Fate/stay Night - War of the Fourteen Magi - Alternate Universe - IC

[Holeypaladin]

In a room along, a man stood before a prepared ritual summoning circle. His first two choices had already been taken... but his third, one of the great Knight classes, was still available to be summoned. The card he used was but one of a deck of seven... cards, similar to tarot cards. Divination was his specialty, after all, and cards such as these were commonly used for furtune telling and other forms of divination. Most fortune tellers only gave vague, general words... Barnum effect, ascribing general categories that fit pretty much anything in order to scam people out of their money.

But his divinations... were quite real. They weren't always fortunes... but they were ways to gather information. Knowledge. Knowledge was power, and by knowing your enemy and yourself, a man could fight a hundred battles and never know defeat. Of course, strength was also requires... which was the one area in which divination fell short. No matter how much he knew, if he lacked the power to act, it would be for naught. And for that, he needed a Servant. A strong Servant... one who stood a chance of winning, and, combined with his ability to know and learn of his opponent's weaknesses, enough strength to exploit them.

And so, he recited an incantation. Long, powerful... enough to make the circle glow with energy. Something was responding to his call... something powerful... far more powerful than mortal humans. "Come to me," he finished his incantation, "Master of the bow and arrow, Archer!"

An earthquake shook the apartment building in which he was residing, but the spirit soon materialized in the circle. It was... small. It was... female. It was... a little girl. No older than ten, by the looks at her. Had he messed up the incantation? He couldn't think of where he went wrong... but he was fairly new to this whole mage thing.

The girl began to speak, but it wasn't anything he could understand. "I don't speak Japanese," the mage said in English. A small smile crossed the dark-skinned girl's face. She looked vaguely European... but her skin tone and complexion certainly didn't match. Nor did her yellow eyes... like the eyes of a wolf.

"A foreigner, are you?" the girl spoke in English. Thankfully, Servants were at least able to speak the language of their Masters. "A lolicon?" Taking a few steps towards him, the girl placed his lips against his. It was... a kiss. It was... not the kiss of a little girl. She was kissing him like a girl twice her age might do to a lover. Startled, the man pulled back and wiped his lips.

"W-what was that all about?" What was wrong with this child? She wasn't even old enough to know HOW to kiss, much less... like that. But then again... she was a heroic spirit. There was no telling how old she actually had been in life, or how long she had lived. Why she had manifested in such a small, immature form... the mage had no idea.

"Mmm, you don't like it?" The girl said with a giggle. "But we're so compatible, you and I! Such delicious magic..." she wiped her lips as if indulging in some delicacy. "I'm Ilya. Ilyasviel von Einsbern. Or at least... I was, until certain events happened. Now I'm Chloe von Einsbern... your Servant, my lolicon Master."

"Stop calling me lolicon!" the mage said, "I had no idea my archer would be so... tiny! My name is Bill. Use it instead."

"Okay... Billy," the girl said with a giggle. "Billy the lolicon!"

"I could use a command spell to make you stop that..." he threatened, looking over the marks that had appeared on his hand.

"But you won't, will you?" the Archer girl said with a teasing tone. "You know how valuable those are, after all... so unless you want to waste one, you're just Billy to me! And sometimes a lolicon..."

Sighing, the man put his palm to his forehead in a facepalm. It would be a long partnership.

_______________________________

A couple days later, Billy received the word that his "team" was gathering at the church. He didn't much like the idea of having to work with others... he had never worked very well in groups, after all, and more than likely, the rest of his team would be idiots and not even recognize his intelligence for what it was. Besides... if he met them in person... they would know who he was. The mage felt it best to keep such information on a need to know basis. He didn't trust them, which meant they certainly didn't trust him, which meant that there was a high possibility of double-crossing on all sides. Wishes from the Holy Grail would be weaker when dispersed among multiple Masters, after all... thus the fewer masters who survived until the end of the war, the more powerful the potential Wish could be. And his wish was nothing if not... difficult.

Instead, he decided to use his Divination to observe the meeting. Staying in the comfort of his apartment, its location unknown to the other Masters, Billy prepared his Scrying spell. In this way, he would be able to see and hear the events of the meeting... though he wouldn't be able to speak. It was a fair exchange, for anonymity. Once the spell was prepared, he examined the faces of the Masters that had gathered so far.

The first was a young Japanese man in his twenties. This was Japan, after all, so Japanese magi were to be expected. He wasn't much to look at, but being a Diviner, Billy wasn't much for judging people by their appearance. He would instead judge this mage by his abilities. "Analyze. Scan," he said as he put power into his words, scanning the mage through his scrying. Water and Air. B- power. Master of Saber. So this was the bastard who summoned the most powerful Servant before Billy had the chance. He was slightly jealous... but there wasn't much to be done in this situation.

