"Indeed," you murmur, mind more focused on the strangeness of the sight before you than her words, "just row across."

You walk out towards the rowboat, noting as you step from the meter-wide uniform stone walk that rings the room onto the promontory the odd shape of that bizarre wharf. Whereas the floor immediately beyond the entrance arch sloped in gentle decline towards the water, this stretch of rock (and it is rock, no longer formed concrete but the living stone of the deep earth, with this chamber carved out of it) rises slightly as it narrows, so that when striding out towards the final point to which the boat is moored you have the feeling of walking down the head of some titanic spear, mostly buried but jutting up at its extremity out of invisible depths.

Standing at the tip of the outcropping, you examine the boat quizzically. Despite its ornate design, the structure seems to be fairly ordinary; a small rowboat with two benches, large enough to carry between one and four persons, with two oars seated symmetrically in rowlocks; it's the type of boat that can be found at any park containing a lake, free for the use of day-trippers, couples, and every kind of amateur. Not something that you should find any difficulty in piloting, despite your lack of experience with vehicles other than cars.

With the accustomed grace of movement characteristic of a Servant's martially focused existence, you swing a leg over the boat's side and sit down at the oars, the impact of your weight setting it to slight rocking in the water. Liliesviel follows once you're seated and, after carefully brushing the dust from her seat and daintily gathering her skirts, sits down to face you. With a whip of your hand you send a tendril of Nothingness slicing through the thick rope that ties the boat to its iron hoop on the promontory and, taking hold of the oars, you set off into the black water. As the promontory recedes you are rapidly surrounded by darkness on all sides; empty air above and about you, and low onyx waves surrounding your boat. In your ears only the rhythmic churning of the oars resounds, and your nostrils fill only with the cavern's musty, salty, slightly chemical odor: the scent of a lifeless, buried sea tinged with an unrecognizable foreign element.

With your hands on the oars and the boat moving under your power, you rapidly become conscious of the depth of your inexperience. The motion of rowing is an unfamiliar one, imitated based on Yumigawa's memories of seeing others, and something in your stroke must be somewhat out of sync, for the boat wobbles back and forth, left and right, in a swerving course as you veer one way and overcorrect the other. Still you do seem to be moving towards the central island in spite of your fumbling. Inwardly you thank the Einzbern planners who chose this and not some stranger boat, a poled gondola or one-oared canoe, requiring more esoteric motions, for had it been so you'd have been quite unable to make use of the craft.

Seeking some topic of conversation to distract from your ineptitude as a sailor, such a contrast from your expert driving, you settle on what has been bothering you from your first sight of the chamber: the presence of this stygian lagoon. "Liliesviel," you begin, "Do you know why this room is filled with water? It seems like an odd choice, but must have been deliberate, considering the careful construction that's obviously gone into the housing of the Greater Grail."

"Of course I do!" Liliesviel brightens at the chance to explain this detail. Perhaps the lack of conversation has been weighing on her as well, or more likely you suppose she's happy to be distracted from the painful earlier topic of rebellion against her family. "I told you before that we arranged the Heaven's Feel in Tokyo as a backup for the Fuyuki ritual. That was because there are only a few places around the world with a powerful enough leyline conflux to support the Holy Grail. Fuyuki is one of those, and Tokyo isn't."

"And you were able to solve this problem with water?" Your knowledge of the magical elements is admittedly rather sparse, but you can't imagine how simply filling the chamber would make up for insufficient regional Mana.

"Not exactly water," your companion hedges, tilting her head cutely to one side. "It was originally sea water that was brought in, but it's had all sorts of components and treatments since. The entire pool is a mystic code that accelerates the flow of Mana through the conflux here. That's how the Heaven's Feel can be held here even though it wasn't originally a site we'd considered for the ritual. Apparently Grandfather invented it after the Second Heaven's Feel in Fuyuki, so he could prepare other locations for the ritual without the Matou or Tohsaka interfering."

"I see," you reply softly, looking at the pool around you with new eyes. "A mystic code of this size, and all of water; how fascinating." Despite all you've seen, the Moonlit World of magi always seems to have new and strange things to delight your curiosity.

"Oh, that's not all it does, either," Liliesviel goes on, pride in her family's work filling her voice. "The other Greater Grail, in Fuyuki, could only take in Mana in a static way, but this lake allows the Greater Grail here to vary its intake. It can pull in more mana from the surrounding leylines to compensate for additional demands on the Holy Grail War, like summoning a Divine Spirit masquerading as a Heroic Spirit, or," she gives you a pointed smile, "making homunculi into additional Servants."

"How intriguing," you reply, blithely ignoring her implication that your appearance in the War has been planned since the chamber's construction. "Perhaps I might take a closer look." You pause in your rowing for a moment to reach a hand over the side, intending to scoop up a handful of the enchanted fluid and examine it.

"Wait, stop!" Liliesviel cries out at full volume, terror contorting her face as she jumps to her feet and reaches for your arm, nearly overturning the boat in the process. At this hysterical reaction you quickly withdraw your hand and take hold of your companion by the shoulders, steadying both her and the boat with care.

"I take it the water is somewhat dangerous?" you ask, reassuring her with a wry grin and calm tone.

"That's right." As Liliesviel sinks back down to her bench, she sighs with relief at the sight of your hand both securely before you, inside the boat and unharmed. "I suppose I wasn't very clear. That mystic code is imbued with an extremely powerful, constantly active Transference effect. I don't know what it would do to a human, but if a homunculus or something with a spiritual body like a Servant were to be immersed in that water..." A shudder visibly runs through her body as Liliesviel gazes at you with eyes moistened by her moment of fear.

"It would be the end of them," you conclude, finishing her train of thought. "All magical energy would by siphoned away to the Greater Grail. That's what you're getting at, isn't it?"

