers," You asked for a life of freedom, didn't you? Sooner or later, you're going to have to fight for it, and if you don't know how to fight... well, you'll just become a slave again. I don't care if you're the slowest learner or if your instincts for combat is shit, When I'm done with you, you'll be able to hold your own against Dothraki ...Besides, how can I pass through the Bone Mountains if you're gonna be a useless sack of meat for the whole journey." Not that you care for her, of course, you can always find a new translator, it's just... troublesome for you to lose yours so early into the journey. Lera nods silently, and you grin.
"you're pretty good with speeches" she murmurs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You walk through the crumbling slums of the Warrens with Lera, the fighting pit you've heard is at the edge of this place of poverty, bordering Rat Town. Once you've reached the fighting pits, you're obstructed by an immense crowd all dressed in rags hollering and cheering as the sounds of clashing blades fill your ear. You push into the group, getting dirty looks, and as you reached the end of this mass of humanity you're treated with the sight of a large pit and the centre 2 fighters duelling, one holds a spear and the other holds a dagger.
You look to your left and see a couple of men in silk robes, sitting on this large bench placed in an area overlooking the entire PPit. You guess they're the ones coordinating this Pit; they look so out of place in this area of poverty and neglect you notice. One of the guards bars your way once you're within arms distance and one of the noblemen look to you with an appraising look.
"When can I fight?" you ask.
The noblemen speak as he looks back to the fight in the pits, the Spearmen is winning against the one wielding the dagger, which is no surprise at all, "You can fight now if you want." he says.
"How much will I earn?"
It takes time for the Nobleman to calculate before saying, "5 to 6 honours if you win."
You groan inwardly, you won't be getting a new sword and armour at this right, "That's too small, I want a fight that'll earn me a hundred."
The Nobleman pauses at that as the rest of the other noblemen stop to look at you, they probably think you're mad. The man nobleman you were speaking to opens then closes his mouth before finding the right words, "I've seen arrogant cocksure boys come to this ring to get slaughtered, though I've never seen a woman do it. Do you think you're invincible with that fancy sword and armour of yours? well think again, this a man's ring you're entering, not for adventurous girls like you." He makes a shooing motion with his hand, "move along" he says.
The guard moves to push you out, but you don't budge. Instead, you sweep his legs with your right feet. He trips and falls to the dirt, and as he frantically tries to get up, you crush his head with the same leg that tripped him. Blood and Gore decorates the ground he was on as his head is smashed like a watermelon, you hear Lera gasp in shock before whispering to herself, "poor man".
The noblemen LOOKS at you now, their faces in shock and fury at the sudden violence. "Give me a fight that's worth 500 hundred honours, and I'll be off", Now the noblemen stands up in indignation, shouting curses in that mysterious Valyrian language of theirs. The crowd stops to look at the commotion they're causing, and the fighting stops abruptly as both fighters look to the enraged noblemen.
They calm down eventually as one nobleman looks at you menacingly, "Oh I'll give you a fight worth 500 honours you suicidal minx, and if you lose, you'll be working for my brothel till the end of your days. If you survive, that is.."
You nod at that, smiling condescendingly, its time for a show. One of the nobles proceeds to shout, "Jiōragon pōntoma hen!" which leads to men of all shapes and sizes pouring into the Pit.
You look back to Lera in askance, she stares at the body of the guard and it takes her time to get out of her stupor. She gulps, "He said to get all of them in the pit, Ms.Jeanne" You nod. You recognise that Lera must be queasy with blood, you'll have to train that queasiness out of her sometime.
"Thank you, my lords", You bow mockingly before jumping into the Pit with St.Catherine in hand. There are 20 men and counting pouring into the Pit, armed with an eclectic array of weapons and armour. The men stopped flowing in, increasing the count to 26 opponents. They circle you, ready to charge at a moments notice.
"Ivestragī bisa vīlībagon rhaenagon!" You hear one of the noblemen shout and they come. The excitement of a fun fight fills your veins. When you fought the Dothraki a few days back you only fought to disable; now you'll be fighting to kill. You've been restrained for far too long; now you want to vent through killing. The only thing you're holding back now is your fire magic; everything else has been set loose.