Changing the angle of his Vision, Billy focused his scrying on the second mage. This one was a female.. rather pretty, by the looks of her. Much older than the bored loli in the corner, at least. "Why aren't we going to the church again?" Chloe groaned, "I'm boooored!"

"It's best not to reveal our hand on the very first day," the mage chastised her, "Unlike this naive fools. Now quiet, this magic takes concentration. Much more delicate than simply smashing your opponent with swords or shooting noble phantasms from your bow."

"Analyze," he said once again, "Scan." Pretty though she may be, she was also a rival, even if they happened to be on the same team. Perhaps someone else would eliminate this... Fleur, his scan spell identified her name, from the tournament. Fleur was Lancer's master and used water and fire magic... another elementalist. Elemental users seemed to be all over the place, but their form of magic wasn't much use in this tournament. Ineffective against Servants like Archer, who was completely immune to anything Fleur or Leon could throw at her.

Continuing to gaze at the mages as they made their introductions, Billy's scrying fell on another female. This one seemed much more... clueless as to what all was going on. The poor girl didn't stand much of a chance at victory. She'd have to rely heavily on others... which meant she likely wasn't much of a threat to Billy. But looks could be deceiving.. a Scan spell would reveal the truth. Casting it again, he looked over this clueless girl.

Sara. Master of Rider. Now this was interesting... Sara was a healer. This sort of magic made her more effective than the other two, in this type of war where mere evocation was useless against the enemy, but healing was always useful. As wounds would be felt... that much was certain. "Never judge a book by its cover," remarked Billy as he realized the clueless girl was more useful for support magic than the two who looked like they knew what they were doing.

As another arrival showed up.. a late arrival, it seemed, but not a no-show like Billy... the mage redirected his scrying to focus on the newcomer. Often times in situations like these, it was wise not to be the first one to arrive... but late arrivals did attract the attention of everyone in the room, as well as those who are not in the room, but using magic to scry remotely. Billy was beginning to feel fatigue from scanning multiple mages... but he could afford at least one more spell, as he didn't have much else to do for the evening.

Scanning the new arrival... older than Leon, yet a bit younger than himself, Billy saw that his name was Aiden, and he was the master of Caster. By process of elimination, then, the missing masters were in charge of Assassin, Berserker, and himself. Aiden was another elementalist... wind and fire... though he did possess some minor healing magic as well. Versatile, for a battle among magi, and not to be underestimated.

Resigned to halt his scanning, Billy continued to observe the meeting at the church while Archer tried not to die of boredom.

[Imperial1917]

The Summoning
It burned. All of it burned. Flames engulfed the remote building, licking out its windows to light the dark clouds overhead. No calls were made. No sirens were heard. Nobody would come.

“You... you monster!” shouted one of the men before ash flew into his mouth, causing him to choke. He raised the back of his fist to his mouth, gagging until a batch of black phlegm and soot ended up on the ground, followed shortly by him as he doubled over.

“How can you do this to us?!” added a woman to his left, clutching her baby to her breast. Tears streamed down her soot-covered fact, creating canyons of pale white between the black. The child was already dead; it had suffocated long since. For some reason she seemed attached to it, the silly woman.

From her perch above the small crowd of men and women, Lia swung her dangling legs above the doomed people below. She frowned at the accusations, her lips taking on a pouting frame. In any other situation, she would look no more menacing than a schoolgirl at a bonfire. But cruel delight shone in her elvin features, radiating an aura of darkness like the flames all around gave off heat.

Looking down, she could see it all. The feeble-minded peasants had come from far and wide to answer the lure of their own greed. Those who were slightly brighter had tried to escape early and now watered the ground in their own blood, the sharp edges of the warehouse shelves proving quite deadly to those blinded by smoke and moving fast. Those who remained had gathered in the center of the warehouse to plead their innocence to her. As if she cared.

In fact, Lia was tired. Thinking was never a particular strong-suit of hers and this little amusement had quite exhausted her imagination. That was not to say that it lacked brilliance, of course. Through their excitement, the crowd could not see it, but they stood exactly where she wanted them. She had been quite delighted to find that this particular warehouse’s floor tilted toward its center. Even now, the blood of the fallen oozed its way into the seal she had carved so painstakingly in the floor.

She wondered for a moment if it was worth all the bother. Planning something was anathema to her, even if it was copying something from an old book. Still, it had promised her so much... the power to set the world alight. She couldn’t resist at least trying it... after all, wouldn’t resisting her urges mean trying to assert some kind of control on an uncontrollable world? That would have been silly.

