https://multiversemush.com/mw/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Volund 2026-05-06T22:35:59Z User contributions MediaWiki 1.26.2 https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Schedule_View&diff=15968 2019-07-01T04:39:20Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>For an actual calendar view (which can give you full scene briefings): [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php CLICK HERE!]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''SCENE TIMES APPEAR IN GMT/UTC'''. You can use [http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl THIS] page to help find yourself.<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 70%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {{#get_db_data:<br /> db=scenesys<br /> |from=volv_scene<br /> |data=scheduleId=scene_id,scheduleTime=scene_date_scheduled,scheduleTitle=scene_title,scheduleDesc=scene_pitch<br /> |where=scene_date_scheduled&gt; &quot;{{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}&quot;<br /> |order by=scene_date_scheduled ASC<br /> |limit=20<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Time<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Description{{#for_external_table:&lt;nowiki/&gt;<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} [http://multiversemush.com/scene/scene.php?id={{{scheduleId}}} {{{scheduleTitle}}}] <br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleTime}}}<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleDesc}}}<br /> }}<br /> |}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Schedule_View&diff=15206 2018-05-01T22:12:45Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>For an actual calendar view (which can give you full scene briefings): [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php CLICK HERE!]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''SCENE TIMES APPEAR IN GMT/UTC'''. You can use [http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl THIS] page to help find yourself.<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 70%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {{#get_db_data:<br /> db=scenesys<br /> |from=volv_scene<br /> |data=scheduleId=scene_id,scheduleTime=scene_date_scheduled,scheduleTitle=scene_title,scheduleDesc=scene_pitch<br /> |where=scene_date_scheduled&gt; &quot;{{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}&quot;<br /> |order by=scene_date_scheduled ASC<br /> |limit=20<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Time<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Description{{#for_external_table:&lt;nowiki/&gt;<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php?id={{{scheduleId}}} {{{scheduleTitle}}}] <br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleTime}}}<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleDesc}}}<br /> }}<br /> |}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Logs&diff=15141 2018-03-21T03:56:29Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>__NOTOC__<br /> {| style=&quot;vertical-align:text-top; align:center; width:100%;&quot;<br /> | <br /> ===Transfer a SceneSys Log===<br /> # Go to [http://multiversemush.com/scene this link], then find your scene, and click on it.<br /> # Scroll to the bottom of your scene's page, and click that link.<br /> # Copy the 'poses' part of the page to your clipboard (ctrl-c).<br /> # Click on the link at the bottom, paste the 'poses' into the big textbox, fill in the rest of the info, and hit save.<br /> |<br /> ===Create a Log===<br /> To create a log from scratch, just put in the title below, and follow the instructions from there.<br /> {{#forminput:form=Roleplaying Log}}<br /> The advanced version (easier to use) may be more to your liking as well:<br /> {{#forminput:form=Advanced Character Logs}}<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Upcoming Scheduled Scenes===<br /> {{:Schedule View}}<br /> <br /> ==2018's Logs==<br /> {{:Monthly Log View|2018}}<br /> <br /> ==2017's Logs==<br /> [[Logs 2017]]<br /> <br /> <br /> ==2016's Logs==<br /> [[Logs 2016]]<br /> <br /> ==2015's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2015}}<br /> <br /> ==2014's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2014}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Logs&diff=15140 2018-03-21T03:55:46Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>__NOTOC__<br /> {| style=&quot;vertical-align:text-top; align:center; width:100%;&quot;<br /> | <br /> ===Transfer a SceneSys Log===<br /> # Go to [http://multiversemush.com/scene this link], then find your scene, and click on it.<br /> # Scroll to the bottom of your scene's page, and click that link.<br /> # Copy the 'poses' part of the page to your clipboard (ctrl-c).<br /> # Click on the link at the bottom, paste the 'poses' into the big textbox, fill in the rest of the info, and hit save.<br /> |<br /> ===Create a Log===<br /> To creat a log from scratch, just put in the title below, and follow the instructions from there.<br /> {{#forminput:form=Roleplaying Log}}<br /> The advanced version (easier to use) may be more to your liking as well:<br /> {{#forminput:form=Advanced Character Logs}}<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Upcoming Scheduled Scenes===<br /> {{:Schedule View}}<br /> <br /> ==2018's Logs==<br /> {{:Monthly Log View|2018}}<br /> <br /> ==2017's Logs==<br /> [[Logs 2017]]<br /> <br /> <br /> ==2016's Logs==<br /> [[Logs 2016]]<br /> <br /> ==2015's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2015}}<br /> <br /> ==2014's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2014}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=User:Sirrus/Testbed&diff=14854 2017-12-17T04:43:45Z

<p>Volund: .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}</p> <hr /> <div>__toc__<br /> <br /> <br /> This news file covers how we handle Advantages; our means of universally encompassing all the powers, skills, assets, etc. that a fictional character might have. If there's something in this page or not in this page that you aren't sure about, please ask a staff member or fachead for clarification!<br /> <br /> ==Advantage Creation and Classification==<br /> All Advantages are first given a classification based on the Advantage's power, scope, and narrative relevance to the character. The core classifications fall into three tiers: Defining, Significant and Minor. A character breaks the totality their powers, skills, assets, etc. into sensible pieces, and then places them these three tiers. The general idea behind these tiers follows.<br /> <br /> ===Defining===<br /> Defining Advantages are the skills, powers, and assets so centrally iconic to the character, and so vital to their tackling obstacles or living their lives, that the character would no longer be the same character without them. They don't have to be really powerful or flashy, but they represent the core of the character's abilities, and where they would be sinking their metaphorical XP into. To a certain extent, Defining Advantages will get a little extra respect in play, and in some situations, the Defining classification will allow a greater ceiling of power for certain beefier Advantages, and so consideration should go to how much an Advantage is used and how important it is to the character, rather than what their strongest technique is.<br /> <br /> ''Examples: Wolverine's Regeneration and Adamantium skeleton, Magneto's Electromagnetic control, Darth Vader's cybernetics and telekinesis / telepathy, Megaman's power copy, Himura Kenshin's swordsmanship, Willy Wonka's candy-making acumen, C3-P0's vast communications library, Link's Master Sword, Ganondorf's Triforce of Power, Batman's investigative skills.''<br /> <br /> ===Significant===<br /> A Significant Advantage is an important and effective part of a character's arsenal. The character may use them all the time, or only very rarely, but they are go-to tools for the situation that calls for them. These are areas where the character is highly skilled or specialized, and have much greater potency than the average person, but are not their core identity, and are generally greater in number and less vital than Defining Advantages. These are usually where the greatest volume of a character's abilities will be, or sometimes lesser used extensions of Defining ones.<br /> <br /> ''Examples of Significant Advantages: Wolverine's special ops training and enhanced senses, Darth Vader's piloting and mechanical skills, Magneto's technical skills which allow him to construct an anti-telepathy helmet or machines that boost the magnitude of a mutant's powers. Link's inventory of gadgets like the hookshot and boomerang. Batman's Batmobile.''<br /> <br /> ===Minor===<br /> A Minor Advantage is something useful, but often more of a passive perk or situational tool that the character doesn't really focus on, and rarely seeks to significantly improve. They typically provide thematic flavour, unique conveniences, or occasionally allow for a very niche application. They likewise don't have much narrative potency, and shouldn't be expected to tackle major obstacles. Minor Advantages may also be lesser versions of a character's Significant and Defining Advantages that simply aren't conceptually related.<br /> <br /> ''Examples of Minor Advantages: Wolverine's physical traits are generally superhuman but only really on the order of you might expect of a larger animal. Darth Vader showing up with a team of Stormtroopers is certainly something he does, but they rarely accomplish much more than menial tasks and adding scenery to a fight where he does all the heavy lifting. Link accrues a number of items that are important to game progression, but rarely all that important otherwise, or else eclipsed by later acquisitions, such as the ability to hold his breath longer underwater, or fire a slingshot in addition to a bow.''<br /> <br /> ==Advantage Structure==<br /> As MCM is an environment where an enormous variety of characters are possible, and which supports those characters growing from exposure to other themes and plots, the primary thing we look out for in a character's Advantages is the point of “conceptual fullness” where the character has slipped from reasonable into ridiculous. Even in cases where a character picks up new tricks, talents and gear from other worlds over a long period of time, where each upgrade and acquisition was well earned and sensible, there eventually comes a time where a long-running character who was originally well-designed, has become the time-manipulating psychic dragon slayer and pokemon trainer who pilots a super robot and uses three different kinds of magic and a lightsaber, and everyone begins to roll their eyes.<br /> <br /> Where our basic policy is geared towards managing the wide vertical scope of Advantages that can be played on MCM, for managing their theoretically infinite breadth, we employ these Defining/Significant/Minor classifications in a “Slot” system.<br /> <br /> <br /> Put simply, each player character is limited to a grand total of:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''''Two''''' Defining Advantages.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''''Four''''' Significant Advantages.&lt;br&gt;<br /> A '''''reasonable''''' number of Minor Advantages, subject to request of being condensed.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> Each of these Advantages is meant to be a concise chunk of a character’s overall abilities and toolset, containing a handful of conceptually related “tricks”, “stunts”, “applications”, “roles”, “talents”, or whatever you’d like to call them. These are almost never defined power by power, but are abstract representations of “as many of the character’s abilities as contribute to a single narrative niche”. For brevity’s sake, we call these areas of capability “Points”.<br /> <br /> <br /> Each Advantage contains a total of '''''one to three Points''''', making for a maximum grand total of:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''''Six''''' Defining Points.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''''Twelve''''' Significant Points.&lt;br&gt;<br /> Again, a '''''reasonable''''' number of Minor Points.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> We find that this balance allows the overwhelming majority of characters to begin play with little to no adjustment to their toolbox of powers, talents, and equipment, and creates a generally acceptable ballpark of how far certain characters can expand and accrue new major abilities before they have to slim down again. To be transparent, a conceptually very simple character will have an easy time accumulating new skills and toys on-grid than an already highly developed and powerful character. We’ll cover what constitutes an Advantage Point in just a minute.<br /> <br /> ===Omnicompetent FCs===<br /> It is rare, but technically possible, for an FC to be so broad in their capabilities that they do not completely fit within these parameters from the start. In this case, the player should app something like “the movie version” of that character, which focuses on what the character would actually use in play, rather than various powers that may have been stapled onto them through their published lifetime. It bears mentioning that these changes are RETROACTIVE to the character's source. That is, if Superman as apped on MCM cannot hurl planets out of orbit (likely because it would never come up), he COULD NOT in his own world before it unified. This is basically to prevent “I'd kick your ass if the Multiverse hadn't nerfed me!” attitudes.<br /> <br /> ===On Specialism and Multiple Slots===<br /> In many cases, a character will have an ability, or conceptually related set of skills or items, that is broad enough that it cannot be encompassed in a single Advantage slot of three Points. These tend to be things like a wizard's ability to cast magic, or a mad scientist's arsenal of inventions. This is perfectly fine, and intentionally accommodated for by the system, being easily worked with by simply filling up multiple Slots to encompass the full range of the Advantage's capabilities. e.g. a wizard might have a Defining Advantage for their blasting spells, buffing spells, and status infliction spells, and a Significant Advantage for summoning spells, defensive spells, and enchantments.<br /> <br /> Conversely, characters who are extremely specialized in a particular area, or famous for a particular skill or power, may wish to intentionally not fill an Advantage slot up to capacity. This is also perfectly okay, and though we don’t offer any hard, mechanical benefits for doing so, it is to be understood that a character whose entire Defining Advantage comes down to “sword mastery” has a level of skill with swords that is more narratively effective than when another character with a Defining Advantage that encompasses a much wider variety of weapons uses a sword.<br /> <br /> ==Advantage Slots and Points==<br /> With the nearly infinite variety of characters and their capabilities that can be brought to MCM, it can be difficult and confusing to both break up their narrative toolkits into an easily readable and consistent format, and just as difficult to figure out where to draw the line on when various skills, powers, and items cease to really be related to one another. Rather than leaving this to a selective process where our staff are forced to debate over and approve each individual player character on an inconsistent, subjective, and potentially biased basis, we’ve boiled down the vast majority of Advantages that we see applied for on MCM into a number of categories that any and all players have full access to, within the objective standards of the rules. These categories are intentionally very broad in what can go inside them, and very concise in what their actual function amounts to in roleplay. This is both to make it easier for a player to figure out how their character’s Advantage space works, and easier for a fellow player on the MUSH to read through a character’s Advantage and understand what it is they do, without staff being forced to heavily dictate the writing style of each individual player.<br /> <br /> Essentially, each Advantage Slot is comprised of one to three Points, gathered together by a common conceptual thread, and put under a single thematic header. Each of its Points is made up of two parts: a designation selected from the following list, and an associated “trapping” written by the player. The designated Points found on the list are quite literally “the point of having the Advantage”, and are universally accepted. The trappings of an Advantage are the general details of how the Advantage uniquely achieves that point, and contain the descriptive and mechanical details of the Advantage, as well as whatever fluff and minutiae the player would like to include with a certain level of brevity. Trappings should use '''concise language''' and be '''free of theme-specific jargon''', or else '''briefly''' explain the terms where that isn’t possible. Under 150 characters per Point is ideal. Over 250 is really pushing it unless the Point itself is very complicated. For each Point on the list, we’ve included examples of what kinds of tools and abilities might find themselves within each category, and any details of what a player should or must include in its trapping in addition to its general description, if there are any. <br /> <br /> You’ll see that some Advantages have a category descriptor in (parentheses), in which case the Advantage is broad enough that it is limited to a single categorical descriptor per-Advantage (for instance, the Advantage Point “'''Resistance'''” has to choose a thing to be resistant to each time that it is taken, otherwise the character could technically be resistant to everything). You’ll also see that some Advantages possess a '''Standalone''' or '''Consent''' notation. These are explained afterwards. The '''Required Text''' field outlines the bare minimum of things staff needs to see explained before an Advantage can be approved. An entry of “None” doesn’t mean the Advantage doesn’t need to be explained at all, but that it is relatively self-explanatory or its particulars don’t matter as much, so please still include a trapping. A '''Minor''', '''Significant''' or '''Defining''' note indicate that the Point should always occupy that tier of Advantage Slot. ''Italicised'' designations indicate an Advantage stub: something that exists on the table solely for convenience or explanation.<br /> <br /> '''IMPORTANT:''' If you don’t see anything that adequately describes something your character has on the list, don’t fret! We’ve included a Wildcard option for especially strange or finicky abilities. These do require much more clear and mechanical explanation in the trapping, but we try to accept these as often as humanly possible.<br /> <br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: #808080}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: #ffffff}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: #fdf9f3}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Designation<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Trappings<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Agelessness'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character does not age in the conventional sense, or ages at an arbitrarily extremely slow rate, such as with robots, Tolkien elves, and various immortals.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Analysis'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to intentionally examine a target and gain useful information and details about its nature and capabilities. High-tech scanners, classical psychometry, and magic detection spells are frequent examples, but determining someone’s recent activities by smell or instantly analyzing a machine’s function with raw intellect are equally valid ones.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' when studying PCs and/or their stuff.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What kinds of targets the character is able to analyze (people, machines, landmarks, etc.) and what kinds of information are typically filled in by doing so.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point is for intentional and targeted examination. For abilities that passively pick up on cues or simply look for things in a wide area, see '''Extraordinary Senses'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Anti-(Power Genre)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can dampen, counter, or nullify the use of a certain kind of other power by their interference. By far the most common example of this in fiction is the concept of an anti-magic field, as well as counterspells and disenchantment, but other incarnations might include suppression of psionic powers, or use in wards or technology that block teleportation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' except against other Consent Advantages.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' A well-defined “genre” of power that this Advantage applies to, no more broad than the archetypical D&amp;D Anti-Magic Field. Should also include what means the character takes to counter these powers, and must at least implicitly include how another character could avoid or get around it (for instance, getting out of the field).<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Attack List - (Melee/Ranged)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a variety of damage-dealing abilities or weapons that are generally too numerous and relatively similar to deserve separate entries. This is a very common Point, seen everywhere from elemental JRPG spells, to Pokemon moves, to the high-tech arsenals of shooter or mecha protagonists, to the ki techniques of anime martial artists.&lt;br&gt;<br /> For the purposes of Advantage notation, Ranged indicates attacks that happen, deal damage, and stop, even if they can or are used at point blank range. Melee is reserved for forms of attack that allow for complex close combat, usually being actual weapons, not not always. Basically, if you can stop a sword with the attacks on your list without an extraordinary feat skill, it’s probably Melee. Otherwise, it’s probably Ranged. Some bleed between the two is fine when a character has both, such as enchanting their weapons with attack magic.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point is a heavily subsidized space that compresses large and unwieldy lists of weapons and spells down to a single Point. By doing that, this Advantage only covers the attacks’ ability to deal damage, and not any special effects and applications that might come with them. An ice spell will deplete the target’s HP bar, but not freeze an enemy solid without any other Points, and a laser cannon will slag enemy mecha, but it won’t snipe missiles out of the air on its own. If you want to add status effects, see '''Debilitation'''. For crazy weapon stunts, see '''Weapon Mastery'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Attack Redirection'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can redirect one or more kinds of incoming attack attack in some fashion, commonly including things like reflective barriers, absorbing and re-firing energy. Well known examples include Zuko from Avatar redirecting lightning, and the deflective properties of lightsabers from Star Wars. Extremely simple examples of this idea, like using judo moves to use an attack’s weight to throw someone, are likely just part and parcel of their relevant Advantage.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point alone doesn’t reduce the damage the character takes! If the character prevents the attack from harming him as well as sending it back, see '''Damage Reduction''' or possibly '''Improbable Defense'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Bane - (Target)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has immediate access to the typical weaknesses of an archetype of enemy, in as far they help in killing them, or a particular weapon or ability that is especially lethal against a specific class of foe. Typically, this Point is meant to indicate that the character probably has the necessary knowhow and gear on hand to exploit a weakness or Disadvantage that harms or weakens an applicable target (such as a werewolf and silver, a vampire and garlic, a fairy and cold iron, etc.). A World of Darkness Hunter carrying silver bullets and possessing True Faith to hunt modern-mythos supernatural evil is an example, as is Geralt of Riviera from the Witcher and his encyclopedia of tactics and poisons to use against monsters of classical folklore, both of which should be taken as an indicator of the maximum breadth of this Point.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' A clearly defined and coherent archetype of applicable enemy. The criteria that define a valid target should be narrative and descriptive where possible; a vampire in one setting may be unholy and undead, but someone infected by nanomachines in the other, and merely share the name.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable archetypes later in this section.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Binding'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character employs a means of restricting, imprisoning, depowering, or otherwise rendering another entity a reduced or non-threat for a prolonged period of time. This is a flexible Point, broadly incorporating things like a Shinto priest binding/sealing spirits, a witch turning people into newts or a basilisk turning someone to stone (in a reversible fashion), an evil anime organization injecting the hero with phlebtonium power suppression serum, or rare cases where characters can disrupt, damage, or steal powers within their theme.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''', always.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' A precise and fairly detailed account of what restrictions the character places and how they can be lifted (or else how long until they wear off naturally if they can’t). &lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Permanent use of this Point on PCs is not something MCM generally allows. Particularly severe examples may fall into the same restrictions as plots that involve capturing PCs.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Buffs'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} <br /> The character can, through means magical, scientific, or otherwise, improve the effectiveness of others applied to a task in a general sense. The character does not grant new abilities wholesale to other characters, but rather enhances their existing abilities and basic performance within a given area, typically being combat, though not always. This always expires at or before the end of a Scene. Most videogame buffs fall under this banner, but other incarnations could be things like a technopath increasing the performance of their allies’ gear, or the trope wherein a character with unusually high magical energy serves as a battery for a proper spellcaster.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The arena of interaction in which the character improves others. Combat buffs are the most common, but this can be reasonably bounded areas like general physical tasks, magic casting, building things, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For more involved empowerment of other characters, see '''Share Powers'''. Worth noting is that generic buffs to parameters like strength do not result in an increase commensurate to '''Superhumanity'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Conveniences'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has access to one or more convenient gadgets or powers, defined as being not significantly greater than “what a middle-class citizen of New York would be able to do with what they have on the street”. For the most part, it is absolutely unnecessary to note that a character has a phone or a laptop, but using telepathic messaging to communicate, or having a memory equivalent to a quick Google search of information, are flavorful alternatives with occasional niche benefits.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None, though the general thematic of the conveniences should be clearly established.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Crafting'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} This Point is a pseudo-stub, mostly for reference to the '''Share Powers''' Point, since PC crafting typically works in the exact same way. Overall, the ability to (re)build the character’s own equipment is a non-Advantage, so crafting only becomes relevant when they produce it for use by others. Just as how its parent Point can be used on the character themself by the inclusion of a second Point, doing the same assumes that the character Just Has any of the stuff they usually build and give to others, and can make use of it themselves.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Cure'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can heal or dispel abnormalities and afflictions that negatively impact another character, which fall outside the purview of the natural result of having taken a bunch of damage. Final Fantasy’s Esuna spell and Pokemon’s status clearing items are familiar examples, but this can be more realistically grounded in things like extensive surgical or toxicology skill. The affliction being cured need not be physical, so breaking curses and dispelling debuffs are far game too. This Point is effectively the direct opposite of '''Debilitation'''.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The scope of abnormalities and afflictions that the character can cure.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Damage Reduction'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can survive significantly greater amounts of damage than a normal person, due to anything from armor to energy shields to protective wards to supernatural toughness. This is an extremely broad Point, and intentionally encompasses as many sources of “surviving damage” as possible, with the assumption they are relatively effective against almost all types of damage to some degree.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None. <br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Debilitation'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can inflict temporary or expediently correctable maladies and afflictions on other characters that significantly hinder or harm them. The video game versions of poison, paralysis, freeze, etc. as well as most kinds of debuffs are the usual suspects, but this Point is intentionally extremely inclusive. Naruto martial arts pressure point tomfoolery and powers such as Prof. Xavier’s psychic seizure field from X-Men qualify, as do very realistic ideas of targeted crippling and riot control tools, and weird/exotic ideas such as found in various tabletops, like magically sticky floors.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The overall thematic of the debilitations the character inflicts. Not necessarily exhaustive, but should have clear bounding.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Destruction'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has an ability, tool, or talent for accomplishing targeted and extremely thorough destruction of selective targets. This is assumed to be very different from the usual destructive effects of hitting people with missiles and fireballs, which exist to Deal Damage and Defeat the Target (though this Point will typically wind up being harmful to people anyways). This Point exists to represent the ability to do things like destroy equipment like a D&amp;D Rust Monster, annihilate set pieces with controlled black holes, or turn someone to a pillar of salt like Drakengard’s Legion as an extremely binary way of eliminating all remains or useful salvage.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' when used on possessions of consequence belonging to other PCs. Being used on PCs themselves is just subject to normal combat exchange.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For extremely destructive abilities that reshape the battlefield at large with their power, rather than being highly targeted, see '''Field Shaping'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Disguise'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can effectively assume the form of something or someone else, whether via expert makeup and impersonation, magical shape changing, optical camouflage, etc. This Point does not cover gaining any Advantages associated with the new persona or form, but solely passing as them to avoid suspicion, gain access to their things, or what have you. Sometimes this Point comes down to simply adopting an alter ego or identity on a day to day basis, like Batman with Bruce Wayne, sometimes with minor cosmetic changes, in which case this Point qualifies for a '''Minor''' slot.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' to impersonate another PC.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Who or what the character can disguise themselves as.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Elemental Bullets'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} This is deprecated terminology. This stub exists to direct seekers to '''Attack List'''.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Entry Methods'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is exceptionally talented in gaining physical access to places that are difficult or restricted in entry. This is differentiated from various forms of stealth, in that the character is not necessarily sneaky about it, but through skills in break and enter or typical “dungeoneering”, or perhaps shrinking to a tiny size, turning into mobile mist, or some other trick, they are very good at reaching where they’re going without having to force down the front door, as well as potentially opening the way for others.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What entry methods are available to the character.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Environmental Protection'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can act with some significant degree of safety in hostile environments that would otherwise pose a significant or severely dangerous obstacle to a normal person. Hard vacuum, crushing pressure, high radiation, lethal heat or cold, extreme gravity, and other associated background hazards can be cited as things the character is prepared to deal with, as well as highly theme-specific threats, like Toukiden’s Miasma, the Abyss of Dark Souls, or the Wyld from Exalted.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What environments the character can mitigate. This list should actually be more comprehensive than implicit where possible.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point does not confer broad capability in unusual environments, only safety. If the character wants to rocket around in space, see '''Flight'''. If they want to maneuver around under the sea, see '''Water Functionality'''. So on, so forth.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Exotic Damage'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character possesses a means of dealing damage that, due to how it works, interacts with unusual or niche defensive Advantages more than it does relatively universal ones. While MCM expects that a suit of armour is typically a fine way to help survive the overwhelming majority of threats, there is a point at which anyone understands that a shield is the wrong Advantage to employ against psychic brain damage, a soul-draining ghost, or objects being teleported into a character’s body. Worth repeating: Exotic damage does not equate to unavoidable damage, and attacks using this Point resolve with the same logic and rules any other attack does.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What kind of damage it is, and the delivery mechanism, which must at least implicitly convey what kinds of defenses help, or else what “Save” applies.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Extraordinary Senses'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character’s senses are so finely tuned that they can pick up cues that no normal person would be able to, or the character possesses senses beyond the customary five that allow them to pick up cues that similarly would be otherwise undetectable. Feeling vibrations through the earth like Toph Beifong from Avatar, picking out someone’s appearance from listening to rain like Daredevil, the D&amp;D “Detect” spells, or sensors that search an area for specific criteria like sonar or infravision, fit this bill.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What additional sensory acuity the character has, and some examples of what they might pick up. Common, real life technology may not require examples. It’s expected that everyone knows what night vision goggles do.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Field Shaping'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to alter large portions of the scene itself in the physical sense. An Earthbender from Avatar raising structures out of the terrain, a D&amp;D Wizard laying down grease spells and walls of fire all over the battlefield, a giant monster or super robot leveling buildings or creating massive craters, and a skilled demolitionist collapsing caves or creating new passages around an area are all equally valid examples. This can also cover leaving the effects of other Points as traps or remote fixtures.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The general extent to which the character can manipulate the field and a clear idea of the maximum range and spread of its effects.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For highly targeted and specific removal of major scene obstacles, such as melting a way through a bulkhead to reach a command dead, potentially see '''Destruction'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Flash Movement'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} <br /> The character has the ability to move from one point to another instantaneously. For all intents and purposes, the character does not actually traverse the space in between, however, the character can only use this Point to move to somewhere they could already physically move without it. This Point is always the basis for a teleportation ability, though by itself the character can only teleport where they could end up normally (think “flash steps”). <br /> <br /> <br /> Combinations of various other Points can naturally enhance this. '''Intangibility''' allows this Point to target through walls and obstacles. '''Mobility''' allows it to navigate through dense and complicated terrain to a desired point without line of sight. '''Flight''' allows it to travel high into the air, and sustainably through the air, like characters do in Dragon Ball and Bleach as examples. '''Share Power''' allows the character to teleport others along with them. '''Field Shaping''' allows them to leave accessible teleportation around the area, usually being “gates”, like Chell from Portal or Yugo from Wakfu. '''Exotic Damage''' could allow the character to “telefrag” into people. '''Remote Vision''' could allow the character to teleport to faraway places they have previously never seen. This allows players to scale the space their teleportation takes up and down on a gradient of flexibility and power.<br /> <br /> <br /> Grades of this Point based on the tier of slot they use are relatively concrete.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining''' Flash Movement has few to no limits on its distance and what places the character can end up in. They might instantly travel between entire worlds and almost always penetrate preventative measures, meaning that they can often Just Show Up. Examples of users of Defining Flash Movement are Protoman from Megaman, Kibito from Dragon Ball, and Nightcrawler from X-Men.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Significant''' Flash Movement is generally limited to moving around the area of a scene, though its speed and distance are usually sufficient to provide a convenient escape or entry, and an advantage in combat. It usually does not allow a character to appear in an area protected against teleportation and similar, but it may if it happens under highly specific circumstances, such as the character’s name being called. Examples of Significant users of Flash Movement include Star Trek Transporters, Nox from Wakfu, Beetlejuice or Hastur.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor''' Flash Movement is mostly cosmetic or convenient in nature. It rarely covers enough distance fast enough to allow it to be much more effective than a standard dodge or to establish surprise in combat, or in the cases it does cover long distances, it requires enough preparation that it can’t be used as an escape or entry in danger, or anywhere particularly secure, resembling a Stage Select, video game “fast travel”. Either way, it has no significant narrative strength.. It won't get the character out of a jail cell, intense combat, or anyone you'd assume somebody should use it but never does. Examples include every Megaman robot, common RPG town recall items, and nearly every single shounen character who gains teleportation in-story.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Descriptive terms that encompass the Flash Movement’s range, expedience, and possible destinations, which should be very clear and understandable.<br /> <br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Flight'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character, put simply, can fly. We really don’t care to differentiate between different arenas of flight (mostly air and space), and so they can be applied for under one Point, but it still should observe canon/implicit limits. Hovering or slow non-combat flight typically occupies the '''Minor''' tier.<br /> '''Required Text:''' Where the character can fly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: While this Point covers getting around through the air, skipping over ground obstructions and hazards, and general combat flight, it and '''Mobility''' are separate narrative spaces that do stack. Extremely agile Flight fit to zip through an obstacle course or dogfight inside of an office building will likely require the second Point.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Hacking'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can take over digitally controlled machines. It is generally understood that characters with this Point may use it to substitute for a variety of other Advantages where hackable items appears appear in a scene, and so this breadth should be counterbalanced by respecting the bounds of the genre that the hacking applies to. Hacking cyborg/android/AI PCs plays out as combat does, and is not a binary win-lose state. Characters like the Major from Ghost in the Shell, Sombra from Overwatch, and Cortana from Halo, are examples.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' where it concerns dictatorial effects, outlined later in this section.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Hammerspace'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a pocket dimension, Bag of Holding, a videogame inventory, impossibly roomy clothing, or something else that allows them to carry an unrealistically large amount of stuff very conveniently.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point is allowed to be '''Minor''' only on the presumption that the character can’t use it to solve obstacles of significant scale. Dropping an incoming meteor into a Bag of Holding goes way beyond the these bounds, and thus require '''Significant''' or higher.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Healing (Self/Other)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the capacity to heal others or themselves of damage at a speed that is useful within the timeframe of a single scene. “Damage” in this case is more or less defined as “lost HP”, so this Point is all that is technically sufficient to prevent a character from becoming incapacitated through combat and dying, but it doesn’t extend into purging other harmful or inconvenient effects. Healing used on other characters is most straightforwardly exemplified by video game mechanics such as Final Fantasy’s White Magic or the healing technology of Overwatch’s support characters. Self-healing often takes more niche forms, like Wolverine’s regeneration from X-Men, or a vampire’s ability to restore itself by drinking blood, and self-healing is almost always something they can do on their turn alongside other actions.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Just about any Advantage can be made to target the character’s self or another character, but healing is such a common one on both sides of the fence that we want to make it obvious up front in the designation. This distinction is effectively using the same rules as '''Share Power''', so if the character has that Point as well, pick a default form of Healing and simply write its opposite into Share Power, instead of taking Healing twice. For non-HP purging of secondary effects, see '''Cure'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Hint'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has some sense or ability that they can invoke to gain useful insight regarding a situation or course of action, such as future sight, divine inspiration, or some spark of unusual genius. This Point is essentially requesting that the runner of a scene or plot give your character some form of information that will help move events forward to a desired conclusion, or present an actionable opportunity to gain something. Though this Point is not technically tagged with Consent, in practice it’s pretty much impossible to do it without.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining''' where the Hint provides useful and actionable information one or more scenes in advance.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Under what circumstances the character gains hints, and the nature of information that they reveal, or nature of task they are applicable to.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Home Base'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} This Point is a stub. “Having a place to live” in of itself is a non-Advantage. In the vast majority of instances, a character’s home village or apartment or the like doesn’t merit a Point at all. In instances where the people who live there or the facilities it incorporates might be significantly useful, see '''NPCs''', '''Field Shaping''', '''Share Powers''', '''Environmental Protection''', etc. Essentially, pick Points that represent what the location can actually do.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Illusions'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can create convincing facsimiles of people, objects, scenes, et. which can pass for the real thing, usually for purposes of deception and misdirection. Holograms, magically conjured phantoms, or direct psychic impressions are common ones, but regardless of the means, the illusions are insubstantial and harmless.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' along the same guidelines as Disguise.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The scope of how much can be faked at once, and what could give them away.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point does not cover using an illusion to render oneself invisible or make oneself look like someone else. See '''Invisibility''' and '''Disguise''' respectively for those.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Immortality'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character does not die, or does not stay dead, when injured it ways that should be instantly or irreversibly fatal. Voldermort from Harry Potter, Alucard from Hellsing, Cell from Dragon Ball Z, and the Chosen Undead from Dark Souls are various examples. This Point, regardless of its tier, absolutely requires a “Catch”; a set of criteria in which the character faces the very real risk of permanent death, or a permanent state wherein the character is no longer playable. Depending on this Point’s tier of Advantage slot, this could be relatively easy to fulfill, or much more specific and difficult, but the Catch must always be something that the overwhelming majority of PCs could feasibly do if they put in the extra time and effort, and preferably something that could feasibly happen more often than very rarely in high-danger GMed scenarios.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The Catch, as well as when and where the character comes back to life, if it is somewhere else.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable Catches later in this section. Certain other Points may shift the definition of “fatal” for the purposes of this Point. A Defining regenerator may feasibly survive being stabbed in the heart just fine, since loss of heart function actually takes several minutes to cause total death, but regenerating from having their head blown off or being totally incinerated requires this Point.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Improbable Defense'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is able to apply their defensive options on an extremely implausible scale or basis, or the character possesses exotic defensive options that apply to esoteric or niche threats. Examples include Raiden parrying Metal Gear RAY and hellfire missiles with his sword in Metal Gear Rising, Avalon’s active defense from Fate/Stay Night, or Exalted perfect defense Charms. This Point is for evading active, rather than passive, threats to the character. Punching apart a tornado with their fists, parrying a volcanic explosion, or blocking a magical curse with a shield is a valid use of this Point, but “I dodge the background radiation” is not a valid way to get around the scary bits of the Fallout ‘verse (which would instead work off of '''Environmental Protection'''). This Point will generally not be necessary for characters who perform implausible feats that are justified by other Advantages. Vergil from Devil May Cry is justified in deflecting bullets with his katana by having superhuman swordsmanship and speed in his Advantages.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What kind of situations the character’s defenses apply in, and what drawbacks or holes they may include in the case that they are overwhelmingly broad.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Exalted is used as an example here, but MCM does not ever permit defenses that automatically succeed and negate all consequences of another PC’s non-consent-based attacks. An improbable defense is not a guaranteed defense. Effectively, you are buying the ability to use your defense in a situation where it normally wouldn’t apply, like the defensive counterpart to '''Exotic Damage''', not invincibility.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Incapacitation'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is highly capable of incapacitating opponents without seriously injuring or killing them. This is assumed to be something most characters can attempt if they have to, using rubber bullets or the blunt side of the sword for instance, but their chances of success are entirely left to the whims of the plot. This Point represents a greater and more effective way or talent in doing so, such as the Sleep card from Card Captor Sakura, knockout weapons and takedowns used by Snake and Corvo from Metal Gear Solid and Dishonored respectively, or phasers set to stun from Star Trek.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Intangibility'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to pass through solid objects. This could be a typical ghost phasing through walls, a Fate/ series Servant or Exalted spirit dematerializing, Kitty Pryde from X-Men, or as part of a teleportation ability in tandem with '''Flash Movement''', as examples. An extremely important point is that '''MCM does not allow invincibility to be an Advantage''', and so any long-lasting or permanent form of this Point automatically comes with the caveat that any other PC possesses whatever criteria is necessary to physically harm the character while they are intangible. Brief Intangibility may be a reason for an attack to have missed, but only within the confines of what the character could already avoid, otherwise the character needs '''Improbable Defense'''. Because this Point often allows the user to basically go wherever they please, it may be subject to the same preventative measures that keep out '''Flash Movement''' and similar.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Invisibility'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has powers of concealment that are potent enough for the default assumption to be that the character simply will not be found unless he does something obvious. This could be actual invisibility, chameleonic camouflage, a psychic compulsion to ignore the character, etc.; all are considered Invisibility. Grades of this Point based on the tier of slot they use are relatively concrete.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining''' Invisibility is at near enough to flawless that the character flat out won't be found out until they do something overtly noticeable, or are contested by a great deal of effort put towards finding them. It may conceal them in multiple ways beyond purely vision, or naturally resist methods that would normally be expected to reveal the character, and it likely continues to function in combat. Examples are Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, Kusanagi Motoko's opticamo, the Invisible Stalker from D&amp;D, or Toru Hagakure from My Hero Academia.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Significant''' Invisibility has notable limitations that are sufficient to cap the character's ability to go where they please. It may fail against reasonably important equipment or spells, have a strict time limit, dispel when the character attacks, or give off subtle clues a wary PC can watch for. Examples are most incarnations of the Predator, the Spy's cloaking watch from Team Fortress, the Dummy Check esper ability from A Certain Scientific Railgun, and your typical tabletop RPG invisibility spells.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor''' Invisibility is only useful for discretion's sake, and likely only effective against unimportant NPCs. Anyone relevant to the plot will likely see through it unless they have some sort of deficiency, or aren't paying attention at all. If the invisibility can be obviated by a special trait that is common in the cast of the original source, it's assumed that all PCs count as having that trait. Examples are dematerialized Heroic Spirits, a Stand from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, various ghosts and spirits with true forms, and basically every single ninja in shounen anime.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Standalone'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What traits of the character the Invisibility conceals, and at least implicitly how they could be detected in spite of it.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Knowledge - (Field)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is exceptionally knowledgeable about a particular field of something, whether that be science, social interaction, tactics, etc. The Knowledge is broadly useful in enough circumstances that it still deserves to be called an Advantage, but it cannot grant the character the use of another Point implicitly (for instance, choosing “computers” as a category of this Point does not suddenly make the character capable of '''Hacking'''). This Point is effectively a differently flavored mirror of '''Miscellaneous Skill'''.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The character’s Advantage-worthy area of knowledge, with at least two example applications.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable categories later in this section. A character being knowledgeable about their own theme, including the minutiae of its cosmology, local events, or unique mechanics, is not considered an Advantage. Incredibly theme-specific info is better used to run plots or scenes with.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Low Intake'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has little to no need of one or more typical biological necessities, such as food, water, sleep, and similar. Regular maintenance of their person is not a notable consideration.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Which things the character doesn’t need.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Mind Manipulation'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can somehow forcibly influence the thoughts, memories, and/or feelings of others to the point that they can heavily dictate their actions. This Point goes beyond the bounds of persuasive speaking or evocative performance, and assumes that the subject will act on the given compulsion as a default outcome, whether that be a command, an urge, an altered memory, a set of emotions, etc. Examples include Lelouch vi Britannia from Code Geass, Xavier from X-Men, the Imperius Curse from Harry Potter, various supernatural entities from the Harry Dresden books, or even very benign or positive users, such as Nilin from Remember Me or Raz from Psychonauts.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' always.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are certain compulsions that are either so low-grade or incredibly simple and positive that they qualify for either '''Debilitation''' or '''Buffs''', or else similar. Inflicting supernatural terror that causes targets to flee for their lives is certainly this Point. Projecting an aura that induces stress and anxiety, or speaking an abhorrent eldritch word that makes the mind flinch to hear, probably aren’t, since the specifics are in the other character’s court, and they are still wholly in control of their actions (though these might get less respect in play than usual). A Bard’s Inspiring Tune certainly isn’t either.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Mind Reading'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to perceive the thoughts, feelings, intentions, or immediate future actions of a subject. Usually this is some form of Telepathy or “Aura” reading such as present in X-Men or Vampire: the Masquerade, but it can encompass things like astrological prediction or computer analysis and simulation that effectively reads into the target’s inner intentions indirectly.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' always.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What information the character can gather on their subject.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Miscellaneous Skill - (Skill)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is exceptionally skilled or capable in an area of expertise that is not encompassed by another Point, but is broadly useful in enough circumstances that it still deserves to be called an Advantage. The skill in question cannot grant the character the use of another Point implicitly (for instance, defining “programming” as a category of this Point does not suddenly make the character capable of '''Hacking'''). This Point is effectively a differently flavored mirror of '''Knowledge'''.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The character’s Advantage-worthy area of expertise, with at least two example applications.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable categories later in this section, as well as a word of “skill minimums” required to make use of Advantages.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Mobility'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can adroitly get around complex, dense, and/or hazardous environments by means of superior mobility, such as parkour, jump packs, wall climbing, grapnel hooks, hand gliders, video game double jumps and air dashes, etc. They may also perform such feats as briefly running across water, balancing on clotheslines, or clinging to ceilings. Examples are Spider Man, Batman and Catwoman, Mario and Luigi, Faith from Mirror’s Edge, Genji from Overwatch, and almost any Wuxia theatre fighter.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None, but examples are encouraged.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Multiple Discrete Actions'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is able to split their attention, physically as well as mentally, to the ends of pursuing several different major courses of action at the same time, allowing them to accomplish more in the same amount of time and possibly in different physical locations. This often, though not nearly always, applies to character bits that are made up of multiple entities, though it can also apply to characters that create doubles or projections. For the most part, the typical JRPG party sticks together and tackles the same obstacle as a unit, and is frequently not an example of this Point. Conversely, the typical super AI forking its personality off to be in multiple places and manipulate multiple system almost always is. This more likely to be something possessed by a bit that is The Payday Gang or Master Chief and Cortana rather than a hypothetical team of Power Rangers or the appable cast of a Fire Emblem game.<br /> <br /> <br /> MCM ascribes to the principle that each player in a scene should get to focus on getting One Big Thing done on each of their pose rounds. Gunning down a horde of zombies, breaking the magical seal on the tower, hacking into the mainframe to track a target with security cameras, fighting another PC; these are things which the character should obviously be devoting their time and attention to, and other actions they perform at the same time will inevitably be relatively minor. This Point is an explicit exception to this general rule, allowing the character to pursue a second major course of action in each pose round, essentially “doubling up” on their attendance at the scene. The character might fight off the terrorists while also defusing a bomb, distract the guards with a fake report while looting the gold, hijack and remote control the mad science fortress and its traps while also chasing down the boss, etc. This stops at, and is hard limited, to two major actions.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are two natural exceptions to the general One Big Thing rule. They are: when three or more PCs are engaged in combat in unbalanced sides (in which case, the outnumbered PCs gain exactly as many extra actions as necessary to even it out, solely for the use of fighting those PCs outnumbering them), and when circumstances necessary to progress a scene require criteria that too few PCs at the scene possess (in which case the relevant PC can take the extra action to move things along for everyone’s benefit, e.x. Gandalf decodes the map, translates the Elvish text, finds the secret entrance and casts the correct magic because the rest of the party is combat Dwarves and a Hobbit and can’t do any of those things). This Point can confer one additional action in excess of these if the character is benefiting from them.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''NPCs'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can command one or more other entities who will usually try to comply to the best of their ability. The NPCs may be fully realized characters, or simply generic monsters or drones, but overall their relationship to the Player Character is a subordinate one, and were they to leave or die, the character concept would not be overwhelmingly changed. The Advantages that an NPC can possess are limited to those the PC already possesses (for instance, a knight skilled in swordsmanship and riding might command a unit of cavalry skilled in the same), unless more Points are given over to the NPCs’ use, though it’s very rare that an NPC possesses all the Advantages of the PC and vice versa. Grades of this Point based on the tier of slot they use are relatively concrete.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining-Grade:''' The NPCs are essentially at the same tier as PCs. They are serious combat entities, may be stronger or more capable than the character themselves in some areas, and can generally expect to viably compete with PCs in relevant situations. Usually, some Advantage space is dedicated to fleshing out their personal abilities. An example is Paine and Rikku being taken as Yuna's Defining NPCs in Final Fantasy X-2.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Significant-Grade:''' The NPCs are essentially at the tier of a miniboss. They are meaningful obstacles in a conflict situation, and may have specialist skills or unique abilities, though they generally cannot expect to outdo a PC within their arena of expertise. Examples include R2-D2 or generic SOLDIERS from FF7.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor-Grade:''' The NPCs are essentially window dressing or props. Their skills have niche uses at most, and cannot contribute more than a similar Minor Advantage would. Minor NPCs cannot have a PL, and are presumed to lose in any combat engagement against anything more important than them. Examples include C3-P0 or generic Stormtroopers from Star Wars, or generic “redshirts” from Star Trek.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What Advantages the NPCs possess.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Where it actually matters, a Minor NPC specialized in combat will beat a Minor NPC that has no combat role. C3-P0 still loses to a squad of Stormtroopers, even though they're both Minor-grade.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Oration'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has exceptional social skills, has extraordinary charisma, is trained in diplomacy, persuasion, and deception, uses some kind of magical glamour, or otherwise has some means to make them an unusually effective speaker.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Significant''' or lower. This Point cannot be a Defining Advantage solely for the difficulty of portraying and respecting it in play.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None, so long as it is obviously distinct from '''Mind Manipulation'''.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Power Copy - (1/2/3)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} Because Power Copying is an Advantage that can be almost any other Advantage, and often several at once, the way that Power Copying works is not covered here, but [[Power Copy|in its own article]].&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining'''&lt;br<br /> '''Standalone'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' See article.&lt;br&gt;<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Proxies'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the option of working through an expendable and sometimes remote actor, minimizing risk to themselves while still allowing them to employ the bulk of their Advantages. Examples include Warframes, remote bodies from Ghost in the Shell, as well as swappable/expendable bodies from it and similar Transhuman themes, and the typical depiction of avatars such as in Accel World and other video game-inspired series. Possession, in the sense of ghosts, demons, body snatching, etc. is also considered a Proxy, but will usually require a Point to allow forcible acquisition and control of Proxies, such as '''Mind Manipulation'''. <br /> <br /> <br /> Proxies are a somewhat complicated territory, as '''MCM absolutely requires that the use of proxies not be able to obviate all danger to the user'''. As such, this Point follows almost identical rules to '''Immortality''', where the Catch is assumed to be some form of feedback to the user such that they are harmed when their Proxy is. Examples include psychic nosebleeds, cyber shock, magical soul rending, etc.This means that the user can die if their Proxy presence in a scene is rendered “dead enough”, or they were previously low on metaphorical HP and damage to Proxies “made up the difference”. <br /> <br /> <br /> The user of this Point has the option of how to scale their investment in their Proxy. A player can decide to use a lower tier of Proxy than this Point occupies, but cannot freely switch mid-scene.<br /> A '''Defining''' Proxy effectively can have all the tools and the full combat power of the character at their disposal, but translates “loss of HP” almost 1:1. If the Proxy jumps on a bomb and is blown to smithereens for their heroic sacrifice, the user is either dead, crippled, or in critical condition.&lt;br&gt;<br /> A '''Significant''' Proxy has limited use of the character’s Defining Advantages and likely possesses only a partial chunk of their Advantages overall, as well as having reduced combat power. Being damaged can seriously harm the user, but life-threatening injury rarely, though not never, occurs. The user is safer, but has less ability to influence events for it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> A '''Minor''' Proxy is of extremely limited help, with no realistic chance of winning meaningful combat, and any Advantages they keep are effectively “Minor-tier”. Their destruction is painful but usually only causes minor injuries to the user.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What the character sends ahead instead of themselves, and which of their Advantages the Proxies possess.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point rarely applies to summoners, drone operators, and the like, who wield their minions while already in the scene. If another participant can simply shoot the controller without additional difficulty, it’s not a Proxy. Likewise, sending an important NPC in a character’s place is not a Proxy, for the fact that the NPC is perfectly capable of dying, thus the character can be threatened by meaningful losses.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Quantum Solution'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a knack for occasionally producing unique, irreplicable, and incredibly situational solutions to various problems they encounter, through MacGyver-esque ingenuity, arbitrary access to mad science gizmos, absurdly flexible but situational magic, miraculous luck, or some other similar bag of tricks. Once per scene, this Point allows the character to produce a solution to a single, discrete obstacle or challenge. As per this Point’s name, said solution essentially doesn’t exist until it suddenly does. The form this solution takes and how effectively it solves the problem are up to the discretion of the scene or plot runner, but in a situation where no agreeable compromise can be reached, this Point is not “used up”.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' A strong idea of what thematics the Point follows.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Remote Manipulation'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can physically manipulate objects at long distance, whether through telekinesis, magical puppet strings, manipulation of an element, sticking their hands through tiny portals, etc. Universally, this Point is a utility, covering practical tasks that can be done with physical manipulation, and typically not effectually imitating other Powers. Telekinetic flight and barriers and powerful attacks require other relevant Points. The default assumption is that the character manipulates objects as they could with their hands, or appropriate mundane tools in the case of things like water or sand.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What the character can manipulate and how.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Remote Viewing'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can surveil a place extremely far away, or which they are otherwise unable to view normally, even with enhanced senses. Extremely mundane examples are the classical hidden camera and microphone, with fantasy equivalents being the crystal ball or Scrying spell, though this Point can also represent familiars or drones the character can see through, to name a few. This Point presumes that characters being watched are reasonably capable of realizing they are with mundane attention, unless appropriate concealment Points are taken alongside it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' when spying on PCs.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The mechanism by which the character views remotely, and the criteria that determines a valid place for them to see into.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Repair'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is able to repair various equipment, devices, or structures, to working condition. This is very often a mundane skill assisted by tools, in which case there is typically a more narrow field, but it can also use sci-fi reprocessing or powerful supernatural means, such as in Starbound and Eclipse Phase, or Josuke’s Stand, Crazy Diamond, from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures. How well the object functions when finished typically corresponds to the Point’s slot tier.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What sorts of targets the character is able to repair, and broadly in what general timeframe.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Resistance - (Source)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a natural resilience to, or a powerful preventative measure against, a specific category of harmful or unwanted influence. This can be almost anything, from a red dragon having a Resistance to fire, to a psion having a Resistance to mind control, but this Point has variable usefulness when it comes to PCs. As a general rule, a Resistance to a type of damage or harm can scale all the way up to an immunity to a natural or mundane source (such as a forest fire or black plague), provides a degree of utility based on its tier of Advantage slot against major plot obstacles (a melting down reactor or a super virus bioweapon), and only as much effect vs another PC as they are willing. How well this Point is respected by another PC is largely a matter of strongly encouraged etiquette. <br /> <br /> <br /> A Black Mage repeatedly slamming the canonically fire-immune Rubicante with fire spells, which he knows he should be strong against, while a whole list of other elements are at his disposal, is being a dick. An Avatar universe Firebender however, is free to light Rubicante up and assume it will be effective, perhaps with some extra effort, because it would be unreasonable to insist a Firebender couldn’t use their primary ability, and they don’t have much else to use anyways. The sole exception to this point is when a Point has an applicable '''Consent''' caveat, such as Mind '''Manipulation''', in which case it is generally acceptable for a Resistance to provide immunity of a certain level, understanding that the '''Significant''' and '''Defining''' Advantages of other PCs are still entitled to due sell when the target declines. The category of a Resistance that encompasses solely these effects can be fairly broad.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Informative examples of what sources of harm the character has a Resistance against.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Resurrection'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to bring back the dead with the functionality they had in life. For the purposes of this Point, “dead” is when a target is going to stay dead unless someone brings them back to life full stop, not clinically dead or a state a scene runner would be explicitly allowing to “come back to life” anyways, such as with defibrillation or Phoenix Down.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Standalone'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The criteria needed for a target to be eligible for Resurrection.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point does not extend to bringing your own character back to life (outside of the bounds of '''Share Power'''). If your character self-resurrects, see '''Immortality'''. Obviously, resurrected targets are probably in perfect or near-perfect health, and so further healing Points are not strictly necessary. Not taking them does, however, mean that your character can’t heal someone who isn’t dead yet.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Riding'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} This Point is a stub. See '''Vehicle Mastery'''.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}}'''Skeleton Catch'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character kills people dead, period. They automatically fulfil the Catch associated with another character’s '''Immortality''' without having to go to extra lengths, users of '''Proxies''' always receive full deadly harm from their attacks equivalent to that suffered by their Proxy, and killing someone may very well prevent their return through '''Resurrection'''. This Point is an explicit exception to the general notion that no Advantage automatically trumps another Advantage when contesting an Advantage of equal or lower tier. This may, in certain cases, extend to fulfilling conditions regarding a plot NPC who cannot be harmed normally, if a plot incorporates such a contrivance.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Obviously, concepts such as condeath still apply. This Point is an allowance for certain characters who are willing to spend the Point to always be able to meaningfully threaten any entity with actual and permanent death. Unless chosen to explicitly note otherwise, for the purposes of this Point, dead is dead is dead, and no form of “technically dead” obviates it.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Share Powers'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can grant the use of one or more of his Advantage Points to other characters, such as by handing out equipment, bestowing magical enhancements or blessings, synchronizing minds or abilities in some fashion, etc. Having this Point means that the character is able to provide others in the same scene with the benefits of their other Advantage Points of '''an equal tier or lower'''. In cases where the Point affects the self, such as '''Healing''', the character can now affect other characters, such as by casting healing spells. In cases where the Point is targeted at others, such as '''Attacks List''', the recipient gains the use of a similar ability for the scene, such as by handing them a raygun. In cases where the Point already affects others, such as '''Buffs''', the character is now able to use it on themselves, such as typical RPG moves. In cases where the Advantage is '''Standalone''' or incorporates '''Flash Movement''', others can only benefit from it by coordinating together with the character, such as huddling together under Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak, or setting up fixed teleportation pads. <br /> <br /> <br /> Recipients who wish to obtain these effects permanently must file an Upgrade Application as normal. Characters cannot Share Powers with recipients if they are not actually in the same scene.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What selection of the character’s Advantage Points can be used on, or loaned out to, others. If this is a very large list, it can be shortened by describing directly in Advantage terms.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: This Point is actually not strictly necessary to use Advantages on, or give them out to, other people. Just about any Advantage can be defined to do so, but in that case, it only works on '''others''' (or on oneself if it normally only works on others). This Point is '''always''' more efficient, and always preferred, when a character has more than one of these Points at a time, and should always be used in these cases.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Shapeshifting'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} Shape shifting is not actually considered an Advantage Point. The power to change forms is a trapping. It is the fluffy dressing on the actual point of taking a new form. This stub exists to guide people looking for shape shifting into checking out '''Disguise''', '''Superior (Attribute)''', '''Environmental Protection''', '''Entry Methods''', '''Flight''', '''Water Functionality''', and other such things that different bodies might do.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Stealth'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is skilled in getting around unseen and undetected. This may be a enhanced by, or a result of, things like camouflage technology, magical silence, extremely small size, and the like, but this Point is sharply differentiated from '''Invisibility''' in that the character can always be detected by sufficient mundane effort or attention, no matter the circumstance, and must actively avoid notice, instead of being presumed unnoticed until they engage in a competitive task, or something does something special. Users of this Point include Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid, Altair from Assassin’s Creed, Garrett from the Thief series, and James Bond, though they rarely use only this Point.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For approaches where the character is obviously present but undercover or unremarkable, see '''Disguises''', and possibly '''Oration''' if they infiltrate through social subterfuge, such as bluffing, acting, and imitating.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Superhumanity'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a “generic” kind of overall above-human physical aptitude, typically encompassing some combination of superhuman strength, speed, resilience, reflexes, stamina, etc. This is an unbelievably common package in anime, comic books, and martial arts films, and incredibly common among non-human races in fantasy and sci-fi books, games, and movies. This can all be represented as a single Point simply because it would be prohibitively unwieldy to do otherwise, however, some small amount of emphasis can go to particular traits if the character is only superhuman in a few areas.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For characters with individually outstanding physical traits which cannot be called generic, such as the Flash’s speed or the Hulk’s strength, see '''Superior - Attribute'''.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Superior - (Attribute)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a single physical trait, such as those outlined in '''Superhumanity''', which vastly exceeds the norm to the point of becoming one of the character’s primary tools.The Hulk would take this Point in “strength” instead of Superhumanity, which Superman might take instead, representing that all of his metaphorical “XP” is loaded into being really really strong, and that his strength is more relevant than a generic superhuman’s in solving problems.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' Which of the character’s attributes is exceptional, and at least one example of a feat they can perform with some, but not exceptional, effort.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Anything like “Superior Durability” should be represented with '''Damage Reduction'''. Note that this Point can be taken multiple times to represent multiple areas in which a character is categorically exceptional. If being physically absurd is their main gimmick, they may wind up using an entire slot like this.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Survival Skills'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is well-versed in what it takes to provide for themselves and possibly others in situations far away from civilization and dependable infrastructure. This Point typically represents an abstract collection of abilities such as navigation and foraging suited to particular environments, but which rarely have central relevance, given that MCM’s structure makes it difficult to really be stranded anywhere for long.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' What kinds of places the character is skilled at surviving in.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Teleportation'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} This is a stub. Teleportation is almost always going to be represented with '''Flash Movement''', which elaborates fully on how teleportation can be represented on MCM.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Temporal Acceleration'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can accelerate the passage of time for other things. This could cause plants to grow, weapons to rust, food to rot, creatures to mature, machines to work faster, stone to wear away, etc. so long as it is naturally affected by the progression of time. How much what target can be accelerated almost wholly depends on how useful it is to actually do it. In any tier of Advantage slot, rusting away the blast doors of a sealed starship bridge would be more difficult than ageing a bottle of wine by the same amount of time. It is understood that many problems may simply be beyond the scope of being solvable by any practical amount of time passing.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' when applied to PCs, or possessions/NPCs of consequence.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None. <br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Time Loops'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character can create closed time loops with themselves, wherein an iteration of them from the future briefly returns to present to assist them in some task, and then at the same point in the future, the character undertakes the same action of returning to the same point in the past in order to keep causality happy. This is the only form of personal time travel that MCM accommodates. Future selves are primarily useful for already knowing of dangers ahead of time, having partial or full solutions to puzzles, or items that make a problem easier which lie beyond the problem, and so frequent consultation with a scene runner is usually necessary to be playable.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Note: This Point does not cover having future selves travel back in time to multiply the number of things you can do at one time. See '''Multiple Discrete Actions''' to do so.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Time Stop'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has the ability to stop time, or else somehow act outside of time, such that they are able to act literally instantly. This is differentiated from slowing down time, in that their actions take place without significant opportunity for other characters to follow them until they’ve already happened. Grades of this Point based on the tier of slot they use are relatively concrete.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Defining''' Time Stop is extremely reliable and easily used, allowing the character to enhance nearly everything they do, often to the point their actions become difficult to follow. Similar to Defining teleportation and invisibility, the character often Just Shows Up out of frozen time. Examples are Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou, Dio Brando from JoJo's Bizarre Adventures, Shadow the Hedgehog's Chaos Control, and Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Significant''' Time Stop is incomplete, limited in use, very short lived, or else plausible to “resist” without any special powers, but still lends the character considerable utility in situations to which it is well suited. Other characters often don't have a hard time figuring out what they've done when time resumes, or else may be be able to anticipate or counter it with mundane effort and skill. Examples are Nox from Wakfu, Esdeath from Akame ga Kill, the Time Clow Card, and most usable incarnations in videogames, such as Castlevania or Bayonetta.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minor''' Time Stop is more or less a flashier version of super speed or super reflexes. The character might only be able to see and not move while time is stopped, or else be unable to interact significantly with the environment while time is stopped, or the pause in time has such a short duration that little more than single motions can be accomplished. Examples include Accel World's Brain Burst program, and Hit from Dragon Ball Z Super in his first appearance.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Standalone'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Consent''' where actions taken in stopped time would directly affect another PC or undercut them to a goal without allowing for a competing effort.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: For simply slowing down time, see '''Superior - Speed''', or for slowing down the time of a specific entity, see '''Debilitation'''. '''Superior - Speed''' and '''Instant Movement''' can be considered optional ways of representing time stopping characters, especially those who use it largely cosmetically or to simple effect in their source. Using one or both instead of this Point is less taxing on a character’s Advantage space, and adheres to general logic rather than the Consent tag, but the tradeoff is that actions the character takes using their time stopping powers are then eminently obvious and preventable, as well as lacking the same degree of flexibility and narrative punch. The choice is up to the player most of the time.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Transfiguration'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} Just like '''Shape Shifting''', turning people into things is not an Advantage Point in of itself, but the trappings on one. This stub serves a similar purpose, except also to note that any power which transfigures someone into something else, whether transforming them into a squirrel, ageing them 50 years, or turning them to stone, is automatically '''Consent''' noted.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''''Transportation'''''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has some means of getting from point A to point B in a highly day-to-day fashion, with no applicability in combat or with significant obstacles in play. This is effectively a non-Advantage, because we always assume that players should have access to what they need to Get To The RP, which is why Warpgates exist in the first place. This stub exists to affirm this. If the transport method has some basic utility, it may instead qualify for a '''Minor''' level of a Point like '''Flight'''.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Vehicle Mastery - (Vehicle)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a high degree of personal skill with operating a certain class of vehicle or in control of a certain kind of mount. When at the wheel/saddle/etc. they are capable of performing a variety of uncommonly skilled and/or unusual stunts. Due to the way Advantage Redundancy works, as highlighted later in this section, this Point can valid grounds for associated instances of “free” Points, such as '''Flight''' for mastery of personal aircraft, solely containing mundane/typical examples of the vehicle. Vehicles that perform outside of highly ordinary parameters, including most military vehicles, still require Advantages paid in full for the character to possess.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The category of vehicle or mount the character is extraordinarily skilled with.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable categories later in this section.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Water Functionality'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has some combination of traits, equipment, or abilities that grant them comprehensive functionality on and under water. This Point effectively always includes the ability to breathe underwater in some fashion, as almost always incorporates a high degree of water mobility and lack of impediment in fighting or performing tasks.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Weapon Mastery - (Style)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has a high degree of personal skill with a certain category of weaponry or in a certain style of combat. When using those weapons or within their arena of combat expertise, they are capable of performing a variety of uncommonly skilled and/or unusual stunts. Due to the way Advantage Redundancy works, as highlighted later in this section, this Point is valid grounds for an associated instance of '''Attack List''' as a “free” Point, solely containing typical weaponry fitting to the combat style. Weapons with special traits well outside the norm for their type still require Advantages to be paid in full, though some synergy with other Advantages is acceptable as usual (for instance, this Point dedicated to swords, and an Attack List - Ranged that shoots fire, could be grounds for “a sword that is a sword but it can also shoot fire”).&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' The field of weaponry or style of combat the character is extraordinarily skilled in.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: There are some examples of acceptable categories later in this section. This Point is for above typical skill. MCM does not require players to spend Advantage space to put the pointy end of a sword towards the enemy, and does not run on “weapon proficiencies” like in tabletops. A character with Advantage space dedicated to a weapon or fighting is presumed to have a minimum amount of capability to use it effectively.''<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Wealth'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character is fabulously wealthy or has access to incredibly abundant resources of a generally valuable rather than immediately practical nature. This Point doesn’t represent things that the character happens to own because they are wealthy, which would simply be a trapping. It represents an amount of liquid assets or useable resources they can throw at a problem by itself, such as bribing guards for entry, paying off politicians for info, hiring local help for a task, or local mercenaries to fight, investing capital in an ongoing project, taking ownership of set pieces to use immediately within the scene(s), reserving public spaces for Elite use, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' None.<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} '''Wild Card - (#)'''<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} The character has an Advantage that isn’t sufficiently covered by anything else on this list! Human decisions made by staff on what may be required of this Point are unavoidable, and so the Point may wind up being considered '''Consent''' applicable, or may be asked to be tweaked in some other fashion to remain consistent with MCM’s universal rules. Wildcards are given a number instead of a category in their designation.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Required Text:''' A very clear and detailed explanation of what the Point is supposed to do and how, as well as any information required for others to known how to interact with, around, and against it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: The category for Wildcard is simply a number, referencing how many the character has, since possible categories are about as broad as the Advantage’s name.''<br /> |}<br /> === Standalone Advantages ===<br /> Some abilities that characters have access to have such broad power, extreme volumes of possible applications, or narrative-bending weight, that their Point fills up the entire Advantage slot it is assigned to by itself; that is to say, they effectively count as three Points each. Unless the Point also indicates a specific tier, they may still be taken at Defining, Significant, or Minor levels.<br /> <br /> === Consent-Based Advantages ===<br /> Overall, MCM is a consent-based MUSH, and there is exceedingly little that can be done to another player character without that player’s consent, but MCM does have a general stance that when players interact, “something happens” is better than “nothing happens”. When an Advantage features one or more applications tagged with '''Consent''' above, it means that particular use of the Advantage does not benefit from this guideline. The other player is completely free to have their character avoid the effect altogether, and attempting to pressure them into accepting it can be considered abuse.<br /> <br /> The Consent tag is applied to Advantages that can be considered “dictatorial”, in that they strip control of the situation away from a player, are highly invasive of their character, and/or heavily dictate the outcome of events, which is why no player is obligated to humor them. Things like mind control, instant incapacitation, removing PCs from the scene, taking away powers, heavy transformation, etc. are some examples of this. To be transparently straightforward this does mean Professor Xavier will have a harder time using his abilities than Magneto, and Magneto should expect that controlling the iron in another PC’s blood to puppet their body will only go as far as other players find it fun.<br /> <br /> === Advantage Category Examples ===<br /> Several Advantage Points allow the player to define their own categories wherein they take effect. These are left wholly up to the applicant to decide on, but there are still limits to the acceptable breadth they can encompass ('''Weapon Mastery - Everything''' is not a real Advantage, sadly), which are judged by how clearly and sensibly they define a limited set of narratively related examples, either explicitly or by way of obvious extrapolation. For the sake of applicants being able to judge their own categories at a glance, we have listed a number of examples below. These are '''not''' complete entries we want to see exactly copied and pasted, but a typical example of a category name, in cases where they have one, and then the kinds of examples that might show up in its trapping, in order to give the reader an idea where the bounds are.<br /> <br /> ==== Bane ====<br /> '''Modern Mythos Supernaturals''' -- Werewolves, vampires, zombies, famous regional monsters such as yeti or chupacabra, most ghosts, some instances of demonic possession, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Classical Folklore Monsters''' -- Gorgons, basilisks, sea serpents, banshees, hydra, faerie, most dragons, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Eastern Tradition Creatures''' -- Youkai, Ayakashi, spirits and gods of individual objects or locations, evil ghosts borne of improper burial, archetypes of Kitsune, Yuki Onna, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Undead''' -- Ghosts, vampires, liches, skeletons, zombies, various necro-horrors, etc. up to and including “technically dead” targets, such as zombies by lethal infection rather than necromancy.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Mechanical Beings''' -- Cyborgs, androids, most robots, various forms of AI with relevant physical access, etc. Does not cover robots too simple to be called beings or that are clearly accessories, like a manufacturing arm or a tank.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Divine Power Users''' -- Gods, demigods, avatars of such, typically all kinds of angel and equivalent divine servant, priests/clerics/shamans/monks, etc. that directly invoke a divinity’s power.<br /> <br /> <br /> This Point may contain categories that are extremely variable on a theme to theme basis, or categories that are so narrow they apply with a great degree of cross-theme lenience, such as:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Profane''' -- Creatures declared anathema by a primary divine power and which are subjugated, harmed, or repelled, by divine power. Depending on theme, this could be almost anything. Though very common subjects are demons, vampires, evil spirits, corrupt gods, the undead, various eldritch monsters, and some kinds of dark magic users, the fact that it has such an incredibly broad reach into so many themes means that it is entirely at the mercy of any particular theme’s conceits. A vampire might be cursed and unholy in one world, but what is blatantly a vampire in another may be some kind of disease or mutation and have no such stigma, and the Bane is required to respect that.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Dragons''' -- If it’s a big, scaly, winged and tailed, flesh and blood creature, likely with some sort a damage dealing breath, it probably counts. It doesn’t matter whether it’s called a Drake or a Wyvern or a Lung or a Fell Beast; a dragon is a dragon is a dragon. Conversely, this sometimes might not apply to some entities that use the name “dragon” only in metaphor or homage, as clearly some kind of elemental or space god, or something like a dragon-shaped rock golem.<br /> ==== Immortality ====<br /> Immortality is concerned with acceptable Catches rather than a category itself. Some unofficially named examples are:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Extreme Overkill:''' The character is killed for good when hit with unreasonable amounts of firepower in a short period of time, making killing them an exercise in “killing them really really dead”. A Defining example might require them to be completely obliterated to an extremely fine level. A Significant example might only require “enough” firepower that someone would have to intentionally go the extra mile in most cases. A Minor example would be a level of overkill that could frequently happen by accident, and so only helps in surviving casual threats or battles with enemies not serious about killing them. Cell from Dragon Ball Z, the Thing, and many iterations of Godzilla, are examples.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Immortality Juice:''' The character keeps coming back to life until they can’t anymore. The character could have extra lives, a lottery on whether it works, resurrecting could be draining to their soul or magic reserves, or maybe dying enough times in a short enough period of time just leaves them so exhausted and beaten that they can be finished off with a mundane action anyone could pull off. A Defining example would probably take a concerted effort to trap/track and kill the character over a long period of time. A Significant example has a plausible chance of wearing out in an especially prolonged fight, or has enough of a failure chance that the character thinks twice about dying in general. A Minor example will typically only work to stabilize a character they go a few metaphorical HP negative, and they could still be easily finished off by someone paying attention. Alucard from Hellsing and Fujiwara no Mokou are examples of this Catch.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Minimum Bar:''' The character only returns from death if specific circumstances are met. They may have had to die while acting a certain way, in a possession of a certain object, in defense of a certain cause, or only if they can pass some sort of bar of entry that a character could reasonably interfere with, such as retrieving their corpse as a spirit, or needing to hold on with sheer will that could have been broken by dying. A Defining example would rarely ever happen on its own, and likely require deliberate and intentional effort and setup on the part of another to enforce a scenario where it would fail. A Significant example could provide broadly useful arenas where the Immortality is basically guaranteed to work, but leave its reliability sorely lacking in other, very important situations which the character will inevitably end up in. A Minor example would only save the character from an especially pointless, trivial, or ignonimous death, and certainly not of their own devising. The God Tier mechanics of Homestuck characters fall here, as well as the Undead from Dark Souls, or any number of characters that carries some kind of self-resurrection mcguffin.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Achilles Heel:''' The character is killed for good when exposed to or killed by a certain class of attack, object, stimuli, etc. They might only die when burned to death, by a silver blade, under the light of the sun, specifically when decapitated, or something similar. This one is very straightforward, and is graded entirely by how obscure or difficult to obtain the killing mechanism is. A Defining example presumes that it could almost never happen unintentionally; someone would have to know the Catch, and go the extra mile to carry or plan for something few people normally do. A Significant example presumes that the fatal threat won’t usually be present on its own, but may still turn up from time to time in regular scenes, and that even though few characters may actively carry the countermeasure, it wouldn’t be hard to acquire it if necessary. A Minor examples presumes that the character’s final death is a matter of “when” and not “if”; chances for it to happen are abundant in everyday adventuring, and any character who doesn’t have access to the Catch could gain it trivially easily. A massive list of classical monsters could go as examples, such as vampires and stakes to the heart, as well as the Highlander series, and every other boss from the Resident Evil series.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: Past a certain level, a mechanism can be considered too obscure or difficult, and thus not acceptable (for instance, Ganon only dying if killed by the Master Sword).''&lt;br&gt; <br /> '''Backup Box:''' The character dies, but reconstitutes at a remote object or place, usually heavily defended for obvious reasons. The success of the mechanism is rarely ever a question. Disabling or destroying it is the obvious method to fulfil the Catch.A Defining example means that the character is almost never in danger unless an enemy actively plans for his demise, and even then they will have difficulty, though there should still be some pertinent reason they hesitate to throw their life away whenever convenient (no suicide to fast travel). A Significant example includes that the process could be damaged or compromised in some way other than an enemy intentionally going to its physical location and sabotaging it, through a means most characters could acquire with some effort, or else it is solely secured by its obscure location. A Minor example has some intensely limiting factor that makes it easy to locate and destroy, such as having to be kept within 100 meters, or opening a portal directly to itself the character’s soul slips through. Character examples include Voldermort from Harry Potter, 2B and 9S from Nier: Automata, and every single Lich ever.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''Note: A Catch like this must be wholly and entirely secured by the character’s own means. It cannot ever be defended or secured by a conceit or fixture of the theme at large. Requiring an enemy to turn a landmark upside down or inflict mass casualties to threaten a PC is not something MCM permits, since it effectively “hides behind” extra layers of consent and dissuasion.''<br /> ====Knowledge====<br /> '''Computers''' -- Finding evidence of forced entry, learning how to operate unfamiliar systems, analyzing the capabilities of robots by their programming, tracking by someone’s internet activity, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Occult''' -- Knowing favored items to negotiate with spirits or things that repel them, resolving the unfinished business of a ghost, decoding ciphers in arcane texts, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Psychology''' -- Attempting to ascertain someone’s honesty, psychological profiling, finding the right approach in interrogation or negotiation, dealing with victims of traumatic events, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Tactics''' -- Anticipating an ambush, predicting an enemy’s movements ahead of time, reading into a goal or strategy through a group’s actions, picking naturally defensible places to build, etc.<br /> ====Miscellaneous Skill====<br /> '''Architecture''' -- Building useful structures, reinforcing existing ones to combat readiness, renovating a ruin into a home base, finding structural weak points for demolition, discovering secret rooms, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Mechanical Engineering''' -- Assessing the purpose of an unknown device, manually operating things like bridges, hangars, and generators, performing standard manual repairs, salvaging for useful parts, performing tuning, upgrades or restorations, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Scouting''' -- Tracking quarries, finding secret passages, discovering or making shortcuts, erasing tracks, picking up on environmental signs, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Spelunking''' -- Navigating, map making and reading, climbing and rappelling, squeezing through small spaces, reading air currents and natural signs, finding things in the dark, etc.<br /> ====Resistance====<br /> Each example includes examples of things a Resistance could reasonably claim immunity to, and which could reasonably provide useful protection from. Obviously, any and all of these examples are subject to the tier of slot incorporating this Point, and any special factors that make the source important. They are automatically trumped by PCs according to the rules expressed in the table, and which examples apply to the character should be made clear in their trappings. No Resistance may be so broad that its environmental examples functionally eclipse '''Environmental Protection''' (such as Resistance - Space Hazards).&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Fire and Heat''' -- Immune: Natural heat such as the air of a desert or volcano. Forest fires, burning clothes, or a naturally occurring magma pool.&lt;br&gt; <br /> Resistant: Flamethrowers, plasma guns, critical reactor heat, fire spells, stellar exposure, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Toxins and Disease''' -- Immune: Ordinary diseases and infections, and toxins that are “bad for you” but don’t have consequences that would manifest within a scene, asides maybe throwing up.&lt;br&gt;<br /> Resistant: Supernatural or magical diseases or illnesses, curses of poor health, chemical weapons, weaponized viruses, animal venoms, lethal poisons, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Magic''' -- Immune: Extremely mild or benign local effects, or '''Consent''' effects such as transformation. Magic resistance is such a broadly reaching genre of Resistance that it is very rarely going to provide immunity.&lt;br&gt;<br /> Resistant: Curses, passive local hazards, “magical radiation”, and highly subjective and variable grades of non-PC attack magic, depending on the tier of Resistance and potency of attack. This example is so broad and capable of shutting down an entire genre of threats that a dedicated caster attempting to hurt the character through magic is always going to succeed to a decent degree, unless they are effectively a mook.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Mind Control''' -- Immune: Any of it the same tier and below.&lt;br&gt;<br /> Resistant: Any of it of a higher tier. This is always a '''Consent''' Point to use on anyone to begin with, and so the threats it protects against are not something a player is nearly as obligated to respect. In the extremely niche and unlikely occurrence a non-'''Consent''' effect could be considered Mind Control, see the previous example.<br /> ====Vehicle Mastery====<br /> '''Aerospace Superiority''' -- Jets, combat planes, bombers, starfighters, VTOLs, etc. Works for equivalent flying riding animals such as pegasus knights, griffons, and dragon riders, etc. so long as air combat is happening. Would need an additional Point for exceptionally skilled ground riding.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Air-Ground Support''' -- Helicopters, gunships, landing craft, space troop transports, etc. Likewise large, low-flying riding animals can work here, like dragon strafing runs.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Watercraft''' -- PT boats, hovercraft, jet skis, speed boats, kayaks, amphibious vehicles, etc. Practically any marine creature significantly smaller than a whale.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Fully Staffed Ships''' -- Destroyers, frigates, battleships, etc. of the water, space and air varieties. Riding equivalents are usually colossal war beasts or flying whales or the like.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Multi-Wheeled''' -- Cars, trucks, ATVs, jeeps, tractors, APCs, armored vans, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Heavy Military Ground''' -- Tanks, APCs, self-propelled guns, drawn siege-engines, war elephants and similar big stompy monsters, etc.&lt;br&gt; <br /> '''Single Riding''' -- Motorbikes, jet skis, snowmobiles, horses, etc. Most mounted ground combat could be covered.<br /> <br /> <br /> This Particular Point allows for extremely limited selections with broad roles, such as:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Flying Cavalry Beasts''' -- Would allow solely for things such as pegasi, griffons, etc. but would cover all aspects of riding them, air, ground, support, dogfighting, mounted combat, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Humanoid Mecha''' -- Similarly, this allows for mecha combat in space, in the air, on the ground, etc. so long as it’s a giant metal person and acts like one.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ====Weapon Mastery====<br /> '''Hilted Slashing''' -- Most swords and daggers, glaives and naginatas, axes, sickles, most vibroblades, some energy swords or psychic/magic blades, etc.&lt;br&gt; <br /> '''Polearms''' -- Spears, pikes, halberds, glaives, naginatas, polehammers, scythes, shock staves, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Heavy Striking''' -- Maces, hammers, war picks, polehammers, clubs, batons, realistic flails, suitably sized improvised cudgels, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Hand-To-Hand''' -- Claws, powerfists, knuckle weapons, pile bunkers, etc. May include unarmed combat itself, or things such as knives used as CQC enhancers.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Modern Infantry Firearms''' -- Typical rifles, shotguns, handguns, submachine guns, etc. May include somewhat more specialist weapons used in a generic role, up to and including basic grenades.