Ching
The pirate turned her attention to the "Madman", giving him a nod in acknowledgement. "A pleasure. I am Ching Shih, known as the Harlot Admiral and the Terror of the South China Sea." She looked in the direction that the Lancer Caesar fled in. "Curious that several versions of the same individual have appeared in this location. By the end of this we're going to have a Caesar for all seven Servant classes."
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
al-Hazred
The scholar shook his head and smiled. "Sir, I have some bad news for you if that's the case. Or, perhaps it is good news? I suppose only time will tell. And I beseech you to trust me, Cadmus, that I am here to help. For much too long these Caesares have kept me from getting out, for some reason or another."
He flipped his spear around, then tapped it on the ground a few times.
"You are... almost right, Ching.. Shih. From my reckoning, and from what I have seen, there are 6 Caesares in total, one for each class barring Assassin. Apparently, the Grail is willing to put him into ever class container barring that one, though the reasoning for that is beyond me. I am a scholar of ancient civilizations, not of Roman history."
Many of his wounds had now disappeared. It still wasn't immediately recognizable how he was healing them.
Any one got Eye of the Mind (True) or Clairvoyance?
Agrippa
"Six Caesars? That's positively ridiculous. For what purpose would the Grail want to summon the same man 6 distinct times?" Agrippa yelled out, moving closer to the front of the group. She was tapping her foot irritatedly.
"One was already too many. Then two, then three, and now six?" she groaned, shaking her head. She seemed to share Rick's sentiment.
Thahab
Something about this 'madman' seemed to perturb Thahab. The boy now clutched Jeanne's robes tightly. His calming aura was now emanating from him unconsciously, as if his body was trying to calm him down.
Al-Hazred cast him a quick, inquisitive look, but then looked back at the group.
G was here - 2/9/24
Ching
"It doesn't matter why it is summoning multiples of the same person, it will be dealt with all the same," Ching said with a shrug. "Give me an open enough area and I can use my Noble Phantasm to wipe all six of them out."
I checked every Servant profile that is still listed in the Discussion thread. Not a one has those skills.
Cadmus
"Well, we're here now and would prefer not to delay anymore, " Cadmus asked. "What plan do you have that we should trust you for?"
Rick
"If we're lucky, maybe he couldn't be summoned as that class because good old boy Brutus was already here," Rick said.
In Perpetual Finality
Gabby
Gabby blinked at al-Harzed, pausing a moment in silence to ruminate on his words.
"...Well... Why the frick are they doing that, though? Did you tick them off or something?"
Günther
Günther had woken up upon entering the room and was silently, groggily listening into the conversation.
Sorry, I know this post sucks, but I'm kinda short on time and inspo. Hopefully following posts will be better.
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Aaliyah
"Okay, so that means you know the way out of here, right?" Aaliyah interjected wanted to get right to the point rather than sit here and chat all day.
Jeanne
Despite the calming aura coming from Thahab, Jeanne subtly positioned herself further in front of her little Master. She elected to simply listen to the conversation for now while watching al-Hazared.
Jeanne does have Revelation which is pretty close.
edited 30th Apr '16 3:09:49 PM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
al-Hazred
Abdullah raised his fist triumphantly, but then frowned and lowered it. "While I do like your enthusiasm.. this place is mostly corridors so open areas are rather.. rare."
He pulled a small bundle of papers, presumably torn from other books, out of his voluminous robes. He flipped through a couple at a time. As he did so, he thought he might as well respond.
"Maybe it's because they don't like me skulking around in their territory, maybe its because I know the way out and I won't tell them. I'll tell you though, but you must swear to me you'll keep it a secret."
At last, he found the paper he had been searching for. He revealed it to the Chaldeans quickly, and the more quick witted of them would see a cylindrical diagram overlain with numerous spirals.
"If the notes I've found are correct, the exit should be, unexpectedly, at the bottom of this labyrinth. The Grail should be there too."
Jeanne's Revelation subtly guided her eyes towards his wounds. They appeared to be slowly knitting themselves together, with small strands of flesh quickly growing and weaving together to replace the wounded portions. It was definitely unnatural.
Huangdi
"Is that the extent of your fighting ability? Bombarding something with your Noble Phantasm until it stops moving? How unrefined." the Emperor scoffed, crossing his arms.and turning his head away as if in disgust.