Spreading her hands to encompass the warehouse, she replied, “But you had fun, didn’t you?” The crowd flinched, listening to the sound of a child’s voice laden with the darkness of the world.
“All that music, all that food. The dancing and the drinking and the whoring.” She smiled. It was the decorations over the doors that had sealed the exits and so sealed their dooms. They had loved them so much when they had come in, all the bright, vibrant colors. Standing, she waved her arms around the burning building. “Now that you have had your fun, it is my turn, isn’t it? Don’t you owe me that much?”

“Are you crazy?!” demanded one of the men, “None of that is worth our lives!”

Lia tilted her head, a mocking expression of sadness on her face. “I’m sorry to hear that you feel that way.” she replied. “I certainly don’t. A few hours of escape from the misery of your lives in exchange for your lives. Seems a fair trade to me.” She paused, then said. “But I suppose I can let you go faster if you want...”

“How?!” asked the dead-baby-clutching-crying-woman, “You’ve blocked all the doors!”

“Oh, like this.” returned Lia. Reaching out, she yanked on a cord of rope dangling near her. It lead to the roof, from which dangled a few barrels. She smiled as she remembered one of them asking her earlier if they contained more drink; if she was planning to douse them while they were dancing. He was entirely right, of course, and she had told him so. Only, it was to her strings they would be dancing, as they had been all along.

The torrent of Italian red unleashed – she had not seen any point to skimping on costs – poured down onto the crowd. The man who had asked her yelled something with a definite edge that was more than the cries of surprise of his fellows. Obviously, for once he knew exactly what was happening. The wine splashed down, spreading quickly and covering a large area. At that point, all it took was a single spark.

As the men and women screamed, their flesh melting like wax under the heat of the rapidly spreading flames, Lia paused to wonder if the wine would dilute the blood seal and make it ineffective. Shrugging, she mumbled, “Nothing to be done.” If it worked, it worked; if it didn’t, it didn’t.

She squinted through the smoke and the haze and the upright pillars of fire that were the few people remaining. The seal had been filled by the time she had up-ended the barrels. It was now or never.

Standing on the platform, she extended her right hand down to the seal, palm open and fingers splayed. The Command Seals on the back of her right hand stood out among her pale skin, the only concession to order amid chaos. Yes, chaos, that was her wish. All around, the warehouse groaned.

“Fill.” The word was uttered with relish, the feeling of magic surging along her circuits in a way that few ever had the privilege to. A broken piece of log fell from the ceiling onto the seal below.

“Fill.” Every syllable of the word resonated through her body, the wood crackling all around as if in response. One of the blazing person-pillars toppled, smashing down upon the seal.

“Fill.” Visions of pleasure and pain consumed her sight, and the warehouse seemed to rock in its foundations. Shelving gave way, spilling upon the seal.

“Fill.” A flavor dripped from her tongue, the warehouse uttering a thunderous groan. Licking flame raced along a new line of feed, blazing across the seal.

“Fill.” There was a deafening crash as part of the warehouse maze of shelves collapsed, their wares breaking upon the floor. In sympathy, the barrels above fell, shattering upon the seal and tearing a hole in the roof. Objects spilled from one of the barrels that had been sealed: metals and a broken shuriken, obtained at great cost.

“Let it be uttered five times, and with each filling, shatter them.”

Moonlight shone through the hole in the roof in defiance of the smoke, lighting upon the seal and scene below, glinting off the spilled items.

“For the elements, silver and iron. The foundation, stone, - and a shard of a broken shuriken. And for my master, my Unknown First Ancestor. Walls raised against the falling winds. Gates sealed to the four directions.”

Now through the smoke and the haze came a glow, not from the reflected moonlight or the flames, but from the seal itself, the eldritch and unholy.

“Approach from the crown and follow the winding paths to the kingdom.”

Mixed with the blood and the ruddy colors of the flames, the bright light seemed more red than white.

"Heed my words. My will creates your body, and your blade creates my destiny. If you heed the grail's call, and obey my will and reason... then answer my summoning."

At last, the white shone above the red, though its roots remained tainted.

“I hereby swear that I shall be all the pain and chaos in the world! I shall break this world and redefine righteousness!”

The flames burned high, as if to catch the white light.

"Seventh heaven clad in the great words of power, come forth from this circle of binding, guardian of scales!"

The white enveloped everything, stabbing into Lia’s eyes, but she did not look away. She could not.

And there, amid the flames, he stood.

Assassin.

Emerging through the smoke-scarred darkness and smouldering glow of corpsefires, a massive man with hair the colour of blood stepped out of the circle. He clenched and unclenched his fingers, looking down at his body with a grave expression. His eyes were purple, and a scarlet tattoo marked his chin. Such a strange, ethereal being could only be a heroic spirit - and in the red silk robe that he wore - styled after the fashion of Japan - he cut a graceful and imposing figure. He was massive, standing easily at 6'5 and muscular.