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Flexible Wire''' -- Whips, weighted chains, mono-wires, lassos, tentacle spells, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Martial Arts Sticks''' -- Various staves, escrima sticks, tonfas, nunchaku, three-section staff, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Mounted Heavy Weapons''' -- Missile launchers, miniguns, autocannons, ballistae, mangonels, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Archaic Hand-Powered Projectile''' -- Bows, crossbows, javelins, throwing knives, shuriken, etc.&lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> This Particular Point allows for extremely limited selections with broad roles, or extremely broad selections with limited roles, such as:&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Knives''' -- Just knives and that’s it, but the character would within their rights to use them as a melee weapon, CQC enhancer, and thrown weapon, as per their roles in Hilted Slashing, Hand-To-Hand, Archaic Hand-Powered Projectile. The extreme focus affords versatile capabilities with that weapon.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Personal Sniping''' -- Just about any weapon that could be used by an individual to believably engage in sniping, from marksman and anti-materiel rifles to longbows or lasers, but no matter what they use, any of these weapons will fill the role of “sniper”, with their other qualities mostly being perks and window dressing. The extreme focus affords a versatile selection of of weapons in that role.<br /> ===Redundancy and Prerequisites===<br /> One of the core concepts of the Point system is to avoid judging a character’s conceptual fullness by how many toys they have, but by the scope of what they can accomplish in a scene. Most Advantage Points encompass and compress what might otherwise be extensive lists of individual powers or items, because they do roughly the same thing. Sometimes a character ends up with multiple different Advantages that happen to share some of the same Points. In these cases, the same Point recurring at the '''same tier or lower''' effectively becomes a “free” Point. It is still noted in the Advantage slot, but it no longer costs any space.&lt;br&gt;<br /> ''e.x. A character has an Advantage slot that gives him sturdy, environmentally pressurized power armor, represented by the '''Damage Reduction''', '''Environmental Protection''', and '''Superhumanity''' Points. He also has a giant mecha, which occupies a different Advantage slot. His mecha may then have any or all of those same Points, listed alongside the 1-3 unique things it does, for free.''<br /> <br /> <br /> As a niche but universal rule, characters with special skills, equipment, and talents, are always assumed to have access to the basic items required to exercise that skill, or the basic skills required to properly utilize that item. Many Points already explicitly note this (such as ''''Weapon Mastery - Sword''' giving a free '''Attack List - Melee''' with the trapping of “ordinary mundane swords), but it should be assumed that any that don’t still have this rule applied. A powerful weapon comes with a passable level of skill in wielding it, a knack for medicine comes with a kit of medical and surgical items, the ability to cast magic comes with the mana bar and wand as required, etc.<br /> <br /> ==Advantage Standards==<br /> While MCM leaves the standards of writing trappings and designing Advantage space relatively freeform, there are certain stylistic guides that should be adhered to as a matter of policy. These rules are few, and not mere suggestions. These decisions exist in order for Advantages to do exactly what they say, and maintain a minimum level of sanity in play. Applications have been turned around for wildly diverging from these precepts.<br /> ===&quot;Conceptual&quot; and &quot;Molecular&quot; Terms===<br /> When an Advantage is asserted to work on a “conceptual” level, it is all too often used as shorthand for the Advantage having massively reaching control over a thematic space that can be stretched and extrapolated with no clear limits. “Molecular level control” is understood to be effectively the comic book equivalent. While we allow for Advantages that incorporate these mechanics, such as in Fate/ and DC series, we don’t want to see this terminology appear in their writeups. Advantages are predicated on clear and understandable language, without cleverly hidden gotchas or secret extra utility obfuscated to the reader, and these terms run counter to this goal.<br /> ===The Et Cetera Rule===<br /> For the same sake of Advantage clarity, using “etc.”, “and so forth”, and other thought extenders, should only be done in the context of a tight grouping of examples that relate in an obvious fashion.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''-Acceptable:''' “Black Mage has the magical power to fire blasts of elemental energy (fire, ice, lighting, etc.)” The “etc.” clearly indicates extra elements, but the magic itself has a clear and sufficiently narrow scope. Black Mage could shoot dark or water or earth element attack spells, but it doesn't expand on the utility of the Advantage, merely the VFX.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''''-Unacceptable:''''' “Doppelganger has the ability to completely transform his body into that of a different creature, such as a bear, spider, dragon, werewolf, android, etc.” The “etc.” has no clear bounding or obvious continuation. None of the listed examples are intuitively related, and the entry could spiral into turning into planet-sized space whales for all the reader knows. This forces other players, not to mention staff, to consult a wiki to understand what the character does in the case of an FC, and leaves them completely in the dark in the case of an OC.<br /> ===Implicit Limitations===<br /> For simplicity and accessibility, MCM allows a lot of functional breadth in most Advantage Points, and prefers them to be explained in useful narrative terms rather than hard and comparative numbers. However, there are certain expectations that Advantages be played to what they say, especially in the case of FCs with a defined canon. Essentially, “my Advantage doesn’t explicitly say I can’t do it” doesn’t mean you can. <br /> <br /> <br /> As an example, Cloud Strife, an Adeptus Astartes, and Superman might all take the Superhumanity Point, but if said Adeptus Astartes suddenly begins bench pressing locomotives just because Superman can, he is reaching far beyond the implicit scope of his Advantage, constituting abuse. Likewise, a Black Mage, Link, and the Doom Slayer might all take Attack List - (Ranged), but there is a serious problem when Black Mage pulls a BFG out from under his hat because it would technically be permissible under the same Point. '''This does not enforce a hierarchy of usefulness within the same Advantage outside of its tier of slot'''. Even if Superman can objectively lift more weight than Cloud Strife, if both of them have their Superhumanity at the Defining level, for instance, them applying their Superhumanity to a task that requires it should yield results that are similarly helpful. Superman might casually deadlift what takes Cloud involving leverage with his giant sword, but the description is immaterial to the fact they both got the job done.<br /> <br /> <br /> On a related note, '''there are no such thing as Advantages that implicitly exist'''. A character seldom or never using an ability means that the player has a choice of cutting it from the character entirely until a time that they want to start using it, or applying for it and waiting for a dramatic moment to use it. They do not have the choice of writing it in as a footnote for when it becomes convenient.<br /> ===Advantage +1===<br /> Lastly, design space to be aware of is that MCM does not consider Advantages recurring multiple times equal to “Advantage but better”. A natural superhuman might put on a suit of powered armor that further enhances his superhuman physical abilities, but Superhumanity is Superhumanity, and its is as useful as its slot. They are both contributing sources of Superhumanity, not Superhumanity+1, double Superhumanity, or Superhumanity squared. The most MCM allows for an Advantage to be emphasized is for its slot to contain fewer other Points to heighten the relevance of what it does have. This is frankly in place to prevent silly arms races of stacking Advantages more than everyone else to achieve dominance in a field, and thus everyone else having to stack a minimum amount to stay relevant. This extends to not considering Advantages that hard trump other Advantages until a trump is devised in return, which gets us the Unblockable Attack -&gt; Unblockable Attack-Blocking Shield -&gt; Unblockable Attack-Blocking Shield-Piercing Attack -&gt; Unblockable Attack-Blocking Shield-Piercing Attack-Blocking Shield, etc. escalation.<br /> <br /> ==Advantage Policy and Limitations==<br /> As MCM allows an extremely wide variety of characters and character abilities, for the sake of keeping things sane, there are a few universal rules that Advantages must abide by, in order to keep things fun and relatively straightforward.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''Player Character Glass Ceiling:''' In general, we don't allow for entities that flat overpower or supersede PC action, and so MCM is not a game where Cthulhu or Cain will simply defeat you automatically for challenging them. That said, we can play looser with this regarding things that aren't meant to be a permanent fixture on the MUSH. If a plot demands that ghosts need to be dealt with by resolving their issues instead of re-killing them, we may decide that you won't be able to re-kill them in a fight like you would a ghost PC. It's both impolite, and incorrect, to speculate how beyond a PC your Plot Boss is, and it discourages staff from greenlighting those concepts for you if you do.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Threat to Player Characters:''' MCM requires that all player characters are capable of being threatened by physical danger under reasonable circumstances, though reasonable degrees may vary somewhat from character to character. This is to maintain a consistent tone of enemies and hazards being able to present as credible risks to PCs regardless of theme, or else conflicts quickly lose their integrity in a story. This is already present in several types of Advantages outlined in our Advantage Points section, such as '''''Immortality''''' and '''''Proxies''''', but should be understood to be a general consideration regardless.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Intensity of Effect:''' Almost no Advantages are absolute. Defensive Advantages acting against highly dictatorial effects can be, but when someone “attempts to do a thing to you”, it's preferable for “something to happen” rather than “nothing to happen”, although the specifics are in your court. For example, in Harry Potter, the Avada Kedavra spell kills anyone it hits instantly. On MCM, Avada Kedavra would be a powerful attack, but nobody would expect you to automatically die from it.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Range of Effect:''' Any Advantage that targets another PC is assumed a delivery mechanism that is avoidable, even if it doesn't in the source material. To put it another way, Everyone Gets A Save Against Everything. All combat powers are assumed to function with range and methodology which permits meaningful interaction between all players. That means if you are attacking another PC, that PC can fight back somehow; otherwise a scene just becomes tedious and one-sided.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Scope of Effect:''' In day-to-day use, Advantages shouldn't exceed a Scope of Effect of one city block, the upper end of which we identify as Kowloon Walled City. When mass destruction happens, we want it to be a plot-significant event, such as when Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star; not Nappa blowing up a city for giggles. If an environment has little narrative weight or doesn't map to realspace, we don't mind if destruction is abnormally upscaled there. Blowing up a mountain in the boonies or a pocket dimension just doesn't matter that much. This is to keep the stakes of conflicts roughly within a ballpark that most PCs can interact with.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Interaction with MUSH Meta-Elements:''' Advantages that interact with natural Warpgates, Unification, or any other element of the MUSH's back-end, are not possible to have. You can't &quot;de-unify&quot; or leave the Multiverse or MUSH setting.&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''Conservation of Ninjutsu:''' It's possible to create PC-class power. It isn't possible to mass-produce PC-Class power. Cloning Superman once might get you another Superman, cloning him a hundred times gets you Superman-flavored mooks.<br /> ----<br /> <br /> '''Patch Notes 2/22/17 7:15 P.M.''': Edited the Conceptual file to encompass another form of broad shorthand: Molecular-level control.<br /> <br /> '''Patch Notes 1/16/2017 6:18 P.M.''': Edited Minor NPCs to clarify that they cannot have a PL, and how two minor NPCs of different specialties might interact.<br /> <br /> '''Patch Notes 1/12/2017 8:31 P.M.''': Edited out Monsters of the Week as a standalone advantage. A MotW would be a &quot;blank&quot; Defining NPC entry with possible advantages fleshed out as a mix'n'match package defined as a part of the character's other advantages.<br /> <br /> '''Patch Notes 6/14/2017''': Edited to flow better for learning the new system.<br /> <br /> <br /> [[Category:News File]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=A_whole_NEW-U!&diff=14336 2017-05-18T02:39:54Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2017/05/13<br /> |Location=Pandora<br /> |Synopsis=Gaige tests out a new piece of hardware on Ferham! It has some pretty interesting results and allows her use of the New-U machine.<br /> |Cast of Characters=1112, 516<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Gaige had been tinkering. Oh, how she'd been tinkering. You see, Sanctuary had one of those fancy New-U units. The problem was, it didn't work. Technically being an outlaw city had its issues. Like a lot of stuff being cut off the grid or ignored, not to mention the constant bombing raids against the city shields. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; But, now? Now things were different. Gaige had hauled the machine to her work shop and spent the last few days tearing it apart. First had been removing the 'anti-tinkering features', which constituted enough explosive fire power to blow up a building. Fortunately it wasn't able to be activated remotely or the machine likely would have gone off ages ago.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; But after that, it had been a simple process of hacking the files(not her best talent), accidentally wiping half the data, having to refresh from the backups she made, turning it on and off again, using an admin account she got off a guy(she knows an awful lot of 'guys'. This one was likely a spanish woman), finally getting the thing to work. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; From there, she had updated a few things, installed some stuff, done a few modifications but now? Now it was golden. She laughed maniacly. Pushed some buttons. Now she just needed a test subject... &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; To be completely fair, Ferham was coming down here more for Gaige's benefit and concern for her rather than out of curiosity. Whatever the crazy Mechromancer girl had been working on earlier that she'd heard over Starknet seemed dangeorus--what with the talk of explosives... she was already kicking herself for not heading over here sooner. She had apparently missed the '500 lbs of explosives' bit that was bragged about earlier in the evening. Truthfully, she just didn't want to see the girl get hurt--though she wasn't likely to admit that. She /was/ a bit on the crazy side, she did admit however--which was why the femmebot had taken wing down here to her garage.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &quot;Gaige? Hello?&quot; Ferham called, her wings folding behind her as she let herself in, her boots making clattering noises against the likely dusty floor of her shop. Where /was/ the crazy twin-tailed redhead?<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige turned around! She was... wearing a pair of heavy duty glvoes, a metal face mask, a silver colored apron and, well... it was obvious she'd been working on something heavy duty. Oh dear.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She grinned wide, tossing her power welder to the side and making it crash. &quot;Good! Ferham! I was waiting for you!&quot; she yelled, running over and taking the girl's hands. &quot;Don't worry!&quot; she yelled. &quot;I kind of forgot to wear my ear plugs, so I'm a little deaf! But the nano machines will fix that no problem, you know? Best things ever! Now come on! It's time to see a new-U!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She grabbed Ferham's hand and hauled her towards the machine and then, kind of rudely, shoved her inside.<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Gaige! Oh, there you are,&quot; Ferham seemed to visibly relax when she saw that Gaige was, well, still in one piece. She's only known the crazy mechinist girl for a few days but she had learned to take care of what friends you had. Even if they hadn't known eachother too long.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;What're you--&quot; she trailed off when Gaige began to speak very loudly to her and in a monotonous tone, realizing the girl had hurt her hearing. Great--she /had/ messed herself up, well, nothing a pair of cyber ears wouldn't fix--&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And then Ferham was taken by the wrist and roughly pulled--then shoved into what looked like a large machine--stumbling as she went. Uh oh. Even if the heels on her boots were on the chunky side she could still be thrown off balance--it wasn't hard, especially when you had a cybernetic arm like Gaige did!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;What the...?&quot;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige grinned as she locked it. &quot;Don't worry, it's fine. You'll be fine. Probably!&quot; Click click. Inside the box was smooth, metal walls. With lots of little grooves that things likely came out of.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;After a few moments there was a green light as she was scanned and.... a moment later her outer appearance(sans armor), appeared on the screen(though it did have a default appearance of underwear. It seemed to follow modesty, at least).&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Okay, okay. Let's see. How about.... how's this?&quot; She tapped some buttons, and then it would... &quot;Uh oh. Ack!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It showed her with... well... It showed her in one of mad moxxi's uniforms, with her hair(or reploid equivalent), dyed to match! And then the slots opened and little arms lanced out, with sprays and other things to make this a reality, even stealing her armor.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Oh this day was going to -suck-.<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The machine seemed to be able to access Fer's armor program and soon she was standing there in just her black full-body undersuit--looking pretty bewildered and surprised, all things considered.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;What is this--Mmphh!&quot; her voice from inside was muffled as something came down over her face, a makeup applicator mask, she'd likely learn later--which went through the trouble of applying Mad Moxxi's trademark facepaint, lipstick, blush and eyeliner. Her hair was already black and straight, but quite long--and it was given a tease and some curling by the arms that the machine employed. It was this period when the long low-cut dress was pulled onto her--with the long sleeves and cuffs, fishnets, high heeled knee-length boots made to resemble spats--everything went on. As well as fingerless gloves--because of course.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Mwah--what is...&quot; she blinked as the makeup mask lifted away from her face. Now the high performance combat and flight-equipped reploid lady was affectionately clad in a Mad Moxxi uniform outfit!<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige opened it a moment later. &quot;Ferham I'm so sorry I can fix it I didn't realize that--&quot; She paused and stared. Then... &quot;Oh. Sweet. Your skin is still on. Okay! Now that the test run is done... ummm... hold on.&quot; Locked her in again. DANG IT GAIGE!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The screen in front of her showed herself, and now she could click it to adjust hair color, clothing, all that good stuff. &quot;Go ahead, try it out, have fun!&quot;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;I came down here because I was worried you were--oh right, you can't hear me,&quot; Ferham felt dumb for a moment, though she did look great in that outfit, all things considered--one of the arms even came down and planted the fanciful tophat on her head, which gave her just the perfect look. She rolled her eyes a bit, mostly at herself, less at Gaige--she was going to have some words with her mechromancer friend once she was out of there. She tapped experimentally at the screen after the door slammed shut in her face. Now to figure out how to return her gear--her finger tapped at the touch screen--which 'RANDOM' immediately highlighting, as if on it's own. What the?!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ferham was seized again by the arms--this time a fine nano-bot mist sprayed on her--the makeup dissolving (except for the lipstick and eyeliner) and within seconds her skintone changed entirely from pale to something much swarthier--her fine long black hair becoming a fair bit more curly, while still long--as well as a hot pink color. Her hair even lengthened down her back as the arms continued--slipping on shoulder length velvet gloves, a slinky blue sparkly cocktail dress, pantyhose and a pair of stiletto heels.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Lips pouty and glossy, face and hair done up--Jessica Rabbit, eat your heart out! She was posed with a hand on her hip, idly staring at herself--as if she was mystified by her own appearance.<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige hummed, waited a bit, and once it was done, she... opened the door and stared. She... struggled not to burst into giggles, her hand moving to cover her mouth.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;W-why, Ferham. I never knew you were much of a, snicker, singer. Are you going to give me a song? I could probably hotwire a microphone or... a rocket launcher or something. Probably. I've got a lot of scrap here. I wonder if I could make a karaoke machine...&quot;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Ferham was SO going to have words with Gaige when she was out of this predicament. She walked slowly out of the machine, her arms by her sides with her palms flat, daintily--heels clicking against the workshop floor as she looked around, having to tilt her head to bounce a long hot pink curly bang out of her face.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Man alive, Gaige honey--this place is giving me the hinks!&quot; she was using a fairly outdated and old-timey speech pattern here, looking about as apparently the shop was dusty and was likely gonna get all over her dress. With the hot pink hair and dusky appearance, it might even be a bit hard to recognize her after a trip through Gaige's hot-wired machine.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Hmm... mic stand, stage, kararoke machine--those all sound like a fine time, honey,&quot; she didn't seem to realize Gaige was standing there snickering so much at first, though she tilted her head at her, frowning just a little.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;You /are/ an odd one, aren't you?&quot;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige stared when she started talking. Stared, stared, stared. Then fell over and just laughed, clutching her stomach and laughing so hard she almost had tears in her eyes. &quot;Oh my gosh you sound rediculous! Did people actually TALK like that? Bah ha ha ha ha! Oh my gosh, hold on. just... just old on. I-I'll see what I can piece together. J-just give me a minute!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Eventually, she got up and started rummaging about. She grabbed some tools, there were sparks, a few explosions, and then... a microphone was set up. Sorta. It looked more like a voice modulator that had been hotwired to an intercom unit BUT IT WOULD WORK!<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Ferham frowned and pouted at Gaige very obviously making fun of her, though while the battle-ready femmebot might have usually taken a strong tone with Gaige or gotten in her face--Ferham just sort of made a 'hmph' noise and stood there pouting for a few more moments. She didn't seem to stay angry for long--as she seemed more concerned about the explosions going off where Gaige was working there. When she returned with the microphone, however, she looked like she was delighted.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Oh thanks hon, I appreciate it,&quot; she smiled, taking it and brushing her long curly hot pink bangs back again as she began to sing, closing her eyes...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;You had plenty of money in 1922, you let other women make a fool of you...&quot; yes, she was singing 'why don't you do right' by Peggy Lee, followed by a heart-warming rendition of 'Blue Velvet' by Bernie Wayne, but best known for being sung by Bobby Vinton. The battle-hardened female Reploid seemed like quite the starlet! Demure, the right posture and finesse--she was a natural!<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige was getting ALL of this. She had cameras all over her lab! For obvious reasons. Like, if she didn't? She'd likely be dead by now. They also surrounded it. And she was enjoying this too much. She didn't know ANY of these songs, though. Once it was over.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Sooo. Those songs from your world, or something else? You're like, part machine, right? So does that mean you can just download songs at any time? Or does your memory work like a human's? Do you need to learn things?&quot;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Of course I can learn things, hon--and yes, they're from my world,&quot; she smiled, gloved fingers still holding the microphone that Gaige had so helpfully made for her. She /had/ done a great job singing too, truth be told--Ferham's normal voice was a deep feminine purr, and she'd put it to good use but also seemed able to raise it for some of the songs--just when she needed to reach the higher notes, anyway. &quot;I can upload them too, if you want, I could probably put more of them in there,&quot; she hadn't sung them 'mechanically', to her credit, she'd seemed like she sung the first one a bit off the cuff, actually, at that.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;You're a real nice girl, Gaige--I just wish you'd be more careful and stop making so many explosions--and hurt yourself less, hon,&quot; she smiled, sincerely--though also looked a bit concerned. Aww, did Fer really care about the crazy girl?<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige shrugged. &quot;Eh. What's life without a bit of pain and explosions? Boring, that's what. Now, my turn!&quot; She stepped into the machine and started pushing some things as it closed.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Don't mess with anything!&quot; she called out.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;... Well, Ferham was given a golden opportunity here, now wasn't she? Payback! ... Yeah, Gaige didn't think these things through before running head first into danger. <br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Please, honey, do I look like a technician?&quot; Ferham seemed to laugh off the idea that she could affect anything as Gaige disappeared into the machine, the doors closing behind her. As she was in there, Ferham couldn't help but notice the nearby display that Gaige had used earlier--heels clicking as she sauntered over to it.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Oh, so much dust in here...&quot; she idly swiped at the touch screen with a gloved finger, appraising the amount of dust that wound up on the fabric of her glove--having inadvertently pressed a key on it.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Suddenly, Gaige would notice that the arms deploying the 'badass terminator-esque' outfit she'd selected would shift gears--instead spraying her with a fine mist of nano-bots--that fiery red set of twintails of hers now becoming strawberry blonde--the makeup mask slipping down over her face in a flash and applying bubblegum pink lipstick, eyeliner, dark purple eyeshadow. She was clad in a short pleated skirt with a short-sleeved button-up blouse which was tied at the front, showing off her midriff and naval. Frilly marabou ankle-length socks over feet slipped into black open-toed heels--fairly high ones, too, ones that Gaige would have /no idea/ how to keep her balance in. And over her throat, a cute little choker with a pink charm at the center.<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige grinned wide as she tapped away. She was going to look AWESOME! Black leather jacket, slick black hair, bad ass-- Wait, what was going-- &quot;WAIT! NO!&quot; But, too late.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Her screams of horror were so loud you'd think she was being murdered. Eventually the door opened and she fell out. Literally. Like, actually FELL out. Oh, she just gave the other girl a look of pure murder. While it may have altered Ferham's programming a bit. Gaige did not have programming. What she did have was a desire for vengeance. &quot;I am going to murderize you!&quot; she screamed, before trying to... crawl... at her. Oh gosh she didn't know how to walk in heels. Or murder chase someone! &quot;YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE MARCIE!&quot; She grabbed a metal pipe and struggled to chase the lounge singer!<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:516|Ferham (516)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;What's wrong, hon?&quot; Ferham was likely confused as to what Gaige's problem was--of course, she had no idea she had interrupted the process and turned Gaige's badass dream outfit into a nightmare!&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Aww, let me help you up there,&quot; she'd lift Gaige, with her very potent Reploid strength--hoisting the girl up and likely making her drop the pipe in the process, accidentally.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Don't you look as cute as a button--wha? you don't like it? Aww let me help you dear,&quot; she'd likely be giving Gaige a small tutorial in how to walk in those shoes as she led her back around to the machine, helping her keep her balance as she helped her out of the stiletto pumps.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;You were doing good there, but you need /a lot/ of practice if you wanna strut in those like me,&quot; she grinned good naturedly.<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1112|Gaige (1112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt; Gaige was too stunned to speak. She just... there were no words. None. None at all. She just... she just opened her mouth, closed it, opened it. How could you be mad at that? It was like being mad at a gold fish. It didn't know what it did wrong.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Finally... &quot;I don't -wear- high heels.&quot; Oh, Moxxi had been trying to get her to do it for ages. 'Really need to pretty yourself up. Wear pretty clothes. Don't flirt, guys like a challenge. Stop watching anime until three in the morning.' Bah, moxxi sucked.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She practically threw herself into the machine, coming out as herself a moment later and then GRABBED Ferhamand tossed her in. Within a few moments, the girl would be back to normal as well. Gaige sighed.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;So, I think we've learned a lot today. If you EVER tell ANYONE about what happened to me there, I will reprogram you. Got it?&quot;</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=14285 2017-04-25T22:08:04Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>== Themelist Entry ==<br /> 5:30 PM, November 6, 2022. Technology had reached new heights through the endeavors of the Argus company. Yet just after the world's first fully-immersive VRMMO triumphantly launched, with one tiny code change the game's creator turned it into a death game. No log out button, and no help from outside. The avatars of fallen players would be deleted... and at the same time, their VR headset would fry their brains.<br /> <br /> Swort Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG, was a death game, and 10,000 players found themselves trapped. The world could only watch and pray that the victims would reach the 100th floor of Floating Castle Aincrad and bring down its boss, for this was given as the only method of ever logging out.<br /> <br /> Thousands died within the first month, but eventually disparate players came together, formed guilds, and pressed onwards.<br /> <br /> Sometime in September 2024 (20AU by Multiverse reckoning), things turned stranger. Unification saw all VR data physically projected into the Cyber Core region in all its glory, and heroes from numerous other worlds joined the clearing effort. March 2025, the final boss was defeated (however unconventionally or early) and the trapped players were released... all save a few.<br /> <br /> New dive gear designed to prevent another SAO had since entered the market, alongside the release of Alfheim Online. Both were produced by RCT Progress, buyer of Argus' assets. The heroes who cleared SAO exposed Fulldive division head Noboyuki Sugou's illegal imprisonment of the remaining players for mind control experiments... and seemingly crackpot ways of 'bringing data into reality'. He released his work open-source to the world during arrest, to mixed reception. It was coupled with the enigmatic open-source release of the masterwork VRMMO SDK 'The World Seed' though, propelling FullDive technology into a golden age.<br /> <br /> Unbelievable events overturned every effort to suppress Sugou's research. April 23, 2029 (25AU), after the Multiverse fractured and reassembled, strange advertisements about a new Augmented Reality earpiece-visor, or 'Augma', promised to unite everyone with virtual reality in grand new ways. Accompanying it, a puzzling list of pre-approved beta testers: the usernames of some hardcore VRMMO players.<br /> <br /> Beta day saw the entire world flashing with wireframe textures and 'reload.' Alfheim emerged in the Devil's Sea south of Japan. SBC Glocken and Gun Gale Online's post-apocalyptic wasteland appeared west of North America. All the most popular VRMMOs saw representation. Pockets of what have come to be called 'Game Zones' (or just 'zones') further dot the landscape of all nations, with towns, ravenous monster lairs, and fantastic environments all filled with uncannily intelligent 'NPCs' slowly encroaching on the world everyone knew. In some cases it nicely co-exists or even improves living conditions. But for others...<br /> <br /> The world seems firmly in the grip of an unseen force, the AI 'Cardinal System' that was originally designed to automate VRMMO production, management, balance, and content generation. Now infused into the fabric of reality itself, it holds seemingly godly authority. But to what ends? And more importantly...<br /> <br /> Who plays such a game?<br /> <br /> The Augma Users, a growing list of VRMMO players of unusual dedication and talent, have the power to wholly become their favored avatars in a world where they were once powerless. The increasingly-dangerous and dynamic world has need of such adventurers, but players will be players - not all are scrupulous.<br /> <br /> This theme is based on Swort Art Online as presented in the light novel and anime series, but wildly diverged after Fairy Dance. Game series content (Hollow Fragment, etc) is open to adaptation.<br /> <br /> == Digital Future ==<br /> Something strange happened when the Multiverse restructured itself. Some of the Cyber Core's reality - a region of the Multiverse where data can physically manifest in an almost magical fashion - was infused into the very fabric of Earth. The specifics've proven tough to measure but the results are clear: environments and entities previously thought to be just data in a computer system are now 'real' and dangerous.<br /> <br /> On its own, this might not be so bad. However, the merge appears to have integrated an instance of the original fully-fledged Cardinal System that maintained Sword Art Online with this fused-reality, and it appears to perceive all of reality as an MMO it must fill with content and balance.<br /> <br /> The full extent of Cardinal's influence remains unknown, but so far it has resculpted hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Earth as it pleases to manifest new continents and introduce in-game phenomena like magic into reality however it wishes.<br /> <br /> === The New Landscape ===<br /> The settings of every major VRMMO can be found somewhere on SAO Earth - they exist as new small continents and islands taking up what was empty ocean before. Oddly, Earth flora and fauna seems averse to these areas: birds don't nest there, sealife give them wide berths, and so on. Likewise, game setting flora and fauna seems happy to remain within these 'Game Hub Zones' (ICly referred to as Hubs by most folk)... with the exception of strange spots of reality that sprout MMO content merged with existing society and geography, 'Fragments' for short. (More on that below.)<br /> <br /> As examples, Alfheim's main continent has appeared south of Japan in what most call the Devil's Sea, and Floating Castle Aincrad now drifts unpredictably across the globe, largely sticking to temperate climes. GGO's Apocalyptic Wasteland complete with SBC Glocken appeared off the western coast of North America, between it and Hawaii.<br /> <br /> Although these areas almost perfectly mirror their original game counterparts, there are a few slight differences. SAFE ZONES no longer prevent HP loss, though monsters still avoid them. No kind of game entity - player, monster, NPC, etc - can be system-protected ('Immortal Object' etc), and even things without HP meters can be killed.<br /> <br /> === NPCs ===<br /> Every NPC possesses vastly superior A.I. routines to anything seen in their origin game. They laugh, they cry, they respond to almost everything people do. These NPCs remember people, they develop philosophies and their emotional reactions to people are as driving a motivation as their role in the story is. However, they have a strange habit of 'filtering' what they hear and framing it within the context of their story roles. In other words, NPCs behave wholly in-character at all times and thoroughly ignore any evidence or convincing otherwise. For instance, they don't react oddly to terms like 'quests' or 'party' and don't ask what the hell people are doing when they futz with menus. Whenever possible they seamlessly map such terms to more in-character terms without breaking stride, while avoiding them.<br /> <br /> They have considerable autonomy, being only loosely connected to Cardinal's Storytelling Module most of the time - it gave them a role to play, a smorgasbord of personality directives and important memories, and lets them do it however they see fit. Cardinal tends to provide nudges and suggestions to push them back on track for the quests it wants to see completed, and it CAN attempt to assume 'direct control' of an NPC when even that fails, but some very rare and special NPCs might just be able to refuse and break away from Cardinal completely.<br /> <br /> NPCs can die. Sometimes Cardinal replaces them with a new NPC of a different name and background to fill the same role, sometimes it doesn't. It's rare to see them resurrected in any fashion. Exceptions exist for 'recurring boss monsters' and the like, though.<br /> <br /> === Quests ===<br /> Real-world quests now have consequences and do not operate on a principle of being infinitely repeatable or existing in a vacuum from other players' efforts. If a quest once involved 'gather medicine from the forest to cure my daughter, in return I'll give you my family's ancestral sword,' there is now unfortunately only one copy of that sword to be given out, and enough medicine will cure that daughter. Quests are largely unique and adapt to changing conditions based on the needs and moods of the NPCs, the economic status (when an NPC blacksmith runs low on ore, he'll generate fetch quests for instance), and so on.<br /> <br /> This, combined with other changes like 'nothing is invincibile' means that quests can be failed for very unexpected reasons (like the quest-giving NPC being killed), and have many branching paths and completely unpredictable rewards.<br /> <br /> === Admins and Updates ===<br /> While the actual 'games' are still running and still played (amidst some controversy), none of the admins and developers of such games have ANY control over what happens in the 'real world' equivalents. Much as it did with SAO, Cardinal appears to be handling all matters of 'game' balance and management, quest and item generation, and so on. It seems to have no qualms with 'stealing' content and new features from the actual games as it's introduced, but does not do this dumbly: it refuses changes that don't fit its directives, seem like security risks, or could undermine it.<br /> <br /> == Fragments ==<br /> Dozens of locales across the world have become subsumed into MMO-like 'quest zones.' These regions seem to LOVE small population centers with diverse environments like 'forest', 'plains', 'lakeshore', 'town territory' and so on in short reach of each other - the better to fill them with all manner of different monsters, goodies, and storytelling settings. Some examples of it subsuming dilapidated or sparsely populated city districts exist, but by and large they (SO FAR) seem averse to forming in places where 90% of the territory would be considered a 'safe zone'. New ones crop up periodically, and sometimes old ones quiet down (see Resolution below.)<br /> <br /> === Themes and Intents ===<br /> The locale Cardinal converts to a Fragment determines much about what it will become. A simple town and its surrounding rural areas might become a hotspot for fantasy elements from Alfheim or Aincrad to show up - a Kobold clan leader decides to move in and raid farms, and a faction of Dark Elves pursuing him set up camp in the nearby forest, various animal and plant monsters show up in forests, plains, and riverbanks, etc. A historic 'old west' town finds itself in a similar scenario as robot bandits, old war machines, and post-apocalyptic mutants from Gun Gale Online are arranged similarly.<br /> <br /> For the most part, Cardinal arranges the scenarios so that 'minimal damage' is done - it doesn't WANT to deplete the locale's population for various reasons so events involving widespread carnage and destruction are rare and frequently easily averted by Quests. Most of its setups for 'setting the mood' and kicking off the narrative conflicts that drive local quests will not involve many deaths or destruction of critical infrastructure - though this is more of a guideline than a rule. It tends to avoid apocalypse scenarios: it may have a necromancer raise zombies and skeletons from a local cemetery and set up shop, but responders will probably have months to respond before they have to worry about him leading a devastating invasion into town. (Small raids and kidnappings for ritual sacrifices that spawn into Rescue Quests, on the other hand...)<br /> <br /> Although VRMMO content forms the bulk of Cardinal's setting-designing aesthetic, it also draws from local myths and legends. Cryptids, rumors, ghost stories, and folklore may play a part in the Fragment's events, as examples.<br /> <br /> === World Editor Strategy ===<br /> Although Cardinal does seem capable of enacting wide-scale changes to existing geography, it seems to stay on the conservative and moooooostly unobtrusive side for Fragments. Usually. An existing cave of little consequence might be transformed and expanded into a sizable monster lair dungeon, but it likes to leave towns and geography intact. This is again more of a guideline than a rule - an invasion of Giant Termites might clear a section of forest and raise a monstrously tall mound-tower that also happens to be a dungeon and the events of a Quest gone south might lead to massive changes through force of narrative.<br /> <br /> === Actors ===<br /> 'Ordinary people' native to SAO-1 within a Fragment - that is to say, non-Augma Users or Foreigners - are woven into the Fragment's narrative. Some might be killed in monster raids, others fall victim to a unique illness that can only be cured using Quest materials, and yet others are kidnapped and need rescuing, etc. This alone isn't special, but it doesn't end there. Cardinal's Quest Generation routines key into the desires of these 'ordinary people' and can attempt to compel them to act dramatically like spout their frustrations at nearby Players and develop into unwitting Questgivers complete with hovering [?] and [!] cursors. Cardinal likes to ensure that suitable rewards are encountered somewhere during the Quest since such questgivers rarely have the means to provide them personally.<br /> <br /> It bears noting that Cardinal cannot absolutely 'mind control' normal people the way it can attempt to 'direct control' NPCs. It can only compel them to do something they'd be inclined towards to begin with. People who experience this describe it as just 'feeling an urge to do something. Gotta speak up, gotta ask for help,' and similar. Given this, such Quests stand higher chances of being dead ends, but they overall work.<br /> <br /> === Resolution ===<br /> Since Quests have real consequences, it is quite possible for the majority of conflicts, problems, and crises in an area to be resolved. The Kobold clan leader is slain and the Dark Elves move on, to use the previous example. Such Fragments can go dormant for months and months (after which point, something ELSE might happen) or eventually dissolve entirely. It is not known if this is due to limited resources or attention on Cardinal's part, or some other factor. Some Fragments never fully 'resolve' and maintain a low level of dramatic events like monsters in the forest that need to be hunted periodically, and etc. An abandoned Necromancer's Tower might become a haven to lost spirits and dangerous to travel near.<br /> <br /> == Augma Users ==<br /> When the world changed, many hardcore VRMMO players found themselves suddenly in possession of a new device, the 'Augma' (a play on Augmented Reality). The Augma is a very minimalist half-circle of durable plastic. A front extrusion ends in a microphone, the middle portion is a ring that fits over the ear, and the rear portion is a curved boom that wraps around the back of the head. The device is resistant to intrusion and scanning, and seems to not require any power. It seems to work much like FullDive devices do, using small electromagnetic detectors and transmitters to read and intercept brain waves. The difference is that Augma cannot paralyze people, and instead provides sensory overlays in real-time.<br /> <br /> Augma's main function for those rare few people who possess it is not providing communication and AR computing (though it does that too), but allowing them to transform into their avatars and become superhuman forces. (See Below)<br /> <br /> Augmas are linked to their users' brainwaves and cannot be used by anyone but their owners.<br /> <br /> === Qualifications ===<br /> Compared against the full spectrum and quantity of VRMMO players, the band encompassing 'who is worthy of an Augma' is fairly narrow. Nobody is entirely sure what SPECIFICALLY qualifies a player for an Augma, but the following correlations are immediately obvious:<br /> <br /> A) Highly skilled players.<br /> B) Excessively high login time or sheer time in FullDive.<br /> C) Extremely developed avatars.<br /> D) SAO Survivors.<br /> <br /> There are 'X factors' at play causing plenty of outliers. One of the biggest is strongly desiring &quot;I genuinely want to live in these worlds.&quot;<br /> <br /> The number of Augma Users constantly fluctuates, but easily ranks in the tens of thousands.<br /> <br /> === New Users/Replacement Augmas ===<br /> The first wave of Augma Users had them literally spawn on their faces. (or failing that, in pockets, in open hands, etc.)<br /> <br /> New Augmas can be acquired by potential new Players by attempting to enter a Hub or Fragment zone. If worthy, the system will generate one and assign the VRMMO avatar the player associates themselves with the most. There are also cases where new Augmas simply appear for people who pass the qualifying threshold, as if answering a desire.<br /> <br /> Replacement Augmas can be obtained in the same method: walk into a Hub or Fragment zone. If the lost Augma still exists it will be teleported to the user, otherwise a new one will be spawned.<br /> <br /> === Community Features ===<br /> So long as they all use Augma, it matters not what origin game an Avatar is from: they can be added to friends lists, parties, guilds, and so on.<br /> <br /> A party can have at most 8 members, and a Raid Group can link up to 6 full parties.<br /> <br /> === Color Cursor ===<br /> Except inside shops and buildings (where it would be distracting), all game entities have Color Cursors - a floating diamond mark spinning over their head. These have various meanings, depending on color. Names, however, are NOT visible - the only way to get someone's name is through window prompts like duel invites, party invites, and the like.<br /> <br /> PLAYERS always sport a GREEN Cursor. PARTY MEMBERs see each other's with a blue outline.<br /> <br /> FOREIGNERS have GREY cursors, which otherwise behave as player ones do.<br /> <br /> PETS and NPCs have YELLOW cursors. Yellow is also used for non-hostile monsters.<br /> <br /> MONSTERS provide the most variance. Not only is a monster's name always shown but their Color Cursor appears different to each viewer, depending on the COMBAT THREAT they pose. Faint pink cursors are trashily weak, not worth fighting. Standard Red cursors are for 'good matches.' Purple Cursors appear on monsters that would be a significant challenge. Dark Crimson appears for monsters with an overwhelming advantage. Black is used for monsters with an even greater strength disparity - all but instant death.<br /> <br /> OUTSIDE HUBS/FRAGMENTS, Color Cursors are not shown to Augma Users unless they are transformed, nor can they be perceived by foreigners. In which case, they only respond to actual game entities (and untransformed Augma Users do not count), though those who possess the Searching skill will see neutral Grey cursors on everything that isn't a game entity.<br /> <br /> === Transformation ===<br /> Augma Users need only wear their Augma and commandingly exclaim &quot;LINK START&quot; to trigger their transformation. The transformation effect is pretty snazzy: green wires lash out from the Augma and encase the user in a wireframe, followed by swirls of blue-green voxels that fill in to form textures and finalize it. This latter part eerily resembles the 'death effect voxel shatter' but in reverse. Height differences are not a problem: the Avatar's height overrides and 'real flesh' seems to smoothly adjust.<br /> <br /> Moving around during the transformation is possible and does force the swirling to adjust. People who REALLY WANT TO can practice this and create 'henshin poses' for pure aesthetic if that's their thing, but it only takes a few seconds so there's not much to work with.<br /> <br /> The resulting avatar is fully accurate to the original in-game avatar, with a few differences. For example, sensations like touch are not simplified like they are in FullDive. PAIN is now a seriously worrisome factor as well. (See Health below.)<br /> <br /> The transformation can be canceled at any time using the System Menu and initiating a Log Out. The de-transformation effect is the exact opposite: the Avatar's texturing glows and wavers, then shatters into streams of swirling voxels and a wireframe that repacks itself into the Augma.<br /> <br /> === Health ===<br /> Since a transformed player is a fusion of flesh and digital matter made manifest, Augma Users do need to eat and drink and deal with other bodily needs. Death from starvation and dehydration are problems, and lack of sleep is crippling as always. However, the transformed state's 'heroic health' powerfully contests mundane health hazards like disease through sheer vitality. Thus, chronic health issues are held at bay and missing limbs are restored - since the avatar does not lack them.<br /> <br /> This does have its limits though. Avatars cannot fully protect the flesh underneath them from damage. Although avatars can APPEAR to endure cartoonishly exaggerated injuries like being cleaved straight through vertically (and remaining entirely intact, the damage showing only as a decal) such blows are partially reflected upon the underlying flesh. A stab through the gut might result in a shallower cut. Being buried under tons of rocks can mean bruises, even broken bones.<br /> <br /> The avatar serves as perfect prosthetics for arms, legs, fingers, toes, but while its own limbs regenerate from amputation as appropriate, the flesh 'beneath' does not. In other words, it's possible to lose a 'real' limb when you lose a transformed one. The limb grows back transformed, but the real one stays gone.<br /> <br /> Injuries mount up, becoming ever more severe. Pain mounts up. Even the greatest of Augma users cannot fight forever, no matter their Avatar's HP meter. Game effects such as Healing Magic and curative items are much more effective at keeping avatar HP up than fleshy health - they provide very diminishing returns for the latter, and are no substitute for proper rest and recovery.<br /> <br /> At 0 avatar HP the transformation comes undone, and cannot be used again for the next 24 hours. Without the transformation's power, users must deal with the reality of all their pain and agony, which by this point might well be life threatening on its own even without an enemy looming over them.<br /> <br /> === Multiplaying ===<br /> Isn't a thing. When the Augma is first used people get to pick one of their appropriate avatars, then they're stuck with it. Unchosen avatars are available as special costume items as consolation.<br /> <br /> There could be 'reincarnation' quests and the like for changing game base, which work much like transferring an avatar from one game to another, but these are not OOCly meant to be a revolving door of powersets.<br /> <br /> === Inventory and Gear ===<br /> Any Augma User's inventory can store objects from any Hub Zone or Fragment no matter its origin game. However, these still obey the same rules such as weight limits and stacking sensibilities.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough, objects that have absolutely nothing to do with any game can ALSO be stored in one's inventory. This only works for personal-sized odds and ends comparable to the things that ALREADY go into the inventory, so be reasonable here. It also only works for objects that have been left unattended by anyone else for an hour, so you cannot just rip a weapon out of someone's hands and stuff it in your inventory, etc. (Of course, once you are its registered owner then it behaves like a normal inventory item.)<br /> <br /> Foreign items have names as recognized by Cardinal, which is really easy to do if it's a bottle of shampoo with a label and not so easy if it's a random magic sword. The system allows players to assign their own names to objects in case CARDINAL gets it wrong. Foreign item names do not have stats (aside from weight) or descriptions. Foreign clothing and armor does not auto-reshape on equip and so cannot be auto-equipped, but weapons do function as weapons for all intents and purposes including using game techniques like Sword Skills.<br /> <br /> Powerful artifacts and important objects from other worlds are highly resistant to being stored in the inventory. Attempts simply fail, time after time. It may be possible to eventually shuffle them in by spending enough time with it - but this is wildly unreliable.<br /> <br /> === The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Black Iron Castle of Aincrad is once again host to a grisly monument: A massive slab of black granite with the names of every Augma User's avatar. Augma Users who die have their name striked through and a 'reason of death' added. As with the original SAO these reasons are not fully informative: being stabbed in the back by X will result in 'killed by X.' Dying to a monster will show the monster's name and location. Indirect causes are not registered - if someone's pushed off a cliff, the fact that they hit the ground is the cause of death.<br /> <br /> This monument does not replace the Monument of Swordsmen, which continues to record the contributions of those clearing Floating Castle Aincrad's floor bosses - it is found directly across from it.<br /> <br /> === Unique Skills ===<br /> A phenomenon hearkening back to SAO, 'Unique Skills' have appeared for a rare few Augma Users. These simply show up in the Skill List one day, along with a System Message. Who has designed them, what their ultimate purpose is, and the unlock requirements are all ICly a mystery. What IS certain is that everyone who has one is exceptional in some way, and these Skills are 'gamebreaking' within ALO's context. Unique Skills must be leveled up like any others, but do not take up a Skill Slot and can only be Disabled, not Deleted.<br /> <br /> OOCly, Unique Skills are inspired by the original concept in SAO but are now meant to be much more commonplace where PC's are concerned. Any PC Augma User is a candidate for a Unique Skill, but this should definitely be derived from and a part of the character's Defining attributes. For instance, Lisbeth is primarily a Crafter - her Unique Skill will have to do with crafting. The 'unlock requirements' can be considerably more abstract and narratively flexible than the original Unique Skills of SAO's design, such as emotional investment or freakish devotion time to some task or Skill.<br /> <br /> ==== KIRITO: Celestial Blades ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Dual One-Handed Swords&lt;br&gt;<br /> Born (RE-born?) from Kirito's sheer dedication of endlessly trying to re-create the 'Dual Blades' Unique Skill of SAO using the Original Sword Skill system, Celestial Blades is a Weapon Skill for equipping a One-Handed Sword in each hand. This configuration boosts parry notably and attack power through the roof, slightly lowers the cooldown time of One-Handed Sword Skills, and enables a slew of special dual wielding Sword Skills such as Cross Block (defensive), Locus Hexedra (7-hit), Starburst Stream (16-hit), and The Eclipse (27-hit).<br /> <br /> ==== LISBETH: Weapon Ascension ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Crafting, Weapons&lt;br&gt;<br /> Year after year, Lisbeth's put her whole heart and soul into every blow of her blacksmith's hammer. She has proven worthy of the Unique Skill 'Weapon Ascension', which confers numerous abilities ordinary Crafters do not receive. Though a pain in the ass to grind, at maximum level it grants a +20% success rate to enhancing Weapons and raising the maximum success rate cap to 98% from 95%. She may also choose to 'Reforge' a Weapon, improving its tier/rarity for a massive stat boost, and resetting its Enhancement status for a new round of reinforcement attempts. Reforging cannot fail, but requires phenomenal mounds of rare materials and Yrd.<br /> <br /> ==== TOMOE: Righteous Cross ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, One-Handed Sword and Shield&lt;br&gt;<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> ==== REKER: One Man Army ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Firearms&lt;br&gt;<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> ==== SILICA: Beast Master ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Support Skill, Beast Tamer Enhancement&lt;br&gt;<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> == Foreigners ==<br /> Whenever any intelligent entity crosses the borders of a Hub or Fragment Zone, they are given a floating window prompt to enter a username they want to be known by. These names must be grammatically sensible things that NPCs could pronounce, though it need not be an ordinary name. (Canon examples of oddball names include: Musketeer X, Pale Rider, and Red-Eyed XaXa.)<br /> <br /> People with registered usernames can be added to friends lists, parties, and guilds, and participate in quests. They are provided with a gesture-controlled menu similar to what Augma Users get, but with far fewer features. Obviously, CARDINAL cannot figure out their HP, so their bar in a party is filled in with diagonal lines for N/A.<br /> <br /> Foreigners CAN see Color Cursors and monster names and the party HUD information, though the system is incapable of simply KNOWING what a foreigner's combat skill is like and thus Color Cursors for Monsters are not an accurate gauge for threat level until they have killed about ten or so - at which point it will start to adapt based on things like kill speed and observed powers for an empirical measurement.<br /> <br /> == Reality Interaction Principles ==<br /> There is essentially no difference between things originating from 'the real world' or 'a game world.' For example, ordinary people can eat food sold by NPCs or Cooked by Augma Users (and... the buffs actually work in addition to it being filling.) Weapons and armor made by a Smith can be wielded by Foreigners (though they do not gain Sword Skills) and are quite serviceable, but still explode into pixels when they eventually wear out.<br /> <br /> Similarly, just as items like shampoo bottles can e stuffed in an Augma User's inventory, players can use offworld gear that's comparable in nature to their own - if you have the Dagger Weapon Skill, then grabbing a random knife off the shelf at a store will in fact result in a functional weapon you can use Sword Skills with - albeit, a flimsy one.<br /> <br /> Following this logic, an ALO Smith could use ores and other materials not found in Alfheim Online in their work. The only trouble is the system can't provide any info on what's going to happen. Items made this way (and vice versa) can be a little weird but are perfectly functional.</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=14284 2017-04-25T20:03:10Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>== Themelist Entry ==<br /> 5:30 PM, November 6, 2022. Technology had reached new heights through the endeavors of the Argus company. Yet just after the world's first fully-immersive VRMMO triumphantly launched, with one tiny code change the game's creator turned it into a death game. No log out button, and no help from outside. The avatars of fallen players would be deleted... and at the same time, their VR headset would fry their brains.<br /> <br /> Swort Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG, was a death game, and 10,000 players found themselves trapped. The world could only watch and pray that the victims would reach the 100th floor of Floating Castle Aincrad and bring down its boss, for this was given as the only method of ever logging out.<br /> <br /> Thousands died within the first month, but eventually disparate players came together, formed guilds, and pressed onwards.<br /> <br /> Sometime in September 2024 (20AU by Multiverse reckoning), things turned stranger. Unification saw all VR data physically projected into the Cyber Core region in all its glory, and heroes from numerous other worlds joined the clearing effort. March 2025, the final boss was defeated (however unconventionally or early) and the trapped players were released... all save a few.<br /> <br /> New dive gear designed to prevent another SAO had since entered the market, alongside the release of Alfheim Online. Both were produced by RCT Progress, buyer of Argus' assets. The heroes who cleared SAO exposed Fulldive division head Noboyuki Sugou's illegal imprisonment of the remaining players for mind control experiments... and seemingly crackpot ways of 'bringing data into reality'. He released his work open-source to the world during arrest, to mixed reception. It was coupled with the enigmatic open-source release of the masterwork VRMMO SDK 'The World Seed' though, propelling FullDive technology into a golden age.<br /> <br /> Unbelievable events overturned every effort to suppress Sugou's research. April 23, 2029 (25AU), after the Multiverse fractured and reassembled, strange advertisements about a new Augmented Reality earpiece-visor, or 'Augma', promised to unite everyone with virtual reality in grand new ways. Accompanying it, a puzzling list of pre-approved beta testers: the usernames of some hardcore VRMMO players.<br /> <br /> Beta day saw the entire world flashing with wireframe textures and 'reload.' Alfheim emerged in the Devil's Sea south of Japan. SBC Glocken and Gun Gale Online's post-apocalyptic wasteland appeared west of North America. All the most popular VRMMOs saw representation. Pockets of what have come to be called 'Game Zones' (or just 'zones') further dot the landscape of all nations, with towns, ravenous monster lairs, and fantastic environments all filled with uncannily intelligent 'NPCs' slowly encroaching on the world everyone knew. In some cases it nicely co-exists or even improves living conditions. But for others...<br /> <br /> The world seems firmly in the grip of an unseen force, the AI 'Cardinal System' that was originally designed to automate VRMMO production, management, balance, and content generation. Now infused into the fabric of reality itself, it holds seemingly godly authority. But to what ends? And more importantly...<br /> <br /> Who plays such a game?<br /> <br /> The Augma Users, a growing list of VRMMO players of unusual dedication and talent, have the power to wholly become their favored avatars in a world where they were once powerless. The increasingly-dangerous and dynamic world has need of such adventurers, but players will be players - not all are scrupulous.<br /> <br /> This theme is based on Swort Art Online as presented in the light novel and anime series, but wildly diverged after Fairy Dance. Game series content (Hollow Fragment, etc) is open to adaptation.<br /> <br /> == Digital Future ==<br /> Something strange happened when the Multiverse restructured itself. Some of the Cyber Core's reality - a region of the Multiverse where data can physically manifest in an almost magical fashion - was infused into the very fabric of Earth. The specifics've proven tough to measure but the results are clear: environments and entities previously thought to be just data in a computer system are now 'real' and dangerous.<br /> <br /> On its own, this might not be so bad. However, the merge appears to have integrated an instance of the original fully-fledged Cardinal System that maintained Sword Art Online with this fused-reality, and it appears to perceive all of reality as an MMO it must fill with content and balance.<br /> <br /> The full extent of Cardinal's influence remains unknown, but so far it has resculpted hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Earth as it pleases to manifest new continents and introduce in-game phenomena like magic into reality however it wishes.<br /> <br /> === The New Landscape ===<br /> The settings of every major VRMMO can be found somewhere on SAO Earth - they exist as new small continents and islands taking up what was empty ocean before. Oddly, Earth flora and fauna seems averse to these areas: birds don't nest there, sealife give them wide berths, and so on. Likewise, game setting flora and fauna seems happy to remain within these 'Game Hub Zones' (ICly referred to as Hubs by most folk)... with the exception of strange spots of reality that sprout MMO content merged with existing society and geography, 'Fragments' for short. (More on that below.)<br /> <br /> As examples, Alfheim's main continent has appeared south of Japan in what most call the Devil's Sea, and Floating Castle Aincrad now drifts unpredictably across the globe, largely sticking to temperate climes. GGO's Apocalyptic Wasteland complete with SBC Glocken appeared off the western coast of North America, between it and Hawaii.<br /> <br /> Although these areas almost perfectly mirror their original game counterparts, there are a few slight differences. SAFE ZONES no longer prevent HP loss, though monsters still avoid them. No kind of game entity - player, monster, NPC, etc - can be system-protected ('Immortal Object' etc), and even things without HP meters can be killed.<br /> <br /> === NPCs ===<br /> Every NPC possesses vastly superior A.I. routines to anything seen in their origin game. They laugh, they cry, they respond to almost everything people do. These NPCs remember people, they develop philosophies and their emotional reactions to people are as driving a motivation as their role in the story is. However, they have a strange habit of 'filtering' what they hear and framing it within the context of their story roles. In other words, NPCs behave wholly in-character at all times and thoroughly ignore any evidence or convincing otherwise. For instance, they don't react oddly to terms like 'quests' or 'party' and don't ask what the hell people are doing when they futz with menus. Whenever possible they seamlessly map such terms to more in-character terms without breaking stride, while avoiding them.<br /> <br /> They have considerable autonomy, being only loosely connected to Cardinal's Storytelling Module most of the time - it gave them a role to play, a smorgasbord of personality directives and important memories, and lets them do it however they see fit. Cardinal tends to provide nudges and suggestions to push them back on track for the quests it wants to see completed, and it CAN attempt to assume 'direct control' of an NPC when even that fails, but some very rare and special NPCs might just be able to refuse and break away from Cardinal completely.<br /> <br /> NPCs can die. Sometimes Cardinal replaces them with a new NPC of a different name and background to fill the same role, sometimes it doesn't. It's rare to see them resurrected in any fashion. Exceptions exist for 'recurring boss monsters' and the like, though.<br /> <br /> === Quests ===<br /> Real-world quests now have consequences and do not operate on a principle of being infinitely repeatable or existing in a vacuum from other players' efforts. If a quest once involved 'gather medicine from the forest to cure my daughter, in return I'll give you my family's ancestral sword,' there is now unfortunately only one copy of that sword to be given out, and enough medicine will cure that daughter. Quests are largely unique and adapt to changing conditions based on the needs and moods of the NPCs, the economic status (when an NPC blacksmith runs low on ore, he'll generate fetch quests for instance), and so on.<br /> <br /> This, combined with other changes like 'nothing is invincibile' means that quests can be failed for very unexpected reasons (like the quest-giving NPC being killed), and have many branching paths and completely unpredictable rewards.<br /> <br /> === Admins and Updates ===<br /> While the actual 'games' are still running and still played (amidst some controversy), none of the admins and developers of such games have ANY control over what happens in the 'real world' equivalents. Much as it did with SAO, Cardinal appears to be handling all matters of 'game' balance and management, quest and item generation, and so on. It seems to have no qualms with 'stealing' content and new features from the actual games as it's introduced, but does not do this dumbly: it refuses changes that don't fit its directives, seem like security risks, or could undermine it.<br /> <br /> == Fragments ==<br /> Dozens of locales across the world have become subsumed into MMO-like 'quest zones.' These regions seem to LOVE small population centers with diverse environments like 'forest', 'plains', 'lakeshore', 'town territory' and so on in short reach of each other - the better to fill them with all manner of different monsters, goodies, and storytelling settings. Some examples of it subsuming dilapidated or sparsely populated city districts exist, but by and large they (SO FAR) seem averse to forming in places where 90% of the territory would be considered a 'safe zone'. New ones crop up periodically, and sometimes old ones quiet down (see Resolution below.)<br /> <br /> === Themes and Intents ===<br /> The locale Cardinal converts to a Fragment determines much about what it will become. A simple town and its surrounding rural areas might become a hotspot for fantasy elements from Alfheim or Aincrad to show up - a Kobold clan leader decides to move in and raid farms, and a faction of Dark Elves pursuing him set up camp in the nearby forest, various animal and plant monsters show up in forests, plains, and riverbanks, etc. A historic 'old west' town finds itself in a similar scenario as robot bandits, old war machines, and post-apocalyptic mutants from Gun Gale Online are arranged similarly.<br /> <br /> For the most part, Cardinal arranges the scenarios so that 'minimal damage' is done - it doesn't WANT to deplete the locale's population for various reasons so events involving widespread carnage and destruction are rare and frequently easily averted by Quests. Most of its setups for 'setting the mood' and kicking off the narrative conflicts that drive local quests will not involve many deaths or destruction of critical infrastructure - though this is more of a guideline than a rule. It tends to avoid apocalypse scenarios: it may have a necromancer raise zombies and skeletons from a local cemetery and set up shop, but responders will probably have months to respond before they have to worry about him leading a devastating invasion into town. (Small raids and kidnappings for ritual sacrifices that spawn into Rescue Quests, on the other hand...)<br /> <br /> Although VRMMO content forms the bulk of Cardinal's setting-designing aesthetic, it also draws from local myths and legends. Cryptids, rumors, ghost stories, and folklore may play a part in the Fragment's events, as examples.<br /> <br /> === World Editor Strategy ===<br /> Although Cardinal does seem capable of enacting wide-scale changes to existing geography, it seems to stay on the conservative and moooooostly unobtrusive side for Fragments. Usually. An existing cave of little consequence might be transformed and expanded into a sizable monster lair dungeon, but it likes to leave towns and geography intact. This is again more of a guideline than a rule - an invasion of Giant Termites might clear a section of forest and raise a monstrously tall mound-tower that also happens to be a dungeon and the events of a Quest gone south might lead to massive changes through force of narrative.<br /> <br /> === Actors ===<br /> 'Ordinary people' native to SAO-1 within a Fragment - that is to say, non-Augma Users or Foreigners - are woven into the Fragment's narrative. Some might be killed in monster raids, others fall victim to a unique illness that can only be cured using Quest materials, and yet others are kidnapped and need rescuing, etc. This alone isn't special, but it doesn't end there. Cardinal's Quest Generation routines key into the desires of these 'ordinary people' and can attempt to compel them to act dramatically like spout their frustrations at nearby Players and develop into unwitting Questgivers complete with hovering [?] and [!] cursors. Cardinal likes to ensure that suitable rewards are encountered somewhere during the Quest since such questgivers rarely have the means to provide them personally.<br /> <br /> It bears noting that Cardinal cannot absolutely 'mind control' normal people the way it can attempt to 'direct control' NPCs. It can only compel them to do something they'd be inclined towards to begin with. People who experience this describe it as just 'feeling an urge to do something. Gotta speak up, gotta ask for help,' and similar. Given this, such Quests stand higher chances of being dead ends, but they overall work.<br /> <br /> === Resolution ===<br /> Since Quests have real consequences, it is quite possible for the majority of conflicts, problems, and crises in an area to be resolved. The Kobold clan leader is slain and the Dark Elves move on, to use the previous example. Such Fragments can go dormant for months and months (after which point, something ELSE might happen) or eventually dissolve entirely. It is not known if this is due to limited resources or attention on Cardinal's part, or some other factor. Some Fragments never fully 'resolve' and maintain a low level of dramatic events like monsters in the forest that need to be hunted periodically, and etc. An abandoned Necromancer's Tower might become a haven to lost spirits and dangerous to travel near.<br /> <br /> == Augma Users ==<br /> When the world changed, many hardcore VRMMO players found themselves suddenly in possession of a new device, the 'Augma' (a play on Augmented Reality). The Augma is a very minimalist half-circle of durable plastic. A front extrusion ends in a microphone, the middle portion is a ring that fits over the ear, and the rear portion is a curved boom that wraps around the back of the head. The device is resistant to intrusion and scanning, and seems to not require any power. It seems to work much like FullDive devices do, using small electromagnetic detectors and transmitters to read and intercept brain waves. The difference is that Augma cannot paralyze people, and instead provides sensory overlays in real-time.<br /> <br /> Augma's main function for those rare few people who possess it is not providing communication and AR computing (though it does that too), but allowing them to transform into their avatars and become superhuman forces. (See Below)<br /> <br /> Augmas are linked to their users' brainwaves and cannot be used by anyone but their owners.<br /> <br /> === Qualifications ===<br /> Compared against the full spectrum and quantity of VRMMO players, the band encompassing 'who is worthy of an Augma' is fairly narrow. Nobody is entirely sure what SPECIFICALLY qualifies a player for an Augma, but the following correlations are immediately obvious:<br /> <br /> A) Highly skilled players.<br /> B) Excessively high login time or sheer time in FullDive.<br /> C) Extremely developed avatars.<br /> D) SAO Survivors.<br /> <br /> There are 'X factors' at play causing plenty of outliers. One of the biggest is strongly desiring &quot;I genuinely want to live in these worlds.&quot;<br /> <br /> The number of Augma Users constantly fluctuates, but easily ranks in the tens of thousands.<br /> <br /> === New Users/Replacement Augmas ===<br /> The first wave of Augma Users had them literally spawn on their faces. (or failing that, in pockets, in open hands, etc.)<br /> <br /> New Augmas can be acquired by potential new Players by attempting to enter a Hub or Fragment zone. If worthy, the system will generate one and assign the VRMMO avatar the player associates themselves with the most. There are also cases where new Augmas simply appear for people who pass the qualifying threshold, as if answering a desire.<br /> <br /> Replacement Augmas can be obtained in the same method: walk into a Hub or Fragment zone. If the lost Augma still exists it will be teleported to the user, otherwise a new one will be spawned.<br /> <br /> === Community Features ===<br /> So long as they all use Augma, it matters not what origin game an Avatar is from: they can be added to friends lists, parties, guilds, and so on.<br /> <br /> A party can have at most 8 members, and a Raid Group can link up to 6 full parties.<br /> <br /> === Color Cursor ===<br /> Except inside shops and buildings (where it would be distracting), all game entities have Color Cursors - a floating diamond mark spinning over their head. These have various meanings, depending on color. Names, however, are NOT visible - the only way to get someone's name is through window prompts like duel invites, party invites, and the like.<br /> <br /> PLAYERS always sport a GREEN Cursor. PARTY MEMBERs see each other's with a blue outline.<br /> <br /> FOREIGNERS have GREY cursors, which otherwise behave as player ones do.<br /> <br /> PETS and NPCs have YELLOW cursors. Yellow is also used for non-hostile monsters.<br /> <br /> MONSTERS provide the most variance. Not only is a monster's name always shown but their Color Cursor appears different to each viewer, depending on the COMBAT THREAT they pose. Faint pink cursors are trashily weak, not worth fighting. Standard Red cursors are for 'good matches.' Purple Cursors appear on monsters that would be a significant challenge. Dark Crimson appears for monsters with an overwhelming advantage. Black is used for monsters with an even greater strength disparity - all but instant death.<br /> <br /> OUTSIDE HUBS/FRAGMENTS, Color Cursors are not shown to Augma Users unless they are transformed, nor can they be perceived by foreigners. In which case, they only respond to actual game entities (and untransformed Augma Users do not count), though those who possess the Searching skill will see neutral Grey cursors on everything that isn't a game entity.<br /> <br /> === Transformation ===<br /> Augma Users need only wear their Augma and commandingly exclaim &quot;LINK START&quot; to trigger their transformation. The transformation effect is pretty snazzy: green wires lash out from the Augma and encase the user in a wireframe, followed by swirls of blue-green voxels that fill in to form textures and finalize it. This latter part eerily resembles the 'death effect voxel shatter' but in reverse. Height differences are not a problem: the Avatar's height overrides and 'real flesh' seems to smoothly adjust.<br /> <br /> Moving around during the transformation is possible and does force the swirling to adjust. People who REALLY WANT TO can practice this and create 'henshin poses' for pure aesthetic if that's their thing, but it only takes a few seconds so there's not much to work with.<br /> <br /> The resulting avatar is fully accurate to the original in-game avatar, with a few differences. For example, sensations like touch are not simplified like they are in FullDive. PAIN is now a seriously worrisome factor as well. (See Health below.)<br /> <br /> The transformation can be canceled at any time using the System Menu and initiating a Log Out. The de-transformation effect is the exact opposite: the Avatar's texturing glows and wavers, then shatters into streams of swirling voxels and a wireframe that repacks itself into the Augma.<br /> <br /> === Health ===<br /> Since a transformed player is a fusion of flesh and digital matter made manifest, Augma Users do need to eat and drink and deal with other bodily needs. Death from starvation and dehydration are problems, and lack of sleep is crippling as always. However, the transformed state's 'heroic health' powerfully contests mundane health hazards like disease through sheer vitality. Thus, chronic health issues are held at bay and missing limbs are restored - since the avatar does not lack them.<br /> <br /> This does have its limits though. Avatars cannot fully protect the flesh underneath them from damage. Although avatars can APPEAR to endure cartoonishly exaggerated injuries like being cleaved straight through vertically (and remaining entirely intact, the damage showing only as a decal) such blows are partially reflected upon the underlying flesh. A stab through the gut might result in a shallower cut. Being buried under tons of rocks can mean bruises, even broken bones.<br /> <br /> The avatar serves as perfect prosthetics for arms, legs, fingers, toes, but while its own limbs regenerate from amputation as appropriate, the flesh 'beneath' does not. In other words, it's possible to lose a 'real' limb when you lose a transformed one. The limb grows back transformed, but the real one stays gone.<br /> <br /> Injuries mount up, becoming ever more severe. Pain mounts up. Even the greatest of Augma users cannot fight forever, no matter their Avatar's HP meter. Game effects such as Healing Magic and curative items are much more effective at keeping avatar HP up than fleshy health - they provide very diminishing returns for the latter, and are no substitute for proper rest and recovery.<br /> <br /> At 0 avatar HP the transformation comes undone, and cannot be used again for the next 24 hours. Without the transformation's power, users must deal with the reality of all their pain and agony, which by this point might well be life threatening on its own even without an enemy looming over them.<br /> <br /> === Multiplaying ===<br /> Isn't a thing. When the Augma is first used people get to pick one of their appropriate avatars, then they're stuck with it. Unchosen avatars are available as special costume items as consolation.<br /> <br /> There could be 'reincarnation' quests and the like for changing game base, which work much like transferring an avatar from one game to another, but these are not OOCly meant to be a revolving door of powersets.<br /> <br /> === Inventory and Gear ===<br /> Any Augma User's inventory can store objects from any Hub Zone or Fragment no matter its origin game. However, these still obey the same rules such as weight limits and stacking sensibilities.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough, objects that have absolutely nothing to do with any game can ALSO be stored in one's inventory. This only works for personal-sized odds and ends comparable to the things that ALREADY go into the inventory, so be reasonable here. It also only works for objects that have been left unattended by anyone else for an hour, so you cannot just rip a weapon out of someone's hands and stuff it in your inventory, etc. (Of course, once you are its registered owner then it behaves like a normal inventory item.)<br /> <br /> Foreign items have names as recognized by Cardinal, which is really easy to do if it's a bottle of shampoo with a label and not so easy if it's a random magic sword. The system allows players to assign their own names to objects in case CARDINAL gets it wrong. Foreign item names do not have stats (aside from weight) or descriptions. Foreign clothing and armor does not auto-reshape on equip and so cannot be auto-equipped, but weapons do function as weapons for all intents and purposes including using game techniques like Sword Skills.<br /> <br /> Powerful artifacts and important objects from other worlds are highly resistant to being stored in the inventory. Attempts simply fail, time after time. It may be possible to eventually shuffle them in by spending enough time with it - but this is wildly unreliable.<br /> <br /> === The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Black Iron Castle of Aincrad is once again host to a grisly monument: A massive slab of black granite with the names of every Augma User's avatar. Augma Users who die have their name striked through and a 'reason of death' added. As with the original SAO these reasons are not fully informative: being stabbed in the back by X will result in 'killed by X.' Dying to a monster will show the monster's name and location. Indirect causes are not registered - if someone's pushed off a cliff, the fact that they hit the ground is the cause of death.<br /> <br /> This monument does not replace the Monument of Swordsmen, which continues to record the contributions of those clearing Floating Castle Aincrad's floor bosses - it is found directly across from it.<br /> <br /> === Unique Skills ===<br /> A phenomenon hearkening back to SAO, 'Unique Skills' have appeared for a rare few Augma Users. These simply show up in the Skill List one day, along with a System Message. Who has designed them, what their ultimate purpose is, and the unlock requirements are all ICly a mystery. What IS certain is that everyone who has one is exceptional in some way, and these Skills are 'gamebreaking' within ALO's context. Unique Skills must be leveled up like any others, but do not take up a Skill Slot and can only be Disabled, not Deleted.<br /> <br /> OOCly, Unique Skills are inspired by the original concept in SAO but are now meant to be much more commonplace where PC's are concerned. Any PC Augma User is a candidate for a Unique Skill, but this should definitely be derived from and a part of the character's Defining attributes. For instance, Lisbeth is primarily a Crafter - her Unique Skill will have to do with crafting. The 'unlock requirements' can be considerably more abstract and narratively flexible than the original Unique Skills of SAO's design, such as emotional investment or freakish devotion time to some task or Skill.<br /> <br /> ==== KIRITO: Celestial Blades ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Dual One-Handed Swords<br /> Born (RE-born?) from Kirito's sheer dedication of endlessly trying to re-create the 'Dual Blades' Unique Skill of SAO using the Original Sword Skill system, Celestial Blades is a Weapon Skill for equipping a One-Handed Sword in each hand. This configuration boosts parry notably and attack power through the roof, slightly lowers the cooldown time of One-Handed Sword Skills, and enables a slew of special dual wielding Sword Skills such as Cross Block (defensive), Locus Hexedra (7-hit), Starburst Stream (16-hit), and The Eclipse (27-hit).<br /> <br /> ==== LISBETH: Weapon Ascension ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Crafting, Weapons<br /> Year after year, Lisbeth's put her whole heart and soul into every blow of her blacksmith's hammer. She has proven worthy of the Unique Skill 'Weapon Ascension', which confers numerous abilities ordinary Crafters do not receive. Though a pain in the ass to grind, at maximum level it grants a +20% success rate to enhancing Weapons and raising the maximum success rate cap to 98% from 95%. She may also choose to 'Reforge' a Weapon, improving its tier/rarity for a massive stat boost, and resetting its Enhancement status for a new round of reinforcement attempts. Reforging cannot fail, but requires phenomenal mounds of rare materials and Yrd.<br /> <br /> ==== TOMOE: Righteous Cross ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, One-Handed Sword and Shield<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> ==== REKER: One Man Army ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Firearms<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> ==== SILICA: Beast Master ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Support Skill, Beast Tamer Enhancement<br /> (to be written)<br /> <br /> == Foreigners ==<br /> Whenever any intelligent entity crosses the borders of a Hub or Fragment Zone, they are given a floating window prompt to enter a username they want to be known by. These names must be grammatically sensible things that NPCs could pronounce, though it need not be an ordinary name. (Canon examples of oddball names include: Musketeer X, Pale Rider, and Red-Eyed XaXa.)<br /> <br /> People with registered usernames can be added to friends lists, parties, and guilds, and participate in quests. They are provided with a gesture-controlled menu similar to what Augma Users get, but with far fewer features. Obviously, CARDINAL cannot figure out their HP, so their bar in a party is filled in with diagonal lines for N/A.<br /> <br /> Foreigners CAN see Color Cursors and monster names and the party HUD information, though the system is incapable of simply KNOWING what a foreigner's combat skill is like and thus Color Cursors for Monsters are not an accurate gauge for threat level until they have killed about ten or so - at which point it will start to adapt based on things like kill speed and observed powers for an empirical measurement.<br /> <br /> == Reality Interaction Principles ==<br /> There is essentially no difference between things originating from 'the real world' or 'a game world.' For example, ordinary people can eat food sold by NPCs or Cooked by Augma Users (and... the buffs actually work in addition to it being filling.) Weapons and armor made by a Smith can be wielded by Foreigners (though they do not gain Sword Skills) and are quite serviceable, but still explode into pixels when they eventually wear out.<br /> <br /> Similarly, just as items like shampoo bottles can e stuffed in an Augma User's inventory, players can use offworld gear that's comparable in nature to their own - if you have the Dagger Weapon Skill, then grabbing a random knife off the shelf at a store will in fact result in a functional weapon you can use Sword Skills with - albeit, a flimsy one.<br /> <br /> Following this logic, an ALO Smith could use ores and other materials not found in Alfheim Online in their work. The only trouble is the system can't provide any info on what's going to happen. Items made this way (and vice versa) can be a little weird but are perfectly functional.</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=14171 2017-03-05T05:04:57Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>== Themelist Entry ==<br /> 5:30 PM, November 6, 2022. Technology had reached new heights through the endeavors of the Argus company. Yet just after the world's first fully-immersive VRMMO triumphantly launched, with one tiny code change the game's creator turned it into a death game. No log out button, and no help from outside. The avatars of fallen players would be deleted... and at the same time, their VR headset would fry their brains.<br /> <br /> Swort Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG, was a death game, and 10,000 players found themselves trapped. The world could only watch and pray that the victims would reach the 100th floor of Floating Castle Aincrad and bring down its boss, for this was given as the only method of ever logging out.<br /> <br /> Thousands died within the first month, but eventually disparate players came together, formed guilds, and pressed onwards.<br /> <br /> Sometime in September 2024 (20AU by Multiverse reckoning), things turned stranger. Unification saw all VR data physically projected into the Cyber Core region in all its glory, and heroes from numerous other worlds joined the clearing effort. March 2025, the final boss was defeated (however unconventionally or early) and the trapped players were released... all save a few.<br /> <br /> New dive gear designed to prevent another SAO had since entered the market, alongside the release of Alfheim Online. Both were produced by RCT Progress, buyer of Argus' assets. The heroes who cleared SAO exposed Fulldive division head Noboyuki Sugou's illegal imprisonment of the remaining players for mind control experiments... and seemingly crackpot ways of 'bringing data into reality'. He released his work open-source to the world during arrest, to mixed reception. It was coupled with the enigmatic open-source release of the masterwork VRMMO SDK 'The World Seed' though, propelling FullDive technology into a golden age.<br /> <br /> Unbelievable events overturned every effort to suppress Sugou's research. &lt;DATE HERE&gt;, after the Multiverse fractured and reassembled, strange advertisements about a new Augmented Reality earpiece-visor, or 'Augma', promised to unite everyone with virtual reality in grand new ways. Accompanying it, a puzzling list of pre-approved beta testers: the usernames of some hardcore VRMMO players.<br /> <br /> Beta day saw the entire world flashing with wireframe textures and 'reload.' Alfheim emerged in the Devil's Sea south of Japan. SBC Glocken and Gun Gale Online's post-apocalyptic wasteland appeared west of North America. All the most popular VRMMOs saw representation. Pockets of what have come to be called 'Game Zones' (or just 'zones') further dot the landscape of all nations, with towns, ravenous monster lairs, and fantastic environments all filled with uncannily intelligent 'NPCs' slowly encroaching on the world everyone knew. In some cases it nicely co-exists or even improves living conditions. But for others...<br /> <br /> The world seems firmly in the grip of an unseen force, the AI 'Cardinal System' that was originally designed to automate VRMMO production, management, balance, and content generation. Now infused into the fabric of reality itself, it holds seemingly godly authority. But to what ends? And more importantly...<br /> <br /> Who plays such a game?<br /> <br /> The Augma Users, a growing list of VRMMO players of unusual dedication and talent, have the power to wholly become their favored avatars in a world where they were once powerless. The increasingly-dangerous and dynamic world has need of such adventurers, but players will be players - not all are scrupulous.<br /> <br /> This theme is based on Swort Art Online as presented in the light novel and anime series, but wildly diverged after Fairy Dance. Game series content (Hollow Fragment, etc) is open to adaptation.<br /> <br /> == Digital Future ==<br /> Something strange happened when the Multiverse restructured itself. Some of the Cyber Core's reality - a region of the Multiverse where data can physically manifest in an almost magical fashion - was infused into the very fabric of Earth. The specifics've proven tough to measure but the results are clear: environments and entities previously thought to be just data in a computer system are now 'real' and dangerous.<br /> <br /> On its own, this might not be so bad. However, the merge appears to have integrated an instance of the original fully-fledged Cardinal System that maintained Sword Art Online with this fused-reality, and it appears to perceive all of reality as an MMO it must fill with content and balance.<br /> <br /> The full extent of Cardinal's influence remains unknown, but so far it has resculpted hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Earth as it pleases to manifest new continents and introduce in-game phenomena like magic into reality however it wishes.<br /> <br /> === The New Landscape ===<br /> The settings of every major VRMMO can be found somewhere on SAO Earth - they exist as new small continents and islands taking up what was empty ocean before. Oddly, Earth flora and fauna seems averse to these areas: birds don't nest there, sealife give them wide berths, and so on. Likewise, game setting flora and fauna seems happy to remain within these 'Game Hub Zones' (ICly referred to as Hubs by most folk)... with the exception of strange spots of reality that sprout MMO content merged with existing society and geography, 'Fragments' for short. (More on that below.)<br /> <br /> As examples, Alfheim's main continent has appeared south of Japan in what most call the Devil's Sea, and Floating Castle Aincrad now drifts unpredictably across the globe, largely sticking to temperate climes. GGO's Apocalyptic Wasteland complete with SBC Glocken appeared off the western coast of North America, between it and Hawaii.<br /> <br /> Although these areas almost perfectly mirror their original game counterparts, there are a few slight differences. SAFE ZONES no longer prevent HP loss, though monsters still avoid them. No kind of game entity - player, monster, NPC, etc - can be system-protected ('Immortal Object' etc), and even things without HP meters can be killed.<br /> <br /> === NPCs ===<br /> Every NPC possesses vastly superior A.I. routines to anything seen in their origin game. They laugh, they cry, they respond to almost everything people do. These NPCs remember people, they develop philosophies and their emotional reactions to people are as driving a motivation as their role in the story is. However, they have a strange habit of 'filtering' what they hear and framing it within the context of their story roles. In other words, NPCs behave wholly in-character at all times and thoroughly ignore any evidence or convincing otherwise. For instance, they don't react oddly to terms like 'quests' or 'party' and don't ask what the hell people are doing when they futz with menus. Whenever possible they seamlessly map such terms to more in-character terms without breaking stride, while avoiding them.<br /> <br /> They have considerable autonomy, being only loosely connected to Cardinal's Storytelling Module most of the time - it gave them a role to play, a smorgasbord of personality directives and important memories, and lets them do it however they see fit. Cardinal tends to provide nudges and suggestions to push them back on track for the quests it wants to see completed, and it CAN attempt to assume 'direct control' of an NPC when even that fails, but some very rare and special NPCs might just be able to refuse and break away from Cardinal completely.<br /> <br /> NPCs can die. Sometimes Cardinal replaces them with a new NPC of a different name and background to fill the same role, sometimes it doesn't. It's rare to see them resurrected in any fashion. Exceptions exist for 'recurring boss monsters' and the like, though.<br /> <br /> === Quests ===<br /> Real-world quests now have consequences and do not operate on a principle of being infinitely repeatable or existing in a vacuum from other players' efforts. If a quest once involved 'gather medicine from the forest to cure my daughter, in return I'll give you my family's ancestral sword,' there is now unfortunately only one copy of that sword to be given out, and enough medicine will cure that daughter. Quests are largely unique and adapt to changing conditions based on the needs and moods of the NPCs, the economic status (when an NPC blacksmith runs low on ore, he'll generate fetch quests for instance), and so on.<br /> <br /> This, combined with other changes like 'nothing is invincibile' means that quests can be failed for very unexpected reasons (like the quest-giving NPC being killed), and have many branching paths and completely unpredictable rewards.<br /> <br /> === Admins and Updates ===<br /> While the actual 'games' are still running and still played (amidst some controversy), none of the admins and developers of such games have ANY control over what happens in the 'real world' equivalents. Much as it did with SAO, Cardinal appears to be handling all matters of 'game' balance and management, quest and item generation, and so on. It seems to have no qualms with 'stealing' content and new features from the actual games as it's introduced, but does not do this dumbly: it refuses changes that don't fit its directives, seem like security risks, or could undermine it.<br /> <br /> == Fragments ==<br /> Dozens of locales across the world have become subsumed into MMO-like 'quest zones.' These regions seem to LOVE small population centers with diverse environments like 'forest', 'plains', 'lakeshore', 'town territory' and so on in short reach of each other - the better to fill them with all manner of different monsters, goodies, and storytelling settings. Some examples of it subsuming dilapidated or sparsely populated city districts exist, but by and large they (SO FAR) seem averse to forming in places where 90% of the territory would be considered a 'safe zone'. New ones crop up periodically, and sometimes old ones quiet down (see Resolution below.)<br /> <br /> === Themes and Intents ===<br /> The locale Cardinal converts to a Fragment determines much about what it will become. A simple town and its surrounding rural areas might become a hotspot for fantasy elements from Alfheim or Aincrad to show up - a Kobold clan leader decides to move in and raid farms, and a faction of Dark Elves pursuing him set up camp in the nearby forest, various animal and plant monsters show up in forests, plains, and riverbanks, etc. A historic 'old west' town finds itself in a similar scenario as robot bandits, old war machines, and post-apocalyptic mutants from Gun Gale Online are arranged similarly.<br /> <br /> For the most part, Cardinal arranges the scenarios so that 'minimal damage' is done - it doesn't WANT to deplete the locale's population for various reasons so events involving widespread carnage and destruction are rare and frequently easily averted by Quests. Most of its setups for 'setting the mood' and kicking off the narrative conflicts that drive local quests will not involve many deaths or destruction of critical infrastructure - though this is more of a guideline than a rule. It tends to avoid apocalypse scenarios: it may have a necromancer raise zombies and skeletons from a local cemetery and set up shop, but responders will probably have months to respond before they have to worry about him leading a devastating invasion into town. (Small raids and kidnappings for ritual sacrifices that spawn into Rescue Quests, on the other hand...)<br /> <br /> Although VRMMO content forms the bulk of Cardinal's setting-designing aesthetic, it also draws from local myths and legends. Cryptids, rumors, ghost stories, and folklore may play a part in the Fragment's events, as examples.<br /> <br /> === World Editor Strategy ===<br /> Although Cardinal does seem capable of enacting wide-scale changes to existing geography, it seems to stay on the conservative and moooooostly unobtrusive side for Fragments. Usually. An existing cave of little consequence might be transformed and expanded into a sizable monster lair dungeon, but it likes to leave towns and geography intact. This is again more of a guideline than a rule - an invasion of Giant Termites might clear a section of forest and raise a monstrously tall mound-tower that also happens to be a dungeon and the events of a Quest gone south might lead to massive changes through force of narrative.<br /> <br /> === Actors ===<br /> 'Ordinary people' native to SAO-1 within a Fragment - that is to say, non-Augma Users or Foreigners - are woven into the Fragment's narrative. Some might be killed in monster raids, others fall victim to a unique illness that can only be cured using Quest materials, and yet others are kidnapped and need rescuing, etc. This alone isn't special, but it doesn't end there. Cardinal's Quest Generation routines key into the desires of these 'ordinary people' and can attempt to compel them to act dramatically like spout their frustrations at nearby Players and develop into unwitting Questgivers complete with hovering [?] and [!] cursors. Cardinal likes to ensure that suitable rewards are encountered somewhere during the Quest since such questgivers rarely have the means to provide them personally.<br /> <br /> It bears noting that Cardinal cannot absolutely 'mind control' normal people the way it can attempt to 'direct control' NPCs. It can only compel them to do something they'd be inclined towards to begin with. People who experience this describe it as just 'feeling an urge to do something. Gotta speak up, gotta ask for help,' and similar. Given this, such Quests stand higher chances of being dead ends, but they overall work.<br /> <br /> === Resolution ===<br /> Since Quests have real consequences, it is quite possible for the majority of conflicts, problems, and crises in an area to be resolved. The Kobold clan leader is slain and the Dark Elves move on, to use the previous example. Such Fragments can go dormant for months and months (after which point, something ELSE might happen) or eventually dissolve entirely. It is not known if this is due to limited resources or attention on Cardinal's part, or some other factor. Some Fragments never fully 'resolve' and maintain a low level of dramatic events like monsters in the forest that need to be hunted periodically, and etc. An abandoned Necromancer's Tower might become a haven to lost spirits and dangerous to travel near.<br /> <br /> == Augma Users ==<br /> When the world changed, many hardcore VRMMO players found themselves suddenly in possession of a new device, the 'Augma' (a play on Augmented Reality). The Augma is a very minimalist half-circle of durable plastic. A front extrusion ends in a microphone, the middle portion is a ring that fits over the ear, and the rear portion is a curved boom that wraps around the back of the head. The device is resistant to intrusion and scanning, and seems to not require any power. It seems to work much like FullDive devices do, using small electromagnetic detectors and transmitters to read and intercept brain waves. The difference is that Augma cannot paralyze people, and instead provides sensory overlays in real-time.<br /> <br /> Augma's main function for those rare few people who possess it is not providing communication and AR computing (though it does that too), but allowing them to transform into their avatars and become superhuman forces. (See Below)<br /> <br /> Augmas are linked to their users' brainwaves and cannot be used by anyone but their owners.<br /> <br /> === Qualifications ===<br /> Compared against the full spectrum and quantity of VRMMO players, the band encompassing 'who is worthy of an Augma' is fairly narrow. Nobody is entirely sure what SPECIFICALLY qualifies a player for an Augma, but the following correlations are immediately obvious:<br /> <br /> A) Highly skilled players.<br /> B) Excessively high login time or sheer time in FullDive.<br /> C) Extremely developed avatars.<br /> D) SAO Survivors.<br /> <br /> There are 'X factors' at play causing plenty of outliers. One of the biggest is strongly desiring &quot;I genuinely want to live in these worlds.&quot;<br /> <br /> The number of Augma Users constantly fluctuates, but easily ranks in the tens of thousands.<br /> <br /> === New Users/Replacement Augmas ===<br /> The first wave of Augma Users had them literally spawn on their faces. (or failing that, in pockets, in open hands, etc.)<br /> <br /> New Augmas can be acquired by potential new Players by attempting to enter a Hub or Fragment zone. If worthy, the system will generate one and assign the VRMMO avatar the player associates themselves with the most. There are also cases where new Augmas simply appear for people who pass the qualifying threshold, as if answering a desire.<br /> <br /> Replacement Augmas can be obtained in the same method: walk into a Hub or Fragment zone. If the lost Augma still exists it will be teleported to the user, otherwise a new one will be spawned.<br /> <br /> === Community Features ===<br /> So long as they all use Augma, it matters not what origin game an Avatar is from: they can be added to friends lists, parties, guilds, and so on.<br /> <br /> A party can have at most 8 members, and a Raid Group can link up to 6 full parties.<br /> <br /> === Color Cursor ===<br /> Except inside shops and buildings (where it would be distracting), all game entities have Color Cursors - a floating diamond mark spinning over their head. These have various meanings, depending on color. Names, however, are NOT visible - the only way to get someone's name is through window prompts like duel invites, party invites, and the like.<br /> <br /> PLAYERS always sport a GREEN Cursor. PARTY MEMBERs see each other's with a blue outline.<br /> <br /> FOREIGNERS have GREY cursors, which otherwise behave as player ones do.<br /> <br /> PETS and NPCs have YELLOW cursors. Yellow is also used for non-hostile monsters.<br /> <br /> MONSTERS provide the most variance. Not only is a monster's name always shown but their Color Cursor appears different to each viewer, depending on the COMBAT THREAT they pose. Faint pink cursors are trashily weak, not worth fighting. Standard Red cursors are for 'good matches.' Purple Cursors appear on monsters that would be a significant challenge. Dark Crimson appears for monsters with an overwhelming advantage. Black is used for monsters with an even greater strength disparity - all but instant death.<br /> <br /> OUTSIDE HUBS/FRAGMENTS, Color Cursors are not shown to Augma Users unless they are transformed, nor can they be perceived by foreigners. In which case, they only respond to actual game entities (and untransformed Augma Users do not count), though those who possess the Searching skill will see neutral Grey cursors on everything that isn't a game entity.<br /> <br /> === Transformation ===<br /> Augma Users need only wear their Augma and commandingly exclaim &quot;LINK START&quot; to trigger their transformation. The transformation effect is pretty snazzy: green wires lash out from the Augma and encase the user in a wireframe, followed by swirls of blue-green voxels that fill in to form textures and finalize it. This latter part eerily resembles the 'death effect voxel shatter' but in reverse. Height differences are not a problem: the Avatar's height overrides and 'real flesh' seems to smoothly adjust.<br /> <br /> Moving around during the transformation is possible and does force the swirling to adjust. People who REALLY WANT TO can practice this and create 'henshin poses' for pure aesthetic if that's their thing, but it only takes a few seconds so there's not much to work with.<br /> <br /> The resulting avatar is fully accurate to the original in-game avatar, with a few differences. For example, sensations like touch are not simplified like they are in FullDive. PAIN is now a seriously worrisome factor as well. (See Health below.)<br /> <br /> The transformation can be canceled at any time using the System Menu and initiating a Log Out. The de-transformation effect is the exact opposite: the Avatar's texturing glows and wavers, then shatters into streams of swirling voxels and a wireframe that repacks itself into the Augma.<br /> <br /> === Health ===<br /> Since a transformed player is a fusion of flesh and digital matter made manifest, Augma Users do need to eat and drink and deal with other bodily needs. Death from starvation and dehydration are problems, and lack of sleep is crippling as always. However, the transformed state's 'heroic health' powerfully contests mundane health hazards like disease through sheer vitality. Thus, chronic health issues are held at bay and missing limbs are restored - since the avatar does not lack them.