"It is not surprising, of course, that something like that is the extent of your planning capacity."
Agrippa
""That... yes, I suppose the existence of Brutus would make Caesar ill-suited for the Assassin role. But what of Archer, or Berserker? He is ill-suited for a bow, and as far as I am aware he was a sane, if not very wise, old man." Agrippa mused. She flexed the fingers of one of her hands, then clenched it.
"If Brutus was summoned already, that would make our job a whole deal easier."
G was here - 2/9/24
Ching
"By the time I was thirty I was in control of most of the criminal element in South China," Ching explained calmly to the emperor. Calm, yet full of furious anger. "I crushed militias from villages that thought they could resist me, I have fought and defeated the most powerful navies of my era, and scared the Empire into offering amnesty so they wouldn't have to deal with my reign of terror any more." She quickly turned to look at Huangdi with an intense death glare. "So, no, Chilong, that is not the extent of my planning capabilities."
Then she started walking towards him, Slow, menacing. The kind of walk that screamed "I will murder everyone in this room just as long as you are one of the bodies I leave behind" until she was face-to-face with the Shielder.
"So let me put this in a way that even a fool such as yourself can understand, Emperor," she spat the title hatefully. "If you, a lowly cur who cowers behind a wall and uses his soldiers as furnishing rather than tools of war, think to voice your opinion and question my methods again, I will kill you." She stood silently for a moment, giving him a moment to process what she had just said while she glared at him hatefully. "Do you understand?"
edited 30th Apr '16 11:57:14 PM by thatdude
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Aaliyah
Aaliyah quickly looked over the map, making a mental image of it. Well she was pleased someone was being helpful. Unlike..."Aw, Ching, did the big bad Shielder with practically no offensive capabilities hurt your widdle feelings? Seriously give it a rest, and focus on your mission."
Jeanne
Jeanne almost wished she hadn't noticed that. The human body was not meant to make such movement, but this man technically wasn't human and if he was who he claimed to be... Jeanne simply shook her head to clear such thoughts from her mind. It seemed to Jeanne that their party was continuously collecting more and more unsavory characters.
edited 2nd May '16 1:44:41 PM by Azure
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Red-headed Smasher
Berserker, Near Aaliyah
All this talk and the mysterious man appearing. Six Caesars? There were Grail Wars that had seven summoned rather than this chaos. Maybe they were trying to make their own private Holy Grail? If they were being sent back in time to fight in past Holy Grail Wars, that just meant they were in one right now. Berserker's frustration built up and she thought about puncturing her ears again. The reveal of 'The Grail' on the strange piece of paper just strengthened the theory.
When her Master threw the insult in Ching's direction, Carmilla laughed a bit. "Don't you think that's a tad cruel, Master?"
"Hey you! Nano-something or other!"
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Huangdi
"Militias. Navies. South China." Huangdi replied, not shying away from Ching's threatening presence.
"Speak to me of your military prowess when you conquer the rest of China. Speak to me of my cowardice when you have singlehandedly raised an empire and guarded it until the sea swallows all. Speak to me of fear when you drive it into your hollow skull, gǒushǐ duī, that you are worth nothing, and will soon be forgotten if you have not already. Your legend, your story, are nothing in comparison to mine. Why should I fear nobody? Why should I fear the dead?!"
He summoned his shield and slammed it into the ground.
"You are not Chinese. You are not human. I do not need to listen to anything that you spit upon that which I grace with my presence. You say you will kill me? I would love to see you try, chòu sān bā."
With a flourish of his hand, the Emperor summoned a glowing white disc behind him, the same one with which he had summoned his terracotta warriors prior.
He was intent on actually using his combat ability in order to strike down the mongrel dog that had deigned itself so ignobly worthy of standing in his presence.
edited 3rd May '16 12:31:12 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24
Ching
Ching was unmoved by the threatening display, continuing to star down the emperor. Slowly she raised her hand, thumb pressed against her index finger, and...
Snapped her fingers, summoning a ship into the room. It was a small ship, but even so it was still barely able to fit in the room, pushing others away as it manifested. Ching leapt from her was standing, landing onto the deck of the ship, starring down the Emperor from her new perch.