Eyes shifting from his own body to the chaos around him, Assassin's lips curled into a cruel smile. All around him lay the burning, charred carcasses of men, women and children alike. By the way the red-haired man moved through the darkness and smoke, Lia could tell that he was extremely comfortable in this sort of terrain. His form disappeared into the void, and suddenly he was gone from her sight.

There was a brief pause, before a soft voice sounded behind her. Quiet and hungry, Assassin spoke with the barely-contained ferocity of a wild animal, seemingly just barely contained within his body. It seemed to Lia that a hint of glee coloured his tone. "Well, well well... what have we here? A child in the playground." Lia felt quite suddenly cold metal pricking the nape of her neck. "My master? Tell me, is it you who is responsible for the destruction of this building, and the deaths of all the countless innocents inside?"

Lia giggled, turning her head, heedless of how the blade drew a shallow red smile on her skin. Her eyes were alight with mischief, even if all she beheld was the barest hint of a black blur behind her.

"Oh, me?" she teased, "No, no. I don't create things. Creating things is so very boring. I simply put a match here, sharpen something there. Sometimes I get lucky and things get interesting. Of course, when they don't, well, we can't be having that now, can we?"

Assassin stood fully visible once more, purple eyes glinting in the light of the fire. He watched her with an inscrutable expression, before a malevolent grin crossed his face. "Fascinating." His voice was laced with mirth. "Sloppy, yes. Unrefined, but... the intent is there. And sometimes chaos is a dish best eaten... raw."

He withdrew the knife from the girl's neck, and it vanished into a mass of smoky darkness. "The destruction, the fear, the chaos that you have created here is palpable. It is delicious." His fingers cupped Lia's chin and stroked up her face. "Yes, I think you will serve as an adequate 'master' for the coming war."

Lia giggled. "I think so too. I'm glad to see that we agree on something."

Present
Lia skipped down the lamp-lit street, ignoring the cold. Well, ignoring isn't quite correct. Relishing is closer to the word. It dug into her flesh and clawed into her bones, searing the marrow so that every breath hurt. But though her body shivered, she embraced it. Fire was chaos, but so was cold, for it was the void in which nothing existed, especially not order.

A church gate came into view. At a distance, there did not appear to be anyone near it, but she knew there probably were. She had lingered too long amusing herself with the townspeople for others not to have arrived; for some reason, they thought that being punctual helped make life more stable, more predictable. Silly people. Life was chaos upon which they tried to project their feeble minds to create order.

Stopping, she pulled a lollipop from her coat pocket, feeling the weight of the layers of clothes on her. Within her breast, her heart beat again, pumping ice water through her veins.

As Lia walked, the shadows began to coalesce into a form beside her, and Assassin emerged, walking beside her calmly. His face was no longer visible, nor his height nor attire. In fact, in this state Lia could not even determine his parameters, an ability taken for granted among most masters.

"Five servants, all lurking at the edge of the church." A soft laugh came from the creature of shadows as it relayed the information to his master. "It seems they will not 'permit' me within the church. I will play along for now."

"Ok!" replied Lia cheerfully, unwrapping the lollipop and starting to suck on it. "Off you go." she said around a mouthful. And with that, she skipped her way through the gates and into the church.

[Yamimoon]

After Aiden entered the room, only one person spoke up about his entrance. Although the first thing the young man had said was directed to one of the others in the room. Aiden could tell that he was a little stuck up. He was probably from a rich family. Then his attention was on Aiden. He could only smile at what was said. “I have never judged a book by it’s cover. You never know who is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.” he said as he looked to everyone. “Oh. By the way I am Aiden Ravenkale. It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances, but why were we summoned to this place?”

-------Caster-------

Caster watched as his master entered the church. He knew that there were more servants roaming around the streets waiting for the war to begin, and so did he. Though this war seemed different than the last one he had been summoned to participate in. Well it was already a difference to be summoned as a Caster rather than a Lancer. This in itself was something he would need to get used to.

He was not shocked by the voice that rang with confidence in the air behind him. In fact he was expecting at least one of the other servants to notice his presence. However, what struck him as odd was the fact that the voice seemed muffled. He was unable to tell if the servant was male or female. Deciding to play along he stood up from where he was kneeling, and turned to face the unknown servant.

The servant that was facing him was wearing a full body armor that included the helmet. A smile crept onto his face as he could probably guess this was Saber that has come to greet him. A glimmer entered his eyes as he would love to challenge this servan to a fight, but he knew that his Master had other plans, and this was a neutral location. Tapping his staff on the roof he looked at the servant that was shorter than him. Keeping his guard up just incase. Not all servants were up to keeping their word.