<br /> <br /> This does have its limits though. Avatars cannot fully protect the flesh underneath them from damage. Although avatars can APPEAR to endure cartoonishly exaggerated injuries like being cleaved straight through vertically (and remaining entirely intact, the damage showing only as a decal) such blows are partially reflected upon the underlying flesh. A stab through the gut might result in a shallower cut. Being buried under tons of rocks can mean bruises, even broken bones.<br /> <br /> Permanent crippling injury is rare - even if the avatar's arm is chopped off, this is handled as the Amputation Status Effect (regenerates after 3 minutes) like in the game. The 'real' arm is still there underneath the transformation, but might be paralyzed through nerve shock, sprained, broken, or otherwise unusable. However, REPEATED injury to the same locations or damage from epic sources are another story.<br /> <br /> Injuries mount up, becoming ever more severe. Pain mounts up. Even the greatest of Augma users cannot fight forever, no matter their Avatar's HP meter. Game effects such as Healing Magic and curative items are much more effective at keeping avatar HP up than fleshy health - they provide very diminishing returns for the latter, and are no substitute for proper rest and recovery.<br /> <br /> At 0 avatar HP the transformation comes undone, and cannot be used again for the next 24 hours. Without the transformation's power, users must deal with the reality of all their pain and agony, which by this point might well be life threatening on its own even without an enemy looming over them.<br /> <br /> === Multiplaying ===<br /> Isn't a thing. When the Augma is first used people get to pick one of their appropriate avatars, then they're stuck with it. Unchosen avatars are available as special costume items as consolation.<br /> <br /> There could be 'reincarnation' quests and the like for changing game base, which work much like transferring an avatar from one game to another, but these are not OOCly meant to be a revolving door of powersets.<br /> <br /> === Inventory and Gear ===<br /> Any Augma User's inventory can store objects from any Hub Zone or Fragment no matter its origin game. However, these still obey the same rules such as weight limits and stacking sensibilities.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough, objects that have absolutely nothing to do with any game can ALSO be stored in one's inventory. This only works for personal-sized odds and ends comparable to the things that ALREADY go into the inventory, so be reasonable here. It also only works for objects that have been left unattended by anyone else for an hour, so you cannot just rip a weapon out of someone's hands and stuff it in your inventory, etc. (Of course, once you are its registered owner then it behaves like a normal inventory item.)<br /> <br /> Foreign items have names as recognized by Cardinal, which is really easy to do if it's a bottle of shampoo with a label and not so easy if it's a random magic sword. The system allows players to assign their own names to objects in case CARDINAL gets it wrong. Foreign item names do not have stats (aside from weight) or descriptions. Foreign clothing and armor does not auto-reshape on equip and so cannot be auto-equipped, but weapons do function as weapons for all intents and purposes including using game techniques like Sword Skills.<br /> <br /> Powerful artifacts and important objects from other worlds are highly resistant to being stored in the inventory. Attempts simply fail, time after time. It may be possible to eventually shuffle them in by spending enough time with it - but this is wildly unreliable.<br /> <br /> === The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Black Iron Castle of Aincrad is once again host to a grisly monument: A massive slab of black granite with the names of every Augma User's avatar. Augma Users who die have their name striked through and a 'reason of death' added. As with the original SAO these reasons are not fully informative: being stabbed in the back by X will result in 'killed by X.' Dying to a monster will show the monster's name and location. Indirect causes are not registered - if someone's pushed off a cliff, the fact that they hit the ground is the cause of death.<br /> <br /> This monument does not replace the Monument of Swordsmen, which continues to record the contributions of those clearing Floating Castle Aincrad's floor bosses - it is found directly across from it.<br /> <br /> === Unique Skills ===<br /> A phenomenon hearkening back to SAO, 'Unique Skills' have appeared for a rare few Augma Users. These simply show up in the Skill List one day, along with a System Message. Who has designed them, what their ultimate purpose is, and the unlock requirements are all ICly a mystery. What IS certain is that everyone who has one is exceptional in some way, and these Skills are 'gamebreaking' within ALO's context. Unique Skills must be leveled up like any others, but do not take up a Skill Slot and can only be Disabled, not Deleted.<br /> <br /> OOCly, Unique Skills are inspired by the original concept in SAO but are now meant to be much more commonplace where PC's are concerned. Any PC Augma User is a candidate for a Unique Skill, but this should definitely be derived from and a part of the character's Defining attributes. For instance, Lisbeth is primarily a Crafter - her Unique Skill will have to do with crafting. The 'unlock requirements' can be considerably more abstract and narratively flexible than the original Unique Skills of SAO's design, such as emotional devotion or freakish devotion time to some task or Skill.<br /> <br /> ==== KIRITO: Celestial Blades ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Dual One-Handed Swords<br /> Born (RE-born?) from Kirito's sheer dedication of endlessly trying to re-create the 'Dual Blades' Unique Skill of SAO using the Original Sword Skill system, Celestial Blades is a Weapon Skill for equipping a One-Handed Sword in each hand. This configuration boosts parry notably and attack power through the roof, slightly lowers the cooldown time of One-Handed Sword Skills, and enables a slew of special dual wielding Sword Skills such as Cross Block (defensive), Locus Hexedra (7-hit), Starburst Stream (16-hit), and The Eclipse (27-hit).<br /> <br /> ==== LISBETH: Weapon Ascension ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Crafting, Weapons<br /> Year after year, Lisbeth's put her whole heart and soul into every blow of her blacksmith's hammer. She has proven worthy of the Unique Skill 'Weapon Ascension', which confers numerous abilities ordinary Crafters do not receive. Though a pain in the ass to grind, at maximum level it grants a +20% success rate to enhancing Weapons and raising the maximum success rate cap to 98% from 95%. She may also choose to 'Reforge' a Weapon, improving its tier/rarity for a massive stat boost, and resetting its Enhancement status for a new round of reinforcement attempts. Reforging cannot fail, but requires phenomenal mounds of rare materials and Yrd.<br /> <br /> == Foreigners ==<br /> Whenever any intelligent entity crosses the borders of a Hub or Fragment Zone, they are given a floating window prompt to enter a username they want to be known by. These names must be grammatically sensible things that NPCs could pronounce, though it need not be an ordinary name. (Canon examples of oddball names include: Musketeer X, Pale Rider, and Red-Eyed XaXa.)<br /> <br /> People with registered usernames can be added to friends lists, parties, and guilds, and participate in quests. They are provided with a gesture-controlled menu similar to what Augma Users get, but with far fewer features. Obviously, CARDINAL cannot figure out their HP, so their bar in a party is filled in with diagonal lines for N/A.<br /> <br /> Foreigners CAN see Color Cursors and monster names and the party HUD information, though the system is incapable of simply KNOWING what a foreigner's combat skill is like and thus Color Cursors for Monsters are not an accurate gauge for threat level until they have killed about ten or so - at which point it will start to adapt based on things like kill speed and observed powers for an empirical measurement.<br /> <br /> == Reality Interaction Principles ==<br /> There is essentially no difference between things originating from 'the real world' or 'a game world.' For example, ordinary people can eat food sold by NPCs or Cooked by Augma Users (and... the buffs actually work in addition to it being filling.) Weapons and armor made by a Smith can be wielded by Foreigners (though they do not gain Sword Skills) and are quite serviceable, but still explode into pixels when they eventually wear out.<br /> <br /> Similarly, just as items like shampoo bottles can e stuffed in an Augma User's inventory, players can use offworld gear that's comparable in nature to their own - if you have the Dagger Weapon Skill, then grabbing a random knife off the shelf at a store will in fact result in a functional weapon you can use Sword Skills with - albeit, a flimsy one.<br /> <br /> Following this logic, an ALO Smith could use ores and other materials not found in Alfheim Online in their work. The only trouble is the system can't provide any info on what's going to happen. Items made this way (and vice versa) can be a little weird but are perfectly functional.</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=14132 2017-01-19T00:42:30Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>== Themelist Entry ==<br /> 5:30 PM, November 6, 2022. Technology had reached new heights through the endeavors of the Argus company. Yet just after the world's first fully-immersive VRMMO triumphantly launched, with one tiny code change the game's creator turned it into a death game. No log out button, and no help from outside. The avatars of fallen players would be deleted... and at the same time, their VR headset would fry their brains.<br /> <br /> Swort Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG, was a death game, and 10,000 players found themselves trapped. The world could only watch and pray that the victims would reach the 100th floor of Floating Castle Aincrad and bring down its boss, for this was given as the only method of ever logging out.<br /> <br /> Thousands died within the first month, but eventually disparate players came together, formed guilds, and pressed onwards.<br /> <br /> Sometime in September 2024 (20AU by Multiverse reckoning), things turned stranger. Unification saw all VR data physically projected into the Cyber Core region in all its glory, and heroes from numerous other worlds joined the clearing effort. March 2025, the final boss was defeated (however unconventionally or early) and the trapped players were released... all save a few.<br /> <br /> New dive gear designed to prevent another SAO had since entered the market, alongside the release of Alfheim Online. Both were produced by RCT Progress, buyer of Argus' assets. The heroes who cleared SAO exposed Fulldive division head Noboyuki Sugou's illegal imprisonment of the remaining players for mind control experiments... and seemingly crackpot ways of 'bringing data into reality'. He released his work open-source to the world during arrest, to mixed reception. It was coupled with the enigmatic open-source release of the masterwork VRMMO SDK 'The World Seed' though, propelling FullDive technology into a golden age.<br /> <br /> Unbelievable events overturned every effort to suppress Sugou's research. &lt;DATE HERE&gt;, after the Multiverse fractured and reassembled, strange advertisements about a new Augmented Reality earpiece-visor, or 'Augma', promised to unite everyone with virtual reality in grand new ways. Accompanying it, a puzzling list of pre-approved beta testers: the usernames of some hardcore VRMMO players.<br /> <br /> Beta day saw the entire world flashing with wireframe textures and 'reload.' Alfheim emerged in the Devil's Sea south of Japan. SBC Glocken and Gun Gale Online's post-apocalyptic wasteland appeared west of North America. All the most popular VRMMOs saw representation. Pockets of what have come to be called 'Game Zones' (or just 'zones') further dot the landscape of all nations, with towns, ravenous monster lairs, and fantastic environments all filled with uncannily intelligent 'NPCs' slowly encroaching on the world everyone knew. In some cases it nicely co-exists or even improves living conditions. But for others...<br /> <br /> The world seems firmly in the grip of an unseen force, the AI 'Cardinal System' that was originally designed to automate VRMMO production, management, balance, and content generation. Now infused into the fabric of reality itself, it holds seemingly godly authority. But to what ends? And more importantly...<br /> <br /> Who plays such a game?<br /> <br /> The Augma Users, a growing list of VRMMO players of unusual dedication and talent, have the power to wholly become their favored avatars in a world where they were once powerless. The increasingly-dangerous and dynamic world has need of such adventurers, but players will be players - not all are scrupulous.<br /> <br /> This theme is based on Swort Art Online as presented in the light novel and anime series, but wildly diverged after Fairy Dance. Game series content (Hollow Fragment, etc) is open to adaptation.<br /> <br /> == Digital Future ==<br /> Something strange happened when the Multiverse restructured itself. Some of the Cyber Core's reality - a region of the Multiverse where data can physically manifest in an almost magical fashion - was infused into the very fabric of Earth. The specifics've proven tough to measure but the results are clear: environments and entities previously thought to be just data in a computer system are now 'real' and dangerous.<br /> <br /> On its own, this might not be so bad. However, the merge appears to have integrated an instance of the original fully-fledged Cardinal System that maintained Sword Art Online with this fused-reality, and it appears to perceive all of reality as an MMO it must fill with content and balance.<br /> <br /> The full extent of Cardinal's influence remains unknown, but so far it has resculpted hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Earth as it pleases to manifest new continents and introduce in-game phenomena like magic into reality however it wishes.<br /> <br /> === The New Landscape ===<br /> The settings of every major VRMMO can be found somewhere on SAO Earth - they exist as new small continents and islands taking up what was empty ocean before. Oddly, Earth flora and fauna seems averse to these areas: birds don't nest there, sealife give them wide berths, and so on. Likewise, game setting flora and fauna seems happy to remain within these 'Game Hub Zones' (ICly referred to as Hubs by most folk)... with the exception of strange spots of reality that sprout MMO content merged with existing society and geography, 'Fragments' for short. (More on that below.)<br /> <br /> As examples, Alfheim's main continent has appeared south of Japan in what most call the Devil's Sea, and Floating Castle Aincrad now drifts unpredictably across the globe, largely sticking to temperate climes. GGO's Apocalyptic Wasteland complete with SBC Glocken appeared off the western coast of North America, between it and Hawaii.<br /> <br /> Although these areas almost perfectly mirror their original game counterparts, there are a few slight differences. SAFE ZONES no longer prevent HP loss, though monsters still avoid them. No kind of game entity - player, monster, NPC, etc - can be system-protected ('Immortal Object' etc), and even things without HP meters can be killed.<br /> <br /> === NPCs ===<br /> Every NPC possesses vastly superior A.I. routines to anything seen in their origin game. They laugh, they cry, they respond to almost everything people do. These NPCs remember people, they develop philosophies and their emotional reactions to people are as driving a motivation as their role in the story is. However, they have a strange habit of 'filtering' what they hear and framing it within the context of their story roles. In other words, NPCs behave wholly in-character at all times and thoroughly ignore any evidence or convincing otherwise. For instance, they don't react oddly to terms like 'quests' or 'party' and don't ask what the hell people are doing when they futz with menus. Whenever possible they seamlessly map such terms to more in-character terms without breaking stride, while avoiding them.<br /> <br /> They have considerable autonomy, being only loosely connected to Cardinal's Storytelling Module most of the time - it gave them a role to play, a smorgasbord of personality directives and important memories, and lets them do it however they see fit. Cardinal tends to provide nudges and suggestions to push them back on track for the quests it wants to see completed, and it CAN attempt to assume 'direct control' of an NPC when even that fails, but some very rare and special NPCs might just be able to refuse and break away from Cardinal completely.<br /> <br /> NPCs can die. Sometimes Cardinal replaces them with a new NPC of a different name and background to fill the same role, sometimes it doesn't. It's rare to see them resurrected in any fashion. Exceptions exist for 'recurring boss monsters' and the like, though.<br /> <br /> === Quests ===<br /> Real-world quests now have consequences and do not operate on a principle of being infinitely repeatable or existing in a vacuum from other players' efforts. If a quest once involved 'gather medicine from the forest to cure my daughter, in return I'll give you my family's ancestral sword,' there is now unfortunately only one copy of that sword to be given out, and enough medicine will cure that daughter. Quests are largely unique and adapt to changing conditions based on the needs and moods of the NPCs, the economic status (when an NPC blacksmith runs low on ore, he'll generate fetch quests for instance), and so on.<br /> <br /> This, combined with other changes like 'nothing is invincibile' means that quests can be failed for very unexpected reasons (like the quest-giving NPC being killed), and have many branching paths and completely unpredictable rewards.<br /> <br /> === Admins and Updates ===<br /> While the actual 'games' are still running and still played (amidst some controversy), none of the admins and developers of such games have ANY control over what happens in the 'real world' equivalents. Much as it did with SAO, Cardinal appears to be handling all matters of 'game' balance and management, quest and item generation, and so on. It seems to have no qualms with 'stealing' content and new features from the actual games as it's introduced, but does not do this dumbly: it refuses changes that don't fit its directives, seem like security risks, or could undermine it.<br /> <br /> == Fragments ==<br /> Dozens of locales across the world have become subsumed into MMO-like 'quest zones.' These regions seem to LOVE small population centers with diverse environments like 'forest', 'plains', 'lakeshore', 'town territory' and so on in short reach of each other - the better to fill them with all manner of different monsters, goodies, and storytelling settings. Some examples of it subsuming dilapidated or sparsely populated city districts exist, but by and large they (SO FAR) seem averse to forming in places where 90% of the territory would be considered a 'safe zone'. New ones crop up periodically, and sometimes old ones quiet down (see Resolution below.)<br /> <br /> === Themes and Intents ===<br /> The locale Cardinal converts to a Fragment determines much about what it will become. A simple town and its surrounding rural areas might become a hotspot for fantasy elements from Alfheim or Aincrad to show up - a Kobold clan leader decides to move in and raid farms, and a faction of Dark Elves pursuing him set up camp in the nearby forest, various animal and plant monsters show up in forests, plains, and riverbanks, etc. A historic 'old west' town finds itself in a similar scenario as robot bandits, old war machines, and post-apocalyptic mutants from Gun Gale Online are arranged similarly.<br /> <br /> For the most part, Cardinal arranges the scenarios so that 'minimal damage' is done - it doesn't WANT to deplete the locale's population for various reasons so events involving widespread carnage and destruction are rare and frequently easily averted by Quests. Most of its setups for 'setting the mood' and kicking off the narrative conflicts that drive local quests will not involve many deaths or destruction of critical infrastructure - though this is more of a guideline than a rule. It tends to avoid apocalypse scenarios: it may have a necromancer raise zombies and skeletons from a local cemetery and set up shop, but responders will probably have months to respond before they have to worry about him leading a devastating invasion into town. (Small raids and kidnappings for ritual sacrifices that spawn into Rescue Quests, on the other hand...)<br /> <br /> Although VRMMO content forms the bulk of Cardinal's setting-designing aesthetic, it also draws from local myths and legends. Cryptids, rumors, ghost stories, and folklore may play a part in the Fragment's events, as examples.<br /> <br /> === World Editor Strategy ===<br /> Although Cardinal does seem capable of enacting wide-scale changes to existing geography, it seems to stay on the conservative and moooooostly unobtrusive side for Fragments. Usually. An existing cave of little consequence might be transformed and expanded into a sizable monster lair dungeon, but it likes to leave towns and geography intact. This is again more of a guideline than a rule - an invasion of Giant Termites might clear a section of forest and raise a monstrously tall mound-tower that also happens to be a dungeon and the events of a Quest gone south might lead to massive changes through force of narrative.<br /> <br /> === Actors ===<br /> 'Ordinary people' native to SAO-1 within a Fragment - that is to say, non-Augma Users or Foreigners - are woven into the Fragment's narrative. Some might be killed in monster raids, others fall victim to a unique illness that can only be cured using Quest materials, and yet others are kidnapped and need rescuing, etc. This alone isn't special, but it doesn't end there. Cardinal's Quest Generation routines key into the desires of these 'ordinary people' and can attempt to compel them to act dramatically like spout their frustrations at nearby Players and develop into unwitting Questgivers complete with hovering [?] and [!] cursors. Cardinal likes to ensure that suitable rewards are encountered somewhere during the Quest since such questgivers rarely have the means to provide them personally.<br /> <br /> It bears noting that Cardinal cannot absolutely 'mind control' normal people the way it can attempt to 'direct control' NPCs. It can only compel them to do something they'd be inclined towards to begin with. People who experience this describe it as just 'feeling an urge to do something. Gotta speak up, gotta ask for help,' and similar. Given this, such Quests stand higher chances of being dead ends, but they overall work.<br /> <br /> === Resolution ===<br /> Since Quests have real consequences, it is quite possible for the majority of conflicts, problems, and crises in an area to be resolved. The Kobold clan leader is slain and the Dark Elves move on, to use the previous example. Such Fragments can go dormant for months and months (after which point, something ELSE might happen) or eventually dissolve entirely. It is not known if this is due to limited resources or attention on Cardinal's part, or some other factor. Some Fragments never fully 'resolve' and maintain a low level of dramatic events like monsters in the forest that need to be hunted periodically, and etc. An abandoned Necromancer's Tower might become a haven to lost spirits and dangerous to travel near.<br /> <br /> == Augma Users ==<br /> When the world changed, many hardcore VRMMO players found themselves suddenly in possession of a new device, the 'Augma' (a play on Augmented Reality). The Augma is a very minimalist half-circle of durable plastic. A front extrusion ends in a microphone, the middle portion is a ring that fits over the ear, and the rear portion is a curved boom that wraps around the back of the head. The device is resistant to intrusion and scanning, and seems to not require any power. It seems to work much like FullDive devices do, using small electromagnetic detectors and transmitters to read and intercept brain waves. The difference is that Augma cannot paralyze people, and instead provides sensory overlays in real-time.<br /> <br /> Augma's main function for those rare few people who possess it is not providing communication and AR computing (though it does that too), but allowing them to transform into their avatars and become superhuman forces. (See Below)<br /> <br /> Augmas are linked to their users' brainwaves and cannot be used by anyone but their owners.<br /> <br /> === Qualifications ===<br /> Compared against the full spectrum and quantity of VRMMO players, the band encompassing 'who is worthy of an Augma' is fairly narrow. Nobody is entirely sure what SPECIFICALLY qualifies a player for an Augma, but the following correlations are immediately obvious:<br /> <br /> A) Highly skilled players.<br /> B) Excessively high login time or sheer time in FullDive.<br /> C) Extremely developed avatars.<br /> D) SAO Survivors.<br /> <br /> There are 'X factors' at play causing plenty of outliers. One of the biggest is strongly desiring &quot;I genuinely want to live in these worlds.&quot;<br /> <br /> The number of Augma Users constantly fluctuates, but easily ranks in the tens of thousands.<br /> <br /> === New Users/Replacement Augmas ===<br /> The first wave of Augma Users had them literally spawn on their faces. (or failing that, in pockets, in open hands, etc.)<br /> <br /> New Augmas can be acquired by potential new Players by attempting to enter a Hub or Fragment zone. If worthy, the system will generate one and assign the VRMMO avatar the player associates themselves with the most. There are also cases where new Augmas simply appear for people who pass the qualifying threshold, as if answering a desire.<br /> <br /> Replacement Augmas can be obtained in the same method: walk into a Hub or Fragment zone. If the lost Augma still exists it will be teleported to the user, otherwise a new one will be spawned.<br /> <br /> === Community Features ===<br /> So long as they all use Augma, it matters not what origin game an Avatar is from: they can be added to friends lists, parties, guilds, and so on.<br /> <br /> A party can have at most 8 members, and a Raid Group can link up to 6 full parties.<br /> <br /> === Color Cursor ===<br /> Except inside shops and buildings (where it would be distracting), all game entities have Color Cursors - a floating diamond mark spinning over their head. These have various meanings, depending on color. Names, however, are NOT visible - the only way to get someone's name is through window prompts like duel invites, party invites, and the like.<br /> <br /> PLAYERS always sport a GREEN Cursor. PARTY MEMBERs see each other's with a blue outline.<br /> <br /> FOREIGNERS have GREY cursors, which otherwise behave as player ones do.<br /> <br /> PETS and NPCs have YELLOW cursors. Yellow is also used for non-hostile monsters.<br /> <br /> MONSTERS provide the most variance. Not only is a monster's name always shown but their Color Cursor appears different to each viewer, depending on the COMBAT THREAT they pose. Faint pink cursors are trashily weak, not worth fighting. Standard Red cursors are for 'good matches.' Purple Cursors appear on monsters that would be a significant challenge. Dark Crimson appears for monsters with an overwhelming advantage. Black is used for monsters with an even greater strength disparity - all but instant death.<br /> <br /> OUTSIDE HUBS/FRAGMENTS, Color Cursors are not shown to Augma Users unless they are transformed, nor can they be perceived by foreigners. In which case, they only respond to actual game entities (and untransformed Augma Users do not count), though those who possess the Searching skill will see neutral Grey cursors on everything that isn't a game entity.<br /> <br /> === Transformation ===<br /> Augma Users need only wear their Augma and commandingly exclaim &quot;LINK START&quot; to trigger their transformation. The transformation effect is pretty snazzy: green wires lash out from the Augma and encase the user in a wireframe, followed by swirls of blue-green voxels that fill in to form textures and finalize it. This latter part eerily resembles the 'death effect voxel shatter' but in reverse. Height differences are not a problem: the Avatar's height overrides and 'real flesh' seems to smoothly adjust.<br /> <br /> Moving around during the transformation is possible and does force the swirling to adjust. People who REALLY WANT TO can practice this and create 'henshin poses' for pure aesthetic if that's their thing, but it only takes a few seconds so there's not much to work with.<br /> <br /> The resulting avatar is fully accurate to the original in-game avatar, with a few differences. For example, sensations like touch are not simplified like they are in FullDive. PAIN is now a seriously worrisome factor as well. (See Health below.)<br /> <br /> The transformation can be canceled at any time using the System Menu and initiating a Log Out. The de-transformation effect is the exact opposite: the Avatar's texturing glows and wavers, then shatters into streams of swirling voxels and a wireframe that repacks itself into the Augma.<br /> <br /> === Health ===<br /> Since a transformed player is a fusion of flesh and digital matter made manifest, Augma Users do need to eat and drink and deal with other bodily needs. Death from starvation and dehydration are problems, and lack of sleep is crippling as always. However, being transformed seems to protect users from most diseases and health worries that can't be rendered into a Status Effect. Chronic health issues are held at bay and missing limbs are restored as the Avatar's state of health takes primacy.<br /> <br /> This does have its limits though. As avatars take injury, an amount of it reaches the flesh and blood body at its core. This 'real damage' is marked as a slowly growing 'blacked out' zone at the end of an HP bar that temporarily caps Maximum HP. As the user's health suffers and injury mounts up this 'black damage' grows. The greater this bar the more intense actual pain becomes. At 50% black or greater, pain and exhaustion start becoming overwhelming, and one's 'real state of health' shifts more towards primacy.<br /> <br /> Game effects such as healing magic and items can do nothing to cure this 'black damage.' Only rest and real recuperation and tending to one's real body does.<br /> <br /> Those who transform back while suffering Black Damage see the full effects of that damage. A lost arm in avatar form results in a bloodied arm covered in cuts which refuses to move due to an overwhelmed nervous system (which will usually recover) even if the arm regenerated while transformed. Cuts and bruises, stabs and burns. Sometimes these injuries can be life-threatening, and so it's usually smartest to NOT transform back while suffering Black Damage. Thankfully, enough time recovering while Transformed seems to be enough to mend these injuries.<br /> <br /> At 0 Avatar HP (which is NOT linked with MCM's combat system) the transformation comes undone and users are forced to deal with the amount of Black Damage they've accrued, which rises sharply as a death penalty. This is a death sentence when fighting monsters, as most will continue to attack. Critical life-threatening injuries are also nearly certain in this scenario. The transformation is put on a 24-hour cooldown for people who do survive.<br /> <br /> === Multiplaying ===<br /> Isn't a thing. When the Augma is first used people get to pick one of their appropriate avatars, then they're stuck with it. Unchosen avatars are available as special costume items as consolation.<br /> <br /> There could be 'reincarnation' quests and the like for changing game base, which work much like transferring an avatar from one game to another, but these are not OOCly meant to be a revolving door of powersets.<br /> <br /> === Inventory and Gear ===<br /> Any Augma User's inventory can store objects from any Hub Zone or Fragment no matter its origin game. However, these still obey the same rules such as weight limits and stacking sensibilities.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough, objects that have absolutely nothing to do with any game can ALSO be stored in one's inventory. This only works for personal-sized odds and ends comparable to the things that ALREADY go into the inventory, so be reasonable here. It also only works for objects that have been left unattended by anyone else for an hour, so you cannot just rip a weapon out of someone's hands and stuff it in your inventory, etc. (Of course, once you are its registered owner then it behaves like a normal inventory item.)<br /> <br /> Foreign items have names as recognized by Cardinal, which is really easy to do if it's a bottle of shampoo with a label and not so easy if it's a random magic sword. The system allows players to assign their own names to objects in case CARDINAL gets it wrong. Foreign item names do not have stats (aside from weight) or descriptions. Foreign clothing and armor does not auto-reshape on equip and so cannot be auto-equipped, but weapons do function as weapons for all intents and purposes including using game techniques like Sword Skills.<br /> <br /> Powerful artifacts and important objects from other worlds are highly resistant to being stored in the inventory. Attempts simply fail, time after time. It may be possible to eventually shuffle them in by spending enough time with it - but this is wildly unreliable.<br /> <br /> === The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Black Iron Castle of Aincrad is once again host to a grisly monument: A massive slab of black granite with the names of every Augma User's avatar. Augma Users who die have their name striked through and a 'reason of death' added. As with the original SAO these reasons are not fully informative: being stabbed in the back by X will result in 'killed by X.' Dying to a monster will show the monster's name and location. Indirect causes are not registered - if someone's pushed off a cliff, the fact that they hit the ground is the cause of death.<br /> <br /> This monument does not replace the Monument of Swordsmen, which continues to record the contributions of those clearing Floating Castle Aincrad's floor bosses - it is found directly across from it.<br /> <br /> === Unique Skills ===<br /> A phenomenon hearkening back to SAO, 'Unique Skills' have appeared for a rare few Augma Users. These simply show up in the Skill List one day, along with a System Message. Who has designed them, what their ultimate purpose is, and the unlock requirements are all ICly a mystery. What IS certain is that everyone who has one is exceptional in some way, and these Skills are 'gamebreaking' within ALO's context. Unique Skills must be leveled up like any others, but do not take up a Skill Slot and can only be Disabled, not Deleted.<br /> <br /> OOCly, Unique Skills are inspired by the original concept in SAO but are now meant to be much more commonplace where PC's are concerned. Any PC Augma User is a candidate for a Unique Skill, but this should definitely be derived from and a part of the character's Defining attributes. For instance, Lisbeth is primarily a Crafter - her Unique Skill will have to do with crafting. The 'unlock requirements' can be considerably more abstract and narratively flexible than the original Unique Skills of SAO's design, such as emotional devotion or freakish devotion time to some task or Skill.<br /> <br /> ==== KIRITO: Celestial Blades ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Dual One-Handed Swords<br /> Born (RE-born?) from Kirito's sheer dedication of endlessly trying to re-create the 'Dual Blades' Unique Skill of SAO using the Original Sword Skill system, Celestial Blades is a Weapon Skill for equipping a One-Handed Sword in each hand. This configuration boosts parry notably and attack power through the roof, slightly lowers the cooldown time of One-Handed Sword Skills, and enables a slew of special dual wielding Sword Skills such as Cross Block (defensive), Locus Hexedra (7-hit), Starburst Stream (16-hit), and The Eclipse (27-hit).<br /> <br /> ==== LISBETH: Weapon Ascension ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Crafting, Weapons<br /> Year after year, Lisbeth's put her whole heart and soul into every blow of her blacksmith's hammer. She has proven worthy of the Unique Skill 'Weapon Ascension', which confers numerous abilities ordinary Crafters do not receive. Though a pain in the ass to grind, at maximum level it grants a +20% success rate to enhancing Weapons and raising the maximum success rate cap to 98% from 95%. She may also choose to 'Reforge' a Weapon, improving its tier/rarity for a massive stat boost, and resetting its Enhancement status for a new round of reinforcement attempts. Reforging cannot fail, but requires phenomenal mounds of rare materials and Yrd.<br /> <br /> == Foreigners ==<br /> Whenever any intelligent entity crosses the borders of a Hub or Fragment Zone, they are given a floating window prompt to enter a username they want to be known by. These names must be grammatically sensible things that NPCs could pronounce, though it need not be an ordinary name. (Canon examples of oddball names include: Musketeer X, Pale Rider, and Red-Eyed XaXa.)<br /> <br /> People with registered usernames can be added to friends lists, parties, and guilds, and participate in quests. They are provided with a gesture-controlled menu similar to what Augma Users get, but with far fewer features. Obviously, CARDINAL cannot figure out their HP, so their bar in a party is filled in with diagonal lines for N/A.<br /> <br /> Foreigners CAN see Color Cursors and monster names and the party HUD information, though the system is incapable of simply KNOWING what a foreigner's combat skill is like and thus Color Cursors for Monsters are not an accurate gauge for threat level until they have killed about ten or so - at which point it will start to adapt based on things like kill speed and observed powers for an empirical measurement.<br /> <br /> == Reality Interaction Principles ==<br /> There is essentially no difference between things originating from 'the real world' or 'a game world.' For example, ordinary people can eat food sold by NPCs or Cooked by Augma Users (and... the buffs actually work in addition to it being filling.) Weapons and armor made by a Smith can be wielded by Foreigners (though they do not gain Sword Skills) and are quite serviceable, but still explode into pixels when they eventually wear out.<br /> <br /> Similarly, just as items like shampoo bottles can e stuffed in an Augma User's inventory, players can use offworld gear that's comparable in nature to their own - if you have the Dagger Weapon Skill, then grabbing a random knife off the shelf at a store will in fact result in a functional weapon you can use Sword Skills with - albeit, a flimsy one.<br /> <br /> Following this logic, an ALO Smith could use ores and other materials not found in Alfheim Online in their work. The only trouble is the system can't provide any info on what's going to happen. Items made this way (and vice versa) can be a little weird but are perfectly functional.</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=14131 2017-01-19T00:35:20Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>== Themelist Entry ==<br /> 5:30 PM, November 6, 2022. Technology had reached new heights through the endeavors of the Argus company. Yet just after the world's first fully-immersive VRMMO triumphantly launched, with one tiny code change the game's creator turned it into a death game. No log out button, and no help from outside. The avatars of fallen players would be deleted... and at the same time, their VR headset would fry their brains.<br /> <br /> Swort Art Online, the world's first VRMMORPG, was a death game, and 10,000 players found themselves trapped. The world could only watch and pray that the victims would reach the 100th floor of Floating Castle Aincrad and bring down its boss, for this was given as the only method of ever logging out.<br /> <br /> Thousands died within the first month, but eventually disparate players came together, formed guilds, and pressed onwards.<br /> <br /> Sometime in September 2024 (20AU by Multiverse reckoning), things turned stranger. Unification saw all VR data physically projected into the Cyber Core region in all its glory, and heroes from numerous other worlds joined the clearing effort. March 2025, the final boss was defeated (however unconventionally or early) and the trapped players were released... all save a few.<br /> <br /> New dive gear designed to prevent another SAO had since entered the market, alongside the release of Alfheim Online. Both were produced by RCT Progress, buyer of Argus' assets. The heroes who cleared SAO exposed Fulldive division head Noboyuki Sugou's illegal imprisonment of the remaining players for mind control experiments... and seemingly crackpot ways of 'bringing data into reality'. He released his work open-source to the world during arrest, to mixed reception. It was coupled with the enigmatic open-source release of the masterwork VRMMO SDK 'The World Seed' though, propelling FullDive technology into a golden age.<br /> <br /> Unbelievable events overturned every effort to suppress Sugou's research. &lt;DATE HERE&gt;, after the Multiverse fractured and reassembled, strange advertisements about a new Augmented Reality earpiece-visor, or 'Augma', promised to unite everyone with virtual reality in grand new ways. Accompanying it, a puzzling list of pre-approved beta testers: the usernames of some hardcore VRMMO players.<br /> <br /> Beta day saw the entire world flashing with wireframe textures and 'reload.' Alfheim emerged in the Devil's Sea south of Japan. SBC Glocken and Gun Gale Online's post-apocalyptic wasteland appeared west of North America. All the most popular VRMMOs saw representation. Pockets of what have come to be called 'Game Zones' (or just 'zones') further dot the landscape of all nations, with towns, ravenous monster lairs, and fantastic environments all filled with uncannily intelligent 'NPCs' slowly encroaching on the world everyone knew. In some cases it nicely co-exists or even improves living conditions. But for others...<br /> <br /> The world seems firmly in the grip of an unseen force, the AI 'Cardinal System' that was originally designed to automate VRMMO production, management, balance, and content generation. Now infused into the fabric of reality itself, it holds seemingly godly authority. But to what ends? And more importantly...<br /> <br /> Who plays such a game?<br /> <br /> The Augma Users, a growing list of VRMMO players of unusual dedication and talent, have the power to wholly become their favored avatars in a world where they were once powerless. The increasingly-dangerous and dynamic world has need of such adventurers, but players will be players - not all are scrupulous.<br /> <br /> This theme is based on Swort Art Online as presented in the light novel and anime series, but wildly diverged after Fairy Dance. Game series content (Hollow Fragment, etc) is open to adaptation.<br /> <br /> == Digital Future ==<br /> Something strange happened when the Multiverse restructured itself. Some of the Cyber Core's reality - a region of the Multiverse where data can physically manifest in an almost magical fashion - was infused into the very fabric of Earth. The specifics've proven tough to measure but the results are clear: environments and entities previously thought to be just data in a computer system are now 'real' and dangerous.<br /> <br /> On its own, this might not be so bad. However, the merge appears to have integrated an instance of the original fully-fledged Cardinal System that maintained Sword Art Online with this fused-reality, and it appears to perceive all of reality as an MMO it must fill with content and balance.<br /> <br /> The full extent of Cardinal's influence remains unknown, but so far it has resculpted hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of Earth as it pleases to manifest new continents and introduce in-game phenomena like magic into reality however it wishes.<br /> <br /> === The New Landscape ===<br /> The settings of every major VRMMO can be found somewhere on SAO Earth - they exist as new small continents and islands taking up what was empty ocean before. Oddly, Earth flora and fauna seems averse to these areas: birds don't nest there, sealife give them wide berths, and so on. Likewise, game setting flora and fauna seems happy to remain within these 'Game Hub Zones' (ICly referred to as Hubs by most folk)... with the exception of strange spots of reality that sprout MMO content merged with existing society and geography, 'Fragments' for short. (More on that below.)<br /> <br /> As examples, Alfheim's main continent has appeared south of Japan in what most call the Devil's Sea, and Floating Castle Aincrad now drifts unpredictably across the globe, largely sticking to temperate climes. GGO's Apocalyptic Wasteland complete with SBC Glocken appeared off the western coast of North America, between it and Hawaii.<br /> <br /> Although these areas almost perfectly mirror their original game counterparts, there are a few slight differences. SAFE ZONES no longer prevent HP loss, though monsters still avoid them. No kind of game entity - player, monster, NPC, etc - can be system-protected ('Immortal Object' etc), and even things without HP meters can be killed.<br /> <br /> === NPCs ===<br /> Every NPC possesses vastly superior A.I. routines to anything seen in their origin game. They laugh, they cry, they respond to almost everything people do. These NPCs remember people, they develop philosophies and their emotional reactions to people are as driving a motivation as their role in the story is. However, they have a strange habit of 'filtering' what they hear and framing it within the context of their story roles. In other words, NPCs behave wholly in-character at all times and thoroughly ignore any evidence or convincing otherwise. For instance, they don't react oddly to terms like 'quests' or 'party' and don't ask what the hell people are doing when they futz with menus. Whenever possible they seamlessly map such terms to more in-character terms without breaking stride, while avoiding them.<br /> <br /> They have considerable autonomy, being only loosely connected to Cardinal's Storytelling Module most of the time - it gave them a role to play, a smorgasbord of personality directives and important memories, and lets them do it however they see fit. Cardinal tends to provide nudges and suggestions to push them back on track for the quests it wants to see completed, and it CAN attempt to assume 'direct control' of an NPC when even that fails, but some very rare and special NPCs might just be able to refuse and break away from Cardinal completely.<br /> <br /> NPCs can die. Sometimes Cardinal replaces them with a new NPC of a different name and background to fill the same role, sometimes it doesn't. It's rare to see them resurrected in any fashion. Exceptions exist for 'recurring boss monsters' and the like, though.<br /> <br /> === Quests ===<br /> Real-world quests now have consequences and do not operate on a principle of being infinitely repeatable or existing in a vacuum from other players' efforts. If a quest once involved 'gather medicine from the forest to cure my daughter, in return I'll give you my family's ancestral sword,' there is now unfortunately only one copy of that sword to be given out, and enough medicine will cure that daughter. Quests are largely unique and adapt to changing conditions based on the needs and moods of the NPCs, the economic status (when an NPC blacksmith runs low on ore, he'll generate fetch quests for instance), and so on.<br /> <br /> This, combined with other changes like 'nothing is invincibile' means that quests can be failed for very unexpected reasons (like the quest-giving NPC being killed), and have many branching paths and completely unpredictable rewards.<br /> <br /> === Admins and Updates ===<br /> While the actual 'games' are still running and still played (amidst some controversy), none of the admins and developers of such games have ANY control over what happens in the 'real world' equivalents. Much as it did with SAO, Cardinal appears to be handling all matters of 'game' balance and management, quest and item generation, and so on. It seems to have no qualms with 'stealing' content and new features from the actual games as it's introduced, but does not do this dumbly: it refuses changes that don't fit its directives, seem like security risks, or could undermine it.<br /> <br /> == Fragments ==<br /> Dozens of locales across the world have become subsumed into MMO-like 'quest zones.' These regions seem to LOVE small population centers with diverse environments like 'forest', 'plains', 'lakeshore', 'town territory' and so on in short reach of each other - the better to fill them with all manner of different monsters, goodies, and storytelling settings. Some examples of it subsuming dilapidated or sparsely populated city districts exist, but by and large they (SO FAR) seem averse to forming in places where 90% of the territory would be considered a 'safe zone'. New ones crop up periodically, and sometimes old ones quiet down (see Resolution below.)<br /> <br /> === Themes and Intents ===<br /> The locale Cardinal converts to a Fragment determines much about what it will become. A simple town and its surrounding rural areas might become a hotspot for fantasy elements from Alfheim or Aincrad to show up - a Kobold clan leader decides to move in and raid farms, and a faction of Dark Elves pursuing him set up camp in the nearby forest, various animal and plant monsters show up in forests, plains, and riverbanks, etc. A historic 'old west' town finds itself in a similar scenario as robot bandits, old war machines, and post-apocalyptic mutants from Gun Gale Online are arranged similarly.<br /> <br /> For the most part, Cardinal arranges the scenarios so that 'minimal damage' is done - it doesn't WANT to deplete the locale's population for various reasons so events involving widespread carnage and destruction are rare and frequently easily averted by Quests. Most of its setups for 'setting the mood' and kicking off the narrative conflicts that drive local quests will not involve many deaths or destruction of critical infrastructure - though this is more of a guideline than a rule. It tends to avoid apocalypse scenarios: it may have a necromancer raise zombies and skeletons from a local cemetery and set up shop, but responders will probably have months to respond before they have to worry about him leading a devastating invasion into town. (Small raids and kidnappings for ritual sacrifices that spawn into Rescue Quests, on the other hand...)<br /> <br /> Although VRMMO content forms the bulk of Cardinal's setting-designing aesthetic, it also draws from local myths and legends. Cryptids, rumors, ghost stories, and folklore may play a part in the Fragment's events, as examples.<br /> <br /> === World Editor Strategy ===<br /> Although Cardinal does seem capable of enacting wide-scale changes to existing geography, it seems to stay on the conservative and moooooostly unobtrusive side for Fragments. Usually. An existing cave of little consequence might be transformed and expanded into a sizable monster lair dungeon, but it likes to leave towns and geography intact. This is again more of a guideline than a rule - an invasion of Giant Termites might clear a section of forest and raise a monstrously tall mound-tower that also happens to be a dungeon and the events of a Quest gone south might lead to massive changes through force of narrative.<br /> <br /> === Actors ===<br /> 'Ordinary people' native to SAO-1 within a Fragment - that is to say, non-Augma Users or Foreigners - are woven into the Fragment's narrative. Some might be killed in monster raids, others fall victim to a unique illness that can only be cured using Quest materials, and yet others are kidnapped and need rescuing, etc. This alone isn't special, but it doesn't end there. Cardinal's Quest Generation routines key into the desires of these 'ordinary people' and can attempt to compel them to act dramatically like spout their frustrations at nearby Players and develop into unwitting Questgivers complete with hovering [?] and [!] cursors. Cardinal likes to ensure that suitable rewards are encountered somewhere during the Quest since such questgivers rarely have the means to provide them personally.<br /> <br /> It bears noting that Cardinal cannot absolutely 'mind control' normal people the way it can attempt to 'direct control' NPCs. It can only compel them to do something they'd be inclined towards to begin with. People who experience this describe it as just 'feeling an urge to do something. Gotta speak up, gotta ask for help,' and similar. Given this, such Quests stand higher chances of being dead ends, but they overall work.<br /> <br /> === Resolution ===<br /> Since Quests have real consequences, it is quite possible for the majority of conflicts, problems, and crises in an area to be resolved. The Kobold clan leader is slain and the Dark Elves move on, to use the previous example. Such Fragments can go dormant for months and months (after which point, something ELSE might happen) or eventually dissolve entirely. It is not known if this is due to limited resources or attention on Cardinal's part, or some other factor. Some Fragments never fully 'resolve' and maintain a low level of dramatic events like monsters in the forest that need to be hunted periodically, and etc. An abandoned Necromancer's Tower might become a haven to lost spirits and dangerous to travel near.<br /> <br /> == Augma Users ==<br /> When the world changed, many hardcore VRMMO players found themselves suddenly in possession of a new device, the 'Augma' (a play on Augmented Reality). The Augma is a very minimalist half-circle of durable plastic. A front extrusion ends in a microphone, the middle portion is a ring that fits over the ear, and the rear portion is a curved boom that wraps around the back of the head. The device is resistant to intrusion and scanning, and seems to not require any power. It seems to work much like FullDive devices do, using small electromagnetic detectors and transmitters to read and intercept brain waves. The difference is that Augma cannot paralyze people, and instead provides sensory overlays in real-time.<br /> <br /> Augma's main function for those rare few people who possess it is not providing communication and AR computing (though it does that too), but allowing them to transform into their avatars and become superhuman forces. (See Below)<br /> <br /> Augmas are linked to their users' brainwaves and cannot be used by anyone but their owners.<br /> <br /> === Qualifications ===<br /> Compared against the full spectrum and quantity of VRMMO players, the band encompassing 'who is worthy of an Augma' is fairly narrow. Nobody is entirely sure what SPECIFICALLY qualifies a player for an Augma, but the following correlations are immediately obvious:<br /> <br /> A) Highly skilled players.<br /> B) Excessively high login time or sheer time in FullDive.<br /> C) Extremely developed avatars.<br /> D) SAO Survivors.<br /> <br /> There are 'X factors' at play causing plenty of outliers. One of the biggest is strongly desiring &quot;I genuinely want to live in these worlds.&quot;<br /> <br /> The number of Augma Users constantly fluctuates, but easily ranks in the tens of thousands.<br /> <br /> === New Users/Replacement Augmas ===<br /> The first wave of Augma Users had them literally spawn on their faces. (or failing that, in pockets, in open hands, etc.)<br /> <br /> New Augmas can be acquired by potential new Players by attempting to enter a Hub or Fragment zone. If worthy, the system will generate one and assign the VRMMO avatar the player associates themselves with the most. There are also cases where new Augmas simply appear for people who pass the qualifying threshold, as if answering a desire.<br /> <br /> Replacement Augmas can be obtained in the same method: walk into a Hub or Fragment zone. If the lost Augma still exists it will be teleported to the user, otherwise a new one will be spawned.<br /> <br /> === Community Features ===<br /> So long as they all use Augma, it matters not what origin game an Avatar is from: they can be added to friends lists, parties, guilds, and so on.<br /> <br /> A party can have at most 8 members, and a Raid Group can link up to 6 full parties.<br /> <br /> === Color Cursor ===<br /> Except inside shops and buildings (where it would be distracting), all game entities have Color Cursors - a floating diamond mark spinning over their head. These have various meanings, depending on color. Names, however, are NOT visible - the only way to get someone's name is through window prompts like duel invites, party invites, and the like.<br /> <br /> PLAYERS always sport a GREEN Cursor. PARTY MEMBERs see each other's with a blue outline.<br /> <br /> FOREIGNERS have GREY cursors, which otherwise behave as player ones do.<br /> <br /> PETS and NPCs have YELLOW cursors. Yellow is also used for non-hostile monsters.<br /> <br /> MONSTERS provide the most variance. Not only is a monster's name always shown but their Color Cursor appears different to each viewer, depending on the COMBAT THREAT they pose. Faint pink cursors are trashily weak, not worth fighting. Standard Red cursors are for 'good matches.' Purple Cursors appear on monsters that would be a significant challenge. Dark Crimson appears for monsters with an overwhelming advantage. Black is used for monsters with an even greater strength disparity - all but instant death.<br /> <br /> OUTSIDE HUBS/FRAGMENTS, Color Cursors are not shown to Augma Users unless they are transformed, nor can they be perceived by foreigners. In which case, they only respond to actual game entities (and untransformed Augma Users do not count), though those who possess the Searching skill will see neutral Grey cursors on everything that isn't a game entity.<br /> <br /> === Transformation ===<br /> Augma Users need only wear their Augma and commandingly exclaim &quot;LINK START&quot; to trigger their transformation. The transformation effect is pretty snazzy: green wires lash out from the Augma and encase the user in a wireframe, followed by swirls of blue-green voxels that fill in to form textures and finalize it. This latter part eerily resembles the 'death effect voxel shatter' but in reverse. Height differences are not a problem: the Avatar's height overrides and 'real flesh' seems to smoothly adjust.<br /> <br /> Moving around during the transformation is possible and does force the swirling to adjust. People who REALLY WANT TO can practice this and create 'henshin poses' for pure aesthetic if that's their thing, but it only takes a few seconds so there's not much to work with.<br /> <br /> The resulting avatar is fully accurate to the original in-game avatar, with a few differences. For example, sensations like touch are not simplified like they are in FullDive. PAIN is now a seriously worrisome factor as well. (See Health below.)<br /> <br /> The transformation can be canceled at any time using the System Menu and initiating a Log Out. The de-transformation effect is the exact opposite: the Avatar's texturing glows and wavers, then shatters into streams of swirling voxels and a wireframe that repacks itself into the Augma.<br /> <br /> === Health ===<br /> Since a transformed player is a fusion of flesh and digital matter made manifest, Augma Users do need to eat and drink and deal with other bodily needs. Death from starvation and dehydration are problems, and lack of sleep is crippling as always. However, being transformed seems to protect users from most diseases and health worries that can't be rendered into a Status Effect. Chronic health issues are held at bay and missing limbs are restored as the Avatar's state of health takes primacy.<br /> <br /> This does have its limits though. As avatars take injury, an amount of it reaches the flesh and blood body at its core. This 'real damage' is marked as a slowly growing 'blacked out' zone at the end of an HP bar that temporarily caps Maximum HP. As the user's health suffers and injury mounts up this 'black damage' grows. The greater this bar the more intense actual pain becomes. At 50% black or greater, pain and exhaustion start becoming overwhelming, and one's 'real state of health' shifts more towards primacy.<br /> <br /> Game effects such as healing magic and items can do nothing to cure this 'black damage.' Only rest and real recuperation and tending to one's real body does.<br /> <br /> Those who transform back while suffering Black Damage see the full effects of that damage. A lost arm in avatar form results in a bloodied arm covered in cuts which refuses to move due to an overwhelmed nervous system (which will usually recover) even if the arm regenerated while transformed. Cuts and bruises, stabs and burns. Sometimes these injuries can be life-threatening, and so it's usually smartest to NOT transform back while suffering Black Damage. Thankfully, enough time recovering while Transformed seems to be enough to mend these injuries.<br /> <br /> At 0 Avatar HP (which is NOT linked with MCM's combat system) the transformation comes undone and users are forced to deal with the amount of Black Damage they've accrued, which rises sharply as a death penalty. This is a death sentence when fighting monsters, as most will continue to attack. Critical life-threatening injuries are also nearly certain in this scenario. The transformation is put on a 24-hour cooldown for people who do survive.<br /> <br /> === Multiplaying ===<br /> Isn't a thing. When the Augma is first used people get to pick one of their appropriate avatars, then they're stuck with it. Unchosen avatars are available as special costume items as consolation.<br /> <br /> There could be 'reincarnation' quests and the like for changing game base, which work much like transferring an avatar from one game to another, but these are not OOCly meant to be a revolving door of powersets.<br /> <br /> === Inventory and Gear ===<br /> Any Augma User's inventory can store objects from any Hub Zone or Fragment no matter its origin game. However, these still obey the same rules such as weight limits and stacking sensibilities.<br /> <br /> Oddly enough, objects that have absolutely nothing to do with any game can ALSO be stored in one's inventory. This only works for personal-sized odds and ends comparable to the things that ALREADY go into the inventory, so be reasonable here. It also only works for objects that have been left unattended by anyone else for an hour, so you cannot just rip a weapon out of someone's hands and stuff it in your inventory, etc. (Of course, once you are its registered owner then it behaves like a normal inventory item.)<br /> <br /> Foreign items have names as recognized by Cardinal, which is really easy to do if it's a bottle of shampoo with a label and not so easy if it's a random magic sword. The system allows players to assign their own names to objects in case CARDINAL gets it wrong. Foreign item names do not have stats (aside from weight) or descriptions. Foreign clothing and armor does not auto-reshape on equip and so cannot be auto-equipped, but weapons do function as weapons for all intents and purposes including using game techniques like Sword Skills.<br /> <br /> Powerful artifacts and important objects from other worlds are highly resistant to being stored in the inventory. Attempts simply fail, time after time. It may be possible to eventually shuffle them in by spending enough time with it - but this is wildly unreliable.<br /> <br /> === The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Black Iron Castle of Aincrad is once again host to a grisly monument: A massive slab of black granite with the names of every Augma User's avatar. Augma Users who die have their name striked through and a 'reason of death' added. As with the original SAO these reasons are not fully informative: being stabbed in the back by X will result in 'killed by X.' Dying to a monster will show the monster's name and location. Indirect causes are not registered - if someone's pushed off a cliff, the fact that they hit the ground is the cause of death.<br /> <br /> This monument does not replace the Monument of Swordsmen, which continues to record the contributions of those clearing Floating Castle Aincrad's floor bosses - it is found directly across from it.<br /> <br /> === Unique Skills ===<br /> A phenomenon hearkening back to SAO, 'Unique Skills' have appeared for a rare few Augma Users. These simply show up in the Skill List one day, along with a System Message. Who has designed them, what their ultimate purpose is, and the unlock requirements are all ICly a mystery. What IS certain is that everyone who has one is exceptional in some way, and these Skills are 'gamebreaking' within ALO's context. Unique Skills must be leveled up like any others, but do not take up a Skill Slot and can only be Disabled, not Deleted.<br /> <br /> OOCly, Unique Skills are inspired by the original concept in SAO but are now meant to be much more commonplace where PC's are concerned. Any PC Augma User is a candidate for a Unique Skill, but this should definitely be derived from and a part of the character's Defining attributes. For instance, Lisbeth is primarily a Crafter - her Unique Skill will have to do with crafting. The 'unlock requirements' can be considerably more abstract and narratively flexible than the original Unique Skills of SAO's design, such as emotional devotion or freakish devotion time to some task or Skill.<br /> <br /> ==== KIRITO: Celestial Blades ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Weapon Skill, Dual One-Handed Swords<br /> Born (RE-born?) from Kirito's sheer dedication of endlessly trying to re-create the 'Dual Blades' Unique Skill of SAO using the Original Sword Skill system, Celestial Blades is a Weapon Skill for equipping a One-Handed Sword in each hand. This configuration boosts parry notably and attack power through the roof, slightly lowers the cooldown time of One-Handed Sword Skills, and enables a slew of special dual wielding Sword Skills such as Cross Block (defensive), Locus Hexedra (7-hit), Starburst Stream (16-hit), and The Eclipse (27-hit).<br /> <br /> ==== LISBETH: Weapon Ascension ====<br /> ''TYPE:'' Crafting, Weapons<br /> Year after year, Lisbeth's put her whole heart and soul into every blow of her blacksmith's hammer. She has proven worthy of the Unique Skill 'Weapon Ascension', which confers numerous abilities ordinary Crafters do not receive. Though a pain in the ass to grind, at maximum level it grants a +20% success rate to enhancing Weapons and raising the maximum success rate cap to 98% from 95%. She may also choose to 'Reforge' a Weapon, improving its tier/rarity for a massive stat boost, and resetting its Enhancement status for a new round of reinforcement attempts. Reforging cannot fail, but requires phenomenal mounds of rare materials and Yrd.<br /> <br /> <br /> == Foreigners ==<br /> Whenever any intelligent entity crosses the borders of a Hub or Fragment Zone, they are given a floating window prompt to enter a username they want to be known by. These names must be grammatically sensible things that NPCs could pronounce, though it need not be an ordinary name. (Canon examples of oddball names include: Musketeer X, Pale Rider, and Red-Eyed XaXa.)<br /> <br /> People with registered usernames can be added to friends lists, parties, and guilds, and participate in quests. They are provided with a gesture-controlled menu similar to what Augma Users get, but with far fewer features. Obviously, CARDINAL cannot figure out their HP, so their bar in a party is filled in with diagonal lines for N/A.<br /> <br /> Foreigners CAN see Color Cursors and monster names and the party HUD information, though the system is incapable of simply KNOWING what a foreigner's combat skill is like and thus Color Cursors for Monsters are not an accurate gauge for threat level until they have killed about ten or so - at which point it will start to adapt based on things like kill speed and observed powers for an empirical measurement.<br /> <br /> == Reality Interaction Principles ==</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterNoCollapseNoLogs&diff=13913 2016-12-11T10:29:25Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> {{{Powers}}}<br /> ===Skills===<br /> {{{Skills}}}<br /> ===Assets===<br /> {{{Assets}}}<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> {{{NPCs}}}<br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> {{{Disadvantages}}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterMinimal&diff=13912 2016-12-11T10:29:09Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterOnlyLogs&diff=13911 2016-12-11T10:29:00Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> {{{Powers}}}<br /> ===Skills===<br /> {{{Skills}}}<br /> ===Assets===<br /> {{{Assets}}}<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> {{{NPCs}}}<br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> {{{Disadvantages}}}<br /> ==Logs==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;LOGS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{Character Logs}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Cutscenes==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;CUTSCENES, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterNoCollapse&diff=13910 2016-12-11T10:28:51Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> {{{Powers}}}<br /> ===Skills===<br /> {{{Skills}}}<br /> ===Assets===<br /> {{{Assets}}}<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> {{{NPCs}}}<br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> {{{Disadvantages}}}<br /> ==Logs==<br /> {{Character Logs}}<br /> ==Cutscenes==<br /> {{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:NPC&diff=13909 2016-12-11T10:28:42Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | (NPC) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> ==Spoofing Rights==<br /> {{{Spoof}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:NPCs]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterNoLogs&diff=13908 2016-12-11T10:28:31Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;POWERS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{{Powers}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Skills===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;SKILLS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{{Skills}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Assets===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;ASSETS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{{Assets}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;NPCS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{{NPCs}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;DISADVANTAGES, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{{Disadvantages}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Cutscenes&diff=13906 2016-12-11T10:28:05Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>===Create a Cutscene===<br /> '''UNLESS YOUR CUTSCENE TITLE IS ESPECIALLY COMPLEX OR UNIQUE, PLEASE ADD (CHARACTER NAME) AT THE END. I.E. &quot;SIDE EFFECT (STAREN)&quot;.<br /> {{#forminput:form=Cutscene}}<br /> ===Logs===<br /> ----<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 30%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10em;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 60%%;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block; }<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot; <br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Date<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Cutscene Summary<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{#ask:[[Category:Cutscenes]] <br /> |?Log Date<br /> |?Log Synopsis<br /> |format=template<br /> |limit=999999<br /> |template=Log List Single<br /> |sort=Log Date <br /> |order=descending<br /> |link=none<br /> |default=No cutscenes submitted yet.<br /> }}<br /> |}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Character_Index&diff=13904 2016-12-11T10:27:38Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>This page automatically lists all character pages created using the [[Making A Character Page]] page.<br /> <br /> ==Union==<br /> <br /> ===Enlisted===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Union]] [[Category:Enlisted]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Allies===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Union]] [[Category:Ally]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Last Chancers===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Union]] [[Category:Last Chancer]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Confederacy==<br /> ===Enlisted===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Confederacy]] [[Category:Enlisted]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Allies===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Confederacy]] [[Category:Ally]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Unaffiliated==<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Unaffiliated]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Syndicate==<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:Syndicate]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> ==NPC &amp; TP Characters==<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:NPCs]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===TP Characters===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:TP]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Dropped &amp; Fired==<br /> ===Dropped (Union)===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:Union]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Dropped (Confed)===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:Confederacy]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Dropped (Unaff)===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:Unaffiliated]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Dropped (Syndicate)===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:Syndicate]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Fired===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:Fired]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=5<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:TP_Logs&diff=13903 2016-12-11T10:26:40Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;includeonly&gt;<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed; border-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tbody {border-radius:5px;};<br /> .LogTable:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(1) {width: 20rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(2) {width: 15rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(3) {border-top-right-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n+1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.4)}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogTable td { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .logTable tr:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-bottom-left-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 35%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 65%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot; <br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Date<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Scene Summary<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{#ask:[[Category:{{{1|Roleplay Logs}}}]] [[Log Tinyplot::{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]] OR [[Category:{{{1|Roleplay Logs}}}]] [[Tinyplot Two::{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]]<br /> |?Log Date<br /> |?Log Synopsis<br /> |format=template<br /> |template=Log List Single<br /> |limit=99999<br /> |sort=Log Date <br /> |link=none<br /> |default={{!}} colspan=3 {{!}} No logs submitted yet.<br /> }}<br /> |}&lt;/includeonly&gt;&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> To include TP logs for the page you are adding this to:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{TP Logs}}&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> <br /> For cutscenes:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{TP Logs|Cutscenes}}&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> &lt;/noinclude&gt;</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:GroupPage&diff=13902 2016-12-11T10:26:00Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>==Description==<br /> {{{Desc}}}<br /> <br /> ==Leader(s)==<br /> {{#arraymap:{{{Leader}}}|,|x|{{#set:Log Characters=x}}{{#if: {{#vardefineecho: x | {{#ask: [[Char_id::x]]}}}} | {{#var: x}} | x}}|,&amp;#32;}}<br /> <br /> ==Co-Leader(s)==<br /> {{#arraymap:{{{XO}}}|,|y|{{#set:Log Characters=y}}{{#if: {{#vardefineecho: y | {{#ask: [[Char_id::y]]}}}} | {{#var: y}} | y}}|,&amp;#32;}}<br /> <br /> ==Factional Alignment==<br /> {{{Align}}}<br /> <br /> ==Members==<br /> ===Active===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=3<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Dropped===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=3<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> [[Category:{{{State}}}Group]][[Category:Groups]][[Category:{{{Align}}}Group]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:TPPage&diff=13901 2016-12-11T10:25:43Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}''' (Plotsys ID: '''{{{Plot_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Summary'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Summary}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Base Info'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | TP Scale:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Scale}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | TP Runner(s):<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{#arraymap:{{{Runner}}}|,|x|{{#set:Log Characters=x}}{{#if: {{#vardefineecho: x | {{#ask: [[Char_id::x]]}}}} | {{#var: x}} | x}}|,&amp;#32;}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Attached Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Other Contacts:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Contacts}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Target Audience:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Audience}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Genre &amp; Tone:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Genre}}}<br /> |}<br /> <br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed; border-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tbody {border-radius:5px;};<br /> .LogTable:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(1) {width: 20rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(2) {width: 15rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(3) {border-top-right-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n+1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.4)}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogTable td { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .logTable tr:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-bottom-left-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> <br /> {{#vardefine: plotid | {{{Plot_id}}}}} {{#set:Plot_id={{{Plot_id}}}}}<br /> <br /> ==Events So Far==<br /> {{{Events}}}<br /> ==Other Information==<br /> {{{Info}}}<br /> ==Logs==<br /> {{TP Logs}}<br /> ==Cutscenes==<br /> {{TP Logs|Cutscenes}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:TPs]][[Category:{{{State}}}TP]][[Category:{{{Scale}}}TP]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CastPage&diff=13900 2016-12-11T10:25:22Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>==Description==<br /> {{{Desc}}}<br /> <br /> ==Cast==<br /> ===Active===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::!Dropped]] [[Category:{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=3<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Dropped===<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;font-size:9pt;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{#ask: [[Category:Characters]] [[Status::Dropped]] [[Category:{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}]]<br /> |format=ul<br /> |columns=3<br /> |template=NoDroppedDisplay<br /> |limit=500<br /> }}&lt;/div&gt;<br /> [[Category:Themelists]][[Category:{{{Cat}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:Tinyplot&diff=13899 2016-12-11T10:24:42Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 70%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}{| class=&quot;LogTable&quot; <br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Date<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Scene Summary<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{#ask:[[Log Tinyplot::{{PAGENAME}}]]<br /> |?Log Date<br /> |?Log Synopsis<br /> |format=template<br /> |template=Log List Single<br /> |sort=Log Date <br /> |order=descending<br /> |default=No logs submitted yet.<br /> }}<br /> |}[[Category:Tinyplots]]<br /> <br /> {{#set:Tinyplot Start={{#ask:[[Log Tinyplot::{{PAGENAME}}]]<br /> |?Log Date = <br /> |mainlabel=-<br /> |format=list<br /> |sort=Log Date<br /> |order=ascending<br /> |searchlabel=<br /> |limit=1<br /> |default=No logs submitted yet<br /> }}}}<br /> <br /> {{#set:Tinyplot End={{#ask:[[Log Tinyplot::{{PAGENAME}}]]<br /> |?Log Date = <br /> |mainlabel=-<br /> |format=list<br /> |sort=Log Date<br /> |order=descending<br /> |searchlabel=<br /> |limit=1<br /> |default=No logs submitted yet<br /> }}}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Schedule_View&diff=13898 2016-12-11T10:24:24Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>For an actual calendar view (which can give you full scene briefings): [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php CLICK HERE!]&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;<br /> '''SCENE TIMES APPEAR IN GMT/UTC'''. You can use [http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/cgi-bin/timer.pl THIS] page to help find yourself.<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 70%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {{#get_db_data:<br /> db=scenesys<br /> |from=scene_schedule<br /> |data=scheduleId=schedule_id,scheduleTime=schedule_date,scheduleTitle=schedule_title,scheduleDesc=schedule_desc<br /> |where=schedule_date &gt; &quot;{{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}&quot;<br /> |order by=schedule_date ASC<br /> |limit=20<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Time<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Description{{#for_external_table:&lt;nowiki/&gt;<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php?id={{{scheduleId}}} {{{scheduleTitle}}}] <br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleTime}}}<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleDesc}}}<br /> }}<br /> |}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:Character_Logs&diff=13896 2016-12-11T10:19:21Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;includeonly&gt;<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed; border-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tbody {border-radius:5px;};<br /> .LogTable:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(1) {width: 20rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(2) {width: 15rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(3) {border-top-right-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n+1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.4)}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogTable td {vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .logTable tr:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-bottom-left-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(odd) {word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 35%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 65%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Date<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Scene Summary<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{#ask:[[Category:{{{1|Roleplay Logs}}}]] [[Log Characters::{{{2|{{#var:charid}}}}}]]<br /> |?Log Date<br /> |?Log Synopsis<br /> |format=template<br /> |template=Log List Single<br /> |limit=99999<br /> |sort=Log Date <br /> |order=descending<br /> |link=none<br /> |default={{!}} colspan=3 {{!}} No logs submitted yet.<br /> }}<br /> |}&lt;/includeonly&gt;&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> To include character logs:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{Character Logs}}&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> <br /> For Cutscenes:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> <br /> For a specific character:<br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{Character Logs||Char_id}}<br /> {{Character Logs|Cutscenes|Char_id}}&lt;/pre&gt;<br /> &lt;/noinclude&gt;</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:CharacterNew&diff=13894 2016-12-11T10:18:28Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Status:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[Status::{{{Active|Active}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> {{{Profile}}}<br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;POWERS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{{Powers}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Skills===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;SKILLS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{{Skills}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===Assets===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;ASSETS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{{Assets}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ===NPCs===<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;NPCS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{{NPCs}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;DISADVANTAGES, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;<br /> {{{Disadvantages}}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Logs==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;LOGS, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{Character Logs}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> ==Cutscenes==<br /> &lt;div class=&quot;wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed&quot; style=&quot;background-color:{{{Color|#0099FF}}};&quot;&gt;CUTSCENES, CLICK TO EXPAND&lt;div class=&quot;mw-collapsible-content&quot; style=&quot;background-color:#FFFFFF;&quot;&gt;{{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]] [[Category:{{{Chartype}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:Log_Header&diff=13893 2016-12-11T10:17:25Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> This is the &quot;RP Log Template&quot; template. It should be called in the following format: <br /> &lt;pre&gt;{{Log Dossier<br /> | Synopsis = What was the scene about? <br /> | Tinyplot = In the case there is a Tinyplot page you wish to associate with this log.<br /> | Tinyplot2 = If there's a second TP the scene was part of.<br /> | Cast of Characters = Characters who were in the scene, seperated by commas.<br /> | Thanks = In case you wish to thank People who NPCed... etc - Optional<br /> | Location = Where did it ICly take place?<br /> | Date of Scene = When did this OOCly take place?<br /> | pretty = If you have your log formatted according to the guidelines, use 'yes' to get it to look 'pretty' <br /> }} <br /> &lt;/pre&gt; <br /> <br /> Edit the page to see the template text. <br /> &lt;/noinclude&gt;&lt;includeonly&gt; {{#css:<br /> .LogHeader { width:60%; border-radius:5px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;}<br /> .LogTitle {text-align:center; font-size:medium; color: white; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px black; border-radius: 5px 5px 0px 0px; background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow {text-align:left;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell {padding:0px 0px 0px 4px; vertical-align:top;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(1) {Width:140px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(2) {font-weight:normal;}<br /> .LastCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LastCell:nth-child(2) {border-radius: 0px 0px 5px 0px}<br /> }}{{#css:<br /> {<br /> /* white-space: pre; */<br /> font-family: Fixed, monospace;<br /> font-size: 10pt;<br /> color: #BBBBBB;<br /> background-color: inherit;<br /> }<br /> <br /> .flash { text-decoration:blink; }<br /> .underline {text-decoration:underline; }<br /> <br /> .bg_x { background-color: #000000; }<br /> .bg_r { background-color: #CC0000; }<br /> .bg_g { background-color: #00CC00; }<br /> .bg_y { background-color: #CCCC00; }<br /> .bg_b { background-color: #0000CC; }<br /> .bg_m { background-color: #CC00CC; }<br /> .bg_c { background-color: #00CCCC; }<br /> .bg_w { background-color: #FFFFFF; }<br /> .bg_n { ; }<br /> <br /> bold_bg_n { color: #CCCCCC; font-weight: normal; }<br /> <br /> .fg_x { color: #000000; }<br /> .fg_r { color: #990000; }<br /> .fg_g { color: #009900; }<br /> .fg_y { color: #999900; }<br /> .fg_b { color: #000099; }<br /> .fg_m { color: #990099; }<br /> .fg_c { color: #009999; }<br /> .fg_w { color: #FFFFFF; }<br /> .fg_n { color: inherit; }<br /> <br /> .bold_fg_x { color: #999999; }<br /> .bold_fg_r { color: #FF0000; }<br /> .bold_fg_g { color: #00FF00; }<br /> .bold_fg_y { color: #FFFF00; }<br /> .bold_fg_b { color: #0000FF; }<br /> .bold_fg_m { color: #FF00FF; }<br /> .bold_fg_c { color: #00FFFF; }<br /> .bold_fg_w { color: #CCCCCC; }<br /> .bold_fg_n { color: #CCCCCC; }<br /> <br /> /* 256 Color Base */<br /> .fg_0 { color: #000000; }<br /> .fg_1 { color: #800000; }<br /> .fg_2 { color: #008000; }<br /> .fg_3 { color: #808000; }<br /> .fg_4 { color: #000080; }<br /> .fg_5 { color: #800080; }<br /> .fg_6 { color: #008080; }<br /> .fg_7 { color: #c0c0c0; }<br /> .fg_8 { color: #808080; }<br /> .fg_9 { color: #ff0000; }<br /> .fg_10 { color: #00ff00; }<br /> .fg_11 { color: #ffff00; }<br /> .fg_12 { color: #0000ff; }<br /> .fg_13 { color: #ff00ff; }<br /> .fg_14 { color: #00ffff; }<br /> .fg_15 { color: #ffffff; }<br /> .fg_16 { color: #000000; }<br /> .fg_17 { color: #00005f; }<br /> .fg_18 { color: #000087; }<br /> .fg_19 { color: #0000af; }<br /> .fg_20 { color: #0000d7; }<br /> .fg_21 { color: #0000ff; }<br /> .fg_22 { color: #005f00; }<br /> .fg_23 { color: #005f5f; }<br /> .fg_24 { color: #005f87; }<br /> .fg_25 { color: #005faf; }<br /> .fg_26 { color: #005fd7; }<br /> .fg_27 { color: #005fff; }<br /> .fg_28 { color: #008700; }<br /> .fg_29 { color: #00875f; }<br /> .fg_30 { color: #008787; }<br /> .fg_31 { color: #0087af; }<br /> .fg_32 { color: #0087d7; }<br /> .fg_33 { color: #0087ff; }<br /> .fg_34 { color: #00af00; }<br /> .fg_35 { color: #00af5f; }<br /> .fg_36 { color: #00af87; }<br /> .fg_37 { color: #00afaf; }<br /> .fg_38 { color: #00afd7; }<br /> .fg_39 { color: #00afff; }<br /> .fg_40 { color: #00d700; }<br /> .fg_41 { color: #00d75f; }<br /> .fg_42 { color: #00d787; }<br /> .fg_43 { color: #00d7af; }<br /> .fg_44 { color: #00d7d7; }<br /> .fg_45 { color: #00d7ff; }<br /> .fg_46 { color: #00ff00; }<br /> .fg_47 { color: #00ff5f; }<br /> .fg_48 { color: #00ff87; }<br /> .fg_49 { color: #00ffaf; }<br /> .fg_50 { color: #00ffd7; }<br /> .fg_51 { color: #00ffff; }<br /> .fg_52 { color: #5f0000; }<br /> .fg_53 { color: #5f005f; }<br /> .fg_54 { color: #5f0087; }<br /> .fg_55 { color: #5f00af; }<br /> .fg_56 { color: #5f00d7; }<br /> .fg_57 { color: #5f00ff; }<br /> .fg_58 { color: #5f5f00; }<br /> .fg_59 { color: #5f5f5f; }<br /> .fg_60 { color: #5f5f87; }<br /> .fg_61 { color: #5f5faf; }<br /> .fg_62 { color: #5f5fd7; }<br /> .fg_63 { color: #5f5fff; }<br /> .fg_64 { color: #5f8700; }<br /> .fg_65 { color: #5f875f; }<br /> .fg_66 { color: #5f8787; }<br /> .fg_67 { color: #5f87af; }<br /> .fg_68 { color: #5f87d7; }<br /> .fg_69 { color: #5f87ff; }<br /> .fg_70 { color: #5faf00; }<br /> .fg_71 { color: #5faf5f; }<br /> .fg_72 { color: #5faf87; }<br /> .fg_73 { color: #5fafaf; }<br /> .fg_74 { color: #5fafd7; }<br /> .fg_75 { color: #5fafff; }<br /> .fg_76 { color: #5fd700; }<br /> .fg_77 { color: #5fd75f; }<br /> .fg_78 { color: #5fd787; }<br /> .fg_79 { color: #5fd7af; }<br /> .fg_80 { color: #5fd7d7; }<br /> .fg_81 { color: #5fd7ff; }<br /> .fg_82 { color: #5fff00; }<br /> .fg_83 { color: #5fff5f; }<br /> .fg_84 { color: #5fff87; }<br /> .fg_85 { color: #5fffaf; }<br /> .fg_86 { color: #5fffd7; }<br /> .fg_87 { color: #5fffff; }<br /> .fg_88 { color: #870000; }<br /> .fg_89 { color: #87005f; }<br /> .fg_90 { color: #870087; }<br /> .fg_91 { color: #8700af; }<br /> .fg_92 { color: #8700d7; }<br /> .fg_93 { color: #8700ff; }<br /> .fg_94 { color: #875f00; }<br /> .fg_95 { color: #875f5f; }<br /> .fg_96 { color: #875f87; }<br /> .fg_97 { color: #875faf; }<br /> .fg_98 { color: #875fd7; }<br /> .fg_99 { color: #875fff; }<br /> .fg_100 { color: #878700; }<br /> .fg_101 { color: #87875f; }<br /> .fg_102 { color: #878787; }<br /> .fg_103 { color: #8787af; }<br /> .fg_104 { color: #8787d7; }<br /> .fg_105 { color: #8787ff; }<br /> .fg_106 { color: #87af00; }<br /> .fg_107 { color: #87af5f; }<br /> .fg_108 { color: #87af87; }<br /> .fg_109 { color: #87afaf; }<br /> .fg_110 { color: #87afd7; }<br /> .fg_111 { color: #87afff; }<br /> .fg_112 { color: #87d700; }<br /> .fg_113 { color: #87d75f; }<br /> .fg_114 { color: #87d787; }<br /> .fg_115 { color: #87d7af; }<br /> .fg_116 { color: #87d7d7; }<br /> .fg_117 { color: #87d7ff; }<br /> .fg_118 { color: #87ff00; }<br /> .fg_119 { color: #87ff5f; }<br /> .fg_120 { color: #87ff87; }<br /> .fg_121 { color: #87ffaf; }<br /> .fg_122 { color: #87ffd7; }<br /> .fg_123 { color: #87ffff; }<br /> .fg_124 { color: #af0000; }<br /> .fg_125 { color: #af005f; }<br /> .fg_126 { color: #af0087; }<br /> .fg_127 { color: #af00af; }<br /> .fg_128 { color: #af00d7; 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Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=4815/CC-SJ-2_Imperial_March&diff=13823 2016-11-27T05:51:52Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2016/11/26<br /> |Location=Core Tellus &lt;CT&gt;<br /> |Synopsis=Testing<br /> |Cast of Characters=934, 1077, 1010, 385, 1065, 894, 1007<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This part of the multiverse is typically pretty quiet. The people of The Frontier are a hardy, robust lot, and while they tend to complain (loudly, to whoever might be around to listen), they rarely need any help to solve their problems. That's not the case today, and it's easy to see why.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The signal leads to a town along the northern edge of the great western desert, far enough from its arid center for the landscape to be occupied more by steppe, mesa and scrubland than sand dunes. There's a town here, set up underneath what appears to be a huge stone henge-- or possibly part of what was once an immense highway. But right now, it looks more like a ramshackle fortress than a village. Makeshift wooden walls reinforced with plates of exotic materials have been set up around the periphery of the settlement. Gunnery emplacements squat atop the bit of barely intact highway, which has been buttressed by elbow grease and scavenged steel.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;They needed to prepare.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A formation of armored infantry marches on the settlement from the west. But they're not the bit that should worry anyone. The chances that they'd break into even a fortress- even a ramshackle one- against a force of Frontiersmen all the way out here is vanishingly slim. No, it's the fact that that little squad is surrounded by a veritable battalion of what look like minotaurs with beam weaponry mounted to their arms is what should worry.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It looks, for a moment, as though they're about to start firing.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;And then one of the soldiers steps out of the horde.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Ahem. Ahem! If I could have your attention!&quot; The armored man yells, &quot;People of the frontier town of...&quot; He squints, &quot;...Barter...town. Bartertown. Attention people of the frontier town of Bartertown. We come as agents of the Iskandrian Senate and the Imperatrix to extend our invitation into the empire. Your town has been selected above your peers to serve as seat for the empire's new province. Lay down your arms and surrender peacefully, and we shall extend our protection to your settlement. Resist, and we will have no choice but to take your land by--&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Something goes splat.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;It's... It's a rotten tomato.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We don't want your damn protection!&quot; Someone yells from atop the highway. &quot;We've been handling things just fine out here without you namby-pamby westerners.&quot; The soldier's brow twitches. He wipes his helmet clean. &quot;I come in the name of the Imperatrix! Have some respect--&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Imperatrix?&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;What's that?&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;We didn't vote for no namby-pamby imperatrix!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;The soldier sighs, stepping back into formation, &quot;Very well, if that's the way you want it.&quot; He raises a hand, then gestures ahead, &quot;Forces, march!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;...It looks like things are about to get pretty bloody.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm&quot;&gt;Esp inum lemure cara san.&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As a hidden voice calls out, whisps of orange light begin to flit in the area from all around. They float through their air effortlessly, some passing through rock and people alike until they settle in a wide group in front of the approaching army.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm&quot;&gt;Rek.&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The floating lights all dive into the ground and suddenly a wall of fire erupts. The barrier of flames burns between the army and the makeshift town behind for several moments before the center parts. Through the opening walks a young man wearing fairly casual clothes, his long muffler blowing in the wind. His head is bowed, silver-grey hair covering his eyes as he reaches up to grip the hilt of the large sword on his back. As the flames close up behind him, he calls out to the man who appears to be the leader of this formation, &quot;These people have declined your offer of protection. I suggest you leave now in peace, there are surely more important targets you could direct your army towards. It would be a waste to lose them here.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1010|Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;ROBOTS&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reinhardt is getting some slight flashbacks to the Omnic war back in the day, when he was young and Overwatch was still around. It isn't, but that doesn't mean the old man can't do some good regardless. When he hears the pleas for help, the aging knight is quick to join the fray.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A conspicuous pile of scrap rumbles besides the advancing forces, and suddenly an explosion of sheer German machismo is upon them.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;ACHJAAAAAAAA!!&quot; He bellows, his hammer swinging wide to send as many of the invaders flying as possible. &quot;YOUR PRESENCE IS UNNEEDED HERE, LEAVE NOW!&quot; His voice echoes through his armor's speakers. It's a rather stern warning.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;When Yuna initially heard the distress signal, she wasn't entirely sure that she'd heard it correctly - but she had Elner plot a course for the signal's source nonetheless, and reviewed the signal along the way, as well as conferring with Elner about how best to deal with it. She doesn't really want to fight an army, robot or otherwise, but she can't ignore the people who are about to be swarmed over, whether they get slaughtered in the process or simply annexed by a government they don't want to be any part of.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;So when Yuna finally draws attention to her approach, she does so in a relatively simple manner: a big, bright bolt from the Matrix Divider, blasting a hole in the roadway ahead of the imperial army's vanguard. &quot;COMPANY, HALT!!&quot; Yuna calls out in as authoritative a voice as she can manage, soaring in to hover in the army's path, her weapon at the ready just in case she needs to do more than fire a warning shot.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At least she's not the only person coming to the town's defense; Gabriel's wall of fire forces Yuna to remain higher in the air than she'd planned to, but she's grateful for the support nonetheless. And as if to underscore that thought, Yuna doesn't remain alone in the air for long: Jiina and Marina descend to flank her, holding their respective weapons but aiming away from the Iskandrian forces, while Elner hovers next to Yuna's shoulder and just a bit behind her.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;I don't know who in your government decided it was all right to swoop in and annex Bartertown without any forewarning,&quot; Yuna calls out, &quot;but this town doesn't want to be annexed, or conquered, or any subjugated in any manner. I strongly suggest that you all head back into your own nation's territory, before --&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Before Reinhardt, apparently; the power-armored knight doesn't give Yuna time to finish whatever she was going to say. But the blonde girl doesn't seem too upset about the interruption .... maybe she recognizes that it's robots that are getting beaten up?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1065|Devon-7 (1065)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Let it never be said the life of a Guardian is ever boring. One moment, Devon-7 was cruising through space, slurping on something fizzy and watching the latest Crucible plays.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Ah damn, I'm down fifty Glimmer.&quot; He grumps glumly watching one Guardian put another down with a well placed headshot. Sigh. That's when the distress signal comes in.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Devon? Hey Devon, y'better take a look at this.&quot; Oakley chimes, the floating little construct bobbing in the air for his attention, turning his head from the carnage. &quot;We're close by, wanna take a look?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Huh... Yeah let's mosey.&quot; He decides before pausing, the ship's systems relaying data and info from the site below. Something about an Imperatrix. &quot;Huh... Bartertown? So who runs it?&quot; He muses. &quot;NOT some Imperawhatsis that's for sure.&quot; Oakley replies.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;All it takes is a moment for his jumpship to reach prime orbital position for a Transmat drop. There's a shimmer... And the ship is empty. Another shimmer on the ground and he lands atop the wrecked segment of highway, duster coat fluttering in the wind only for a moment before he vanishes. Lucky few may catch glimpse of what looks like a space-armored cowboy. Before he just vanishes from sight, the light rippling around where he used to be almost imperceptibly.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A lot of things happen in a very short period of time. Things that make even the great mechanical legion pause. A wall of fire erupts in the space between the advancing forces and the ramshackle walls of bartertown. Shortly thereafter, a bolt of golden light lances down in front of /that./ Heroes appear as if out of the aether, dropping in from high orbit or screaming through the air.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But perhaps most pressingly for the robotic armies, there is a very angry German man taking a hammer to some very unfortunate robots.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Look at those walls! Those buildings! We bring the promise of safety to these people- we could bring medicine and food, and all we need is their allegiance. The Imperatrix has made her decree-&quot; That same soldier- likely an officer- yells. Though whether that's in response to Yuna or to Reinhardt or to rally his troops or for some other reason isn't quite clear. &quot;Advance,&quot; he yells, &quot;-All weapons hot!&quot; The sound of energy weapons charging is unmistakable and universal across all worlds. And just like that, the world is suddenly a terrible storm of red energy. Each of those robots is equipped with not one, but two autocannons, and each one is spitting blood-red bolts at the defenders.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The ones engaged with Reinhardt are... Well, he's been fighting robots for a while, and his hammer is VERY large. Many crumble and shatter, but the ones behind charge forward with heavy, black axes, trying to lock shafts with the ancient German, and then SHOOT HIM IN THE FACE. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Robots are cheaters.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Curiously, the people in the town seem to have... Gone quiet? Or rather, their guns are quiet. &quot;Who the heck called in the cavalry?&quot; One of them mutters. &quot;I'unno,&quot; another replies, &quot;No skin off our back.&quot; It looks like they're... saving ammo?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Well, it's not like they have too many supplies out here.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr&quot;&gt;MEANWHILE&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Somewhere in Bartertown, a head pokes out from behind what looks like a hay bale. &quot;Psst, August,&quot; someone in a hat whispers. &quot;Do... Do you think they got the message?&quot; Oh. It's Will! &quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc&quot;&gt;Signal was successfully broadcasted&lt;/span&gt;&quot; Another, hollower voice calls, &quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc&quot;&gt;Also the front of town appears to be on fire.&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Shush, you,&quot; Will mutters. &quot;Why d'we always run into crap like this when we're in the middle of a trip?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1010|Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reinhardt may be ancient, but he's a monster in close-combat, like right now. He's not so sloppy as to let the robots get too close, his hammer swinging once more to take out as many of the advancing robots down as possible.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Assuming he doesn't get a full swing, he uses his boosters to crash right into the horde of 'bots, bringing his helmet down on the unfortunate robot closest to him in a headbutt. &quot;RRRRRRR!!!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He may not be too nimble in the armor, but he still attempts a kick to give himself some space and catch his breath.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&quot;SHUGOSEIHEKI!!&quot; Yuna shouts (well, practically yelps) as soon as she hears the Iskandrian 'weapons hot' order; her kite shield, the 'Wall of the Guardian Star' as she named it, flares into existence on her left arm JUST in the nick of time, and Yuna pulls most of her petite body behind the shield's cover just before the energy bolts start flying.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But even WITH her shield taking most of the punishment, she can't just hove there and tank it. Even if she were in Powered Form, the heaviest mode available to Yuna normally, she wouldn't be able to just hunker down and wait it out; the Light Suit's defensive reserves have limits, and she's in *Flight* Form - arguably her *least* durable mode, which puts a premium on dodging. And the robotic soldiers aren't going to give her time to switch out.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;There's sort of another option, though, and it's Elner who executes it first: the little robo-faerie simply flies over the wall and down into the relative safety of Bartertown, with Jiina and Marina following suit in a hurry. Yuna glances over her shoulder briefly, then flits back and down to rejoin her allies, the protective aura of her battlesuit crackling a little longer before stabilizing back to its normal, virtually-invisible glow. &quot;They really aren't going to give us a peaceful option, are they ...&quot; sighs Yuna, hoping her heartbeat settles back down to a normal speed quickly enough to let her think, and rejoin the fray while there's still a good chance to protect Barterdown from Iskandrian conquest.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;*Maybe* she could outfly the massed firepower out there, but her confidence in that is .... really, really low. That only leaves one or two other options, and she needs the cover she's currently got if she's going to enact either of those.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Travelling with William Pauwel: a terrible mistake, one redheaded German has learned. Every single time it ends in chaos. August Kohler glances over the haybale, his nine-gallon hat poking upwards before he dives back down. &quot;I'm pretty sure you're some kind of bad luck magnet. One of these days, you're going to get us killed, Pauwel.&quot; And then, Judgment makes a report. August just sighs, gets up, and looks for the closest roof to climb up to. &quot;I'll be right back! Somebody stole my schtick.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Once on the roof, August taps into local radio. &quot;&amp;lt;&amp;lt; Hey, who here isn't a terrible dictator? You get a buff. &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&quot; A glance down at one of his buttons, as he tears it off and tosses it into the air, staring straight into the reflective surface.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;PERSONA!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Suddenly, the burn-scarred robot soldier with a gun for a leg rises in a crackle of blue energy, before aiming its gun at all friendlys. And it fires, but nothing comes out except a wave of energy. Reinhardt, Yuna, Gabriel, and Devon feel stronger; their attacks will do far more damage than they did before!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If Gabriel is grateful for the assistance of those others coming to the town's aid, he doesn't show it. Now's not the time, after all. Instead he lifts his head, his golden eyes staring down the officer, &quot;You've made your choice then. Live with it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As the army is instructed to prepare their weapons, Gabriel draws his sword and says, &quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm&quot;&gt;San lista traven una.&lt;/span&gt;&quot; Gabriel begins to walk forward, additional wisps of light flocking to him from out of nowhere. They group up around Gabriel, merging together into a set of phantasmal armor that covers most of his body.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel's pace goes from a walk to a run as the army opens fire with its energy weapons. It's the first time he's ever faced such weapons, but he likens them to some spells he's encoutered so doesn't back down. Instead he charges the firing army rather recklessly, many of the shots going wide as he runs. Those better aimed splash against the armor of light.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As Gabriel quickly reaches the front line of the formation he feels the power of August's buff rush over him. He unleashes a battle cry and begins to lash out with his blade, darting quickly from one robot to the next. He uses the close quarters to make aiming their weapons more difficult while he quickly brings his sword down on limbs and slicing towards torsos.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1065|Devon-7 (1065)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Dropping in from orbit? Who? Where? Who could have done that?&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Certainly not Deovn-7. He's not even here. The Guardian is nowhere in sight.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But the ripple of motion of something deadly and predatory up above is there. Light bending all around it, little more than a flutter of motion, readying something long-barrelled and deadly.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Well ain't this a right party.&quot; Devon chuckles to himself, Oakley twittering affirmatively where she takes her place hiding in the recesses of his coat as the guardian sights through the scope of his sniper rifle. For a moment he just surveys. The town below, the invading legion of machines, the soldiers, Reinhardt plowing through them and mauling everything in sight. The Hunter whistles under his breath, the clawed fingertips of his gauntlets drumming impatiently on the grip of the gun. He hangs back. He does not join the fray. He lines up a shot.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_x bg_n ++ hx&quot;&gt;. o O (There. ... Oh bearer mine. That one. He is the head, is he not?)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The Hunter tenses, gauntlet-clad hand going stiff as he hears the murky whispering giggle at the back of his mind, hands seemingly guiding themselves to sight the rifle on the soldier that had made the initial offer to the town. The man who gave the order to advance. He feels the sudden flow of empowering energy and influx of unbridled strength.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_x bg_n ++ hx&quot;&gt;. o O (Do it. ... Oh bearer mine.)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He considers only a beat longer.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Aydios compadre.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Devon-7 squeezes the trigger.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The report of his rifle is a loud and murderous crack, causing his camouflage to ripple dangerously. It's why he's already moving to another position while he's much more visible in the instant it goes off.