Liliesviel nods again. Your conversation is cut short, however, by the scraping impact of the boat's prow against the smooth, curved edge of the platform at the center of the chamber: the destination of your trip, at last. Turning around to look at the platform, you can see that there's no place for the boat to be moored, so you'll have to jump directly over its prow and cross a narrow stretch of the deadly lake in the process; no challenge to you, but surely dangerous for Liliesviel to attempt. With an eye to her safety, then, you slowly rise to your feet, keeping your movement steady to prevent the boat from rolling; step forward; and in one swift motion you pluck the girl up into your arms, whirl around, and vault over the canine figurehead to stand upon the Grail.

There must be some quality in this chamber of visual distortion at a distance, for having arrived at the central platform you discover it to be not a paltry few meters, as you had guessed from the rocky pier, but a circle well over fifteen meters in diameter. Perhaps, you speculate, it is the almost tangible density and vast quantity of magical energy that swirls through the air here at the center of this massive chamber which distorts vision from afar. This is an incidental matter, however, for it is its surface that really catches your eye; indeed your breath, too, catches in your throat as you take in its stunning opulence.

Every inch of the platform is covered with the engraved traceries of a magic circle; but the term doesn't do it justice. It is a work of art, a piece of magic ritual like nothing you've ever seen before. The core structure of the thing is made up of a set of concentric rings, spaced evenly fifteen centimeters apart from one another, and each inner ring slightly less deeply carved than its outer predecessor; intersecting these rings are numerous straight or twisting lines, coming together in a profusion of acute and obtuse angles suggesting flower petals, weaponry, architecture, the teeth of mountains, and many other shapes, but forming nothing so pedestrian as a pentacle or polygon; in sum they come together as a hazy web of impossible intersections, bewildering the eye with the madness of dream. Spaced about at intervals between these lines and rings are lesser circles, smaller magic diagrams that have their own impressions of unique and ordered beauty, like stars of varying color, within and without the great constellation of the primary formation. Last of all, wrapping around all of these are endless runes, sigils, and lines of script in at least five different alphabets and inscribed in such a microscopic hand that it is impossible to make out their meaning, though there must be enough varied text spread across the platform to fill an epic, if one were to transcribe it into a book.

Each channel of carven stone is filled, moreover, with a profuse variety of precious inlay. In the rings you spy the various treasured metals: copper, bronze, gold, silver, and platinum all make their appearance, ordered each in their own ring and repeating the cycle as the rings continue inward. The formulae and angular strokes, by contrast, contain an even greater variety of stone: ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz, onyx, diamond, jade, and other, more obscure examples of mineral beauty unidentifiable by your limited knowledge crowd the engravings, cunningly cut to resemble flowing water of brilliant colors. The entire vast structure thus takes on the appearance of some mythic dragon's hoard of scattered treasure that has been compressed into two dimensions, squeezed into the rock below your feet to be seen only from above, where thieving hands cannot easily lift some trifle without destroying the whole of the great work.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Liliesviel breathes, as spellbound as you are by the beautiful sight. "This is the key to our miracle, the culmination of a thousand years of work." Then, matter-of-factly she continues, "Set me down, please." At her request you lower the girl to the ground, whereupon she hops out of your arms and walks lightly over just past the center of the Grail, then turns to face you from the edge of the innermost ring, of shining platinum. "Thank you. Now I just need you to lie down in the center of the Grail and sleep for a while."

"You want me to sleep there?" you echo, surprised. "There's no active part for me to take in the ritual?"

"No," she chirps, the shadow of a laugh behind the word. "All you need to do is be here. You can stand and wait if you like, but I think what I'm going to do will be more effective if you synchronize your mind with the Greater Grail by being unconscious. I'd offer to help you sleep, but with your magic resistance it would be quite difficult."

"Thank you for the explanation," you reply.

>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)

>[ ] "I believe I'll stand, if you don't find my sleeping essential." Something about this chamber, the throbbing magic of the Greater Grail, and the circumstances of your approach make you loath to surrender your consciousness even to make certain of the success of this ritual. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] Say something else. (Write in)

Well, now we know of a way to pretty much just ruin the grail war completely by just lobbing Heilig into that water and draining the entire system.
The ultimate sore loser technique.

Of course, it's not the greatest idea for our continued survival, but if things do go to hell, knowing we can nerf the Greater Grail is quite helpful. We might be able to convince the Emiyas that if the grail is corrupt, we have a method to disconnect it from the Leylines.
Also, we can just lob Rider into that pool if she's not connected to ensure she goes to the grail.
Or maybe Sakura?
This requires further research.

Let's throw Yumigawa into the pool and see what happens.

>>3938633
>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)

This could only go well and not end up going terrible.
I'm voting for this for the high likelihood things end up going to shit.

>>3938633
>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)

>>3938633
>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)
That was one hell of a long update!

>>3938658
>Also, we can just lob Rider into that pool if she's not connected to ensure she goes to the grail.
Remember, Servants are to be absorbed by the Lesser Grail. This lake powers the Greater Grail.
>Let's throw Yumigawa into the pool and see what happens.
I think you know what happens, anon. Konbu stock.

>>3938686
A little shorter than the last one, but yeah. I wanted to have some fun describing the Greater Grail, since it always bothered me how we never got to see the thing itself in Fate/Stay Night.

>>3938689
This really is the pool of grail war ruining, isn't it?

>>3938701
Yep. It's a pretty crucial part of the ritual, as Liliesviel explained, so ruining it would make a hash of things; but feeding Servants into it would also wind up with the Heaven's Feel a wash, since you wouldn't have their energy in the right places.

Incidentally, nice job on unanimously dodging that Dead End last time.

>>3938709
What dead end was that?

>>3938714
You now know that the water absorbs the magical energy of anything that touches it. So if you'd tried to cross the water with some method other than the boat, depending on the method you might have wound up being consumed by the Greater Grail.

>>3938714
Touching the water physically, I imagine.