You plan to utilize your vaunted A-Rank strength to slaughter them; there will be no mercy. The closest man to you is the Spearman with a couple of men trailing him; there are a few other men to your back coming towards you. To them, you might seem like you've been put into a situation of no escape. Thus they charge with confidence and coordination, which is broken the moment you take a step...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are Vamar Nargyreon, master of the spear and consecutive champion of the Pit. The Wandering Knight is what these onlookers call you, though it must either be your full plate armour and Burgonet that gave them the impression. In reality, You're no knight, just an unfortunate man who got caught up in this Gladiator business.
You feel exasperated that stuck-up nobleman Qohinarys had to create a wasteful spectacle to teach this silver-haired woman her place. You wonder if she has the purest and oldest of Valyrian blood coursing through her veins, it'd explain the white hair and her looks. She is quite beautiful the more you look at her, her face is absolutely smooth and has no blemishes, giving her a look of ethereal beauty. Though you could do without those sickly yellow eyes... You've never met anyone who's had yellow eyes before, is that physically possible you wonder? No matter, you and your fellow fighters would give her a good beating before Qohinarys make her his whore.
You and the other fighters approach her fast; you're sure she'll be skewered in moments from now, there no defending from this coordinated charge, and as you get close, your spear impales...nothing. She's disappeared, where is she!
Shhrrkkk!!
The sound comes from behind you, and you scramble to turn around. A sword sticks out from the man behind you; he drops his mace to grasp at the bloodied blade. Then the silver-haired Valyrian lifts her blade up, cutting the poor man from the sternum to the head, it brings out a shower of blood to the arena. As you sprint towards her, a man slashes at her with a halberd, and she promptly parries it, the Halberd is sent flying to the side when she hit it with her black-sword. In its flight, the Halberd impales one of the fighters as its wielder is cut down by the Silver-Haired Woman.
You look in horror as she disappears again, how fast is she?! you try to predict where she's likely to hit you until you hear the sound of blades clashing from behind. The group that was with your Dagger-wielding opponent are, to your horror, in different forms of dismemberment. The Dagger wielder looks petrified to see a hand sticking out of his chest, its wrist holding his heart. The woman closes her fist, crushing the heart as blood sprays everywhere, and the Dagger-wielder falls. The crowd is silent now.
You realise that you can't fight this woman, this monster, she is too strong and too fast, and some of the men around you have also realised that. They tremble and shake, taking slow steps backwards, moving away from the carnage in front of them.
She moves on from group to group, slaughtering them with a relaxed smile, the same sort of smile you'd see women wear when the hot bath they're in dissipates all their stress.
She walks - no glides - to an opponent, he swings his longsword for a vertical slash before the woman's sword blur. The longsword's top half falls to the ground as its bearer stares in shock; then the woman caves his head in with a punch. You hear the sound of bending steel and cracked skulls before he falls to the ground. You cringe at that.
Dead men litter the Pit as blood decorates every nook and cranny of this accursed arena. For how can it not be cursed when a monster like her made the decision to fight here, out of all other places.
You and the group of men around you are all that is left. It's strange, 10 minutes before you would've killed each other, now a sort of silent camaraderie is formed thanks to a common fear. You huddle together, weapons pointed at her and waiting for her to move.
She wipes her bloody gauntlet with the rags of one of the dead. Her cape is caked in blood and sways brilliantly. She turns towards you and your group as everyone tenses up.
She walks towards your group sword at her hand with that fucking satisfied smile of hers. Eventually, one of the men near you drops his weapons and falls to his knees with his hands at the back of his head. You and everyone else eventually follows suit, begging for mercy.
She stops at your crouched form and inspects you. She raises her sword for a cutting strike, and you feel numb. For death to come to you while you're kneeling, how pathetic, how can you call yourself a man? You recount every frustration, every errand, every loose-end in your life, and you feel despair and frustration. For your life to end now is...You breathe and close your eyes. Valar Morghulis, it was bound to come anyway.