"And why should fear a corpse emperor?" the pirate asked mockingly as she folded her arms, the guns of the ship taking aim at the Shielder. "So if you want to send your glorified rock collection for me to destroy then by all mean do so, bái chī." A pistol and sword appeared in her hands. "I would be happy to do what the Caesars' failed to do."
edited 3rd May '16 1:23:42 PM by thatdude
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Aaliyah
"Hey, Ching" Aaliyah said calmly. "Remember the last time someone did some shit like this?" Rick, control your Servant because I'm not about to fall into some void becausr of her tantrum." In the middle of all this she contacted Berserker over their mental connection. If she fires that thing, I don't care if you stab her in the back.
Jeanne
Jeanne was very much sick of this squabble, and pulled Thahab from her. "Get somewhere safe Thahab." That done she stepped between Ching and Huangdi. "That is enough you too. If you truly wish to prove whose tactics are superior, you should see who can best dispatch our enemy and not each other."
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Cadmus
"Hmm...." Cadmus mumbled, deep in thought at Abdullah's information. "The exit is at the bottom, you say. We know where we are and where we should be, but do you know a path that can lead us that way? No doubt your Caesar friends won't make it easy, but all of us together may be able to blow them away."
Rick
Rick started climbing up the side of the ship - it took quite some doing, but he had spent his whole life climbing around mountains and trees. Although he hoped Ching wouldn't notice the one place where he had lost his balance and had to shove his KA-BAR into the wood in order to get some leverage on his climb. Finally, though, he made it to the deck behind the heroic spirit who had definitely been his servant this whole time, and took a few breaths to steady his lungs after the climb.
"That's right!" he finally managed to say, giving a fierce look at the Emperor. "Oh uh, I'm Rick by the way. I don't think we were properly introduced earlier. I think it was because you were too busy using your dragon wall shield... thing."
He gave a bit of a sheepish look at Aaliyah and shrugged his shoulders.
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Huangdi
"I do not ask you to fear me. It is far too late for you to have a chance to obey." Huangdi replied. "You will fear upon your dying breath."
He now raised his hand, and turned it. A sharp influx of mana spiraled up from underneath him, generating a rather dramatic gust of wind to ruffle his clothes.
"You seem to not understand, lady knight. That is exactly what I am doing." he said, casting Jeanne a throwaway glance.
The glowing white circle behind him blinked out momentarily. In the next instant, however, multiple copies of the same disc now covered the walls and ceiling of this small atrium.
Now he clenched his fist.
The sound of hundreds, no, thousands of marching feet now filled the small enclosure. The sound of stone wheels grinding against hard stone echoed through the air.
The dragon kept on Huangdi's shield now spiraled around his body, though it was still holographic. Rather than activate his shield, he was showing he could activate it whenever he wanted. As well, the image of China now floated behind him as a sort of prideful testament to his empire.
Al-Hazred
The scholar seemed to be having the time of his life. Had he known of the existence of popcorn, he would be eating some at this very moment.
Agrippa
On the contrast, the other scholar was growing more and more infuriated. The issue was that she couldn't think of a way to put an end to this without blasting one of the two belligerents.
At this very moment, Agrippa had a magical display in front of her to brute force some calculations. She was taking into account everything she could about either side.
Thahab
Thahab did as he was told. He would have gone to Rick, but since Rick was currently clambering atop Ching's ship he instead decided to hide somewhere near Cadmus.
Which just so happened to be near where Al-Hazred was at the moment. Thahab was still wary of the newcomer, for some reason, but he preferred being near Cadmus than not.
edited 4th May '16 1:40:00 PM by GyroZ
G was here - 2/9/24
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Fist
Aaliyah
Aaliyah saw Rick, and her eyes widened, her pupils contracted focusing on in him. The sheer murderous intent focused on him was palpable. She had very much had enough of this. "I don't have time for this, we don't have time for this. All three of you can rot in hell or whatever dark hole this place decides to plunge you into." She walked up to Al-Hazred. "The map, please." She said as politely as she could at the moment, but it only came off as more insistent than anything.
Jeanne.
Jeanne deciding this wasn't her fight, simply stepped back to where Thahab was, without saying a word to either Ching or Huangdi. There was no reason she had to abandon the poor boy to the whims of those two.