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As the planet of Tellus has proven time and time again, just because something's old doesn't mean it's not going to kick your ass. Though, paradoxically, Reinhardt is actually much, MUCH younger than the robots he's presently smashing into so many tiny bits. But it's more than just the fact that he's pulverizing machines that might conjure memories. It's their sheer /numbers./&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;He smashes one, only for another to take its place. There are hundreds here. Hundreds, for one small town.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Somewhere else on the battlefield, a sorcerer tries his luck. Bolts of energy smash into the robotic legion and... seem to disperse, draining away into the jet black plate of their armor. That doesn't necessarily help them once he gets into melee, but Gabriel might find that these machines aren't nearly as fragile as he might assume. Fortunately, August's buff seems to pay dividends. His sword cleaves through one, then another, but a third responds with a massive axe-- but there are so many of these things.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Forward, forward!&quot; The officer roars, &quot;There are only two of them out here! Press foward, they can't stop us all!&quot; And indeed, the robotic legion IS advancing, taking advantage of the wide open space around Bartertown to just sort of flood over the defenders. Energy bolts smash into wooden walls and explode into cinder and fire. &quot;Go, go, G--&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_x bg_n ++ hx&quot;&gt;BANG&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr&quot;&gt;-splut-&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The officer collapses, his brain leaking out of a hole in his skull. Behind him, another man grimaces, wiping the gore off his chest, before promptly... Reaching down and seizing the fallen man's helmet. &quot;Keep going!&quot; He roars, &quot;These bastards killed the commander. Lieutenant Secundus, taking command. Now keep going!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Well. They've certainly got discipline, if nothing else.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr&quot;&gt;MEANWHILE&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Damnit Kohler, it's not that bad here!&quot; Will yells after his BEST BUDDY and travelling partner. &quot;We just keep running into AWFUL THINGS!&quot; And it's true! Usually the threats are pretty tame. Like cave snakes and prairie sharks. But that's not exactly what's at play here. He sighs, rubbing at his face as he goes after August, only to find...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;A Yuna.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;M-miss Kagurazaka?&quot; Will grins, rushing over to the glowing girl. &quot;I'm glad y'all got my message! We're in a bit of a pickle here, as y'all can see. Uh... Are y'all okay?&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_b bg_n ++ hb&quot;&gt;Somewhere High Above&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Devon's spacecraft hovers peacefully in high orbit, delicately dodging the passing ruins of some satellite or a wayward space-pen. It's trainquil up here. Nothing but void, and a big, glowing blue marble.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;...And then /something/ swerves nearby. An enormous shadow sweeps across the jumpship's starboard side. A set of bright, white eyes stare at the vessel... Before the shadow, set against the glow of the distant sun, turns away and dips into atmosphere-- towards the Frontier far blow.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Incoming.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;So, it looks like these guys are more focused on the settlers than the guys they're fighting. And therefore, the Fauxmans are trying to march into the settlement! So, there's only one solution.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Set everything on fire.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Specifically, August leaps forward, making a very clumsy jump from his rooftop to a ladder leading to the upper frontier walls. Once he's at the top, the Tin Soldier looms in the air over him, as he shouts to the enemy. &quot;Hey, you bastards, I'd make some sort of cheesy punchline, but just burn in hell.&quot; And then, the Tin Soldier mimes a roar, as that leggun is pointed forward, fire blasting all in front of the settlement entrance. A massive wall of fire is conjured. If they want to get through it...they'll have to burn.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel finishes slicing through one of the robots, turning to his next target... Only to see it swinging a massive axe towards him. Gabriel quickly brings his own blade up to block, but it's only a small help. The Spirit Knight is smashed through the air by the heavy swing, bouncing across the ground a couple of times before coming to a stop.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel groans quietly as he gets up to one knee. He looks around at the large force of robots... They're only putting a dent in the numbers. He needs something a bit more intimidating. Gabriel plunges his sword into the ground and chants:&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm&quot;&gt;Kell seni taram est forun pess gaim.&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The hard desert ground in front of Gabriel begins to crack and rise up as large boulders, connected by swirling patterns of light. As more of the various sized chunks rise the thing begins to take shape. A torso, arms, legs, head. The Earth Spirit finishes climbing out of the hole created by its awakening and stands tall above the robots around it.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As the large spirit reaches back with one of the large boulders making up its fist, Gabriel jumps up onto it from behind. He uses it as a launching platform to send himself spinning towards the robots with a cry, his blade once more slashing out at them. Meanwhile the Earth Spirit finishes its swing towards a group of them, its boulder fist shaking the ground around it when it hits.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1065|Devon-7 (1065)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The commander falls. Devon watches for a long, silent, moment as the leader is reduced to a bloodied corpse, collapses, and is then replaced by his second. It shows that taking off the head does not always work. Another simply regrows. Or in this case, it shows a force that is not faltered by the loss of a commanding officer, when another man with the right initiative takes his place. The Hunter makes a sound like clicking teeth, from within his helment. That is some good discipline, though, he has to give credit where it's due.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He takes up a new position now, dropping to a knee and sighting through his sniper rifle again, cloaking systems stabilizing and rendering him a glassy shadow once again. But.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;... What the hay... Devon. Devon you oughta take a look at these readings from the ship.&quot; Oakley says, muffled by the Guardian's coat, and feeds him the data. That stays his hand.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;What the hell... Oakley open a comm to everyone friendly-like.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Done.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Bwip.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;Hey so somethin's inbound from orbit. Thought y'all oughta know.&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Let it not be said a Hunter never keeps his allies appraised. He's lining up another shot, beginning to open fire, precision shots at joints and vital looking parts on a robot here or there.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1010|Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;SMASH! Reinhardt knows how to deal with numbers, and he attempts to scatter the enemy forces. His hammer's thrusters blast as he strikes with added force and speed. &quot;RRRRAGH!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The attack buffs from August are a welcome boon, and he presses the assault before hearing the mention of something in orbit, and it's not Devon's ship either. What the hell could -that- mean?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;The power-up from August's Persona suffuses Yuna's armored figure, and she gives the German student a quick thumbs-up in thanks while trying to figure out what her best options are. They really boil down to two possibilities.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Option 1: Switch to Powered Form, leap over the bulwarks and take the fight back to the army.&lt;br&gt;Pros: Relatively proportional response, and she'd have the firepower and armor to deal with the soldierbots.&lt;br&gt;Cons: It would still be a slugging match and, more likely than not, a battle of attrition.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Option 2: Summon El-Line and try to intimidate the army into backing off.&lt;br&gt;Pros: El-Line *is* kind of a siegebreaker-class machine, and the sheer display of it MIGHT be enough to make the Iskandrians back off ...&lt;br&gt;Cons: .... assuming they didn't just decide 'nice robot you've got there, think we'll take it' and start trying to capture it for themselves.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Not that they'd really be *able* to capture El-Line intact; Yuna could dismiss the Matrix Figure again just as quickly in a pinch, and it's not like the Iskandrians are going to be able to find their own Savior of Light to summon or pilot El-Line for them - or so Yuna hopes. For now, the report of something coming in from orbit is enough to push her to make a decision, and hope it's the right one.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;For now, Yuna switches from Flight Form to Powered Form; Erina joins Marina in trying to assist the Bartertown citizens within their walls - providing cover fire over the wall, that kind of thing - while Yuna executes a hoverthruster-boosted leap over the wall and dives back into the fray. Shugoseiheki has been relocated to the left exo-arm, leaving the right arm and its manipulator free while Yuna's own hands hold the Matrix Divider ready.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;What follows is a lot of blunt-force melee - punching, shield-bashing, and melee attacks with the Matrix Divider; she's not so much trying to 'kill' the robotic soldiers as just try to disable as many of them as she can, as quickly as possible. There are familiar details starting to nag at her memory, too ... she's been on this world before.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Maybe not in this part of it ... but not sufficiently far away for comfort.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1007|Genji Shimada (1007)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Near the back of the Imperial forces, there is an explosion. Followed by another, in a different location. A few more follow - each in a different spot. A man suddenly keels over, a shuriken sticking out of just the tiniest exposed vital point, thrown with pinpoint accuracy.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;With all the heavy firepower from the front, the enemy forces have not had any reason to watch their backs. And so the fox is among the chickens.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Swiftly and silently, a cybernetic shadow moves among the mechanized and human strike force. From one to the next, striking wherever he can find a vital spot that his throwing weapons or shortblade can reach. But he's not without aim; no, there are two purposes to the shinobi's seemingly chaotic assault. One is exactly that, though - chaos. To have them alarmed, unsure of their own surroundings, uncertain where the next attack will come from. To throw them into disarray. The other, is to slowly work his way inward. Dropping low, darting between and under and around enemy forces to slowly make his way towards the newly 'promoted' enemy commander.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And to THAT end, he transmits locally; not speaking aloud, but rather, over open radio, so that his voice doesn't come from any one location.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Having weapons does not make one right. It only forces others to act as if you are. How would you feel, Secundus, if /you/ were the one being told to obey or die? Shall I come for you right now?&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Genji is here.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There are many, many machines on the battlefield. But they aren't exactly elites, not on their own. Even so, as long as they can just overwhelm the defensive line, they can seize the town. Seize the objective. But it's not a job that's being made easy for them.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reinhardt, one of the great Crusaders of the Omnic Crisis, smashes into the robotic line with his tremendous, rocket-powered hammer. Metal and metamaterial shatters and splinters before his wrath. Apparently, while they are quite effective at absorbing thermal energy, plain old kinetic force still does wonders for dismembering these things. He carves out a killing field, building a veritable hill of broken machines that their compatriots are forced to climb over to progress.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's not alone. Gabriel reaches into the earth itself and calls its spirit to action. Now, Tellus doesn't really /have/ that sort of thing, necessarily. But something... Something DOES respond. An ancient intelligence answers his call and stirs into motion. The golem draws itself out of the ground and lays into the robotic army. Behind it, a second wall of fire rises to join the first. A formidable defense- a giant of earth and stone and a wall of flame. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Of course, the machines don't seem TOO perturbed by fire, except that it seems to throw off their aim somewhat. Instead, they focus on the big target, firing their red bolts enmasse into the construct. They don't seem to notice (or mind) too much as they start being picked off by the addition of a sniper and the return of a Savior of Light.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Devon and Yuna tear into the legion, completing the defensive bulwark set up in front of Bartertown. Cover-fire from Erina and Marina join in as Yuna starts smashing machines alongside the golem and the crusader.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At first, it seems that the action is all directed to the front, but that's... Not at all the case.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Advance! Keep pressing forward!&quot; Secundus bellows, though even he has to admit that this is... kind of ridiculous. Who the blazes brought /these/ monsters here? He grunts, levelling something between a lance and a beam rifle to fire off a few shots of his own-- before something explodes BEHIND him. And someone collapses, with a blade in his throat. &quot;Damnit,&quot; Secundus growls, &quot;PHALANX!&quot; His troops, the meaty, fleshy ones, fold back into a tight formation of man and steel. Enormous shields are leveraged outwards, forming a bristling shell of wall and gun-spear. &quot;I don't know who you people are, but obeying is what I do. The only safety in this place is in unity. None will stand in the way of that dream!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;There's a sound.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's a low rippling through the air, like the roar of distant thunder. A sudden rush of force that pummels the ground. Something streaks across the sky-- a shooting star, but... But it's not falling apart. Energy ripples beneath the halo of flame, diverting air away as the figure descends.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Elner would likely detect it first, but only because he's staring into the sky. It looks as though there's just a single power source up there-- at first. But as it descends, it's obvious that there are two. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;One is attached to an enormous signature, a thing larger than even a Guardian's dropship. At first glance, it strikes a vaguely draconic shape, with enormous wings and a long, serpentine neck. But then it draws closer, and it's obvious that its body is covered in stark, white armor. Its wings and joints are layered in blue, and its head is encased in a metallic mask, with massive, regularly shaped 'teeth' for a mouth.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The other figure is... Smaller. As white as the thing it's riding, the second figure is perched atop the first. It grips an enormous lance in one hand and a shield in the other. Paradoxically, the latter is... emitting more power than the former. Its shield seems to lens close, the field of energy disperses in a flash of light and heat.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It leverages its weapon at the battlefield. The second figure's lance splits open down the center, and erupts with a blinding ray of blue-white energy. The beam lances across the formation of machines, filling the air with the scent of ozone as what must be a plasma beam cleaves cleanly through a number of the robots.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;You've all made a terrible mistake,&quot; a voice bellows from the pair. &quot;This conflict,&quot; the thing in the sky yells. &quot;Does nothing but shed needless blood, waste valuable resources.&quot; The second figure hoists its weapon again, unleashing a second raking beam, &quot;We do NOT approve!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Oh, so those are what was coming in from orbit, thinks Yuna as she sees the robotic(?) dragon and its ... rider? Yuna does her best to steer away from where the new arrivals seem to be aiming -&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;But more than the firepower they're suddenly displaying, it's the words which simultaneously chill Yuna's heart and give her some semblance of hope.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She immediately calls out on the radio for her allies to break out of combat - and she's suiting actions to words, dismissing her weapons and trying to simply barrel *out* of the battlefield post-haste, hoverthrusters boosting her into another jump. She's not even trying to get back into the Bartertown borders; she's just trying to get *OUT* of the fighting, and hope that the new arrivals - possibly the Iron Angels which Will mentioned local rumors about - will take her termination of combat operations as a good sign.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Of course, if the newest arrivals who are plainly about to curbstomp the Iskandrians *don't* realize that she heard, and understood, their ultimatum ... well. She'd probably need to be in El-Line to withstand whatever they can do to her.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Well, that's not good. As soon as the giant robot space dragon, its rider, and the lasers all come down at once, August blinks. And then, he hunkers down on the wall, the Tin Soldier floating upwards, as he shouts to the sky as loud as he can. &quot;What is your intention here? Are you really fighting violence with violence?!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1007|Genji Shimada (1007)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;You are mistaken. They are not standing in your way. They simply want no part of it. There are many who would willingly assent, and yet you force your dream on those who would not. You have chosen your battles poorly. Now I will choose your-&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Aaaaw shit.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;From where he stands amongst the army, Genji looks skyward. He sees the oncoming storm, so to speak. And he decides to get out of the rain.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;All the green lights on Genji's armor switch on as one. And then light is all that's easy to track. Because he's darting /out/ of the Imperial formation, a streak of green weaving its way to safety amongst enemies and wreckage. And while he goes, Genji switches his transmitter up to higher power. &quot;This is Genji Shimada contacting the unknown person riding a dragon. This Imperial force began an unprovoked assault on this town, for the purpose of conquest. If my people and the people of the town agree to withdraw from the fight, will you repel the Imperial invaders in our stead? They are the ones perpetrating a waste of life and resources.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1010|Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;FOOLS!&quot; Reinhardt sends robot after robot hurdling away, &quot;We will not falter in the name of those who otherwise have no defense, not today! WE-&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Suddenly a fucking dragon. Reinhardt GLARES at the giant robot dragon and whoever is riding it, and he levels his hammer at the creature. &quot;We were here defending this village from invaders, those who would force their control over unaffiliated parties. Either leave us be, or help us, I don't care!&quot; He grips his hammer tightly, his shield forming as he braces for the oncoming storm.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1065|Devon-7 (1065)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Devon is in the zone.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;No, he's more than in the zone. The longer he remains firing, it becomes a horrifying display. Crouched on knee, sniper rifle in hand, for every shot he takes, the Guardian only grows faster on the trigger, more accurate with scope, lining up followups and capping off a different robot faster and faster, only growing in murderous efficiency. Every time he needs to reload, his hands are lightning, replacing magazine and repeating the motion with automatic and mechanical precision.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The Gunslinger's Trance, at its peak, is a terror to behold on a battlefield, as one sniper from the back ranks can score precise kill after kill after kill. His sniper fussilade only stops when the being from orbit finally descends.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's a gatdamn dragon.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That is a gatdamn dragon.&quot; Devon says.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Yep... A gatdamn dragon.&quot; Oakley echoes, as they both peer up, watching the descent and subsequent decimation of the approaching mechanical forces.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel is far too focused on staying alive amidst the army of robots to notice the robot space dragon coming down from above... That is until its plasma beam sweeps through said army.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As the spirt he summoned continues to rage around him, Gabriel stops and stands, turning his gaze upward towards the source of the beam. He's aware of the existance of dragons... Though he's yet to see a robot version of one. But as impressive as it might be, Gabriel is instead most drawn by its call. He chuckles darkly to himself, saying to no one in particular, &quot;Yes... I've made a terrible mistake... But fighting these soulless constructs pales compared to it.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_m bg_n ++ hm&quot;&gt;Cala seran toremiro set lien esteraph yaro.&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A wisp of light similar to those Gabriel summoned before, but blue this time, flits up towards him. It circles him for a moment, before flying towards and sinking into his sword. The sword begins to glow a matching colour, lightning starting to arc across its surface.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Turning towards the nearest robot, Gabriel charges and with a quick swing slashes the lightning enchanted sword at the machine, a trail of light following behind it. He returns to fighting the robot horde.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;What are you--&quot; Secundus asks Genji, moments before he's instead asking empty air, and even more moments before the air TURNS INTO FIRE. Not at him, fortunately. Devon's sniping almost manages to keep pace, impossibly, with the beam raking in from the sky, but the former is far more flashy. Secundus turns and pales at the sight.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Possibly to everyone's mutual horror, the figure on the dragon actually... Responds to hails. The voice, once it's no longer yelling at the top of its lungs like some kind of ridiculous messenger of plasmaic doom, is actually... Rather noble, in many ways, imperious and certain in its course. Hollow, certainly, like it's being spoken through some kind of vocal distorter. &quot;If violence is levereged, then violence is the judgment wrought,&quot; it answers the boy on the wall, apparently regarding him as one of the inhabitants of the settlement. &quot;Moreover, these are mere machines. They can be replaced.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I understand. You are not the instigators of this conflict. Worry not,&quot; the voice in the sky says, &quot;You will not be harmed unless you interfere in my task.&quot; The Dragon descends, landing just in front of the two walls of fire. Its rider gives them a glance and then dismounts, levering its shield at the mindless mass of machines. The thing lenses open again, revealing an array of crackling emitters. &quot;Instigators of conflict, soldiers and legionnaires, I am the Hand of the Protector,&quot; he says, plainly, &quot;The Warrior, Marchosiel.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Stand down,&quot; he says, as the weapon begins to glow, &quot;Or I will be forced to fire--&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;What the blazes,&quot; Will breathes, staring at the carnage from atop the wall, near August. &quot;A /robot dragon!?/&quot; Something at his side crackles, &quot;&lt;span class=&quot;bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc&quot;&gt;LEGION units. Fascinating. But where is their Terminal?&lt;/span&gt;&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Marchosiel's head snaps up at the voices. His eyes go wide as he turns-- inducing just enough motion to pull the trigger. Six rays of light spear through the massed army. Somehow, they don't seem to burn, rather... They /shatter/ what they collide with. Raw kinetic energy smashes dozens of machines to bits, and anyone still in the line of fire would find themselves probably wanting to dodge both the beams AND the shrapnel.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The Angel turns its head back as it recognizes its mistake. &quot;...Surrender immediately,&quot; it says quietly, though through the magic of radio, his voice still makes its way to almost everyone present. &quot;Or I will fire again.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;From his wall, August considers. This Marchiosel is trying to do good things. But he's not only capable of mass power, he's an idiot who doesn't even know gun safety! The Tin Soldier rises, and fires buffs...on all surviving allies and /live enemies/ in the battlefield, as he maintains his bunker. &quot;What about the soldiers? What about that guy Secundus? Should he die? What gives you the right to kill him, when you so casually misfire? Who made you judge, jury, and executioner?&quot; It is actually somewhat hypocritical, because August believes in vigilantism, he's just sort of peeved that they were doing it first and then this guy came in and started making things worse.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Also, while this is happening, August is giving William Pauwel a death glare. Pauwel, you fucked up.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1010|Reinhardt Wilhelm (1010)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reinhardt realizes he's in the line of fire. He drops his shield.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THEN he proceeds to run as fast as his feet can carry, running like hell before he boosts well clear of the death lasers Marchosiel's dishing out at the Imps. &quot;Almost thought you were going to aim at us, too!&quot; he comments, after skidding to a stop with enough force to kick up a crapton of dirt as he looks up at the wall. &quot;Run now, argue later!&quot; he calls out at the boys, before he takes his own advice and RUNS like hell. Thankfully the buffs to defense may mitigate any damage he sustains.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel is suddenly caught by surprise as one of the blasts of light streaks right past him. He stabs his sword into the ground and ducks down to take cover as things near him begin to explode into shrapnel. This includes the spirit he had summoned, which explodes into bits of rock.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel's phastasmal armor is buffeted by bits of robot and rock, beginning to show visible cracks. But finally the attack passes and Gabriel is left crouching amidst a battlefield covered in robot parts. He takes a moment to recover, slowly standing and turning to look in the direction of the being that had just fired that blast. He takes a deep breath...&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;... Then shouts, over the radio to, &quot;WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;At the moment Marchosiel pulls the trigger (accidentally or not), Yuna is - thankfully - out of the fray and has the opportunity to just observe what's going on.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Rather than dispensing a death-glare or anything (she's in a *bit* too much shock for that right now), she just chides William a little over the Chaser radio band, asking to make sure Judgment doesn't interrupt again.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Other than that? She's watching and worrying from to one side of the road which became a battleground. She's also hoping that what's left of the Iskandrian army will do the *SMART* thing and retreat. Even if machines can be rebuilt or replaced from scratch, a reasonable CO would probably want to conserve resources ... and she's caught on (thanks to Elner) that the army's commanders are, in fact, living flesh-and-blood humans. So she's hoping they'll retreat for the sake of their own lives.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She may even be praying that they do so, but she doesn't have her hands folded or anything.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1007|Genji Shimada (1007)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Genji has just reached the perephiry of the fight when-&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;What-?!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's unexpected. It shreds through the enemy just behind him. Genji whips around in surprise, only just drawing his shortblade in time. Shrapnel pelts the cyborg - or would, if it could get past that lightning-fast blade of his. He parries it neatly, sending it all back into the crowd, then skids to a stop outside it, landing in a cautious crouch.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...are you young, or just inexperienced in battle? I do not fault what you're trying to do, but lives are in your hand. Lives that have now been lost. Choosing to take them is one thing. But doing so by accident? To someone on your path, that should be unacceptable.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gun safety doesn't exist in Tellus. August should know that by now. Sure, some Ancient firearms have it, but why would you put a /safety/ on your /giant mechadragon rider?/ It looks like the tremendous display of force has finally tipped the last domino. After losing a majority of their robotic forces to the assembled elites, being faced with (accidental) obliteration by an agent of the heavens is... Too much to handle.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Damnit,&quot; Secundus grunts, &quot;RETREAT! All hands, fall back to the rendezvous point!&quot; At his command, the mechanical legions-- or rather, what's left of them-- turn tail and flee, following after the group of human soldiers leading the way. At least he can legitimately blame this one on Act of God. Also on Primus. Primus was obviously at fault for all of this. Being dead, he also can't defend himself. PERFECT PLAN.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Marchosiel lowers his weapon at the sight of the imperials beating feet. And at the sound of a handful of elites chastizing his lack of trigger discipline. &quot;My apologies,&quot; he says with... genuine regret. &quot;I did not mean to endanger you all. I have only reawakened recently, and have not had time to properly acclimate to my protocols. I was also... surprised.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He stares after Reinhardt and- presumably- Will, as they go bobbing off into the sunset. Will kind of has very little way of resisting short of shooting the big guy in the foot, and that would be MEAN AND WRONG, so he's kind of just... Carried along for the ride, leaving Marchosiel and the others behind.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Regardless, it was a mistake on my part. I do not intend to repeat my error.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;The giant dragon next to Marchosiel emits a strange, regretful churl. It'd almost be adorable, if it were not coming from an enormous mechadragon bristling with weaponry that includes at least one smoking gunport. Did it fire when it was startled, or was it when it was up in the sky?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;August is probably abducted with Will. He'll struggle but he's a scrawny teenager and Reinhardt isn't. &quot;Aaagh, wait, I'm not done here! Marchiosel, next time we meet, I have questions for youuuuuuuuuuu&quot; And then, August disappears with Reinhardt and Will.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1007|Genji Shimada (1007)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Though they were the aggressors,&quot; Genji replies, now approaching at a calm and steady pace, &quot;Most of them were simply following orders. All of them are men with someone waiting for them at home. A sibling, a lover. Many of them likely working as soldiers to ensure those people a happy, safe home.&quot; His voice isn't harsh or chastizing - there is calm to it, a tone that almost implores Marchosiel to self-reflection. &quot;That is the weight of a life. Whatever issue I might take with your philosophy aside, please remember that. Never allow yourself to end a life by accident. That, is the truest tragedy of battle.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;Yuna lets out a *deep* sigh of relief, and re-activates her hover-thrusters to skim over to Marchosiel and the others.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;(She would revert to the basic Light Suit and just walk, but her legs would probably give out underneath her ...)&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;She may want to make sure Bartertown isn't too badly damaged, and possibly even offer to help with some repairs ... but once the adrenaline wears off, she's probably going to just collapse and let Elner worry about getting her back to somewhere resembling 'home'.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1077|Gabriel Volt (1077)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel briefly considers giving chase... But after a tough battle and surviving that last assault from the robot dragon and its rider... He doesn't see much point to the risk. Besides, the anger he'd been feeling about the obviously superior force picking on the inferior townspeople was pretty much gone now. Instead he's more focused on the sudden arrival and near friendly-fire incident.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Still, Gabriel just shrugs it off. He sighs as he moves to sheathe his sword on his back. The lightning spirit that had been inhabiting it floats off and disappears. Likewise those making up his armor and the firewall disperse as things calm down.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gabriel puts his hands in his pockets and turns, walking back towards the small town that had been saved, eyeing the one called Marchiosel. Over the radio he asks, &quot;Please be more careful, next time.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Marchosiel regards Genji with a long look as the cyborg speaks. &quot;Do not worry,&quot; he says, then. &quot;I am not interested in promoting the unnecessary loss of life. What happened was a mistake. The Protocols are being patched as we speak.&quot; By who, though? Maybe Marchosiel can just... do that. The Ancients were kind of weird in that respect. &quot;The Protector is responsible for protecting human life on this world. Accidental death- death that could have otherwise been prevented- is regrettable indeed.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;That appears to be his answer to Gabriel as well. Marchosiel glances off towards the horizon briefly, and then moves the slide back onto his mount. It looks like he's making to leave. &quot;If that is all, I do have other business to attend to.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1007|Genji Shimada (1007)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That is all, for now,&quot; Genji replies, turning to leave - but stopping, to look over his shoulder. &quot;But if you are available some time soon, I would like to speak on philosophical matters more... complex. I have questions to put to you.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Marchosiel stares at the cyborg for a moment longer, his eyes glowing thoughtfully beneath his visor. &quot;Very well. I cannot compromise internal security by providing my contact. However, I will be listening. Call for me and I will come.&quot; With that, the Iron Angel's mount stirs. Light blazes beneath its wings and the enormous creature lifts off and races into the sky.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;All is quiet.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Holy crap! THAT WAS AWESOME.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;Someone break out the moonshine!&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&quot;WE'VE TAPPED THE KEG. LET'S GET DRUNK.&quot;&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Well, that didn't last long.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;At least these Frontiersmen are having a good day, right?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=4040/Slaves_to_the_Metal_Horde:_Part_3&diff=13143 2016-04-26T06:03:57Z

<p>Volund: Volund moved page 4040/SttMH: Part 3 to 4040/Slaves to the Metal Horde: Part 3 without leaving a redirect</p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2016/04/23<br /> |Location=Aqua Valley - Superdesert<br /> |Synopsis=The return to the Machine Factory. And then... meetings.<br /> |Cast of Characters=151, 165, 492, 964, 967<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Welcome to the future, although it is not your future.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Context:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Before the people of the good ship Lollypop were found by the Union, they were looking for part of a map in the cliffside town that was once part of an underground lab. This map contained directions to a potential counterweapon built to destroy artificial brains- a countermeasure to the uprising that became the Metal Horde that would otherwise be lost during the tragic war. Having direction and a way to save their people, they proposed the Union investigate it- not dismissing the idea of saving their fellows, after all it was the Queen Mother who suggested it to begin with. Rather, it became a possibility, a potential.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But the return to Juneau will come first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The new information coming from Ainsley and Lotus's interrogation of their kidnapped Mechantical has shed much new light on the situation. Many people want to approach the situation differently because of this, for the Horde has a grain of begnin intention here, but they wield knowledge dangerously, as a blunt instrument- knowledge without understanding.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ren's ... not here today. He's failed to show up for the incident that he, in a way, kicked off. But his presence is probably not a necessity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What is necessary remains to be seen. Once again, you're approaching Juneau, hole blown in its high walls, Metal Horde offensive forces scabbing over the wound in their defences to keep monstrous intruders out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;So, you've probably got a Union or Syndicate owned desert-transport-capable transport vehicle. How are you going to approach this?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Ainsley on one side of it, the Lotus on another. Even if the Lotus used some measure of remote systems for interrogation and analysis, the end result was the a net positive: information and background on what would become the possible choices. Not that the Lotus favored one or another, as it was morally grey to put it mildly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That choice she put forth in Kushiko's hands to do as they felt was best. The Lotus was a guide, as she oft put it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Tenno's approach is rather simple in a sense that, her ship, cloaked is remaining out of sight until they've assessed a proper point of entry and a plan. Sure, they could try and free the people but was it even possible, and would it simply hurt the people already part of that collective unconsciousness? That's what the radios were for.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Ainsley makes sure that the Union vehicle she tagged along on got as close as possible to the facility. Once she did that, she climbed out of it, and floated out to approach the hole in the wall. She didn't seem all that concerned about being seen, maintaining her neutral affect as she hovered over the ground, making her way to that hole in the side. She's actually hoping that she gets interrupted by the Horde itself so that she can stop and talk to them. If nothing is willing to do that, then she'll just ignore them in favor of getting inside.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She wants answers, she wants to convince them to do something better than this horror show of a method, and really, she wants everyone to come out of this alright. But she holds no remorse over the possibility of violence, because sometimes it is impossible to avoid.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Blurr doesn't need a Union transport. Because duh, he's superior to every other transport that exists out there. He pulls up beside the others in his vehicle form, examining the hole in the wall. &quot;So how tough are these guys?&quot; he asks, the question directed anyone who might know the answer to it. Hm, that hole in their defenses doesn't look quite patched up yet! Maybe he can just...zoom through. Run past everything and everyone. Or over, for that matter. He looks eager to get going--he never was the type to sit around talking about things or deciding what to do before simply charging in.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There are decisions to be made, certainly. The 'Horde in the base don't entirely know what's going on- after one of their number was kidnapped yesterday, they didn't really know what has happened, what they found or what they now know- in fact all they really know is that hostile people from outside this world are interfering with their desperate mission, and so far they've beaten and kidnapped several and various different people and blown a hole in their wall.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Maybe this would be all a lot easier if everyone stopped pointing guns at one another, but the same could be said for a thousand and one problems.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;From closer inspection in, say, a cloaked vehicle, or indeed a single small organic person, you may be able to notice that only one tank has a gun on it and others are outfitted to carry and tug building materials. Foe their part, the robots near the hole in the wall mistake Ainsley for a bird (negligible threat; no need to shoot down). However, there HAS been small dangerous individuals messing around in the last few days, so one of them does indeed try it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Unidentified individual. Are you capable of acknowledging this hail? Stop or we will shoot.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It actually sounds really rather nervous.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;There's a kind of quiet contemplation insofar as whether or not the Tenno will literally dropped in. From the cloaked vessel observing, and scanning from above, a single Warframe is all that is going to be used, if even at all. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time will tell, as the Lotus privately notes to Blurr and Ainsley: &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&quot;Only one of the tanks appears to be fully armed; the remainder are repurposed for construction and repair-based tasks and moving material.&quot;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; As soon as her voice began and ended, a cut-in vision of the masked woman (as much as can be told) also displayed for those who have the equipment for it. It's likely the Lotus will also be speaking up as well once a vaguely neutral point of meeting is secured. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As to Blurr's question, another voice decides to chime in, &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&quot;It's not a matter of toughness so much as they're not.. trying to really kill anyone so much as defend themselves so they can take them back here. Most of what they had was for stunning.&quot;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Ainsley stops.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The calm look she flashes at the metallic being is complemented by her raising both hands to show that she's harmless. She comes to land near the robot with a gentle smile showing on her face. &quot;Hello, I'm Ainsley. I would like to get a look at the machinery you use here...&quot; She gestures for the building itself, though she doesn't go as far to say that this is a flawed attempt at it. She watches the metal being carefully in case it tries to shoot her. &quot;I apologize for all the hostilities you and your brethren have endured so far. You must understand that we are foreign to this world and that your actions were seen as hostile to the humans that we had run into before your forces had arrived.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We would like the return of the humans. Your mission is important, but their well-being is as well. For the sake of mutual enlightenment and peace, I would like to speak with ... one of your leaders?&quot; A questioning tone, since she's not sure they even have a standard leadership structure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The whole time, she uses a spell to help translate it into terms easily digested, or condensed down into raw meanings where that fails, so that she isn't misunderstood while she speaks. It would come out with plenty of that robot speak and pseudo-religious tone.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;X cannot fly, cannot swim, and definitely can't burrow. But he can walk and he can climb, and the great walls of Juneau cannot hope to keep him out if he wanted to scale them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Won't likely have to though, because there's a nice big hole in them that doesn't seem to have been fixed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;X has chosen his own approach though. His advanced optics give him a clear view of the vehicular situation and the movements of the Mechanticals.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;They're not looking so hostile out there. Barely even a guard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;So his approach is to just walk straight on up towards the breach they're repairing, and his hands are... just hands. Neither's the X-Buster today. He has no intention of fighting! But he is clutching a medium-sized, heavy-duty sack.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And it seems neither does Ainsley who gets there just a little bit sooner.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Hello! My name is X... also here to inquire about what's happening with the humans.&quot; He looks friendly enough. Sounds cheery even, if painfully naive about things.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;What she says is the truth. We'd like to clear up these misunderstandings.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt; Take them? Take who? &amp;gt;&amp;gt; Blurr questions. This person said 'they' and 'them' a lot and he isn't quite sure who is being referred to. &amp;lt;&amp;lt; The humans? &amp;gt;&amp;gt; He notices Ainsley is trying to resolve things peacefully, though, and decides to see if her attempts are successful first. &amp;lt;&amp;lt; Well I guess it's good that they're not killing anyone, then. &amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He moves up besides her and waits for the other mech's response, hopefully not making any unintentionally hostile moves.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;&quot;Ah! Sorry,&quot;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; the voice begins anew given Blurr's query. This voice is a bit different; presumably it's that of the Tenno as it's different from the voice of the Lotus. &amp;lt;&amp;lt;&quot;This 'Metal Horde' as they got called have been trying to take the humans that are back at that landship, the Lollypop.&quot;&amp;gt;&amp;gt; That part establishes the 'them', as well as the 'they' to that agree to confirm. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;lt;&amp;lt;&quot;What they are doing is putting them into a state where their minds are part of a networked intelligence. Think of a drop of water, then that drop of water goes into a lake as their minds go. They're doing this because they've got some.. basic knowledge of old Buddhist teachings but none of the actual /learning/ and understanding that should go along with it. Don't point this out to them too bluntly though.&quot;&amp;gt;&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;It's not implausible that if the Union decided to smash and grab here, then they could achieve it pretty easily. It's not impossible, in fact, that if they decided that they just wanted to take on allcomers and fight every robot in the facility capable of using an offensive technique, that they could pull it off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And don't the Metal Horde know it; this is a situation where they are facing a threatening alien invasion which they are scrambling to counteract. Which means that when X and Ainsley just decide the course of action is to try walking along and talking, the people by the wall are, to say the least, surprised.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Each of them pivots back and forth to look at one another when Ainsley begins to talk to them, and when X echoes it. It's clear at least from the first part of it that they're somewhat taken by surprise- body language seems to be something they're capable of at least to the extent that you can read nervousness from it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;That only gets worse when they mention they're here about the humans, and the robots there are only too relieved to hear that they'd prefer to talk to someone else.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We are currently being employed for repair work,&quot; one of the types that would be previously recognized as a 'slaver' explains to them. &quot;It may be difficult to communicate with someone but--&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But, nevertheless, it happens. Cautious Mechanticals appear from within the facility; they are unsure how to handle this, as a thunderstorm in California is currently keeping them from direct communication with the Bodhisattva. If the four of them are willing to find a not-so-ruined building outside of the walls and a reasonable distance away (reveal themselves as necessary), they will come through the wall and further from the facility. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;One of the Mechanticals who has come out speaks up as they approach. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;So far all we know of you are the severe damage you inflicted on one of our units and multiple abductions. What reason do we have to trust you?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:151|Ainsley (151)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Ainsley maintains her patience throughout the surprise of the 'slaver' robots. It's hardly a new reaction, due to what she had gathered from them before. She even smiles at them as they seem more than willing to chat on the subject. And then one of the Mechanticals arrives when they come inside and speaks quite bluntly about the status of their perceptions, and it causes a momentary pained look on Ainsley's face. She hadn't participated in that fight and, truthfully, she had tried to steer it away from violence if at all possible.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Because we are asking you to,&quot; she says, simply enough, &quot;We don't have anything to show to you but our honesty. I was there for that battle and I can assure you the abducted slavers are in decent shape. It was... difficult to speak to them, as we were ignorant of what you are as a whole when the battle happened. Robotic forces, from our experiences in other worlds, tend toward the mindless drone variety, not the kind you clearly are.&quot; She means intelligent, of course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;In addition, we are not accustomed to slavers and captors having goals they see as altruistic,&quot; she says, &quot;Just as you dislike us taking some of your own, humanity and my allies dislike the idea of capture of their own. You are not that different. They don't understand why you insist on capturing them, and we don't understand why you have gone to such extreme measures to grant them... this strange form of nirvana, seemingly against their wills.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Please. We need to understand what is happening here. Tragedy must be avoided. These people were never willing for this, and the other humans are being distressed by their state. They need to be released, if you can do that, or we can simply examine the equipment to confirm whether they are in danger or not.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The strain in her voice isn't quite desperation, but she's trying to make it clear that she's very apologetic about what happened.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:492|Blurr (492)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;It seems the other mechs are cautious, but not hostile. Blurr decides to reveal himself then, when it seems they are not eager to trust the others. Maybe since he's a mechanical being like they are, they'll be more inclined to trust him?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He transforms then, standing up into his biped form, though he tries not to do it too quickly or suddenly as he is more accustomed to, then crouches down to their level as much as he can. &quot;Look, yeah you're right you have a good point. We're sorry about the damage, but I think this has all been a big misunderstanding, okay? We're just concerned about the humans you have in there, that's all. Protecting sapient life, any form of it, is what we do. Whether it's organic like those humans or like Ainsley here, or mechanical like you or me.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He nods toward Ainsley as she speaks. &quot;Yeah, exactly. We believe that every intelligent lifeform has a right to choose their own paths so to speak.&quot; Got that one from Optimus, no doubt. &quot;Including you, and including those humans. Sometimes, it's hard to tell what's right and wrong, especially with--uhm, limited information. So we're just trying to fix that limited information problem so that we can figure out what the best thing to do is for everyone involved. Sound fair? Yeah?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The more this goes on, the more time X has to think about it, the more questions crop up in his head. How could this have gone better? What could he have done to avoid these misunderstandings? Everything he can think of just creates other ones elsewhere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He opens his mouth briefly to speak, but then thinks better of it. Ainsley's doing a wonderful job. Enough so that he should just take notes and not tread on territory she's covered. Instead...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;All I can offer up front is apologies and some compensation for the trouble. That means mending the damage I inflicted if I can. The ones we took hostage will be repaired and returned in whichever order you're more comfortable with. I'm also a robot, if it isn't obvious.&quot; He adds the last statement with a warmer, slightly humorous air.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He knows very well how a robot would feel about being tinkered with where their fellows can't see the tinkering being done.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That and... I brought some books, manuscripts, scrolls and other documents that your Bodhisattva - am I pronouncing that right? - might like to see.&quot; He hoists the sack effortlessly to point out what he's talking about.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Things from the past, from worlds where the past wasn't destroyed.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;And as Ainsley talks, a sortof floating, semi-holographic image shows up of the Lotus; only from about the shoulder up and servicing as something of a secondary, floating, talking head. &quot;And while the individual of yours that has indeed been taken from here, they remain in safety until we're certain they will not be harmed upon their release back into your care.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The holo-image shifts to the Mechantical Adjutant; probably looking somehow a little bit bored, but otherwise in an empty room. The camera angle shifts, however where the Adjutant is 'facing' the camera, and then the Mechantical captive might just realize that he's watching a similar image, but of the other Mechanticals, a projection in his room. There's no audio, but it ought to be enough to provide for a proof of life.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless of this, another little... thing happens. Further up, the ship decloaks; an underside compartment revolving around to discharge the Warframe from it. The figure's in freefall at least until the point of impact. Which happens to be Blurr's shoulder after the Cybertronian transforms, landing as quietly and without force as a gentle breeze. Valkyr does not appear armed, but the armored, feminine figure glances aside at Blurr for a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Faceless though the Warframe may be, there's a faintly apologetic air to her as the Lotus comes back online through another holographic projection. &quot;We are not here to harm you. We would not be speaking with you first if we were here to harm you.&quot; A little blunt, but also accurate. If one weren't looking at the black and purple-colored figure, she has a surprising lack of presence despite the absolute terror she was to them before. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;https://www.youtube.&lt;span class=&quot; bold_fg_w bg_u ++ om/watch?v=rYbHpXca7U0&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;chw&quot;&gt;Prelude/Outer Space/Radar - Bernard Herrmann&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The Day the Earth Stood Still - 1951&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Maybe it's just the fact that we're gathered in another ruined building a short distance up the mountain, but this feels a little eerie. Maybe things are too easy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Maybe these guys are just kind of intimidated by you, although the Lotus immediately assuages that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The discussion that follows probably takes place half on the way to the building and half in it, possibly because it's hard to find a decent intact building to sit in. Heck, this building might not even have a roof on it. We might just be sitting around a long table with some tumbledown walls around it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Still, it works.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It is strange that Blurr revealing himself actually probably goes a ways to making this easier on them, rather than less so. But it takes all sorts. The Mechanticals- there's four of them, in all- listen to what Ainsley and X have to say. It's slow going at first, with them interjecting things like 'okay' and 'I see', but amazingly enough X produces those books, and that's the real icebreaker. As Blurr talks the Mechanticals are all too happy to pass them about between one another - an enthusiasm which, it's worth noting, begins to visibly wane as the passing-about becomes slower and the reading of the books also becomes slower, and the checking back at previous chapters becomes more common. They started off flipping the pages every half a second, and they're clearly not skim-reading, but soon they're going through them very slowly and their hands (well, the little clawed tiny arms which came out of the middle of their cylinders) are almost shaking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;At one point, one of them says, &quot;This is a shocking development indeed. Please let us record and transmit these contents back by way of radio signals,&quot; and there's a period of time where they go quickly through each of the books with antennas up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;When that's done, they will proceed with an explanation which mirrors what you were told by the guy you interrogated a few days ago. However, as it goes on, the subject of this 'Bodhisattva' comes up more and more often in terms of how he guided things to this point, encouraged the development of the facility, and generally engineered things as their leader.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;If the Lotus were honest, it was probably a concern for what they might do with more knowledge, or perhaps assume that the presentation of additional sources of information that they might take offense in an implication about the lack thereof. Couldn't be faulted for thinking that given their unwillingness to consider fault.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;At some point, the Warframe that Kushiko is using disembarks from where it was standing on Blurr's shoulder in order to posit quiet observation and the like.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Occasionally, the holo-like panel of the Lotus might cut in soon enough whenever she would deign to speak, such as now: &quot;... do any of you know why there was such a collapse and disintegration of history and culture here? Our understanding is that you and others like you gained sentience too late to prevent the loss yet avert a complete loss in some regard.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Sure, take all the time you need.&quot; X offers,l just a bit shocked at how rabidly the Mechanicals are inclined to peruse the materials. He'd grabbed them in the hopes that maybe it would help clear up their fragmented knowledge. He, himself, has only established that they didn't have that much material to work with... and hoped they'd like it as a gift. Only skimmed through most of it himself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He doesn't quite get it, but it's unusual to say the least. And a few passages may have been inspirational!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If there's people who want to be in this... nirvana... then I guess that's fine.&quot; He sounds uncertain about the matter though, given how confusing it is. &quot;But I'd argue that forcing an incomplete, 'best we can do' version of it is acting too hasty. And it's hard to excuse capturing people because you think you know how they should live. In fact, I'd argue that this nirvana state can't come about unless someone starts to seek it themselves first. There's So I'm curious just how things really ended up like this, if there isn't maybe something important everyone's missed.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The important thing to remember is, as Ren might say if he was here, people are people. It is entirely possible that the subject of your interrogation might have been just a rather arrogant person, or perhaps bigoted. Alternatively, it may be that the ones you are talking to now are considerably more open-minded than the others. Either possibility is true. In any case, the cat's out of the bag now; if you try to shove it back in, there's going to be a lot of scratching and hissing and fighting. Isn't that how the saying goes?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;There was a... considerable amount of loss,&quot; one of them explains, &quot;And we believe that at some point during what was happening, early Mechanticals received data containing a meaningful concept of culture, perhaps even a rudimentary concept of Buddhism- one that was less painful than the signals they were otherwise taking in. This allowed them to prioritize saving it once they understood what it meant.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's possible this might go some distance to explaining why they pounced on those books so quickly. It seems that if these Mechanticals have one advantage, it's that they can absorb information very quickly as soon as it's presented to them. You can imagine a freedom fighter of the past trying to get into the heart of a Californian university with floppy disks full of shakespeare and bitmap pictures. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;After a certain point in time, once they- we- had fully assimilated what we could recover- granted, now we know that was full of holes- Central Brain emerged, and announced that it had the best individual grasp of enlightenment. It led the effort to make amends for the human race under the role of Bodhisattva.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We didn't know any better,&quot; one of them who's sank to the back says.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Comparing these Mechanticals to the Adjutant of previously interrogated notions. They had been wary after all, but now, seeing them as they react now, it's a bit interesting to put it nicely. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Lotus displays no outward signs of emotion, her tonal inflections in her voice remaining strictly neutral as she speaks through the emitters, the image displayed as the Valkyr Warframe holds a hand, faint light streaking from her palm. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;We suspected as much. You had one side to it; with little to no context of what to compare it to, or perhaps a desire not to have, as you put it, painful signals.&quot; She pauses, pursing her lips for only a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's then that another voice speaks up; another emitter, it sounds like. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Do not discount the bad parts of history. It may be painful, but this pain puts everything else into relief. If you only have the good parts, how do you know it's good? When you know something's bad, you're able to try and stop it from happening again. You learn from it so you don't necessarily repeat it.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;To get the other side of the story we'll need to ask Lollypop's people more questions.&quot; X remarks thoughtfully, unafraid of speaking such ideas aloud. &quot;I'd like to meat this Bodhisattva, too.&quot; He's seated comfortably in the chair, posture rather serene and easygoing... along with his expression. Now that things have progressed to peaceful talking he's much more in his element!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Being utterly confused about life, yet learning every day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;There could be hope for this world if the surviving humans and robots cooperatedand figured out where to go from here. As it stands... they're just terrified of you.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We are learning so much more in this short space of time than I feel we have in many years,&quot; one of the four of them says. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;T&quot;Yes, but I can only hope that our reputation has not been permanently rusted in the eyes of the humans,&quot; says another. &quot;The only times I understand we've ever had confrontations that were not violent were the times when ones have openly surrendered to us.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That's right, I was there for at least one surrender,&quot; the one who's taken to standing the furthest from the table says. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Given that Central Brain has a deeper understanding of what we do know than the rest of us, I'm sure he would be willing to talk with the humans if some kind of mediation could be achieved. You might be the ones we both need,&quot; looking not entirely at all five of them, but speaking in a more general sense.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:964|Kushiko (964)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The Valkyr could sit. But it doesn't have the issues regarding comfort and other sorts of things most others might. Still, it didn't mean that they didn't take their own means of sitting. The 'frame had knelt down not far from the table, but in a lotus position typically seen in some of those Buddhist practices, though the Tenno themselves did not necessarily associate it specifically with that. That's just their natural instinct. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In the meantime, the Lotus speaks; sometimes her face drawing a little closer towards the camera view displaying her image, sometimes not. &quot;It's become painfully clear there is a lack of information on all sides. Balance must be found here before something tips the scales too far in one direction.&quot; A slight pause. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;There are likely those who may simply want to find their own way. Even if their choice might be felt as the wrong one, it should still be their choice to make.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:967|X (967)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;What she said.&quot; X gently affirms. Not really much more he can say ton the matter, and the approval resounds in his tone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;All we can do is try talking! And see if they'll believe.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:165|Ren Tanaka (165)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Really all of this could probably have been avoided if you hadn't put the access codes for all the secret science wonder projects in the same part of the ARPANET as the rapidly growing artificially intelligent brains. Oh well, no sense in blaming the scientists now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There is a chorus of agreement from everyone, one of them even echoing that &quot;Freedom /is/ the right of all sentient beings&quot; from earlier. And they'll have to figure out how to deal with the awful state of the landscape, too- hopefully the Union people can mention the plan for that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The next step seems like it's going to be a meeting between the humans and the Horde.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;---&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;INTERMISSION&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;---&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It remembered being much larger. It rembered being wider and more numerous, many brains but all of them the same mind, all calculating the best way to serve the ultimate objective. It still knew, even as small as it was now, the immense value of orchestrated calculation and efficiency. But it wanted to go back to being bigger. It could still recognize the familiar atmosphere of post-destruction, of everything around it on fire and not understanding why its actions had led to such pyrotechnical response. It needed to go back to being bigger so that it could fully consider why so much destruction had occured. If it could fix its mistake, perhaps- change the people so that they were more appropriate- then it could return to its masters with something good to show them. But, one thing at a time...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Stress_Related_Break(Through%5CDown)_(Ren_Tanaka)&diff=13141 2016-04-26T05:54:25Z

<p>Volund: Volund moved page Stress Related Break(Through/Down) (Ren Tanaka) to Stress Related Break(Through\Down) (Ren Tanaka) without leaving a redirect</p> <hr /> <div>{{Cutscene Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2016/04/22<br /> |Location=Tomoyo's Boutique (Former) - Tomoeda, Japan<br /> |Synopsis=Do you ever have one of those moments where all the stress and the confusion and the worries clear from your head and you know exactly the best, simplest, easiest answer to your problem?<br /> <br /> No?<br /> <br /> Good.<br /> |Thanks=To Tomoyo Daidouji and Mamimi Samejima<br /> |Cast of Characters=165<br /> }}<br /> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aae8JHpZV8M<br /> There's a Man I Know - Jamie Robertson<br /> Soundcloud - 2012<br /> <br /> (This cutscene happens at some time between Friday and Wednesday.)<br /> <br /> Someone has done terribly wrong to a friend of Ren Tanaka's. <br /> <br /> He's done this before, forensics. In casinos and ruined houses, in whatever town he drifted through that week. Some crime to solve, some injustice done to the friend he made that week and then left behind once their trouble was resolved. Put on a pair of gloves, get your tweezers and your little plastic bags out, and then just let the essence flow through you.<br /> <br /> And so he does, standing in the charred boutique. Amidst the ashes of dreams, he stands and he scans, hours of work in fifteen seconds, skipping from place to place, information linking together like rings in a chain. Chain's an appropriate simile. He overturns a piece of something unrecognizeably charred; there's a cigarette underneath, not sufficiently destroyed by the heat.<br /> <br /> 'NEVER KNOWS BEST'<br /> <br /> Who smokes these? Who had he seen smoking these before? Of course he can remember. He never forgets a thing. His mind is a manse, his memories a library. <br /> <br /> Something clicks into place inside of his soul. This is a thing that happens sometimes.<br /> <br /> So, Mamimi Samejima is responsible. Mamimi Samejima is the problem. He needs to remove the problem. Well, that and present incontrovertible evidence that she is responsible, that- no, that's a secondary concern. First, we remove the problem. But how? She's not a monster. She is a person. Granted, a weak-willed, stupid person, but a person nonentheless. Who was she always calling the robot dog anyway? Takkun?<br /> <br /> ...half an hour later, and he's in the Union's databases, jumping from there to other databases. Mamimi Samejima, no elite powers, place of origin Mabase Japan... so who from Mabase has a name beginning with 'Ta'... who was involved with her in the past... Tasuku Nandaba, currently in America, so we bring Mamimi to Tasuku, we figure out what their involvement is, we continue to figure it out until she stops being a problem...</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Sword_Art_Online-1&diff=12417 2015-12-25T23:59:58Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{CastPage<br /> |Desc=This page's purpose is providing all necessary information needed to portray Sword Art Online in the Multiverse, for both FCs and OCs. It will avoid spoilers, and is maintained by Volund - current player of Kirito - in collaboration with active cast.<br /> <br /> Virtually all of the information on this page was directly compiled from active study of the anime and light novels. Some of it is extrapolated, other bits are common sense, a few parts are adapted to better fit the Multiverse theme, but it stays as true to presentation as possible.<br /> <br /> Note that the anime doesn't cover the fine details, and it would be wise to use this as page as a reference for certain game aspects when necessary.<br /> <br /> NOTE TO READERS: Please refer to [[Alfheim Basics]] for a simplified version of everything.<br /> |Cat=Themes<br /> }}<br /> = Section One: The Technology=<br /> <br /> == FullDive==<br /> FullDive overrides the user's motor control and perceptions, using low-powered microwaves to stimulate neurons and miniaturized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to read brain activity. It's safe when used properly, but there's a few occasional risks. Pain is pain whether real or virtual for instance. So is the stress and strain that an adrenaline rush puts on one's body. Official FullDive software regulates pain down to a dull buzzing sensation or similar as a safety feature.<br /> <br /> FullDive's potential extends beyond VRMMO. It could theoretically be used as an interface for prosthetics or to override pain reception as a completely safe general anaesthetic. Simulations and training exercises for all kinds of professions are a given, too.<br /> <br /> Eating in FullDive provides no nourishment in reality, but it does quell hunger pangs by fooling the brain into thinking the user's eaten for a time. Long-term divers must remember to take breaks to care for their body! On the other hand, you can pig out and not gain weight...<br /> <br /> Once a person has entered FullDive, they cannot move or tell what is happening around them. The only way to end the FullDive from their end is from within the software.<br /> <br /> FullDive was designed for humans and requires human neurophysiology to properly link up. It can be adapted to other species in the Multiverse with some effort by the superfactions and those with the right resources. However, results might be pretty weird for non-bipeds because all FullDive avatars will be designed with bipedal physiology and human senses in mind.<br /> <br /> IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not the Matrix. Dying in VR cannot directly kill you unless you are stupid and use FullDive hardware that has the power to fry your RL body. At worst, it might stress someone out or leave them dizzy or nauseous. Perhaps not ideal for those with heart conditions or prone to seizures.<br /> <br /> === NerveGear===<br /> The first mass-produced FullDive unit, a bulky and heavy helmet designed by Argus. It boasts a powerful CPU, internal battery, high-frequency transmitter, huge flash memory storage, and the ability to access all portions of the brain - including full emotional detection.<br /> <br /> NerveGears were banned following the SAO incident and Noboyuki Sugou's info dump detailing FullDive-based psychosurgery, regarded as a devil machine. They're no longer commercially available or publically produced. Most remaining units are in the hands of SAO veterans and first generation FullDive adopters, and the smart ones destroyed them or, at least, stopped using them. Enough searching could rustle one up, but there's little point in doing so.<br /> <br /> === AmuSphere ===<br /> RCT Progress developed the AmuSphere to ensure FullDive's future. Compatible with all NerveGear software, slimmer, lighter, and far safer, AmuSphere delivers where NerveGear failed.<br /> <br /> AmuSpheres are narrow headbands with a flip-down visor used for basic configuration displays. They cannot be locked in place and are easily slipped off one's head - although having this happen during FullDive is INCREDIBLY disorienting and nauseating. They have no internal battery, use a less powerful CPU, and their less-powerful microwave transmitters are just a teensy bit less effective at blocking out real world sensations - on the other hand, they could NEVER fry anyone's brain.<br /> <br /> AmuSpheres are packed with safety features, such as monitoring vital signs, a smoke alarm, and the ability to define a special trigger sequence such as a passphrase that will forcibly end FullDive. The AmuSphere will also end FullDive if it detects the user's life may be in danger, such as the smoke alarm going off or racing heartbeats from intense stress. Some of these cause an immediate shutdown (Smoke alarm) while the heart monitor will warn people and give them a chance to calm down before it triggers auto-disconnect.<br /> <br /> The AmuSphere is commercially available for about as much as a high-end gaming console.<br /> <br /> === MediCuboid ===<br /> Created by Koujirou Rinko, the MediCuboid uses much of the same equipment as NerveGear, making it equally as dangerous were it not using a very different firmware and managed entirely by medical staff.<br /> <br /> MediCuboids are isolation chambers / beds / FullDive rigs for permanently bedridden patients, allowing better quality of life through an escape into Cyberspace, while hooking directly to medical technology staff can use to enhance treatments through direct nerve stimulations. The interface for a MediCuboid must be surgically installed down the entire spine. Its reception and immersion exceeds even the NerveGear's.<br /> <br /> Very few units exist. The only clinical trials are taking place in Yokohama North General Hospital.<br /> <br /> === 'Kanto Bootleg' NerveGear ===<br /> A custom NerveGear produced by Union R&amp;D in a project headed by Nathan Hall and Amanda o'Connell with consultation from Kirigaya Kazuto. The KB NerveGear was designed to allow a few people to join Sword Art Online using unused license keys without risking their lives.<br /> <br /> The KB NerveGear resembles the original, but is constructed more sleekly. The fabrication is top quality military work. It is just as effective as the NerveGear (if not superior in some ways, like robustness, processing power, and memory) but just as safe as the AmuSphere. Firmware modules must be physically replaced instead of flashed. The device silently ignores any potentially dangerous I/O brain operations (preventing psycho-surgical applications and brainfrying, etc). The user can suspend FullDive while the KB NerveGear maintains a connection of fake 'idling' signals, as if the user was sleeping.<br /> <br /> This device is available only to the Union and RATH Inc. Precious few exist. All Union Elites can have one though.<br /> <br /> === ElfIN ===<br /> Created by Taro for Confederate Elites, the ElfIN (Electronic Life Form INterface) is an adapter for most robotic or AI constructs to experience FullDive, and a prime example of Multiversal FullDive engineering. While not all users will experience everything equally (as not every electronic life form perceives the world as humans do), it does pierce the organic barrier.<br /> <br /> This device is only available to the Confederacy. The Union and other parties could certainly make similar devices. It might be easier than adapting organic brains to it.<br /> <br /> == VR SDK 'The Seed' ==<br /> After the RCT Progress scandal, a VRMMO SDK called the 'World Seed' or just 'The Seed' appeared all over the internet under an open source license, or rather 'everyone can do with this whatever they want.'<br /> <br /> The enormous package contains all of the tools and data necessary to create large VR environment servers and clients to connect to them, including all of the sensory data (sounds, smells, tastes, textures, etc) used in Sword Art Online to be used as a foundation for further development. The library also includes a generic physics engine, networking core, and amazingly powerful management software.<br /> <br /> The World Seed is so incredibly extensive and flexible that it has become the de facto standard of nearly ALL FullDive software development, even for projects that have nothing to do with VRMMORPGs. Most of the other SDKs now available are based on The Seed.<br /> <br /> Physically, The Seed requires at least a 'modern PC' to run in minimal mode - by its world's standards (for 2026, that means something around 8-core 12ghz CPU with at least 64gb of RAM, and around 12 terabytes of storage minimal). However, The Seed is its own entire operating system (with a keen design towards multi-server architecture) rather than a mere program (although it can be run in a virtual machine.).<br /> <br /> Big server racks are still needed if you want to host more than a few dozen people at once, naturally.<br /> <br /> === Code Architecture ===<br /> The Seed is written in a custom programming language building off modern 2026 CPU architectures incorporating many elements of the most successful programming techniques and designs. It features an intensely powerful, modular, and easily extensive high-level API. Its operating system components and layout are presented similar to Linux, although it shares no code ancestry. The code defies most conventions, able to hot-swap components and recompile most of its components without needing reboots or suffering from other such crutches (although running programs may need to be restarted.)<br /> <br /> The external GUI (accessed on a computer monitor and similar) is fairly minimal. Default expectations have administrators performing duties within FullDive. Once so connected, menus can be summoned through gestures and one's whole view becomes an expansive registry of options and directives controlled with gestures and speech recognition.<br /> <br /> The Seed comes with a variety of cross-compatibility applications, including a Virtual Machine for convenience, though.<br /> <br /> === Physics Engine and FullDive Libraries ===<br /> By default, Seed-based worlds utilize fairly close approximations to real world physics and experiences. It isn't, however, perfect. Realizing that one's in FullDive is pretty simple because the smells, sensations, and other details are just slightly 'off' to people paying close attention.<br /> <br /> For example, food is pre-programmed to always taste the exact same way and loses a hint of variety. A rock's surface will probably have the same uniform texture all across it. The system also employs several tricks to avoid wasting processing power on unnecessary rendering. For instance, a field of floors might appear as just a colorful field when one's gaze sweeps across it. The kind of specific flowers, petal layouts, and specific textures like 'veins' in the petals are only rendered if the flower is being looked at up close or with intense scrutiny. Liquid physics are also kind of strange, and being immersed feels like it's missing some aspects of the sensations. In short, while the details are impressive they're not completely indistinguishable from reality.<br /> <br /> The Seed has a number of optional libraries containing countless textures, sounds, smells, tastes, and other resources, and is easily upgraded with additional code.<br /> <br /> === CARDINAL AI and Management ===<br /> The beating heart and brimming mind at the core of every Seed installation is a suite of software so advanced and intricate that it can only be called AI - Artificial Intelligence.<br /> <br /> The CARDINAL system is a hierarchically organized array of program modules that forms the foundation of The Seed's incredibly versatile API. It is a form of Artificial Intelligence, though not one that processes situations from a human perspective. CARDINAL is not a truly self-aware, thinking being. It is capable of extremely intricate pattern matching, analysis, and contextual sensitivity. It has no face, no presence. It's an amoral force of digital law that is simply told what to do.<br /> <br /> At the top of the CARDINAL hierarchy are two main processes. The Main Core is tasked with overseeing the VR world's rules as it has been instructed and managing the entirety of sub programs. The Secondary Core performs constant error checking of the Main Core to ensure minimal anomalies. Beneath them are an extensive array of sub-routines that constantly monitor every inch of the digital world. Within the context of an MMORPG, these sub-routines are responsible for maintaining the digital economy (modifying mob drops or store prices to combat inflation for instance), detecting and correcting exploits (changing exp gains or mob spawn rates if it finds a player has found a TOO effective grind strategy), responding to unusual events in the course of a quests to prevent them from breaking (on occasion, even generating Third Options and the like for players who've gained enough attention from it). Every NPC and monster is controlled by CARDINAL sub-routines. CARDINAL aggressively monitors the system for all kinds of irregularities, glitches, and problems, and what it can't fix itself it will flag for GM/developer attention.<br /> <br /> IMPORTANT NOTE: Although the CARDINAL that appeared during the World of Swords TP arc DID achieve self-awareness (and this was NOT a pleasant process for it or anyone involved,) the brigade of quirks that allowed for this were corrected in the version released in the wild. CARDINAL cannot easily become self-aware, and this should never happen in casual RP. If you install The Seed, don't portray CARDINAL as capable of interpersonal communication and etc. (unless, of course, you modify it in some fashion because you're an AI programmer. You can do that. Please ask first though.)<br /> <br /> ==== Content Generation and Storytelling ====<br /> Besides maintaining system integrity and automated management, one of CARDINAL's greatest features is automatic content generation. CARDINAL has been programmed with a ludicrously extensive array of seed data and guidelines for generating game content. While it must be configured with the proper genre data such as 'fantasy, low tech, grim dark' ahead of time, once constraints and standards are established it is capable of endlessly generating content - everything from geography, to NPCs, to quests and plotlines. It is even capable of generating an entire world from scratch with or without some guidelines to follow.<br /> <br /> Once cultural boundaries, aesthetics, and the overall mood and 'rating' are defined, CARDINAL's content generation is particularly good at creating procedurally generated communities and regions with constantly interacting forces. A village might have a number of political parties warring within, and be surrounded by others such as 'the kobold tribe in the forest' or 'the mountain bandits.' Quests will be developed based on the needs, interests, and previous interactions of the created characters. Most follow simple MMORPG style formats, but occasionally a few oddball ones crop up.<br /> <br /> If allowed, CARDINAL can also access the internet and use various news sources and mythological libraries for inspiration. This is usually great but sometimes results in peculiar quests showing up, like a gang of masked ogres armed with chainsaws in a world where chainsaws just shouldn't exist. The difficulty and rewards would be fine, but it just... wouldn't make much sense lore-wise.<br /> <br /> ==== NPCs ====<br /> The default style for NPC behavior is simple. Most NPCs ignore players unless directly addressed or interacted with, in which case they might have a few random things to say before going on their way. NPCs cannot be deterred from their paths and if grabbed or otherwise harassed the system will harmlessly repel a player away from them unless picking one up or similar is part of a quest. In short, interfering with an NPC's routine is basically impossible and fruitless.<br /> <br /> Quest NPCs are different. They may loudly proclaim some woe when a player is walking by, or even directly beseech someone for help or otherwise try to draw a player's interest. However it'll be a pretty obvious pitch, they won't press beyond the initial alert and so on. Such NPCs can be engaged in conversation, typically with phrases like 'tell me about your problems.' CARDINAL is fairly good at figuring out the intent behind what a player is asking and the NPCs are pretty responsive within the context of the quest. However, it's on the player to ask them intelligent questions. The NPCs often ignore speech that is meaningless to them, or give a quizzical head tilt. They explicitly ignore any out-of-character terminology like MMORPG jargon or RL stuff, or 'hear' it as something appropriate for their lore.<br /> <br /> A good RL example of how NPCs behave can be found in games like Fallout 3/4 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.<br /> <br /> Certain NPCs for very special big quests that are given much more attention by CARDINAL might be managed directly and constantly updated with dynamically generated content on the spot, responding to questions and situations extremely intelligently as they occur. This is a rarity for most games, but when directed to put its full storytelling power and generative ability to use, CARDINAL is capable of some surprising plot twists and developments. An administrator is UNWISE to let it run unchecked, because without restrictions it will not make preserving the game's world and story for the long term a priority. It may very well think an armageddon plot is called for if the right in-character setting elements are coming into play, for instance.<br /> <br /> === MEMORIAL - The Monument of Life ===<br /> The Seed has a half-buried feature within its content generation. Activated by default (though it can be disabled) it causes the PC names, dates, and causes of death recorded by the Sword Art Online CARDINAL to be represented throughout the world in as unobtrusive a manner as possible. They may appear written on gravestones in an UNDEAD CEMETERY region, or in graffiti for an URBAN WASTELAND, featured on cave carvings, or in other places.<br /> <br /> The inclusion of the Monument of Life data is seen by some as a tasteless or shameful reminder of horrors they'd rather forget, and by others as a homage to the players who lost their lives in Sword Art Online whose stories may not ever be heard otherwise.<br /> <br /> = Section Two A: The Game - Alfheim Online =<br /> Created by RCT Progress after they acquired Argus' assets, Alfheim Online was launched approximately a year after the SAO Incident began, showcasing the new and improved 'AmuSphere' FullDive console. It was recently liberated from RCT Progress and placed into the care of a new company called YMIR.<br /> <br /> == Setting and Geography - Alfheim ==<br /> Alfheim, or 'Elf Home,' is the land of the fairies, a fantasy world patterned after ancient myths and folklore, particularly Norse Mythology.<br /> <br /> Nine fairy races claim the territory surrounding the World Tree 'Yggdrasil,' roughly sharing the massive island-continent equally while leaving about a tenth in the center around the tree as Neutral territory. The capital cities are all roughly equidistant from the center, each situated on coastal territories and stuck between two neighboring territories. In short, Alfheim's racial borders are organized much like the face of a clock.<br /> <br /> The southern zones are deserts and rocky mountains inhabited by the Salamanders and the Imps respectively. The Southwest is Sylph territory, mostly grasslands and massive forests. The West is Cait Sith territory, savannahs and more grasslands. The Northwest is simple grasslands and a bit of tundra, where the Puca live. The far north is a land of ice and snow that the Gnomes and Leprechauns call home. The Northeast is Spriggan territory, full of forests and ancient ruins. The East, finally, is wetlands, marshes, lakes and rivers, perfect for the water-loving Undines. Each race's territory is littered with dozens of small towns and villages, in addition to their massive capital cities.<br /> <br /> A mountain range seperates the outer rim territories from the inner zone where Yggdrasil sits in Alfheim's center. The World Tree rises high into the heavens, reaching the clouds. Its trunk is as thick as any capital city is wide, and its branches spread out into a generous canopy of green leaves throughout and above the clouds. Curled up within the safety of a half-exposed root is Aurun, the trade capital - neutral territory for all races. Atop the World Tree, supported by its boughs, Yggdrasil City is the shining jewel of Alfheim, the home to enlightened fairies who've gained the power of ALF-hood.<br /> <br /> === Jotunheim===<br /> Directly below Alfheim is the cavernous, dark and gloomy Jotunheim, a land of ice and snow populated by the great and terrifying 'Evil God' class monsters. Enormous, troll-like giants make up half the population of such beings, while animal-types of various sorts make up another. Compared to Alfheim, Jotunheim is very barren - the frozen wastes are home to precious few shelters, with no towns or cities. (There are RUINS, but nothing serviceable as anything besides a hangout.) There are no save crystals or warp points. There are entrances to it at each cardinal direction of Alfheim, with another in a certain building in Aurun. A few unique monsters roaming the plains around the world tree (in particular, one that disguises itself as a whole town) also can send players to Jotunheim.<br /> <br /> The stars of Jotunheim are actually icy stalactites, and the great roots of the world tree extend down past the roof, encased in ice and housing a great palace that nobody's yet found a way to reach - for flight is impossible here, even for Imps. All fairy wings wither immediately upon entry.<br /> <br /> The Evil Gods of Jotunheim are all boss-type monsters designed to be hunted by large raid groups employing every trick in the book for their rare loot - they're way more than most players can hope to handle by themselves no matter their skill or gear.<br /> <br /> Jotunheim is end-game content, and its rare crafting materials are required for Ancient-category gear.<br /> <br /> === Floating Castle Aincrad===<br /> Once the setting of 'death game' Sword Art Online, Floating Castle Aincrad (named such as short for 'an incarnating radius') is a majestic airborne fortress of immense proportions. From the outside, Aincrad appears as a roughly conical floating mountain of black-grey stone and metal, layers and layers stacked together and tapering near the top, whereupon a glorious and great Red Jade Palace crowns the structure. Carved stone protrusions jut from its base, each housing an enormous obelisk shaped like a straight sword pointed skyward. At night, the whole castle takes on an ethereal and luxurious golden glow, lit like a jewel of the heavens.<br /> <br /> Aincrad lazily orbits the World Tree, accessible to any Fairy brave enough to soar to such heights - or take Yggdrasil City's teleport gate.<br /> <br /> Floating Castle Aincrad has one hundred floors, the last being the Red Jade Palace. Each below it is a world unto itself, though the tapered structure means the lowest floors are the biggest ones. As the bottom floor has a 10km diameter, it's 78 square kilometers of amazing fantasy realm, a little less on floor two, and so on. Enormous pillars sparsely populate each floor, providing structural support for the floors above. Each floor enjoys roughly 100 meters of clear skies open to the air on its edges, although floors not yet unlocked are barred off by impassable grating. The Red Jade Palace cannot be approached at all - a repulsive force gently pushes away any who get too close without earning the right via Aincrad's trials.<br /> <br /> Each Floor has a different theme with enemies and towns to match: Lava world, ice world, tree world, lake world, frog world, insect world, flower world, undead world, and so on - many with tons of stories to tell and heroics to participate in. Each also sports at least one wondrous central city choc full of merchants, inns, stores, restaurants, as well as plenty of houses and workshops for sale or rent. They're luxurious and fantastic, to the point where background music is provided via NPC orchestras spread across town. Each floor usually has many small towns spread out about 2 to 8 kilometers from each other (depending on the terrain,) but none really challenge said floor's central city in sheer grandeur. Most are humble farming village sorts, with the occasional centers of trade or odd enterprise (mining towns, lake towns, etc.) Naturally, all of the cities follow the floor's theme: on the forest floor, the cities are constructed within or atop enormous trees; for the insect floor, enormous insect mounds with windows suffice for many buildings. All towns and cities have a Teleport Gate in their main plaza, and when one player discovers and unlocks a Teleport Gate, all other players may use it as well.<br /> <br /> Dungeons are everywhere in Aincrad: they're carved into the ground between floors, beneath mountains, within old fortresses, or so on, and some have respawning bosses. All are dwarfed by the true labyrinths that bar the way to the next floor up. These are always carved into one of the massive pillars, and have between 6 and 20-some floors depending on headroom and inner construction. Unique boss monsters await challengers who'd seek to ascend to the next floor. These boss monsters are all end-game challenges, and the first group to defeat one gains fame and unique loot - the names of up to 7 party leaders (or 7 members of a single party, if not a raid group) who defeat a boss are recorded on the Monument of Swordsmen in Floor 1's Black Iron Castle, and bosses drop unique loot when they're first defeated. Differing from the original Aincrad, these bosses DO respawn (or are sometimes replaced with lesser bosses) and are worth re-challenging for quality loot and entertainment, but it pales compared to being the first victors.<br /> <br /> Upon defeating a floor boss, after two hours or immediately if a player reaches the Teleport Gate in the next floor's central city - the floor becomes linked to all the others through the Teleport Gates.<br /> <br /> Floating Castle Aincrad of Alfheim Online slightly differs from SAO's - many more enemies roam its lands, and now skies as well. Enemies are much harder than before, as the whole castle is now geared as high-tiered, end-game content and a proving grounds for the best of the best. It is also the only place where humans dwell - the Alfheim Online mythos regards Aincrad as a sort of Midgard, with NPCs occasionally referring to it as such. Human NPCs dominate Aincrad's social structures, though a few Fairy NPCs can be found here and there within Aincrad and a few Humans occasionally elsewhere since its inclusion.<br /> <br /> == NPCs==<br /> Alfheim Online's NPCs set the standard for how Seed NPCs behave, so see above for most of the details on NPC behavior.<br /> <br /> Most NPCs in Alfheim proper are Fairies, and most in Aincrad are Humans. They fulfill all mundane roles and needs of the world, everything from humble villagers to smiths and shopowners, waitresses and trainers. NPCs sell only the basics, however - after a point, player-made goods and services hugely eclipse them (alongside epic loots and the odd badass quest reward.)<br /> <br /> Most NPCs have basic personalities, being 'extras' in a world intended to portray PCs as epic adventurers. Some are more unique and prominent within various towns and cities, with more dialogue and polished behaviors. Although Fairy NPCs are indistinguishable from a player by pure appearance, examine windows reveal the truth in a flash. NPCs offering Quests will also have hovering yellow exclamation mark above their heads. 'Is something troubling you?' is a pretty standard way to initiate quests.<br /> <br /> NPCs often wander within set zones, and cannot be harmed (although those which join players on Quests may, though 'dying' sometimes is regarded as temporary incapacitation of the NPC is crucial and there aren't story paths that cover them dying - or, in the case of Fairy NPCs, death turns the NPC into a Remain Light) and the system prevents players from interfering with this too much. Attempting to shove NPCs around triggers a harassment warning, repulsing players with a harmless zap and giving an error.<br /> <br /> == Player Housing, Economy, and Amenities==<br /> Much of Alfheim's economy depends on a complicated mesh of player interactions. Players with gathering skills will locate minerals, wood, food, and other base ingredients. Crafters will turn this into usable goods. Warriors and other types will use these goods, and bring strange new finds and unidentified goods to players with appraisal skills. Money enters the system when it's generated by quest loot and monster drops, and it leaves it through NPC services like binding to a new respawn point. Virtually all the best goods and services must be provided by players, and player economy drives the slow growth and mutation of in-game towns and cities, with each race's political systems able to spend money on building projects and similar.<br /> <br /> The greatest appeal of this system is the ability to rent rooms or buildings, or even purchase plots of land and construct housing, though anything past renting an inn room requires exorbitant expenditures. Many players purchase buildings within cities to then use as shops and/or virtual homes, which must be maintained with periodic rent or taxes. Rented rooms - or pre-established buildings for purchase - evict their dwellers (and any belongings) who default on this upkeep, while those owned and constructed purely by a player will degrade and be destroyed if not renewed. These places make excellent and secure storage areas.<br /> <br /> Players can extend or restrict various virtual estate priveleges to others via a thoroughly comprehensive white/blacklist system.<br /> <br /> Virtual food and drink doesn't do a thing for a player when consumed, but it does taste good, stems off REAL hunger and thirst (for a time, anyways) but not the need for nourishment, and most importantly sometimes provides buffs.<br /> <br /> Although Alfheim (and Aincrad) are fantasy settings, mundane amenities and utilities purposefully resemble modern reality for player convenience. Lightswitches might look a little different for instance (often magic crystal panels on a wall) but do the same thing, triggering lights lit by some cheap and boundless oil or magic power or whatever. Aesthetically wood-fired stoves have digital temperature controls and timers. Indoor plumbing is also a thing even when it makes no sense for it to be... except when it isn't. (Basically, whenever a player is expected to enjoy amenities, they are there and work.)<br /> <br /> === Monsters===<br /> Monsters is a broad term that covers all kinds of Enemy NPCs. Most are random 'spawns' strewn throughout the lands between towns and cities. 'Spawns' are usually about 30 to 60 meters apart, but sometimes they gather in large numbers. Defeat a monster, and another will soon 'pop'(ulate) into the zone again, aka respawn.<br /> <br /> Monsters are simple beings, usually violent animals matching the local ecology in some superficial fashion but taken to fantastic proportions. Some represent 'sapient' races in antagonistic roles, like bandits or pirates. Sometimes a quest NPC BECOMES an Enemy as part of a quest event.<br /> <br /> Enemy AI is very straightforward. Each enemy has a range of possible actions that it can perform, and it calculates which to use based on a mixture of randomization and situational awareness for a variety of factors (distance to opponents, location of opponents, how much health it has, etc). This makes them somewhat predictable to experienced players.<br /> <br /> === Dungeons===<br /> Dungeons are, very simply, Danger Zones, usually framed as fortresses, caves, and the like. Most are full of traps and tougher-than-average enemies, but are full of awesome loot and treasure chests and sometimes bosses. Dungeons are designed with parties in mind, but can often be solo'd if a player knows what they're doing.<br /> <br /> === Bosses===<br /> Bosses are, put simply, very powerful Enemies. More specifically, bosses are typically epic creatures meant to be tackled by either parties (7 players) or even whole raid groups (49 players). They have phenomenal firepower and defense, making the use of healing, buffs, debuffs, and coordinated tactics a downright necessity. Boss fights tend to be prolonged and drawn out, exhausting endeavors for even the most experienced of players.<br /> <br /> Bosses use the same kinds of AI as normal Monsters, but are often armed with unique abilities and special moves, or even transform/skillset change midfight. Defeating them is as much an exercise of brute force as it is learning their patterns to counter and exploit them.<br /> <br /> Bosses usually spawn for certain repeatable quests, and drop really cool loot.<br /> <br /> == Player Characters, Chargen, Builds ==<br /> Upon first login users are brought to a circular room with a virtual keyboard and configuration screen to create a character, guided by an AI voice. Gender is set as the player's gender - whatever the FullDive device reports. (You'd have to fool the device to crossplay, and the results would feel very weird.) Avatar appearances are randomized on creation within an aesthetically appropriate pattern for that race, with customization available for a small fee.<br /> <br /> Note: Character names MUST be pronounceable in Japanese, English, or proto-Germanic style speaking! Leetspeak and bizarre unpronounceable characters aren't acceptable. English and Japanese fonts only.<br /> <br /> === Races and Build Types===<br /> Nine different sub-types of Fairies dominate Alfheim, each race has its own color scheme, wing appearance, hometown, and specialties!<br /> <br /> ==== Light Races====<br /> The Light races have a lowish base Strength but their light bodies possess insane Agility. The Light races can also wall-Run!<br /> <br /> CAIT SITH: Yellow. Recognizable for feline ears and tails, Cait Siths have impressive bonuses to eyesight and overall Intelligence. Their specialty is Beast Taming.<br /> * It does take some practice for a player to control the tail, since humans don't actually have one. And Cait Sith players are in for a surprise when the tail ends up pulled - it feels freaking weird and plain wrong.<br /> <br /> SPRIGGAN: Black. Treasure hunters and masters of illusion magic, Spriggans have bonuses relevant to dungeon crawling for spotting traps and locating hidden treasures.<br /> <br /> SYLPH: Green. These mighty wind magic masters are considered the fastest of the races, and have phenomenal hearing. Their flight is a good twenty percent or so faster than any other race.<br /> <br /> UNDINE: Blue. The aquatic Undines are masters of water and healing magics.<br /> <br /> IMP: Purple. The Fairies of the Night, Imps have natural night vision and the unique ability to fly while indoors - until their flight timers run out and their wings need rest.<br /> <br /> ==== Medium Races====<br /> The Medium weight class races have higher base Strength, exchanged for being heavier so they find it harder to be speedy.<br /> <br /> LEPRECHAUN: White. Skilled smiths and craftsmen, the Leprechauns are easily identified by the slightly mechanical aesthetics their wings display.<br /> <br /> PUCA: Silver. Masters of buffing and debuffing through mystical music.<br /> <br /> ==== Heavy Races====<br /> The Heavy races have the greatest Strength but are also the slowest.<br /> <br /> GNOME: Brown. The largest of the races, the stocky Gnomes gain bonuses to the Mining Skills and Earth, and their raw stamina exceeds all others.<br /> <br /> SALAMANDER: Red. Physically strong and gaining major bonuses to Fire magic, Salamanders are great at straightforward military might.<br /> <br /> === Stats, Skill Slots, and Gear===<br /> Alfheim Online is level-less - avatars don't gain levels via experience. Their HP and MP ranges are under a thousand and only gradually shift up or down based on builds. Stats and build are purely a matter of Race, Skills, and Gear. Characters grow only by leveling Skills to gain new abilities, access to better equipment, new spells, and so on. Each Race has a set Strength and Weight. Heavy races favor heavy equipment while light ones favor light gear loads and speed, but these are simply 'optimal' loadouts - high enough Skills and other bonuses can turn a Sylph into a pretty effective tank, for instance. (The corresponding Gnome might be 15-25% better as one though, come endgame.)<br /> <br /> Characters have 12 slots with which to learn Skills, which covers everything from what gear they can equip ('One Handed Swords', 'Heavy Metal Armor', 'Boomerang', 'Medium Shield', etc) to benefits to physical feats and senses ('Acrobatics,' 'Running,' 'Night Vision') to Crafting ('Slash Weapon Forging,' 'Metal Armor Forging,' 'Carpentry' etc) and dozens of other things. These begin at 1 and raise to 1000 as they're used, at which point they're Mastered - gaining a slight bonus on top of the advantages of being at 1000. Growth is slow, though. New characters begin with just One Handed Swords and their race's specific Magic specialty. (Darkness Magic for Imps, Illusion for Spriggans, etc.)<br /> <br /> Most skills can be trained from the menu (by assigning the listed skill into a slot) or by finding a trainer in town to set you on the path. Some skills, called 'Extra Skills,' are unlocked via quests or any amount of odd actions. Trained Skills can be deleted at any time to clear up a Slot, and replaced with new ones.