You open your eyes and stare up; you will not die with your head down, you could do that at least. That damn black sword of hers glistens as the afternoon sun blinds you, you have to squint to look into the sickly eyes of your killer. The sword descends...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"STOP" You hear Lera shout. St.Catherine stops a millimetre away from the gladiator's nose. You look at Lera, annoyed, as the fighters open their eyes. You walk to the side of the Arena where Lera looks over and walk to her. The crowd stares whilst you walk as the rest of the gladiators scamper back to the gates they came out off.
"Why did you want me to show mercy Lera? They're fighters; they know they'll die sooner or later."
"Because they surrendered Ms.Jeanne. That should be enough for mercy."
That line makes you feel a bit annoyed. You withhold a grimace as you jump up from the arena to the spectator's area, gaining gasps from the crowd.
You place St.Catherine on your shoulders and walk to Lera, "You're foolish if you think you'll be given mercy when you surrender." You narrow your eyes, and Lera returns it with a look of her own, though she's trembling, she holds her ground and keeps eye contact with you. You can't help but be impressed by that, a mundane staring down a servant.
"Yes, but, I couldn't stand to see you kill men needlessly. You wanted me to watch and learn, right? And also earn us money? Well, you've already accomplished both, the Old Bloods over there have probably pissed their pants, so you could get more money from them. And I've already learned a lot by watching you fight. "
You notice the crowd have created a distance between you two, but you don't care about that. Lera's being petulant, another thing to fix when you're training her.
She speaks again, "Their deaths weren't needed."
"These were gladiators, criminals forced to fight each other for entertainment, you think they care about your bleeding heart? Do you believe your compassion would turn them to good honest men?"
"No, but at least they'll still have the chance to change. Killing them needlessly and without good reason would be a waste of the good their worth."
You can't believe it. For your translator to have a weak heart...You sigh.
"Fine if that's what you want. " You say softly, tch, "But if you stop me again..."
"I know."
You almost roll your eyes at that, "Let's go get our money."
You look towards the nobles grouped up on the bench overlooking the Pit. Their servants come to you, holding stash after stash of honours for you, as the noblemen shake in fear, wanting you gone immediately
You look towards the silent and horrified crowd around you, and you have to restrain the immediate urge to hit yourself. You weren't exactly subtle...sigh, everyone's going to hear of this.
You walk through the crowd as the part to give you space. You hear the crowd whisper, "Timpa Morghon" to themselves. You ask Lera what it that mean after you're far away from the crowd, She tells you that it says "White death". ughhh
+ 2000 honours earned. You have a total of 2050 honours, and you'll surely become the talk of the town. Whatever magi there are in this city will surely hear of this. How troublesome...
After the fight in the Pit, you and Lera rest at the local tavern on the market bridge. The place stinks of whores, bandits, and unhygienic men, which is why this place is perfect. All sorts of people come here, and with them, stories and rumours of great variety. You're hoping that some of these rumours would hint you at any servant or magi activity, it wouldn't do for you to flaunt your servant power uninformed of the consequences of doing so.
You sit one of the enclosed booth sequestered in the corner of the tavern. No one will take notice of you here whilst you eavesdrop on the ongoing conversations. Lera orders whatever swill they have masquerading as drinks here and the barmaid leaves.
You get to work, prana moving around your spiritual body as your circuits fire up, your ears twitch a bit due to the electrical activity and the sounds of the world are made clear to you. You hear the squeaks of the rats under the floorboards, and the sounds above you are...unpleasant. After a bit of waiting you see a couple of rugged men armed with leather armour and curved swords sit down on the barstools. You focus and their dialogue is made clear to you.
Rumour roll = 1D100 => 57
"Say," one of them asks the other, "have you heard that about what old man Malaquo is doing?"
"No," the other says, his accent heavy and has a Spanish flair to you, "tell me ñuha lēkia."
"Well he seems to have picked up this silver-haired girl from out of nowhere, she's hard to miss with her black armour and cape. I heard he gave her the best rooms in the Merchant House at fishmonger square. You think he's gonna do something to her?"
"Probably if he goes that far. Though I wonder why a Triarch would take an interest at some random traveller?"
"Could be the white hair..."