>>3938720
How would it interact with Arturia's ability to walk on water anyway?
I suppose it really depends on just how the protection of the fairies works.

I wish we could get blessed by random fairies with cool miscellaneous powers.

>>3938633
>>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)

>>3938633
>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)

>>3938709
>feeding Servants into it would also wind up with the Heaven's Feel a wash, since you wouldn't have their energy in the right places
This pool is a stage-hazard of the very worst kind, it seems.

>>3938633
>[ ] "In that case, I'll take your advice." It isn't as though this will be the first time you've slept in Liliesviel's presence, and to refuse to now would make it seem you don't trust her. (Compassion)
inb4 she sees our memories when she synchronizes us with the grail

>>3938861
I welcome it. We've had who knows how many chances to do the right thing and haven't. Now I shall enjoy the schadenfreude.

>>3938861
Maybe if she synchronized us with herself.

Besides, how could we be Yumigawa Rushorou? He's still participating in the war, with Servants of his own.
Surely there must've been some sort of transferral of memories by accident somehow.
It's the only explanation.

>>3939048
>He's still participating in the war, with Servants of his own.
A fact Liliesviel remains unaware of.

>>3939099
We should probably inform her of that when we get the chance.

>>3938633
>[ ] "I believe I'll stand, if you don't find my sleeping essential." Something about this chamber, the throbbing magic of the Greater Grail, and the circumstances of your approach make you loath to surrender your consciousness even to make certain of the success of this ritual. (Self-Preservation)

>>3938727
After giving this some heavy consideration, I'm going to say that she's not actually touching the water when she walks on it. There's a super-thin layer of magic enabling her ability.
Consequently, she could run across the Grail lake without trouble.

>>3939953
That's nice to know.
Seems that the protection of the fairies is pretty useful.

Let's say this ritual has the vulcan mind-meld and Lily finds out what's up. Can we ad-lib an "Exactly according to keikaku" excuse when she chews us out? As in we assumed it would happen and that it would be the most effective way to relay the information to her, as it's both private and straight from the source?

>>3940630
>Vulcan mind meld
Should be fine if she also finds that our feelings for her are genuine.
Should be bad if she finds about Adelheid.
Or Circe.
And ESPECIALLY Tsubaki, our other more genuine sister.

I mean, in the worst case, it seems we might need to use our ribbons to do a Spiderman Impression and swing our way across the death lake.

We should really focus on the finer control of our tendrils, actually. If we get to a level where we can have them nearly immediately readjust and dodge attempts to destroy them (see Matsuda's spear having that bullshit) they'll be capable of so much more.
Of course it's a long term plan, but having them act as an auto-defence without having to will them to do so would be the greatest usage of the ability.

All we need to do is get a single tendril hooked around that spear of his and for all it's versatility and his combat skill, he's fucked. He couldn't hope to regain control of the weapon at that point thanks to his shit tier physical stats and without it he's defenceless against completely being bound.

I slept all day and finally woke up a short time ago with a terrible headache. Now I'm having a prolonged staring contest with my word processor. I'm sorry my output is so slow, everyone.

I forgot to reply to this at the time, but to the person in the last thread who was wondering if your sword's pommel could be detached:
Try asking Kōrakuhime about it, since she has the Tool Creation skill.

>>3940630
Forget the "all according to cake" bit, how are you going to deal with the fact that Alberich has been manipulating her since they first met?

>>3940650
I thought Kōrakuhime was bad when it came to western magic, especially with a product of it as complicated as Heilig.

>>3940668
She is, yes. That doesn't mean you can't ask. She's the only person you know who would likely be able to modify a Noble Phantasm, unless you'd like to try and summon a nibelung from the Reverse Side.

>>3940668
>a product of it
What do you mean? Ayaka's witchcraft is definitely eastern magic, and the Akeldama isn't magic at all.

>>3940674
>She's the only person you know who would likely be able to modify a Noble Phantasm
and what's Circe, chopped liver?

>>3940650
>she has the Tool Creation skill
A good thing to check up on later for sure

>>3940666
The damage-control gets less effective by the second, I know. But since no one wanted to fess up this is the fate we are stuck with.

>>3940668
Never know for sure until you ask.

From Heilig's status page:
>an ornate hilt and pommel of silver and carved jewels

Werewolves will be ended rightly.

>>3940678
Alright, Kōrakuhime is the only person you know who would likely be able to modify a Noble Phantasm and isn't working with someone trying to kill you. Happy?

>>3940676
Oh god, thinking about the construction of Heilig is giving me a headache.
Luckeschwert was manufactured as a result of Akeldama, which would likely use western magic.
But it was empowered/reforged by an avatar of a multitude of Gods upon receiving a link to them upon an eastern ritual enabling us to take the concept of Durandal.

Yet Heilig doesn't count as a divine construct...

>>3940682
A little.
Nowhere near as happy as I might be when we finally kill Yumigawa.

>>3940644
>in the worst case, it seems we might need to use our ribbons to do a Spiderman Impression and swing our way across the death lake.
What's she going to do? Summon Odin via command seal to the one place she doesn't want to summon Odin? Even if she did there's a huge chance someone would get knocked into the pool of doom and ruin the Grail War if a battle broke out. Of all places this is actually one of the best to force her to talk it out, because using violence is way too risky.

Unless we get dead-ended and killed in our sleep, of course.

You look around, contemplating the location. Sleep is, after all, a period of helplessness. There is, however, nothing to arouse your concern here. You are quite alone here with Liliesviel, and at the surface Stachel waits as a sentry. Aside from that, you can't help but feel the apparent mistrust in not wanting to sleep beside Liliesviel would sting her all the more after your tender conversation on the stairs.

"In that case, I'll take your advice," you reply, crossing the platform with quick strides to stand before your companion. "Is there any particular way I should lie down?"

"...On your back?" Liliesviel furrows her brows to give you a confused look, as if not expecting a question on such a detail. "Just try to lie so your stomach is over the very center of the Grail."

