[X] Investigate a Master's house.
-[X] Rider
You stretch and hop to your feet. You could talk to Caster some more or try to find Deis and see what she's doing, or even read one of the books you picked up, but you'd rather go out. And since Caster was able to tell you so much about the Servants … well, if Rider is the weakest, you might as well start with her and her incompetent Master. Maybe you'll find something fun, or even learn who she is … or maybe you won't find anything at all. You slip out of the room and creep through the building. Once you leave, you feel a layer of magic settling over everything, and wonder if it's something Caster is doing or if it's what Deis is planning. Invisible, you sneak past the few monks who are outside, apparently unable to sense the magic around them, and walk through the gate as you return to visibility.
"Going out again, are you?" You stop and frown at Sasaki as he appears beside you. He grins at you when he sees your expression. "Oh? Is something the matter?"
"No," you say, shaking your head. "It's just that you didn't startle me. Souichirou opened a door and I didn't notice him until he said something, but even though I shouldn't have been able to know where you were, you didn't startle me as much as he did." You glance back into the temple before shrugging. "And, yes, I'm going out again." His grin fades and he looks up at the reddening sky.
"Ah. Yes, he is quite talented … and perhaps you shouldn't relax so much in a witch's temple." His grin reappears as you glance at him from the corner of your eye. "In any case, this is for you." He holds out a small bead, very dark red and made of some kind of crystal. You take it from him and stare at it. "If that shatters, it means things are going poorly here, and Caster wishes your assistance." You wonder if it also lets her track where you are, or listen or watch what you're doing, but it doesn't really matter - it's not stuck to you, after all, and you can put it somewhere if you need to be out of contact for whatever reason you come up with.
"Alright. I'll keep an eye on it." You don't have any pockets, since you so rarely need them, but the bead fits well enough in the bow at your neck for now. As long as you don't get into a fight, anyway. "I'll see you later." He bows his head as you jump forward, easily landing halfway down the stairs before leaping again and flying leisurely toward your destination. You mask yourself once more, just to be cautious, and examine the shops on the way - many are grocery stores or restaurants, and you're rather glad you didn't break in over here. A lot of the buildings are older, and it doesn't feel so … human. Human traces are all over the place, but it's not newly-made buildings with nothing but the stain of humanity on them - it feels more like home or Gensokyo than Mitakihara or Mid-Childa, and is just a tad more comfortable.
You reach Rider's lair quickly, even at your slow speed, but you don't study the house immediately. Instead, you simply float higher and stare up the hill. Yes, that's definitely the house Caster identified as belonging to Archer and Rin Tohsaka, and your estimation of her capabilities as a mage lower dramatically. That she can't even locate an inferior mage so near to her own doorstep -! You sigh and turn back to your target. An L-shaped house, dark and closed-in, but with far too many windows - it seems to have more windows than walls! If it weren't for that, it really would be a great building to commandeer … well, that and the fact that you're already staying at the temple, and you'd need a good reason to leave that won't make Caster think you're planning to attack her. You tap your lips for a moment, then shrug and put the bead away before transforming into your bat form and swooping down one of the chimneys. It's blocked up, though, and you climb back out and into the second one, snarling to yourself. It's open, however, and you slowly clamber into a dark room - a dining room, it seems. The house is moderately well-furnished, and you note with approval the heavy curtains over the windows. Even if they aren't particularly necessary right now, you appreciate the touch.
Drifting silently into the next room, as unlit as the dining room, you glide to a halt. Standing in one corner is a long-haired woman in a small black dress - she looks much like a grown-up Lutecia or Patchouli would, although she has a strange blindfold on. She feels more like a youkai than a human, and you wonder if she's a participant in the Grail War. Caster did say Rider was female, after all …. You carefully drift over the couch and through a short hall into the entryway. Someone upstairs is muttering irritatedly, and you float up to watch the boy grumble on the bed from the doorway. You pass a couple rooms along the way, both empty of inhabitants.
"Stupid Sakura, staying over with Emiya, making me cook my own food! Huh, what are they doing over there, anyway? Hahaha …he wouldn't. No, he's too soft. Hahaha!" He rolls off the bed, eyes blazing, and throws a pillow against the wall. "That damn Tohsaka! Mocking me in front of everyone! I'll show her … when I have her, all to myself, she'll beg and plead … hahaha! Hihihi! Soon, soon. I just have to follow Grandfather's plan …." He rants and raves for several minutes, fantasizing about how he'll win the Grail, until he clutches his stomach and snarls, throwing another pillow before stomping down the stairs. "Rider! Get me something to eat! Make it fast!" You roll your tiny bat eyes - he's certainly taking the word 'Servant' to heart - and ignore the fool Master and his interesting Servant. There's a staircase leading down, and that means a basement! The door is out of the way, you probably wouldn't have known it was there if it hadn't been open, and you silently float down into a large stone room lined with small alcoves, almost a catacomb, and another stairway leading down in the middle of the room. It's not bad at all, really, although it could definitely use some touching up - a bed, some nice rugs … just some civilized amenities. You follow the other staircase down into another catacomb-like room, but this one is smaller and has most of the floor sunk a little compared to the landing for the stairs. It's almost like a dock or a pool, but some odd worm-like creatures are roaming about in the sunken area. You float over them and watch them scurry and flop about. Some seem almost armored, with large fangs and horns, but others are fleshy and phallic.
"Admiring my pets?" You slowly turn toward the voice, tired of being snuck up on, and stare at the speaker, a small, bald, wrinkled old man. He's looking down into the pit, not up at you, so - "Oh, I don't know where you are, exactly. Your invisibility is quite good … I might be able to locate you, if I put the effort into it, but it iss enough to know that something made a small hole in the house's defenses, and that you are now in this room." He shakes his head. "Whoever you are, you are quite brazen to enter my home and sneak through it. You are no Servant, however, so I doubt we have any business in kind. If you do not wish to speak, then leave. If you do not leave, I will have to take my survival into my own hands." Even though he doesn't know who you are, he's willing to threaten combat? Either he's confident in his ability to at least put up a good fight, or he's bluffing. Hm.
What do you do?
[ ] Destroy the house.
[ ] Kill the inhabitants.
[ ] Talk to the strange old man.
- About what?
[ ] Leave.
- [ ] Explore the city.
- [ ] Investigate a Master's house.
- - Pick Saber, Archer, or Berserker.
- [ ] Attack a Master's house.
- - Pick Saber, Archer, or Berserker.
[ ] Other?
DM Note: For those picking Destroy or Kill, a follow-up action would be helpful. I will try to get something on Caster up in the next twenty-four hours. *Crosses Fingers*