"Could be."
At this point, the barmaid comes to serve you drinks, you raise your cup to Lera, and she raises hers too you, though she sports a blank look, must be thinking about something of import. You take a sip and immediately you want to throw it all out, to get this abomination out of your mouth before it infects you with its toxin. But you drink anyways, to stay inconspicuous. Why is Lera looking at you with a raised eyebrow? Are you grimacing? You better not be grimacing? Cause that would totally make you conspicuous.
"If you don't like the drink Ms.Jeanne I could-"
"It's fine", you interrupt.
"are you sure?"
"yes" as you get back to drinking this piss of a drink.
"If my lady says so" You're too focused on the drink to correct Lera's way of addressing you.
There's a lapse in conversation as you attempt to hear the discussions occurring in this establishment.
Rumour Roll 1D100 => 24
And they're all either about small talk, scandals with the wives, and something very vulgar. Though you do hear something of interest happening in the Iron Islands, the man you heard it from was dead drunk and slurring his words so you can't tell, something about Krakens he says.
"Ms.Jeanne" Lera addresses you; your focused hearing makes her sound like she's shouting at your ear. You come from your eavesdropping trance before looking at her. She seems quite pensive, and her body is all tensed and closed up. Her arms are crossed and rubbing each other gently as she looks downwards before meeting your eyes. "A question if you may."
"Go ahead," you say indifferently
"About what happened in the pit, do fights always end up like that?"
"Oh no no, I was having a bit of fun," You say, your attention is elsewhere, violating the privacies of the patrons here.
Lera's eyes widen a bit, "That was fun to you?" she says incredulously.
"Yeah, It was nice not restraining myself in a fight like with the Dothraki a few days back. So I consider today a sort of release."
"Jeanne...you're really, really strong." She says, emphasising every word. Bah, she doesn't know the half of it. Lera shakes her head and slaps her cheeks "I'm getting sidetracked here...where was I? oh...You know, just by being with you for the past few days, I can tell that you're a bit off."
"oh?"
"You're quite brutal sometimes, but you're also quite nice. You've treated me with care, and you've protected me these past few days. Heck, you're even taking the time to train me, which confuses me to be honest, since I have two different images of you in my head that I can't find any connection between each other. You're a robust, determined warrior who tends to be cruel, but you've also shown restraint during the fight with the Dothraki and took a slave like me in your care. At first, I thought it's because you found my translation skills to be useful, but now you're taking the time to train me and see that I survive this journey of yours. It's almost as if you care about my wellbeing, which is a totally different message I got from you when we first met."
"Get to the point Lera, don't waste my time." You wonder where she's going with this.
"You weren't always like this before, were you?"
"Like what?"
"Cruel, vicious, sadistic. You were kinder once upon a time as if there was once a version of you that didn't kill guards because they inconvenienced you, or took pleasure in killing other men forced to fight. Like, it's hard to explain, but it feels like you're trying to act like a cruel, no-nonsense killer, yet there are still parts of you that don't fit that persona. "
Troublesome, even now the vestiges of HER is still present in your core. For a mundane like Lera to see that is annoying you a bit. As if you could never forget the days when you were once a saint, parts of her still influences your decisions, which is frustrating. To think you were done with being HER.
"So, if you're willing to answer this. What horrifying thing happened to you to turn you into the person I see right now..."
[] You're too nosy for your own good, I told you before, you're a translator, not a friend. Besides we've only known each other for the past few days.
[] War, war happened (What specific thing about the War haunts Jeanne right now?)
[] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[]Write in...
The Storekeeper in front of you is a balding tan man, with broad shoulders, and wrinkly skin. Though he seems to have aged with grace, looking elegant despite the dirty clothes he wears.
What to buy for Lera...
-[] Weapons in stock
--[] Dagger (10 Honours)
--[] Broadsword (20 Honours)
--[] Longsword (40 Honours)
--[] Short Spear (35 Honours)
-[] armour in stock
--[] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
--[] Chainmail (60 Honours)
--[] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
What to buy in general
--[] Food (how many days worth?) (5 honours per days worth)
--[] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) ( 20 honours)
--[] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
--[] Write in... (any other kinds of supply?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once you've come back to the Merchant House Inn with a sack of equipment you and Lera ask around the lobby for any captains going to Mereen.