According to her instructions, you stretch your body out on the stone at her feet, lining your own core up carefully with that of the innermost circle. You lace your hands over your chest, and for a few breaths simply lie there, absorbing the scenery and driving thought and tension from your mind. All around you, beyond the treasure-encrusted platform, water stretches off into the dark reaches of the enormous room. From here, the room's actual walls are invisible, so that only a dome of amorphous darkness seems to surround the pool. Vision, once enabled by the candelabra on the walls, now makes do with the faint illumination that springs from the jeweled engravings below you. You close your eyes, and the only sound is of the softly lapping waves, punctuated occasionally by the scraping of the boat you've left behind against the platform's sharp edge.

With your other senses shut out or dulled by the absence of stimulus, the sixth sense of magic overwhelms them and dominates your impression of the scene with its perception of the monstrously vast energy contained in this chamber. Greater even than that held by Odin is the power that can be felt from the platform on which you lie, and its excess washes over you like the heat from a great bonfire, roiling and shifting, twisting and writhing, the barely contained power alive below you. It is the power of the earth, its very lifeblood, opened and exposed for you and Liliesviel to drink from and make permanent your ephemeral natures, the creations of man returning to man's creator for sustenance, and in that madly boiling, churning mass is another, greater motion, the rhythmic pulse of the heart of Gaia, overtaking all else once it is detected and sweeping up to enfold you, deafen you, swallow you up, and...

Light creeps back into your vision in narrow lines of searing blue-white flame, running inwards from the edges of the expanse of blackness before your eyes. The other senses, too, receive new input. Gone is the stone beneath your back, and the feeling of lying heavily in the bowels of the earth. Instead you hang suspended, facing downwards, in vast gulf of empty night. The throbbing that deafened you is no longer an assault, though its power has not diminished; rather it can be sensed through, as the great underlying background to all other senses in this strange new realm.

As you hang immobile, eyes fixed on the sight below, the runnels of ethereal flame multiply and congregate, forming first bands, then ropes, and finally great rivers of energy. Four meet below you, each with its own unique course. One twists in the serpentine parody of directness imposed on so many waterways by the interdiction of hills; another swings wide in the great arc of a bow, or the crescent moon; the third is straight and true; while the fourth swerves crazily in jagged formation, flame resembling more the cracks in rock than a waterway. All of them, however, throb in unison with the beating that suffuses you as they flow in their fixed channels to the meeting place below. There, though, resemblance to the course of water ends, for rather than pooling in colorful emulation of a serene lake they dwindle, growing narrower and narrower as they approach their point of conflux until at last the meeting place itself contains no more than a tiny point of light nearly lost amidst the titanic emptiness which surrounds it.

No sooner is this image completed than it shifts, yanked towards you by the cessation of your own stillness. As if suspended by a wire suddenly cut by some cruelly snickering prankster you plunge downward, hurtling through space towards the flames and the point of meeting, and all of it growing enormously until the point is no point at all and the darkness is chased from your eyes by the great swirling disc of flame which fills your vision. Only at its center does the searing light abate, for there, still rushing towards you, is a beautiful structure: a work of sublime artistry etched in flame rather than stone, a tracery which suggests no pedestrian shape but a hazy web of impossible intersection ordained in the madness of dream and only there perceptible. Here, in other words. Indeed, what could be seen only as indecipherable beauty is here laid bare for your understanding, perfectly sensible and comprehensible. And you do understand. Now, at last, you are free to satisfy your curiosity and read in those lines all the ancient knowledge and cultivated technique of the families which constructed it, to clearly see precisely how-

it vanishes. On the cusp of revelation you are plunged into darkness. Then you are awake. The soft lapping of waves and harsh grating of the rowboat's prow return to your ears. The musty chemical-ocean smell of the water returns to your nostrils. An artistically shaped point of stone jabs uncomfortably into your back. You open your eyes, and see Liliesviel's beautiful, innocent, sweetly worried face peering down at you.

"It should be complete," she says, once satisfied that you're awake. Her tone, you note, is far less certain than you'd like. "How do you feel, Alberich?"

"Just fin." As you sit up and get to your feet you find that you feel no different from when you laid down. Slightly stiff from the passage of time, perhaps, but certainly not as if harmed by some ritual error. "Should I feel a change of some kind?"

"No." Liliesviel shakes her head and gives you a smile, her mind seemingly cleared of worry. "I just wanted to be sure. We can go now, unless," she raises a playful eyebrow "you have some other business here."

You return her smile, and in lieu of answer reach down and sweep the girl up into your arms, eliciting a startled squeak and burst of high laughter. "My only business here is to carry you off," you growl in mock threat. "You shouldn't have been fool enough to let another's Servant get you alone. Now I'll pitch you into that deadly lake of yours!" Amidst peals of girlish laughter, you stride back to the edge of the platform and jump back into the rowboat, sitting down between the oars with Liliesviel on your lap and setting the craft to wavering dangerously with your impact. After reaching out a hand to steady it, you give a hearty push that sends the boat spinning around to face the promontory from whence you came and set off, rowing back with steadier strokes than on your first trip.

For a while, you seem to have snatched another moment of happy peace from this War. You've come and achieved your goal unmolested, passed through an emotional storm with the renewed trust of your companion, and now that same girl leans contentedly back against you, smiling up at you as she swings her feet idly below the bench on which you sit.

You've come perhaps halfway through your return crossing when your moment of peace is brought to a blunt end by the insidious sound of trickling water. Somehow a hole has been sprung in the thick, wood of the rowboat's hull, and it's rapidly filling and sinking. To compound the infuriating quality of the moment, you're distracted from looking for a solution to your problem by the intervention of a cultivated baritone voice resounding from an uncertain point in the darkness around you.

"Saber," he proclaims, "you have reached your end."