<br /> <br /> Skills affect hidden Stats, adding modifiers to the racial static values. For instance, mastering Battle Healing can give a small bonus to maximum HP, while having One-Handed Swords increases Strength.<br /> <br /> Gear requirements are based on Skills. Trying to use Gear you're not ready for results in unwieldy weaponry, over-encumbering armor (that doesn't provide any bonuses), and similar scenarios. It's rarely worth trying to use something you're not ready for. Light races can equip Heavy gear, but need much higher Skills to do so.<br /> <br /> Gear must be equipped to various 'slots,' such as left hand weapon/shield, right hand weapon/shield, right hand ring, right shoulder, shirt, pants, coat, headgear, and so on. Gear cannot be stacked.<br /> <br /> ==== Canon Skills====<br /> Skills that exist canonly are listed below, to aid with OC creation. This is all of the OOCly known skills, with some others thrown in from extrapolation, and doesn't cover EVERYTHING that actually exists in the game. It should be plenty useful for further extrapolation though.Want to add some to this list? Get in touch with castmates!<br /> <br /> WEAPON SKILLS- The higher a weapon skill is, the better weapons can be equipped. (note: there's plenty more that are seen but never directly mentioned, like one-handed spears and two-handed heavy hammers.)<br /> &lt;One Handed Sword&gt;<br /> &lt;One Handed Short Sword&gt;<br /> &lt;One Handed Dagger&gt;<br /> &lt;One Handed War Hammer&gt;<br /> &lt;One Handed Rapier&gt;<br /> &lt;One Handed Curved Blade&gt;<br /> &lt;Katana&gt;<br /> &lt;Two Handed Assault Spear&gt;<br /> &lt;Two Handed Heavy Axe&gt;<br /> &lt;Martial Arts&gt;<br /> &lt;Hand-to-Hand Combat&gt;<br /> &lt;Knife Throwing&gt;<br /> &lt;Boomerang&gt;<br /> &lt;Chakram&gt;<br /> &lt;Longbow&gt;<br /> <br /> ARMOR SKILLS- Allows equipping of various kinds of equipment, increasing protection offered and reducing encumbrance.<br /> &lt;Leather Equipment&gt;<br /> &lt;Light Metal Equipment&gt;<br /> &lt;Heavy Metal Equipment&gt;<br /> &lt;Light Shield Equipment&gt;<br /> &lt;Heavy Shield Equipment&gt;<br /> <br /> CRAFTING SKILLS- Used to create, maintain, and improve equipment.<br /> &lt;Slash Weapon Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Thrust Weapon Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Blunt Weapon Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Pierce Weapon Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Light Metal Armor Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Heavy Metal Armor Forging&gt;<br /> &lt;Metal Equipment Repairing&gt;<br /> &lt;Sewing&gt;<br /> &lt;Cooking&gt;<br /> &lt;Medicine Mixing&gt; - Also covers poisons.<br /> <br /> REFINING SKILLS- used to refine and process raw materials gathered in the field into base materials for crafting.<br /> &lt;Metal Refining&gt;<br /> (There are surely many more than this.)<br /> <br /> MAGIC SKILLS- Grants Words of Power.<br /> &lt;Wind Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Water Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Fire Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Earth Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Light Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Darkness Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Illusion Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Sound Magic&gt;<br /> &lt;Holy Magic&gt;<br /> <br /> SUPPORT SKILLS-<br /> &lt;Parry&gt; - Allows blocking powerful attacks using a weapon instead of a shield, lowers (and can even negate) penalties and damage taken from the impact.<br /> &lt;Battle Healing&gt; - Bestows auto-regen.<br /> &lt;Acrobatics&gt; - Increases balance to lower chances of knockdown, increases jumping height and aerial mobility.<br /> &lt;Mount&gt; - Lets you skillfully control mounts like horses.<br /> &lt;Sprinting&gt; - Increases running speed beyond that granted by just Agility.<br /> &lt;Searching&gt; - Expands awareness range to show more distant mobs and players, and counters Hiding. Indicators appear from further away, from behind obstacles, etc.<br /> &lt;Tracking&gt; - Branching from &lt;Searching&gt;, allows tracking of players and mobs by showing recent footprints as a path to follow. How far back they go depends on skill.<br /> &lt;X-Ray Vision&gt; - Branching from &lt;Searching&gt;, focusing on detected entities behind an obstacle. Shows what they are in much greater detail.<br /> &lt;Night Vision&gt; - Branching from &lt;Searching&gt;, negates vision penalties from darkness.<br /> &lt;Hiding&gt; - Reduces chances of being detected to avoid player and monster detection by blending in with the background like a chameleon. Has no effect on detection that relies on senses other than sight, such as scent.<br /> &lt;Listening&gt; - Increases detection skills by picking up fainter and fainter sounds as skill increases. Can be used for espionage, such as hearing through doors.<br /> &lt;Extended Weight Limit&gt; - Increases inventory storage space. Trained by walking around with a very full inventory a lot.<br /> &lt;Emergency Recovery&gt; - Lowers the duration of Status ailments like Stun, Stumble, and Poison. Effectiveness increases at low HP.<br /> &lt;Sales Negotiation&gt; - Better prices when selling things to NPCs.<br /> &lt;Purchase Negotiation&gt; - Better prices when buying things from NPCs.<br /> &lt;Equipment Appraisal&gt; - Lets one identify, scan, and analyze the properties of equipment.<br /> &lt;Tools Appraisal&gt; - Lets one identify, scan, and analyze the properties of tools.<br /> &lt;Fishing&gt; - Does this really need explanation? Higher ranks means better fish from more difficult lakes.<br /> &lt;Treasure Hunting&gt; - Increases drop rates, including max Yrd gained from battles and chests. In Wander Mode, can manifest as strange turns of luck finding things.<br /> <br /> PET SKILLS- used to support a familiar for those who use them. ONLY LEARNABLE BY CAIT SITHS<br /> &lt;Beast Taming&gt; - Used to tame bigger and stronger monsters.<br /> &lt;Pet Recovery&gt; - Lowers the amount of time it takes for a slain pet to regenerate.<br /> &lt;Pet Communication&gt; - Allows more complicated orders to be given to your pet more quickly and reliably.<br /> <br /> ==== Beast Taming====<br /> Cait Sith are the only race that can develop a true rapport with monster creatures. While any race may take 'pets' by taming the harmless 'critters' spread across the land, like birds and turtles and the weakest of monsters, simply by offering them food, the Cait Sith-only Beast Taming skill's needed for anything beyond this.<br /> <br /> Beast Taming's generally used by attempting to feed monsters instead of slay them, and the higher it is the greater the monsters a player can tame. Pets are a great boon to Cait Sith players. They often possess support abilities like healing magics, status-affecting distance attacks, and the like, and many can fight directly. Pets do not count as Monsters anymore - they have yellow-green cursors, may enter towns and so on. The most stunning example of beast taming in action's definitely the Cait Sith Dragoons, a brigade of dragon riders whose mounts are even stronger than the Cait Siths themselves in many situations.<br /> <br /> A player may only have one pet out at a time. The rest are basically stored as special inventory items. A player may have at most a dozen pets stored this way. To make room for more, the only options are trading them away to others with sufficient Beast Taming skill or deleting/releasing them.<br /> <br /> Pets may be named, and left to their own devices act autonomously. They'll take the initiative to use support abilities like healing their owner or allies in a party, or debilitating enemies they're fighting. They otherwise behave much like pets, roaming around nearby and interacting with the environment based on what kind of creature it is.<br /> <br /> They are also 'intelligent' like NPCs, and so can be ordered into action - or inaction. Simple orders are best. 'Ralph, come here!' is simple, or 'Ralph, attack my enemy!' Just like with NPCs, the more abstract the order the more likely they will not understand it. The higher a player's Pet Communications skill, the more effort the system will put into parsing stranger and more specific orders. <br /> <br /> Pets CAN be killed, but unlike normal monsters their deaths are not permanent. Slain pets return to their owners' inventory, and gain a cooldown timer before they can be deployed again. The amount of time is based directly on the overall strength of the Pet (how high Beast Taming must be to control it) and reduced by the Pet Recovery skill. In general, a competetive Cait Sith player with emphasis on recovery can bring their strongest familiars out again in roughly a half-hour, but that time would be closer to 2 or 3 hours without it.<br /> <br /> Whenever a player respawns properly (not revived by magic or an item) all pet respawn timers are cleared, so they may be brought out immediately.<br /> <br /> === Controlling Avatars and Movement Speed===<br /> Avatars are controlled as naturally as walking around and breathing in reality. However, Fairy PCs are stronger, faster, and more durable than a human body in reality can ever be - right out of the box.<br /> <br /> Basic movement speeds for arms, legs, body, etc, while proportionally modified by relevant weight of equipped gear and avatar weight class, depend largely on how fast the player can command them to move - and when it comes to melee combat and combat manuevering, coordination and honed reflexes are key. While most Players move at human speeds, extremely talented and/or experienced FullDivers accelerate from human-like speeds to blurry movements few onlookers can follow. As a note, while not all Multiversal Elites will necessarily be the best at VR, most can easily grow to be better than casual players.<br /> <br /> ==== Flight====<br /> All players can summon wings of light to soar Alfheim's skies. They only appear when triggered through an attempt to fly, and are translucent, vaguely insectile constructs made of colored light. Wings only work when exposed to the skies - they are powered by heavenly light from the sun, moon, and stars, and tire after 10 minutes of flight - it's /really/ smart to land before that happens. Imps may fly indoors, but even they must keep to the 10 minute flight timer and only recuperate under heavenly light. Wings recuperate at a roughly 1:1 ratio when not in use. The hum of vibrating fairy wings sounds much like a musical instrument, and groups of different fairies flying together can almost be a kind of song.<br /> <br /> Two methods exist for controlling them:<br /> <br /> Option One- ASSIST CONTROLLER<br /> Extend your left hand and make a gripping motion, and the Assist Controller appears. Strongly resembling a Wii Nunchuk, the ergonomic joystick = button controls direction and acceleration. Tilting the controller about controls angles, and so on. Assisted flight can't manage any tricky or advanced manuevers, and tops out at about 70 percent of the max speed attainable through Voluntary Flight.<br /> <br /> Option Two- VOLUNTARY FLIGHT<br /> Though humans don't have wings, careful manipulation of arm, shoulder, and back muscles grants fine control of the wings, though it takes a bit to manage it without making obvious shoulder motions and arm twitches that would interfere with melee combat or Spellcasting. Voluntary Flight takes practice to perfect as it is literally akin to learning to using a whole new limb, but it offers several advantages. Voluntary Flight users are able to perform intricate manuevers, keep their extra hand free, and tease out leagues more speed.<br /> <br /> === Magic===<br /> All player races can use Magic, which is considered a form of Skills and uses up Skill Slots.<br /> <br /> Spellcasting involves adopting a posture the system recognizes, and chanting out Words of Power to complete a spell. Words of Power are gained from increasing Magic Skills and sometimes other Skills. No formalized, official spell lists exist. Instead, spells are created by arranging the Words of Power to combine and define their meanings using Alfheim Online's own magical language. Targeting is handled through a combination of gesturing and focusing vision. (Current proposed target might glow in a player's sight while casting, etc, and change based on who they're focusing on.)<br /> <br /> Most spells are elemental assaults and defenses, but spells exist for every task a player can undertake, from recon to communications to stealth or crafting. Others boost speed, strength, endurance, or a variety of other things.<br /> <br /> Words of Power are based on germanic language aesthetics (keying back to Old Norse and so on), thus while some words might have meaning in one or more real languages this rarely if ever coincides with their meaning within Alfheim Online. Each Element does have its own aesthetically distinct family of Words of Power however, so Magic-savvy players can often identify spells as they're being cast.<br /> <br /> ==== Elemental Roles====<br /> The following are the focal points and generic roles of the different elements in Alfheim Online. It's worth noting that this is not what they are LIMITED to. In practice, all Elements have equal usefulness at low levels for range of utility purposes - unless stated otherwise below, ALL have various grades of attack, defense, and minor other effects (such as a basic Ice magic creating a telescope of ice to look through.) It's at the higher Skill levels where the roles of each Magic become particularly prevalent and focused.<br /> <br /> WIND: Basic Wind spells are blunt force wind blasts, air darts, and swirling barriers of wind. At higher levels 'razor wind' gales, mystic defenses like anti-magic shells, and lightning based magic are the order of the day. Wind is the most outrageously versatile of the Elements (it has quite decent stealth and many other uses), but like all Jacks of all Trades it is a master of none. Themes: Jack of All Trades, Speed, Permeation<br /> <br /> WATER: Basic Water spells include blunt force water blasts, many restorative magics be it for conditions or hp, and a number slow ticking dots. High level spells include area of effect restorative spells, ice magic like ice bullets and ice shields, and some of the most powerful dots in the game. Water Magic is mostly geared towards support, containing plenty of healing spells and crowd control effects that keep monsters or players bound or frozen in place. Themes: Healing, Crowd Control, Cold, Clarity, Pressure<br /> <br /> FIRE: Basic Fire spells include the traditional fireballs, intense heat flashes, and heat based debuffs and dots. More powerful fire effects include massive area of effect spells, the most powerful direct damage spells, and the summoning of creatures of flame. Fire Magic is mostly geared towards pure offense and offers little of anything else beyond the basics. Themes: Offense, Heat, Explosions, Destruction<br /> <br /> EARTH: Basic Earth spells include mystically flung rocks, earthen barriers or spears, and long lasting defense buffs. Higher levels spells include powerful warding effects that can affect entire raids, manipulating metal for attack and defense, and generating earthquakes and fissues. Earth Magic is primarily defensive, focused on staggering or physically redirecting or blocking opponents, terrain advantages, and toughness. Themes: Defense, Crowd Control, Terrain, Geology<br /> <br /> DARKNESS: Basic Darkness spells revolve around debuffing, using solidified darkness to attack and defend, and utility spells for things like communication, tracking, or hiding. Higher level effects allow instantaneous communication over long distances, use of powerful dark magics like curses or sacrifice, and enhanced travel speed under the cover of night. Darkness Magic is mainly focused on utility and the idea of sacrifice for impressive effects. Themes: Utility, Sacrifice, Debilitation, Chaos, Void, Nothingness.<br /> <br /> ILLUSION: Illusion Magic lacks even basic attack abilities but has numerous effects to disorient and confuse others. High level Illusion magic can be game changing as the Illusions can take on a certain amount of reality, users can transform into their illusions, or change the very nature of where they are fighting. Illusion Magic is primarily supportive, focused almost purely on manipulating the senses over tangible effects - but some Illusions are themselves so powerful as to become momentarily real. Illusion spells are extremely useful for overcoming sensory issues and changing battlefield conditions in sideways and unpredictable directions. Themes: Stealth, Confusion, Deception, Transformation<br /> <br /> SOUND: Basic Sound spells include deafening sound waves, mood altering magic such as lulling things to sleep, as well as intense sound blasts or walls of sound. Higher level sound magic can affect large crowds with these basic effects, create air shattering blasts of sound, or greatly enhancing the abilities of those they are allied with. Sound Magic is primarily supportive, focused on buffing allies with inspirational melodies and confusing enemies. Themes: Buffing, Debuffing, Crowd Control, Sonic onslaughts<br /> <br /> LIGHT: Basic Light attacks include spears of holy light and punishing rays. Light magic's roughly balanced, but slightly favors magic defense and support, with offense mostly against spirits and undead. Themes: Spirits, Radiance, Anti-Undead, Magic Barriers.<br /> <br /> === HUD, Menu, Communications, Inventory===<br /> Much like an RL MMORPG, players have HUDs. Instead of looking at a screen for it, it overlays your actual vision. There's displays for HP, MP, buffs/debuffs in the top-left corner, which expands to show those of any party members when in a party. The far right side of one's view shows a customizable shortcut bar for different tasks like view guild status, equip a weapon, configure a Skill, bring up the magic words dictionary, and view local map data.<br /> <br /> Focusing on particular players, objects, monsters, and other entities makes the system bring up further details in pop-up windows. These are very context sensitive and extremely informative, showing relevant information. Monsters show names (but not players, until they've introduced themselves or done something noteworthy to reveal their name, like challenge you in a duel), objects show stats (if your appraisal Skill's high enough), buildings show names, etc. All players and monsters have colored indicators above their heads, giving information about them in relationship to you (party, friend, guild member, neutral race, overwhelmingly powerful monster, etc.)<br /> <br /> Striking downwards with the left hand's index and middle fingers squeezed together brings up the menu. The Menu is where almost everything important's done. It contains displays and configuration data for your character (skills, equipment, magic, etc), relevant party or guild info, community features like guilds, friend lists or current race politics, the map system, game settings and configurations, and more. Players can only see their own menus, unless another player uses a button to reveal theirs.<br /> <br /> Private messages are the only form of long-distance instant communication officially speaking.<br /> <br /> The in-game inventory can store pretty much anything you can pick up unless it's a monster, player, or other common sense 'this is not an item' situation. Provided you own it, that is. (ownerless items such as rocks on the ground are immediately marked as owned by you when picked up, while dropped items take 5 minutes to lose their ownership registration.) It's extremely intelligent when bringing things out - it knows to materialize items smartly, like putting a sword in its matching scabbard, and responds to gestures about where and how to materialize it, etc.<br /> <br /> === Crafting===<br /> Crafting Skills are spread across every possible kind of item used in the game. Common ones Slash Weapon Forging (most swords), Thrust Weapon Forging (spears, rapiers), Blunt Weapon Forging (Hammers, maces, staves), Ranged Weapon Forging (Bows, Crossbows, throwing knives), Light Metal Armor Forging, Heavy Metal Armor Forging, Tailoring (clothing, sometimes protective but often just ornamental), Cooking (actually GOOD tasting food, some of which buffs) and so on. Craftmaster NPCs in towns teach these Skills, and also sell basic tools and supplies needed for starting crafting recipes.<br /> <br /> Crafting requires many factors working together for best effect. Skill, tool quality, material quality, and (depending on the skill) workshop quality, and luck, all must come together for anything great to be had. This makes crafting a major investment in time and money, especially since the most successful crafters often dedicate over half of their Skill slots just to crafting. Just dabbling in it rarely gets anyone anywhere.<br /> <br /> Using Smithing as an example, this article will attempt to explain roughly how crafting works.<br /> <br /> John decides to be a smith, so he goes to learn Slash Weapon Forging to make some swords and knives to start off with. He wants to simply buy raw materials (ore, instead of ingots) and refine it himself, so he also takes Metal Refining. John can only afford a Portable Furnace and simple tools, good for lower quality metals and simply making knives and one-handed swords.<br /> <br /> Selecting some Copper and Tin ores of low quality he bought from a miner, John brings up his Metal Refining in the Skills Menu and chooses to create 'Bronze Ingots,' and has a moment to pick some of the parameters of what quality metal he's going for - purity, hardness, and other qualities. At his low Skill level however, he only has a few Customization Points to spend on it. He places the Copper and Tin ores in the Portable Furnace and System Assist takes over, showing a progress bar. When it's complete, the Furnace opens to reveal his Bronze Ingot - cool enough to touch against all sense, but still likely steaming hot.<br /> <br /> Now he has a Bronze Ingot. He can make a Dagger. This requires a strip of Leather for the grip, which he purchases from a Tanner player for a few Yrd. Bringing up his Portable Furnace (which doubles as a shitty anvil) again, he chooses to make a 'basic Dagger.' (Crafting is arranged by category, 'Dagger' is the option, 'Bronze Dagger' is just the result because he's using Bronze!) The material he's using is Bronze, low class but worthy enough for a newbie.<br /> <br /> John picks his parameters by spending from his Customization Points. He wants this sword to focus on speed, requiring it to be light and thin. Durability suffers as a result, though! After he's decided the parameters, he selects 'Craft' in his crafting window and System Assist once again takes over his body. The progress bar begins again, as his body heats the ingot in the furnace using tongs, pulls it out, and starts hammering at it. The ingot glows after eight or so swings and the progress bar fills, the shape filling out and its final appearance decided somewhat randomly based on the chosen length and system. Shittastic quality metals like bronze appear generic... and uninteresting.<br /> <br /> Later on, John has increased his Skill to 500-600! Spending several hundred thousand Col he purchases a tiny workshop with a waterwheel and barely enough room for shelving he similarly custom ordered from a carpenter player and equips a Water Wheel to the house using the home control menus.. luckily, this house is right on a river! This water wheeld rives the bellows of his new high quality forge. This new one's suitable to working on all kinds of higher grade materials! It's also hellaciously expensive, but that's what you get. On the other hand, John is now so high leveled in Slash Weapon Forging that if he went back and made a Dagger out of Bronze, his new pool of Customization Points lets him optimize the dagger to an even greater degree...<br /> <br /> ... but, even so, Bronze is a shitty metal compared to what he can use now, and he quickly hits the ceiling of what that metal can make. Using more high quality materials like Crystal, Adamantite and Mythril, he makes weapons with much more unique appearances and special names. On rare occasion the RNG creates something -especially- grand and high quality, little 'masterpieces.' (In SAO, Kirito's Dark Repulser is one such 'masterpiece.')<br /> <br /> Clothes, Meals, everything works off of design blueprints that the players fill out with ingredients of their choice. A coat might be made of dragon leather or cotton but uses the same base design. A 'Stew' could be made with Vegetables or Meat for instance, but this is just determined by 'Main Ingredient' material slot and 'extra ingredient' slots. Advanced customization options exist for every type of Crafting Skill based on the Skill. Cooking gives control of ingredient ratios, for instance, which Asuna used to reproduce Soy Sauce with Aincrad ingredients.<br /> <br /> Customization also includes magical enchantments, using extra items, materials, sigils, and all kinds of other add-ons to give special abilities to creations.<br /> <br /> LEPRECHAUNS: Leprechauns have a much higher chance of creating stunning, high quality works, and also have access to more top-level designs, particularly when it comes to Ancient tier and similar areas. They have a bigger variety of enchantments and other options available during crafting, and have better chances overall at being awesome with it.<br /> <br /> ==== Repairing====<br /> Repairing is much like crafting anew, though it uses a different Skill. Though not all items can be repaired (Food cannot, obviously) things like clothing, armor, weapons, and tools will eventually need it.<br /> <br /> Repairing may require some materials, and special tools. It is not always represented in a fashion that would make sense, but usually tries to. For instance, grinding wheels may be used to sharpen and polish weapons while also repairing them as part of the animation.<br /> <br /> High skills are needed to repair high quality/tier items.<br /> <br /> ==== Item Enhancement====<br /> Item Enhancement is very similar to crafting anew. Using the appropriate Skill for that kind of item, the Crafter reworks the item using more base materials and enhancement materials. The more and more an Item has been upgraded, up to its maximum possible attempts, the harder and harder it is to get it right again and add more points on. Enhancement Materials used in the effort offset the chance of failure greatly, but over time the cost of bringing a weapon to its full power may vastly outstrip the cost of getting it in the first place, so this often isn't worth it except for top tier gear - where the risk is even greater, on the other hand. For each attempt, one chosen parameter is increased at a time. As an example, for swords the available parameters are: Sharpness, Heaviness, Durability.<br /> <br /> On Success, the item's name is appended with a =#, such as =2 if it has been successfully improved twice. Failure, however, drops an enhanced parameter by one, bottoming out at =0 (how it was originally.) Each item, too, can only undergo a set number of enhancement attempts, regardless of what it ends up with. If an item can only be enhanced 8 times, for instance, and it succeeds four times and fails four times, the net gain is 0 - it will forever be a base weapon, and that was a lot of time and materials wasted.<br /> <br /> ==== Materials====<br /> Crafting Materials are items like any other, but form an important part of the player economy. Some are gathered from 'node' like regions spread across Alfheim in many areas. Bottling water from mystic springs, harvesting wild fruits and vegetables and berries, diving into caves and mines to mine from nodes on the walls where the mineral ore's rich, these are all examples.<br /> <br /> Others are acquired from quests, from shops (for lower quality ones anyways, used for grinding), and sometimes from hunting monsters. Monsters may drop anything from meat or bone to skin to horns and claws and stingers to just about any other body part.<br /> <br /> Materials are not uniform in quality even among the same category. For instance, one vein of 'copper ore' may not have the same qualities as another. Not every patch of Apples has the same nutritional value - some are higher quality than others, or good for different recipes and different things.<br /> <br /> The variations are endless, though they do tend to stick within certain ranges. The general properties and quality RANGE a certain kind of material can have is set, but any specific sample within it will vary. Rare and unique materials may have pre-set values or average much higher quality than lower quality parameters, and most store-bought materials are shitty.<br /> <br /> Most Materials are used for straightforward crafting, but others - most of them monster drops - are used to increase the chances of Item Enhancement succeeding. In canon, Asuna needed about a dozen giant wasp stingers to improve her Wind Fleuret with a good chance of success.<br /> <br /> As in the Crafting example, Skills are required to process and refine some kinds of materials. metal Ore must be refined and cast into ingots, Skin must be tanned and cured into leather, and so on. Overall, anything used for player equipment will have more costly and involved steps than something like cooking.<br /> <br /> === Combat, Damage, and Resurrection===<br /> Shifting from wandering around to stabbing something is literally as simple as just stabbing that thing. Everything has HP (except system fixtures such as buildings, trees, the ground, etc) and can be assaulted.<br /> <br /> The damage calculation compares several things: race strength, impact speed, weapon power, elemental matchups, and how clean the hit was, against the victim's defense skills and armor, etc (an insufficient Strength = Parry combo, for instance, will negate some damage but not perfectly nullify it all.) Mundane attacks are parsed on the fly by the system, their type determined by the weapon's properties and the way it was used and struck between four types of attacks: Thrust, Slash, Pierce and Blunt, which have different effects at breaking different guards, armors, and monster types.<br /> <br /> Digital bodies don't really react 'normally' when struck. While weak attacks might leave a weapon embedded in virtual flesh, strong ones to centers of mass often 'pass clean through,' leaving glowing gashes that soon fade in their wake - but inflict damage all the same. Extremities CAN be severed, inflicting a temporary Amputation status effect (the limb, hand, etc, will regrow in a couple of minutes.) Embedded weapons inflict Piercing damage over time.<br /> <br /> For players, this damage isn't super painful - pain intensity's capped at a fairly low level. At worst it's just a momentary sharp buzz sensation, enough to communicate whether a hit's occured. NPCs sometimes ACT like they are in pain when struck, but who knows what it really means to them.<br /> <br /> The damage engine is extremely advanced. Where things like the weapon damage formulas don't hold sway, it defaults to common sense laws of physics, analyzing kinetic energy, location of injury, severity of environmental hazard, or other factors into appropriate damage that's contested by applicable armor and other defensive measures.<br /> <br /> Upon death, avatars become Remain Lights - pyres of colored flame specific to their race. These last for one minute, and during this time the player can still perceive events happening around them. Field resurrections through healing magic or items (World Tree Dew) must target a Remain Light. If no resurrection is performed, they respawn as soon as the timer runs out at their last chosen Save Crystal. A Save Crystal exists in all major towns, and players start out bound to their race's hometown Save Crystal. Changing bindings costs Yrd, however.<br /> <br /> There is a Death Penalty, however. In general, Death Penalty resets all progress leveling a single skill back to nothing, with harsher penalties existing for using certain self-destruct moves and other circumstances. Beyond that, being felled in a PK battle nets the victor 30 percent of a player's value in non-equipment items and Yrd. In party vs party fights, a whole party must be wiped out for the victor to gain these spoils, but in the meantime any players killed still lose their items: they're transferred to surviving party members first.<br /> <br /> ==== Loot====<br /> Upon slaying monsters or other players, a window pops up showing gained Yrd, while loot is automatically placed in a player's inventory. In groups, distribution systems include all the normal methods that a group leader can decide upon - dice rolls, leader chooses, random distribution, and so on.<br /> <br /> ==== Status Effects====<br /> Many enemy skills and different situations can invite status effects. Positive ones are hard to come by, but sometimes are granted by equipment or eating foods, and tend to be simple stat bonuses, luck bonuses, resistance to a negative status effect, and so on. Negative ones include:<br /> <br /> Delay - Slows the movements of the affected player.<br /> <br /> Tumble - Disrupts the standing balance of the affected player and knocks them over.<br /> <br /> Paralysis - Prevents movement of any sort.<br /> <br /> Poison - HP slowly drains.<br /> <br /> Hate - Attracts enemy attention, causing monsters to focus their attacks on whoever has this status effect. It's gained by being the person antagonizing the monster the most - typically its predominant attacker in a group.<br /> <br /> Amputation - A negative status that prevents use of a limb (and keeps it from being rendered) caused specifically by limb loss (usually a result of taking a powerful sword skill to the arm, and so on.) Ends in 3 minutes, at which point the affected limb regenerates.<br /> <br /> === Sword Skills===<br /> Originally a Sword Art Online exclusive, Alfheim Online recently incorporated Sword Skills, taking them all but wholesale as they were.<br /> <br /> Sword Skills are basically weapon techniques, unlocked as a Weapon Skill increases. Using them involves adopting and holding a specific posture while wielding the right weapon. Do it right, the weapon will soon glow a color unique to the skill. Beginning the first motion of a Sword Skill launches it. At this point, SYSTEM ASSIST takes over controlling the avatar, triggering whatever amazingly fast and coordinated, powerful strike(s) the Sword Skill is supposed to do. Any other motion will cancel activation.<br /> <br /> Once begun, Sword Skills are impossible to safely stop. Fighting the motion - or encountering an impossibly tough resistance (such as another Sword Skill) breaks the animation, inflicting a moment of stun time. After being used, Sword Skills need several seconds to a few minutes of cooldown before they can be used again - single strike attacks that form the bread and butter of attack styles rarely have any at all.<br /> <br /> While SAO's Sword Skills were simple physical blows, Alfheim Online's implementation of Sword Skills are Elemental attacks, imbuing strikes with magical might to inflict flame damage, ice damage, wind damage, etc. Magic resistances can apply, although only the weapon and weapon skills are used for determing damage - you don't have to have any elemental magic at all to use a powerful Elemental Sword Skill to its fullest. Sword Skills have different balances of how much damage is caused by magic vs physical impact, such as 25 percent physical and 75 percent fire for one assault.<br /> <br /> Despite the name, Sword Skills exist for all weapons (even martial arts, which is unarmed). Starting Sword Skills are very basic, such as thrusts or single slashes. Advanced ones may even reach around ten blows in a row!<br /> <br /> Sword Skills can be browsed and studied in the menu, as well as enabled or disabled (if, say, you don't like a certain Sword Skill and its activation gets in your way.)<br /> <br /> ==== Original Sword Skills====<br /> The best part about Sword Skills is the newly introduced ORIGINAL SWORD SKILLS system. Players may opt to create their own signature techniques, though this is beyond difficult.<br /> <br /> In theory, it's as simple as selecting to register a new attack, then performing the moves. However, the simple-seeming requirements for a valid skill are actually damned hard to manage. Those requirements are:<br /> <br /> 1) It must be unique. An OSS cannot be a rehash of an existing skill. The sheer variety of standard Sword Skills means that only combo attacks of 4= strikes are all but assuredly unique.<br /> <br /> 2) It must be performed at great speed comparable to an actual Sword Skill.<br /> <br /> 3) The Skill must be balanced - not mechanically, but physically. The motions must be of sound footing and balance.<br /> <br /> 4) It must be given a unique name.<br /> <br /> Requirements 1-3 combined makes registering a Sword Skill essentially require performing what is an otherwise impossible manuever WITHOUT the programmed System Assist that makes it possible. For one or two strikes (which isn't very valid design space) this is simply darned hard and a matter of endless repetition. For 4=, it's ludicrous, extremely difficult for even the best of players.<br /> <br /> If the system accepts it though, the player gets to decide the elemental balance of the attack, and from then on can generate an endless number of GRIMOIRES, items that can teach the Sword Skill to others - if they so choose.<br /> <br /> == The Grand Quest==<br /> The centric quest of Alfheim online is to become a True Fairy, an ALF, with the power of unlimited flight and access to Light Magic. This is far from easy, but the rewards are well worth it.<br /> <br /> The original quest before Ymir patched it was rather ridiculous. This is what it is now.<br /> <br /> === The Fairy Seals===<br /> The gate to Yggdrasil's grand elevator has space for 9 seals, Medallions the size of one's open palm bearing the emblem of one of the races.<br /> <br /> These Seals are generated every time the Grand Quest is cleared and spread to a random member of each race. These individuals are randomly chosen, but only from those who are rather consistent players.<br /> <br /> Bearers of Seals cannot benefit from race zone protections. Additionally...<br /> <br /> Should a Seal Bearer log out for longer than 48 hours, the Seal will be removed from their inventory and randomly reassigned to another member of its race.<br /> <br /> A Seal Bearer who spends 4 hours logged on while in a safe zone faces Seal reassignment.<br /> <br /> If a Bearer's PK'd, any Seal in their possession immediately goes to the one who delivered the killing blow regardless of whether the Bearer's in a party or the PKer's party's looting preference.<br /> <br /> === Ascension Quest===<br /> One raid group (49 players) can undertake the quest by opening the elevator's gates using the seals, causing the doors to open up to a very different elevator than normal. In here, the Guardians of the World Tree assault players as they ascend the tree from within. Breaking the cloud layer and reaching the World Tree's heart puts a player beyond the range of attack. Everyone who breaks through the clouds has won their place as a True Fairy, and after a congratulatory presentation from some quest NPCs, the quest will reset, scattering the Seals all over again.<br /> <br /> === ALF Benefits===<br /> Ascension transforms the player into an ALF variant of their race. The most obvious benefit is infinite flight - wings never tire, so long as they're exposed to heavenly light. Imps still only get 10 minutes indoors, and still, nobody may fly in Jotunheim at all. ALF PC wings keep their original appearance, but glow with a filmy white luminescence.<br /> <br /> Additionally, ALF players gain an extra, thirteenth Skill Slot for Light Magic. This special slot can ONLY be used for Light Magic. On ascension, if a PC already has Light Magic it will be moved to this slot. If they don't have it, they'll automatically learn it. ALF players discover that Light Magic has extra effects when combined with anything else, and they have a few more options than other players.<br /> <br /> ALF status isn't really that much of a 'race change.' PCs are still considered to be their parent race for race politics and keep their basic benefits.<br /> <br /> === The Reality===<br /> Seals often end up in the care of race leaders (see below) and circulated between their trusted followers on a regular basis to keep them from being randomly reassigned. Then, players who win those leaders' favor can join the groups that periodically make a run on the World Tree. In this way, the Race leaders can keep a friendly competition going while also forming an effective 'ruling council' of sorts. Player politics are a bit thing.<br /> <br /> == Community==<br /> What kind of MMORPG would Alfheim Online be without a community to work within?<br /> <br /> === Friends, Guilds, Parties===<br /> Players who become friends can send private messages to one another, see when they're on and offline, etc.<br /> <br /> Up to 7 players may participate in a party, and up to 7 parties (max 49 people) can enter a boss room at once. Raid group HUDs display aggregate average HPs and similar statistics.<br /> <br /> Guilds are elaborate groupings of sometimes hundreds of players that can define their own politics, rank structure, uniforms, and dozens of other things. They're really quite the same as any other MMORPGs.<br /> <br /> === The Great Fairy War===<br /> Put simply, the player races are political and military entities at war with one another. Each Race elects a leader every so often, who's in charge of managing the race's treasury, tax rates on towns, policies of NPC guards and investments in defenses, and numerous other things, and defining the social structure beneath them. Some players, known as 'Renegades,' stay apart from their race's politics, while some others even end up stripped of their racial rights and exiled from their hometowns. Fairy politics can be vicious.<br /> <br /> Races can take over towns and impose taxes in military conquests every so often, causing the power balance to change and granting access to more resources, and it's hardly an uncommon occurence on the borders between racial territories. Taking down another race's leader brings great rewards to the victors, essentially a ten day conquering of the entire territory combined with a massive pillaging of their treasury.<br /> <br /> === Crime in Alfheim===<br /> Crimes are offenses against other players that are within the rules of the game mechanics, but are nevertheless malicious, troublesome, disruptive, or harmful. The system works to prevent this. The Crime Prevention Code attempts to enforce a sense of ethics - for instance, preventing people from running around nude in public, and giving victims of sexual harassment the opportunity to alert GMs. Many lesser offenses will result in system warnings and possibly alert GMs. Since Crime Detection is left up to a Cardinal subroutine, it is very good at detecting what actions are and are not Crimes according to its parameters and recording them for review.<br /> <br /> Aside from political shenanigans from the race conflict, player-based crime mostly doesn't exist. Looting and PK'ing is part of the game, for instance, and so Player Killers are not 'criminals' by default, unlike in Sword Art Online.<br /> <br /> This doesn't mean that people won't think you're an asshole if you act like one, of course. It's never really considered more than a personal grievance if an instance of PVP conflict outside a town causes vendettas and the like. It's not a problem of the community, though races might decide to 'watch out for that infamous group of folk hunting our race, maybe we should pwn them and take their stuff.'<br /> <br /> One particular is touching other players outside of battle. Harmless contact like fistbumps, high-fives, grabbing someone on the shoulder isn't really an issue (unless they're of the opposite gender - and due to the gender disparity of Alfheim Online, the system is more protective of female players) but it shouldn't need to be said what kind of contact will trigger a harassment warning - sexual harassment is an extreme no-no. The victim then gets the choice of whether or not to send a report. If yes, GMs are instantly alerted as the trouble ticket crops up. Players can also choose to add players to an ignore list so the system won't raise warnings about them.<br /> <br /> === Logging out, Rest Areas, and Capital Safe Zones===<br /> Logging out in the field is Soulless - meaning, the avatar remains manifested in Alfheim for several minutes before vanishing, helpless and thoroughly PKable. Certain areas are provided for logouts to be more convenient - known as rest areas, they tend to be inn rooms, rented bedrooms, etc, though certain rooms in dungeons and other locales are also considered them.<br /> <br /> Within their capital city (such as Sylvain for Sylphs) a member of that respective race is invulnerable. Attacks are stopped by a purplish barrier - though it does let some physical force through inflicting a very disorienting knockback effect on the victim if the attacker's strong enough. Ordinary contact is fine, provided it's not enough to cause damage - in which case it's treated as an attack.<br /> <br /> The only known way to drop protection is through dueling.<br /> <br /> Monsters (unless they're pets) will not enter safe zones and treat players in them as though they don't exist. Pets enjoy the same protections as their owners.<br /> <br /> === Dueling===<br /> Dueling can be initiated at any point, though it is often done in cities and other places of relative safety. One player may challenge another, though it must be accepted by the one so challenged, and in these circumstances, any system protection to HP (such as that given by Capital Cities) is overridden. At the same time, it's impossible for other players to directly interfere as long as the duel window remains open as both are protected against others.<br /> <br /> Duels have three modes:<br /> A) Normal Mode. Fight to the finish. Unused by any sane players nowadays, because reaching 0 HP will still kill them even in a duel. It is also possible to yield, though.<br /> B) Time Limit Mode. Like the above, but with a time limit imposed - the winner will be whoever has more health at the end. Also mostly unused.<br /> C) First Strike Mode. The duel ends as soon as someone's HP reaches the halfway point, or upon registering the first clean blow. Grazes and nicks will inflict damage, but do not end the duel unless enough is inflicted to lower HP below halfway.<br /> <br /> == Import Character - From SWORD ART ONLINE==<br /> Save data between Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online uses virtually the same format.<br /> <br /> Ymir has given every Sword Art Online player the opportunity to convert their characters into Alfheim almost seamlessly. This works like so: after picking a Race, the following happens when using an imported account:<br /> <br /> APPEARANCE: SAO players can keep their SAO appearances for free (retooled to race aesthetics such as hair color changing to red for Salamanders or blue for Undines,) allow the system to randomize, or pay for customization.<br /> <br /> LEVELS AND STATS: Alfheim Online doesn't use Levels or Stats the way SAO did, its racial stats override them.<br /> <br /> SKILLS: Save for a few cases where Skills were removed from Alfheim (particularly Unique Skills) all skills map 1:1, although their specific uses and effects in ALO differ here and there.<br /> <br /> MAGIC: SAO does not have Magic, so all players start with race defaults if they have an open slot.<br /> <br /> MONEY: Col directly converts to Yrd on a 1:1 scale. If you had 1 million Col, now you have 1 million Yrd.<br /> <br /> ITEMS: Inventories do not transfer, although Pets do. All characters begin with newbie equipment.<br /> <br /> = Section Two B: Gun Gale Online=<br /> PLACEHOLDER! Are there any Sinon appers out there?<br /> <br /> = Section Three: The Reality=<br /> <br /> == Setting and Geography==<br /> Sword Art Online-1's real world is modern Earth - a bit more modern than modern. When it unified it was 2024, but now it's almost 2026 Technology is several leaps and bounds ahead, with major advancements in fields like robotics, electronics, and neurology. The first advancement to really show promise and change the way people live is the newly conquered - though hardly mastered - field of Virtual Reality.<br /> <br /> Beyond this difference, it is more or less identical to reality, save for differences in available fiction (no real source material, etc) universal to all Earths that enter the Multiverse.<br /> <br /> == SAO Case Victims Rescue Force and Aftermath==<br /> Kayaba Akihiko, development director and GM of Sword Art Online, distributed clear information regarding Sword Art Online victims to the whole world using all of his available methods to ensure that few players' lives were lost by outside interference. The NerveGear's extensive battery and a 2 hour game service disconnect grace period made hospital transference convenient. Nearly all Sword Art Online players were hospitalized shortly after the Death Game began, and treated as coma victims. They were fed and hydrated intravenuously, and all other bodily needs handled by the hospitals. All suffer from SEVERE muscle atrophy and are being rehabilitated by joint efforts between Japan's medical care and the Union.<br /> <br /> Japan's government swiftly created what it calls the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force from volunteers from other divisions. However, their ability to actually help the players beyond organizing their hospitalization was quite limited. While Argus was sued straight into bankruptcy, and all of its assets taken over by RCT Progress, the actual SAO game servers were directly watched over by the Rescue Force and carefully studied... but they were unable to beat Kayaba Akihiko's stunning deployment of military-grade encryption backed by Cardinal's extensive processing power that made it impossible to hack. They deduced the 'public keys' for decryption, gaining access to system logs, but the private key and administrator accounts that would be used with it to gain control of the server eluded them.<br /> <br /> Thankfully, with the crisis seemingly over, they have moved on to focusing on reparations. Most of the victims and/or their families have received a fairly generous settlement, and are being provided with mental care. For those of school age, Japan's government (with some help from interested and generous Union assistance) hastily assembled a special remedial school designed to accomodate for the psychological trauma that the SAO case has left most survivors with. Most suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, among other issues, and need plenty of time to deprogram themselves from their Aincrad habits and philosophies to re-enter society proper.<br /> <br /> Although the government is technically aware of what players are PKers, as the case against Argus is considered settled trials cannot be held against individual PKers, though considerable animosity's held towards them where players in the school recognize them, and while it's been forbidden to reveal who was a PKer publically, all of them have been receiving CONSIDERABLE mental help. Who knows if it will be enough...<br /> <br /> Publically and officially, the victims are being treated the utmost of care and most are expected to recover in time. Privately and unofficially, lots of people think that many victims are just bombs waiting to go off.<br /> <br /> Kayaba Akihiko was discovered brainfried in a mountain cabin far from any civilization shortly after SAO was cleared and the protections on the system came down - and the person who claimed to have been forced to care for him, Koujiro Rinko, was cleared of charges due to being implanted with an explosive device she was told would detonate if she didn't go through with it. Close examination revealed that the device was actually incapable of exploding and quite inert, but she had no way to know that.<br /> <br /> = Section Four: The Multiverse=<br /> <br /> == Unification==<br /> Though this fact is not public knowledge to SAO-1's real world and only recently discovered by governments (who are still studying this bizarre and dangerous phenomena while exploring relations with the Union,) every bit and byte of digital content hosted by SAO-1's real world maps directly to a portion of the Cyber Core. This region is not exactly physically accessible however - it's surrounded by enormous piles of dimensional turbulence and twisted space, making it nearly impossible to just up and walk into it. Even were one to do so, the vast majority of the content is not in a format that typical multiverse-goers can parse. The only regions with 'proper physics' in a fashion anyone can really use are the Virtual Reality zones, of which Alfheim Online's merely one out of thousands (though most definitely among the biggest. The majority are only a few rooms worth of data, or a small school, etc.)<br /> <br /> Incredible luck (such as being displaced by the initial Unification or random happenstance - a dimensional disturbance afterwards) or advanced navigation powers (like the ability to open wormholes or teleport through crazy strange zones) are the only ways to travel in or out discovered so far.<br /> <br /> Shortly after its discovery by the Union, specialized and secured warp gates were installed in a forgotten corner of one of the lower floors of Aincrad, allowing Elites and other authorized personnel passage.<br /> <br /> === Wander Mode===<br /> When Unification struck, a handful of VRMMO players were displaced through the dimensional remap that placed the digital world in the Cyber Core. Of them, Kirito and Asuna were the first to establish contact with the Multiverse at large. Of the few Alfheim Online players, most think it was a random glitch and ended up respawning without realizing what they stumbled upon - and haven't found any way to repeat the process yet.<br /> <br /> It's only recently become apparent just what they stumbled upon.<br /> <br /> That this is possible amazes many - even some of the Union's top scientists are baffled at the forces that allow this - but Auric VRMMO players have demonstrated the capacity to support their avatars' existences beyond the realms that define the rules of their reality in the Cyber Core. The current theory explaining it is roughly this: Because of all the time spent invested in building their virtual identities, the player's own self-image changes to incorporate the avatar, and they build up a powerful auric resonance with it. One property of the mysterious 'Aura' is that individuals with an intense Auric field - the Elites - carry some of their own reality with them. This is what allows SAO-1's Elites to travel the Multiverse. This phenomenon has been dubbed 'Wander Mode.' If a non-Elite player attempts Wander Mode, they're in for a surprise: their avatars are struck with effectively infinite environmental damage, and forced to respawn.<br /> <br /> SAO-1's real world's governments have discovered and begun studying this abnormal property, but efforts are being undertaken to cover it up (with plenty secretly wanting to exploit it.) Everyone who's able to manifest an avatar's watched by local governments for many reasons.<br /> <br /> Sadly this means that Elite players will get in boatloads of trouble for wandering around the real world. Inevitably, the cat will get out of the bag, and the governments know this, but for now it's contained and being studied.<br /> <br /> Currently, only Japan's government has access to the database of which player name maps to what real person from Sword Art Online, and Alfheim Online's account database is BEYOND secure. As such, Union SAO-1 Players are encouraged to use their handles as codenames to protect their real identities, as this knowledge could put their real bodies in serious danger.<br /> <br /> === Foreigners in VRMMOs===<br /> Denizens of the Multiverse can enter VRMMOs physically.<br /> <br /> By default, Cardinal doesn't really recognize them as players. They are registered as non-system-controlled autonomic entities (which really shouldn't BE there, but it doesn't have a clue what to make of them,) and can utilize environmental advantages and mechanisms (such as Teleport Gates and Safe Zones), engage in fights against monsters and bosses, and so on (without an inventory,) but that's about it. The system can only track their progress and data so much.<br /> <br /> However, they retain all of their normal powers and abilities, which the system attempts to parse as well as it can when it interacts with monsters and the like.<br /> <br /> ==== Alfheim Online====<br /> NOTE: While this is still -possible,- it is heavily discouraged as Alfheim Online is now a professionally run game with no need for crazy, gamebreaking heroics. Generally speaking, of course...<br /> <br /> On entry, an individual's presented with a menu window asking them to create an account. They'll then have to pick a Fairy Race to match their account name. Once this is done, the person'll be able to use the menu's basic functions (communication, partying, inventory, etc) and fly using the Assist Controller.<br /> <br /> Damage is real and painful, but slightly blunted by the system. Such 'players' do have Health meters, and the system seems capable of detecting when they're in mortal danger and shunting them into the Remain Light form when they 'die.' 'Resurrection' brings with it a wave of healing, but this tends to take the wind out of anyone who experiences it.<br /> <br /> The created account is fully valid if logged into normally (pending a subscription, which doesn't apply when 'walking in'), though Skills don't increase while it's being used 'personally.' Equipment can be used regardless of Skills or 'stats,' and the inventory functions for objects brought into the multiverse through a form of pseudo-hammerspace (which always ejects its items out after a player who's leaving if they aren't retrieved, and cannot be used to steal items even if admin wanted to.)<br /> <br /> == Reality-to-Virtual Mapping==<br /> Due to the weird reality bleed that's brought the digital world to the Cyber Core, most power and physics between digital and normal natures seem to be interchangeable and capable of affecting each other. For instance, an Undine healer from Alfheim's healing spells can heal someone in reality's broken arm, and a White Mage's healing magic can restore the HP of a Sword Art Online player.<br /> <br /> While in Wander Mode, avatars are constructed not just from their digital data, but also the self-images of the players behind them. This apparently allows for a great deal of strange phenomena which doesn't make a lot of sense seperated from the game logic. For instance, avatars can consume food items or actual food, and the latter's handled pretty much the same as eating food in-game would be - never mind the lack of an actual programmed digestive system or any excretory needs.<br /> <br /> Certain Skills can accomplish strange things independent of System Assist or game calculations - for instance, equipment appraisal might not be able to actually display specific stats of foreign weapon, but the Appraiser might glean an instinctive impression of its abilities just the same when using the Skill. Smithing can still construct normal things out of actual metal with a bit of practice to work out the different feels. Everything constructed from Skills however, counts as a digital item native to the respective game and not a real one. 'Taunt' Skills can pressure targets mentally to draw aggressive attention - with the appropriate OOC consent, of course.<br /> <br /> It's best not to think about the details too much.<br /> <br /> == Government Reaction==<br /> As it does many worlds, Unification has thrown the entire world into a social explosion. Thankfully, public panic is minimal. Sure, there's the occasional riots, weird conspiracy theories causing massive piles of confusion, and people who aren't paying any attention, don't care, or just plain don't get it. The governments do care, however, and are doing their utmost to maintain order. Save for some particularly unsavory third world countries and a few oddball nations however, none are denying the Multiverse's existence. Members of the United Nations - and the UN in general - are exploring the inevitability and ramifications of long-term Union relations, and are engaged in hashing out the details.<br /> <br /> Japan's government is currently the only one with Union ties with the SAO situation - seeing as it's run by a Japanese company and the vast majority of its victims are Japanese citizens. A man named Kikuoka Seijurou (a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Technology, Second Seperated Advanced Network Division - aka the Virtual Division) has been appointed main spokesperson and representative of Union / SAO Case Victims Rescue Force relations.<br /> <br /> Other nations' governments, and a few particularly unique individuals have also discovered the digital mapping effect into the Cyber Core and are engaging in other secret (and in other cases, not-so-secret, but still regarded as a bit hokey, and too much to believe on top of normal Unification - which is already disorienting) projects.<br /> <br /> Now, with actual access to the virtual world of Aincrad and contact with the Union and access through the Union's established warp gates, a few particularly brave and stealthy members of the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force are secretly snooping around to get a better feel for what's going on, though most are quite happy to leave it up to the Union's own task force that seems to be assembling mostly out of Elites. For the moment - a period which may not last more than a few months, most likely - they are studying the situation and working to figure out how to best make use of this in helping the players - and their nation - without causing the massive social hoobaloo that they're sure will erupt if news got out that just anyone could waltz in (while only a few can just waltz out.)<br /> <br /> = Section Five: OOC Considerations and Concerns.=<br /> <br /> == Hacking==<br /> Hacking Alfheim Online from within it is generally impossible. At the minimum, it requires GM access, access to a control console and similar. Externally, Alfheim Online's encryption is comparable to that what banks use, protecting its connections, transactional data, and player database, and as it is technically hosted outside of the normal space time continuum by the Noble Horrorterrors (see Homestuck-1) hacking it really just doesn't work. Talk to cast if you wanna do anything like this.<br /> <br /> == Mass Chaos==<br /> As always with cast rooms and areas, please do not cause mass chaos ICly without first consulting with active cast members. Things in Aincrad or Alfheim don't necessarily work the way you think and the cast will have to accommodate how it affects the playerbase socially, and so on.<br /> <br /> == On Capital City protection and the Punching Principle==<br /> Casually inflicting or suffering harm to characters protected by their race's city effect is basically impossible (unless they have been stripped of their rights and exiled): the rules of the local reality simply disallow 'injury.' Though Auric individuals can overcome this through the punching principle given by their Aura, the shield is still incredibly tanky and can absorb several intense attacks before local reality's rules get worn down to allow harm through.<br /> <br /> OOC note: Please don't abuse Protection for shenanigans that will make people OOCly mad.<br /> <br /> == Geographical Damage==<br /> While it's possible to inflict cosmetic damage to the landscape (cracks, digging, chopping down trees and so on) it is not possible to create long-lasting changes (such as creating a massive volcano from nowhere, or a crater the size of a city block.) When such damage happens, Cardinal will get around to repairing it.<br /> <br /> Buildings, doors, mountains, and so on are 'Immortal Objects' with system protection too, and cannot normally sustain damage or be moved. While overwhelmingly powerful attacks from Elites may circumvent this, Cardinal will also replace these (and be much faster at doing so, and may consider it an assault against the system's integrity.)<br /> <br /> == Clarification on Monsters and Players Threat Level==<br /> Most of the monsters and players are not considered Elites in any sense of the word. They have stats, certainly, but no Aura. In a direct contention with an Elite, they will probably lose. An extensive analysis by Cardinal would probably uncover irregularities in such an event, but there's not much it can really do about this. Major Boss creatures and a small handful of players, of course, prove an exception to this: they do have Aura as any Elites do (though where monsters are concerned, only a few of the toughest bosses can pose a threat to heavy hitters of the Multiverse). Elite natives generally APPEAR to fit within the limits of the system and rarely invoke errors, but things have gotten a bit screwy since Unification... so mileage can vary.<br /> <br /> == Mecha and Giants==<br /> They have plenty of room to move around outdoors, though some tunnels and all dungeons will prove problematic. Also the fact that many players will think they're bosses with phat loot.<br /> <br /> == FullDive Compatability==<br /> FullDive works by interfacing with the human nervous system. The technology expects certain structures to the brains it's interfacing with, and certain reactions in specified areas to specific stimuli in order to function. It was never designed for alien physiology, which means many non-human races will be shit out of luck if they try to use it. For the vast majority of 'alien' types of races, it will simply fail to establish a brain link and error out. For a rare few, it might create a link that gets green lighted but ends up being strange or utterly bogus when subtler parts of differing brain function come to light.<br /> <br /> Races similar to humans in body shape and behavior (especially those capable of interbreeding) stand a very good chance of being able to use it more or less fine. (For example: Saiyans, certain kinds of Elves, Star Trek-style aliens, etc.)<br /> <br /> The Superfactions are capable of creating 'converters/adapters' that would let unusual races enter FullDive, if really needed, but this would also require a custom FullDive rig.<br /> <br /> == Foreigners and Wander Mode==<br /> There is nothing really stopping anyone from getting ahold of an AmuSphere and starting up a new Alfheim Online account. However, non-native VRMMO players have it much harder if they want to use Wander Mode.<br /> <br /> ICly, this requires the time and effort for serious character development - because Wander Mode depends on a powerful self-image incorporating one's online existence as an integral part of oneself, a level of dedication and belief that doesn't come easy to casual players.<br /> <br /> OOCly, it requires an upgrade app.<br /> <br /> == Collaborative Nature of Theme==<br /> This page will be updated as new circumstances and concerns arise, to maintain cohesion in the Multiverse. Additionally, while it follows the straightforward story of Sword Art Online, active cast can collaborate to hash out things that might have happened or not happened, or happened differently, to make way for new developments or past developments - this is particularly helpful to the applicants of OCs who might wish to have ties to events. Of course, post unification, all future developments are going to be very different than what happens in canon... though this is normal for the Multiverse, it bears noting that this theme will be very different from normal canon due its special nature of making the virtual into reality far beyond what the official canon ever does.<br /> <br /> == Themelist Powers ==<br /> <br /> The following is the direct list of +advantages taken from +themelist/powers Sword Art Online-1.<br /> <br /> PLAYER CHARACTER: VRMMO characters can traverse 'cracks' in digital reality to enter the Multiverse as physically-manifested digital entities. The processes aren't well-understood, but relate to deep psychological attachments to VR and powerful self-images - and an Auric 'resonance' with the avatar. Slain PCs forcibly dematerialize if not restored from any game-applicable revival periods via healing powers, losing their 'resonance' and respawning in-game to recover it over healtimes. Completed logouts return PCs to game-appropriate positions (respawn point, last known valid location, etc) while FullDive interruptions leave PCs inert and invite timeout countdowns, etc.<br /> <br /> Wandering VRMMO characters have benefits common to MMORPGs. The menu grants customizable friend/party/guild organization and tracking/communications, and an inventory capable of managing in-game items and equipment. PCs have blunted pain reception, require no nourishment, while exchanging biological vulnerabilities for digital ones. Advanced PCs are superhuman forces with basic forms of enhanced strength, speed, resilience, regeneration (even from loss of limbs, after several minutes), and so on. Active stealth aside, observers will always see game-appropriate displays such as player indicators and health bars hovering about them.<br /> <br /> '''Alfheim Online'''&lt;br&gt;<br /> (RACE) HERITAGE: Alfheim Online players pick one of Alfheim's several fairy species (each with a unique color scheme) and fly upon gossamer wings powered by light from the heavens for 10 minutes before needing rest. When taking this +power, substitute Race for a name below (Salamander Heritage, Gnome Heritage, etc):<br /> <br /> * CAIT SITH: Yellow. Recognizable for their cat ears and tails, they have bonuses to eyesight and intelligence and can tame beasts into Pets.<br /> * GNOME: Brown. The largest and most defensive race, Gnomes have bonuses with Earth magic and mining skills.<br /> * IMP: Purple. They have natural night vision and can fly indoors until their wings tire as normal.<br /> * LEPRECHAUN: White. Skilled smiths and craftsmen with an affinity for Enchantment magics.<br /> * PUCA: Silver. Masters of buffing and debuffing through mystic music.<br /> * SALAMANDER: Red. They have the greatest physical strength and bonuses to Fire magic.<br /> * SPRIGGAN: Black. They have bonuses relevant to dungeon crawling and locating hidden treasures, and to Illusion magic.<br /> * SYLPH: Green. The fastest of the races, and masters of Wind magic with acute hearing.<br /> * UNDINE: Blue. They are masters of water and healing magics.<br /> * ALF: Quest-Ascended players of Alf-(Race) may fly indefinitely where normally allowed and gain an affinity for Light Magic.<br /> <br /> MAGIC: All races are capable of powerful spellcasting - elemental blasts, sense enhancement, transformation, buffs and debuffs, conjuring familiars to scry on distant areas and targets, befuddling illusions, defensive shields, healing, etc. Each specializes, performing off-type spells with reduced potency. Spellcasting drains MP and needs a few uninterrupted seconds for players to chant out the words on the fly, thus spells can be easily identified.<br /> <br /> SWORD SKILLS: Sword Skills are fanciful and powerful weapon strikes and combos done with speed and skill nigh-impossible to execute normally, begun by assuming a Skill's special posture and starting the first motion. Each weapon has different Skills, and they often inflict mixtures of physical and elemental damage. The Original Sword Skills System allows player creation of custom ones, and creating grimoires that teach it to others. Players have minimal control of Sword Skills beyond guiding them for better effect, but being struck hard mid-Skill, moving against the System Assist, or parrying another Sword Skill breaks the animation and invokes stun time. Their televised nature and a brief moment of immobility post-completion are critical flaws.<br /> <br /> [[Category:Themes]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=2990/WMAT_B1_Kirito_vs_Reker&diff=10531 2015-09-09T03:07:06Z

<p>Volund: Created page with &quot;{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/09 |Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes |Synopsis=Kirito vs Reker in WMAT B1! |Thanks= |Cast of Characters=1, 6, 631 |Tinyplot= |Tinyplot2...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2015/09/09<br /> |Location=WMAT Arena - Spinach Wastes<br /> |Synopsis=Kirito vs Reker in WMAT B1!<br /> |Thanks=<br /> |Cast of Characters=1, 6, 631<br /> |Tinyplot=<br /> |Tinyplot2=<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Once he had a fight location picked out, Reker sent word to Kirito when he'd be there. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the Black Swordsman to show up. Reker seems to have been out here for a while.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reker twirls his 1911 Operator on one finger a few times, before quickly holstering and re-drawing it, repeating the process a few times while he waits. This'll be their chance to see which game is better, ALO or GGO.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito arrives in his Alfheim Online avatar, having forsaken Gun Gale Online. Swords are better than guns any day of the week! He comes flying out of the sky and swoops down out of the sky at just the right angle and speed to send his outfit fluttering on landing. Black fabric whips at the wind while the Spriggan rises and draws his weapons - a black blade in the right hand, a crystalline blue one in the left. Vox Unitas and Divination, although the commentators might realize why he really prefers this weapons.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;It's finally time for our match!&quot; No fancy speeches here. They're not needed. He simply waits for the timer to hit ZERO...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Then he's OFF! Swooping straight at Reker with his weapons held up in a guard. Wings and feet both propel his charge forward so he comes in like a bolt of lightning for a few swift slashes!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;What, no pre match banter? No witty remarks? Reker had barely turned to face Kirito and welcome him to the battlefield when Kirito came at him with the slashes. He pulls back away from the swordsman, red lines appearing on him and his healthbar dropping with each strike.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Dude! Not cool! Don't you know anything about duel etiquite? Okay fine, that's it.&quot; Reker had his 1911 drawn anyway, so he raises it up and opens fire at Kirito with a group of shots. Lets see if he can deflect these without a bullet line.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Never really been a fan of it!&quot; Kirito jokes, although this is COMPLETELY untrue... he's just on a time limit due to various issues! Reker reacts as expected, pulling back and bringing out weaponry! Trouble is, he's too close and too quick. Even though Kirito knows exactly where he's shooting his arms simply can't travel that quickly. Only one of the bullets spangs off of Vox Unitas, the rest slam into his upper body and get the Spriggan staggering for a moment. Similar red marks flare on his body...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Uweh... so you're saying fighting and shooting simultaneously is beyond your ability?&quot; Thankfully those wings keep him rushing forward. This time he swings around tot he side, trying to give Reker a hard time keeping a bead on him. Vox Unitas takes on a killer glow and goes slashing upwards at a diagonal!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Another strike from Kirito and Reker goes flying. He lands hard on the dirt and rolls a couple of times, health bar dipping again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He shakes his head for a second, holstering his pistol and looking at where Kirito is hovering, &quot;That's close enough.&quot; He says, as he taps the small display panel on his left wrist.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The reason Reker has been out here as long as he has is because he was planting numerous explosives around the battlefield. It's a veritable minefield that Kirito has found himself on.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Today there's a Salamander and a Gnome sitting in the announcers box. A pair that Kirito and Reker would know the first is Tomoe, the second is her Father Pendragon. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Welcome to another WMAT match today. I'm Tomoe and my Co announcer and Father Pendragon! Your going to get to see a treat today as a fight carries over from Gun Gale Online's Ballet of Bullets to here at WMAT% with Kirito the Black Swordsman vs Reker the human Hurricane!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Pendragon cuts in for a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Oh this is going to be a heck of a match as we have another thing for you it's the showdown of the JRPG vs the First person shooter!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Kirito comes out the gate not holding back a bit with a flurry of strikes and Reker is counter attacking. Given Kirito's savage opening also just took out normal duel etiquette! Reker's not taking any of this laying down as he unloads back at Kirito.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Kirito doesn't stay out of it for long and is getting a bit sassy as he tries to keep Reker off balance but Reker's not going to be taking any of that as he's managed to line the area with explosives and avatar or not?! That has got to hurt!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Preparing explosives in advance?! That's got to be against the rules! Not that Kirito's likely to be complaining! But a hint of dismay flickers in his gaze when Reker goes through a rather familiar motion. &quot;That can't be--&quot; BOOM!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito's sent flying skywards, minus a lot more of his hitpoints. Still, that one's left him more indignant than injured.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Fairy wings thrum to life and keep him up there for only a second or so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Two can play unfair...&quot; With a grunt and renewed determination he SWOOPS back down in. Instead of activating a sword skill or slashing he slams into the ground less than a foot from Reker and drives an elbow upwards at him, hoping to juggle him into the air for a quick flurry of slashes!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The blow to the abdomen surprises Reker as he moves to strike at Kirito. He misses, and gets hit square in the gut, knocked up into the air and slashed several times in the process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Thankfully he comes back down to the ground, he's quick to roll back up onto his feet and try to put some distance between himself and Kirito. &quot;All's fair in PvP, Kirito.&quot; Reker says, as he reaches behind his back and pulls out something with his left hand, the holster on his side shifting as he changes weapons, pulling up both revolvers and unleashing them on Kirito, &quot;Now dance!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe Says &quot;They have picked up where they left off in the BOB! High speed and no mercy for either side, it's a battle of blades and he's just keeping up his assault but what's this?! It's as he said all fair in PvP but let's see how well Kirito can dance to his tune! Looks like he's might be having a bit of trouble keeping up to the beat!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Dance indeed! Kirito's wings vanish as he again engages in a speedy dash! Distance is his enemy here. Bullets are too fast to counter effectively without a Bullet Line... and definitely too tough to do it well at this short range.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Even so...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THIS time Kirito does interpose his weapons to block around a third of the bullets through his dead charge. Those coming too close to his vitals are deflected, but he still gets hit plenty in the gut, arms, and legs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;In that case...!!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Vox Unitas shines bright cerulean as he closes in. Kirito skids to a halt, and... begins a kata of four horizontal slashes that's over in under a second. There's an EXPLOSION of wind with Reker - who might've been slashed nastily - right in the middle.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Then DIVINATION erupts with FLAME and Kirito, who was momentarily frozen, once again animates. he WHIPS out in a savage frenzy of slashes and thrusts and finally a ground strike that sends a pillar of flame flying through the air, aimed to engulf Reker!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Damn, if there's one thing Reker wishes they'd add to GGO it's gun techs. Some sort of super shot he could pull off. But for now he doesn't have anything like that, so he winds up taking both the fire and flame slashes, health bar dropping rapidly and giving him a burning debuff.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He dives to the ground and rolls a few times, trying to put out the flames. Once he's no longer burning, he gets back up and pulls out another, bigger weapon.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;These projectiles are a lot slower, Kirito might be able to cut them down without even the need for a bullet line. However they're also 40mm grenades, so he may not want to.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Spottin a grenade flying in, Kirito executes yet another Sword Skill - Vox Unitas flares with green light and swirling winds. One single motion later... an arc-like stream, short-ranged though it might be, lashes out in the path of his slash and carries the grenade somewhat back towards Reker!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But he misjudged the fuse on that thing. It goes off in the air, only partially back towards his target... Shrpanel and the shockwave sprays at Kirito, forcing him to once again SKILL CONNECT!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Divination gleams cerulean and is brought forth in a whirling circle, so fast that it BLURS. Much of the shrapnel's caught by it and shredded! Only a little bit gets through to splash against Kirito and draw red dots along his outfit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And, well, reker might want to watch out for the grenade too.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe says, &quot;Kirito's floating like a butterfly and stinging like a killer be as now he's turning up the heat on Reker with the blazing sword! Is he too much for Reker to handle with sword arts coming into play?! He's shiving to the bane of the warrior explosive but Kirito's light on his feet and avoid an direct hit and sends it back at him!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Of course he would have some kind of skill to block greanades. Reker goes to dodge by misjudges and it quite literally blows up in his face. He's hurting bad, and will need to bust out the big gun in order to make things turn in his favor.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The big gun is of course his one of a kind HCAR. He loads up the incindiary bullets and turns the weapon on his opponent, &quot;I think I see why people consider you to be the best player in ALO, Kirito.&quot; Reker says, &quot;But we're not in ALO right now, and I won't go down so easy!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THAT WEAPON! Kirito's not big on guns but he recognizes the Unique Devastator. his eyes narrow and brow furrows. 'Crap, what now?!' And how will he deal with it?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Really? Last I heard that title belonged to Eugene!&quot; Is Reker being serious? or is Kirito oblivious to his own fame?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Well, he did kind of inspire several dual wielding schools and gained some fame for having the most dual wielding original sword skills...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A few even refer to him as 'blacky-sensei!'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Well, we're not in GGO either...&quot; It's a lame retort, but it's more of a mutter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There's not really a lot he can do with those bullets coming at him except engage in another CHARGE! one where he ducks low and guards his head!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Ghhhhh--.....&quot; His crazy charge at Reker's slowed by staggering, the incendiary rounds actually exploding against his avatar and inflicting some serious damage. A few more shots later... his avatar's right leg simply is torn off and explodes into shards!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This... DOESN't really slow him down. Kirito doesn't even faceplant. instead his wings catch him at the last moment and swoops in, both weapons gleaming at once!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Slash after slash is unleashed from spinning strikes, ending with a double thrust!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe says &quot;I was wrong about Kirito turning up the heat as Reker's shifted over to Incindiary Rounds! HE's got the HCAR AND IS BRINGING THE PAIN!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Pendragon smirks and watches as the battle plays out some more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Well would you look at that Tomoe?! Does Kirito even have a sword to match something like that gun?!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I think so Dad! Look at! KIRITO HE SLICES HE DICES! HE CUTS FRENCH FRIVES AND NOW RENKER INTO SEVEN DIFFERENT SIZES!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Things are looking pretty bleak for Reker as he empties his weapon at Kirito. Sure he manages to take one of Kirito's legs clean off, but he'll never get a chance to reload before he gets hit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And get hit he does, the slashes tearing into his HP like a pro into a bag of Doritos, one arm getting severed entirely. unfortunately for Kirito, it's not the right one. Instead of backing off, Kirito finds Reker trying to grab him and leave him with a gift, a belt full of grenades and C-4. He the tries to dive clear of the upcoming blast.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This is the second time. The SECOND TIME someone's done something WEIRD at a weird time. Kirito finds himself grabbed and after managing to wrestle him off... finds a belt of explosives across his shoulder. Fearful eyes quickly turn a shade of terrifiedly amused. &quot;Oh cra--&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Already missing a leg, Kirito's probably expected to be down with that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And he would, except for one thing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Battle Healing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The explosion wrecks the surroundings, craters the ground, scatters rock and dust and dirt everywhere... and leaves Kirito practically GLOWING RED all over from the damage decals. He's lost his left arm and Divination lies on the ground... but he has one last trick up his sleeve.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Before the dust can fully clear he Flips to his feet, aided by his wings, lands on the one remaining foot... and draws Vox Unitas back. Aaaaaims....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Once again, greenish light and swirling winds color the blade and---&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The very next moment, Kirito's BEHIND Reker, a streak of light drawn through his new location and where he'd been.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Are you taking lessons from Sinon?!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe is on the edge of her seat at this point. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;He's not going down wqithout a fight thought Reker's brought out the heavy fire power with a little C-4 knocking at Kirito's door and then some! KABOOM is about the only other thin I can say about what's happened here! Kirito's only gone one leg left to stand on but he's stubboen and he's still regenerating right now as he looks more like a thing constructed from red energy than a man right now but he's got one last trick to play here, is it over?! It might just be the end of the match!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's not enough. Reker had been hoping it would be, but sadly when he sees Kirito is still standing, he accepts his fate. He closes his eyes and holds out his hand that he still has, feeling that slash hit him and watching his HP bar drop down the last few pixels, before Reker vaporizes into data and leaves the burning flame behind where he had been a moment before. Looks like Kirito wins this duel.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Logs&diff=6907 2014-12-31T07:54:27Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>__NOTOC__<br /> {| style=&quot;vertical-align:text-top; align:center; width:100%;&quot;<br /> | <br /> ===Transfer a SceneSys Log===<br /> # Go to [http://multiversemush.com/scene this link], then find your scene, and click on it.<br /> # Scroll to the bottom of your scene's page, and click that link.<br /> # Copy the 'poses' part of the page to your clipboard (ctrl-c).<br /> # Click on the link at the bottom, paste the 'poses' into the big textbox, fill in the rest of the info, and hit save.<br /> |<br /> ===Create a Log===<br /> To create a log from scratch, just put in the title below, and follow the instructions from there.<br /> {{#forminput:form=Roleplaying Log}}<br /> The advanced version (easier to use) may be more to your liking as well:<br /> {{#forminput:form=Advanced Character Logs}}<br /> |}<br /> <br /> ===Upcoming Scheduled Scenes===<br /> {{:Schedule View}}<br /> <br /> ==2015's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2015}}<br /> <br /> ==2014's Logs==<br /> {{:Logs 2014}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Logs_2015&diff=6906 2014-12-31T07:52:43Z

<p>Volund: Created page with &quot;{{:Monthly Log View|2015}} Category:Index&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>{{:Monthly Log View|2015}}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=1090/To_the_World_of_Guns&diff=6659 2014-12-07T03:42:06Z

<p>Volund: Created page with &quot;{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/12/06 |Location=Alfheim Online &lt;SAO&gt; &lt;ALO&gt; |Synopsis=A government official who's more well-connected than he lets on has put a call out to Kir...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2014/12/06<br /> |Location=Alfheim Online &lt;SAO&gt; &lt;ALO&gt;<br /> |Synopsis=A government official who's more well-connected than he lets on has put a call out to Kirito and whatever remains of the Gatecrashers Union, promising payment in exchange for doing some investigative work in a VRMMO. The turnout will probably be far more than he expects!<br /> |Thanks=<br /> |Cast of Characters=1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 33, 73, 181, 215, 253, 317, 365, 385, 395, 451, 495, 631<br /> |Tinyplot=Phantom Bullet<br /> |Tinyplot2=<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Calls have gone out within the last few days. A man named KIKUOKA SEIJIROU, introducing himself as a minor official in Japan's communications branches, wants to speak to the people who made the SAO and ALO rescues possible. So news has reached the Union, the Confederacy, and even the Syndicate... it's even reached the ears of people not originally involved in those sittuations.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;WHY he wants an audience with anyone who could be a hero in a VRMMO? Well, that's something only those who show up will hear.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's mid afternoon during off-hours at the DICEY CAFE run by one ANDREW GILBERT MILLS (aka 'Agil' to his friends!) Not where one would expect to be meeting anyone so important, but this is the location the core members of the Gatecrashers tend to hang out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Tables and chairs have been arranged, beverages are already paid for and available once the owner isn't busy in the back, and the man everyone's here to meet is waiting up by the counter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;KIKUOKA SEIJIROU is a tall, thin man with black hair and thick-framed eyeglasses. He's dressed in a classic business suit complete with a tie. From the angle of anyone walking in however, light gleam keeps his eyes from being quite visible... it might be a little intimidating, if he wasn't so thin.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's probably intimidating to anyone if they're a student or random civilian.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;To KIRIGAYA KAZUTO however, it's just plain annoying. He doesn't do much to hide his irritation when he strolls on in, folds his arms and takes a seat while giving Seijirou a rather cold and aggravated look.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Now now, Kirito! Don't be so cold. You haven't even heard anything yet.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Don't call me that in public!&quot; The Mechatronics student counters!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou adjusts his glasses lightly, feigning emotional injury by his expression. &quot;Who was it that worked so hard to keep the SAO and ALO situations with the offworld involvement under control? Haven't I earned that right?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kazuto sigh-grunts in resignation, arms still folded.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's about time for the meeting, after all.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Riva found out about it because her ADVENTURE LEVELS were reaching CRITICALLY LOW LEVELS. And when she doesn't have excitement and adventure in her life, she goes looking for it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This is why Riva is totally present. She's got a strawberry daquiri in one hand (fruity umbrella included) and her eyes on the men of the hour, leaning back casually on the bar as she sips casually at her drink. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nothing has been established yet, but there's lots of Important People present. Her eyes are flicking around, watching for a specific Important Person as well. They haven't arrived yet, but they're likely waiting for the proper time to make their entrance. He seems like the kind of guy who pays attention to that kind of thing.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Making his way into the cafe was perhaps the largest of the Gatecrashers and likey the oldest too. Karian steps inside, alone this time, but still geared up in his armor. He walks over to where the meeting was, giving everyone there a nod. Time had not been kind to the marine, as indicated by the patch over his left eye. He takes a seat, only then reminded and hoping that the chairs were strong enough to take his weight.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The door to the Dicey Cafe opens again to admit a face which, for Kazuto at least, should be a familiar one - and Yuna Kagurazaka wouldn't rule out the chances of other people recognizing her. She certainly recognizes Kazuto, smiling and waving as she walks over to his table. &quot;Hey, Kirito! How's it going?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She doesn't seem to be in a huge hurry to order a drink or a snack or anything, although she's not ruling out getting something - she just prioritizes social interaction over stuffing her face. After exchanging greetings with Kirito, Yuna turns to bow politely to Kikuoka, &quot;Good afternoon. I'm Yuna Kagurazaka ... or 'Kagura,' if you needed to know my handle in SAO and ALO. Are you the one who asked to talk to us?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If you're making a quiet entrance, you're definately not Magatha Songsteel. She's not going out of her way to make noise, but she can't help but be flashy. That said, the redhead vogues her way into the cafe, and up behind Kirito. A hand ruffles the dark hair of the teenager, and she smiles. &quot;Hey there, kiddo.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A look to the Salaryman. &quot;Mister, nice suit.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frederica is hardly a random civilian. In fact she's not really the sort one would normally associate with gaming. Perhaps like Agil himself, she's not an obvious gamer, and more the sort of person who fits in well in a cafe or a bar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;In the interests of looking as normal as possible, she doesn't even have her hood up. Frederica looks like a relatively normal woman in fact, much like Riva. Might have something to do with why she'd chosen the other woman to approach and strike up a casual conversation over a drink with. Strawberry daquiri looks positively delightful after all. The conversation between them is unlikely to be too significant, at least for now. Something to do with fashion or food rather than saving worlds, no doubt.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The door to the Dicey Cafe opens and in walks Alicia. She decided to forgo her usual TSAB uniform in favour of a blouse and short skirt. She also already appears to be in a conversation, &quot;-elling you, the iso-factor was too low! That's why it blew up.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The device on Alicia's wrist chimes, &lt;span class=&quot; bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw&quot;&gt;&amp;lt;You are mistaken.&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia pauses and looks at Sweet Melody, &quot;You keep saying that... Care to explain what happened then?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Sweet Melody chimes, &lt;span class=&quot; bold_fg_w bg_n ++ hw&quot;&gt;&amp;lt;We have arrived.&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oh... Alicia glances around. So they have! Having heard about something possibly going down in the virtual world once more, Alicia had decided to offer her support. So she greets everyone in the cafe with a smile, a wave and a, &quot;Hi!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Theo hasn't been involved in saving anyone in VRMMOs. He's been hanging around with the Gatecrashers for a little while now, though, and has been involved with Kirito's Node, which... /sort of/ counts. At the very least, he's proven he can actually play these games quite well, even if he isn't a native to this particular world. He still might just be some random puggie they picked up, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Even these facts, cold as they are, do not prevent him from popping in to see what exactly is going on. Theo's never been to the Dicey Cafe; he's only ever been to Japan a few times, and each time it's made him vaguely uncomfortable for different reasons. This time is no different. At least he won't be subject to the crowds.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He came in only shortly after Kirito, and, feeling awkward about the unfamiliar place and the unfamiliar people, found himself a seat. He's sitting at one of the tables within earshot, his ecto stretched out on the tabletop and a Coke nearby. He appears to be messing with a list of some kind, but most people won't have the experience to know it's a deck in progress.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Theo mostly just stays quiet and people-watches. He's having a hard time reconciling that he's less comfortable in what appears to be a cafe for gamers than he is when he's face-to-face with a building-sized monstrosity.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A meeting in a place like this with someone mysterious. Sounds fairly suspicious and almost like something out of a spy flick. Or it could just be a potential bounty being offered to Iria. But in this case, it's neither, although Iria is present. She hadn't been doing much adventuring for the time being, and had been low on bounties to hunt. Which was why when this wholee thing was announced, Iria was quick to make plans to show up for it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Iria simply sits at one of the tables with her feet propped up, occasionally sipping her drink and looking around occasionally to see when their contact was going to show up. When he finally did, Iria gave a slight hand gesture and a nod. &quot;Nice of you to show up. I'm Iria, both in real life and in-game.&quot; There's no sign of a smirk on her face with that comment, as apparently she's got something on her mind today.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana wasn't involved in the previous endeavours, but as it's the job of her direct superiors to keep tabs on the technological going-ons of the Multiverse, it didn't take long for them to get word of the new request for potential assistance, and in turn send one of their best to investigate.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That and this version involved firearms instead of magic and martial combats. Much more their style.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Regardless of all, Procyana strolls in with her usual casual demeanor. &quot;Huh. Quaint... oh look, someone important in a monkey suit. Who would of thought.&quot; She flashes Seijirou a bit of a wry smirk at her own partial joking, being someone use to dealing with the big suit business types prehaps more than she'd like.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then picks herself a chair, snagging the leg with her foot and kicking it around to sit on it in reverse, straddling the seat to lean against the backside of it, arms crossed across the top. Her tail curls just enough to tuck underneath the chair, so no one else accidentally steps on it.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe knew the name from SAO and such and wondered what he wnted given he'd invitd them all to the Cafe? At least it ment money for Angil right? She could live with that so here she is in the flesh which might be many people's here first time seeing her not as an avatar. She's still very tall but has dark red hair taied up today she's wearing a jacket pants and othe gear bette suitd for hte weather and has a scarft which she's just taking off she pauses for a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Hello, I have to say I'm kinda shocked your calling us up for osmething here. SAO's gone ALO's had things calm down what could we evebn be needed for now?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She takes a seat pretty quickly and then removes her scarf and jacket, she's wearint a t-shirt that reads. TIMES UP LETS DO THIS! on the front.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Numerous members of his office are going to be showing up today, and so Psyber is as well. He was not involved in the original SAO or ALO sets of crises, but he is a pretty high ranking Union official and so it's also only natural he'd make an appearance when someone reaches out to Union leadership. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The half-angel is smoking indoors again, but this is a minor point that most people just have to learn to live with if they spend extensive time around him, &quot;Greetings. I am Reserve Colonel Psyber, Union Elite Forces. You reached out to the Union in regards to a meeting.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Homura has only met Kirito... once? Twice? In the flesh, that is. Still, she's met him at least, but even if she hadn't it wouldn't be too hard to find the crowd of obviously mismatched Elites in a cafe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;On the other hand you're not getting much of an entrance out of her. It would be more accurate to say that where there was an empty chair, there is now a magical girl. Or just a girl, really. In one week she's going to be seventeen! More importantly in one week finals will not be sapping her will to live and free time. For a given measure of free time when you can control it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Dark purple and black casual clothes are what she's wearing today, mostly a sweater vest with hood and pants, with her hair pulled back into a bun behind her head save for two bangs to either side of her head. She's got her glasses on, and she has her nose plunged into a notebook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A careful eye might have noticed she appeared on that chair around the time Psyber came in. Ish. If someone pulled her notebook down they'd notice she looks dead tired but that's a student's life.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;ARTHUR LOWELL is here! He is, of course, only around here quite so emphatically because he's swaggered his way in in his traditional confident way. Dude even shoved the door open hard on his way in, just for dramatic effect! Striding on over to Kirito and Seijirou. &quot;'Eeeeeeey! KIRITO!&quot; God damn it Arthur, /you're/ doing it too? Well, of course. &quot;What the hell's up, man? I heard there's ADVENTURES to get to go have again! Shit yeah. SEIJIROU! What up, yo? Last I heard you was gettin' yo WARRANT on up ins, takin' down RCT, how's it been HANGIN' since then?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's grinning like a madman, as is per the norm. There's a few nods to people he knows. Riva! &quot;HEYA, RIVA! Told ya, ADVENTURE MEETINGS, y'know? Take a listen to THIS GUY, I bet he's got some MAD ADVENTURES to give out.&quot; Then there's Karian! &quot;'EY! How's the DEPTH PERCEPTION? You given any thought to the COOL FALSE EYE idea? Seriously, man. Carve it outta some MONSTER BONES or something, chick will DIG IT.&quot; Psalm! &quot;MAGS! Good to see ya. Now I KNOW this one's gonna be a party if YOU'RE in on it.&quot; Frederica! &quot;FRIKA, long time no see AGAIN! Glad t'see you around on THIS ONE too. Don't worry, ALREADY PROMISED to do ONE HUNDRED PERCENT LESS DYING this time.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And then Tomoe! &quot;Lady, TRUST ME, there's ALWAYS some ADVENTURE needs doin'. The MARKET is fuckin' DEEP.&quot; Psyber! &quot;Aw man, you're ALL BUSINESS MODE today.&quot; And Homura! Homura doesn't get talked to, but just sort of silently nodded at. She usually prefers not talking, right? Probably. Considerate!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Anyway Arthur swings around, and now that he's indoors, just sort of starts floating in a vaguely seated position. That way, no weird looks from outside!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:395|Amalthea (395)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Someone else has shown up with Psyber and Homura. Though for much less of an official reason. Now, sure a rainbow-hared robot unicorn woman probably looks weird in a more mundane world. ... Super weird.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;This is why Amalthea is wearing a hoodie. Hoodies make great camouflage. Nevertheless, she too was not involved in the SAO or ALO events. In fact, Amalthea's never been much of an MMO player in general.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Anyway dude, I can't believe the pulled Jimbo out of Non-Innocent Cog z4th. He was like my main.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Her bitching ceases however on stepping into the Dicey Cafe with the half-angel and Homura just popping up. &quot;Oh huh right, you said there was business going down.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;You know Reker was very interested when he found out that somebody that was investegating into ALO and SAO wanted to meet with Kirito again. So naturally he showed up at the meeting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It might be a bit odd that he showed up in Wander Mode, especially with Kazuto and Sheena coming as themselves. Still, he's trying to stay as inconspicuous as he can, and is wearing none of his combat gear, instead just opting for his walkin' around clothes. He gets off to one side so he can listen in to what's going down, though he's still clse by to Kirito.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Riva chats with Frederica happily. She has no problems talking with Frederica, she's absolutely sure they crossed paths at some point. Like that time! With the Thing! And the stuff! More specfically, that one grudge matcb between Toph and Armsmaster before he chilled out a bit. &quot;I'm /so/ looking forward to hearing what's going on. Things are really slow on my end, at least, and most of my ship-...&quot; She pauses a moment, &quot;/Shopping/ is done.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She glances over to Frederica and tilts her head. &quot;Man, where did you get that awesome hood? It looks so cute! Total styling.&quot; Psyber gers a wave as he enters, but he's being actually slightly serious for once so she doesn't ruin his groove by Riva-ing at him yet. Homura and Amalthea also get big waves. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then Arthur enters. Riva's eyes lock onto him and she smirks faintly as she detects incoming swagger. And the yell. &quot;Sup Arthur!&quot; Riva waves back, energetically. &quot;You know why I'm here all right. Glad you could make it!&quot; She tilts her head as Arthur addresses Frika. &quot;Pfft, as if anyone could kill you now, right? You're a total badass.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur gives Riva a pair of casual fingergun gestures and a wink to go along with his unbreakable grin. &quot;SEE? And THAT'S why I can promise it. YOU know what's UP.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Surprise late entrance! &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; The door to the Dicey Cafe flies open as a brown haired girl in a kimono bolts through the door as agilely as she can, her broen eyes widening as she takes in the view. Some people she did expect to see, some people she doesn't know, and even more people Asuna /didn't/ expect to see. &quot;Ah--&quot; She pauses, blinks a coupel of times. &quot;Ah.&quot; She manages to sum up. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &quot;I apologize for being late.&quot; She says, bowing before shuffling around the crowd towards Kirito. &quot;Mother kept me late.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I dunno, Jimbo just was underperforming in the pro circuit, I guess. I'm gonna be curious to see how they retuned Luna Radman and whether they messed with his moveset,&quot; Psyber comments offhandedly to Amalthea, letting out a smoke-filled yawn as he scratches the side of his head and then looks around the room. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Riva gets a wave, as do most people he knows that are hanging around. Arthur gets a 'psh' noise from him, &quot;I'm only in business mode because I was called here on business. I'm just kinda keeping it low-key today. Tired from classes this week.&quot; He looks over towards Homura. He'd give her a nod of his head, but she is busy. Instead he notes to Arthur, &quot;I feel worst for Homura. First semester of finals are a wreck.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Take a LOAD OFF, I'll take up the slack on the CASUAL IRREVERENCE and POP CULTURE REFERENCES end'a things.&quot; Arthur says, shooting a thumbs-up Psyber's way as he drifts just slightly to the side.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I have. Perhaps I will later. But for now, I will remain with one eye. As for my perception...Still good.&quot; Karian says to Arthur simply. While he does this, he grabs a flask from his belt and takes a quick swig.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Asuna! &quot;'Ey! It's ASUNA! Dressed up, too, huh. Too bad I gots the MAD IGNORANCE up ins on the CULTURAL ASSOCIATIONS. Is it CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE to just generically consider it PRETTY? Oh wait, no, only insensitive to the BRO CODE. Sorry Kirito.&quot; Arthur can't just go around complimenting a girlfriend of a bro. Anyway, he's dispensed his greeting to her!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Juggling 'being a hero' with 'university' tops the chart of the worst experiences in my life pretty handily, and those experiences include a decade-long timeloop,&quot; Homura mutters towards Psyber, Riva and Arthur, essentially returning their nod (and/or wave) in the manner she is most familiar with, i.e. being kind of a sour grape. She is not entirely serious and does not in fact rate studies above that mess, but the fact she's living it right now makes her somewhat biased in the matter.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Also she's just low on sleep. Don't mind her too much.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frika chats with Riva cheerfully over nothing, having no problem with being a flit-brained socialite. For a time, anyways. &quot;Oh, I made this.&quot; she says, fluffing the hood dramatically. She likes Riva! The other woman's friendly and casual, not to mention a woman, so there's absolutely no threat that triggers Frederica's many fears.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur is another matter entirely, though of course she likes the overly enthusiastic boy. She grins at his greeting, but it's less a friendly sort of smile and more a showing of teeth. &quot;You'd better not die!&quot; she replies, sounding like she probably means it to be a joke. &quot;Because if you do I'll kill you!&quot; she claims.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Asuna gets a much warmer smile when she enters, though no outright greeting from the pyrokinetic. Frederica's not even sure Asuna would recognize her outside her Frika avatar, though they have certainly met in the flesh. It's mostly Frederica's own uncertainty at work there.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:395|Amalthea (395)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;To be fair, Jimbo is great if you know how to use him. Though when Amalthea spots Riva, the unicorn shoots her back a casual finger-gunning in greeting, as she helps herself to a seat. &quot;You look wrecked.