Captain Roll 1D100 => 59
Luckily you find one captain who's planning to go to Mereen, though the issue is is that most of his accommodations are full and that you may have to pay a more significant than usual sum of Honours for the rooms due to their increasing demand. You ask him if you could think about it and he nods, he tells you that his ship leaves for Mereen in 4 days and he hopes to see you there.
You and Lera leave and walk upstairs to your rooms. You look at Lera holding her sack of equipment as thoughts of how to train her comes to find. Bah, You'll figure it out as you go. You've reached the third flight of stairs before abruptly stopping. You sense something very wrong in your room. You tell Lera that you sense something is wrong and for her to keep her distance between herself and your room's door. You focus your senses before a clear image of what's going on in your room comes to you. Your eyes widen in shock before narrowing in determination. You unsheathe St.Catherine as you stand in front of the door, ready to fight a fatal fight. There is a servant in your room, and from the feel of it, that servant is right on your huge balcony.
What do you do?
[] Kick the door down and Charge
[] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[] Tell Lera to bring some guards here
[] Write in...
----[X] Train Lera in the ways of combat
QM: This post was brought to you by a school shutdown, some of my exams are moved to next week luckily so I found the time to do this.
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
Gear wise the only real downside to the plate armor is its eyegrabbing I think
Swords are a bitch to learn though
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
[X] Ask Lera what weapon she feels would suit her most
-[X] If she doesn't know, buy a dagger and a longsword
[X] Buy a chainmail
[X] Buy enough food for 6 days
[X] Buy camping equipment
That will be worth 160 honors. I think we might as well ask Lera what kind of weapon she would want to learn, but if she doesn't have any idea - which wouldn't be too surprising - might as well pick up a dagger and a sword to cover our bases (maybe even the short spear?). Picked up chainmail for armor, I'm not too sure about plate being the best pick for someone not used to armours and about to go on a long journey, with potentially lots of walking (unless someone better informed than I would say that it wouldn't be such a big impediment? I know plate armour are a lot less cumbersome than what popular consciousness usually imagine, but I'm not sure it's to the point of being practical for an untrained girl for long walks). A little food and camping equipment seems par for the course.
-[X] Plan Spearmaster
--[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
--[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
--[X] Food (1 Week) (5 honours per days worth)
--[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
--[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
--[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
--[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
Adhoc vote count started by Gigaplex on May 23, 2019 at 10:33 AM, finished with 4 posts and 4 votes.
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
-[X] Plan Spearmaster --[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger) --[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather) --[X] Dagger (10 Honours) --[X] Short Spear (35 Honours) --[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
Buy all the weapons, see what sticks. We have the money for it.
Well, except the broadsword. Lera's too skinny to go for that one.
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Ask Lera what weapon she feels would suit her most
-[X] If she doesn't know, buy a dagger and a longsword
[X] Buy enough food for 6 days
[X] Buy camping equipment
That will be worth 160 honors. I think we might as well ask Lera what kind of weapon she would want to learn, but if she doesn't have any idea - which wouldn't be too surprising - might as well pick up a dagger and a sword to cover our bases (maybe even the short spear?). Picked up chainmail for armor, I'm not too sure about plate being the best pick for someone not used to armours and about to go on a long journey, with potentially lots of walking (unless someone better informed than I would say that it wouldn't be such a big impediment? I know plate armour are a lot less cumbersome than what popular consciousness usually imagine, but I'm not sure it's to the point of being practical for an untrained girl for long walks). A little food and camping equipment seems par for the course.
Contrary to popular belief, chainmail was more or less just as heavy as well-made platemail. My understanding is that, while it offered a more natural range of mobility, it was often more cumbersome due to finicky weight distribution and is also more difficult to maintain. Its sole practical upside is that it uses less metal and requires less labor to make, and is therefore much cheaper upfront.