PM box is Closed, Indefinitely Friend Code: 3368-4181-6850
Ching
"My Master and I won't plunge into any abyss," Ching hollered over to Aaliyah. "My ships float in the air. Even if the floor gives way, I will remain perfectly safe." She shot a castaway glance to Haungdi. "Can't say the same for this idiot."
Cadmus
"Excuse me, but I would appreciate your focus, Mister Hazred," Cadmus said to al-Hazred. She absentmindedly pulled Thahab close and tussled his hair like a child, while also manifesting a piece of taffy that she pressed into his hands. "So if you wouldn't mind, could you elaborate on what you have said?"
Rick
"Well, he sure is one son of a bitch, I'll give him that," Rick said.
"She's got a point, Ching. We really don't want to have to waste much time on this," he added. "So make sure you kick his ass fast."
Ching
Ching hummed in thought as she looked around the room. "I suppose she does have one." She said simply. "It would be a waste of mana to just blast away at him while he is cowering behind his wall like a dumb animal." The pirate turned around and walked further onto the deck of the ship, sitting down and crossing her legs. "We do have more important things to focus on instead of sǐ guǐ over there."
{"Although it would be quicker if we all just attacked him and dealt with him now."} Ching communicated with her Master. {"He has outlived his usefulness."}
In Perpetual Finality
Gabby
"...You–you guys!"
Gabby was just aghast at this awful, pointless display of prideful violence and petty hatred. She cupped her bony little hands to her mouth and called in vain out to Huangdi and Ching.
"Do you— Are you even getting where you decided to do this?! Do you fricks just wanna—just die in here, having a dong-measuring contest when we need to unfrick things?"
Her gaze then darted around from person to person, seeing reactions ranging from disgust, to confusion, to... Eugh, were people seriously enjoying this dumb crap? God!
"Frickin' stop this, right now! You hear me?! Cut this stupid crap out and start acting like actual adults!"
Günther
Günther, on the other hand, could not for the life of him comprehend why the tiny asian girl or the transsexual founder of modern magecraft could possibly take umbrage to something so patently ridiculous.
He giggled impishly at the two nutjob Chinese Servants as they sized each other up, smirking down at Thahab as his cuteness earned him a complimentary Cadmus taffy.
"Eheheheheheh, you enjoy that, now." He chuckled softly. "And if you want to know a secret, she'll give you more if you're good at riddles."
He winked at the lad, but this could not be seen because his hair obscured his eyes.
edited 4th May '16 9:55:35 PM by MobileLeprechaun
make it through this year if it kills you yet | 2001-2019
Tom
Thomas stood by Gabby throughout these precedings, unsure whether to watch the discussion about the many Caesars, or the escalating tension between his two oriental companions. He admitted to himself that watching the two come to blows was something he wouldn't mind watching, but his Master would be none too pleased, no doubt, given her impassioned rant.
And then, a thought: A pitched conflict between two mad warriors of the East! This would make for an impressive tale.....
He quickly walked up next to Gabby, resting Colchester on his shoulder. "She's right, you know! We've no time to put swords to throats over such nonsense!" He proclaimed, standing tall and boastful with his shabby, rusty weapon, a confident grin on his face. "If this comes to blows, you will both have to deal with me!"
edited 5th May '16 4:27:49 PM by MacDuffy
The Troper Formerly Known as Amp
Al-Hazred
"Elaborate..? Ah yes, elaborate on what I meant." the scholar replied, before pulling out a bunch of papers once again.
"According to these notes by a.. Doctor Flauros, this once-library now-labyrinth is an experimental spiral-matrix designed to take the 'lost knowledge' held within these distorted walls and use it as a route to Akasha. Apparently, in making the library like this, he's changed it from a 'library of the lost' to a 'storehouse of forgotten science'. Apparently."
He shuffled through some more notes.
"There's some text written here in a language I don't understand, but I'm sure it's integral some how. It reminds me of Hebrew, but I am unsure. What I do know is that this text is some kind of evocation central to the construction we're currently in. And there's no actual map, it's just that if you're sensitive enough, you can detect the way mana is flowing, since it's always swirling down towards the core. That's how I got here."