This, then, must be the unseen assailant who's doggedly followed you today. From his utter lack of presence, his unfamiliar voice, and his ability to pass by Stachel with impunity, he must be Assassin.

>[ ] "Are you mad? Do you realize that she's the Lesser Grail? If we plunge into this lake, the Holy Grail War will be ruined!" (Duty)

>[ ] Ignore the man's words and focus on action. Stretch out a tendril of Nothingness to pull yourself and Liliesviel back to the Greater Grail before the boat can sink. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] Ignore the man's words and reach for the ceiling of the chamber with a tendril of Nothingness, to carry yourself and Liliesviel back to the promontory. (Pride)

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3940798
This is one of those times that I wish that we could gacha a monster with Truesight, if such a being existed.

I'm honestly torn between taking us back to the Greater Grail, which will likely guarantee our safety, and Spider-Man'ing our way back to the entrance.

>>3940798
>[ ] Ignore the man's words and reach for the ceiling of the chamber with a tendril of Nothingness, to carry yourself and Liliesviel back to the promontory. (Pride)

>Repeatedly form tendrils to ensure one cannot be merely cut, and In the emergency of falling, make a makeshift platform of nothingness above the water and use It to leap the remaining distance.

We made brakes, we can make a block If we use enough mana. In fact, I don't care If we blow an absurd amount of mana to ensure we get across, just as long as we make It.

Also, does anyone else feel like the Duty option existing implies he knows this and wants to stop the grail war for some reason? Or there's some supreme fuckery and the master of assassin has their own Lesser Grail?

>>3940798
Supporting >>3940864.

>>3940797
>On the cusp of revelation you are plunged into darkness.
D'OH
>he must be Assassin
fug

OK... so what can we tell about Assassin?
>has a "cultivated baritone" -- king or other aristocrat?
>can bring bad luck upon people in an area -- probably his NP
>can only affect things outside our reach -- couldn't affect our map of tokyo, changed the street signs instead
>can hide from odin
>targets masters directly instead of going after servants
>kills defeated masters (killed lumenza)
>doesn't care that lily is the lesser grail -- trying to ruin the war? could also correlate with killing lumenza

>>3940798
>>[ ] Ignore the man's words and reach for the ceiling of the chamber with a tendril of Nothingness, to carry yourself and Liliesviel back to the promontory. (Pride)

>>3940864
Supporting.

...
YUMIGAWA YOU MOTHERFUCKER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE.
Only he would want to fuck up the war like this thanks to having Circe on his side, who likely has no need of the lesser grail and we know he likes trying to make allies but also wants Lily dealt with...

I can't believe that Assassin's master is Kikuko again/that Satsuki girl from Yumigawa's school.

Either that or Assassin and his Master are as dumb as a sack of rocks.

>>3940798
>[ ] Ignore the man's words and reach for the ceiling of the chamber with a tendril of Nothingness, to carry yourself and Liliesviel back to the promontory. (Pride)

>>3940798
I approve of >>3940864
Something to consider is we want to get to solid ground at all costs. The enemy's totally going to try make us slip on loose rocks or some shit on the promontory.

>>3940944
>I can't believe that Assassin's master is Kikuko again/that Satsuki girl from Yumigawa's school.
>Either that or Assassin and his Master are as dumb as a sack of rocks.
Or they're on Emiya's team or otherwise want to crash the Grail War with no survivors. Probably team Rushorou though.

Bottom line, we're ending this maggot here and now. It was a foolish decision to reveal himself in an enclosed space with only one exit. Should probably ask him why he wanted to ruin the Grail before we kill him, but preventing his escape is priority 1.

>>3941355
Interesting. So what are you planning, exactly? To take up a position at the archway and wait for him to try and pass by you? Or maybe stand guard on the stairs?

>>3941377
I wouldn't want to finalize anything without input from other anons, but I was thinking to beeline to the archway with Lily while trying to locate the enemy and defend against attack (there's no way this hexxing nonsense is his ONLY attack, right?), set her behind us (or however is the best way to block Assassin from attacking her), use Nothingness ribbons like police tape to temporarily block the exit then have her call Stachel down to take the dedicated bodyguard role.
This is as long as we confirm he's actually in the Greater Grail chamber as opposed to running back up the stairs as we advance. Catching him between Stachel and the Alberich/Lily group might also work in that case, but if he snuck past the maid once before he probably could again. Maybe? Hard to see how he could sneak into a narrow corridor undetected in the first place. Meido dropped the ball big time there unless he had an invisibility cloak or some other cheap trick that makes him nigh-untouchable.

File: Fate Quest Graph.png (41 KB, 1783x714)

41 KB PNG

For the anon curious about a graph of posts last thread, here you go. One data point for each thread from Fate/City Akeldama Part I through Fate/Awakening Mirror Part XII. Enjoy.

>>3941646
You should also track the number of updates you make, for context

>>3941653
That would be a good figure to include, yes. More time consuming to collect that information than the others, though.

>>3940798
>>3940864

Supporting this--redundancy is key for combating bad luck!

>>3941653
Like I said I don't have complete data, but here's a tidbit:
The first thread of Fate/City Akeldama had 717 posts including 29 updates over 4 days. At the other end of the spectrum, the latest thread of Fate/Awakening Mirror had 676 posts including 11 updates over 21 days.

>>3941781
Going from 7 updates a day to 1 update every two days is probably the best explanation for the decreased votes and discussion. You shouldn't be agonizing over losing players over the content or quality of your writing, it's the quantity of updates.

>>3941781
I think having shorter updates in the early stages played a big role in that. Getting new information quicker should give a boost to player enthusiasm since
1) if they aren't checking the thread regularly they might miss something so there's an incentive there
2) shorter update-length should theoretically allow players to have more influence on the outcome of events as their input would be inserted into the narrative more frequently
3) human attention spans may be strained to keep up if new information comes in large but infrequent bursts vs. small frequent ones

Not saying you need to/should change to a "little and often" approach to "save" the quest, just calling it as I see it.