In this context, it'll also attract less attention, since you really need to be rich to buy plate armor. Lera will totally get attention just for being our companion once word gets around, though, so YMMV; I think the extra protection outweighs the extra attention, personally. That said, gambesons were often worn under chainmail or full plate anyway, so there's no reason why we couldn't buy a gambeson for now and train her to wear full plate over it later.
Contrary to popular belief, chainmail was more or less just as heavy as well-made platemail. My understanding is that, while it offered a more natural range of mobility, it was often more cumbersome due to finicky weight distribution and is also more difficult to maintain. Its sole practical upside is that it uses less metal and requires less labor to make, and is therefore much cheaper upfront.
In this context, it'll also attract less attention, since you really need to be rich to buy plate armor. Lera will totally get attention just for being our companion once word gets around, though, so YMMV; I think the extra protection outweighs the extra attention, personally. That said, gambesons were often worn under chainmail or full plate anyway, so there's no reason why we couldn't buy a gambeson for now and train her to wear full plate over it later.
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
Voting lock, here comes our first servant encounter!
Adhoc vote count started by Mathen57 on May 24, 2019 at 3:17 AM, finished with 8 posts and 7 votes.
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
-[X] Plan Spearmaster --[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger) --[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather) --[X] Food (1 Week) (5 honours per days worth) --[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies) --[X] Dagger (10 Honours) --[X] Short Spear (35 Honours) --[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
[X] Open the door slowly and talk to the servant (interrogate rather)
[X] Food (1 Week/35 honours) (5 honours per days worth)
[X] Camping equipment (includes a tent, cooking bowl and such) (20 honours)
[X] A custom helmet to cover your white hair (price varies)
[X] Dagger (10 Honours)
[X] Longsword (40 Honours)
[X] Short Spear (35 Honours)
[X] Leather Gambeson + Leather Trousers (35 Honours)
[X] Full Plate ( 200 honours)
Troublesome, even now the vestiges of HER is still present in your core. For a mundane like Lera to see that is annoying you a bit. As if you could never forget the days when you were once a saint, parts of her still influence your decisions, which is frustrating. To think you were done with being HER.
"So, if you're willing to answer this. What horrifying thing happened to you to turn you into the person I see right now..."
[X] Betrayal (Your memories of your burning are possibly distorted, no small thanks to Gilles de Rais in his attempts to turn you into an Avenger)
You mull over Lera's words, staring intensely into your cup. It's hard to recount the events that led to your burning given that Madman wanted a vengeful version of you. You were created by his desires and the power of the Grail, so it's quite hard to distinguish which feeling are yours and which ones were created by him to turn you into an Avenger. Questions for another time you guess, right now the question you're supposed to be answering is Lera's, that nosy translator of yours. So how do you go about it? You can't just say you were turned into this by a demented sorcerer, that you were once a saint that became a villain after your death, killed and abandoned by your people. Well, maybe you could tell her of your betrayal, it's one of the things that still fuels your hate against humanity and God. You don't care that much if the Madman had a hand in making that grudge worse than it is, right now at this very moment the anger you feel is burning and raw. It threatens to break your mask of civility and turn you into the monster he wanted you to become, it's a good thing your short time in Chaldea gave you...new perspectives.
"I was betrayed, Lera." You say solemnly, swirling the cup in front of you.
"Betrayed..."
You look up to her and meet her eyes, "I was betrayed by the people I saved. Left for dead and was accused of heresy and murder." You leave it at that.
"Oh," Lera says dumbly, but your mind is too focused on the events that took place before summer of 1431 started. Maybe it's because of your nature as an Avenger or if it is because of Gilles's doing, but what happened on that May Afternoon still feels fresh. You can count precisely how many bruises you got from the rocks thrown at you, you remember the beatings you had by your captors, but most of all, you still feel that searing pain, of your flesh falling off you as you melt. You will never forgive the nobles that refused to pay your ransom, nor the false bishop who decreed your death a holy act, you'll never forgive them, you'll burn them ALL! Your mind feels a combination of sharp pains and numbness, you're starting to see red now, and you faintly hear the cup you're holding beginning to crack under pressure. Voices of condemnation fill your head until it's the only thing you hear, Lera's faint calls fails to penetrate your dazed state as the world around you distorts more and more.