“I don’t know if it customary in you time, but where I come from you introduce yourself first before asking someone their name. But since formalities are not you thing I think it would be wise to brush up on your manners.” Caster said as his long blue hair moved slightly in the wind. “Besides knowledge is power, and I don’t like giving my future enemy any more power than need be.”

[VanceXentan]

Interactions: Yamimoon:

"I was raised in a court of greats I have manners ingrained into my soul. Bound by a code of brotherhood with the best knights of my country. A king such as myself, simply put, need not introduce oneself to a mere dog." Saber retorted as she stood her ground in front of this servant whom dared to not acknowledge her superiority over him. She straightened her body even more and held herself firmly reinforcing her position she didn't back down. In some ways she was copying her father in other ways she was refusing to simply sit down and take this fool's backtalk. "However since you insist on being an uncultured buffoon of a servant. I will give you my class since you won't talk otherwise. As it is clear by now I am Saber, the greatest of all sabers, and I refuse to be looked down upon. If you had the slightest piece of pride as a servant you would bow before me. However judging by your appearance you're more inclined to hunt with wild animals than to make true civil talk among real knights." Saber said with a bluntly with a hint of dismissal towards the servant in front of her.
===

Interactions: The Meeting Room Cast:

"I'm getting sick of repeating myself already. We're waiting on the overseer of the war. He has some vital information for all of us. These fool girls don't seem to understand how this war truly works. They're here to make friends " Togami said simply as one man with dark grey hair, and eyes walked into the room. Togami immediately broke off as he pointed his finger at the older gentleman. He had a cross around his neck, a white set of monk's robes on, and a pair of glasses on. He was aging and well on his way to probably his sixties but he was still hanging onto a small part of his health as he looked healthy enough to walk with ease.

"Hello Togami, and hello friends. I welcome you to the first gathering of masters. Today I will be revealing to you some rules-" the old man began to say as Togami cut him off. "Hold off a moment you old geezer. First off you took forever to actually get back, and you don't apologize? Second off not all the masters are gathered here yet! What on earth could be the point of talking to us all like this without more people arriving?" Togami growled as the old man nodded his head. "Fair point Togami. I apologize. And to everyone here I offer my sincerest apology for my rudeness. I am after all the High Overseer of this Holy Grail War...or rather the 3rd Great Holy Grail War if what my friends tell me is correct. There are signs that more than seven masters have appeared you know. Which means there will be some rule changes. So I will wait a little longer before I go on. Please make yourselves comfortable." the elder man said as he nodded his head. Leon took one last disgusted look at Togami before giving the overseer his full attention. He wanted to hear less of Togami's inane complaining and more information. He was less than pleased about how that went downhill so quickly. "Hey master what the hell is up with you? You feel like your pissed off do I need to smack something for you?"" Saber asked as Leon replied to his servant that he was perfectly fine. Just wished that more people actually tried to tolerate others. "I'm surprised the others aren't here yet...Maybe he isn't well." the old man muttered as he looked around the room. "Also there's no need to introduce yourselves if you don't want to. Togami may indeed be a bit of a rude young man but he is correct in the fact that you are all enemies until proven otherwise like it or not that is the truth."

"I am Father Walter and in this bizarre turn of events there have been more masters this turn around. There were supposed to be more command seals given to all of you. Six in total if I was correct however instead the grail has opted to split the command seals into three per master this way around. An associate of ours has confirmed this for us and she is not usually wrong about this sort of deal. As I said there have been wars like this were other masters have shown up. Once during the American Civil War. And again towards the middle of the second world war. I will not go into detail suffice to say both sides of those wars had their traitors, and those who sought after the holy grail for their own ends." Walter commented as he walked over slowly to the couch and sat down slowly on it. He breathed in and out deeply. "Yes indeed. I recall that there was an event like that during the second world war but the American Civil War? That's the first I've heard of it." Togami grumbled as Leon spoke up.

"Same. My grand father never told me about any of that stuff. But it doesn't really matter at the end of the day doesn't it? We're still all after the grail. It makes little difference about how, or why there are more but there are. Be it they're a bunch of fakers, or were chosen by the grail itself makes no difference." Leon added casually as he looked around the room.

[Evening Rain]

----Fleur----

Fleur glanced up curiously at the newcomer, who introduced himself as Aiden Ravenkale. She inclined her head to him. "No, some of the less punctual will no doubt arrive later. Some of the more foolish may not arrive at all. My name is Fleur D'Avenant - it is good to meet you, Aiden Ravenkale."

The priest's arrival was noted with quite attention by Fleur, who listened carefully to his words. What he said confirmed what she already knew. This would not be a war of seven mages.