&quot; Asided to Homura.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She actually does not bother Psyber further about her fighting game bitching, because while she did not come here for business and was just tagging along, he DID show up for Union work related stuff. She's still gonna ask how Jo Jusky got to be a duke between games later.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana reachs over to pat a sympathetic hand on Psyber's shoulder. &quot;Hey, at least you get the great wonder of actually experiencing what it is to go to school in such a manner. Unlike those of us that just got things uploaded into our brains.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Oh, I'm not a student. I'm a professor. Homura's taking one of my classes, along with a number of others,&quot; Psyber says to Procyana, before giving the magical girl a thumbs up, &quot;I believe in you, Homura. We'll get the semester wrapped up and then you think you wanna stay at the office over Christmas break?&quot; He asks her seriously, inviting her to do Christmas together. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;To Arthur, Psyber nods, &quot;I appreciate you picking up the slack in my lacking casual irreverence and lacking attitude.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Hwagh?! M...Maggie?!&quot; Well Kirito did send out messages. But having Psalm up and ruffle him from behind nearly has him jumping out of his seat, heartbeat going out of control in an instant and hand halfway to his back. It looks like he might be after Psalm's hand, but anyone who knows kirito knows he has this reflex of going for a sword he doesn't have when surprised...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Just one of many scars left on him since Sword Art Online.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Making a sheepish face and immediately trying to hide it, Kirito jams himself back down on his chair and waves at Psyber, Frika, Arthur, Amalthea... well pretty much everyone who walks in.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;KIKUOKA SEIJIROU meanwhile does his best to hide both his amusement at Kirito's predicament and his amazement at the wide array of people showing up to answer his call. Five, six, he expected. This is three times more than his expectations. Psyber's greeting is met with a polite nod of acknowledgement, while Arthur's is met with an awkward smile. And an attempt to keep his composure in the face of such wildness! &quot;Full of spirit like always, Mr. Lowell!&quot; It's not easy at all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The man in the 'monkey suit' coughs once into a fist, then rises. &quot;First, thank you all for coming! I didn't expect so many to respond. My name is Kikuoka Seijirou, from the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Telecommunications Bureau, Advanced Communications Networks Promotion, Second Division... or, since that's a mouthful, the Virtual Division. We were in charge of the SAO Victims Rescue Force, though could do little except wait for someone to clear the game and make sure the hospitals were equipped to deal with the victims. Regrettably I haven't had a chance to meet most of you in person since the SAO and ALO incidents, and here we are with something else going on.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;These words make Kirito pale rather quickly. &quot;Something else?!&quot; Asuna's entrance and approach doesn't go unnoticed. He quickly waves at her, and definitely seems relieved to have her about...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou meets his gaze, folds his hands, glances at Tomoe with something akin to sadness in his eyes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;With so many of us we'll have to skip the pleasantries. Last month, on November 14th, the landlord of a Nakano apartment building picked up on an awful smell while cleaning. She got worried and opened the electronic lock on the door, and discovered the body of this man...&quot; He pulls out a tablet PC to show a face. A man in his twenties, in a plaid shirt and short brown hair. &quot;Shigemura Tamotsu, age 26. He'd been dead five and a half days, laying on his bed the whole time. Cause of death was acute heart failure, and there were no signs of a break-in. On his head...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;An AmuSphere?&quot; Kirito guesses, interrupting slightly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou nods. &quot;The only program installed was Gun Gale Online. His character's name was XeXceed, and he'd recently won a tournament that put him amongst the top players. On the day he died, within the game something strange happened within a cafeteria showing a streaming broadcast of XeXceed being interviewed. A robed man walked in, saying something about judgement and power, and shot the screen. Moments later, XeXceed clutched at his heart and disconnected.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito's tensed, but he's making a rather firm face. &quot;That has to be a coincidence or a hoax...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;No, it's happened twice. Another body, same circumstances, on the 28th. Another heart failure. A highly skilled character named Lightly Salted Tarako... he was shot in town, reportedly by a man making similar claims about power and judgement.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He now looks out at the group that's gathered. &quot;While I share Kirito's opinion that this seems too strange to be real, especially as the AmuSphere is completely safe, would you not say this cannot be a coincidence?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Iria listens to to the explanation, and while she doesn't know as much as others might about the AmuSpheres, she doesn't believe in coincidences one bit. She narrows her eyes and scowls as she hears this whole thing. Something reeks big time, and it's definitely not in the smelly way either. The heart failure death, then the shooting, both with similar circumstances, it sounds wrong to Iria. &quot;Apparently, someone or someTHING needs to be taken down!&quot; Iria says to nobody in particular, rather offering her commentary on the whole thing.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Theo is momentarily struck by the sheer narrative weight present in the room. The potential implications leave him a little dazed. Why, the sheer /strength/ of even /half/ of the inhabitants of the cafe would be enough to --&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kickotron, Trusty Myr Servitor, wanders out of the bathroom. Why a three-foot-tall bird-robot has to use the bathroom at all is anyone's guess. Theo is sufficiently distracted by the sight that he doesn't start considering what could possibly be so wrong as to need all this firepower.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then Seijirou lays it out straight. Theo blinks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Yeah, I thought the AmuSpheres were supposed to be too low-powered to be able to do anything like that.&quot; Theo remarks. &quot;Did someone check the equipment for tampering yet?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe looks up to see a god walk in and isn't phased she smirks at Arthur for a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Okay you have a point and no your not allowed to die like that again. We all had enough of that I think!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Is her reply she looks to so manyt of the new people here she takes note of Fred and Riva. She finds her self a spot near then but the look from Seijirou gets a look of suprise from her. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She listens to what he has ot say and tilts her head a little bit ponders about this. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;GGO? This sounds creepy to put it mildy and wiat it's happened two times?!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;I'm guessing based on the fact that the landlady had to open the locked door that both cases were investigated and there was no real life interference found?&quot; Asuna asks quietly as she finishes making her way around to Kirito, not quite leaning against him but definitely being there for him. &quot;If so, there would be a lot more sense here; if not, then I'm wondering if maybe these are bootlegged AmuSpheres or something of the ilk.&quot; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; She lifts her head. &quot;Hello, Arthur. Thank you. I do like this kimono, it is pretty.&quot; She smiles at him and the crowd at large, waving at them before she turns back to the topic at hand.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Karian sighs and shakes his head. &quot;Once, I would attribute to potential other sources, like health issues. Twice, however.....It can't be coincidence. What do you know, if anything, on the shooter?&quot; He asks, leaning forward. This was already leaving a nasty taste in the wolf lord's mouth.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Maggie waves back at Arthur and flips her glasses down over her eyes. She can talk to him better that way, anyways. Also a cheery wave to Asuna from behind Kirito as she sits there... maybe slightly protectively? Who knows with her. It's not like she's going to be hanging out with the HoH crowd or the rest of the Unionites.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She settles in to listen to the monkeysuit, eyeglasses flashing.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia moves to take a seat at one of the tables, briefly glancing around at all the people already here and showing up. That is quite a few! She knows many, but some are new to her too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;When Seijirou begins, Alicia turns to listen intently. There must be something about these VRMMOs that brings such trouble to them... Maybe it's because they're so like the real world? Now there's another one... Gun Gale Online. Probably involves guns in some manner. Then the problem is brought up... &quot;Twice? ... It may just be a coincidence... Although the timing is rather unusual.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia ponders... The AmuSpheres do appear to be safe. Someone already brings up the issue of tampering... So assuming neither is the case, &quot;Died of heart failure... If it's not a coincidence, then this cause of death has to be intentional somehow.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Oh.&quot; Procyana quickly recovers from the new information... by patting his shoulder again. &quot;In that case, you have my condolances for having to deal with it.&quot; Heh heh heh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then she frowns a bit as all this is explained. &quot;So someone is trying to make a statement by killing the top players? Tch. And people think the in-game griefers are poor sports.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I see. And you'd like to get ahead of this before it becomes too widely known that there's another death game.&quot; Psyber assesses from a cold tone, flicking his cigarette and putting the ash in an empty glass, &quot;While you figured we would want to help purely on the merit of preventing another game.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If we stop it, your company saves bad PR and we save lives. Mutually beneficial, is that correct?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur's grin falters a little bit. &quot;Oh.&quot; He says. People are dying. That's putting a damper on his mood, at least a little. &quot;That's... Ah. THEO'S got the right idea HERE, did this guy JAILBREAK his shit or anything like that? Man, this sounds kinda IMPOSSIBLE on a BUNCH OF LEVELS, yo. Like, SHOOTING THE SCREEN? Why do that in PUBLIC, why...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He shakes his head. &quot;I'm guessin' that's what WE need to figure out, huh? How shit be GOIN' DOWN? 'Cause that's BOGUS NOISE right there. You managed to pin down the SON OF A BITCH doin' the SHOOTING? 'Cause, I mean, that seems like the SOURCE of WHATEVER PROBLEM. Easiest LEAD, simplest ROUTE, fuckin' TAKE IT, right? We can just go find out WHO did the SHOOTINGS, hear straight from THEM and all.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's also wearing sunglasses suddenly, for other reasons. Chatting, seems like!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;After exchanging greetings with Kirito and Kikuoka, Yuna's attention turns away - or rather, is turned away, as more and more people come in ... many of whom she knows, and greets with her usual warm, bright smiles. Even those she doesn't count as friends, she'll at least be properly courteous too. Somewhere in the course of things, she also gets a beverage - a glass of the local apple cider, chilled but without ice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It looks like it's going to be a big meeting, too; Frederica, Psyber, Homura, Arthur - even Amalthea, whom Yuna didn't remember being in either of the previous MMO crises. She greets all of them anyway, by name, and tries to keep up with who all is here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But soon enough, Mr. Kikuoka calls things to order (as such they'll be) and Yuna turns her attention to him, listening intently, her face growing troubled. &quot;Do you have a log of the cafeteria side of the incident?&quot; she wonders. &quot;Or of Tarako's murder? Any details might help ... at least,&quot; she admits with evident chagrin, &quot;to somebody who CAN make sense of the program code and the variables that were involved.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She looks around at the others. &quot;Besides, if it was a case like the old NerveGears, wouldn't the cause of death be microwave-induced cerebral hemorhage instead of heart failure?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She focuses her thoughts briefly, and Elner teleports in next to her, floating by her shoulder as Yuna sits and nurses her cider, listening further.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That might be a nice break,&quot; Homura answers Psyber. She lowers her book, to glance at the man giving them the straight explanation. At first it really does sound like a coincidence, but then the second time-- well, it could still be a coincidence, but that's very unlikely.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Your world seems to have a knack for death games, Kirito.&quot; Any of the various questions she has, are sufficiently obvious they've already been asked. Her eyes lock back onto Seijirou, awaiting answer. Although she advances:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;There are many reasons for doing something so publicly. Sending a message. Spreading fear. Not caring. Thinking oneself unstoppable. Someone who speaks of power and judgment probably falls in all four.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:395|Amalthea (395)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She might not have been here for business originally, but that gets Amalthea's attention. &quot;People are dying again? Some games these are.&quot; She idly comments. &quot;I wasn't up to date on the last incidents but isn't the new headset thing supposed to be a lot safer? How is someone dying over the internet all over again?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;You made it? Awesome! Do you do a lot of sewing and stuff, or was it more of a one-off fashion statement?&quot; Clothes are almost always a safe place with women. She chuckles at the threat from Frika to Arthur, though there's a slight tings of uncertainty to it. Just a little. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;ADVENTURE DISCUSSION TIME BEGINS, however, and Riva pays rapt attention, sipping her strawberry daquiri as she listens to the shenanigans. &quot;Spooooooooky.&quot; Riva sums things up. &quot;Why the crap would people pull this kind of thing in a game?&quot; She shakes her head. &quot;When this kind of crap turns lethal, no one wins.&quot; Everyone else asks the questions she'd ask, so she settles for scooting over a bit closer and piping up, &quot;Maybe if we can find out what the common links are we can set up some kind of trap to catch the dude responsible.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Riva then points out, &quot;Maybe the headset isn't what's doing it.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frika frowns, listening to the story and various suppositions. &quot;The NerveGears killed with microwaves, yes.&quot; she says, answering Yuna. The Amuspheres were very carefully checked by the Union. Such a killing would be impossible, at least in that way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I suppose it's not possible for ... oh, I don't know, some sort of feedback signal to be sent through an Amusphere that could give a person a heart attack? You know, dying from fright?&quot; she asks. It might be possible. It's certainly happened in fiction a few times. Whether it could happen in reality, she's not sure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If so, the signal wouldn't be coming from the game. Not if someone shot a cafe screen to do it. So... what, would it involve hacking into the system somehow?&quot; she wonders aloud.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;So that's what happened to XeXceed...Reker frowns a little faintly as he stands nearby. He folds his arms over his chest as he listens. Tarako, too. Reker knew both of them. XeXceed was an asshole, sure, but he was also probably the top player in the game. Hard to win BoB and not be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the moment, he stays quiet, looking at Kirito and trying to read his face. Players shouldn't be able to be killed in the real world through the game. At least...Not with the AmuSphere. Reker doesn't like this one bit, especially since somewhere, right now, he's laying in a bed with an AmuSphere wrapped around his dome. He doesn't like this idea at all.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Theo nods a little at Arthur. &quot;That's what I was wondering, too.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;But if I was going to go around trying to kill people for real by way of VRMMO, I'd go with something that wasn't already confirmed doable so I could get away with it longer,&quot; Theo points out to Yuna. &quot;They've got access to your brain; all it takes is one really good hack to potentially tell your body to stop working right.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Theo pauses for a second before a shiver runs through him. &quot;Ugh. Really hoping that's not the case.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kickotron hops up onto one of the bar stools. It slowly rotates, scanning the room with its expressionless robot-bird eyes. Creepy.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Oh come on,&quot; Kirito grouches slightly Homura's way. &quot;The AmuSphere couldn't stop someone's heart...&quot; Kirito points out though he seems distracted the next moment. Rubbing at his chin. &quot;Some sound... smell... sensation? No, none of these things can stop someone's heart. You're sure there wasn't any...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Damage to the brain? Their brains were perfectly fine.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito now makes a face at Seijirou. &quot;You've already gone over all these things yourself, haven't you?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou's expression turns a bit apologetic. &quot;But this confirms it. There's no way an AmuSphere could stop someone's heart, and how could shooting a screen do it? That makes even less sense than the bullet hitting the avatar.&quot; Seijirou turns his attention now to the others to answer questions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THEO and ASUNA and FREDERICA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;The AmuSpheres were used, but no signs of tampering or modifications. The makers assurances are correct according to all tests and science we know of. The most an AmuSphere could do is disorient someone, or trigger a pre-existing condition like epilepsy. Perhaps psychological reactions...&quot; He trails off, and Kirito makes a face at all of this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;KARIAN and ALICIA and YUNA and HOMURA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We have a soundclip taken from the first shooting. One of the players in the cafe uploaded it.&quot; Again he taps at his tablet PC, bringing it up... and cranking up the volume.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A resonating, deep voice emanates from the speakers, dripping hostility and murderous intent. &quot;XeXceed... False Victor... You will now be judged by true power!&quot; There's a gunshot, a half-minute that includes players laughing, XeXceed gasping and the interviewer saying he should be back soon, then The Dark Voice is back again. &quot;This is true power! True strength. Fools... remember this name and tremble! The name this gun and I share! Death Gun!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The clip cuts off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Reker will note that by now, Kirito's face has tightened up with... fright? Just a hint of it. That voice might be vaguely familiar to more than one person here. Vaguely. Just slightly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;To PSYBER however, Seijirou straightens his stance. &quot;Something to that effect. More people showed up than I expected. I did plan on payment for the investigation and covering precautions, security, equipment and subscriptions. ... You see, the company that runs GGO, Zaskar, is based in America and very secretive, so legal teams are powerless. Autopsies weren't very useful so long after death, and nothing suggests break ins or tampering. Still, our division and my superiors are worried. First, what if there is some flaw in the AmuSphere? ... Second...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito picks up here, his tone dark. &quot;...What if, instead of a flaw in the AmuSphere, it's something from another world altogether that you can't deal with?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kikuoka Seijirou doesn't respond verbally. His grim expression says it all.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Psyber nods his head to Seijirou and then sighs, &quot;Very well.&quot; He takes a long drag of his cigarette. He scans the room but only sees one Confederate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He turns to Psalm, &quot;Mags. Do you wanna take an offer back to your bosses for me? I figure you're gonna fill them in on the situation after this meeting, so you can tell them that a Reserve Colonel wants to re-initiate the prior neutrality agreement for this investigation?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Magatha looks up from where she's pestering Kirito and looks up to Psyber, suddenly serious and all business. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Hnnn, i suppose so, seeing as I helped broker the truce in the first place. I'll get on the horn.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe thinks she's got a lot to take in here take in here, she listens to what's said by everyone else, the questions and she wonders the new model shouldn't be enough and she looks to Riva and then to Fred whispering. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Frederica is amazing you should see the dress she made for me last year.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She falls back into adventure time as she listens once more. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Forgive me for my eariler comments, your trying to figure out what's going on humm this is strange the fear thing might be possible but I'd never heard of anything like that before with any game like ALO. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;...off world could be very much a possiblity and perhaps the more terrifying.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana wrinkles her nose slightly. &quot;Death Gun? Oh gee, that is -so- creative. OC Donut Steel all the way,&quot; she retorts, in typical secret agent fashion of making a snarky comment or two. Despite the partial joking, her expression shows just how serious this is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Especially when Kirito comes up with a good valid point. &quot;That's a frightening possibility. A very frightening one. Who knows what someone could of gotten their hands on....&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;That would make sense. I'm sure each of us can think of at least one way for that to work.&quot; Karian says. It's clearly visible in his eye that he was very unhappy. His mind quickly began running over possibilities, and all of them were bad. &quot;So, what are you asking us to do, go after this Death Gun?&quot; He asks. He walks over to the table where Kirito and Kikuoka wee, dragging his chair over with him.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I guess I was too hasty to call it a death game scenario, but you have to admit it has all the makings of one,&quot; Homura replies to Kirito, finally closing her notebook and putting it on her lap. She listens to everything; there's a lot to take in. The idea of offworld tech is pretty plausable, but oddly specific.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I wouldn't discard the idea someone went to another world, found a weapon that can kill someone through their digital proxy, and then found a way to get it into the game... but it could also just be a power that kills at a distance, and gunning them inside the game and gloating is symbolic. That Death Gun man certainly sounds like he enjoys posturing-- not without reason.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She shrugs.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Have there been other deaths? A weapon or ability like that would have required... I don't know, testing. Making sure it works before you try to use it while gloating. There might have been other low-profile victims. And what does he mean by false victor? Has there been cheating controversy around these players?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia nods along slowly as she realises that there's obviously been nothing found on the bodies themselves, beyond the obvious... Whether through autopsy or otherwise. Seijirou probably wouldn't be coming to them if there was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia perks up as the video starts. She watches closely... Though she blinks a little at the name, &quot;Death... Gun?&quot; Really?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Anyway, &quot;So... Since it's not something obvious, we need to search for something unusual. Both out here and... I'm guessing... In there.&quot; GGO. That's where the answers currently are, and the only lead since getting at the server itself seems difficult at the moment.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;Death gun...&quot; Asuna shifts uneasily with a slightly strange look on her face. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; &quot;Player killers...&quot; She breathes. &quot;How many people do you think play this game that were in Aincrad?&quot; She asks, finally. There's a little sensation of worry running down her spine, and her brown eyes are very wide.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Upon hearing more information, Iria scowls even deeper. This is far more serious than even she thought. She cracks her knuckles a little while looking to Alicia, nodding as she speaks. &quot;Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way.&quot; She sighs. &quot;It may be risky, but if we don't take any risks, nothing will happen.&quot; She then looks to Asuna and says, &quot;I'm not liking this either, but I'm sure if we stick together like before, we'll be OK.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If we're dealin' with some kinda INTERNET WIZARD or some shit, FUCKIN' with DUDES' HEARTS ONLINE, maybe, but that doesn't MAKE SENSE. Why pop a cap in the screen in a PUBLIC place, why...&quot; Arthur almost starts again, before shaking his head. &quot;PLAN DON'T CHANGE. The BEST way to get this shit FIGURED OUT is at the SOURCE. The DEATH GUN guy, whoever he is, be gettin' the MAD THEATRICS up ins. Killin' BIG NAMES in PUBLIC PLACES.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He ceases floating, slamming back down onto the ground heavily on both feet, and planting an aggressive thumb on his chest. &quot;And lemme tell ya.&quot; He says. &quot;If there's one thing I CAN DO, it's be a BIG GODDAMN NAME. Shit don't get BOLDER than the LETTERS I BE DROPPIN'.&quot; He points a finger aggressively to Seijirou. &quot;So obviously the REAL SOLUTION is to get all up IN THAT SHIT, be MAD IMPRESSIVE, run the BIG NAMES, and then TRACK HIM DOWN so he can get his ROCKS OFF about THEATRICS or whatever and then we can FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT. Y'know, WING IT at that point.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He makes dismissing gestures. &quot;POINT IS,&quot; he says. &quot;BEST route here is to get GOING and go AFTER this son of a bitch right at the SOURCE, right? Seems like that's the plan the REST of us are THINKING UP.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Riva makes a face. On top of killing people, he's doing it with a weapon with a /stupid name/. She nods distractedly to Tomoe and makes a note on her smartphone. Someone looking over her shoulder will see her put in: ASK BATWOMAN ABOUT COOL CLOTHES. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Riva's just like that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;This is something that needs to get stepped on, all right.&quot; Riva nods. &quot;If there's no clues outside the game, maybe there are ones- YES, EXACTLY!&quot; Riva points at Arthur. &quot;Let's go in there and set a trap for this guy by attracting him, right? We can work /all the angles/.&quot; All of them.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna looks troubled after hearing the sound clip. &quot;I guess the AmuSphere can't simulate the sensations of dying well enough for your brain to trick your body into shutting down?&quot; she wonders; that's really the most probable cause she can think of, if it IS related to Gun Gale Online.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Still, that other possibility that Kazuto states in Kikuoka's place is worrisome as well. Yuna looks at the two of them, &quot;I think we can rule my world out pretty well. Even natural heart attacks and strokes are pretty rare where I'm from, and I can't think of anyone or anything with the power to just cause a heart attack.&quot; She lets out a breath, &quot;Which rules out one world, or set of worlds, out of however big the Multiverse is ... Elner?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The robo-faerie speaks up, &quot;Anything capable of killing by stopping the heart *should* leave traces of some sort. Mr. Kikuoka, if your analysis teams could check for erroneous data - or even 'signal noise' - directed towards XeXceed or Tarako around the times of their encounters with 'Death Gun,' that could be diagnostic in its own right.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;And apart from that,&quot; Yuna adds, &quot;you're - yeah, what Arthur said,&quot; she says after Arthur Lowell beats her to actually SAYING it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Not that she's looking forward to it. This does not sound like her kind of game ... not that SAO was, either; Alfheim was closer to her comfort zone. But nobody said being heroic meant she could stay in her comfort zone, did they?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(And if they did, boy were they EVER lying.)&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Karian looks over, flashin a grin at Arthur. &quot;I actually agree with you. We lure him out, and then stop this at the source. However what concerns me is his ability to cause heart attacks. At most, all of you will only take one shot from him. I can take two, as I have my secondary heart implant.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Unfortunately Elner...&quot; Frederica says, answering Yuna's robo-faerie. &quot;Even if records of that sort of signal were kept, they'd be in servers we don't have access to.&quot; she says. &quot;Unless we can pull Union weight in on this... which would require probable cause.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Done in public because people like this live on being recognized. They get off on being feared and reviled.&quot;, Procyana rests her chin on folded hands. &quot;As crazy as it sounds, Arthur may have the right idea. He's only going to come out if he wants to come out. So you've gotta make him come out.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A pause, then she shrugs her shoulders a little. &quot;At the very least, if he starts focus on some of us 'Elites', maybe he'll leave more civilian players alone.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Elner answers, its tone calm and unoffended, &quot;That's why I asked if Mr. Kikuoka or his people could check for it.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I was really hoping it was gonna just be a local problem,&quot; Theo mutters, slouching into his chair.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Could we just get the -- no, of course not. They're secretive, so you can't get player information off of them even if there's someone suspected of legit murder,&quot; Theo says, carrying things through towards their conclusion, &quot;because we don't have any proof but coincidental timestamps. And even if you /could/, it wouldn't be good if people got wind of the possibility of real deaths from in-game sources...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Theo picks up his glass of soda and takes a drink. He puts it down on the tabletop a little more forcefully than strictly necessary, apparently irritated. &quot;Man, this sucks. I don't suppose the Union could just go over there and wave some badges or something, get them to cough up the identity so we can just snatch the player up out of game?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;The fuck kinda WARRANT can you guys PULL?&quot; Arthur says, squinting at Theo. &quot;Man, AARON SMITH tried the same shit. We got basically JUST ENOUGH evidence to go LOOK AT the game, right? Aside from that, we're even WORSE OFF than that FIRST TIME we wanted t'go try that shit, back in ALO, when the whole thing was literally based on the testimony of INTERNET GHOST HITLER and Kirito's CHATBOT. I mean give it a TRY if you want, I guess, but seriously, not like we got a lotta LEGAL GROUND to stand on, yo.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Internet Ghost Hitler and a Chatbot. Terrific. Theo slides a tick further into his chair.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;This would be way easier if we were dangerous vigilantes, living life on the edge,&quot; Theo observes, without any real heart in it. &quot;Finding legal ground that doesn't turn into a spike pit is such a pain.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frika frowns, then nods. &quot;Arthur's right. We can't even claim, legally, there's BEEN a murder.&quot; she says. &quot;Two heart attacks linked to the game? That's suspicious, but nothing we could get a warrant for. Same with the Japanese government, investigating an American company. They'd never accept this a murder without a lot more information.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Asuna, quietly, &quot;Do you think games want to consider their companies being connected with murders? No. I should know. My father's went badly after Argus went bankrupt and RECT purchased it, considering what--&quot; Asuna's face works, her mouth twitching slightly. &quot;Considering what Nobuyuki did in Alfheim Online.&quot; &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; CEO's daughter in the room.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I could see if I could talk to anybody back in the states.&quot; Reker says, &quot;I know folks who know folks. They might be able to pull some strings, but I doubt we'll get too much. Not exactly well suited for domestic operations, if you know what I mean.&quot; He unfolds his arms, &quot;In the mean time, we need to find Death Gun, figure out what he's planning, and stop him. Whatever it is.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Absolutely impossible.&quot; Kirito states flatly, eyes on Yuna for a moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And there are more answers from Seijiruou.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;HOMURA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;We have only two confirmations. I can't rule out that there might be more that went unnoticed.&quot; Kirito adds here, &quot;It's not so unusual for a few hardcore players to forget to log out to take care of their body's needs, too.&quot; A disturbing thing to say, that he doesn't like to say, but it's the truth. &quot;I've heard of some people fainting and even dying. Eating and drinking in VRMMO might make you feel full, but your body still needs food and water.&quot; He knows THAT quite well.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But Kirito gives Asuna a very worried glance, and takes her hand in his own seemingly without thinking about it. His expression's not unlike hers. If only this were a better circumstance for him to appreciate the outfit in!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;ASUNA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I don't know, Miss Yuuki. We have the names and addresses of all of the SAO players mapped with their character names, but I'm sure you know even that's highly confidential...&quot; Indeed, after the SAO incident, it became an unspoken rule that nobody asks about That Game, and even in the 'Survivor's School' everything that happened in Aincrad stayed in Aincrad - even grudges towards murderous Laughing Coffin members. All in the name of rehabilitation and the game driving everyone mad, of course.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THEO:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;You pick up on things quickly. Perhaps you'd be interested in employment some day?&quot; He speaks lightly, maybe joking. Maybe not.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;ARTHUR and KARIAN:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...&quot; He stares, stunned by Arthur's bluntness! &quot;E-erm... that would probably work but... are you sure about making yourself a target?!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He starts glancing around at the others.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;YUNA/ELNER: &quot;...Well... for that we would need packet sniffing from the time it happened, which we don't have... that kind of recording requires warrants and ongoing investigations! But I agree, having that data would be very useful.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He then turns attention to Procyana and Alicia. &quot;It seems this group is already coming up with ideas.. very insightful ones on such little data. Have you dealt with situations like this before? ... Not VRMMos and SAO, I mean. Elsewhere.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Finally, he clears his throat and says, &quot;As the Reserve Colonel mentioned, the Virtual Division wants answers before this gets any stranger. Any information, no matter how trivial-seeming, about this 'Death Gun' or what he is up to. And if he is really murdering people in VRMMO we need him stopped. We're prepared to pay for AmuSpheres, a secure location to login from, half a year of subscriptions, and time.&quot; Dear lord, anyone going over the numbers can tell that is a HUGE INVESTMENT for something that might really end up being just a coincidence. They are REALLY concerned about this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THEO:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou smiles a bit. &quot;Well, as it turns out, what happens in a VRMMO doesn't have much legal standing. Isn't an investigation in a VRMMO no investigation at all?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Yup. He's pulling something. Maybe.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Psyber looks to Riva and Arthur, &quot;It's true. Heading into the game might not be a bad idea. I already have a mid-level character ready to go. So if you two wanna team up and do some investigation, I'm game. But if you wanna handle it on your own, I understand.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Psyber looks to Reker shortly after this, &quot;If this guy is targetting famous players and tournament winners, that might make you a likely target.&quot; He says pretty bluntly, &quot;That's both good and bad. It means we have an ace in our sleeve if he goes after you, but it means you need to be extra careful.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Aye. I'm always a target. First into the hostile territory, the edge of the sword.&quot; Karian says. He looks right into Seijirou's eyes and nods. &quot;Put the same trust in us now that was put in us during the SAO and ALO incident.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frederica nods to the government guy, sweeping her hood off and fluffing her twintails dramatically so they lie prominently before her. &quot;Oh yes, we have plenty of experience in this sort of thing. Well, not in this exact sort of thing, but in exotic threats in general.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And Seijirou now peers at Reker, curiosity showing behind the glasses. &quot;Do you? We should speak on that later.&quot; Simple but polite. That's not a thing to go on about at a tie like this.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I spent several years inside a life-like virtual simulation as part of my training,&quot; Procyana replies to Seijirou with a bit of a coy smirk. &quot;Not -lethal-, not like this, but some of the mission similations were dealing with very similar mentalities. The desire to be seen and heard, regardless of stupid the so called message may be, is the way a lot of them think.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She quickly holds up her hands. &quot;I'm not saying this is the same, because we don't know enough motivations or facts to say so. But the similarities are there, and it is enough to at least get an idea of how to proceed.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia blinks as Seijirou asks her about previous situations, &quot;Oh... Well...&quot; She thinks for a few moments, &quot;Nothing springs to mind that is exactly like this...&quot; But Alicia nods in agreement with Frederica, &quot;When you've been doing work for the Union long enough, you tend to develop a thing for handling these kinds of unusual situations.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;On to the topic of GGO, &quot;I've never actually heard of this game before... So I'll probably start off at low level.&quot; She smiles, &quot;I'm not really cut out for being the big target, so I'll probably find other means of checking things out.&quot; She looks at the others who are offering to place themselves in the firing line, &quot;I'll help you guys out however I can!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I'm in this!&quot; Iria says resolutely. &quot;I've been a part of this before, and I'm not backing down again!&quot; She clenches her fists as she stands up. &quot;Whatever needs to be done, I'll be there!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Seijirou looks shocked that the people present are ready to throw themselves into a stupidly dangerous situation. Riva doesn't even comment. &quot;We can generally handle ourselves, and we're going in with foreknowledge. The people who were targeted? They had no idea.&quot; Riva points out. &quot;If the only way we can get information is to go in and get that information, that's what we have to do. After all, you just pointed out the huge gaping hole in this.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Riva smiles. &quot;It goes both ways. If we do this on the /inside/, there isn't much the guys who run the game can do about it. We go in there, get evidence, and we turn that into something we can make stick.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Riva rubs the side of her head as Psyber points something out then. &quot;Oh yeaaaaaaaaah... I've never played. Maybe I should stick with one of the more experienced guys so I can have a better idea of what's going on and speed things up.&quot; She nods. &quot;I'll follow you and Arthur around and help any way I can!&quot; Just try to stop her.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Well WHO KNOWS? Maybe there's OTHER people makin' THEMSELVES targets, you know? Listen, the CORE of all this, the BIG PICTURE, is that we gotta get IN THERE. Gotta get some POLYGON BOOTS all up on the DIGITAL GROUND, you know? We'll FIGURE IT OUT eventually right? Just fuckin' WING IT.&quot; Arthur says, shrugging and taking a less aggressive stance.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He points casually to him, winking, grinning, and saying, &quot;TRUST ME, I'M AN ADVENTURER.&quot; It looks, somehow, so trustworthy that it loops back around to being vaguely disconcerting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;See, with EVERYONE workin' on this, I don't think we'll have an angle that AIN'T covered. So YEAH, seems SIMPLE ENOUGH. Just JUMP INTO GGO. I'm in the INFO BIZ, we can work out a SYNDICATE NETWORK deal, huh? Relay the MISSION around the NETWORK, get some DUDES figurin' shit out, that kinda thing? This DEATH GUN guy won't know what fuckin' HIT HIM. Or, you know, HOPEFULLY we'll just track him down and it'll actually all be a COINCIDENCE.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And Psyber! &quot;HELL NO, you wanna JUMP IN, you BE MY GUEST. I can't do SHIT about GUNS or whatever, so havin' one more COOL DUDE gettin' my BACK would be GREAT. Get in on this! We'll get another VIDYA ADVENTURE under our belts, huh?&quot; And then a grin to Riva. &quot;Sounds like a PLAN! I'll get your ass SCHOOLED QUICK about how to make this shit WORK.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;You'd have to take that up with him,&quot; Theo replies to Seijirou's potentially-joking employment comment, jerking his thumb at Psyber. He straightens a little, reaching for his drink again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He stops, eyeing Seijirou a little suspiciously. &quot;I suppose it isn't, is it. It couldn't be an official investigation if there's nothing to investigate, since we've already established that Amuspheres can't kill people, right? Outside your jurisdiction, then.&quot; Theo closes his hand around the glass. His voice is a measured kind of casual; it's very deliberate, obviously so. &quot;So we'd just be some concerned citizens -- a guild of like-minded individuals, maybe -- looking into some really dark rumors we heard. Nothing to panic over; it's just a game, after all.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;I've got a character already too,&quot; he adds, looking away from the man in the suit and over at Psyber for a moment. &quot;I've mostly been soloing though, doing something different than ALO's gameplay style. Just, you know, putting that out there.&quot; He shrugs, and finishes the contents of the glass.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe thinks for a moment and tilts her head at that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Playing gamea to death however predates VRMMORPGs it's happne before but that is sitll something to consider the problem. There's enough here I agree us poking into it here is likely a good idea. So I think I get what your saying we're just going to happen to play and poke into things?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;As Psyber said..&quot; Reker speaks up, so the others can hear him, &quot;I am a potential target. I was in the Bullet of Bullets event last time. The one XeXceed won. In fact it was him that eliminated me.&quot; He shake shis head a little bit, &quot;Whoever this Death Gun guy is, we have to suspect that he has a list of everyone who was in BoB and might well be checking them off one by one.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Not that I would suggest we go warn everyone who was in the tournament. That would cause pretty undue panic. We should see if he has a particular pattern or something first..&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If GGO is what I think it is, and uses guns, I will teach and help as best I can. My 80 plus years of active combat experience will aid here.&quot; Karian says, glad to offer his training to others.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna smiles politely at Mr. Kikuoka, &quot;I think this might warrant an investigation, at least by the company that operates the game, don't you think? Even if you have to cover it up as, oh ... you think somebody might be hacking the game to transmit private information through your network.&quot; Which isn't actually that far from what the truth would be, she thinks. &quot;And technically, Psyber, I think anyone who was involved in clearing SAO and freeing the captives from ALO would qualify - if I do go into GGO, I'm going back to 'Kagura' if the name's available when I get my account.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When? Not 'if'? Elner seems to have noticed that - the robo-faerie is now looking at Yuna directly, although the blonde idol seems not to have noticed the intensity of Elner's attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;I can't guarantee how much time I'll be able to devote to the investigation,&quot; Yuna admits, &quot;but .... anyone committing murder doesn't sit well with me. Killing and getting away with it is even worse. And if I draw this 'Death Gun's' attention myself, well ... you said you're *certain* there's no function in the AmuSphere that could be used to kill somebody; I'll trust that to be the truth. What sort of secure location are you thinking of ... and will you let Elner monitor the connection at my end?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elner's optics go dark for a split second before coming back on. &quot;Yuna, do you even have the time for this? Your training with Queen Ryudia, your idol work - you have a Christmas concert to prepare for back home -&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;I made a promise and a commitment to the Union as well, Elner. I can't turn my back on this. If you won't help me, I'll work with what else I have.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elner looks to Kikuoka, awaiting his answer to Yuna's questions. Yuna, for her part, is listening to the others as well as she can; Arthur's enthusiasm prompts her to grin at him, nodding. &quot;Sounds like we'll all be starting at Level 1 again, huh?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Honestly, this doesn't sound like a big Union priority. Frederica frowns, considering the possibilities. True, people getting killed is bad. But committing an unknown amount of time from a dozen or so elite operatives? Not for something that involves only two potential murders on a local world. On a possible Multiversal angle however, with the possibility that someone's found a way to commit murder over the digital lines... THAT is important enough to investigate!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And if it means Frederica spends some time playing games as part of her job, well, now that she's managed to work out her healing she DOES have some time to spare. And could use a bit of gaming to relax with...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Homura nods to Kirito. That sure is a grim way to talk about gamers, but she has no doubts it's true. &quot;So there's no real way to separate the suspicious deaths from the criminally stupid ones, then,&quot; she muses before glancing around the room. Seems everyone is ready to just jump in and make themselves targets. She wonders when she started associating with people who have no sense of survival, but a mirror on the cafe's wall makes her shut up.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I'm going to pass playing a game, I don't have that sort of time to throw around. Arthur, can you set your space thing up to... you know, pop people in? Give me some thematic clothes and I'll blend right in, anyway.&quot; she says, leaving out the real reasoning behind the request. Honestly, she's just insecure, and she's not willing to basically saw one of her metaphorical limbs off for an investigation. Though she's pretty confident short of Psyber and that actual GGO player in the room she wouldn't be getting outshot and fall too far behind.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Riva smiles widely, and reaches out to give Arthur a high five. &quot;Hell yeah! Team AWESOME is in the house! I'm good with guns, so this should work out just fine!&quot; She is /super pumped/. Clearly Arthur's energy is really infectious. Reker pipes up too. &quot;Oh yeah, and you're e vet, right?&quot; She pauses. &quot;That's a good point, but you've got a lot of connections and stuff already. We can totally use that to help move things along.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;What is Yuis opinion on this, Kirito?&quot; Asuna asks softly. She then -- shifts, uncomfortably. &quot;Has ... anyone thought of maybe asking... well... you know... from Aincrad?&quot; She asks, glancing at her hus-- boyfriend. She's clearly meaning a very specific Aincrad AI. She tucks a long part of her hair behind her ear. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; She continues frowning, arms crossed. &quot;Were the two players killed -- did they just win? They had no connect to Aincrad or Alfheim, or is that information we don't have?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Not like they're gonna have any BROOM WEAPONS worth a SHIT lying around.&quot; Arthur says, shrugging to Homura. &quot;That's MY PLAN already, you know?&quot; Then he gestures over to Reker. &quot;Looks like I might be bein' a bit REDUNDANT, too, if guys already are gettin' out. I'm sure we'll get this shit WORKED THROUGH.&quot; He seems pretty easygoing about it! Trusting that things will work out in time.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I don't know what he would have to say if he was still around. We'll have to ask Yui!&quot; Kirito answers Asuna. Very few people are going to have any idea what he's talking about, and his answer is carefully chosen to dodge Kikuoka Seijirou picking up on the fact that somewhere out there, That Man still... somewhat... sorta... lives. He doesn't go for the smart phone that could connect to Yui right now to avoid giving away that she's becoming a bit more than a talking Navigation Pixie before Seijirou. Kirito doesn't fully trust the guy on a few things.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;ASUNA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou answers her directly. &quot;Neither player had any connection to Sword Art Online. That was one of the first things I checked, Miss Yuuki.&quot; He's sure to be polite to the CEO's daughter, that's for sure. At least, in public. In Alfheim, Chrysheight is usually.. a little intimidated by Asuna...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Most people can be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;YUNA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;The original arrangement would've been for two or three people, I'll have to accomodate for more. We had arrangements with a hospital and a nurse to make sure that nothing strange happened and a medical team could be around if anything did. Our technology won't be able to deal with a strange hreat from the Multiverse though. This is simply the best I can offer.&quot; He's pretty bothered by this too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Being so far behind other worlds in so many ways is not sitting well with him at all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He nods to TOMOE, then stares alarmedly at Reker. &quot;You play Gun Gale Online?! ...&quot; Then to Psyber... &quot;So does the Reserve Colonel? My, my, the Union has some unexpected free time to use. I'm envious!&quot; A little teasing, maybe? Just a bit.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He means that though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;THEO:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Yes, that about sums up the situation. This is all off the books.&quot; How the heck are they covering up THIS big of an expense from the books?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito points out here, &quot;Seed-based games have a major advantage here. We can just convert our characters from one game to another and keep our relative levels, power, and builds in whatever the new system uses. That doesn't mean the end result will be optimized for that game, but it does mean skipping months and months of grinding for XP. The inventory's a lost cause. Anyone with an ALO account will have to open an alt account to store it, or maybe Lizbeth will let us store the stuff in her shop. She's trustworthy!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He seems resigned to this, not so much enthusiastic. Resigned and a bit reserved. But he still explains this in as clear a voice as he can manage.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe laughs at Riva and says &quot;Up for an adventure why the heck not. Nope not even as joke weapons, I have checked they tend to be serious on thier weapon designs. Well with so many of us. You should be careful about sneaking in to be honest but it's your call right? There may be mechanics that could give you away. She look to fred as well with a big old frin on her face. &quot;I'm certain we can help Riva though things right?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She looks over to Kirito and Asuna pondering for a moment. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;So what's your read on this?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She thinks for a moment as she tilts her head. &quot;Liz would be a good choice as would Angil and we could ask him he's in the back I think prepping osmething for us.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna smiles gamely, &quot;I think it might be best if we aren't all logged on from the same place, actually. If the network will support some of us logging on from other worlds - and it didn't seem like a problem in ALO - then I imagine some of us have our own preferred places to log in from. Unless there's a specific reason why you need us to all be in the same place during the investigation, that is ... and if there *is*, we can rotate out who's logging in from the secured location, or something like that.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elner, for its own part, is starting to look up information on GGO via the local Internet. Yuna will need to read up in a hurry if she's getting into this ...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia is not surprised to hear Psyber is a high level in a gun focused VRMMO. It certainly does sound like his style. As Kirito explains the possibility of converting their characters, Alicia hmms for a moment, &quot;I might do that... It would save some time and effort. And who knows what we might need to face in there. Though I wonder how mine will transfer over...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia then nods to Yuna, &quot;I've got my own place set up. Plus it's within easy reach of TSAB medical personnel. So I'll probably log in from there.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Riva slurps her daquiri noisily as she hits the bottom and puts on some mock indignation as she looks over at Tomoe. &quot;Hey! Don't worry THAT much about me! It's a game about shooting things with guns! I can actually do that!&quot; She thinks for a moment. &quot;Well, I'm /pretty/ sure I can do that.&quot; She's not actually sure how much of it is training and how much of it is her Anima.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I'm actually a pretty recent addition to the Union..&quot; Reker offers, &quot;But of course I've been playing Gun Gale Online since it launched, and I'm more than happy to offer my knowledge to everyone else who'll be joining it.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;And yeah, like Kirito said. Anyone who had ALO accounts can transfer them over to GGO. I recommend it, because it'll let us skip the boring newbie grinding stuff. Though of course if you're making a whole new account, I know some tricks to get you leveled up fast...Plus a lot of it comes down to the real world skills you have, too.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Karian looks over to Reker. &quot;REally now? Seems like fighting all that alien trash and traitors will come in handy. Though I expect the game to have nothing like what I normally use...What's your suggestion?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Asuna nods. &quot;Are we going through the GU again, then, for multi-factional help?&quot; She asks, her asks flicking over to Maggie and the Syndicate folks. &quot;'cause that's still a thing. we'll just roll over into Gun Gale Online.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Frederica shrugs. &quot;I would like to help, of course. I... I don't think I should try converting Frika though.&quot; she adds warily. Frika is, in a way, Frederica's alter ego. Considering anything like that makes her uncomfortable. Maybe if Kirito does it, she'll consider it as well... maybe.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;And I can log in from Njorun. Any monitoring you intend to do could be done there as well... besides, if I'm just a new player there'll be no reason anyone would target me. I'll be off the radar. I suppose I could use some training in the game? I don't use guns, but my reactions are good and I've got exceptional aim.&quot; she says offhandedly, self-assurance dripping from her tongue.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;YUNA and FREDERICA:&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;The reason is your own safety, Miss Kagurazaka.&quot; Seijirou's very quick to point this out, even gesturing a bit frantically. &quot;I can't stop anyone from logging in elsewhere, but I can't be personally sure of just logging in from anywhere either. ... Our routers have connections to the Multiversal internet, however. Alfheim Online's situation is.. even more special...&quot; Read: hosted by the NOBLE HORRORTERRORS and outside the normal axis of time and space, what the hell... &quot;But you should be able to login from Njorun just fine. I just want to make sure everyone is superised during their dives.&quot; At the very least then, if something happens... someone will SEE what happens.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito looks over his shoulder at Reker. He will have to ask him why he's not come in person for this later, but that's not a question for right now. Instead... &quot;Can we count on you and Psyber to get us started then? I'd be grateful.&quot; To Asuna he nods. &quot;That's probably the best way to go about it. I'll restart some of the old connections and get a better communications setup going. Then we can start up a new guild... or whatever they're called, in GGO.&quot; He's resigned to this, alright. &quot;... Better make sure to save your appearance settings on your AmuSphere's flash memory, right? I don't think those transfer there and back too well.&quot; Yay, more expenses, paying for custom appearances! HOW SWELL!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Then the 'black swordsman' faces Tomoe, arms still folded. &quot;I honestly don't think I can afford to gamble on the one, ive, maybe ten percent chance that something's up. I'm sure the AmuSphere can't be responsible, but...&quot; He's not going to gamble on this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And Seijirou brings up why a moment later, after a nod. The man in the business suit speaks. &quot;The situation with FullDive is fragile enough as it is. There are dozens of applications for entertainment, business commuting, military and medical training, and other things that the AmuSphere depends on. It's not just gaming! ... If there's a flaw in the AmuSphere it must be stomped out quickly. And even if there isn't, if murders like these rack up it could put a major dent in all our progress with FullDive. The legacy Kayaba Akihiko left is a shakey one. Despite all of the troubles FullDive's caused across SAO and ALO, the technology itself is an amazing advancement. It may be the greatest invention since the internet itself.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Karian nods and then looks over everyone. He was quiet for a moment, thinking. &quot;Kirito, everyone. With respect, in a world of guns we are, as everyone says, stronger as a unit. If you'll allow me, I would like to offer to help you all in squad training. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. I consider you all part of my responsibility.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna smiles at Kikuoka, &quot;You know, one of my favorite concerts ever was in Alfheim Online. You might have heard of it ... a big distraction while some of the other Gatecrashers were raiding the -&quot; She pauses, glancing at Kirito. &quot;The Gnomes' fortress, right?&quot; She looks back at Mr. Kikuoka, &quot;And I'd love to do more concerts in the virtual space; FullDive is one of the few ways *I* trust the quality to do that. So I'll definitely help. As for being monitored while I'm in GGO, Elner can do that too - but,&quot; she nods, &quot;you don't know Elner, so I'm not going to turn down your offer out of hand. Like I said, I don't think I can always be around, so I'll pitch in when I can.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Maybe a training session led by the GGO veterans?&quot; Frederica suggests, not entirely idly. &quot;And after that, some group work led by our tacticians? We're all fairly good at tactics, with our training. Guns, maybe not so much.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur actually goes back to speaking up here now. &quot;Okay, KARIAN? You're not a PEOPLE PERSON. You're barely a PERSON.&quot; Wow, rude! &quot;No offense, but I can't fight with GUNS, and I gots the MAD SYNCHRONICITY up ins already, and for EVERYONE ELSE, I'm gettin' MAD SKEPTICAL on that. You know how to train a squad of, like, SPACE FOOTBALL MEN or whatever, not REAL PEOPLE. Let's see what kinda SUCCESS we can get ON THE FIELD first. Not like we're gonna LOSE anything if we FAIL, you know?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:253|Psyber (253)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Psyber nods his head to Kirito, &quot;I'll use my avatar to poke around, see what I can come up with in-game.&quot; He confirms to the boy, &quot;You should definitely work on getting a new setup going.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe grins at Riva as shge looks back. &quot;True got any sort of guns you like? You can likely find them in GGO they have a huge number of guns from the real world and I think even the multiberse now if they fit the game's theme.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I will do everything I can to check out what's going on, and will also scout out a good staging area..&quot; Reker replies to Kirito, as he takes a quick look around, &quot;If we're going to have this many people taking part...The Glocken would not be the most subtle of staging areas.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:317|Theo Morrison (317)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I'm not even gonna ask how you can bankroll this if it's off the books,&quot; Theo says, shaking his head slightly. He assumes the answer is something along the lines of 'I can't tell you' anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;It's probably a good idea to just go out there and play the game before we worry about any 'training.' We're not doing raids or anything.&quot; Beat. &quot;Yet,&quot; Theo adds. You never know...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Maggie pipes up again. &quot;Are we going ot be bodily sending people in again this time, or will that not be an option?&quot; She looks over at Kirito and the Suitmonkey on that one.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I'd be surprised if we even have a warpgate for going in physically,&quot; Yuna notes. &quot;That's what it would take - physical access to the virtual world. I'm not even sure how that worked in Alfheim ...&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:2|Homura Akemi (2)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I don't need any training in anything besides how to navigate the game itself once inside,&quot; Homura idly says, having stuffed her nose back into her notebook. &quot;So pass on the gun worship training, and pass on the tactical training that has no bearing on a video game. Like Arthur said. Just hand me a map and a primer.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;A light shrug, and then she returns to her reading.&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;She's obviously paying attention though.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:495|Riva Banari (495)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Pistol type weapons, mostly, SMGs too.&quot; She pulls out an Ingram MAC-10 from under her coat and racks it. It has a circuit-like pattern on the slide that glows as she holds it, and then goes dim as she puts the weapon back in. &quot;Anyway, is there anything else? If not, I'm going to go do some research and get everything set up. I can't wait to jump in and start getting things done!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:215|Iria (215)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Iria speaks up again. &quot;Whatever we have to do, I'm game for it! I don't care what the risk is!&quot; She finally smirks a little. &quot;Besides, I live for danger!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;In the Ancient Forest near Sylvain we've got a warp gate stuffed into a hollowed-out tree nook. There's magic wards and security locks so not only do most people avoid it unless they know where it is, and they can't use it without authorization. We'll do something similar for GGO's main base -&quot; Though something similar, if basic, already exists for Reker &quot;But...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;KIKUOKA SEIJIROU waves his arms a little frantically. &quot;Hold on, hold on! Going in like that... remember that if you're harmed from digital bullets they'll hurt just like real ones, but you will bleed! Avatars don't bleed. THe public doesn't know that you can travel in like this! Don't make more rumors... if you have to do that, find some way to be very convincing!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito points out, &quot;Illusions. Illusions might work.&quot; Mostly hthough he's just thinking about it to himself.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Karian eyes Arthur. &quot;I respectfully disagree, but you have a point. That said, we should keep in mind if this is a contest, we will be playing against people who are likely thinking as a group. Playing their strengths to complement their teammate's weakness. But...we will see...&quot;He says, taking a swig of his flask.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Asuna makes a 'tsh' noise, her mouth fading into a thin line. &quot;I'll handle the in-game group and communication stuff, Kirito-kun. You can handle the real life part. You'll be fine, you've gotten better at it.&quot; Asuna has her hand in the depths of her kimono, pulling out a tablet. &lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt; She starts rapidly typing away.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Magatha Songsteel draws herself up to her height, and blinks at the Suitmonkey. &quot;Are you telling me you made an extremely realistic game with shooting and guns and shooting and bullets and left out the fake blood? Is that what you're telling me?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Well, some guy wandered OUT, so logically we can wander IN, right?&quot; Arthur says, shrugging to Yuna. &quot;And, I mean, I'm kinda FUCKED if we can't get in PHYSICALLY again, 'cause it's WORLD OF GUNS and not WORLD OF CLEANING PRODUCTS, so, let's keep that option on the TABLE, yeah?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Then Seijirou looks like he's gonna be a damper on this. &quot;MAN.&quot; He says. &quot;If I PUSSIED OUT on something just 'cause I could get SHOT if I did it, I'd probably be TWICE AS ALIVE as I am but I'da had HALF THE MANGRIT. Not like I'm gonna be able to HELP OUT like I did LAST TIME unless we get this shit DIRECT, bro. Unless you can get GGO to MOD IN some BROOMSTICKS REAL FUCKIN' FAST, I'm headin' RIGHT IN there.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He makes dismissive &quot;pffft&quot; noises. &quot;As for RUMORS? Man, you ever SEEN how GAMERS are? Shit, bro they don't give a FUCK about some guy's weird BLEEDING GLITCH or some WEIRD SCREENSHOT of REAL INJURIES. You know what the WORD for that is on the INTERNET?&quot; He wrings his hands a bit as he speaks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;SHITTY CREEPYPASTA.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana idly adjusts her jacket. &quot;If nothing else I can set my holographic imaging to just blank out any potential visual wounds.&quot; Then pauses, and snickers a bit at Arthur. &quot;He doooooes have a point there.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna is just looking VERY confusedly at Arthur. &quot;Creepy pasta ... you mean like going into a haunted house and somebody - or some trap - drops cold spaghetti down the back of your collar?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;As though intimidated a bit by Maggie's sudden shift, Kikuoka waves a hand perhaps to deflect her aggression. &quot;M-me? The damage effects are the same across nearly all VRMMOs, aren't they, Kirito?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Yeah. No blood. There's a spray of red pixels and a glowing mark that fades quickly when you're hit... don't you remember from SAO, Maggie?&quot; ALL the mobs, all the players showed damage like that...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Both Kirito and Seijirou stare at Arthur when he goes on his rant. Seijirou gives him a sheepish sort of look, grinning nervously. &quot;Yes, there is that... well, I'm not responsible for any harm that comes from that. Please TRY to fit in. You can't begin to count the amount of such... 'rumors' that didn't just go away without help after the ALO incident!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito, hearing Yuna's words, promptly and utterly facepalms. And shivers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Both the misunderstanding, and idea of that happening are giving him said shivers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Thankfully Asuna distracts him. &quot;Hm?&quot; He's tempted to look over her shoulder. He inches a bit closer...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;You know...&quot; Frederica muses thoughtfully. &quot;If we're trying to draw out this Death Gun jerk, and he's supposedly got a thing for cheaters...&quot; she says. She shrugs, grins. &quot;Seems to me we could do worse than have a few rumours start up about having unnatural abilities?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:181|Psalm (181)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Magatha huffs and sits again, lust for nerd death and blood sated for now.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;If that's all, Mr. Seijirou...then I think it would be fair to say we have our assignment. Unless, of course, there is something else that you feel relevant to share?&quot; Karian asks. He figured things were at their end, but he didn't exactly want to simply leave just yet, as he hadn't seen the others sinse the ALO incident...or sinse he lost that eye.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Kirito blinks once at Frika, then rubs at his chin. &quot;You might be on to something. We'll have to think on that more.&quot; Even Seijirou seems intrigued, turning to peer thoughtfully her way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Though with Karian bring this up, the man nods. &quot;That's about everything relevant. So then, how many are actually going to get involved by playing the game? Also... on the off-chance there's another incident involving Death Gun, and we can find it quickly enough, I would like to know if there is anyone with superior medical technology about to investigate any victims.&quot; he's straightforward, at least.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;With reluctance and aggravation written all over his face, Kirito raises a hand while still lurrrrking over at Asuna with interest!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana folds her hands behind her head. &quot;Eh, while I expect to jump in 'for real' if something big happens, it probably wouldn't hurt to play 'the normal' way to get a look at things from the inside.&quot; She could use a passtime that lets her put some of the gun knowledge to use that isn't killing thugs and other spies for a living, really.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I'll be playing as well. I can also put you in touch with some of my Wolf Priests, and imperial medicae trained medics.&quot; Karian says. He moves over and simply places his armored gauntlet carefully onto Kirito's shoulder, as it to suggest that he would at least have a tank to watch his back.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:73|Frederica (73)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;I have some ability to tell what's wrong with a body...&quot; Frederica says reluctantly. &quot;But... er, never mind. They have to be alive at the time.&quot; she says, hunching down in her seat and looking sheepish. Ignore her as she pops her hood back up and draws herself within its dubious concealment.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna looks to Kikuoka, &quot;If being an idol singer is a big enough target to lure Death Gun, then count me in - and I'll make sure I'm logged on from your secure facility when I'm planning to do in-game concerts or anything.&quot; She pauses, pursing her lips. &quot;Do you think that might be a good idea, actually? Having an in-game live concert?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Elner states, &quot;I *will* be present with Yuna whenever she's online in GGO. The rest of the Matrix of Light will also be present or within easy call, to defend her physically if need be.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yuna just looks at Elner for a moment.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:4|Alicia T. Harlaown (4)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Alicia raises her hand to indicate her participation in the game. She also adds, &quot;I could help analyze the victims too. Sweet Melody's detection suite might be able to pick up something... Though I'm no doctor so all I could do is provide the raw data. Someone else would probably have to interpret it.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:33|Arthur Lowell (33)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Arthur holds up one finger and visibly attempts to construct some kind of response to what Yuna just said about creepypasta. He fails to do so for some time, letting out a soft breath noise that sounds like a gass leak. eventually he just gives up and goes back to what he was trying to say before. &quot;RIGHT.&quot; He says, pointing at Seijirou. &quot;But, honestly? NOTHING gonna come of it, the way it USUALLY goes. But SHEESH, fine, I'll try not to BLEED ALL OVER THE PLACE, TOO MUCH.&quot; He does a big, exaggerated shrug, as if that's a lot to ask of him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;ANYWAY, you guys handle the BODIES, I ain't good with CORPSES at ALL, I'll focus on FIGHTS and ADVENTURES and BIG NAMES and all that shit, should be GOOD. besides, AMERICAN FPS? SHIT YES. That's my fuckin' ELEMENT.&quot; He does a little fistpump, eagerly.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:9|Asuna (9)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Asuna's on a VRMMO message board. Search? 'death gun'. How does Asuna even know about these things? ... and why is her screen name not Asuna? She reaches up, patting Kirito on the side of his head. &quot;I'll fill you in later.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:1|Kirito (1)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gwonk. Kirito's left with a chastized expression. &quot;Yes, miss Second-in-Command.&quot; He can tell when pressing is bad! This is one of those times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seijirou sighs in relief. &quot;I'm sure some will come up,&quot; he says Karian's way, only to... smile brightly at Yuna's proposal. &quot;Well, I have no way to know if that will get our suspect's attention, but I'll be sure to be there if you do!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;... so the guy isn't ENTIRELY business-like...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:6|Tomoe (6)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Tomoe may ot may not be up to something she seme to be a bit odd today humm as she thinks about this. She's not brought up transfering over and she's got tablet out which she's going over some stuff on some app or another. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Come on this will be fun and come on we can have some fun with it right?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:631|Reker (631)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Actually..&quot; Reker says, now that he thinks about it, &quot;I consider myself somewhat of a weapons expert, both in the game and out of it...So if you need advice on what sort of weapons to use based on your skillset...I would be more than happy to offer advice.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:365|Procyana (365)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Procyana perks up at Reker. &quot;There! That's the sort of person I need to talk to if I'm going to 'blend in' as it were.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:451|Karian Icefang (451)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;As will I.&quot; Karian says, patting Kirito before walking over to Reker.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=865/A_Dream%27s_Inheritor_II&diff=6189 2014-10-28T03:52:11Z

<p>Volund: Created page with &quot;{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2014/10/27 |Location=Dun Realtai |Synopsis=Saber, Shirou, and Bedivere chat about Kiritsugu, the various Grail Wars, and knightly duties. |Thanks= ...&quot;</p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2014/10/27<br /> |Location=Dun Realtai<br /> |Synopsis=Saber, Shirou, and Bedivere chat about Kiritsugu, the various Grail Wars, and knightly duties.<br /> |Thanks=<br /> |Cast of Characters=346, 482, 560<br /> |Tinyplot=<br /> |Tinyplot2=<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;PANCAKES.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;After a miserable last night that sent his head spinning, Shirou's eager to do something to distract himself from it. Because it's still spinning the next morning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Not too long ago he hoisted a few bags full of clinking and clanking equipment into his room. Some of those newfangled induction stove plates that just need to be plugged in, a very high-tech super-battery with standard power plugs from the Union, and various cookware and kitchen utensils... a compact, portable mini-kitchen really. Sometimes he's been experimenting with local dishes and new takes on ones he knows using different ingredients that are locally available, sometimes he's brought in stuff from elsewhere. Sure, the kitchens here are excellent, but... not for modern cooking, and he doesn't want someone accidentally shocking themselves or something, does he?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;So he's managed to inadvertently keep most of his actual cooking pretty secret. Or so he thinks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;That probably won't last after today, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Since Saber seemed so enthusiastically interested in simple pancakes, Shirou decided to get a little elaborate for an impromptu lunch. Lunch for her (probably a bit too much for a simple lunch), brunch for him. (Nightmares of the fire all throughout last night...)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's put a tablecloth over one of the tables, and set it for several people. Given the response he got on the Union radio a few days ago, he half expects Sir Gawain and Sir Bedivere to come bursting in at any moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's pancakes, a very western food, so forks and knives for everyone rather than chopsticks. The beverages available are mostly local ones, though a gallon of milk from some grocery store's also available. There's only four pancakes, but he's brought his self-heating pan and the battery for it to pour more at any time.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There's a small plate of sausages to take from, and a small pitcher of steaming hot maple syrup.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The strangest thing is probably the apron he's wearing over his normal clothes though. Strangely suits him! Because Shirou's still futzing with the last bits of the arrangement, waiting for Saber and whoever else heard that on the radio...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Gawain better not ride right into the keep on his motorcycle. Motorcycles belong outdoors, darnit!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The path of chivalry is not an easy one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Early in the morning, almost before his own companion had woken, Sir Bedivere had quietly slipped out of bed and donned the warmest, driest clothing he could find to make his rounds through the village. Dun Realtai's dreary autumn weather combined with the barren soil meant flooding was a real possibility, and the lord of the keep has no doubt that erosion will be a problem until the spring.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; So, he had borrowed a farm horse, patting the beast on the neck and coaxing it to slog through the mud, carrying him through the important parts of the village. All told, his tour of inspection had taken him about two and a half hours.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Once finished, he had promptly taken the horse back to its owner, groomed it, and then slogged back through the mud up the hill to the keep. He'd shucked off his saturated clothing and crawled directly into a hot bath to warm up, shivering and muttering curses under his breath in Gaelic.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; That done, he'd donned the second-warmest clothing he could find, huddling down in the great hall before the fire for a few moments. When Shirou had expressed his intents over the local band, it was enough time for Bedivere to abscond to the kitchen and prepare a pot of tea while the red-headed youth saw to the table's settings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere, thankfully, does not come 'bursting' back into the great hall. He conducts himself with dignity and gravitas wherever possible, as he always has, though he perhaps has a hint of melancholy about him at times. His clothing is mediaeval in the style of commoners' garb, with homespun hempen and linen garments smelling faintly of Castile soap. His hair is still damp, gathered over one shoulder in a messy twist and bound loosely; some of it still stuck to the side of his face here and there. He looks calm and alert, though, refreshed after a hot bath to help him stop shivering.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Oh, and he's carrying a tray laden with a teapot fresh out of the kitchen. Apparently, he'd made a stop at the kitchens, first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Master Shirou. I thought I might bring you some tea.&quot; The tray is indicated with a slight rattle. His mouth twists in a soft, slightly self-depreciating smile. &quot;I hope you have not had to work too hard... ah, forgive me. You are a guest; I should be the one providing for you. At least allow me to offer you this.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In Dun Realtai, he townsfolk rose early, as those in an agricultural society always did, already working to complete tasks in preparation for winter. Similarly, the erstwhile lord and lady of the keep rose early, though the former rose before the latter, busying himself with the sort of task he had been employed with in her service as a knight. He was already halfway through his patrol when Arturia awoke, roughly about the time that the rest of the villagers did, dressing quickly in commoner's attire just as her marshal did. But rather than descending the stairs immediately, the Servant busied herself with a bit of paperwork, intending to finish before making her way to the kitchen for breakfast. As it turned out, it had been a good decision; Shirou apparently had more pancake batter on his hands than he knew what to do with. And Saber was never one to turn down a good meal except in the most dire of circumstances. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It almost made her dread revealing certain things to him that he was not going to like, but needed to hear anyway. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The flaxen-haired knight made her way downstairs into the great hall after first loosely braiding her hair in lieu of fixing it up into the usual braid-encircled bun, entering with all the finely-practised grace of her station. So used to presenting the image of the perfect king day in and day out, it was something she had never been able to simply turn off like a switch. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Good morning, Shirou,&quot; she greeted with a faint smile, though that smile turned into a slight frown at her marshal. &quot;You are going to catch a cold,&quot; she fussed mildly, though both of them knew he was not going to neglect his duties. Her mind was already working on a number of items to pick up on her next shopping trip, foremost among them was proper rainy-weather gear. But at least Bedivere knew that he would never hear the end of it should he overwork himself; and there was one particular duty which demanded that he be in good health. A duty indicated by the intricate markings on his left hand. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The petite swordswoman eyed the settings appreciatively. &quot;Were you expecting others, as well?&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Sorry I woke up so late!&quot; Shirou hurriedly gets out of the way. He's usually up and about to help early in the mornings. Not long after sunrise, really. Except for when he's been laid up awfully by getting run through, or something like that. Though... even in that case, he's recovering weirdly quickly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;While he has no knowledge of running a nation, and the various trades involved, he still wants to help - so that's mostly been when the others are out doing whatever, he's been fixing things and hauling stuff around. It's simple work, but hey, someone's gotta do it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If only he'd stop using up all his energy trying to save everyone and getting nearly killed in the process, maybe?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He does look up at Saber as she strolls in however, and is knocked momentarily speechless. Even if everyone ays that's King Arthur, he just doesn't quite see her that way in several ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;So it takes him a moment of awkward staring before he gets his composure back. &quot;Good morning, Saber.&quot; For this brief moment, every awful topic that raged around in his mind has gone wandering off. He smiles warmly. &quot;Breakfast is served... or brunch... and--&quot; In comes Bedivere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;SHirou regards him without too much surprise, but he gets the warm look too. Just not the AWED look. &quot;Oh, Sir Bedivere. There's plenty for everyone if you'd like some. Out early like usual?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It'd probably be a good idea to actually sit down at some point. Shirou's waiting for the others first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...Well, I knew he'd be coming back,&quot; He asides with a headtilt towards Bedivere, &quot;But Sir Gawain might come barreling in too.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He did just kind of do that, last time, didn't he?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The marshal turns and winces slightly when the first words out of his lady's mouth are... nagging him about his carelessness. While he might have expected a good-morning, or the smile he's so often come to appreciate, this time he's earned the scolding.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; At least he remembered to take a hot bath and warm himself up, instead of bustling right into whatever work needed doing, cold and wet from the rain. He even put dry clothing on! That's probably impressive for him, considering the conditions he regularly worked through in Camelot. When Caliburn was lost, he was up and working a week and a half after the mortal wounds that had almost killed him. His habit of regularly coughing up blood for a time after that, and the blood-spotted bandaging he'd worn for even longer, told of how close he'd come to working himself to death.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; It's just in his nature not to think of himself. He doesn't place the same value on his life that he does others... but one of these days he's definitely going to catch cold if he doesn't get ahold of some good rain gear... or worse.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Fortunately, his sigh of resignation is cut short by Shirou's greeting. He seems to remember he's holding the tray, setting it down on the table. &quot;Yes. Since nothing grows here, at least not yet, it is important that I am mindful of potential flooding. If it rains too hard, the soil will be washed away, and the consequences of that would be... unpleasant.&quot; He steps sideways, pulling out a chair for Saber with a faint, if tired, smile. Only after she accepts does he pull his own chair out beside her, sinking into it with a grateful sigh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Sir Gawain comes and goes as he pleases,&quot; Bedivere agrees. His eyes close briefly as he shrugs and shakes his head. &quot;He is... hm. Not the most reserved of personalities, shall we say? It has always been his way. Furthermore, he has obligations to his Master, and so he does not always remain in the castle.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He rests his hands on the table, baring his own mark; intricate Celtic-style knotwork in the shape of a sword, lurid red against his skin. He doesn't speak, though, flicking a brief glance to Saber, letting her lead the conversation. She'd called for this meeting, after all.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Saber shook her head with a faint smile. &quot;Worry not,&quot; she reassured the red-haired magus. &quot;We rise earlier because we must. There is much work for us to accomplish.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; However, she failed to apply that to herself; often, she needed to conserve her mana by resting, yet she hated having to do so when there was much left to be done. But at least paperwork wasn't too strenuous. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She was not too surprised by Shirou's reaction -- indeed, the ability to inspire awe had been necessary as the king -- but at the same time, that life was gone, ended at the tragedy of Camlann. Now, she was merely the Servant Saber...Arturia, to some. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But sadly, breakfast would have to wait for a moment. &quot;I shall return shortly,&quot; she stated before disappearing for a few minutes, only to return with a thick towel. &quot;Be seated,&quot; she did not /quite/ order the marshal, but he knew better than to refuse. Only after he had done so and she set about to drying his hair /properly/ before retying it did she seat herself. It was, undoubtedly, a very strange way for a Servant to treat a Master, and an especially strange way for a king to treat a knight. It was, however, a completely natural way for a lady to treat her lord. Were they simply acting for the sake of the villagers who needed that stability? Or was it something else? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Arturia sighed softly, even if she was not especially exasperated. &quot;Ah, it would not be surprising. Sir Gawain has always been of that disposition. He would be as likely to refuse a good meal as I.&quot; That is to say, not at all. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She nodded at Bedivere's explanation of Gawain's unique personality. &quot;He is, by designation, the Knight of the Sun. It is simply his way to be so...boisterous.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She caught that flicker then, her own acknowledging his unspoken statement. &quot;However, there is much for us to discuss, regarding the recent turn of events.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Thank you, Sir Bedivere.&quot; Shirou adds a bit belatedly, takin a second look at the tray. &quot;I didn't know what teas you liked or I'd've gotten some.&quot; Yup, tea is on Shirou's menu apparently! &quot;Also, what's this about not working too hard?&quot; He makes an exasperated, yet somewhat amused grunt, while giving Bedivere this most incredulous look. &quot;Listen, I'm staying as a guest, but you don't need to treat me like roy-- er-...&quot; That phrase gets cut off VERY quickly. The boy even blushes, expression twisting. &quot;...You don't need to worry so much. If getting off easy was what I wanted I'd be at Njorun.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Yeah. He's here because people need his help, after all. He's never once acted like an honored guest more than he has a dedicated resident...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's clearly not on the ball right now, as he's pretty casual and easygoing about all the standards. He's constantly forced to use this unusual 'sir' title, but it's becoming habit at least.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;While Saber's heading off to get a towel, Shirou takes a seat himself. &quot;Oh... erosion. That shows what I know about farming.&quot; He could practically kick himself. It's a good thing Bedivere's in charge of this, and not him... &quot;Yeah, I can't imagine hauling in whole fields worth of topsoil.&quot; That's a scary, scary proposition. Enough to make him shudder at the crazy amount of work.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Oh, he'd do it if he had to. But dang, better to not get into that position to begin with!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;When Saber's back, Shirou agrees with a nod. &quot;Exactly. I bet he could eat the entire stack of pancakes while our back is turned too.&quot; He adds jokingly a moment later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Scooting his chair in, he now looks expectantly between Saber and Bedivere...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; As usual, Bedivere pays no attention to his own condition. That his hair is still damp hasn't even occured to him, warm and dry beside the hearth. He blinks when Arturia suddenly excuses herself. Had he forgotten to bring something with the tea? It wouldn't surprise him. Tea is still something of a luxury to him, albeit one he's gradually beginning to accept more. He doesn't always remember to bring the things other people enjoy with it--&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; A towel? He squints a little as Arturia heads straight for him with it, and then his shoulders sag as he realises what she's going to do with it. He endures her single-minded attention with a sigh, and to his credit he doesn't even protest when she ties his hair properly, using one of the etched brass cuffs that he often uses for just that purpose.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I find I am fond of black tea,&quot; he states in answer to Shirou, now that he's not being fussed over. OF course, he doesn't actually mind, for all his air of resignation. It's better to endure that than to endure the ache of her absence, as he once did. It even amuses him to a certain extent. To his perceptions she seems to enjoy fussing over him. He definitely doesn't pay the attention to himself, so...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Erosion,&quot; he agrees. &quot;Throw enough water into the soil, and it will begin to run away, without roots to hold it. I am less concerned over the fields beyond the walls and the hill, where the farming will be, since Lady Stadler has agreed to help us with sowing life back into those dead plains. But if there are problems with the hill itself, we will need to begin shoring up the slopes. I should not like to wake one morning to find half the village buried in mud.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He considers, before shrugging faintly. &quot;Most likely he could. Sir Gawain was never one to refuse food of any kind. That would have been an insult, to him.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere soon falls silent, though, the better for Arturia to steer the conversation. He bows his head slightly as he moves to pour his tea; a gesture of acquesce to her. /This is your tale to tell him./ And then, as he glances back to her from the corner of an eye: /Would you like some, as well...?/&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As muted as her expressions were, it would not take much to observe that Arturia was rather amused. &quot;It is our duty as hosts to honour guests,&quot; she explained. &quot;The kingdoms throughout Albion observe old laws of hospitality. To act in any way not befitting a proper host would be to dishonour ourselves, disregarding both Brehon Law and the code of chivalry.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The knight-king tilted her head just slightly. &quot;However, it would seem you know something of chivalry, if you adhere to the virtues of Exercitium, Militia, Pietas, and Ingenuitas.&quot; Perhaps Bedivere had been drilling the proper Virtues into the young man's head along with sword techniques; she would have to observe one of their training sessions sometime. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; In the meantime, Bedivere had his own trial to endure in the form of his liege fussing over him. But it was mercifully brief, seating herself once her task had been completed to her satisfaction. The price of one's duty, it would seem...but perhaps, not an unpleasant one, regardless of how they might make it seem. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And on the subject of her nephew...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Oh, he could. He most certainly could. &quot;The abilities of Saber-class Servants consume a great deal of mana,&quot; she explained. &quot;We can procure the necessary energy not only from our Masters, but from food.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Arturia eyed the plate then, maintaining her grace even with what would prove to be a fearsome appetite. &quot;However, a pleasant meal is preferable to a poor one, regardless of the amount of mana being the same.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Returning the slight nod, Arturia likewise responded in their nonverbal way before addressing the young magus. /Yes, thank you./ &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;This concerns your adoptive father, Emiya Kiritsugu, and the Fourth War for the Holy Grail.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;A-a mudslide?!&quot; Shirou gulps. That had NOT been on his mind at all, and the utterly devastated shock in his eyes is sure proof of that. &quot;...If you need help with that don't hesitate to ask. That's... those are nasty.&quot; He has seen pictures on the news before... it isn't good at all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Though, despite the awful topics, he's eating and enjoying it. He needs his energy too, after all the crazy things going on recently sapping it all!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Still, he contests lightly against Saber's explanation, &quot;Right, but that doesn't change how much work there is to do.&quot; And he's here to do it! Sheesh. Or try to, anyways. &quot;However, you're mistaken on that last part. We haven't delved into that yet.&quot; Although they probably will soon... &quot;... Working hard and trying to be fair's just how I've always done things.&quot; Or in other words... he's never needed any code to adhere to, they're just coincidentally very similar.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Though, Saber finally brings up the topic. The air around SHirou turns a bit more somber. &quot;Hmngh. He said he'll e fighting as a Master...&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;Truly,&quot; the marshal murmurs, in agreement with his knight. He shakes his head, softly. &quot;The man who would breach Brehon Law was considered lower than a criminal. The host who breaks his word, and places his guest into willing danger, has honour and word worth less than the mud scraped from one's boot.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Indeed, he had plans to drill the chivalric virtues into Shirou's head along with swordsmanship, although he hasn't had the opportunity to just yet. After all, what value would one be without the other? He simply nods faintly in response to Arturia's musings, following her musings with little trouble -- they are alike in many ways, and it isn't hard for one to follow another's train of thought.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; To her fussing, he doesn't seem to mind at all. There's even a bit of a fond smile in the wake of it, though Shirou might have to look hard to see it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Indeed. Such a thing was not common in the lands outlying Camelot, but it was not outside the realm of possibility. Sand is the best defense for such a thing, poured into sackcloth and piled high. If there is no sand available, gravel will also do.&quot; The knight considers as he takes a sip from his teacup. &quot;I will let you know if I require assistance, but as of yet, it seems that the hill is safe. The villagers have also been holding regular patrols at my request. I dislike asking them to leave their homes in such weather, but if the hill gives way, they will once again not /have/ homes.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere falls silent, though, letting Arturia explain. He busies himself with preparing a second cup of tea in silence, doctoring it the way he's watched her take hers -- ever observant, the marshal is -- and mutely slides it in front of her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; That done, he returns his hands to his own cup, wrapping long fingers around the warm ceramic. Ah, that's nice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Silence, though, is the order of the day. This isn't his conversation, or his story to tell; he's just here to lend moral support -- perhaps to both parties. It goes without saying that his presence is a balm for Arturia, but perhaps he likes to think that Shirou takes some comfort in Bedivere's stable and steady presence, too; calm, cold water to temper the red and burning iron of Shirou's more enthusiastic personality.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Saber nodded slightly. &quot;Indeed, that is our most immediate concern. Any assistance you wish to render would be most appreciated.&quot; A bit on the formal side, perhaps, but that was simply her way. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As was chivalry. &quot;There are certain Virtues which come naturally, while others present more of a challenge. The code exists to unify them all, for a knight to balance his strengths and weaknesses with his fellow knights. Where one struggles with, for example, Fortitudo, it is the responsibility of his fellow knights to lift him up and lend their strength, thereby strengthening him in turn. And perhaps this knight excels in Generositas, and it would be his duty to set an exampke and encourage fellow knights in generosity in turn.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And of course, she is more that able to explain and lecture on it; King Arthur was the one who codified it in the first place. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She had not had the chance to speak with her marshal on the matter; Master and Servant had been too exhausted both physically and mentally for much of anything besides collapsing into bed once they returned to the keep, and had been busying themselves with work ever since. Saber had hoped to discuss the matter in private with Bedivere first, but fate appeared to have other ideas. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She paused in her enjoyment of breakfast and folded her hand in her lap, her posture becoming even more proper, underscoring the gravity of the situation. Drawing a silent strength from her marshal as she had so many times before in Camelot, she regarded the young magus with serious jade eyes. The Servant's frown was uncharacteristically deep, furrowing her brow. &quot;So he intends to fight, and has yet to summon his Servant...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; This made things even more complicated. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It took a brief moment for her to think on how exactly to reveal her knowledge to the both of them. There was no gentle way to do so, unfortunately. It would have to be not unlike ripping a bandage off. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;The truth is that I was summoned to the Fourth War, and, on behalf of the Einzbern family, Emiya Kiritsugu was my Master.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Truthfully, Shirou's been politely not paying too much attention to the lord and lady's fussing over one another. It's not really his business, and the topic's too awkward. He does periodically steal a glance while trying not to stare... that's been going on for a while.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Could some kind of channels be dug to prevent water from collecting in bad places...?&quot; He mumbles thoughtfully to himself. Though, it sounds like Bedivere knows what he's doing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He listens attentively through Sabers explanation of Chivalry. Yeah, it makes sense. He nods in understanding...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But his face pales at her last statement. &quot;...K-Kiritsugu was?!&quot; If he wasn't a little more on the ball, he might choke on the sauage he was just munching on!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;I am loathe to ask you, as you are already a guest of our hall, but if you wish to help I will not turn aside any aid in this.&quot; Bedivere bows his head, somber.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; To have the hill erode would be disastrous. Masonry would be permanently damaged, if not outright destroyed. Homes would be swallowed. He can only hoep that the rain slows, and the weather turns less foul. The snows of winder will actually be somewhat of a blessing -- all that water will be locked.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Wait a minute. 'Our' hall?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere raises his hand, rubbing at his jaw in contemplative gesture. Channels? &quot;Yes, that is an option,&quot; he muses. It seems he heard Shirou's mumble, even though it wasn't really meant as a general comment -- keen hearing, he has. &quot;It would require a great deal of digging, though, for the soil is already saturated in many places... but I believe that could be done. Depending on how much rain falls, it may not be a permanent solution, but it may prevent major damage...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Indeed. As my king says; you have shown a number of the Eight Virtues in your behaviour, even though I am reasonably certain you know nothing of them as we know them.&quot; Bedivere smiles, just slightly. The expression seems proud. &quot;I am glad for that, that such things survive in the modern era, even though they are perhaps known by different names...&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Talk turns back to the matter of Masters and Servants, though, and Bedivere contents himself to pick over his breakfast. He eats, but slowly, following the explanation in silence. At least, until she rips that proverbial bandage off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;/What/?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His tone isn't loud, necessarily, but there's no missing the sharp edge of disbelief it has. Bedivere stares openly at the king, eyes... not quite wide, but expression less calm than it usually is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;/That/ man was your original Master? An /assassin/?