If either Cadmus or Aaliyah looked at the sheet of paper, they'd notice that whatever was written definitely wasn't Hebrew, but it looked like the strange language Agrippa kept using.
Thahab
Thahab took the taffy easily enough, unraveled it, and popped it into his mouth. When Gunther mentioned that correctly solving riddles would result in more candy, Thahab looked pretty excited.
"I'll do my best Mrs. Cadmus!" he said, letting go of her completely and pumping his hands up and down in front of himself in anticipation.
Huangdi
"We'll have to deal with you?" the Emperor asked, irritably. He put his hand down, dismissing his secondary Noble Phantasm for the moment before walking straight up to Mallory.
"And who are you supposed to be? By all appearances, you seem to be an impoverished whelp with delusions of grandeur. How dare you assume that you will be able to do anything against either me, or the chòu biǎozi over there!"
With that, the Emperor actually slammed his shield into Mallory with absolutely no warning. It was almost like a slap, but the shield was in the way so it was more like a swipe.
you can't really dodge this, but you're just being bonked with a shield so it's not really damaging
Agrippa
Of course! Why hadn't she considered this?
The easiest way to get two idiots to stop fighting with each other was to introduce a sudden, unexpected third idiot. She would have kissed the shabby man if he wasn't so gross and unbathed.
She opened the flower that was her Noble Phantasm, Pentalpha Venera, and collected a bit of prana into it. Then, she directly infused this prana into Mallory, artificially raising Colchester's rank and thus improving it from a shabby looking halberd to a passable one.
Of course, Mallory's bold challenge was sufficient to raise it past its initial state already, so at the moment it was a C rank Noble Phantasm.
G was here - 2/9/24
Tom
As Mallory stood there, listening to the emperor's bitter words, a soft, golden glow emanated from his trashy halberd. The rust and grime seemed to quietly sift away, revealing a pristine, shining, though still rather mundane-looking weapon.
When he was struck by the shield, the glow grew brighter, and began to envelop his body in kind. The halberd changed again, thanks to Agrippa's helping hand; the blade grew broader and larger, the dull silverish coloring was highlighted with an impressive gold. The glow stayed on his body and weapon, with thin wisps of an unknown energy enveloping his person, like a barely visible, misty suit of armor....
The face that turned to face Huangdi was different from the one the emperor struck. His shackles had vanished. No longer was his visage blemished by filth, or stubble, or exhaustion. What was once grimy and disheveled was now sharp, and dauntless. No longer was he a mere impoverished whelp....Now, he was a clean and handsome impoverished whelp!
He rubbed his cheek from the insulting blow, then looked Huangdi in the eyes. "...I suppose that means you've taken up my offer!" Mallory spoke with a much clearer voice, flashing a confident smile of challenge to the Emperor.
edited 7th May '16 7:38:24 AM by MacDuffy
Cadmus
"The script written here is nothing like Hebrew's," Cadmus said to al-Hazred. "And I would know, as my alphabet was stolen by the Jews. Fortunately, or maybe not, I saw something similar before all this fighting." She sighed and paused for a moment, but eventually waved at Agrippa and called at her. "Miss Agrippa, if you'd kindly, could you tell us more about this writing?"
"I'll have to think something up in this strange language you use..." she said to Thahab. "But if it's a riddle you want, who am I to refuse?" she added with a smile, stroking her chin. "On my own, I enjoy hunting down a wild hen. When I lose my head I become as strong as one part of a team of oxen. When it's lost again, then I become ten. Can you guess what I am?"
She made a magical baked yam appear in her hand, one with perfect tenderness, a delightful aroma, and the right amount of sugar. "Or will you never taste this delicious yam?"
Rick
A little bit confused by events, Rick shifted his gaze downwards, suddenly developing a very strong interest in the deck he was standing on.
"Is this teak?" he asked his servant, inspecting the wood. His eyes, and he nodded and partially grinned as he mentally admired the craftsmanship. "Interesting...."
Cadmus
Cadmus sighed. "Well then, let's get this over with as well. To get the pleasantries out of the way, you may call me Cadmus. So far everyone we've met has served to make our day hell, so are you planning to help, hinder, ignore, or attack us?"
Rick
"Goddamnit!" Rick said, kicking up dirt. "The number of Caesars is too damn high! Got any more hiding behind the curtain?"