As he finished speaking, her eyes were drawn once more to the entranceway by another arrival. This was another young girl, but with startling features. She looked almost inhuman, perhaps a homonculus...?

Fleur said nothing, watching the girl keenly. She had a carefree attitude that seemed out of place in a meeting of such grave circumstance.

----Lancer----

Two other servants had reached the church before him, that was obvious.

Lancer didn't like arriving late to a meeting, but as he made his way to the top of the roof, still in spirit form, he decided that this was not his discussion to interrupt. He watched calmly from a polite distance, analysing the two servants engaged in conversation. One was difficult to gauge, masked by a helm that seemed to muffle their voice. The other was...

All too familiar.

Fionn's heart soared for a moment with exultation. This could be none other than the child of light, a man renowned throughout his kingdom, who fought to protect it as tirelessly as he. Although known for his savagery in battle, he was also a master of druidic magic, the art of runecraft. Cú Chulainn, and without his famous spear it seems. The blue-haired servant bore a staff instead, indicating that he had been manifested as a Caster. Disappointing. Crossing spears with him would have made this whole endeavour worthwhile. Still, from what he had gleaned - there was a decent chance that this man may be his ally. Perhaps the masked knight, too. Judging by the blade and heavy armour - he guessed them to be Saber.

Saber was a strange one, their armour covered all trace of their identity, and left even him at a loss of who this heroic spirit might have been. When seeking out the identity of his allies, one had been blocked by an unknown means. Could this be the one?

----Assassin----

Assassin did not like rules.

But he was patient.

Crafty.

Cunning enough to know that for now, playing along was the best way to achieve the results he wanted.

But playing along didn't mean playing fair.

It was for that reason that not one Assassin left Lia's side when she entered the church, but five - all under the effects of presence concealment. A more powerful master might have been able to sustain even more clones of the demonic ninja - but Lia would suffice. She was satisfactory in her mana reserves, and exceeded his expectations in terms of her personality.

One of Assassin's clones went to stalk the three servants who had met on the roof, another two went to search the perimeter of the church for other hidden servants, another had gone some way along the path to scout for late arrivals. The final one, the true Assassin, was somewhere else entirely - securing a base of operations for him and his 'master', and making preparations.

[Splat]

Sara clenched her fist tightly in her lap. She wasn't sure how much of this jerk Togami she could take. He seemed to have to comment on every little thing, and his voice was increasingly grating on her nerves. Even as another Master, a young dark-haired man, arrived, she did not speak to him, opting instead to listen to the others' discussions.

Thankfully, the newcomer priest's information distracted her. "More masters than usual?" she repeated curiously. "I know there's usually seven... how many more are we talking about here?" She paused to take note of yet another person entering the church- a very mysterious young woman. She had a sort of sinister air about her... Sara couldn't quite place it, but she decided to keep an eye on her.

Meanwhile, Rider had left her self-designated post outside the church gates, distracted by a commotion on the rooftop. It had seemed two servants were talking, one angrier than the other. From afar she could not make out much, other than one of the servants was donned in large armor and carried a sword, and the other had bright blue hair and wielded a staff. Saber, perhaps? the servant wondered, observing the conversation from ground level. Should I intervene? Rider thought for a while, uncertain. Soon, she shrugged, thinking there was no harm in scoping her fellow servants until a fight broke out.

So, she made her way to the roof, making it very clear she wanted to be seen and meant no (immediate) harm. "I suppose you two are having a pleasant chat? Rider announced, folding her arms and wearing a slight smirk. She cocked her head towards Saber. "Nice armor," she added.

[VanceXentan]

Interactions: Meeting Room
"If what the old man is telling me is correct then we should all have six command seals. There are several masters in the normal wars. Berserker, Saber, Assassin, Lancer, Rider, Archer, and Caster. Given our number has been cut in half it is sufficient to say there should be at least six masters out there or three with six. Or some other variant of those numbers. It would be wise to understand the situation a little bit more before we go into things." Togami replied with his own curiosity coming through in his tone as he put his hand onto his chin and considered the options. "Given the numbers that means there may be more issues going for this grail war then I expected there to be. Rather troublesome really." Togami muttered as Leon twiddling his fingers together trying to get a train of thought going. "I'm with Togami I think there are about twice as many masters as there should be if we only have three seals each. I can confirm I have three." Leon said but didn't move to show the seals on his hand just to be safe. He still couldnt be sure about anyone in this room.