Visions of the flames, the seductive thought of incinerating the world, and that great Dragon of yours: Fafnir. Oh, how easy and fun will it be just to KILL KILL KILL UNTIL THERE'S NO MORE. IT'S NOT CRUEL, RATHER IT IS JUSTICE! JUSTICE AGAINST MANKIND, THE SAME MANKIND THAT WRONGED YOU, THAT DESECRATED YOU, THAT HUMILIATED YOU! RED! RED IS ALL YOU SEE AS THE VOICES GETS LOUDER AND LOUDER. YOU WANT IT ALL TO JUST STOP, YOU'LL BURN THEM ALL TO MAKE IT STOP!
A Dragon's growl cuts your train of thought. You look up to see Fafnir's scaled form, in its hands, is a golden sphere that is about 3/4ths his enormous size. You look around you and realize that you're not in the bar anymore. Blue fluorescent tulips cover the ground around you as you look at the still night sky. This land, this world feels, familiar...You can't really put a finger on it. It's like you've been here before, giving you the weirdest sense of Deja Vu. Ah, you realize, This place must have some importance to HER it seems since YOU don't recall being here. Though why you remember it in the first place, you don't know, maybe she's been here as a heroic spirit in some Grail War? That would explain it, but you're left even more confused... Shouldn't you only remember HER memories when she was alive rather than her memories as a heroic spirit?
Fafnir draws his head closer to you, its sharp eyes and broad snout encompasses your sight. You stop thinking and stare at him. You approach him, and you can't help but to smile and rub his head soothingly. Fafnir...you feel a sort of affection for the greedy dragon, he who accepted your call to be your strength in the French Singularity. That reliable dragon that almost gave you France's destruction. You're confident he had a good fight battling one of Chaldea's servants, but you still feel guilty for failing in that Singularity. As if his death was in vain.
Though something itches at the back of your mind, a name you think, you can't recall easily. Memories of another war you never fought gradually surges into the surface, a war of red and black. There's something more to this Fafnir you realize as fragmented memories slowly seeps in. This dragon wasn't Fafnir once, was he? Ah, You think you got it, this dragon was once human you believe, in your head the name Sie--
"Jeanne!" Lera's voices snap you out of your ephemeral dream. You look at Lera's horror-stricken face, her shirt full of wet stains. You look down to the hand previously holding the cup, only to see a mess of mangled wood. A couple of the bar patrons are staring weirdly at you, but the rest go on with their conversations.
Lera appears to have calmed down once she notices you looking around the bar. "You had me scared Ms.Jeanne," She tells you, exasperation marked on her face, "You're eyes looked glazed, real glassy like and you weren't responding at all. I didn't know asking about about such an event would bring such a reaction." She bows down on her seat, "Please forgive me! I was being inconsiderate."
"It's alright", you finally speak, your voice is soft, and your head feels light. " There's no need for an apology. "
Lera seems unconvinced, " Betrayal can do many things to a person, for me to remind you of it, is wrong of me..."
"It's alright," you say again. An awkward silence sets and both of you eventually leave the bar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" So Lera, what kind of fighter do you think yourself as?" You say, the awkward silence from before has dissipated as you and Lera discuss weapons.
" I don't know Ms. Jeanne" She says, looking quite lost, her eyes dart from weapon rack to weapon rack.
"We'll buy the dagger, sword, and the spear," You tell the shopkeep, he nods and goes to the armoury to bring you your requested items. "Oh, and buy her the leather Gambeson and The Plate armour." You say.
"Does my lady need anything else?" the shopkeep replies with his gravelly voice.
"Ms.Jeanne," Lera whispers, "You should get yourself a new helm to cover your white hair. Maybe a custom one to your liking? Whichever the case, your hair will catch a lot of attention, the attention we don't need."
"show me a selection helms shopkeep" He nods and leads to a rack with an assortment of helmets.
- []
- []
- []
- [] Ask him to create a custom helmet (Insert your image) (200 honours, may take a few days)
You open the door slowly and look towards the balcony. The fountain in front of you distorts the servant's figure, and you have to walk around to get a better a look.