&quot; At least, going by Kiritsugu's armament and techniques, he can only assume that's what he is, from their initial meeting. Bedivere gapes like a fish out of water. &quot;/How/?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Though she refrained from comment on the issue of erosion and channels, it was apparent that Saber was nevertheless listening, perhaps even internally taking notes. The management of a particular land had traditionally been specifically the duty of the lord she appointed to it while she, as the king, managed the kingdom as a whole and co-ordinated from her position. Proper delegation of responsibilities was a crucial skill for a ruler, and if there had been one thing she had at least some confidence in, it had been her ability to assign the precisely right man for a particular job. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Only now, she had no kingdom to govern, able to help Bedivere with his duties. However, she still entrusted the management to him...and he was starting to grow into the role, as she knew he would. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Quite so,&quot; she agreed with a slightly wider smile than her occasional faint one. &quot;I had often feared that chivalry would be forgotten, after...&quot; She nearly said /after Britain fell/, but that old wound would be one which would always pain her in some way. &quot;...After so many years. Yet, I have met many knights from other worlds, and many people who continue to uphold the Virtues in their own ways, in their own codes...even if they know them by different names, if at all.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The proud King Arthur which even the King of Conquerors and the King of Heroes combined could not break. However close they had come, they had nevertheless failed to break her pride and her spirit. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; With her eyes closed and her posture proper, she might very well have reminded Bedivere of his days serving as the Left Hand of the King, and perhaps painted a picture for Shirou of where the fairytales of benevolent kings came from. For the moment, however, she was inwardly troubled, not only at the revelation of Kiritsugu as her Master -- as he was now, the cold and efficient magus killer -- but what the farther-reaching implications were. The multiverse, in spite of being her salvation, was a nonetheless chaotic and inconsistent place. What would happen were he to attempt to summon Saber....summon /her/? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Yes. We did not fight alongside one another -- most often, he and Maiya -- the woman you saw with him that night -- would co-ordinate attacks on enemy Masters while Irisviel accompanied me as a decoy Master. It was she I worked most closely with.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; At least, until the end. Arturia had watched her slowly consumed by the will of the Holy Grail, forced to simply keep fighting to realise their strangely similar wishes. It had never been Kiritsugu's goals which had offended the King of Knights...at least, when Irisviel had revealed them. Truly, he had been the Master most worthy of the Grail. Pity his methods were so offensive. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But now came the more difficult part, at least, what would be for Shirou. &quot;In the end, the final two Servants remaining were myself and Archer. However, Kiritsugu had discovered that the Holy Grail was irreparably tainted, though he did not inform me of this. Instead, he used his remaining command seals to order me to destroy the Holy Grail.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She paused to take a sip of her tea, and Bedivere would note that it was deliberately to steady her nerves. This is the part that would hurt Shirou the most, she suspected. &quot;The result of its destruction was the Great Fire of Fuyuki City.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The very one which had nearly claimed Shirou's life.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;In the face of all this, Shirou's own virtuous nature is not worth talkin about. Not that he'd praise it anyways. That's no way to act, after all. He'd rather not talk about it and just be himself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Butt compared to this new topic, maybe bringing up the Chivalry matter would be far more pleasant.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Saber's words invoke an immediate and awful reaction in the red-haired magus. All strength leaves him and he lurches forward, barely catching himself on the table with his hands rather than faceplant into his syrupy, half-eaten pancake. The eaten half wants to evacuate his gut, but he chokes down on that urge with all his might. Shirou's whole body is trembling even as his mind races wildly to process it all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yet he gathers his strength and forces himself to sit upright properly again.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Ki....&quot; The boy can hardly speak. He focuses hard, gathers his breath... &quot;...Kiritsugu... caused the fire...?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;In his mind's eye, he can just see the smiling face. The man who looked so overjoyed to find someone he could save... yes, from the fire he had inadvertently created.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Shirou's breath has gotten harsh and ragged, without his notice...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Though he can sense the undercurrent of troubled thoughts, the king's obvious pride inspires her knight to sit straighter in his chair. For a brief instant, he is once more the Left Hand of the King, the calm and stoic man whose very dependability and loyalty had helped hold king and kingdom together. The legends had forgotten the extent of his service as her capable military leader and the charitable extension of her will, obfuscated by layers of misdirection, but it had remembered his loyalty. He was her first knight and her last knight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Even Bedivere finds himself sitting a little straighter in his chair, practically radiating that placid calm, and maybe a little pride, too... but it fades. He can sense she's troubled. This time, she thinks about things he doesn't know about -- rare enough it may be, though -- and for once he can't anticipate what she's thinking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He bows his head over his teacup, watching the dark liquid swirl as he lifts it. His attention is wholly on her words, though, eyes somewhat unfocused. He might be looking at the teacup, but he's not actually seeing it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; /A decoy. He would stoop to such dishonourable tactics, and endanger the life of this Lady Irisviel./ His expression twists. /Disgusting, but not unexpected, after seeing such methods as he used in the village. An assassin without morals or conscience./&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His eyes lift in time to see her take a sip of tea, with a deliberation that tells him she's steeling herself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; This great fire she speaks of must be something important, but he's not familiar with Fuyuki City in the least, not beyond the context of having stayed in one that had been well beyond its Grail War... but that had been only a place to sleep, and not somewhere he had stayed often.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; As Shirou lurches forward, Bedivere is on his feet and at the boy's side, reaching out to help him stay balanced with steady hands. &quot;Easy, lad,&quot; he murmurs, in his most soothing voice. &quot;Easy. Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Would that she could continue to speak of chivalry. Even if it was not a part of her very being and something she would always speak with passion about, the following subject was wholly unpleasant. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A part of her had hoped that Shirou could remain ignorant of the terrible events of the Fourth Holy Grail War. In fact, if it had been possible to keep him in the proverbial dark about the entire Grail War itself, she would have gladly done so. Many magi were reprehensible human beings, and though she would always keep Irisviel, Sakura, Rin, and Shirou -- both versions of them -- close to her heart, and the fact that Rider's Master seemed innocent enough, the truth was that many deserved far worse than the relatively quick deaths Kiritsugu dealt them. They knew nothing of chivalry or even what she would call honour, and few gave a second thought to the lives of normal human beings around them. The worst of the lot even cost them, as the Union allies had witnessed in that terror-struck town. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But the multiverse could be as cruel as it was kind, and the appearance of her former Master -- rather, the Master-to-be of her past self or perhaps even another incarnation of the King of Knights -- had rendered that impossible. As such, she had an obligation to inform the younger Emiya of what had transpired. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It was more for Shirou's sake, what she said next, than to improve Kiritsugu's image. And she was not the type to drive wedges between people, no matter her lingering resentment towards her former Master. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She waited for Shirou to calm before she continued. At least, the worst of it was over. &quot;In fairness, he had no way of knowing that such a thing would happen. He knew that the Grail must be destroyed; if it was permitted to exist, or worse, if a wish was made using it, the results would have been far more disastrous. The world itself was threatened once it had manifested.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Perhaps her former Master might have found it unbelievable, but the only cause for her lingering resentment was the lack of trust between them. He had not needed to order her to destroy the Holy Grail, she would have done so had he only trusted her. Had she not sworn her sword to him, placed her trust and her loyalty in his wish, so similar to her own? He fought for the same utopia she had. He had indeed summoned the Servant who would either win the grail for that wish or disappear trying. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Not that Kiritsugu had really had much of an opportunity, she admitted with some lingering bitterness. She had already been entangled in her final battle against Archer. But there was something else. Another vital thing she needed to say. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;But regardless of his actions, it does not excuse my own. Though he had used his command seals to order me to destroy it, the fact remains that I am as responsible for the destruction as he.&quot; It did not matter to her that her body had acted on Kiritsugu's will rather than hers; Arturia was nevertheless responsible in her eyes. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The Servant bowed her head, in a gesture of repentance. &quot;Please, forgive me. However, if you cannot, I understand.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Th-thanks.&quot; Shirou gets out, grateful for Bedivere's support. He's quick to get his composure back and try to listen, but there's now a haunted quality to his gaze when he lets go of the knight marshal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Yes, he focuses hard on listening. This isn't a story he can ignore.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...&quot; He has to focus on breathing for a good minute. Throughout it all, his expression changes several times, and eyes close for lengthy periods as he remembers back to that awful fire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Finally, though... &quot;...If the results would've been the whole world suffering that hell, or just Fuyuki Central.... I can't fault that choice on his part, whether he knew it or not. .... And I can't fault you either. There's...&quot; This is very hard for him to say, his voice chokes up, but he barely keeps his composure. &quot;...Saber, there's nothing for me to forgive.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;With those words out of his mouth, the boy feels much better. As though some great weight has left his shoulders, he exhales out in a long, pained sigh. He's still shaky, despite everything he's trying to the contrary, but can it be helped...?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...That fire was like hell on earth. I remember being forced out of the house, and when I looked back it wasn't there anymore. Countless people were screaming and crying. The air was hot and choking... fire and suffering, everywhere I looked. No way out... I just collapsed. Waited for the end. Then he was kneeling over me, crying in that hell. He looked so happy, so incredibly relieved to find someone still alive... almost like by saving me, he'd saved himself.&quot; Shirou lets these words echo across the table for a few moments before continuing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;So he adopted me, and raised me in his house in north MIyama. A really big mansion. But he never told me much about his past. He didn't even want to teach me any magic, but I guess he gave in when I kept bugging him.&quot; Shirou 'hehs.'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...Often, he'd go off overseas somewhere for weeks at a time, and come back in a foul mood that lasted days. ... we lived together for about five years, and until now I never knew anything of who he really was.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The boy inhales, having forsaken his meal for now. &quot;... Yeah. He died five years ago from my reference. On a warm night, we were talking about his ideals. He'd always told me, if he could be anything, he wanted to be a superhero. Someone who could save anyone, even those who were beyond saving. But the older he got, the less he could call himself that seriously.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Shirou starts looking a little bit embarassed. He'd normally not be talking about this... it's extremely embarassing. It's hard for him to talk about it too!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;'Then it can't be helped, old man. If you're too old, then I'll make your dream come true instead.' I said...&quot; He draws his arms in, shoulders scrunching. &quot;'I see. That's good to hear,' he answered. ...it's the last words I ever heard from him. He was still sitting down and hadn't moved, but...&quot; He died there, huh?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The knight stays braced over Shirou, ready to help the boy if he needs it. Frankly, he looks ill, and it's clear that this matter is one of great importance to him. That was a violent reaction even by the usual standards of Shirou's enthusiasm. It's enough to genuinely worry the knight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Almost reluctantly he lets go of Shirou. While he's still concerned that the boy may fall, part of helping means trusting others to their own strength, and so he backs away and resumes his own seat. His gaze slides to Arturia just in time for her heartfelt confession.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Does she take responsibility for that, too? Something she never could have foreseen, even if she was in her Master's confidence? Bedivere finds himself frowning at her guilt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Hasn't she suffered enough?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She might find that he's reached beneath the table to take one of her hands, a silent gesture of support, but his eyes slide back to Shirou.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Is he lying about his forgiveness? He seems to struggle just to say the words. Even if he does, though, now isn't the time to chide him, but it's an interesting detail to make note of. He seems geunine in that assertion, though...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; There's no commentary from him, though, silent and stony-faced as he listens to the report, rapt.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; A hero...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Was that not what knights were to the downtrodden and the forsaken? Yet this man, this false ideal that he had passed on to the boy he had adopted, could not be heroic when he had achieved his goals through such shameful methods. The knight's expression remains stony. He isn't sure what to think. Yet this boy seems to disdain the methods that had stained Kiritsugu's otherwise noble goals...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; In fact, he doesn't seem to have anything to say about any of this, silent to the point where the others might be a little concerned; deep in thought to go by the faint furrow of his pale brow.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Once more, she found herself thankful for Bedivere's presence and silent support...not to mention his figurative and literal support of Shirou. She did not have that right, really, not after being one of the causes of the fire which had robbed him of his home and family and would have killed him had it not been for Kiritsugu's intervention. Not to mention that she had learned from Shirou himself what had saved him, in the end. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And she could not fault Kiritsugu for that, either. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The older Shirou, the version of himself who had lived through the Fifth War she would never see, had forgiven her hand it it...at least, he had forgiven the Saber who had been his Servant, who had given up her wish at the War's conclusion and returned to her own time. She knew only a little of Rin's sweetheart, on friendly terms though it was not the same as when he and the other version of her had fought at each other's side to end the War. She did, however, know that he was a good and honourable person. If this younger self was anything like him at all, forgiveness was simply in his nature, just as the unnamed chivalry was. And yet...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She needed to ask it of him, for her own sake as well as his. What glimpse she had caught of that fire just before she disappeared and then strangely ended up in the multiverse as a result would have been enough to scar anyone's psyche. Not unlike the fires of Camlann which still haunted the dreams of both king and marshal, from time to time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She nodded slightly at the talk of ideals. &quot;Kiritsugu spoke truly. His wish was the same as my wish for my kingdom; to end all war and suffering. Our ideals coincided perfectly, if not our methods.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She frowned slightly; she would never agree to his way of doing things. But she did understand Shirou a little better now; the older him had rarely spoken of him, perhaps already having poured his heart out to the Saber he had known. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She became aware of the hand over hers, even as her eyes likewise remained on the red-haired magus. Some small part of her irrationally feared that working with the magus killer might have lowered her in his eyes. But had he not said that nothing would, not even her hand in the destruction of Annu? That was something far more deserving of scorn. Yet, he remained her loyal knight and her lord. In response, she squeezed his hand lightly. /Thank you,/ she implied simply, but no less heartfelt for the lack of eloquence. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;I see,&quot; she replied as Shirou spoke of his wish to become a hero of justice. &quot;Yes, I could imagine that he needed to atone, and in rescuing you and raising you, he had begun to do so, and perhaps pass on those ideals. It may be that your wish saved him.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She remained silent for a while, allowing him some time to absorb it all before she moved on to something not as heart-wrenching but no less important. &quot;There is more that I must tell you, however.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Lifting her hand to her chin and clasping it between her fingers in a gesture of thought, she appeared to study the young man for a long moment, perhaps making him uncomfortable with her scrutiny. &quot;I must ask you; have you noticed any unusual healing abilities you might have? Wounds that should require days to mend, yet disappear within a day?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The silver-haired knight might guess at where she might be going with her line of questioning...but that was surely impossible, wasn't it? &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;There were many questions Shirou might imagine Saber asking him, in circumstances like this. That wasn't one of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Huah?!&quot; The youth blurts, gaping a bit... but he quickly clamps his mouth shut. &quot;ever since dropping in here.&quot; Dropping being almost literal, indeed. He toppled off the roof! What kind of first meeting was that?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;It's almost like my body's not my own... it's some strange property of this place, I thought. Then Sir Bedivere said he's not enjoying anything of the sort. I can't explain where it's coming from, so I don't like relying on it.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Why, though, did Saber somehow know of it..?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He peers quizzically at her, then glances at Bedivere once...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;... to think Kiritsugu uses Assassin tactics... fighting dirty to bring down that monstrous magus, well, I can't fault that too much. But that style's the last thing I'd imagine from someone who wants to save everyone.&quot; His expression turns a bit disgruntled.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; There are times where silence and restraint are the best thing to be done, and the knight is fairly certain this is one of those times. His instincts have rarely led him wrong. He relied on them to chart the dangerous political waters of Camelot, and they've helped him in less dangerous but equally important situations such as this. It would be better if he refrained from interrupting either his king or the red-headed magus.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; So... the man, the assassin they had met with in that village, was completely morally bankrupt. Yet his goals were nonetheless noble? No matter his goals, such methods are in opposition to everything the chivalric codes stand for. How could Bedivere condone such a thing?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His fingers lace with hers in silent support, thumb absently caressing the back of her hand. /Do not blame yourself. It was beyond your control. You could not have known of it./ Especially not with a working relationship like that with a Master. Kiritsugu's command seal must have been very plain, he decides, considering that some seem to believe his are unusually intricate. /And do not fear. Did I not tell you that you could never dishonour yourself before me?/ There might be the faintest ghost of a smile to accompany that, but it fades quickly, expression somber once more.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; As before, though, he remains silent when talk turns to Avalon, the Ever-Distant Utopia, the scabbard that granted her such astonishing powers of healing. Perhaps she might sense that he's suddenly paying incredibly sharp attention to the conversation, though, more even than he had been.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; When Shirou points out that he doesn't have any kind of benefit to his healing, Bedivere's expression turns very bland.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He's been scolded enough by Arturia to know that, yep.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The red-headed boy looks to him, and Bedivere returns that gaze calmly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I would not think too deeply on it,&quot; he finally says, voice soft. &quot;In any case, there is little to be done about it. This is a different man than the one you remember.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On the subject of Kiritsugu's tactics, all three would invariably be in agreement. &quot;Nobility of goals aside, I was frequently at odds with him over them. I personally felt that he should have been by Irisviel's side, though I understand the necessity of his tactics.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And he had been, she was forced to admit, every bit the tactician as her marshal, though without Bedivere's rigid morality. It would have been entirely possible for the knight to have become a similar conflicted person of lofty goals and amoral means. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; No, and she thanked God that chivalry had guarded the gentle soul of the Left Hand of the King. His stoicism had been merely armour to protect himself and his king. But beneath that, the gentle soul equally repulsed by that amorality remained. And she was thankful for it, even smiling back faintly. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The magus's confusion was understandable. But it did indeed confirm her suspicions. &quot;No, it is nothing which originates from this land,&quot; she explained. &quot;But this demands some exposition.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It might pain him to learn that even after the massive amount of deaths, the Grail had not been completely destroyed even after the full power of Excalibur had been released upon it. &quot;Tragically, the Grail was not fully destroyed. There was a final War ten years later, though I have no recollection of it, as my own part ended at the conclusion of the Fourth War.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And this is where things were about to get strange. &quot;Elsewhere, there have been other Wars, some of which are occurring even now...Sixth, Seventh, or wholly different Fourth Wars of which we were never participants. But the conclusion I know anything of would be the Fifth War, in which I personally did not participate. Yet, I would have had my own reality not Unified when it had.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Saber once more lifted her teacup to her lips, only now it was not to steady her nerves. This time, it was to give her a moment to figure out just how exactly she was going to explain alternate realities and timelines...especially when the Servant really didn't understand it all, herself. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;I only know of the Fifth War from what you have told me.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Hold up, did she just say /him/? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;Through some strangeness of the multiverse, it is possible to encounter the same person, but from different points in time, or from points which have diverged noticeably. For example, it would be possible to encounter an older version of yourself, one who had become a Master in the Fifth War.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And finally for the final shock. &quot;As it happened, the elder you summoned me as your Servant. You managed that because Kiritsugu had, upon finding you, implanted you with the artefect he had used to summon me. It is Avalon, the scabbard of Excalibur, which grants powerful healing to he who is in possession of it.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Things are getting strange indeed, alright. Shirou's eyes can't really get much wider. Nor his face much paler. &quot;From me?!&quot; Yeah, there's only one way that could make sense... and Saber just explained it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Consternation settles in over Shirou's face. This, atop of everything Kiritsugu's revealed, is enough to make him dizzy and ill in a few ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;But he could never feel that way over the idea of trying to help Saber, that much is certain.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's taking this news the best way he can... quietly. A few lessons from Bedivere were picked perhaps, that hadn't bee taught. Or maybe he's just that stumped at this news.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...Excalibur's...sheath.&quot; Echoes Shirou, almost reverently. &quot;... sorry, my head's whirling...&quot; And indeed, it is. He flumps forward again, holding it in his hands, elbows rudely on the table.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;... Ten years... if that matches up, this fifth Grail war might be just months away...!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And oh, he just recently learned that the name Matou is no coincidence. Meaning Sakura might get caught up in this mess. Uuuuuuuuuugh.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The knight can't help but be repulsed by methods like that. They stand in stark contrast to everything he's ever fought for in his life. It would be the chivalrous thing to do, to forgive the man in spite of it, but such tactics are better suited to an assassin. A coward. Furthermore, he had dismissed Arturia out of hand, insulting her to her face.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Few things enrage him quite like insulting the honour of his beloved king.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Still, he listens in silence to her explanation of the way things work. His expression reveals nothing, neutral as it's been since the start, but his hand never leaves hers beneath the table. He knows that speaking of that terrible tragedy is as much a burden to her as it is for Shirou to have to relive it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His eyes narrow just slightly, though, at the mention of Avalon... and he frowns at the tale of how it came into this boy's possession.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; As for the rest, it doesn't seem to come as much of a shock as it could. After all, he had known she had been in the multiverse for some five years; approximately the same time he had been wandering, lost in the weald, his world having Unified without his knowledge -- and he having lost his way completely, leaving the ruins of Camelot and the horrors of Camlann countless leagues behind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; But... how in the /hell/ did Kiritsugu come by that scabbard in the first place? He has to wonder, considering it had been lost even to the king. Such a thing might have prevented the grievous tragedy at Camlann, or at least given them a point from which they might have survived and rebuilt Camelot... if that loss hadn't crushed their spirits, anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Who knows? Perhaps if she had survived, their situations might have been reversed, and she would have had to endure Bedivere being the one struck down. Yet for all that... Bedivere couldn't wish that pain and loss on anyone; not even the one who had caused it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Excalibur's scabbard,&quot; he confirms quietly. His own voice is almost a tone of wonder. &quot;That explains your healing. I had wondered... you had been struck down, many times, with wounds that should have killed you. Now I understand. I had not even considered... of course, how could I?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;But take heart. Already the timeline has been changed,&quot; he observes softly, to Shirou. &quot;Your world has Unified. Perhaps it may be that your War of the Holy Grail will not even happen. Were you not intended to be one of the Masters, if I am listening to this tale correctly? Yet now you are absent. And that is, indeed, if this was fated to happen at all. After all, yours is a different world, just as ours is different from yours. If I lived in your world, the Bedivere there would not have been the same as me. And your King Arthur would not have been Arturia,&quot; he points out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Oh. Hey. He said her name, without titles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;M-my king, that is,&quot; he corrects himself hastily, flushing and dropping his gaze away. She'd indicated to him it was alright to call her such, since she wasn't really a king any more... but it still feels awkward and presumptuous. &quot;I-in any case,&quot; he continues, &quot;they are different worlds. Just because this Fifth War happened in another world... that does not mean that it will in yours.&quot; He cants his head slightly to one side, regarding Shirou seriously. &quot;Does that make sense?&quot; he adds, not unkindly.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Now that the big revelations have at last concluded, Saber relaxed slightly. Though only enough for Bedivere to notice; to him, she might as well have been slumping in her chair. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The boy was strong. She could appreciate that; for all his own gentleness of spirit and overeagerness, he was nevertheless able to weather the storm. What Kiritsugu had doubtless thrown at him and all of her own revelations, it would have been enough to drive anyone mad. Perhaps she had revealed too much too soon, but with a potential Fourth War upon them, and now the red-haired magus musing that the Fifth War might be close at hand, time was not a luxury any of them had. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And then there was the matter of the Chicago War, whatever War Jeanne and Mordred were a part of, the War in which Saber of Silver and her Master were the sole participants who had not mysteriously disappeared, and then the Rider of Blue and Sieg...it was enough to give even a Servant of Saber's calibre a headache. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;It is a great deal to take in, I will admit,&quot; Arturia replied with a bit of sheepishness. &quot;I regret that I have burdened you with so much all at once. But we have all been thrust into this situation not of our choosing, and we must prepare quickly.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The flaxen-haired knight toyed with her now empty cup with a languid gesture. &quot;For my part, I have no interest in any of these Wars, not my own should I be thrust into it once more. Even if, by some miracle, the Grail is not tainted, I do not believe that it is worth the risks involved.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But then, Bedivere pointed out something she had not considered. Already, the timelines have changed completely. With Unification, it seemed that the next War would not happen in her reality, so perhaps the Fifth of Shirou's would never happen. It might very well be that Kiritsugu would be unable to summon her, or whatever alternate version of her existed. &quot;Hm. Yes...that is correct. Nothing, it would seem, is 'written in stone', as it were. Perhaps your War will not come to pass.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Her gaze once more turned serious, however. &quot;Nevertheless, I do recommend that you continue with your training, though I believe that you would, regardless.&quot; He did have that Exercitium spirit, after all. &quot;If not for the War, than for what we as knights are tasked with: to defend the people, and to bring succour to those in need.&quot; She might very well be dragging the poor boy along with them on their shelter runs during the holiday seasons. She doubted he would object; they'd make a proper knight out of him yet. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But all her seriousness was sent straight out the proverbial window to hear Bedivere call her by her name. A very unkingly, unknightly blush dusted her cheeks then, and even as he stammered out an apology, her sea-green eyes suddenly found the grain of the table's wood utterly /fascinating/. &quot;B-be that as it may...&quot; she stammered out at last, &quot;...the future is yet indeterminate, regardless of Kiritsugu's Unification or my own. The future is yours to determine.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...Y-yeah. I get it. ...but there's too many things lining up to assume anything.&quot; Shirou finally gets out, exhaling. His composure's returning. But he's biting his tongue on the many irritated barbs that are bubbling up about various topics right now, as always.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Despite everything Saber has to say though, his words are comparatively few. &quot;...I don't know how I'd do this without thinking, but if you're right... then shouldn't I give back this scabbard? I'm not the one it was meant to protect.&quot; Though he's not arguin about that protection - it's saved him, after all.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He sighs, a moment later, as if relieved. And gazes down at his plate. &quot;Of course I would. I made this promise. Kiritsugu being an assassin doesn't change my goals.&quot; Embarassing as they are, yet speaking of them to a knight is giving much different results.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Saber... I can't ask much of anything, but maybe you should tell him about what happened. I'm not blaming either of you for that fire... but if anything can be done to prevent it or something like it...&quot; He frowns. Fiercely, even. &quot;... Seven MAsters killing each other over a tainted wish... it's like some kind of sick joke... I'm glad you're here with Sir Bedivere doingg this. Helping these people has some meaning.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; By its very nature, the multiverse seems to be an agent of chaos. It's not necessarily in the traditional sense, conjuring images of destructive anarchy, but simply as an agent of change. The normal rules of worlds drawn into the multiverse seem to fly right off the rails, for whatever their destiny might have been. And how couldn't they? It introduces things that could never be foreseen or even imagined.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Nor do I.&quot; Bedivere lifts his own hand, baring the intricate knotwork of his own command seals, seemingly in agreement with Arturia. &quot;I am a Master, but it is not by my choosing. Were it my choice, I would not have accepted, but it was the least damaging to her former Master, who was also a dear friend of my king's. It would not have been right to subject her former Master to the potentiality of a renewed War of the Holy Grail simply because a Servant from elsewhere in the multiverse decided that any Servant of any War would make for a convenient target.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He looks away, as though troubled. &quot;Furthermore, we decided it was better to have her Master close at hand. Someone she trusts, and who understands chivalry as well as her previous Master...&quot; For as much as he might fuss about the title, it's an honour to have been given such a fragile gift. He holds her very existence in that marked left hand, and the gravity of the situation doesn't escape him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Neither does the gravity of Shirou's goals escape him. While a person from the modern era might laugh, the fact of the matter is that the description is easily that of a knight and his vows -- to protect and to serve the people, rather than have the people serve them. To be the shield for those who can't defend themselves. Is there that much of a difference in those two things...?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;To aid others is all the meaning we need.&quot; He looks to Shirou, calm. &quot;Participating in a 'war' like that... it isn't what we knights were meant to do.&quot; He looks away, briefly closing his eyes. &quot;And that is another reason why I am grateful. I am now in a position to see that she is never misused so, and her honour sullied so, ever again.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He smiles, then, the expression faint, and a little melancholy. &quot;Master Shirou. I had my doubts about you, at first. I do not pretend that my standards are not unreasonably high, at times, and something that most cannot hope to live up to.&quot; That smile broadens, just a little. It's a subtle expression, but on anybody else, it might otherwise be an ear-to-ear grin. &quot;I think you would have made a fine knight.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It might have been to the surprise of both men, but Saber shook her head, refusing the offer. &quot;No. I am a Servant now. I have less of a need of it than you do. I believe that, with you, it is accomplishing the most good.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And she meant it. It would be a great boon to have Avalon again in her possession, but the young magus was still learning, and was far more vulnerable. No, she was reassured that it was in deserving hands. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On Shirou's observation that perhaps she should tell him of what was to come, Arturia did not stifle her soft sigh. &quot;I had considered that, but as you have seen, he considers Servants to be mere tools. No matter what I say, he would disregard it, and continue along his path until it cumulated in the Great Fire.&quot; As dissonant as the two were, it was clear that she did very well understand how the assassin thought. She did, however, gaze intently at the young magus. &quot;But it would seem you have gained some measure of his trust. Perhaps if we were to approach him together...&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As useless as it might be, if there was some slim chance to avoid that tragedy, it was worth pursuing. A sidelong glance to her marshal would likely tell her that he would feel the same. As she had said not moments before, it was their duty as knights. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Once more, she felt utterly blessed for their reunion. With a slight nod, she agreed. &quot;Sakura is a formidable magus, and one whom I was honoured to call Master. But I do not wish for her to become embroiled in these affairs, not after all she has endured. No. She has her own path, and I would see her free from these troubles.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It had been a bittersweet thing, the dissolution of their contract and the formation of the new one with Bedivere. But while the younger Tohsaka had been saddened to release that bond with the Servant who had become her friend, there had been an inexplicable joy; Sakura had been positively giddy over Bedivere's arrival. Only recently had Arturia figured out exactly /why/ that had been. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Saber's smile had become one that would otherwise have seemed out of sorts for the Once and Future King. Her fingers entwined once more through his, unspoken gratitude and much more in the gesture. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; At the violet-eyed knight's assessment, Arturia nodded, smiling in what was, for her, a similar ear-to-ear grin, undeniably radiant. &quot;Aye,&quot; she agreed. &quot;Among the Knights of the Round Table, we all shared a dream: to be an example to the downtrodden, to be the hand which saves them in their time of need. That is what it means to be a hero, and what it means to be a knight.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The little king straightened once more, the smile never leaving her face as she decided to reveal something of her new dream. &quot;Camelot can never be rebuilt...but I wish for something better. It is my hope to create something of our dream here, in Dun Realtai. A new Round Table, as it were, and the Knights sworn to it tasked with the salvation of the people, and to act as paragons of the Eight Virtues of Chivalry. And I believe that you, Emiya Shirou, could be one such knight, one day.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Seeing Saber smiling so happily is enough to clear up all of Shirou's doubts and frustrations, at least briefly. It brings a similar one to his face for whatever dumb reason, some might say... but it does. Briefly, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Though it breaks quickly. Wait, what, he's supposed to keep such a valuable treasure? Shirou blinks bewilderedly at Saber, but can't see any opening to disagree in her demeanor. Well, he lost that argument... he'll have to make his deeds worthy of the king's treasure, won't he? After all, she's now saved him, as well, several times.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The talk of maybe being a knight has him boggling for a few blinks. &quot;A-a knight?&quot; They want him to maybe one day be a Knight of a new round table? Is he hearing this right? &quot;S-some day is right. I'm not ready for something like that...&quot; But the idea's burrowing into him. It's a kind of way to fulfill his goal. A knight and a hero are very similar, differing mostly in title, in some ways.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He imagines himself looking i the window and seeing plate armor... and his expression briefly sours. Never mind that, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;H-hold on a moment... Sakura? .... Uhm.... thre are just too many coincidences, I'm not buying this anymore... when you say Sakura...&quot; Don't say it. His gut's warning him. Don't broach this can of worms. DON'T.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;... But if the 5th WAr is coming, he needs to prepare.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;...M-...Matou Sakura?&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;How many times have people mentioned the name Matou now, after all?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; It comes as a surprise that Saber would deny the scabbard she had lost for so long, particularly now that she's found it again, and in the most unlikely of places. Bedivere's brows arch at the denial, although the reasoning doesn't seem to be that surprising. Where better to let it be than in the hands of this heroic lad, still learning how to properly express his desire to be a hero, a saviour of the people...?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The reasoning isn't so surprising, in that manner. It's the properly chivalrous response, and he can't help a small, soft smile at it. His fingers tighten momentarily over hers. /A worthy gesture, my lady./ If there were any worthy of carrying that relic, it's this young magus, so close to their own ideals... especially with as much as he throws himself into trouble.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Knowing that the chivalry Camelot had established had survived, even in this nameless form, is an encouragement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; To the matter of Kiritsugu, he remains silent. He doesn't know the magus-killer very well, except of what he's seen and heard; that was enough to sour his opinion of the man. It doesn't help that both men are tacticians to their core, unable or unwilling to rely on brute force to solve their problems, although one of them has honour and one of them doesn't. That similarity is only cause for more disgust.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I am also willing to be there, if you should require a meeting with him.&quot; Even so, Bedivere hides his disdain well. For Shirou's sake, if nothing else. The man was like a father to him, even if in another life and another world. &quot;I am sorry to say it, but if that meeting should take place here, I should not like to trust him to walk these grounds unsupervised.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He wonders, briefly, if Kepas could actually be trusted to guard. The creature is utterly puppyish in every way, but it /is/ closely tied to this land. Would it truly act in Dun Realtai's defense if it felt something were a threat to the land or the people...? Hmm. It's certainly worth considering.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His eyes snap back to focus, flicking to Arturia when she reveals their new goal, and then lower to the table.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Aye,&quot; hemanages, softly. &quot;We would create the best of what was fallen. It would serve as a beacon of hope in this new world, to the people who have need of protection.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Know this.&quot; Bedivere's voice is soft when he settles his gaze on Shirou again, softer than usual. &quot;For twenty years, I served my king, and refused to accept any responsibilities that would compromise my ability to come to her defense. I took no lands. I bore no heraldic arms. And I took no squire.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He lifts his chin, violet eyes solemn. &quot;I had many beg me to take them into my service, for as Marshal of the Realm, it would have been an illustrious position that would have afforded much honour to the one whom I chose. But I never dared allow myself the responsibility for their lives, for Camelot was a hard realm, and our times were dark times, for all that we sought to change them. I could make no such guarantee.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I can make no such guarantee now. But I can offer you instruction. I can teach you what a knight is required to learn. I realise now that you will use them in every aspect of your life, as they are meant to be used, for a knight does not practise the Eight Virtues selectively.&quot; He closes his eyes, momentarily. &quot;I know now that you will do honour to those teachings.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Emiya Shirou. If you accept it, if it is something you would strive to achieve... I would formally have you as my squire.&quot; His head bows, slightly. &quot;If you do not wish for that, however, I will think no less of you. The choice is yours.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He must have made quite an impression on Bedivere. For as long as she's known him, his unexpected offer may well stun Arturia... at least a little.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Sakura? Well. He's familiar with the young lady, but that's not his question to answer, either; instead, he's content to wait for an answer of his own.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Arturia's smile never wavered. &quot;Of course...it requires several years for one to become a full-fledged knight. The training is rigorous, and many are unable to complete it. And even then, to be a knight is a responsibility, not a privilege. Some may think it prestigious, but the only prestige is in becoming a shield and sword for those who cannot defend themselves. For indeed, that is what it means to be a knight.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The King of Knights was very much stunned at Bedivere's offer, and nakedly so. There was no hiding her openly astonished expression. Just as he said, the marshal had never taken a squire, fearing that he would be unable to properly protect a young man in his service, and it would personally tear at him to witness a squire being cut down in the heat of battle. Perhaps it was the knowledge that Avalon would protect him so long as he was in the king's presence, or perhaps the sheer earnestness and commitment to his dream had swayed him, but whatever the reason, it was previously unheard of. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She remained silent, allowing the young man to make his own choice. Nevertheless, her demeanour hinted that this was indeed a great honour, that he had impressed knight and king to such a degree. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On the subject of Sakura, however, her expression softened with a faint bittersweet note. &quot;Yes. Matou Sakura, though she was born to the Tohsaka family. The Sakura who was my previous Master has since rejoined the Tohsaka family, alongside Rin.&quot; That revelation might also come as a shock: Rin and Sakura were sisters?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; The Servant's expression darkened. &quot;The Matous are a dangerous, insidious lot. I know little of them other than the horrors Sakura has described to me, though the Master of the Fourth War summoned someone who is quite dear to me, though his mind was clouded with Madness.&quot; And Bedivere would know the man of whom she spoke, her own Right Hand, Lancelot. The Berserker of the Fourth Heaven's Feel. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But for the moment, she was focused entirely on the family which had brought her friend terrible pain. &quot;Should you encounter the Sakura from your own reality, I would ask that you protect her. Though I do not know her as I do my previous Master, I trust that she is the same kind, gentle soul. She has power, but she nevertheless ha need of a knight to save and protect her.&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:560|Emiya Shirou (560)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If any more bombs were dropped tonight, Dun realtai would be a smoking crater. As it is, Shirou's brain is reaching that point. She did mean Matou Sakura... and RIN is her sister?! WHAT?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Shirou clamps down ard on this one, mentally. He's just not prepared to think about it. How... is he going to manage when he finally finds Sakura again...? How? Is she hiding something from him...? Should he worry, if she is, since she seems happy enough?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Ugh.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;If Saber's right, Sakura might be in a nasty bind.. how's he supposed to save people from trouble when he can't even see it? This is utterly unfair.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;And some of this is visible right on his face as he ponders what's being said. He ends up sighing. &quot;You don't have to ask me that. Sakura's like family to me already. I'll figure out what's happening if I can find home.&quot; Then answers Bedivere,&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;... Sir Bedivere, you know by now that honor and positions don't excite me at all. If you're offering me training then to me it's from a friend and ally... yeah, I have a lot of respect of knights, but it's not the same for someone who wasn't living under their protection. It's not some great mark of prestige to me the way it would be anyone else aspiring for it.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He's apparently smart enough to think about how things would've been for tehse others Bedivere's mentioning.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;He really doesn't take any pride in what he does the way the knights do, not right now. But he still does it without complaint, without prodding, and without any apparent rewards offered or expected.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Freaky.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;... But I can't do this alone. And I owe Saber for this unexpected gift... no, my life was saved by her as much as it was Kiritsugu. I'll listen to any training you have for me. If Dun Realtai needs a knight and you think I can handle it, then why would I refuse? Except.&quot; Inhale, exhale.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&quot;Home's still out there, and the Grail War might be too. Would that really work? I have too many obligations.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;Indeed.&quot; Bedivere fixes those violet eyes on Shirou, solemn. &quot;It takes many years to complete one's training, although the exact amount varies. It depends on how quickly one learns, and how well they take to heart those lessons. When I was a knight-aspirant in the court of the king, there were many fellow aspirants who chose to leave the court and return home. Many, I think, did not expect their training to be so arduous.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; After he had been appointed the Marshal of the Realm, he had tightened those standards further. There would be neither laziness nor breach of chivalry among those who hoped to become Knights of the Round Table. He was considered a harsh but fair trainer in the few instances he oversaw knight-aspirants' training, his standards high but reasonable... and while all of the aspirants were each sponsored by a knight, Bedivere had never accepted any of them as his own.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; For him to even consider accepting a squire is unusual, to say the least. He chuckles quietly at Arturia's open astonishment. /Do not look so surprised, my lady. I have not the same concerns as I once did in Camelot. Does he not possess Avalon? And has he not proven himself worthy, beyond the shadow of any doubt?/ For that he has, and impressed the knight, as well. Shirou's goals are in keeping with the Eight Virtues, but more importantly, so are his methods. Bedivere's seen that for himself. /If there are any worthy of knighthood that we have met, here in the multiverse, surely this boy must qualify./&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He shifts uncomfortably in his chair, violet eyes hooding at the talk of the Matou family. They're not anyone he's personally familiar with, and so he'll leave talk of them to Arturia and Shirou. He glances slightly to the side at mention that Sakura has need of a knight to protect her, eyes hooding. Is it wise to goad him when he has no idea where his home is; especially when he seems so desperate about finding his home?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Still, he trusts her to know what she's doing, and silently dismisses the matter. Ultimately it's not his burden to carry. Shirou will do what he feels is right with that information.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Hmm. Hopefully it won't involve 'giving himself an ulcer from stress.'&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His gaze turns back to the red-headed magus, regarding him for a long moment; long enough that he might even grow uncomfortable under that intense scrutiny. Thoughtfully, he watches as Shirou cycles through emotions at the revelation of who Sakura really is. He sighs through his nose, expression almost disappointed for a moment. The poor boy. It seems as though this is all an unfortunate shock to him.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &quot;I understand if you would prefer to dedicate yourself to the War of the Holy Grail, or your home. I would do the same in your position.&quot; He makes a soft, thoughtful sound, considering. &quot;However... consider this. If you stick to your training, would it not put you in a better position to face the challenges there, both in the War, and in the protection of your home?&quot; Those violet eyes settle on the boy, curious. &quot;It is something to consider, anyway.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere smiles, though the expression seems a little subdued.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;Ah, of course. Forgive me; I should have clarified. I do not expect an answer immediately. Take time to think it over; it is not something you should decide in haste.&quot; The knight shakes his head. &quot;Think it over, and do so for as long as you must.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He closes his eyes for a moment; it's clear that he's tired, in spite of breakfast and tea. He'd gone out before the sun had even risen, and braved both wind and weather to ensure the hill wasn't eroding. There's also the matter of five years of sleeplessness to catch up on, which he still is, gradually. It will be months yet, if not years, before his fortitude is what it once was. All of that is weighing on him; there are shadows under his eyes when he glances down to the table.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;However... I think it would be best if I rested, for now. The weather is foul, and it weighs on me, though I am glad to know that the rain is not yet a threat.&quot; He smiles a tired smile, squeezing Arturia's hand briefly before disentangling his hand from hers, pushing himself to his feet. &quot;Think it over, young master. I will not be going anywhere, nor will my king. I would be glad to train you. But for now, I would implore that you rest.&quot; He dips his head, respectful. &quot;Thank you for breakfast.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; With that, he moves to trudge for the staircase, and the promise of a warm and dry bed at the top of the stair -- accompanied by Arturia, who perhaps wouldn't mind the prospect of a nap. Given his inadequacy as a Master, food and sleep make up the differences; Arturia is pragmatic enough to take advantage of such things when she has the opportunity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Silence falls on the keep once more, then, broken only by the driving rain and the relentless wind.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Crys_Gattz&diff=6171 2014-10-26T07:21:31Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{Character<br /> |Color=#0099FF<br /> &lt;!-- You can input a HEXADECIMAL color code here (such as #0099FF) which will be used in the page created. Please ensure whatever color you use does not hide a black font from being readable. Do not modify if you're not sure what you're doing. --&gt;<br /> |NameOnMUSH=Crys Gattz<br /> &lt;!-- This is your character's @name on the MUSH. --&gt;<br /> |Img=http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w81/jetfire99/Crys-1.png<br /> &lt;!-- Put in the URL of an image for your character. Otherwise, blank. --&gt;<br /> |FullName=Crys Gattz<br /> |Gender=Female<br /> |Species=Numan<br /> |Theme=Phantasy Star Online-1<br /> &lt;!-- Transcribe your themelisting name as-is, with the number. --&gt;<br /> |Chartype=OC<br /> |Function=HUneweral<br /> |Faction=Union<br /> &lt;!-- Union, Confederacy, Syndicate or Unaffiliated. --&gt;<br /> |Rank=1-Ensign<br /> |Char_id=10<br /> |Groups=XCOM<br /> &lt;!-- Transcribe +group names as-is. Otherwise, write none. Add brackets like [[such]] around the group names to link to their pages. --&gt;<br /> |PAge=25<br /> &lt;!-- PAge is the visible age of your character. --&gt;<br /> |AAge=14<br /> &lt;!-- AAge is the actual age of your character. --&gt;<br /> |Aging=No<br /> &lt;!-- Yes/No. Whether or not your character is still aging. --&gt;<br /> |Height=5'4&quot;<br /> |Weight=120<br /> |Hair=White<br /> |Eyes=Violet<br /> &lt;!-- Feel free to write Unknown or Variable if you don't have hard data. --&gt;<br /> |Quote=&quot;Ragol is a planet of lost hopes and broken dreams.&quot;<br /> &lt;!-- Your character's quote, including quotation marks. --&gt;<br /> }}<br /> <br /> ==Profile==<br /> Crys Gattz like many Numans found employment with the Hunter's guild on Coral and beyond. However she was more of a loner perfering to take her own contracts solo, and that worked well untill the missions to Ragol began where she was one of the first to get past the seal and into the ruins itself. She was left for dead by the horrors within the coffin of a space craft, however she was found by the team Will Lake, Christa Lake and Deejay. While she was saved the extent of her injuries and the fact her body seemed ot reject any attempts at cybernetics cost her an eye. Crys got over her loner habits and has become inseperable now seeing the rest of the team like the family she never really had.'<br /> <br /> ==Advantages==<br /> ===Powers===<br /> TECHIQUES: Crys uses these as a means of supporting whatever group that she happens to be working with. This is still the ability to use Ki around her for various means, ranging from attacks with various elements (ice, fire, lightning) to healing others, boosting one's defence and attack or even affecting others negatively. Being a Numan Crys' body also rapidly replenishes Ki once she's used it. She can function without fluids when she needs to and just needs to take 5 to 20 minutes to rest to recover her Ki.<br /> <br /> Leaf Village Training: Having joined team seven some time ago and Crys has been training under Kakashi for some time now to operating. With her KI control already she was able to be taught the following abilities. She's been trained in the basic E rank abilities and some D rank abilities. Notable ones are henge, it is an ability which uses Chakra to alter the appearance off the user. They can mimic people for example but need to have a good image or video to work off. For little details that can give them away such as forgetting a scar can happen. Also it can be seen through by DNA scanners or abilities that see through illusions can also uncover it. Another notable is replacement. The user appears to be hit but replaces themselves at the last second with some other near by object such as a log. She's also had some training with finer control, such as walking on vertical surfaces and other basics to fighters from Leaf Village.<br /> ===Skills===<br /> WEAPON PROFIENCY: Crys is skilled in the use of melee weapons, Pole Arms, Long Swords, Twin Blades, Daggers, and some more exotic melee weapons. She's also trained how to use twin mech guns and single pistols as well when she needs ranged in a pinch. Of note her current personal favourite weapon is a pair of Yamato Photon Blades which is the most common weapon she uses also she's known to use a Chainsawed when things get too tight and she's utterly swarmed.<br /> <br /> ===Assets===<br /> ARMOUR: Crys has a slotted armour which has two units in it, one's a slow bio regeneration unit that can help to heal her over a long period of time and the other helps with her physical hitting power.<br /> <br /> MAG: Her Mag is a Savitri, a drone looking like creature with a pair of spindly arms. While it needs to be fed at times, it has a deep synchro with Crys as she's had it since she was a child. Also Crys can understand what its saying to her and may not seem intelligent to most but anyone psychic handling, or anyone that can decipher languages can understand it. It has the ability to unleash a Photon Blast. (See +Info for details)<br /> <br /> SUBSPACE POCKET UNIT: It's a photon compression unit, which tends to put any object that he puts under a photon compression. It makes them like blocks, which somehow shrinks the objects to fit in the storage. Crys tends to keep spare weapons and armour in her slots and the odd bit of specialized gear even a spare change of clothes.<br /> <br /> Rico's ring: Crys has the famous hunter Red Ring Rinco's arm ring and wears in in memory of one who attempted to stop the Dark Falz. She's almost always wearing it and those from her world would instantly know what it was.<br /> <br /> PHOTON BARRIER: Through the manipulation of the photon energy around her, Crys is equipped with a wrist-band that can produce a prismatic shield around her. It helps guard against energies coming at her, but not by much. However she can at times parry an entire attack.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===NPCs===<br /> &lt;!-- Paste in your +powers, divided among the sections. Do not modify them! Include them as currently approved on the MUSH. If you wish to detail them out, you can do so in an additional section of your making. --&gt;<br /> <br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> Numan: Numans are not a natural species they were created by splicing human and bio-monster DNA together. The original intent was to use them as shock troopers in the conflicts on Corel. While their creators had a change of heart? There was a flaw Numans age to maturing in three years this rapid growth rate can lead to their bodies just burning out and their organs rapidly ageing in a short period of time. Contact need for drugs to combat the possibility are needed which without could put Crys in great risk for her health.<br /> <br /> Touched by the Dark Falz: Crys was one of the people who faced down the dark demi god of destruction known as the Dark Falz. During the battle it linked with her soul more or less she felt it's pain it touched her. While through quick action of her comrades the Crimson Flames and Kakashi the link was broken. But the damage had been done. The Dark Falz is aware of her existence she was one of the ones who beat it. She was strong she might make a perfect host. Doubly so since it has some weak link to her still it can plague her with nightmares to try and draw her back to Ragol for it's own purposes. It very well may consider her a possible new host, should it ever be able to get her close enough. This can also by detected by those skilled in sensing the souls or nature of one's spirit. It's like black tendrils latching on to Crys's own spirit.<br /> <br /> Implant Rejection: Her body rapidly heals and has a very good immune system the problem it it violently rejects cybernetic implants to the point it's rendered replacement of Crys' eye difficult at the hands of even an elite doctor. Also given the age of the injury it's rendered biological regeneration not practical due to the scar tissue.<br /> <br /> Missing eye: She lost an eye in the depths of the ruins on Ragol, this has left her with problem she's had to adapt to not having any depth perception any longer. This has been an issue for her fighting style she's got to cope with the lack of depth perception in her normal life and in combat. This also can lead to people getting an edge on her in a fight it they exploit her blind side.<br /> <br /> Crimson Flames: The members of the team that defeated the Dark Falz with her are family more or less to her. Most of them have since faded off the stage of the multiverse to deal with other things. They are a vulnerability if someone went after them Crys would drop anything was doing to try to help and could be lured into a trap. She could even be blackmailed by someone crafty who could take advantage of this.<br /> &lt;!-- Past this point, you are free to create your own sections and expand on this page by using the same format as above (two equal signs before and after the section title, three or four for sub-sections. Suggested additional sections: History, Personality, Relationships, additional sub-entries for important NPCs, etc. --&gt;<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- ALSO, FOR THE AUTO-SORTING LIST TO WORK, please include your character in the appropriate category in the list of: Fachead, Enlisted, Ally, and LastChancer, if any of these apply to you. To do so, simply type, after this comment section: [[Category:____]] where the blank is the appropriate choice. Unaffiliated characters may skip this step. --&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:XCOM]][[Category:Enlisted]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:TPPage&diff=5568 2014-09-24T06:28:02Z

<p>Volund: Protected &quot;Template:TPPage&quot; ([Edit=Allow only administrators] (indefinite) [Move=Allow only administrators] (indefinite))</p> <hr /> <div>__NOCACHE__<br /> {| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{#titleparts: {{PAGENAME}}}}''' (Plotsys ID: '''{{{Plot_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Summary'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Summary}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:#CCCCFF; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Base Info'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | TP Scale:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Scale}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | TP Runner(s):<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{#arraymap:{{{Runner}}}|,|x|{{#set:Log Characters=x}}{{#if: {{#vardefineecho: x | {{#ask: [[Char_id::x]]}}}} | {{#var: x}} | x}}|,&amp;#32;}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Attached Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Other Contacts:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Contacts}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Target Audience:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Audience}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Genre &amp; Tone:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Genre}}}<br /> |}<br /> <br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed; border-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tbody {border-radius:5px;};<br /> .LogTable:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; border-top-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(1) {width: 20rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(2) {width: 15rem;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-top-left-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(1) td:nth-child(3) {border-top-right-radius:5px; }<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n+1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.4)}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-child(2n) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogTable td { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .logTable tr:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius: 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-child(1) {border-bottom-left-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr:nth-last-child(1) td:nth-last-child(1) {border-bottom-right-radius:5px;}<br /> .LogTable tr td:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> <br /> {{#vardefine: plotid | {{{Plot_id}}}}} {{#set:Plot_id={{{Plot_id}}}}}<br /> <br /> ==Events So Far==<br /> {{{Events}}}<br /> ==Other Information==<br /> {{{Info}}}<br /> ==Logs==<br /> {{TP Logs}}<br /> ==Cutscenes==<br /> {{TP Logs|Cutscenes}}<br /> <br /> [[Category:TPs]][[Category:{{{State}}}TP]][[Category:{{{Scale}}}TP]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=276/Saber_1/2&diff=4118 2014-07-25T16:48:55Z

<p>Volund: Volund moved page Saber 1/2 to 276/Saber 1/2</p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2014/07/24<br /> |Location=Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse<br /> |Synopsis=2 Sabers, one restaurant. Is the Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse ready for such a singularity?<br /> |Thanks=<br /> |Cast of Characters=32, 227, 346, 482<br /> |Tinyplot=<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; There were, within the great expanse of the multiverse, eating establishments as countless as the stars, of qualities ranging from the truly abysmal (though perhaps that was simply a matter of personal taste) to the apotheosis of cuisine. Sampling the better half of these would have been a task too herculean for a mere mortal of limited lifespan, though not for want of effort. There was, however, a creature up to the task. The Servant Saber, whose continued search for pleasing food was never-ending. But it was the journey, not the destination, which drove her forward. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Though her appetite -- when not being directly supplied magical energy through her Master -- was truly fearsome, the King of Knights would not simply settle for a buffet of mediocre food. The tiny knight had had quite enough of /that/ in her own time. No, she sought out establishments of solid review, simply partaking of one part of her meal in one place before moving onto the next, contentiously refusing to drain one single location of all its resources. Like a pub crawl, but for food. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Strangely, she had yet to visit the now-famous Bar and Grill at the Edge of the Multiverse, with its comfortable ambiance wide variety of different cuisines from throughout space and time. Some of which was most likely not edible for humanoid life forms or those that mimic them...however, there remained more than enough for the seeking Servant to partake of. And blessedly, very little of it bland. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It was at this establishment that the Saber of the Fourth Holy Grail War found herself, clad in the customary sharp three-piece black suit she wore for business occasions, her hair tied back in the usual simple ponytail. To onlookers, it was unclear whether the petite figure currently perusing one of the menus on the wall was an elegant young man or woman. Tapping her chin thoughtfully with her index finger, the Servant seemed deeply immersed in thought, studying the menu before her as if it was a matter of serious importance. And for someone who took cuisine as seriously as she now did, it was, indeed. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Sitting next to the elegant young man or woman perusing the menu is a much taller young man or woman. Although of similar features, something about the taller one's face is more angular; with high cheekbones and eyes of a particular blue-grey that very nearly trends toward violet. Their hair is fine, and a much paler shade than the suit-wearing King of Knights; almost silver, drawn back into a simple unbraided queue fastened with a brass clasp. In the figure's left ear is a single bloodstone stud on a brass hook.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Yep. Gender confusion was kind of a Thing in Camelot. There were some of the courts that weren't even sure whether Sir Bedivere was a man or a woman masquerading as a man. And his position as Marshal of the Realm made actually asking a bit too dicey even for the most brazen among them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere of Britannia, however, is not perusing the menu. He's sitting next to the suit-wearing King of Knights. He's wearing a similar-looking three-piece suit, though his is a more somber charcoal, not quite black, complete with a soft blue tie she no doubt had to instruct him in how to properly arrange -- a holdover from his mantled cloak, perhaps; the blue is almost the same colour. His scabbarded sword is leaned against the chair next to him, though it should see no use here.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; No, he's sitting there with his head over his folded arms, probably trying very hard not to think about the burning sensation in his side. Or what the smell of a particularly strange-looking dish three tables over might happen to actually be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Next to him, perhaps unusually, is a cup of what looks like it might be tea. There's certainly steam curling from the surface.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:227|Saber of Silver (227)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;This is not the verst time that the silver-haired Saber has come to visit this particular establishment, but she enjoyed the food last time she was here. She may not have the same appetite as certain other Sabers all the time... though that's partly because she hasn't had to fight recently. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Cool green eyes scan the seating area as she walks up to the hostess, but she pauses as she spots a familiar face. &quot;Ah.. I know them. Thank you.&quot; With a polite nod to the hostess, she walks over to the knightly table.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Hello again, Saber.&quot; Unlike her battle outfit, she's wearing a more traditional kimono. A quick bow is given to both the king and the marshall. &quot;I happened to see you from afar as I walked in. Would you and your friend mind if I joined you?&quot; Bedivere is given a curious glance, though. Is this perhaps a rival?!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Finishing her menu perusal, the blonde Saber took a sip of her tea and regarded the knight sitting across from her with a critical eye. While they were out in public, she carefully refrained from compromising his dignity -- or rather, what was left of it -- by fussing over him, but she still worried as peer her nature. Naturally, as her marshal and second-in-command, he had insisted on accompanying her; though to be fair, they /did/ need to eat, and with Sakura and Rin away...well, their choices were rather limited. Saber's skills had become reasonably well over the years, but there was only so much she could prepare, especially with what they had on-hand. And deliveries were out; there wasn't a delivery person courageous enough to brave the Haunted Mansion. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; But she was mildly surprised at the arrival of the fellow Saber, one whom she had met only in passing along with her Master. Inclining her head politely in a sort of bow/nod, she returned the greeting. &quot;Yes, hello, Saber.&quot; It might seem strange to anyone else how the two seemed to share a 'name', but that was the way of Heaven's Feel. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Arturia regarded her curiously for a moment; the other Saber's civilian attire seemed rather formal, though it was nevertheless far less inconspicuous than the historical battle armour of their class. And perhaps she, too, could be said to be in something that made her stand out, as well...though there had been good reason for it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; it was a curious request, though Saber /was/ rather curious about this new Grail War. And their little band of magi (plus one Servant and one vanilla human) could use that information. Remaining cautiously reserved, Saber nevertheless consented. &quot;No, I would not mind...&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As close as knight and king were, he might be able to sense with the slight glance in his direction that this was not necessarily a simple social call. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; In spite of his miserable-looking posture, Bedivere is relieved to be out and about. The mansion may be spacious, and lavishly decorated, but any cage is still a cage, no matter how splendid the gilding of its bars.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His posture suggests he's either in pain ro tired, or perhaps a bit of both, for ordinarily the marshal takes pains to sit up straight and lend as stern and businesslike an impression as his liege. The truth isn't too far off -- he's had a bit of painkillers, and every time he's partaken of them, they've knock him for a terrific loop. He's probably lucky to even be conscious.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Those violet eyes, however, are still sharp. It is exceedingly rare for Bedivere to miss things, even in his only semi-lucid state.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; So, when he's give that look, he's perfectly aware of it. He simply closes his eyes, very slowly, as though in acknowledgement. Yes, he's in pain and half-drugged. No, he's not going to complain, nor ask to return home. Is it not necessary to engage in a certain amount of... 'walking it off?' Toughing it out and toughening oneself back up again?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere is immediately aware, too, of a visitor to the table. Although his posture never changes, perhaps Arturia might note that there's a subtle change to him, some slight shift in his aura. He's paying attention.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Slowly, he picks his head up and regards their guest, inclining it graciously.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;My lady.&quot; The title is different, this time, spoken much more formally. His voice is gentle, so gentle that it could be mistaken for a woman's; though the words are spoken with clarity. Those violet eyes are watching the Saber of Silver. So, this one is too a Servant, of the Saber class, no less. Nor does he miss Arturia's significant glance. &quot;Please, by all means, join us if you wish.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He's watching her, very carefully, though Bedivere is cunning enough to do this without seeming overly interested. You can bet your bottom dollar he's going to watch her like a /hawk/, though.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:227|Saber of Silver (227)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;There's a brief look of delight on the Saber of Silver's normally more composed face. &quot;I thank you.&quot; Whichever side of the table that has more room is the one she'll take. But would that put her next to her fellow Saber or Bedivere?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;You must be a friend of Saber's,&quot; she says to the marshall. &quot;I am... also Saber.&quot; She pauses and lifts a hand to touch a lock of her hair. &quot;Saber of Silver, I suppose, may be an easy enough distinguisher.&quot; She notices that suspicious glance, but after a brief, perplexed look at Bedivere, she gives him a serene smile. &quot;You have nothing to worry about. I know that we are from different versions of the Holy Grail War. I have no intention or need to fight against Saber.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She smoothes her hair a bit before setting her hands neatly into her lap. &quot;To tell the truth, I am not sure where the other Servants in my War are. I may be the first one summoned.&quot; This could be either good or dangerous. ...or perhaps both.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; More than likely, the Saber of Silver would have -- conveniently for her interests -- found more room on the side of her fellow Servant, as Arturia was much more compact of stature than the much taller knight. Similarly, if she were to take up a spot next to her lieutenant, that might earn her a bit of a subtle glare. The Servant of the Fourth War was just a little overprotective. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Declared intentions or not, Arturia tended to remain generally wary of other Servants -- the Saber of the Seventh War, Lancelot, and the Assassin, Jack, notwithstanding -- if for no other reason than some Master might get funny ideas into his or her head. The Saber of Silver's Master seemed pleasant enough, but Heaven's Feel tended to do strange things to people. &quot;I am most grateful. I have no intentions of seeking any version of the Holy Grail. The Union would appear to frown upon such things as usurpation of another reality.&quot; True enough. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And then it suddenly clicked. &quot;Ah...I remember now. You and your Master had mentioned the other Servants of your War either mysteriously disappearing or were never summoned at all upon your city's Unification,&quot; Arturia mused, bringing her fist up to her chin as she thought on it. had she discussed this whole 'multiple realities' issue yet with her marshal? If she hadn't, it looked like he was going to be getting a crash course in it. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Never mind that the marshal himself may have glared, just a bit, if the Saber of Silver settled down beside him. He dislikes having his personal space invaded, particularly by strangers. And he does not even know this Saber's name.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He does watch the mysterious Servant like a hawk as she settles down beside Arturia, though. While there isn't any blatant animosity in his regard, there's no doubt that Arturia can sense that his hackles are up, however subtle he may be about it. He's on high alert. And no doubt she can tell that he doesn't like that the Saber of Silver sitting next to Arturia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;I am honoured,&quot; Bedivere says instead in that calm, calm voice; polite as can be. Violet eyes flick to the Saber of Silver's own eyes. He seems to consider for a moment when she automatically assumes that he's a friend, and he flicks a brief, questioning look at Arturia. Can they trust her? Should he introduce himself? Decorum would ordinarily demand it, but he finds himself uncertain with an entity like the Saber of Silver...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:227|Saber of Silver (227)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Just where she was hoping to sit! Though that dark suspicion from Bedivere is almost tangible, the Saber of Silver politely doesn't bring it up. &quot;I would prefer to have you as an ally, in any case. I'm afraid that my skills may be a little... rusty.&quot; A slight frown pulls at the corners of her mouth. &quot;My match in the recent tournament showed me that I am not quite as prepared for things as I had hoped I was. Perhaps...&quot; She pauses and glances aside to Arturia. &quot;Perhaps we might be able to spar sometime, so I can experience crossing blades with another Servant?&quot; A quick glance is flicked toward Bedivere. &quot;With practice swords, of course.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A slight dip of the head is given to the marshall. &quot;I really do have no intention at all to harm this Saber. We are not part of the same War, and we are allies in the Union. Wouldn't raising my sword against an ally be counterproductive?&quot; She's still trying to read Bedivere, to see if there's more than just her status as a Servant that he's worried about. Like someone else sitting next to Saber.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;She nods toward the blonde Saber. &quot;Yes... or perhaps just not yet. I have heard that past Holy Grail Wars had a lead-up time of several months while all participants summoned their Servants. I'm more concerned that they may show up without my knowledge.&quot; Though Kotomine will certainly tell them when it's time to begin, won't he?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:32|Courier Six (32)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The door to the Bar opens up, and in saunters a cowboy and another cowboy, one lady and one fellow. The redhead happily shuffles over to the bar. &quot;Double Whiskeys, straight up, 4 please.&quot; Goodness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;The fellow gazes across the room... and there's a whole buncha people in fancy outfits. &quot;Dangit, now I'm feeling underdressed. Evenin' folks.&quot; The fellow tips the black cowboy hat, and sidles over to the table. &quot;These seats taken, folks? I don't like drinkin' alone andI don't like leavin' Cass to drink alone.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; While she was not on quite the level of high alert that Bedivere was, the blonde Saber nevertheless remained cautious. While she was probably not an enemy -- they were both members of the Union, that at least vaguely put them on the same side -- something about her made the Saber inexplicably wary. She caught the flicker of a questioning glance from her marshal, and turned her head just slightly: a slight shake of her head, and touched the matching red earring on her right ear slightly, seemingly casually. If anyone would pick up on that hint, he would. /If you are asked for a name, give your Dál Riata one./ &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; However, she was rather surprised at the simple request. &quot;The tournament...I had not been aware you competed...&quot; And had lost, apparently. In their own respective worlds such a thing would have only been possible by the hand of another Servant, and she would not be there to tell the tale. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On the other hand, they could use another sparring partner. Never could have too many. Besides, matches against strong, honourable opponents was a personal weakness of hers she could rarely refuse. &quot;I do not see why not,&quot; she replied with a slight smile. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; On the subject of her particular War and the strange circumstances, she could only tilt her head slightly in a hint of a refined shrug. &quot;In the War I participated in, there was some time for preparations, yes,&quot; she admitted. &quot;However, I have not heard of it taking as long as it has...&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And suddenly there were cowboys. Not especially unusual -- the Bar and Grill saw countless types from equally countless worlds -- and Saber had been more focused on the conversation at hand. Only for the tiny blonde to be surprised at the sudden greeting and question. &quot;Good evening,&quot; she inclined her head politely, but blinked at the question. &quot;I do not believe they are...&quot; &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Such small details that can be spun into such eloquent conversation. Bedivere catches that look, and his eyes slid away from Arturia as though no exchange had taken place between them. He regards the Saber of Silver with cool curiosity.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; It certainly seems as though the stranger's words are true, but there were some even in Camelot who could spin the most marvellous lies. He is not so trusting.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; That she wants to spar with Arturia is, needless to say, enough that Arturia might observe a faint, faint twitch near the corner of his right eye. A spar? Absolutely not. Foolishness. Ill-thought out foolishness. How can they trust this stranger? Then, his violet eyes flick over to Arturia when she... agrees, and there is a slightly alarmed edge to his regard. /What are you doing?/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Oh, hey, suddenly cowboys.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; The handsome young man in the charcoal suit looks over, very slowly, to the assemblage that approaches the table. His features look like he might be either a slightly masculine woman, or a feminine man. It's hard to say, though the lines of his throat are suggestive of the latter. His hair is a blonde so pale it seems almost silvery, and his eyes are a soft blue-grey that trend toward violet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He stares very flatly at Courier Six, as though he were trying to shove the notion of that odd mode of dress into his brain, but he's still struggling to try and make some sense of the Saber of Silver's intricate kimono.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Good Lord preserve him, why is this multiverse place so /strange/?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; It's a long moment or two before he speaks, politely clearing his throat. When he does, his tone is cool and calm, gentle enough in tone that it could well belong to a low-voiced woman.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;They are not taken.&quot; Bedivere eyes Courier Six for a moment, before eyeing the Saber of Silver for another moment more. &quot;I suppose,&quot; he says, very slowly and just a hint reluctantly, with an apologetic smile that seems just a faint bit forced, &quot;that a sparring match could do no harm. However, I would beg my lady's indulgence, and do so under the condition that I should like to observe.&quot; He wants to watch. Because frankly, he doesn't trust her.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:227|Saber of Silver (227)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;I...did.&quot; There's an embarrassed look on her face as she glances away. &quot;The competition was more than I expected.&quot; It's a bit mortifying to have to admit to losing the very first fight she's ever had in the Multiverse. The agreement to sparring, however, does seem to improve her mood a bit. &quot;Ah... wonderful. During the day, though, if possible?&quot; Now why would she care about day or night?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If the Saber of Silver notices that twitch, she very politely does not address it. There's something suspicious about the marshal, though. She'll figure it out in due time. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Ah.. and, forgive me if it seems a bit forward, but I have heard there was a Saber in the Union who was a king. Would that happen to be you?&quot; It's almost a shy look that she gives to her blonde fellow Servant. &quot;A..and... forgive me for not being able to give my name. Secrecy of my identity is a layer of safety for myself and my Master, even among allies.&quot; She nods briefly at Bedivere. &quot;But if I could have some way to address you, I would appreciate it.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The silver-haired Saber tilts her head curiously as a cowboy walks over... though she has no idea what a cowboy even is. &quot;Ah... well...&quot; A quick glance to the others sees them both agree, so she gives a brief nod. &quot;Of course.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Another nod is given to Bedivere. &quot;Of course. I would not mind if you were there.&quot; What's not to trust about her? It's not like she's part of a Holy Grail War and sworn enemy to other Servants, and it certainly isn't like she's kept her very identity a closely-guarded secret! Wait...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:32|Courier Six (32)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Johnny chuckles a bit, and pulls out the chair for his redheaded companion, who shuffles over with a pair of whiskeys for herself and her companion. The latino fellow grins at the rest. &quot;Johnny Tallbranch, it's very nice to meet you folks. I believe I know... one of you. Miss Saber.&quot; A look between the ladies, as the redhead grins. &quot;Howdy, I'm Cass. It's very nice to meet you folks. Johnny really doesn't get us out into the Multiverse enough. He's a big jerk who's worried someone's gonna poach us away or something.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Johnny chuckles a bit. &quot;And I'm guessing we've got a meeting of Servants then. From context...&quot; He smiles at the handsome fellow. &quot;You're the fella that's come home to support his king, I presume.&quot; He sips at his whiskey, settling in. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Arturia certainly caught that sudden edge from Bedivere, the shocked disbelief. Just because they don't trust her doesn't mean it's a bad idea to assess her strength and skill, and there were places to go to avoid casualties. Moreover, in the Holy Grail War, they would be fighting but with the only thing that could really kill Servants; their Noble Phantasms. She lifted her hand in a slight waving gesture. /It's fine, don't worry about it./ &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; True, he /was/ her marshal and had an obligation to act somewhat as the King's (only) Guard, but Heaven's Feel subverted certain roles. He wasn't particularly happy that his king had been reduced to a mere tool, but that was something she had been willing to deal with for the sake of her wish. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Fortunately for the general health of the Marshal of Camelot, Saber inclined her head at the not-quite request that he be present for the match. &quot;Of course,&quot; she replied evenly. it was still a good idea and she wasn't deliberately trying to give him a heart attack. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &quot;I see. There is no shame in a loss...many of the contestants are quite strong, even compared to Servants,&quot; she politely reassured the Saber of Silver. The preference for day, however, drew a slight raise of a pale brow, even as Arturia made no further inquiry. Strange, that. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She was instantly on guard about the question of her being a king, however, and her eyes narrowed slightly. It might have been an innocent enough question, one out of simple curiosity, but the blonde Saber remained suspicious, particularly since the other Saber remained secretive. &quot;Forgive me,&quot; she replied. &quot;But such a question would reveal something of my identity, and you have not revealed yours first, regardless of our respective statuses in the War. On my honour, I must decline to answer.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; As cautious as she was now, it was probably for nothing. Her identity among the Union was not something that was especially secret. Moreover, her evasive answer was probably as close to an affirmative as she was going to get. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; And then, of course, her caution was completely thrown out the proverbial window, courtesy of Cass. The Servant nodded again. &quot;Yes, how fare you, sir? It has been quite some time...a mission for the Brotherhood, if I am not mistaken?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It was a testament to the strength of her stoic mask that she didn't so much as twitch when Bedivere was tangentially identified. So not only would the Saber of Silver probably be able to figure out she was a king, she might even be able to piece together that she was none other than the King of Knights. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Suddenly, a night at home had seemed like it would have been a much better idea. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; The marshal takes his cup of tea in hand, considering the dark liquid in there as though it held the answer to all the quandaries of the multiverse. It doesn't, but it does give him something to look at that doesn't involve very nearly glaring at the poor other Servant. Perhaps it's a lifetime of justified paranoia, but he simply doesn't trust strangers; not until they've proven themselves to him, somehow.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His standards are a bit high.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Reaching up, he tugs at the bloodstone stud in his own ear, though it seems less a means to communicate anything to Arturia, and more a conflicted one. His Dál Riata name. While it's understandable, since there is no one alive who would know it, he actually has to think for a moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; He'd left that part of himself behind when he had travelled to Camelot. Even the king had never learned what it was; though it was obvious that he had taken a Welsh name, simply to fit in with the populace. To keep his Dál Riata name only would have invited undue suspicion. While the two kingdoms had not warred, precisely, neither bore any particular love of the other. And the nobility needed scarcely any reason to mistrust outsiders or new people among their number.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere closes his eyes for a moment, taking a nice, long sip of that tea, apparently unconcerned at the heat of it. Violet eyes flicker open to regard the Saber of Silver, studying her closely. She seems shy, but that means nothing to him. That she hasn't even given her name is no small point of suspicion to him.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; No one would recognise the name he gives. It isn't a lie; to be sure, it is with certainty his name. He had never told it to anyone, though, and it seemed the histories of the multiverse remembered him as the Welsh name he had taken -- Bedwyr, or Bedivere.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;My name is Fionnlagh.&quot; Certainly not a name Arturia would ever have heard. He glances to her as he gives it, perhaps curious what her reaction might be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; How much of the truth should he bend, he wonders? &quot;And that is also true. I am a servant of the king.&quot; The particular word carries none of the inflection used for the two Sabers; and the way he uses it suggests that his position isn't one of any particular worth. A low-ranking vassal, or a bannerman, maybe. &quot;I am honoured.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Pretty words, but Arturia's no fool when it comes to reading him. He's strung as taut and suspicious as a deer that just heard a branch snap a few feet away.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; That this cowboy person seems to know things about Arturia, that doesn't really help, either. That he knows specifically about /him/, that's even more worrying. Violet eyes flick to Arturia in clear entreaty. /What are we to do?/&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:227|Saber of Silver (227)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Mmm.&quot; Saber gives a nod of admission. &quot;My opponent was quite strong.&quot; While it stil bothers her to hav elost, she doesn't seem despondant about it. It's merely... a worry. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Ah... apologies.&quot; The Saber of Silver looks suitably embarrassed, at least. &quot;You are correct. Asking so directly was stepping beyond my place.&quot; With how open things have been, she had started to wonder... but then both Saber and Bedivere confirmed it, without actually answering. So this Saber -is- a king. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Fionn...lagh...&quot; It is with some noticeable difficulty that the silver-haired Saber tries to pronounce the given name, and she probably butchers it utterly. As is apparent from her dress and features, she's Japanese. English is a language she can understand, but that is... quite unlike any name she's had to try before. &quot;I will try to remember that.&quot; She says so, but it will take her some time before it sticks in her mind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When Johnny addresses them, she looks directly at him. &quot;I do not believe we've met.&quot; He -did- address a 'Miss Saber' and the silver-haired Saber is obviously the only female Servant here. Misunderstandings are wonderful. &quot;But it's a pleasure. I am Saber.&quot; A quick glance to Arturia before she nods to Johnny again. &quot;I have been called the Saber of Silver, so such a way of address would do.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:32|Courier Six (32)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Johnny senses the tension nearly immediately as the two Knights bristle at his hearty hellos. Oh dear. Busted. He sniffs a bit, and grins. &quot;Honour be it then.&quot; The grin is a hollow one, as Cass happily downs her whiskey, and swats at the table. &quot;Hnnngf. And yeah, the Assassins are a bunch of jerks. Not that it means much these days but we had a buncha them pokin' around Vegas a while. Prolly cause Johnny was bein' sweet on a Templar, weren'tcha Johnny?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Now is the time for gossip, it would seem, as the Courier snorts a bit into his own drink. &quot;Please excuse my companion, and my, ah... forwardness. I keep forgettin' stuff's secret from time to time.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;It's not like he has robots keeping an eye on the public channels for intel or anything.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Though. Japanese, Saber of Silver. Very polite. More information to file away in his noggin. &quot;Pleasure to meet you. Ah, I'm the fellow in charge of keeping New Vegas running. You may have heard of us, we're one of the sponsors of the tournament.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Admittedly, her choice of what name she had hinted for him to give was both a gamble and something that she had been somewhat reluctant to employ. Arturia had been meaning to ask that question when they were alone at home, perhaps chatting over dinner or another one of the chess matches she could never seem to win against him -- he was the Marshal of Camelot for very good reasons -- as a means of making up for lost time. She was still trying to find new things about her knight, one she had been forced to keep at the metaphorical arm's length for the sake of impartiality. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Carefully, she kept her expression neutral as he spoke it. It was a nice name, and in a way she was still both touched yet saddened that he had given up his cultural identity to serve her as a Knight of the Round Table, even if he had done so willingly. And there would be time for questions when they returned home. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Her glance to him conveyed her approval; while she would probably be able to discern that Saber had been a king, it was possible that, of she was led to believe he was a simple vassal, she might not yet discern that she was one of the Kings of the War. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Her knight was certainly -- and perhaps justifiably -- tense, and Arturia met his gaze with one of her own, and his entreaty was certainly noticed. Her own in turn was a /Let's wait and see/. This was neutral territory, and the silver Saber hardly looked the foolhardy type. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She did relax, however; at least she hadn't quite put all the pieces together, thank the Lord God. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Now she was cautious for a different reason, being that she was an ally of the Brotherhood and counted a few of them as friends. On the other hand... &quot;Some of their methods can be rather...questionable, I will admit.&quot; They /were/ Assassins, after all, Ezio's sense of his own unique chivalry notwithstanding. &quot;it is all right,&quot; she replied with a faint, reasonably friendly smile. And hoped that there wasn't too much 'secret stuff' on her. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:482|Sir Bedivere (482)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; For the time being, the pale-haired knight contents himself with watching their various company. Every so often he watches one or the other; either the unknown Servant, or the cowboy and his entourage. He's making more an effort to hide his suspicion, though no doubt Arturia knows he's still very much on high alert. As is most likely expected. He is, after all, a member of her honour guard.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Also, uh... well, kind of the only one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &quot;'Finlay,'&quot; he offers helpfully to the Saber of Silver, in that soft voice. Nor does he draw emphasis to any kind of title. Perhaps the Saber he serves is some kind of Irish warrior, and he himself no more than a commoner? Truth in part, again, and perhaps depending on how the matter is examined. But those truths won't come to light unless his hand is forced, or Arturia herself feels comfortable revealing them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; His eyes flick to Johnny as the cowboy speaks. His expression never changes at the mention of assassins, but there's somehow a certain... disapproval... about him. Such tactics were never honourable by his estimates, even if such tactics were at times necessary for the good of the realm.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; When Johnny apologises for his straightforwardness, Bedivere simply inclines his head, tilting it slightly to one side in a gesture of acceptance and acknowledgement. Elegant, though it's clear that he's still watching both carefully.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Bedivere calmly takes a sip of tea, though, content to watch the others carefully. And somehow managing not to radiate too much suspicion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Or pain. His side still hurts like a son of a bitch, and he's /definitely/ trying not to let Arturia pick up on that.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:346|Saber (346)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Oh, she certainly saw it, Bedivere. She certainly did. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; While their ability to 'synch' with one another had many advantages in battle and in some situations like the one they now found themselves it, it likewise made it much harder to keep secrets from one another. The only way they had even managed in Camelot was almost an extension of that, a mutual blinding that was agreed to in order to protect Arturia's rule and Bedivere's position. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Only now, that nonverbal communication was working against the good marshal. Only a single glance -- slightly prolonged in her case -- was all it took. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Finishing her tea, Saber smiled at their table's guests. &quot;Please forgive the abruptness, but it would seem that my companion and I must take our leave,&quot; she announced softly. &quot;I have enjoyed our conversation, however brief. And, as agreed upon, I shall be honoured to spar with you, my lady.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; It probably didn't help Arturia's case to smile faintly and act chivalrously, but she /was/ the King of Knights. It was in her blood. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; That done, the Servant took her leave, taking the beleaguered Marshal of Camelot with her. Fortunately, she doubted that this time he would 'argue' the point. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Saber_1/2&diff=4119 2014-07-25T16:48:55Z