In circumstances like these, there's no time to lose. With the deadly energy-draining liquid of the Greater Grail's surroundings surging up below your feet, you haven't time to take the bait of your assailant's words or retreat towards the Greater Grail; the only thing to do keep advancing towards your goal, while putting as much distance between you and that abyss below as possible.

No sooner have you made that conclusion than the method presents itself to your racing mind. Within yourself you open the door that faces into the void and let the Nothingness pour through, impressing the substance of impossibility on the material world in the form of the tendrils that have become in these past few days as reliable to you as secondary limbs. You stretch five of them out from the shadows of your cloak, proportioned to prioritize speed; each is narrow enough to pass for an ordinary gift-wrapping ribbon. With all the rapidity you can draw from Ayaka's supply of magical energy, you send the five tendrils flying up into the darkness above, questing blindly for your salvation.

After tense moments that seem to drag like hours, in which you are acutely aware of each millimeter by which the elixir of death creeps closer to Liliesviel's precious skin, your searching is rewarded. The ceiling is there, made invisible by the darkness of this cavernous chamber but nevertheless within the reach of your tendrils at their full extent. Certain now of their contact, you turn the finesse of control you've cultivated to reshaping them, forming the ends into threaded cones like the points of great screws and driving them into the stone at five points spread evenly outward from that directly above you. Once they're firmly anchored, you wind the tendrils together so that in a short time the ribbons stretch down through the darkness to you as a single thick length of rope.

With one hand gripping the rope of Nothingness and the other clutching Liliesviel to you, you haul yourself up and away from the sinking boat at the last moment as, with a sucking gurgle, the wood formerly occupied by your feet sinks beneath the inky surface of the stygian pool. Hanging motionless, you sweep your eyes about you, probing the darkness in vain for any sign of your foe. No doubt he thinks you trapped and immobile. Perhaps, you consider, he simply intends to wait for your magical energy to run dry, whereupon you'll be forced to plummet into the water. More fool him, if that is his plan.

Assassin demonstrates that you're rating him a tad too low, however, as the rock above your head begins to give way with ominous scraping and cracking. One of your five anchors falls entirely free of its socket amidst a hail of tiny chunks and flakes of stone, and the imbalance sends you swinging crazily off into the lightless subterranean emptiness like a maddened pendulum until, with an invisible smile, you decide to show Assassin what he hasn't seen.

With a force that could only have been produced by magic, your tendrils of Nothingness tighten, retract, and turn upwards in defiance of all physical laws to send you hurtling towards your goal, the place where you know the carved and tapering promontory to be. At the point of your own greatest momentum you release your hold on the ribbons, materializing your armor as you do so to depart your mooring like a bizarre jagged projectile, some strangely weaponized bit of statuary flung by an inverted trebuchet. Then there are a a few moments of tension and even fear as, with no visible sign of your course and no tangible hold on your surroundings, you sail through the gulf of black uncertainty on wings fashioned only of your confidence in your memory. If your calculation of your own position should be a few meters off, or your memory of the promontory inaccurate by a negligible degree...

But the fear lasts only a moment before your boots hammer into the expected masonry and the dim, magically powered candelabra that line the walls appear once more before your eyes. You're standing before the archway by which you entered, your back to the Greater Grail. No hostile presence can be felt behind or before you, but the knowledge of Assassin's presence is enough. It seems you can feel his malevolence with your mind, as if another sense of presence beyond that which feels magical energy has suddenly been awoken to warn you, beyond all shadow of a doubt, that Assassin will not allow you to escape. But where is he? Back behind you, floating amorphously in the darkness over the water? or has he rushed past you already to set his next trap somewhere on the stairs, where a cleverly timed misstep could send Liliesviel falling to her death? Perhaps, though, both conjectures are wrong, and he hangs above you even now, clinging insect-like to the inside of the arch which looms before you.

You clamp your teeth down on your tongue, forcing your mind back into clarity and chasing the creeping dread from it with tangible pain. The Assassin's ability of Presence Concealment may be a weakness of yours, and it's true that of all the classes of Servant it is this sort of foe which you're least well-accustomed to facing, but that's no reason to let your emotions overmaster you. Assassin's attacks up until now have been uniformly lackluster; from all appearances, he's a subpar Heroic Spirit and quite likely to be the weakest Servant of the War. You need only choose how to proceed, and meet whatever foolish effort he makes to oppose you directly.

>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)

>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

>>3941857
>>3941859
This makes sense on the face of it, but does seem to run a bit in the face of the fact that my threads with the highest posts-per-day (I, IV, and VII of Fate/Awakening Mirror) were all on a one update daily schedule.
Still, I suppose I'll try out shorter updates for a bit and see how it goes. Haven't had much time to write today anyway, so here's a short action scene, with another update to come (unless I run into a sudden work emergency) during the day tomorrow.

>>3941980
>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)
We can't eat him yet, and if we fight here we risk damaging the Greater Grail anyway.

>>3941980
>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)
I for one am not looking forward to being harried by bad luck everywhere we go now that we've got his attention. Better to end it here.

>>3941980
>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)

>>3941980
>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)
This while prioritizing Lily's safety and (before fighting) calling out:
>Would you care to explain what made you think it was a good idea to sabotage the Grail itself? You nearly sank the Lesser Grail into that lake just now.
(if he gives us the time to talk, otherwise react to his attacks of course)

We should at least try to interrogate this guy, he seems to enjoy posturing if he thinks he can win.

>>3941980
>[ ] Flood the area around you with writhing tentacles to locate Assassin (Self-Preservation, Write-In)
If you can't see, blanket bomb.

>>3942346
That seems like a very inefficient use of Ayaka's energy

>>3941980
>>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)

I am not wanting him to follow us home and then cause the roof to collapse or other horseshit--let's solve a problem.