" You know," you say, " A bit of greeting has never hurt anyone."
"yes" you hear the servant speak, its voice has this boyish yet feminine sound that seems familiar to you. My my, what's with you and familiar things today..."But if I came to you anywhere else that would've brought unneeded attention. At least, this is more discreet. And don't worry yourself, Servant, I come here in peace." The figure turns around to face you as you finally get a better look. An androgynous face, thick black armour, and raven dark holy swords with red etchings. She stands with perfect regality, wielding authority with the naturalness of breathing, like an ideal king. Yes, you've met her before, in Chaldea, mainly during Christmas while you were...little, so to say.
There is no doubt, the servant before is.
The Dark Tainted Tyrant, Artoria Alter...
The king nods at you, "Avenger."
You nod back, "Saber..."
" I trust that there are no mundanes to hear us?"
" I have a translator near the stairs, I told her to stay put."
"Good, how long have you been in this world, Avenger?" Artoria inquires.
Wait, world? "6 days give or take, and what do you mean by world? You make it sound like we're not on Earth." Though that would explain many things, but also create more questions...
"That's cause we're not, Avenger, have you seen a map? You'd notice how different the continents are to ours." Well yes but the maps could just be zoomed in, you thought that maybe this was the bronze age, but that doesn't explain the sights you see in this city...the plate armour, the ships, that huge black wall. Maybe She is right. "I also got confirmation from a Counter Guardian that this planet is not Earth. The specific details are lost on me, but it boils down to the lack of the planet's will. How that counter guardian could know that is beyond me, but essentially there is no Gaia nor Alaya here, this planet doesn't even have a will of its own to survive and protect itself. It just is. Yes, there are magical beings in this world, but they are few and far between and the seasons here are peculiar. It could explain why magic here is so uncontrollable to the locals, but that is the gist of it."
" And how could a Counter Guardian be summoned here?"
"Easy, as a heroic spirit of the Alter Ego class" Your eyes widen a that, there are more extra classes than Ruler and Avenger?! "She was summoned by the Grail here though none of the servants I asked know its true location. And it seems that she's taken upon herself to do her duty as a counter guardian, so I suggest you don't pull your Dragon Witch act and burn a kingdom or two. The moment she views you as a threat to the status quo of this world, you'll be promptly killed. Rider and I learnt it the hard way."
"Is that why you ended up here in Volantis? to hide from her?"
"No, a king doesn't run nor retreat, Avenger, unless he wants his subject to view him as a weakling. No Rather, I am in Volantis in search of a ship to this Western Continent, to a city called Sunspear. If the words of Alter Ego rings true, then the Holy Grail isn't located here, in this continent." She walks up to, the pieces of her black armour clinks, hitting each other. She stops once she's within arms distance of you. "Which is why I'm here in the first place. To give you a proposition. An allied servant gives me a higher chance of surviving this war and obtaining the Grail, and there is no need for us to fight eventually too, 12 servants of different classes were summoned here, 1 is dead, so we only need to kill 6 more. We've known each other before during our time in Chaldea, so you don't need to fear anything malicious from me. So what do you say, Jeanne?" Artoria brings an open hand towards you, waiting for you to shake it.
What questions do you have for Artoria? (Servant identities, how she ended up here, why does she want the Grail, what happened to Eider, or how did she find you?)
[] Write in...
Do you abandon your trip to Mereen to follow Saber's quest for the Grail?
-[] Shake her hand.
-[] Leave it.
-[] After she answers your questions.
How do explain Saber's prescence to Lera?
--[] She's a friend from long ago
--[] Reveal your Servant nature and the Holy Grail War
--[] Write in...
Are Alter Ego a FGO thing? At the very least, this one seems like bad news.
Anyway, I'm... not quite sure how to proceed. Going after the Grail is a goal, I suppose, though I'm not quite sure of what Jeanne would get out of it - beside not getting attacked right now instead, I mean. And her and Saber Alter seem pretty relaxed with each other, so I guess there's some sort of trust between them? Damn it, I'm going to have to wiki things again.