<p>Volund: Volund moved page Saber 1/2 to 276/Saber 1/2</p> <hr /> <div>#REDIRECT [[276/Saber 1/2]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=The_Battle_of_Midway&diff=3997 2014-07-22T03:14:17Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{Log Header<br /> |Date of Scene=2014/07/21<br /> |Location=Midway Fleet Base<br /> |Synopsis=The Midway Fleet Base finds itself under attack from a new and dangerous enemy.<br /> |Thanks=<br /> |Cast of Characters=112, 225, 281, 316, 359, 385, 432, 438, 494, 513<br /> |Tinyplot=<br /> |pretty=yes<br /> }}<br /> {{Poses<br /> |Poses=:'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����The Midway Fleet Base might have noticed some submerged vessels passing a good distance out now and then during the last few days. What they were, however, would be extremely difficult to determine, particularly since most of them would be no larger than a person if discovered. None of them went near for very long, however, and nothing ever approached the base afterward.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Until today.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Several vessels have begun to approach the shore, but every single one of them is very deep underwater. Surely not submarines; what use would they be in attacking a base like this right now? On top of that, five of them are truly enormous, easily the size of aircraft carriers and battleships, with several much smaller forms approaching without any real formation around them. It's not until they come within a mile of the base that they surface, breaching the water and letting their massive forms be seen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����They aren't like anything that's been seen before. Parts of them resemble female humans, though they're ghostly pale and obviously gigantic. Savo, the Airfield Princess, emerges from the water's surface with a pleased, excited smile, taking up the rear and hovering just above the ocean (http://tinyurl.com/mxemm7j); in front of her emerge Rossel, the Armored Carrier Demon (http://tinyurl.com/l543bcz), and Anchorage, the Anchorage Demon (http://tinyurl.com/lemhlnk), their mechanical bases snarling; and flanking the two of them emerge a pair of Flagships, a Ru-Class Battleship (http://tinyurl.com/oj9mlhq) who bursts out of the water with her arms raised and /slams/ the heavy walls of guns down as if the water were solid ground, and a Ta-Class Battleship (http://tinyurl.com/qdvyeot) who leaps up and twirls before landing on the water's surface in a braced crouch. Even more dark shapes are approaching from the ocean, but these, while numerous, seem smaller; closer to a human's size, compared to the ship-sized giantesses already standing or hovering on the ocean's surface.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Savo grins as she looks out at the base before calling out to her allies. &quot;Alright! Remember Samar's orders; we raze this place to the ground and see if we can get any info on whoever it belongs to. That's secondary, though. Mostly we just want to make sure /everything/ dies. Preferably with as many explosions as we can manage.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Rossel, Anchorage, the Ta-Class, and the Ru-Class all reply in booming assent, &quot;Understood!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����With the old raid sirens winding up to their distinctive howl, Mikase Yamato dropped the books she was carrying and ran straight for the docks. It's pretty easy to see what the source of the alarm is, after all-the enormous ... MONSTERS on the horizon. Mikase comes to a halt, skidding to a stop on the dock and just staring at the creatures as they emerge, her jaw slack.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Not Elvari. But /what/? With a 'tch', Mikase sets her jaw, teeth bared. She breaks into a run right to the end of the pier and then leaps the railing. In midair, she's surrounded by light, her clothing changing, metal materializing on her hips, arms, and shoulders. When she hits the water, the girl sinks in to her knees but then stops just as suddenly as if she had hit concrete, the force putting her in a hunch for just a moment. Hauling herself upright, the Maiden of the Yamato advances, her main battery turrets sweeping upward, water pouring out from the ones that had briefly submerged when she landed.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����&lt; Surface vessels form line ahead. Prepare to show your broadside. General attack. General attack. &gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Even coming from a few worlds away, Yuna emerges from the warpgate as quickly as she can get there, already in the mermaid-style armor of her Marine Form ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then doubles back to the surface to gawk at the size of the approaching forms. Also how monstrous they are, but it's mostly the size she's reacting to -&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then Yuna disappears underwater again. It might look like she's fleeing in terror - and truth be told, she really kind of WANTS to - but more than that, she wants it to look like she really is running away. Hopefully the approaching titans aren't paying any more attention below the surface than the Elvari have tended to ...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:316|Sarah (316)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt; Reserve Captain Sarah is here. She probably looks extremely out of place wearing her layered Harmonian dress in the midst of a military base. For once, she didn't teleport today, because this isn't somewhere she's visited previously. Fittingly, she looks pretty winded, having jogged here through warpgates and other means.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She's still on the shore, because while she could use cheating water magic to go meet the enemy over the deeps, there are people here who probably need to be evacuated. Or at least stirred into shoring up their defenses. That explains why she's striding urgently through the base; stopping here to dismiss non-essential personnel, or advising soldiers there on what best they can do to work with the particular defenses she has in mind.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; For now, though, she remains where she is, looking out to the water where those hideous things approach. Those pale, almost colourless eyes narrow very slightly. Through the water, she can feel how strange and foreign those things are; how wrong and foul they are. It leaves her with the equivalent of a bad taste in her mouth. Although the Rune is quiet, for the moment, even she can sense it recoil from such /wrongness/.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Negotiation is probably not going to accomplish very much, here. Those things have come with a single purpose in mind, and that is to destroy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Calmly, Sarah strides out until she stands at the edge of the water, clutching her staff in both hands, and she takes a deep breath as her eyes flutter closed. And then she silently invokes the True Water Rune.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Like a dragon uncoiling, the power awakens within her, and she finds herself murmuring softly -- lost words, forgotten words; the language of the Sindar. It helps her to focus, because what she's about to try would be taxing even in the best circumstances.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; And what is that?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; Attempt to freeze the water that surrounds the giant ship abominations -- as solidly as she can manage. She doesn't make any attempt to damage the creatures, though. Her only intent right now is to slow them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt; She does raise a hand to Yamato as the girl flings herself seaward, though. And Yamato might find that the water, while trying to thicken and congeal around the Abyssal Fleet, does not slow /her/. Or any of her Union allies, actually.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Air raid sirens? What happened to the more smooth Stream Alert Klaxon? Elasaid grouses softly as she drags herself out of bed, opening her door before coming up short. &quot;What in th'name o'all that's holy?&quot; she asks noone, then sets off to the dock at a run. She doesn't even slow down as she approaches the railing, hurdling it as she slams her fists together in front of her. &quot;Ventis Secundis!&quot; She's enveloped in blue-white light, and splashes hard into the water, sending a gout of water into the air. As it recedes the Hood is standing there in her full regalia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&lt;Hostile fleet on radar. Sound Battlestations. This is not a drill. Show our broadside and prepare bracketing fire. Interval of three, five, seven. Load torpedo racks and watch for hostile air power.&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����You what's awful? Wasted food. The very thought of that piping hot plate of pasta sitting in her room was making Arizona's blood boil. It was the first time in months that she had gotten everything together to have a really nice meal, and not something from Mess Hall, that was going to be delicious, and she only got one bite. ONE! It'd be COLD by the time she got back! You know how awful it will be after its microwaved? DO YOU?! NO YOU DON'T DO YOU!? RAAAAAH&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All thoughts within the Fleet Maiden's head as she lunges from the docks toward the water. A flash of light, a splash of water, and the maiden of the same name would be following in Yamato's wake. Its only once she hits the water that she gets a look at what decided to come selling Avon products or -- wait. &quot;.. What the hell?!&quot; Nope. Forget this. &quot;Screw talking to these bastards! FIRE EVERYTHING!&quot; And then she does just that. Its pretty loud, you know?&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����With little warning, a black and white torpedo breaks free of the surface of the water. Oh, wait, no, it's not a torpedo, but the shape is similarly sleek. Just... far girthier. It's a Killer Whale! And it's clearly fleeing the zone of ice by SLIDING ITS BELLY OVER IT and into unfrozen waters, moving further and further from the Abyssal Ships.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Once the creature's back into clear waters again, it slips just beneath the waves and rushes towards shore, dorsal fin and upper body occasionally breaking the water's surface!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Alexander, as luck would have it, as just been standing by the water, smoking a cigarette. While he's not exactly -trusted- by the base personnel, they know he's got -some- sort of relationship with Alba, so they've been letting him stick around as long as he doesn't do anything too creepy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Of course, with the navy coming into view off in the distance, he's definitely going swiftly down the list of the Creepiest Things In Midway Fleet Base. &quot;...Huh. Would you look at that. Looks like we've got work, Bride.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����He pauses for a moment to flick his cigarette into the water - and then promptly dives down after it.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:281|Rider (281)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;An invading fleet of ships who are also gigantic girls, and none of it is her fault. What she is doing in the seas here is anyone's guess, but there is a small magenta-haired figure just standing on a floating platform of wood out in the ocean. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Well, well! They're too tall to be the Fleet Maidens. Some new kind of ship, maybe...&quot; Rider collapses her spyglass and tucks it into a pocket of her coat. &quot;This should be fun.&quot; She glances to the side as the water's temperature seems to fall, but the wooden platform she's standing on just raises about half an inch, enough to keep her feet out of the water.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����The Killer Whale's been making progress towards shore. As luck would have it, the creature's managed to almost get there when its eyes lock onto the nearby Alexander's figure.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Swooping about underwater and doubling around, pulling up alongside Alexander, the whale emits a questioning squeak noise and a shriller cry of alarm that echoe-burbles hauntingly underwater.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Alexander won't be able to really explain it, but he gets a distinct sense from the way the whale wobbles in the water that it's saying 'Danger is that way! What are you doing?'&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Alexander just gives the orca a grin. He does... not seem too surprised that it suddenly swum up next to him. Maybe he saw it before? &quot;Oh, danger like that is my line of work,&quot; he answers Finna. ... By speaking underwater. It kinda comes out gurgly but FInna can probably hear just fine.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����As if it UNDERSTOOD that, the killer whale now click-whistles and brings its body around and comes up UNDER Alexander, giving him a perfect opportunity to grab on.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����He'd get the sense that's exactly what it's just told him to do too.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Assuming he does so... with a great whip-crack of its sleek yet thick body, WHOOOOOSH. Off they go, towards the Abyssal Ships, just below the surface!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:438|Rosamarie Alba (438)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����&quot;Raid...?&quot; says Rosamarie, puzzled. Why didn't she hear a warning of a stream detected? Automatically she checks her phone, then quickly accesses the schedule. No announced drill, nothing. So it's an unannounced drill, a screw-up, or something really unexpected and dangerous.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����She gets enough from naval crews over slacking off already, she's not about to invite more. Rosa breaks from her room, pulling a windbreaker over her tank top for modesty rather than for any need for warmth. She sprints out towards the water, skidding to a halt as she sees what's coming. Not Elvari... something else. Something new. Shaking her head, she raises a hand into the air, then lowers it a few inches as she clenches a fist. &quot;Albacore.&quot; she murmurs, magic cloaking her in a shimmering black shadow. Windbreaker, tank top, jeans, all gone now. Replaced by a form-fitting wetsuit with dulled black plate armor around her fists, her head, her feet, her chest.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Albacore jumps, following only slightly behind Yamato. Unlike the dreadnought, she doesn't land on the water. She dives instead, breaking the surface, then returning up to the surface once again, powering at speed towards the oncoming fleet.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����It's Ru and Ta who notice the arrivals first, blazing yellow eyes suddenly turning down to fix on the (relatively tiny) oppositon. Their expressions suddenly turn sour, shifting out of the violent anticipation they held before as they turn back to their Capital Ships. Ta is the first to speak. &quot;Savo! We have Fleet Daughters approaching from the base!&quot; Then Ru: &quot;It looks like they're here with unknown allies, probably /not/ Fleet Daughters.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Savo frowns where she sits, her form hovering above the ocean. &quot;What, seriously? We're not even /on/ their world - oh, look, sounds like they're hailing us.&quot; The Airfield Princess sighs, drumming her left hand along the edge of her 'throne' as she talks to Yamato over the radio. A few moments later, she smiles again. &quot;Okay! Everything's sorted out. They're...Fleet Maidens, apparently. Same basic thing, so let's get to it, alright? Ta, Ru! Lead and start whittling them down! Rossel, Anchorage! We're going to send them a few presents from over here.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Those vicious grins return to the twin battleships as they turn back toward the base, but before anyone can open fire, it seems Arizona has already started. Cannons blast, and Ru has to shift to bring her twin walls of metal in front of her as a shield. Most of the shots crash against her 'hull', but at least spare her more fragile body. Ta is not so lucky; the Ta-Class Battleship, more agile than the Ru-Class, tries to 'skate' to the side to avoid Arizona's fire, but Sarah has already begun freezing the ocean's surface. Not much of a problem for the floating Capital Ships, but Ta and Ru have to walk. Ta is frozen, and before she can free herself, Arizona's shots blast into her torso, drawing a shout of pain...but without any blood. Her body is visibly pierced, but there's nothing from it! How strange.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&quot;This is ridiculous,&quot; Ta hisses, raising her gun-filled arms and beginning to fire her own shots in retaliation, raining down battleship-scaled ordinance on the Union and allied defenders. Ru just smirks aside to Ta as her own guns open fire with loud reports. &quot;What's wrong, Ta, can't deal with a little ice? I thought you were the mobile one!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����As shells rain down over the opposition, Rossel and Anchorage continue to hang back, Rossel smirking and Anchorage continuing to simply glower. &quot;Let's go, Anchorage,&quot; Rossel asides to the Anchorage Demon, wiggling slightly where she sits in her mechanical base. &quot;Time to give them some more to worry about!&quot; Anchorage is silent, save for a low grumble. The two carrier ships open the glowing maws of their lower halves, then, and from them fly about a dozen bizarre aircraft (http://tinyurl.com/nt4ctx9) that sweep up and then dive down toward the defending forces. Their front-mounted guns open fire, showering the Union and allies with bullets to match the artillery of the larger ships.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Thankfully, Sarah's interference is making it difficult for the other ships down below to approach. She's bought some time, but it looks like torpedos are being fired underwater to break the ice.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Across the island, various naval vessels are already pulling out of their berths. The USS Missouri, re-activated in light of the Elvari attacks, pulls free first, followed by a pair of destroyers who quickly overtake her in the formation. An anti-air frigate and cruiser follow, cruising to either side of the Mighty Mo. While the support ships prepare for air defense, the battleship's turrets swing around, elevate, and open fire with great plumes of smoke.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Closer to the engagement itself, Yamato sights carefully with her own guns. When one of the huge shells descends her way, she pushes her hands out with a flare of white light. That shell impacts the glow, flashes, and then explodes violently. Shards of glittering white fly behind the battleship maiden, but when the smoke dissipates the core of her barrier is still intact.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����&lt; Range 4000 yards, match Arizona's target. Spread fire, elevations 32, 35, 38. All guns, fire! &gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Following the girl's own mental commands and the actions of her guns, the Yamato's cannons speak in plumes of smoke and flame. While comparatively a lot smaller, those shells explode with force that's nearly the same as their full sized contemporaries.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����&lt; Reload, fire again-- &gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����And then a sound causes Yamato's brain to lock up. Pupils shrinking, she shoots a look to the sky, spotting incoming aircraft. The girl instantly shrieks in terror. The numerous gun batteries on her shoulders and hips all swing around, filling the air above her with bursts of shrapnel. During this sudden chaos, her main battery reloads, the barrels elevated as high as they can go. One at a time, the main guns fire, adding fans of shrapnel and blazing magnesium rods to the storm of shredding steel already surrounding her.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����&quot;--STAY AWAY!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����And suddenly Alexander is lifted out of the water by a killer whale. He looks down in surprise for a moment, then whoops, laughing. &quot;Alright! This is better than Sea World!&quot; she shouts out, as Finna swims towards the melee. Alexander tries to direct Finna more towards Ru - entirely arbitrarily - as he closes his eyes for a moment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Then...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&quot;The Industrial Marionette!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����A voice speaks out of the air around him. It hisses, and has a very odd reverb. It sounds... vaguely female. &lt;span style=&quot;color:red&quot;&gt;&quot;DANCE, PUPPET!&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����To the eyes of the ghost ships, tendrils of ice-white ectoplasm shoot out from his fingers, clearing the distance from his body to one of Ru's gun emplacements in a fraction of a second.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Then the gun starts to turn to face towards Ta... and fire.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Yuna was in such a hurry to get out to Midway that she didn't even wait for Elner, just for Marina - and the little robo-faerie triggered her Light Suit as Yuna needed to transform, so she didn't think too much of it at the time. On the other hand, right now, she really wishes Elner were here with its sensors and analysis capabilities.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No point in dwelling on it, though. Particularly not when she has shells sinking into the water - the first couple of impacts on the surface prompt a curious glance upwards, followed closely by alarm as she realizes what's HAPPENING up there ... and she dives deeper still, skimming along the bottom as her armor's tail flicks to propel her through the water. She's aware that her friends really need help, but the weaponry she currently has at her disposal isn't going to make much of an impact on the Abyssal Fleet's apparent commanders ...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What she CAN do, though, is try to protect the ice barrier that Sarah created, and keep the smaller Abyssals from breaking through it too easily. Or at least, that's her plan until she hears Yamato freaking out.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yuna's first attacks of the fight are a spread of microtorpedoes, skimming the ocean floor even more closely than Yuna herself is until they're past the ice floes - and then they rise towards the mini-Abyssals who are chipping away at the ice, ten miniature warheads ready to blast the opposition ...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Return Fire! When the Abyssal ships start to unload, Arizona throws up her own barrier, deflecting the firepower sent her way. The barrier manages to withstand an impact, the shell sending Arizona 'skidding' backward along the water, but it's as she's about to fire again that she hears something. &quot;GET THOSE AA GUNS GOING!&quot; While a broadside rings out, a moment later the sound of a ton of AA guns can he heard firing at the 'planes' sent out. Its as they're firing that Ari actually moves toward Yamato. Cover? Probably. Hopefully she won't get shelled by her ally.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:438|Rosamarie Alba (438)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Albacore begins by following Yamato and Arizona. She's not bristling with weapons like them, instead being limited to seemingly just a pair. A long gun scaled like a sniper rifle and an autocannon scaled like a machinegun. It's the former which she pulls forward first, sighting and beginning to open fire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����She lacks the devastating firepower of a battleship, but her weapon is far more effective than its small size appears. Rosamarie's power isn't like theirs; a flash of magic and a large explosion. Her attack is more subtle and much more concentrated. Power channeled into a series of single bullets rather than an array of explosive shells.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The attack from Albacore is, however, little more than a feint. As return fire streaks in, the submarine maiden takes action. &lt;Ten degrees down-bubble. Go to periscope depth.&gt; &lt;Periscope depth, aye!&gt; &lt;Rudder hard left. Now five degrees down-bubble. Come about to 270 and increase speed gradually to flank.&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Albacore shimmers, fades almost entirely from sight, then turns away from her fellow Maidens. She begins to head on a course bearing almost straight for the enemy fleet, falling behind as Yamato, Hood and Arizona continue on to their own optimum firing solution. She breaks away slowly at first, trying to make sure the movement of her shadowy form is less obvious until she's far enough away from the others to allow her motion to go more unnoticed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Unfortunately for Rosa, the slow departure means she's in range as shells begin to fall on the Maiden battlegroup. Shrouded by her magic, Rosa's not entirely within the same reality. Shells find no solid contact to explode against. Penetrating rounds pass by rather than tear through. She's still hit, still hurt, but the pain and the damage is a distant thing, unreal. She lacks the powerful barrier just as she lacks the raw firepower of a battleship... but her magic serves well in its difference.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Hood folds her arms, falling into formation with Yamato and Arizona. She's watching the hostiles moving, mentally reeling off trajectories and firing solutions... and that's when the huge car-sized shells start raining down. Hoods eyes go wide as she suddenly starts to backpedal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;All hands, brace for impact!&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The shell slams into a previously invisible barrier, and smashes straight through, exploding against the girls underlaying armour. She skids back in the water, then topples backwards, yelping as she's sent over.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:281|Rider (281)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Despite the otherwise nice weather, a storm begins to brew. Off in the distance, thunder rumbles.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&quot;Mmm?&quot; At the sound of a scream, Rider turns to look toward the fleet. &quot;Oh. Huh.&quot; She rubs at her chin a moment, then taps her foot twice against the wooden platform she's standing on. &quot;Guess it's time.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;All around her, the waves begin to get rougher and wilder, the Servant remains steady, arms folded calmly as she bobs up and down atop the water. Rider begins to hum softly as the wind picks up and the sea spray spatters against her coat. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The weather starts getting rough.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then, in a surge of water, a small ship explodes up out of the waves, with Rider standing atop the deck. &quot;Right, then. Can't have you terrorizing everyone like that.&quot; Despite the waves around her, Rider stands firm on the tiny ship as it's tossed on the waves.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A buzzing sound echoes briefly as the small motor powers up, sending the ship directly toward the incoming undead fleet. There doesn't appear to even be a crew on the ship, but it seems to fearlessly battle against the rough seas as it approaches.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rider lifts her hands to her mouth and calls out loudly, &quot;Hey, you carriers! INCOMING!&quot; The ship suddenly accelerates to high speeds, faster than it probably should be able to go, and Rider leaps off the deck, performing a neat flip in the air. As the ship careens toward the Anchorage, those with good eyesight may see the name printed on the side of the prow: S.S. Minnow.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����And then, things get weird.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����If Alexander's paying attention to his strange mount, he'll see symmetrical strips of flesh down its back, just forward of the Dorsal Fin, ripple like liquid... then EXTEND OUTWARD. These thin, long extensions grow a joint in the middle, and then...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����THEN, a wave of black feathers sprout from the top, white on their bottom, spreading like a wave up onto the beach.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The winged(?!??!?!) Killer whale picks up some speed in the proper direction - right towards Ru, picking up on the cues - and then spreads those wings, flapping madly.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����In a matter of moments, despite its considerable weight and the physical impossibility of such a creature flying on wings, IT TAKES OFF, with Alexander on its back!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&quot;Even here, the dead have to plague the living? Yuck... why can't they just stay in whatever underworld they swum out of?!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The whale SPEAKS. In a female voice, no less. A sharper, lighter-toned voice than one should ever hear from a beast that big!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����The barricade provided by the Ru-Class can only be so effective, especially considering the two Capital Ships are so large. Yamato's counterattack strikes against Ru's barrier, blasting into the armored hull and beginning to wear it down, but a few shots fly past to hit Anchorage right in the chest. The shells explode against her, finally drawing a wince instead of a glower as the Capital Ship is sent back slightly from the impact. &quot;...annoying,&quot; Anchorage hisses, directing her attention to Yamato and lowering the single long, giant cannon over her shoulder. Only a moment is taken to aim before it fires with a resounding report, forcing Anchorage herself to lurch back slightly from the shot. Yamato's attacks are shooting down the aircraft very effectively, soon whittling them into almost nothing, but will she be able to deal with that direct shell?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Regardless, Anchorage might have to deal with a few opponents at once. Her focus on Yamato means that she doesn't see the ship charging toward her until it's too late; Rider's vessel SMASHES against the lower jaw of Anchorage's mechanical base, striking up a metallic howl from the creature as Anchorage's whole mass shifts aside. Her hateful glare is sent across to Rider - but Rossel raises a hand as two of her side cannons turn toward Rider, firing a twin burst of shells at the small target. &quot;Ah, you're already occupied, Anchorage. Allow me.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Ru and Ta aren't faring too well, themselves. Ru is an excellent barricade, but she's also an excellent weapon, and Alexander quickly makes use of that. Before she can react, one gun is turned aside and fires on Ta, blasting a hole in the battleship's arm. Ta cries out in pain, stumbling to the side and at least managing to free herself from the ice. &quot;-Ru, what the /hell/?!&quot; Ru looks completely baffled. &quot;That wasn't me, I swear-&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Savo interrupts with a frustrated shout, bouncing anxiously in her seat. &quot;Shut up and go in there! Ru, smash them! Ta, blast them away!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The two battleships comply, and only then do they move. Ru, the slower of the two, focuses her attention on Arizona; in rush, she crouches, then /leaps/ forward, raising one wall of guns and metal to bring it crashing down on top of the Fleet Maiden! Ta, meanwhile, focuses on the...strange flying thing that Finna has become, opening fire with anti-air guns as she starts to strafe along the ocean's surface with remarkable speed for her size.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Meanwhile, under the water, the dim light is pierced by several cyclopean blue lights. It's a fleet of half a dozen Ka-Class Submarines (http://tinyurl.com/kd4en8o) trying to break down the ice, though several other lights can be made out in the murky distance. When Rosa dives down and Yuna opens fire, however, their attention diverts. Three rush toward Rosa, the mouths tucked under their arms opening to launch black torpedos at the submarine Fleet Maiden, while the other three dive lower to meet Yuna, assailing her with the same force to match.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Alexander's concentration is pretty much broken immediately as his mount suddenly takes to the air. &quot;JESUS! What the hell -are- you, anyway?&quot; he says, in a voice halfway between surprise and laughter. Ru swiftly finds she can control that gun aagin, the ectoplasmic tendrils fading away...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����They're being fired on! Alexander pats the orca's flank. &quot;You gonna be okay on your own? ... What am I saying, of course you will.&quot; And then... he jumps! &quot;Really should've packed a parachute!&quot; he calls as he sails down towards Ru.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����He does actually get hit. AA rounds pierce his body and come flying out the other side... but he doesn't bleed. Instead, the holes in his body fill with a misty white substance...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����He aims to land atop one of Ru's 'shoulders'.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Problem number one: The submarine ghosts have noticed Yuna.&lt;br /&gt;Problem number two: They're shooting back with torpedoes of their own.&lt;br /&gt;Problem number three: Now that Yuna can actually see them, they are *SCARY* and it's all Yuna can do not to freak out - particularly with the torpedoes headed her way.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fortunately, Yuna has the presence of mind to 'summon' the Matrix Divider, the rifle/sword hybrid-ish weapon materializing in her hands, and bolts of focused, concussive light start ripping through the water - initially in an effort to blast the torpedoes before they can get close enough for the detonations to hurt her. If the Ka-class sub-ghosts are trying to maintain a steady barrage, Yuna will go so far as to try and shoot into the 'torpedo tube' mouths ... maybe she can detonate something inside?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And the ghosts are freaky enough that she kinda doesn't care if she hurts them, she's FAR more worried about herself and her friends ... and despite Yamato's request, she doesn't have a whole lot of attention or focus left to offer up prayers, except for a silent plea to a couple of the kami whom Yuna personally venerates and prays to.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����What do you do when a wall full of guns starts to fall toward you? You get out of the way. While the thought crossed Arizona's mind to just shoot it until it was deflected, for once she decided that firepower wasn't going to be the answer. She breaks into a run to her right, lunges, but ends up geting tossed by the massive wave created when the arm comes down! Thankfully, she doesn't end up on her back or under the surface. &quot;Ugh..&quot; Radio noises. &quot;Wait, you're going to do -that-?!&quot; How did that even work anyway! Pause, climb, once she's on her feet she tries to focus on enabling Yamato to do what she wants to do...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����It takes a few minutes, but Elasaid drags herself, soaked and coughing, onto the shore. She kneels there for a few moments, before turning her attention back out towards the combatants.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The maiden doesn't do anything, or so it seems, but her willpower stretches out towards Yamato, and she lets her power flow out to her. &quot;All me power's yers lass. Take it.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����When the whale sees the barrels turned her way... erp. The anti-air fire tears into her flesh, which is much easier to do than tearing through metal. But that whale blubber and thick skin isn't like human skin. It's much tougher than it looks. ALL of the bullets penetrate, drawing blood, some blowing clear through. The creature exhales through its blowhole then... well, that high-pitched noise is very likely a scream.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Unfortuantely, Alexander, MAYBE it won't be so okay. Blood pours from dozens of little wounds, and the creature's wings have taken the worst of it. The newly-formed limbs have lost plenty of feathers, and are drenched in blood. It can only sort of lopsidedly and inelegantly dive back towards the water. But as it does so the beast reorients itself. Silver fire BURNS from within those wounds, sealing them from within and... pushing the bullets that lodged in its guts clear out in a matter of seconds. Then the creature hits the water again, the great wings shriveling back inside its body as if they never existed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The whale now has a new mission... find the submerged Elasaid Hood, and bring her to the surface!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:281|Rider (281)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;As Anchorage glares at her, Rider just lifts a hand and waves it with a broad grin on her face. &quot;Never seen one of you before... You're actually ships, are ya?&quot; Not like... hmm. As she hears Yamato's words, Rider concentrates for a moment. &quot;Not sure how much this is gonna help, but... give 'em all you've got, Yamato.&quot; Fortunately, that ice covering the water provides her with enough of a foothold to land and run. The first shell from Rossel strikes just a few feet to her left, and the force of the impact is enough to send her flying away from it as the ice shatters. &quot;Whoof!&quot; At least the blast knocks her away from the second shel, but the Servant lands in the cold water with a splash.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she resurfaces, she looks a little singed, but that grin is still on her face. &quot;Fine then! Be that way! If I bring up something big, you'll probably have it sunk in no time! So...&quot; So she takes a breath and dives.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Just a few seconds later, Rider launches up from the water a short distance away, propelled by some mass of wood and metal just below the surface... that quickly crumbles right away. The propulsion is enough to send her high into the air, and she clings onto the Ta before she plummets back down again. &quot;Gotcha!&quot; It takes a bit of climbing up the ghostly clothing and a few jumps to get her to the top of the battleship, but she soon takes perch on Ta's shoulder. &quot;Now then!&quot; Rider reaches over, placing one hand against Ta's neck... and focuses. There's a force of will, then, strong as a battering ram, pressing against Ta's mind. &quot;I'm your captain now, girl! Why don't you show me what you've got?&quot; These ships have to be at -least- as powerful as a legendary beast... and Rider's face visibly shows the effort of even attempting this takeover.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Servant's free hand points toward Savo. &quot;All guns, open fire.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Alexander is never alone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����He may be focused on the physical world around him... but the one who shares his soul, the Weeping Bride, Death God of Remorseful Suicide? Her senses stretch out into the metaphysical world.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The one called Yamato. She wants power? Alexander trusts her. So the Weeping Bride will lend her power.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Tendrils of ectoplasm, invisible to everyone except possibly Alexander - possibly - seek out the Fleet Maiden, as the Weeping Bride, for the first time since joining with Alexander, turns her attention to someone -else-.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����On the water, Yamato pushes her hands out to call up her barrier again. Still panting, she overcomes her initial terrified reaction once the cloud of aircraft is significantly reduced by the freakout she'd just experienced. Something that, even now, she's embarassed about. With smoke pouring from her guns and support batteries, she braces herself against Anchorage's counterattack, the heavy shell slamming into the Barrier and exploding violently. As before, a spray of glass-like white shards scatters behind her, and as the smoke clears, the Yamato's famously strong barrier shows many cracks through it.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����She can't fight them like this... But the alternative, how would she even go about it?&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Slowly, Yamato draws herself to her full height, lifting her hands. Taking a deep breath, the girl bows her head. It's a classic prayer pose, specifically in the form associated with Shinto practice. She claps her hands twice and then keeps them together. The armor and guns covering her body suddenly disappear, though she starts to move forward even though she's not actually walking. She can feel it, somehow. The gathering energy donated by her companions. She doesn't notice, at first, the solid feel of steel under her feet, though the girl does look down when she feels herself lifting up.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����With a great explosion of seawater, an enormous behemoth of steel and guns erupts from the ocean, breaking the surface at an angle and leveling itself as soon as it's broken the surface. Water runs off the deck, pours from the doors and portholes of the unmistakable pagoda superstructure, drains from the upraised guns on the iconic three-gun turrets already swinging out over the side in conjunction with the smaller batteries already elevating into position. The entire shape shimmers like a hologram, but is very real and very, very heavily armed.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Standing on top of the bridge, Mikase keeps her hands clasped together, though her eyes open. Muttering quickly, she recites only a single order: &quot;All batteries, fire for effect.&quot;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Small guns fire first, the 12 and 14 centimeter guns targeting the closer Ru Class, followed by the 20cm two gun turrets amidships. On top of the bridge, Mikase twists her posture and thrusts one hand out, fingers splayed, with a shouted kiai. In an instant response, the massive 46cm guns erupt, hurling shells weighing more than most cars not at the two frontline battleships but at the Airfield Princess herself, the one called Savo, who appears to be the leader of this formation.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:438|Rosamarie Alba (438)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����An idle thought strikes that part of Albacore that's still Rosa. 'Oh wow. That must be what I look like to others sometime.' Of course she's not quite so much glowing evil nastiness, but there's something pretty terrifying about a submarine firing at you... or three of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Albacore's in her element though, so to speak. With her rifle set back along her back for proper streaming speed, her only weapon is her fists. Well, that and the micro torpedo launchers in each. &lt;Conn, sonar. Torpedos inbound&gt; &lt;Right full rudder! Flank speed evasion... cut engines. Left full rudder, engines back slow.&gt; The incoming torpedos have a hard time with Albacore's evasive actions. Her magical shroud defends her by making her less real, less present for anything to impact. That includes sonar. If she's got time to get out of the way, unguided munitions have no chance of reaching her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����As Rosa drifts backwards, her body remaining pointed at the onrushing subs, she lifts her fist out before her. &lt;Fire tubes one and two.&gt; &lt;One and two fired and running hot.&gt; A ripple of dark magic streams out before Rosa, silent and compact. Her attack's unguided but discreet. Something that her opponent might not even notice until the moment of impact. And those little torpedos are hell on anything, warship or flesh. A shaped blast of magic geared to penetrate armor and rend magical shielding, the torpedo is more metaphor than physical construct. Still, should it hit, either warhead could prove devastating.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Elasaid slumps down onto her ass, panting softly as she watches the younger Maiden pull out the Greatest Battleship the world has ever knwon. &quot;Give 'em hell, lass... It might be time this ole' girl retired.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����&quot;Just my luck.&quot; Quips a playful voice from behind Hood. Wait, when the hell did ANYONE get back there? Hard to say, but a white-haired woman who looks far too young to have hair that color - some of it a greyish black in no discernible pattern - has crouched up on the beach and is watching the fight, her jaw gaping a little at this sudden display. &quot;Some kind of sorcery I've never seen... fitting counter for those spectres. GET 'EM!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����But after that shout, the young woman sprouts a little grin and asides Hood's way, &quot;Aww, you're a few dozen years too young to even think of that? But those noisy weapons are nasty... surprised you even survived. How bad is it?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Thankfully for Alexander, Ru does have an actual shoulder, and it's large enough for him to land on as she rises from her crushing strike upon Arizona. The battleship notices him, of course, but there's not a ton she can do from here besides glaring angrily at him. &quot;What the...get off of me!&quot; Thankfully for Ru, Ta is now no longer occupied with the bird...whale.../thing/ that was flying around, and turns her blazing yellow eyes aside to her companion. She steps over, raises one gun-covered arm, and /swings/ it down on Ru's shoulder to try and smash Alexander. Of course she strikes her companion in the process, forcing Ru to buckle to the side with a cry of pain. &quot;OW! That /hurt!&quot; Ta just smirks. &quot;Yes, and now we're even.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Though it seems Ta has her own boarding problems. She feels the light tug of Rider grabbing onto her clothing and turns to try and see where the Servant is, but she just can't reach around enough to do so. &quot;Hey, what are you doing-!&quot; The giant battleship flails, trying to shake Rider off, but the Servant endures and reaches her neck. Ta suddenly freezes, and after a moment, she turns to face Savo with both arms raised and her battery of guns aimed right at the Airfield Princess. Savo, Rossel, and Anchorage stare at Ta in confusion. &quot;...hey. Hey, Ta, what do you think you're doing-&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Savo's question is immediately interrupted as the report from Ta's guns fills the air, blasting shot after shot at the Airfield Princess and sending her falling back quite a distance with a pained scream. Anchorage is the first to react: her mechanical base raises one huge, muscular arm before /punching/ Ta right in the gut in a downward slam, smashing the battleship down into the water with a huge wave from the impact. The battleship isn't /defeated/, not quite yet, but it's going to take the now-flailing Ta a moment to surface after that strike.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The splash and the shattering of ice happens to send a wave through the water where Yuna and Rosa are dealing with the Ka submarines. Already Yuna's slashes cleave through torpedoes and even blast away one submarine, the Ka's glowing eye fading as she sinks to the bottom, and Rosa's assault sinks another pair of them in silent defeat. The wave from Ta's impact only sends the rest rolling through the water before they can properly retaliate. On the plus side, this means that Rosa and Yuna don't have to deal with torpedoes for a few moments. Unfortunately...they now have the giant, swinging arms of Ta to deal with as she flails to try and get upright and resurface.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����There are more problems on the surface, though. Savo's looking pretty damaged from the assault she suffered, with holes in her body and a scorched blasts in the hull of her base. She waves away the smoke hanging around her as a result of those many explosions...just in time for Yamato to make her grand entry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Savo, Rossel, and Anchorage all just stare agape at the massive ship for several moments. Where did /that/ come from?!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����And then Savo suffers another assault, this one /far/ more powerful than anything a Ta-Class could pull off. The Airfield Princess' shouts of pain ring out as she's obscured in the explosive debris of Yamato's attack. When it finally abates, she's looking terrible; cannons twisted, hull blasted, body torn and burned. But Savo is still above the ocean's surface, and the glare she levels at Yamato's ship is one of absolute hatred. &quot;Fire,&quot; she snaps at Rossel and Anchorage, who both take a moment to look back at her. &quot;FIRE! FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE /FIRE/!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Hearing Savo so desperate, panicked, and /enraged/ is enough motivation for them. Rossel and Anchorage quickly turn about and fire their cannons at Yamato in rapid counterattack, while Savo braces her right arm with her left hand and angles the maw attached to it down at Yamato. It's not the gun on top she attacks with, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The mechanical mouth fills with crackling red energy, whirring as some sort of force is built up...and then Savo fires it off. The red glare encompasses the entire combat zone as a s&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����The mechanical mouth fills with crackling red energy, whirring as some sort of force is built up...and then Savo fires it off. The red glare encompasses the entire combat zone as a single gigantic beam of death incarnate rushes for Yamato's vessel.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Elasaid is used to people sneaking up on her. Rosa's a culprit just from her nature, and she's been in the Multiverse long enough to meet ninjas and other stealthy types. Finna's arrival doesn't make her startle as it might others, she just shrugs a bit. &quot;I'm still young, lass, but th'Hood's an old ship... maybe its time she let th'young'uns take over.&quot; she offers, glancing over at her new companion.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The respite is short lived, as Savo starts charging that big beam cannon. Elasaid hauls herself up, plants her feet and /RIPS/ the air in front of her. &quot;VENTIS SECUNDIS!&quot; A flash announces her redeployment, and she crosses her arms before her, powering her barrier to full. The glowing blue-white of the shield protecting both herself, and her companion.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Alexander is pretty quick to start berating Ru now he's on her shoulder. &quot;What are you -doing- here?! You shouldn't be-&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����And then... gigantic shipgirl arm coming down for him. He yelps, raising both hands. &quot;Stigmata Shroud!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&lt;span style=&quot;color:red&quot;&gt;&quot;DEFEND!&quot;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The ship girls might get a brief glimpse of blood rushing up around his body, before he's flattened against Ru's shoulder.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����And then... after a few moments, he stands back up, dusting himself off - and leaking quite a lot of that white, misty substance now. &quot;Aaaas I was saying. What are you doing here? You don't belong here!&quot; His voice... has an odd tinge of Authority to it. As if he knows exactly what he's saying is True.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����There's no magic involved. Alex is kinda tapped out now. He's just trying to appeal to Ru's inner ghostness.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Desperation as set in. The amount of firepower that is being sent toward the Maiden's is enough to get Arizona to wince. Its Yamato's radio that snaps her out of it, &quot;I can handle my-*EXPLOSION* Ohhellf@#$it!&quot; For once, the hot-blooded woman slips behind someone else, readying herself for one last massive salvo. For once she actually considers firing solutions and trajectories. For once she wants to -anihilate- something rather than just rain destruction down upon it. For once, she's planning. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The Abyssal fleet should just run now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;When she rushes out from under the Yamato's shadow, the flurry of reports from her guns is coordinated. A trio of blasts is sent toward the Anchorage's critical areas! She's trying to take out her weapons, her systems, heck even her mobility could be in trouble. Arizona is -focused- right now. Report after report will sound, and while others may focus on the leader, Ari wants to bring down the biggest thing she can!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Suffice to say, Yuna was *NOT* expecting one of the Abyssal 'leaders' to start thrashing about like that, particularly in any kind of proximity to her. Fortunately, the pressure wave from the first swipe pushes Yuna away - but the turbulence which follows it? Not REMOTELY so helpful.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The best Yuna can do is dismiss the Matrix Divider and try to catch Ta's arm on the backswing, wincing in anticipation of the impact - and if she DOES manage to grab hold without simply being batted flying out of the water, her next move is to pivot her torpedo-launching 'ponytails' into attack position and send a full spread at the inside of Ta's elbow, for whatever good it'll do. It's not the most focused of barrages ...&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����As the primary target of Savo's rage, the mighty Yamato is far too slow to do anything silly like EVADE. Evasion's for destroyers. Battleships are made out of steel and armor and solidified stubborn attitude. Shells impact the vessel's armored hull, exploding, denting, but not piercing. One shell of note skips off the gunhouse mantlet of the #1 turret, flipping end over end several hundred yards past the ship to hit the sea harmlessly behind it. Shots that strike the superstructure have more success, but still only gouge small damage compared to the Yamato's immense size.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����That powerful beam follows, carving across the water and into the ghostly battleship's hull, sweeping upward and then aside. Something amidships explodes, one of the tertiary gun turrets, taking several of the secondary emplacements and anti-air emplacements with it. But the vessel still floats, stubborn in its denial of the Abyssal Fleet commander's wishes.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Protected upon the bridge by her own Barrier Armor, Mikase raises her hands, &quot;Reloading! Type 94, High Explosive Fragmentation! All guns--&quot; Thrusting out her hand once again, &quot;FIRE!&quot;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����The forward turret opens up first, its cannons firing one by one in a staccato discharge of heavy smoke, flame, and visible concussive waves as they launch their two ton projectiles. Once the three guns of the #1 have fired, the #2 turret's guns fire, again one at a time. The secondary battery's turret picks up the slack once the #2 is done, and then all the surviving amidships batteries until it's ended by three more 46cm rounds from the aft #3 turret. And no sooner does the Yamato's aft gunhouse fire its final round that the #1 turret has finished reloading. The bombardment continues, sustained, for several long, thundrous moments.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:281|Rider (281)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;As Ta flails about, Rider just laughs merrily. This is -not- as easy as she tries to make it look, but appearances are important. She'd like these ships to think she's doing this effortlessly. &quot;Good girl! Keep it up!&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But then Rider very quickly finds her ship literally punched out from underneath her. She remains floating in the air for just a second before beginning to plummet again. &quot;Why do you all have to be so -tall-!&quot; A pause. &quot;...nice legs, though.&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As she tumbles down, down toward the waters, Rider lifts one hand high overhead. &quot;Culverin Cannons!&quot; THUMP. Her descent is suddenly halted as she lands on the deck of a wooden ship. Well... part of a wooden ship. There's only a few dozen feet of the side of the ship, and about a yard of deck, but the Servant throws her arm over the railing to pull herself up. &quot;Gotta take out the big gun there. Looks like that one salvo didn't do it.&quot; A flick of the wrist materializes a flintlock pistol in her hand, and she opens fire, sending several musket balls toward Savo.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;They might not do a great deal, but it's the four cannons on the side of the ship below her that back her up with their own firepower, each of them sending a round of cannonballs flying toward the gigantic cannon at Savo's side.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����&quot;Walking out into the snow to die is not what a warrior does, if they can help it.&quot; Finna declares simply and matter-of-factly, clearly displeased with this line of thought. She stands up, stretches, but in the middle of the gesture freezes in place.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����And for those who can see it - that being, perhaps, anyone paying close, CLOSE attention, her tail wags about once or twice, then stops too. Her icy blue eyes are focused on the distant battle - and WHOOOOSH. Off goes Hood. &quot;... heh.&quot; Grinning, Finna RUNS FORTH onto the water. Her feet splash with silvery light periodically when they touch the sea, but that's not the part best watched. No... instead, she reaches behind her body, pulls out a bow and single arrow and takes a flying leap, nocks the arrow, and... FWIP!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The tiny projectile doesn't look like much, but it behaves quite strangely. The arrow SKIPS several times off the water like a well-chucked stone, then SLAMS into the Yamato's spiritual hull and BOUNCES OFF at an IMPOSSIBLE angle, flying straight for Savo's main weapon!&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:438|Rosamarie Alba (438)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Perhaps unusual for an anthropomorphic submarine, Rosamarie can't breathe underwater. Submerging is more a metaphysical act than a literal one, and in terms of underwater ability she's more dolphin than shark. Sleek and deadly, sure, but the surface is her domain rather than the literal depths.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Having downed two of the twisted little submarines, Albacore heads back to the surface. She ignores the remaining one, at least for now, though her sonar keeps track of the submarine as a background note in case it comes around for another torpedo run. No, Albacore has another target in mind. Maintaining her semblance of stealth, she breaches the surface amidst the flailing limbs of Ta.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Taking advantage of the chaos, discretely from as close as possible to Ta, Albacore opens fire on Anchorage. It probably will fool no one, but perhaps Anchorage will mistake the source of the attack as yet another friendly fire incident. It's not friendly fire though, it's armor-piercing warship-killer torpedos. About as unfriendly as you can get. She's not firing two, either. This time it's four, fired at close range and in rapid succession at roughly the same point. Should any crack armor, the remainder should be able to strike into weakened or breached areas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����As the shots fly, Rosamarie is smacked painfully by a massive limb of Ta. It's the risk she took, getting within the circle of ships for maximum surprise value. It's something Albacore's done in the distant past, more than once. Usually it means fleeing hard and fast after that one salvo, but that's always been the submarine's way. Of course it's not a real submarine dealing with the outcome, it's a small armored girl. Her out-of-phase existence minimizes the damage, her magic armor absorbing some of the remainder, but still it's a small girl being swatted by the equivalent of the hand of a giant. Ow... and Rosamarie goes spinning and twisting out of control.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:494|Samar (494)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Ru looks over to her shoulder to find Alexander.../still there/. There's not much she can say right at that moment, because she has to bring up her arms again to protect herself from the salvos flying everywhere, but when she's relatively safe she still tries to roll her shoulder to toss Alex off. Faintly uncertain though her words are, she still snaps at him. &quot;You're right. We belong at the bottom of the ocean, where people like /you/ sent us. But Samar brought us back, and she's giving us the chance to share our fate with all of you!&quot; Ru winces slightly as shots crash into her shields, making her waver where she stands.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Ta isn't doing much better. While she's not susceptible to sinking like a normal ship, she's much more vulnerable underwater than on the surface. Yuna's attack actually manages to take off her weakened arm, sending a cry of pain rolling through the water as that arm tumbles to the ocean floor, though at least it doesn't give out any blood or gore. Rosa's gambit gets Anchorage's attention as well, and the annoyed and slightly terrified demon gives an enraged shout before her fist comes down on Ta /again/, sending the battleship deeper underwater. It's only Savo's furious snapping that makes Anchorage stop. &quot;ANCHORAGE. STOP IT.&quot; ...but she-&quot; &quot;I. DON'T. CARE.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Speaking of Savo, her beam isn't nearly as effective as she'd hoped. The discharge finally ebbs away, scarlet steam seeping from the mouth beside her as she glowers at Yamato. Before she can fire again or even speak, however, a remarkably tiny projectile suddenly /slams/ into her gun, making Savo veer off with a yelp of surprise. Rider's cannons follow, sending the Airfield Princess even further back, and as if that weren't enough, Yamato's cannons once again obscure Savo in a hail of explosions.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����Once it finally ends, the Airfield Princess looks like she's barely remaining afloat. Her main gun is twisted and blasted, the mouth leaking ichor and steam. Her human form isn't much better off, burned and blasted from the various impacts, and it even seems her landing strips have been ruined. Panting and gasping, Savo glares at Yamato and her allies...then looks back at the remaining Abyssals. &quot;We're going back. Samar's orders. Come on.&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����The ships look to Savo, then back at the Fleet Maidens and their allies. Then, finally, the group begins retreating, slipping under the waves and, surprisingly, shrinking to a human size before swimming off into the distance. Glares are leveled (though the Ru-Class gives Alexander a curious look before she goes), but no more shots are fired, at least for now.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:225|Alexander Grey (225)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����As explosions are happening all around, Alexander tries to reason with the Ru. &quot;But it's -wrong-. Isn't it? I know you can feel it! You need to -let go-. Pass Over, to whatever comes next. You can't cling to life like this!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����But, no matter what he says, the Abyssal Fleet is in retreat now. Alexander ends up in the water, giving a curious Ru a look of his own before she vanishes off.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����&quot;...Damnit.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Mikase, standing upon the bridge of the ghostly Yamato, glowers through the gunsmoke as the Abyssal Fleet makes smoke west in retreat. It's only when they've submerged out of sight that the girl's shoulders slump and she lets out an unsteady, wavering sigh. Beneath her feet, the ghostly battleship shimmers and then begins to sink, though it takes up no mass underwater. It simply dissolves into the sea, disappearing back from whence it came.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����By the time the superstructure disappears, Mikase herself has been deposited in the water, floating on her back, exhausted, staring at the sky with half-lidded eyes. After a few moments, the fog of exhaustion lifts enough for her to realize two key facts: She's floating in the ocean and she can't swim.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Instantly, the abnormally tall Japanese starts flailing, which disrupts her floating and causes her to sink. Somebody do something before she embarasses herself further.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;Considering Arizona had just unleashed hell from not to far away, Arizona notices when that ship starts to fade. To sink, and then Yamato is put on the water. &quot;...&quot; Rush over, &quot;Hey, c'mon,&quot; she starts, offering a hand, if not taken, she'd work on picking Yamato up. &lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:513|Finna (513)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����&quot;How odd.&quot; Finna quips, from her point of having snuck up on Alexander. There's again no sign of the bow or any weapons at all, really. &quot;Ghosts of ships, instead of people? Really?!&quot; ... She frowns a litle. Lips twisting about in perplexion. &quot;... Does the -- wha?!&quot; With the big battleship demateriailizing and its sole occupant tumbling into the drink so inelegantly, Finna doubles over in laughter for a few brief seconds. &quot;Such sorcery - yet she cannot SWIM!&quot;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����This is apparently just HILARIOUS. &quot;Hrnn...&quot; Tail wagging - and starting to get a bit damp from all the ocean breeze and waves (for anyone who can actually see it!) she rushes over the waves and dips a hand down. ... Somehow, standing on the water. Very lightly.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Yamato flounders for a bit until she grabs on to Arizona's outstretched hand. Instantly, she climbs up on the shorter American girl. Completely. Having all that armor and those four turret guns means that even a two meter tall Japanese has enough room to hide from DEVIL WATER.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����Clinging to armor and superstructure and guns, Yamato smiles sheepishly, &quot;...Th-thanks, Arizona. Shore, please?&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;Yeah sure, just hold on, ok?&quot; Zona would reply before starting back toward the shore. Slowly. That is one massive battleship carrying another, heavier, battleship. Sue her for being slow. Go ahead. She'll pay the bill in shells. Rawr.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:281|Rider (281)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;The wooden ship segment Rider is standing on vanishes, and the Servant begins to fall again... but before she hits the water, she just vanishes. There's not even a splash. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But then, by the time Arizona and Yamato are in the shallows, soft splashes can be heard beside them. &quot;Now that was a fun battle!&quot; Rider's voice comes out of nowhere just a few seconds before her body fades back into being. &quot;Good showing out there.&quot; The Servant gives a thumbs-up to Arizona and Yamato as she walks. &quot;Didn't know you girls were capable of things like that.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:438|Rosamarie Alba (438)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Albacore, having delivered the good news to the invading fleet in the form of miniature bundles of explosive joy, does what any good submarine would do upon successful delivery of payload. &lt;Right hard rudder, come about 170. Make turns for 2/3 speed, steady as she goes.&gt; The little submarine girl comes about, heading back to rendezvous with the fleet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;����It should be little surprise to anyone, well, anyone in the Fleet at least, that Rosa appears from almost out of nowhere right in the midst of Yamato and Arizona, not to mention their Union allies. She characteristically makes no issue about her sudden appearance WAY too close. &quot;We really need to teach you to swim, Yamato.&quot; she says, her tone cool. &quot;Unless you want to take my role, that is. Surface ships shouldn't sink.&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:112|Yamato (112)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Once she's confident that the ocean floor is not 'swim, stupid' distance away, Yamato gingerly extricates herself from Arizona's equipment and hops off, then wades ashore on her own. This is not completed, at least, without an appreciative &quot;Thanks, Arizona.&quot; Even though she'd said it before, too.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����She's too tired to jump when Rider just APPEARS like that. Instead, she raises a hand to dismiss it, &quot;I didn't, either. Elasaid did it, but I had no idea how.. Thank you for giving me some of that power back so I could do it.&quot; The idea of using the Servant as a battery for her Fleet Mode flutters across her mind, but then flutters off just as quickly when Rosamarie teases her.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;����&quot;I float just fine when I'm deployed!&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:432|Arizona (432)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&quot;You're welcome,&quot; Arizona muses before flinching at Alba, &quot;Stalker..&quot; she grunts at the sub bbefore glancing up to Rider, &quot;Ah well, we were also caught off guard a bit. Stick around, I half expect a Stream to show up now..&quot;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> :'''{{#var:359|Elasaid Hood (359)}} has posed:'''&lt;br&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;����Elasaid offers a wave, as she sits where she stood moments before, her Deployment long gone.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> }}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Schedule_View&diff=3983 2014-07-21T19:17:27Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>__NOCACHE__<br /> For an actual calendar view (which can give you full scene briefings): [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php CLICK HERE!]<br /> {{#css:<br /> .LogTable {text-align:left; width:100%; table-layout:fixed;}<br /> .HeaderCell {padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(1) {border-radius:5px 0px 0px 0px; width: 20%;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(2) {width: 10rem;}<br /> .HeaderCell:nth-child(3) {border-radius:0px 5px 0px 0px; width: 70%;}<br /> .LogRow { max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(1) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.5)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+2) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.2)}<br /> .LogRow:nth-child(2n+3) {background-color: rgba(0,70,70,.3)}<br /> .LogCell { vertical-align:top; padding: 0px 0px 0px 5px; max-height:1em;}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(3) {border-radius:0px 0px 0px 5px}<br /> .LogRow:last-of-type td:nth-last-child(1) {border-radius:0px 0px 5px 0px;}<br /> .LogCell:nth-child(odd) { word-wrap:break-word; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; max-height:1.5em; height:1.5em; display:block;}<br /> }}<br /> {{#get_db_data:<br /> db=scenesys<br /> |from=scene_schedule<br /> |data=scheduleId=schedule_id,scheduleTime=schedule_date,scheduleTitle=schedule_title,scheduleDesc=schedule_desc<br /> |where=schedule_date &gt; &quot;{{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}&quot;<br /> |order by=schedule_date ASC<br /> |limit=20<br /> }}<br /> {| class=&quot;LogTable&quot;<br /> |- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Title<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Time<br /> ! class=HeaderCell | Description{{#for_external_table:&lt;nowiki/&gt;<br /> {{!}}- class=&quot;LogRow&quot;<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} [http://multiversemush.com/scene/schedule.php?id={{{scheduleId}}} {{{scheduleTitle}}}] <br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleTime}}}<br /> {{!}} class=&quot;LogCell&quot; {{!}} {{{scheduleDesc}}}<br /> }}<br /> |}<br /> [[Category:Index]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Template:DO_NOT_USE_Character&diff=3532 2014-07-04T02:20:57Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{| class=&quot;toccolours&quot; style=&quot;width: 375px; float: right; margin-left:10px; margin-right:1px; margin-bottom:10px; text-align: left&quot; cellspacing=&quot;2&quot;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''{{{NameOnMUSH}}}''' (Scenesys ID: '''{{{Char_id}}}''')<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | &lt;img src=&quot;{{{Img}}}&quot; width=&quot;350&quot;&gt;<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Quote'''<br /> |-<br /> ! colspan=&quot;4&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; | {{{Quote}}}<br /> |-<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Profile'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Full Name:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{FullName}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Gender:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Gender}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Species:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Species}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Theme:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | ({{{Chartype}}}) [[{{{Theme}}}]]<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Function:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Function}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Factional Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Faction:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | [[{{{Faction}}}]] ({{{Rank}}})<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left&quot; | Groups:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal;&quot; | {{{Groups}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;background:{{{Color|#0099FF}}}; border: 1px ridge; font-size: 110%;&quot; align=&quot;center&quot; colspan=&quot;4&quot; | '''Other Information'''<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Physical Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{PAge}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 80px; text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Actual Age:<br /> ! style=&quot;width: 107px; text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{AAge}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Still Aging?<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Aging}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Voice Actor:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Voice|}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Height:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Height}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Weight:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Weight}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Hair Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; border-right:1px solid; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Hair}}}<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Eye Color:<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Eyes}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! style=&quot;text-align:left; font-size:80%;&quot; | Theme Song:<br /> ! colspan=&quot;3&quot; style=&quot;font-weight:normal; font-size:80%;&quot; | {{{Song|}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{#vardefine: charid | {{{Char_id}}}}} {{#set:Char_id={{{Char_id}}}}}<br /> [[Category:Characters]] [[Category:{{{Faction}}}]] [[Category:{{{Ranktype}}}]] [[Category:{{{Theme}}}]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Arthur_Lowell&diff=3531 2014-07-04T02:19:26Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{Character<br /> |NameOnMUSH=Arthur Lowell<br /> |Color=#0099FF<br /> |Char_id=33<br /> |Img=http://i.imgur.com/WhN6Hp9.png<br /> |FullName=Arthur Lowell<br /> |Gender=Male<br /> |Species=Human<br /> |Theme=Homestuck-1<br /> |Chartype=OC<br /> |Function=Mage of Space<br /> |Faction=Syndicate<br /> |Rank=1-Administrator<br /> |Ranktype=Syndicate<br /> |Groups=Gatecrasher's Union, [[Heaven or Hell]], Session 613<br /> |Quote=&quot;Who, ME? I'm not anyone IMPORTANT. Just some COOLKID.&quot;<br /> |PAge=17<br /> |AAge=13.798±0.037 billion years<br /> |Aging=No<br /> |Height=<br /> |Weight=<br /> |Hair=Black<br /> |Eyes=Green<br /> |Voice=<br /> |Song=http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/coolkid<br /> }}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> Arthur Lowell was one of many thousands of teenage gamers thrown into the game of Sburb on April 13th, AU 20, escaping the apocalypse of Earth-413 into the game, and a year and a half later concluded it by creating an entirely new universe, of which he is now God of Space. Arthur now has power over various celestial processes, gravity, and even the fabric of space itself, as well as the various resources gleaned from Sburb, such as unique crafting mechanisms. At his exterior, though, he's still the same casual game geek he went into the game as, with a touch of trickster god and much more hot-blooded than one would expect of a deity. Now that he's finished his own quest, he finds himself deeply indebted to both the Union and the Confederacy, and traverses the Multiverse, to make up the debt, and to find new adventures.<br /> <br /> ==Advantages==<br /> <br /> <br /> ===Powers===<br /> Mage of Space: Arthur's class and aspect allow him to perform widely varied magic based on space, distances, celestial processes, and cosmic reactions listed below, as well as, to a lesser degree, other magics that he might be taught, and many small spells of simple utility as a substitution for things he could otherwise perform through commonly accessible mundane means, such as transmitting information, operating simple tools, or other similar suchlike, as well as simple detection of magic energy (if it is not being obfuscated). All magic depends on how resistant local space is; it can be limited from nothing but quick short-range magic to long-range instant transmission, but depends on the world in question, or even the region therein.<br /> <br /> Gate Magic: Arthur's primary specialty is his command of Gates and thresholds. He is able to link places together using doors, warp portions of familiar locations into his surroundings, and most commonly, generated connected points of space, Gates; objects or people who enter these Gates emerge from Gates to which they are linked. Arthur can create many Gates at once, and in short ranges is able to efficiently use them in combat.<br /> <br /> Space Magic: Arthur's secondary specialty is warping the fabric of space itself; he can bend the world around him to alter the trajectory of moving objects, temporarily increase or decrease distances between points within a short range, and can act as an incredibly potent human warp engine for any craft. He has a variety of potent space-related senses, and is able to detect almost any irregular disturbances to the fabric of space, within range.<br /> <br /> Gravity Magic: An instinctual power, Arthur can generate massive amounts of gravity very quickly, change his own or others' personal gravity, manifest damaging differentials of gravity in beams or fields, and other similar manipulations over short range.<br /> <br /> Celestial Magic: Secondary specialties include processes such as nuclear fusion, various forms of electromagnetic radiation, mass-forming cosmic processes to create basic elements, and even more esoteric cosmic phenomena such as minor black holes. Arthur can perceive these supernaturally, manipulate their behavior, create them, or even physically become them, either entirely or partially, for travel or maneuvering. However, this requires time and concentration, and has substantially reduced combat efficiency when used to change his form. He also has a limited and temporary ability to imbue objects or individuals with properties from these.<br /> <br /> God Tier: Arthur has become a god, granting limited immortality and other benefits. See +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> ===Skills===<br /> Strife Portfolio: Arthur uses the Broomkind and Swordkind Strife Specibus, giving high personal skill in wielding any weapon that qualifies as a broom or a single sword. He also has Fistkind, granting him reliable and high-strength hand-to-hand brawling abilities. See +themelist/power Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> Mage: Arthur's class of Mage endows him with a high-level academic intelligence and information-processing talents, as well as infrequent clever insight. This is slightly impeded by the fact that he pretends this enhancement does not exist. Regardless, the rate at which he learns and processes information is very high, and he has a long and reliable memory.<br /> <br /> Space: Arthur's aspect of Space grants him high-level kinematic instinct, geometric spatial awareness, precise distance estimation, and other similar skills that allow for circumstantial feats of dexterity and agility.<br /> <br /> HOT-BLOODED: Arthur could be mistaken for a minor deity of boiling blood and shounen screaming. He has a positively absurd quantity of willpower.<br /> <br /> ===Assets===<br /> Fetch Modus: Arthur retrieves items from his Sylladex via a Tree Modus. It stores items in the leaves of the tree data structure in alphabetical order, but the names can be awkwardly changed for the sake of less inconvenient structuring. Either the leaves or the root can be taken, but taking an object causes all of its leaf objects to fall out of the Sylladex. See +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> LOSAF Energy Direction Systems: The Land of Spires and Frogs has been terraformed and converted into a full, massive energy redirection system that allows the planet itself to focus and condense high volumes of elemental power produced at Arthur's home. The music must be composed for the pipe organ that produces the energy to achieve specific effects, meaning that improvisation is difficult. It is difficult for Arthur to wield it as a direct weapon, but with use of Gates, it can be a powerful support weapon, or a very useful tool for creating massive effects in other worlds, especially if the whole planetoid itself is brought into orbit, directing elemental energies such as high volumes of water, fire, electricity, or similar magical elements. Helpful for both orbital-striking terrible enemies and various high-energy-demand utility demands. Arthur can direct smaller amounts of its powerful beams by way of his Gates if he's not got any options to bring LOSAF itself in.<br /> <br /> Home: Arthur lives on LOSAF; food, shelter, and accommodations are easy for him to gain and to provide here. He can take care of a substantial number of refugees for a time in fairly high numbers, as well as handle high-demand guests, due to the high food production capacity, available space, and suburban-esque standard of living available.<br /> <br /> Alchemy: Arthur can and has crafted various potent artifacts. See +info Arthur/Alchemized and +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for further information.<br /> <br /> Time: Arthur has been granted an artifact enabling some limited time travel. See +info Arthur/Time for more information.<br /> <br /> ===NPCs===<br /> Iguanas: Arthur is a major religious figure to a small race of roughly humanoid Iguanas. They are small and blue and many of them are somewhat stupid, and none of them are capable of combat. However, they are extremely durable, resilient to both attacks and environmental hazards, and often willing to help with basic labor matters at the request of the Mage of Space. They are especially skilled in matters of farming, architecture, and metalwork.<br /> <br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> Endgame content: Arthur's combat efficiency is peaked; there is simply nowhere higher to go. This would be good, if it weren't for the fact that it peaked at such a low level. Direct combat is a problem for Arthur, and he doesn't like it. While his arsenal and abilities may be expansive in a horizontal sense, it is not in a vertical one; Arthur is simply unlikely to increase his direct combat abilities.<br /> <br /> Old Debts: Arthur is deeply in debt in a personal sense to the Union and Confederacy, who spent a large amount of time just keeping him alive. Thus, there are many members of the Union and Confederacy that can call in this old debt to force Arthur to avert his intended courses of action rather easily, if needed.<br /> <br /> Conditional Immortality: Resurrection is a problem when it only works sometimes. Arthur can be killed under two conditions: If his death is Just, which is to say, if he did something or became something morally wrong and was killed as a result, or if his death is Heroic, which is to say, if he sacrificed his life in an act of heroism, or tried to use his immortality to cheat some situation's sacrifice requirements. The resurrection may also be delayed or even prevented by massive amounts of spiritual or magical damage, though the sheer amount required for death is spectacularly high.<br /> <br /> Squishy Caster: Despite being endgame, Arthur Lowell is, compared to other gods, surprisingly squishy. Besides a resistance to massive-object impacts, Arthur has almost no resistances to speak of, rendering him absurdly incapable of &quot;tanking&quot; anything that is not an extremely high-mass object such as a meteor or a spatial warp like a projectile back hole. Unlike many gods, Arthur's resilience is no greater than his average-hero level he was at before.<br /> <br /> Dream Magic: Due to Arthur's history as a Derse dreamer and the fact that his dreams occur in a way that is deeply connected to a real world space, Arthur is highly vulnerable to dream-related magic and has associated vulnerabilities to other telepathic influence.<br /> <br /> Limited Alchemy: Arthur has reached the peak of his alchemy resources; these resources are not renewable at this scale anymore, and must be recycled. Arthur cannot alchemize anything that might be both expendable and expensive, at least not in large numbers. This can be averted to a very small degree by processing valuable or rare objects for grist.<br /> <br /> Poor Impressions: Arthur gives the first impression of a bratty, loud gamer, rather than a god who wields phenomenal cosmic powers. As a result, socializing is often rather difficult. He also tends to lie by omission about his godhood, claiming almost obsessively that it's not important, which can create a lot of awkwardness and social dysfunction if that goes south, and denies him a lot of opportunities that would otherwise come up if Arthur were straightforward about things.<br /> <br /> = Logs =<br /> {{Character Logs}}<br /> <br /> = Cutscenes =<br /> {{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Arthur_Lowell&diff=3530 2014-07-04T02:18:52Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>{{CharacterNew<br /> |NameOnMUSH=Arthur Lowell<br /> |Color=#0099FF<br /> |Char_id=33<br /> |Img=http://i.imgur.com/WhN6Hp9.png<br /> |FullName=Arthur Lowell<br /> |Gender=Male<br /> |Species=Human<br /> |Theme=Homestuck-1<br /> |Chartype=OC<br /> |Function=Mage of Space<br /> |Faction=Syndicate<br /> |Rank=1-Administrator<br /> |Ranktype=Syndicate<br /> |Groups=Gatecrasher's Union, [[Heaven or Hell]], Session 613<br /> |Quote=&quot;Who, ME? I'm not anyone IMPORTANT. Just some COOLKID.&quot;<br /> |PAge=17<br /> |AAge=13.798±0.037 billion years<br /> |Aging=No<br /> |Height=<br /> |Weight=<br /> |Hair=Black<br /> |Eyes=Green<br /> |Voice=<br /> |Song=http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/coolkid<br /> }}<br /> ==Profile==<br /> Arthur Lowell was one of many thousands of teenage gamers thrown into the game of Sburb on April 13th, AU 20, escaping the apocalypse of Earth-413 into the game, and a year and a half later concluded it by creating an entirely new universe, of which he is now God of Space. Arthur now has power over various celestial processes, gravity, and even the fabric of space itself, as well as the various resources gleaned from Sburb, such as unique crafting mechanisms. At his exterior, though, he's still the same casual game geek he went into the game as, with a touch of trickster god and much more hot-blooded than one would expect of a deity. Now that he's finished his own quest, he finds himself deeply indebted to both the Union and the Confederacy, and traverses the Multiverse, to make up the debt, and to find new adventures.<br /> <br /> ==Advantages==<br /> <br /> <br /> ===Powers===<br /> Mage of Space: Arthur's class and aspect allow him to perform widely varied magic based on space, distances, celestial processes, and cosmic reactions listed below, as well as, to a lesser degree, other magics that he might be taught, and many small spells of simple utility as a substitution for things he could otherwise perform through commonly accessible mundane means, such as transmitting information, operating simple tools, or other similar suchlike, as well as simple detection of magic energy (if it is not being obfuscated). All magic depends on how resistant local space is; it can be limited from nothing but quick short-range magic to long-range instant transmission, but depends on the world in question, or even the region therein.<br /> <br /> Gate Magic: Arthur's primary specialty is his command of Gates and thresholds. He is able to link places together using doors, warp portions of familiar locations into his surroundings, and most commonly, generated connected points of space, Gates; objects or people who enter these Gates emerge from Gates to which they are linked. Arthur can create many Gates at once, and in short ranges is able to efficiently use them in combat.<br /> <br /> Space Magic: Arthur's secondary specialty is warping the fabric of space itself; he can bend the world around him to alter the trajectory of moving objects, temporarily increase or decrease distances between points within a short range, and can act as an incredibly potent human warp engine for any craft. He has a variety of potent space-related senses, and is able to detect almost any irregular disturbances to the fabric of space, within range.<br /> <br /> Gravity Magic: An instinctual power, Arthur can generate massive amounts of gravity very quickly, change his own or others' personal gravity, manifest damaging differentials of gravity in beams or fields, and other similar manipulations over short range.<br /> <br /> Celestial Magic: Secondary specialties include processes such as nuclear fusion, various forms of electromagnetic radiation, mass-forming cosmic processes to create basic elements, and even more esoteric cosmic phenomena such as minor black holes. Arthur can perceive these supernaturally, manipulate their behavior, create them, or even physically become them, either entirely or partially, for travel or maneuvering. However, this requires time and concentration, and has substantially reduced combat efficiency when used to change his form. He also has a limited and temporary ability to imbue objects or individuals with properties from these.<br /> <br /> God Tier: Arthur has become a god, granting limited immortality and other benefits. See +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> ===Skills===<br /> Strife Portfolio: Arthur uses the Broomkind and Swordkind Strife Specibus, giving high personal skill in wielding any weapon that qualifies as a broom or a single sword. He also has Fistkind, granting him reliable and high-strength hand-to-hand brawling abilities. See +themelist/power Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> Mage: Arthur's class of Mage endows him with a high-level academic intelligence and information-processing talents, as well as infrequent clever insight. This is slightly impeded by the fact that he pretends this enhancement does not exist. Regardless, the rate at which he learns and processes information is very high, and he has a long and reliable memory.<br /> <br /> Space: Arthur's aspect of Space grants him high-level kinematic instinct, geometric spatial awareness, precise distance estimation, and other similar skills that allow for circumstantial feats of dexterity and agility.<br /> <br /> HOT-BLOODED: Arthur could be mistaken for a minor deity of boiling blood and shounen screaming. He has a positively absurd quantity of willpower.<br /> <br /> ===Assets===<br /> Fetch Modus: Arthur retrieves items from his Sylladex via a Tree Modus. It stores items in the leaves of the tree data structure in alphabetical order, but the names can be awkwardly changed for the sake of less inconvenient structuring. Either the leaves or the root can be taken, but taking an object causes all of its leaf objects to fall out of the Sylladex. See +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for more information.<br /> <br /> LOSAF Energy Direction Systems: The Land of Spires and Frogs has been terraformed and converted into a full, massive energy redirection system that allows the planet itself to focus and condense high volumes of elemental power produced at Arthur's home. The music must be composed for the pipe organ that produces the energy to achieve specific effects, meaning that improvisation is difficult. It is difficult for Arthur to wield it as a direct weapon, but with use of Gates, it can be a powerful support weapon, or a very useful tool for creating massive effects in other worlds, especially if the whole planetoid itself is brought into orbit, directing elemental energies such as high volumes of water, fire, electricity, or similar magical elements. Helpful for both orbital-striking terrible enemies and various high-energy-demand utility demands. Arthur can direct smaller amounts of its powerful beams by way of his Gates if he's not got any options to bring LOSAF itself in.<br /> <br /> Home: Arthur lives on LOSAF; food, shelter, and accommodations are easy for him to gain and to provide here. He can take care of a substantial number of refugees for a time in fairly high numbers, as well as handle high-demand guests, due to the high food production capacity, available space, and suburban-esque standard of living available.<br /> <br /> Alchemy: Arthur can and has crafted various potent artifacts. See +info Arthur/Alchemized and +themelist/powers Homestuck-1 for further information.<br /> <br /> Time: Arthur has been granted an artifact enabling some limited time travel. See +info Arthur/Time for more information.<br /> <br /> ===NPCs===<br /> Iguanas: Arthur is a major religious figure to a small race of roughly humanoid Iguanas. They are small and blue and many of them are somewhat stupid, and none of them are capable of combat. However, they are extremely durable, resilient to both attacks and environmental hazards, and often willing to help with basic labor matters at the request of the Mage of Space. They are especially skilled in matters of farming, architecture, and metalwork.<br /> <br /> ==Disadvantages==<br /> Endgame content: Arthur's combat efficiency is peaked; there is simply nowhere higher to go. This would be good, if it weren't for the fact that it peaked at such a low level. Direct combat is a problem for Arthur, and he doesn't like it. While his arsenal and abilities may be expansive in a horizontal sense, it is not in a vertical one; Arthur is simply unlikely to increase his direct combat abilities.<br /> <br /> Old Debts: Arthur is deeply in debt in a personal sense to the Union and Confederacy, who spent a large amount of time just keeping him alive. Thus, there are many members of the Union and Confederacy that can call in this old debt to force Arthur to avert his intended courses of action rather easily, if needed.<br /> <br /> Conditional Immortality: Resurrection is a problem when it only works sometimes. Arthur can be killed under two conditions: If his death is Just, which is to say, if he did something or became something morally wrong and was killed as a result, or if his death is Heroic, which is to say, if he sacrificed his life in an act of heroism, or tried to use his immortality to cheat some situation's sacrifice requirements. The resurrection may also be delayed or even prevented by massive amounts of spiritual or magical damage, though the sheer amount required for death is spectacularly high.<br /> <br /> Squishy Caster: Despite being endgame, Arthur Lowell is, compared to other gods, surprisingly squishy. Besides a resistance to massive-object impacts, Arthur has almost no resistances to speak of, rendering him absurdly incapable of &quot;tanking&quot; anything that is not an extremely high-mass object such as a meteor or a spatial warp like a projectile back hole. Unlike many gods, Arthur's resilience is no greater than his average-hero level he was at before.<br /> <br /> Dream Magic: Due to Arthur's history as a Derse dreamer and the fact that his dreams occur in a way that is deeply connected to a real world space, Arthur is highly vulnerable to dream-related magic and has associated vulnerabilities to other telepathic influence.<br /> <br /> Limited Alchemy: Arthur has reached the peak of his alchemy resources; these resources are not renewable at this scale anymore, and must be recycled. Arthur cannot alchemize anything that might be both expendable and expensive, at least not in large numbers. This can be averted to a very small degree by processing valuable or rare objects for grist.<br /> <br /> Poor Impressions: Arthur gives the first impression of a bratty, loud gamer, rather than a god who wields phenomenal cosmic powers. As a result, socializing is often rather difficult. He also tends to lie by omission about his godhood, claiming almost obsessively that it's not important, which can create a lot of awkwardness and social dysfunction if that goes south, and denies him a lot of opportunities that would otherwise come up if Arthur were straightforward about things.<br /> <br /> = Logs =<br /> {{Character Logs}}<br /> <br /> = Cutscenes =<br /> {{Character Logs|Cutscenes}}</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Form:Advanced_Character_Logs&diff=3481 2014-07-03T05:25:56Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;includeonly&gt;<br /> &lt;div id=&quot;wikiPreview&quot; style=&quot;display: none; padding-bottom: 25px; margin-bottom: 25px; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAAAAA;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> {{{for template|Log Header|label=Roleplaying Log}}}<br /> {| class=&quot;formtable&quot;<br /> ! Date of Scene:<br /> | {{{field|Date of Scene|mandatory|property=Log Date}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Location:<br /> | {{{field|Location|mandatory|property=Log Location|placeholder=Where did this scene play out?|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Synopsis:<br /> | {{{field|Synopsis|input type=textarea|mandatory|property=Log Synopsis|placeholder=What was this scene about? Give a general description.|autogrow|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Thanks:<br /> | {{{field|Thanks|placeholder=To thank a GM etc. (Optional)|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Cast of Characters:<br /> | {{{field|Cast of Characters|input type=text with autocomplete|mandatory|property=Log Characters|placeholder=A comma seperated list of the scene's Cast.|values from property=Log Characters|values from category=Characters|list|delimiter=,|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Tinyplot:<br /> | {{{field|Tinyplot|property=Log Tinyplot|placeholder=Note the Tinyplot's name, if it was part of one. (Optional)|values from category=Tinyplot|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Markup:<br /> | {{{field|pretty|placeholder=If you kept up with the Log Guidelines or are using the SceneSys page for Wiki-Logs, insert 'yes'. (Optional)|size=118px}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{{end template}}}<br /> <br /> {{{for template|Single Pose|multiple|label=The Poses}}}<br /> '''Poser:''' {{{field|Poser}}}<br /> '''Pose:''' {{{field|Pose|input type=textarea}}}<br /> {{{end template}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|summary}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|minor edit}}} {{{standard input|watch}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|save}}} {{{standard input|preview}}} {{{standard input|changes}}} {{{standard input|cancel}}}<br /> &lt;/includeonly&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Forms]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Form:Roleplaying_Log&diff=3477 2014-07-03T05:19:24Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>&lt;noinclude&gt;<br /> This is the &quot;Roleplaying Log&quot; form.<br /> To create a page with this form, enter the page name below;<br /> if a page with that name already exists, you will be sent to a form to edit that page.<br /> <br /> <br /> {{#forminput:form=Roleplaying Log}}<br /> <br /> &lt;/noinclude&gt;&lt;includeonly&gt;&lt;div id=&quot;wikiPreview&quot; style=&quot;display: none; padding-bottom: 25px; margin-bottom: 25px; border-bottom: 1px solid #AAAAAA;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;<br /> {{{for template|Log Header|label=Roleplaying Log}}}<br /> {| class=&quot;formtable&quot;<br /> ! Date of Scene:<br /> | {{{field|Date of Scene|mandatory|property=Log Date}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Location:<br /> | {{{field|Location|mandatory|property=Log Location|placeholder=Where did this scene play out?|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Synopsis:<br /> | {{{field|Synopsis|input type=textarea|mandatory|property=Log Synopsis|placeholder=What was this scene about? Give a general description.|autogrow|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Thanks:<br /> | {{{field|Thanks|placeholder=To thank a GM etc. (Optional)|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Cast of Characters:<br /> | {{{field|Cast of Characters|input type=text with autocomplete|mandatory|property=Log Characters|placeholder=A comma seperated list of the scene's Cast.|values from property=Log Characters|values from category=Characters|list|delimiter=,|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Tinyplot:<br /> | {{{field|Tinyplot|property=Log Tinyplot|placeholder=Note the Tinyplot's name, if it was part of one. (Optional)|values from category=Tinyplot|size=118px}}}<br /> |-<br /> ! Markup:<br /> | {{{field|pretty|placeholder=If you kept up with the Log Guidelines or are using the SceneSys page for Wiki-Logs, insert 'yes'. (Optional)|size=118px}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{{end template}}}<br /> <br /> {{{for template|Poses|label=The Log}}}<br /> {| class=&quot;formtable&quot; <br /> !(See [[Log Guidelines|the log guidelines]] in case you want to see your log Marked up, or are using the output of the WIKI version of the SceneSys page.)<br /> |-<br /> | {{{field|Poses|input type=textarea|rows=10}}}<br /> |}<br /> {{{end template}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|summary}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|minor edit}}} {{{standard input|watch}}}<br /> <br /> {{{standard input|save}}} {{{standard input|preview}}} {{{standard input|changes}}} {{{standard input|cancel}}}&lt;/includeonly&gt;<br /> <br /> [[Category:Form]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Multiverse_Crisis:Update_Application&diff=3389 2014-07-02T23:20:07Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>__notoc__<br /> &lt;center&gt; Multiverse Crisis MUSH - Upgrade Application 4.0&lt;/center&gt;<br /> <br /> <br /> ===1. Who are you upgrading?===<br /> <br /> What is the name of the character you want to upgrade? If you're changing their @name, please say so here.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===2. Advantages===<br /> <br /> If you are updating your Advantages, fill out the appropriate categories below with your '''COMPLETE UPDATED ENTRY'''. You do not need to include entries you're not updating. So, for example, if the only thing you're updating is NPCs, that's all you should fill out below.<br /> <br /> <br /> ====2-1. Powers====<br /> <br /> Superhuman powers, spells, etc.<br /> <br /> <br /> ====2-2. Skills====<br /> <br /> Learned skills. Swordsmanship, hacking, etc.<br /> <br /> <br /> ====2-3. Assets====<br /> <br /> Things you own. Lots of money, power armor, etc.<br /> <br /> <br /> ====2-4. NPCs====<br /> <br /> Important people who do stuff for you. Sometimes large numbers of goons.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===2b. Advantages: Patch Notes===<br /> <br /> If you are updating your Advantages, tell us what you are adding, modifying, or removing here.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===3. Disadvantages===<br /> <br /> If you are updating your Disadvantages, put the '''COMPLETE UPDATED +DISADVANTAGES''' here. Note that we require a minimum of '''three''' Disadvantages on every character.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===3b. Disadvantages: Patch Notes===<br /> <br /> If you are updating your Disadvantages, tell us what you are adding, modifying, or removing here.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===4. Profile Changes===<br /> <br /> If you are changing your +finger information ('''Function, Quote, or Profile'''), put the new fields here.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===5. +Info Files===<br /> <br /> If you are changing your admin-locked +info files, put the '''COMPLETE UPDATED INFO FILE''' underneath the relevant names here. If you are changing more than one, please pre-format them for the MUSH, and include the formatted version '''below''' the readable version.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ===5b. +Info Files: Patch Notes===<br /> <br /> If you are updating your +info files, tell us what you are adding, modifying, or removing here.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===6. Power Level===<br /> <br /> If you want to request a power level increase, tell us your current power level, what power level you are requesting, and give us justification for the increase.<br /> <br /> <br /> ===7. Justification===<br /> <br /> What are the reasons for this upgrade? What happened (or what will happen) to justify it?<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Send your completed application to '''mcmush@gmail.com''' with a subject of '''Upgrade Application - Character Name''' as PLAIN ASCII TEXT in the message's body.<br /> [[Category:News File]]</div>

Volund https://multiversemush.com/mw/index.php?title=Roleplay&diff=3387 2014-07-02T23:19:29Z

<p>Volund: </p> <hr /> <div>This news file is a compilation of '''Rulings''' that were previously posted on our bulletin board system on the MUSH. Going forward, these spot rulings will be located here, or on the MUSH's corresponding news file.<br /> <br /> ==Characters w/o +Flaws/+Disadvantages==<br /> <br /> Some characters are old enough that they do not have +flaws/+disadvantages. At the time that these became required fields for characters, such characters were permitted to go on like this with the caveat that if they ever submitted an upgrade application, they would also be required to fill out their +flaws.<br /> <br /> Going forward, when +Advantages/+Disadvantages are put into place, all players will have '''three (3) months''' to change over to the new system. Applications for this purpose will not count towards cooldown times.<br /> <br /> [[Filch]] characters are not required to fill out their flaws until they are applied for properly.<br /> <br /> ==Consent-Only Advantages==<br /> <br /> Advantages that require consent to be used on other player characters are ICly known to have a significant failure rate. This is very similar to One Hit KO attacks simply not working due to ambiguous universal &quot;spell resistance.&quot; It is highly inappropriate to pressure other players about refusing to be subject to consent-only advantages, and it is not regarded as a breach of etiquette, or &quot;no-selling&quot; to decline such abilities being used on your character.<br /> <br /> A similar idea extends to actions that require consent more universally, such as breaking the default [[Combat|rules of the combat system]]. Don't EVER shame somebody for refusing requests that require their permission to go forward.<br /> <br /> ==FacHead Permission==<br /> <br /> FacHead permission is required for factional betrayal/defection, and long-term infiltration. Strictly speaking, Staff has overriding authority on whether or not these go forward, but if a FacHead is uncomfortable with the idea, it's strong grounds for denial. It is possible to petition Staff for permission without consulting the FacHeads, but we will require a fair explanation as to why we should allow this, and it is likely that we will say no and tell you to go speak with the relevant FacHead(s) anyway.<br /> <br /> ==Probation==<br /> <br /> Occasionally, Staff or the FacHeads will put a player on a probationary period for some purpose or another. This is usually to see if they're improved enough to have certain things that were taken away, or denied to them. For example, re-introducing them into a faction that they were kicked out of.<br /> <br /> Just to be clear: Disappearing or going inactive for the stated or perceived probationary period won't end your probationary period. We want to see improvement, not a non-presence. If we have reason to believe that you're deliberately laying low so that your probationary period will end without incident, bare minimum response is to lengthen the period, and automatic failure isn't out of the question.<br /> <br /> ==Running Gags==<br /> <br /> Sometimes characters have recurring jokes attached to them, like Edward Elric being short, Roy Mustang's obsession with miniskirts, GLaDOS's association with cake, etc. While it can be amusing to play with these gags, it can become incredibly obnoxious for the player(s) involved and some people have had their running gags driven into the ground so hard they've quit.<br /> <br /> In summary: If somebody asks you, individually or as a group, to stop it with the memes/running gags as pertains to them, DO IT, and don't make them ask you to stop again.<br /> <br /> ==Scale==<br /> <br /> This Ruling is to clarify exactly what IS acceptable damage scale for casual use, and what isn't.<br /> <br /> * Destroying Cities: In general, anything the size of a city or larger should not be completely and totally demolished across the course of one scene without some sort of TP-based provisions or Admin permission. The simple fact of the matter is that we don't want to see cities and their entire populations wiped out every other day, and it would be all too easy for this to happen if left unchecked. Smaller areas (city blocks, villages, etc.) can be destroyed with relatively little fuss. Note that a city block is a pretty large space of land - look up Kowloon Walled City on wikipedia for reference of just how big and populous a city block can be.<br /> * Personal Property &amp; Assets: You can't go and burn down somebody's home town or blow up their Death Star without their consent, even if you win a battle there. Exceptions may apply dependent on circumstances, but don't count on it.<br /> * Space Battle: It is usually more acceptable to exceed the normal &quot;range&quot; parameters in space battles, but bear in mind that we still don't want you wiping out cities with orbital bombardment or destroying colonies in a single one-off scene. Planetary-scale destruction is likewise off-limits under normal circumstances.<br /> * Destruction of Scenery: On the other hand, it is acceptable to wreak mass devastation on unpopulated regions of the landscape. Cleaving a pass into a mountain range or nuking the desert into a glassy crater is perfectly OK in most circumstances, though if you are in cast space (See Personal Assets &amp; Attachments.) you should ask the locals if they're OK with their world being permanently changed in this manner.<br /> <br /> '''Note:''' Scale rules are undergoing modification in the Beta news file. This may need to be altered or eliminated later.<br /> <br /> ==Stuns==<br /> <br /> This particular ruling is a legacy of the old Important Information boards, and was judged sufficiently relevant to current times to be reposted here.<br /> <br /> In short, while &quot;silly&quot; Stun attacks are acceptable, if somebody doesn't want to be subject to them you will be required to have a serious factor behind them that makes the stun work. A lot of characters aren't going to care if your character flashed them- they're just going to keep shooting.<br /> <br /> A good example of this is the &quot;Attract&quot; move from Pokemon. Not a lot of Pokemon are actually going to be susceptible to that sort of thing in the middle of a fight. Likewise, use common sense- regular biological poisons won't work on a robot (try an EMP grenade instead), and a flash-grenade won't work on a blind person.<br /> <br /> On the other hand, if you've consented to a stun don't make it difficult. Work with your attackers.<br /> <br /> '''Note:''' This can probably be eliminated and incorporated into [[Advantages]] in the complete version.<br /> <br /> ==Targets==<br /> <br /> * Unaffiliated Characters can take targets, but are not entitled to hold them beyond the initial capture. Targets are mostly a quick-and-dirty RP tool for people involved in the war. If you want to use one for something special, contact Staff ahead of time.<br /> * After changing hands, a Target Zone cannot be captured until one (1) day has passed.<br /> * In the event that a majority of the Target Zones are held by one faction, further battles by the majority holder make a target Contested instead of causing it to change hands.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> ----<br /> [[Category:News File]]</div>

Volund