====
Servants:

Mordred stood her ground as she turned her head over to the newly arrived servant. She wasn't familiar to her and she hid any weapons to prevent her from discerning her true name. Rather smart but annoying at the same time. "Pleasant isn't the word I'd use to describe this one here. He smells like wet mangy dog." Saber said disregarding the fact that she had just disrespected the servant she had been speaking too. "I suppose I should thank you for the compliment. My father gifted to me this armor and I have worn it many times in life, and now in my indentured servitude to my master. It serves its purposes for me nothing more nothing less. I need no armor to prove my own strength. It is incomparable to anyone that has ever existed." Saber said as she personally held herself back from complaining about how the thing hung on her shoulders like a lead brick, or made it hard to walk around comfortably in any sort of dirty terrain. Or the overbearing fact that her god forsaken father gave her this damnable armor to hide what was between her legs like some sort of shame. There had been points in her life where she was happy for this armor...but after what had happened shortly before her death....no there was no point thinking about that now.

[Holeypaladin]

As Archer sat off to the side bored and somewhat annoyed, she opened her mouth to complain. "If you're not going to go introduce yourself to the other masters, can't I at least go scout out the other servants? I'm sooo boooored!"

The mage frowned at her words. "I'm afraid that would not be a very wise idea," he said. "Five masters have shown up to the meeting, but I'm only sensing four servants. That means that the new girl must be the master of Assassin." He opted not to scout the overly cheerful girl at the moment... the night was still young, and there may yet be a need for that last scan spell.

"Soooooo what's your point?" the girl asked, somewhat annoyed. Well, he couldn't blame her for lacking the understanding of his motives in this particular case.

"Assassin has Presence Concealment," Billy said as if it were obvious, "That means that he could stalk you all day and you wouldn't even realize. Plus, it means my divination magic can't sense him either. You'd end up leading him right to me, and I'd rather not have my location revealed this early in the war."

"Fiiine, you paranoid lolicon," Archer said with a pout. "But I'm still bored! Hope something good happens that gives me an excuse to leave this dump..."

Billy had tuned the girl out, for the time being, as the priest came out to discuss the change in rules. Seven servants was normal, but according to the math, there were indeed more... fourteen, if the seals were to be divided evenly. Which meant that he had to contend with not only the five masters he saw in the church, but with eight others who had not arrived yet. His main concern, however, were the two Assassins. Presence concealment was the natural enemy to his Divination, after all.

[Yamimoon]

-------Aiden--------


Shaking his head at the outburst the young man in the suit gave only confirmed Aiden's opinion of the man. Then one of the girls introduced themselves, but before anything else could happen a man walked in. A monk to be precise, and he was the overseer of this particular war. Aiden listened to all of the information that was presented, and sighed at the prospect. This war was definitely going to be a pain if there were actually fourteen servants and masters.


Then a voice rang in his head. “Master is there something wrong?”


“Yes Caster. It seems that this war is going to be a lot harder than I first calculated. If what I am understanding to be right there could be a total of thirteen other master that we might have to deal with.” He said in a disgusted tone.


What other surprises were going to come their way in this fight. He would have to stay and find out. However what Caster said next was a little shocking.


“Well I have my own problems. There are several other servants that have gathered around me. One of them just so happens to be Saber. This is looking not to be in my favor.”


“Just don’t let your guard down. I am sure that they are just trying to get information on who their competition is. Don’t get into a fight till this meeting is done.” Aiden replied as he waited for more information to present itself.



-------Caster-------


Looking as Saber as they decided to try an insult him, but that was not an easy thing to do. Especially when you have no idea of his past. Saber was right though he would rather hunt and fight then make friendly with people that thought themselves better than others. ”Well you are not all that royal to me. I find that people that are trying their hardest to try and enforce their values on another, and bring them down. Are nothing more that someone that is trying to make themselves feel bigger, and more than likely have daddy problems.” Caster said as he felt the presence of other servants on the roof.


This was becoming a bad situation. If all of the servants that are gathered here attack him at the same time he doubted he would be able to defeat them all. One of the servants stayed in his spirit form, and that one was an unknown factor. The last servant to arrive was to his right, and she was keeping her identity a secret since she was not wielding her weapons. This in his mind made her less of a threat.


Not taking any chances he took his staff that was in his right hand and crossed it in front of himself. Tapping the end of the staff once to his left, then in the middle, and once to the right. He placed runs in these three locations. He and his master just had a little conversation, and he was going to heed his Master's Advice.


“A conversation this is, but a pleasant one it is not. It seems Saber is harboring some major issues. Besides I would rather be a beast than have Saber as an acquaintance. They are too much baggage, and their manners leave something to be desired.” He knew this would get under Sabers skin. Since they fancy themselves a king. “No one person is better than another. They just have different skills that define them as different. Some are good at fighting, and others at barking.”