>>3941980
>>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)
We'll have much more luck combating this enemy with Tsubaki's help.
And with no Ayaka, killing an enemy servant here will make slaying Odin that much harder.
In fact, we should probably ask Kourakuhime if she can create some sort of magical item to allow us to see hidden enemies.
Between this and Alberich getting memed on by random stealth charms from the Church, he obviously needs something along those lines.
He even admits directly presence concealment is a weakness of his, so we should 100 percent work on getting a counter.

>>3942454
>Assassin
>assaulting a fortress containing a Caster and a Lancer that is superior in magic to said Caster
>surviving
Funny joke.

But seriously, Alberich needs something to boost his perception because that's his true dump stat.
Tsubaki needs to prove her worth as a Caster already too, she's been practically useless to us for long enough.
Obviously, I'd like it if we had two Casters we could have work on magic items for us, but we need to wait a while for that.

>>3941980
>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)

>>3942572
We could also ask catbro if he knows any tricks against Presence Concealment.

Just an FYI, when I talked about getting an update out during the day today I had planned to start writing at about 10:00. Obviously the tie prevented that from happening, and the next time I have a chance to start writing will be at about 23:00 tonight. So, you've got until then to discuss what you want to do here.
I'm glad to see a choice generating some more uncertainty than the last few almost unanimous ones! Hope you can find a plan that satisfies everyone.

>>3942594
Honestly, we need to start making a better use of all of our abilities and allies.
Tsubaki just being the scrying button is just getting boring.
>>3942346
Anon here has a good idea, but I feel he is going about it the wrong way, using our tendrils as feelers for hidden targets by slowly moving them along the ground hidden could work out pretty well for us if Assassin doesn't notice what we're up to.

Another potential way to fuck with Assassin would be to bring the entrance down as we leave and trap him in there.

We also might want to consider getting Clairvoyance to upgrade our eyesight and ability to deal with these sorts of enemies.
I hope Tsubaki is more willing to share with us the ability of her damn Noble Phantasms soon.

>>3941980
>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)

What makes everyone think that Assassin is even still here?
If his goal involves ruining the grail war, then getting rid of Stachel would be quite effective for his scheme.
He should know that he can't defeat us head on and something like this seems quite like something this adversary of ours would do.
And for as much confidence I have in Einzbern Homonculi, I don't rate their chances against practically any servant except maybe like...
Hans.

>>3941980

>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)

>>3941980
>[ ] Spare no more thought to the failed Assassin. With your goal at the Greater Grail completed, make your way back to the surface and from there home. (Pride)

We're eating Assassin because we need to, It's that simple. He gets to live today for that purpose only.

Are we tied?
I mean, if we take >>3942342 as a seperate vote because it wants to do more stuff we aren't.

but we should probably discuss things rather than just blindly go for one option.
As it is, if Assassin wants to play keepaway, we have no method to catch him.
We may just end up wasting our time.
There's no guarantee he's even in the room anymore.
And if we do kill him, we'll lose our chance to sacrifice him.

It's lose/lose and our time today is precious enough already considering we need to go deal with ourselves after this.

We could just intercept Rushorou on his way home from school.
Yumigawa/Alberich do absolutely terribly when it comes to planning against any type of ambush.
Yumigawa should probably be even worse at it.

>>3942919
>I mean, if we take >>3942342 as a seperate vote because it wants to do more stuff we aren't.
That's probably what Sweets will do if nobody tips the balance.
>As it is, if Assassin wants to play keepaway, we have no method to catch him.
>We may just end up wasting our time.
>And if we do kill him, we'll lose our chance to sacrifice him.
>It's lose/lose and our time today is precious enough already considering we need to go deal with ourselves after this.
These are all good reasons to leave right now, which us why I voted to leave.
>Yumigawa/Alberich do absolutely terribly when it comes to planning against any type of ambush.
That rat bastard's probably trying to ambush us. We go to kill him, then Circe teleports in and unleashes a torrent of holy fuckfire upon us.

Well, it does look like you're still tied to me. I can't in good conscience call >>3942342 a separate vote, since the main thrust is in line with the option as written.
Besides that, having gotten home after a working night I'm dog tired. This is why I had initially said I'd no longer do updates on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I took up this schedule, but I guess optimism springs eternal.

>>3943146
>That rat bastard's probably trying to ambush us. We go to kill him, then Circe teleports in and unleashes a torrent of holy fuckfire upon us.
Yeah, well the issue right there is her Master standing in the middle of said torrent of holy fuckfire.
And the man being targeted being able to not only resist the majority of whatever she can quickly throw out, but also defend himself against anything big she might try.
Can she really teleport faster than a rift slash can bisect Yumigawa?
Because again, I feel like if her level of skill and competence has jumped up that far for seemingly no reason, I feel like she kinda will deserve to die.
Just for the sake of the plot's consistency.
He's really taking a huge risk now.
I can only assume he thinks that we wouldn't want to kill ourselves in such an ignominious way.
Either that, or he's been enchanted with defensive magic in order to be able to survive things.

Good luck surviving a rift slash though.

File: tfw tie.gif (3.01 MB, 480x270)

3.01 MB GIF

>still tied

>>3941980

>[ ] Resolve to finish Assassin here. Block the archway up with Nothingness, and force your enemy to show himself if he wishes to leave. (Duty)

Either this is a dead end for us, Assassin dies, or lillysvial dies without us dying, or assassin reveals an ability/cost them a command seal to get away. I'm fine with any of the 5

>>3943571
>dead end for us
>lillysvial dies
>I'm fine with any of the 5
Anon what the fuck is wrong with you.
This is the opposite of a good argument.

Literally only one outcome here is good and that's Assassin escaping.
We still need to use the ritual on him, especially given that Lily DOESN'T KNOW WE NEED AN EXTERNAL RITUAL.

Though if we're sorta connected to the grail now, I wonder if we do still need the ritual...

>>3943575
You're connected to the Greater Grail, anon. The Greater Grail. It's the Lesser Grail that does the soul-absorbing.