[VanceXentan]

Servant Meet Up:

"You want to fucking die you bastard!?" Saber growled her infamous anger taking root in her as she grabbed Clarent by it's handle and pointed it directly at the enemy servant's face. "I was trying to be nice you jackass! I came up here with the intention of learning the name of my enemy before we fight. I don't care if you're from freaking Avalon! If you speak to me like that one more time I'll break this god damn neutral territory into dust!" Saber roared with indignation her words not clouded with a hint of doubt, or fear. She truly intended to hurt the servant in front of her if not outright kill him if he dared to speak to her. The only fact that held her back was the fact the reasoning of her position. She'd definitely hurt Leon's standing as a neutral party if this went further. But she wouldn't hesitate to go further into this if the mangy mutt kept talking to her like that. "I bet you're REALLY good at barking because no noble heroic spirit would refuse the right to know their opponent. 'Knowledge is key' is what you said right?! Well jackass you're starting to remind me a certain wizard. I hated that Wizard!" growled Saber the very ceiling of the building start to crack as prana started to gather around Saber's feet ready to end the servant in front of her before if he dared to compare her to a beast again. She remembered Merlin's god damn lectures even now always about her temper, always about taking a high path even when she did. Nothing she did ever really made it work for that son of a wench. "So go on call me a beast one more time and see what happens!" Saber growled further as she kept her stance ready for any sudden counter move on her other's end. The woman whom had complimented her armor was a non factor to her at this present moment.

====

"Oh joy well...that's a thing." Leon grumbled quietly as he inwardly cringed from the sudden pull of mana from his body. Somehow, and not surprisingly, someone had managed to piss off Saber. Wonders never ceased did they? Leon tried to communicate with Saber mentally but she wasn't listening to him. She didn't usually when she got this way. Togami looked over towards Leon with a raised eyebrow noticing Leon's change in expression but he pursued it no further.

The Oveerseer Father Walter opened his mouth and yawned before checking his watch and nodding. "I have waited long enough, young Togami I'm sure you'll ask this so I'll answer it before you do: anyone else who seeks to hear my words can come see me at a later time. As of this moment I will impart to you some very secretly kept knowledge found out during the second holy grail war by the caster during that time. The wish you all seek to be granted shall not only be a hypothetical one impossible wish for one servant, and master. But also lesser wish for up to six masters depending on the circumstances. I believe that if enough servants are defeated the power of the grail may be enough to be split up into groups. As some of you may know the cup from the previous war was not claimed, or if you were unaware of that fact you know of it now. This incidental coincidence was not told to other masters in previous wars because of the fact that other masters may abuse the loop hole in some way."

"They were to fight to the bloody end in order to complete the grail challenge. However there was no crowned winner in that war. Only senseless death. I can only assume the masters from the old war are out there living with their servants as familiars right now. The grail must've fallen into some sort of slumber afterwards unused and unwanted. However with seven additional masters the impossible has come to light. The cup has declared that up to several masters can now claim the grail as a party. Not unlike how some champions of old would do. Despite this however you may chose to claim it on your own. And the war will not end until at least several servants have been slain. However that's not the end of it. Each group may not party up with an additional servant of their same class. In other words Assassin may not work with Assassin. Saber must not work with Saber. And Beserker, even if it wanted to, would not be able to wreak havoc in their shared madness. Though the grail encourages the old rules it is now willing to accept this new set of rules for this specific tournament. If only to find an actual winner that will satisfy it."

"A Great Holy Grail War does not happen often and they are often the cause of two parties trying to fight for control of the grail for one wish. Also, though this is speculation, it may be possible to grant more powerful wishes with the deaths of more servants than the typically required amount. So that means even if you team up you may indeed wish to kill the other masters, and or the servants. The less there are the stronger the wish I would believe. Though I have not been told if this is a definite possibility as of yet. So you may choose to team up. Or you may chose to go solo. The grail will allow either. However strength in numbers is a powerful thing. If you see yourself fighting a group of other servants without allies...then perhaps you may not have made the right choice. Regardless you are the masters, and your destinies are intertwined with one another. Is your wish so valuable to you all that you would kill each other whole slaughter? Or perhaps you wish to mitigate tragedy and help others at the risk of trusting another? It is not my place to say. I am an old man and I must remain neutral in this war. You must decide for yourselves your place in the world." Walter exposited to the group at hand.

Leon, and Togami remained silent thinking over what was said however Leon was more focused with his eyes on the door. This whole new dynamic was certainly going to change things but he'd need to think it over with Saber later. Perhaps an alliance may be formed with some of the people here....but were they trust worthy enough? He certainly couldn't pick up their numbers though at the very least Togami seemed to wear his heart on his sleeve. "You have given us much to think about indeed Father Walter." Togami said breaking his silence for a brief moment however he did not elaborate much further.