>>3943585
Stop crushing my dreams.

>>3943571
Why would you want Liliesviel to die, anon?

Even if pursuing Assassin here is the right choice, all of the arguments in favour of it have been so dumb I actually want us to die.

>>3943603
There are plenty of benefits to fighting him now
1) He doesn't have backup right now, which most likely won't be the case in our next encounter. Can you imagine how infuriating of a support he'd be if someone else is running DPS?
2) we know with near certainty that he's relatively nearby, in an enclosed space with only one exit
3) this is the first chance we have to get a lead on his/his master's identity
4) we can force him to reveal more of his abilities as he defends
5) his master may force a teleport-retreat via command seal if he starts losing bad, depleting a valuable resource

We don't NEED to kill him right now, but it would be a wasted opportunity to just turn tail with a "you're not even worth my time" one-liner when we could probe/fight/interrogate him instead.

I imagine we won't kill him in the span of a single update anyway so further input could be given then.

A black flame of rage kindles and swells within you at this amorphous foe's presumption, his aimless flailings and fruitless attempts on your life. You refuse to give him the satisfaction of seeing you hounded out of here by his tricks, fleeing before him like some pathetic creature! No, you'll put an end to him here and damn whatever power you might gain by killing him with Ayaka in tow!

First, though, you'll have to lay eyes on the slinking vermin. As long as he's free to move undetected in the dark you'll remain unable to put an end to him. Very well then, you'll test his patience and wait; not in the open, with your foe free to come and go as he pleases, as you did above the parking garage, though. This is a much better place for it, for here you have the opportunity to seal yourself in with Assassin by cutting off the sole exit.

With a tremendous outpouring of magical energy you summon up a great sheet of Nothingness, stretching out into a ruby and onyx wall that fills up the great arch with a smooth and flawless surface impenetrable to any foe who cannot either muster a greater energy and mystery in attacking it or dispel it by the snuffing out of your will which sustains it there. Now, with a new barrier hemming him in, Assassin will be forced to make his next move. Heiligöffnungschwert takes form in your hand as your eyes scan the darkness for any sign of motion. None appears. You step protectively in front of Liliesviel, keeping her in the shadow of your cloak so that a judicious activation of Kenótis can shield her from an unforeseen attack. After what seems ages of tense waiting, your patience snaps and you roar a challenge into the darkness, words retaining an ingrained civility that both tone and emotion lack.

"Would you care to explain just what it was that made you think to sabotage the Holy Grail itself?" you demand. "If not for my intervention you'd have sunk the Lesser Grail into that lake!"

In reply, a mordant chuckle resounds into your ear, as if from a mouth mere millimeters from you. You swing around to cleave the hated figure in two, but there is nothing by your side save air and Assassin's next words seem to come from a great distance, somewhere off above and before you, in the empty space over the Grail's deadly pool. "My reasons are my own," he says, barely containing his mirth at rebuffing your inquiry. "Know only this, that my Master would see you tormented by the child's loss; and so you shall soon be!"

As this last word's echoes fade into the chamber's abyssal darkness, the air is rent by a cataclysmic rumble of grinding stone. Everything around you seems to be vibrating and shifting at once, and a single conclusion rises to the forefront of your mind: earthquake. Indeed, the stone beneath your feet and the water beyond it are rolling as one fluid, and you know it will be scant moments before the promontory is shattered. Moving lightly you hop back and with your empty hand snatch up Liliesviel before she can lose her footing. In the next moment you're forced to make a leap for safety as a black wave crashes over the spot on which you stand. Remain here much longer, and you'll be dead in short order.

>[ ] Get above the rolling stone and deadly water; get Liliesviel and yourself aloft with a suspended platform of Nothingness and wait for the tremor to cease.

>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.

>[ ] Do something else (Write in)

>>3943603
>all of the arguments in favour of it have been so dumb I actually want us to die.
Afraid you don't quite get your wish, anon, but the situation certainly is dire.

>>3943747
>>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.
Yeah, no idea why you guys figured that "he might be able to bring the roof of our house down on us" was worse than earthquake of stage hazard water.

>>3943747
>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.
If the tunnel out collapses completely then we're fucked. At least now we know that Assassin's master is someone who has an intense grudge against us.

File: nigerundayo smokey.gif (1.55 MB, 500x288)

1.55 MB GIF

>>3943747
>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.
This guy was hiding his powerlevel? Suddenly he's strong enough to cause an earthquake.
We also know that he's either really fast and can fly, or he can project his voice at will. The latter being far more likely. Guess he's going to keep taking potshots at us for a while now.

I guess we're not going to get a clean shot at Assassin until we either find out who his Master is or find a way to beat Presence Concealment.

Now then, who could have a grievance against Alberich, and desire Lily's death as a means of catharsis? Honestly the list of suspects shouldn't be all that long.
This is assuming he wasn't just throwing out a red-herring, which seems likely to me as he's been a little cocky and running his mouth now that he thinks he has us in a tight spot.

>>3944106
I mean, I don't know why everyone forgot the "No winning encounters upon first meeting" clause Sweets seems to have.

As for people that want us to suffer from seeing Lily dead...
Circe is one candidate, I suppose. There's nothing to say she couldn't have snatched Assassin away from his Master too.
Until now, Assassin has only been attacking with enough force to kill Lily.

It's unlikely to be any of the other masters.
Possibility of it being Keiseki's original is somewhat there, I suppose, though who can say if those memories actually transferred?
Potentially Kikuko?
Then again, these two probably aren't Masters.
Probably.

Honestly, we don't know many people.

>>3943747
>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.
So he could've just pulled a fucking earthquake out of his ass the whole time.

>>3944123
>I mean, I don't know why everyone forgot the "No winning encounters upon first meeting" clause Sweets seems to have.
Hey now, you've got to admit this is a pretty different situation from, say, Matsuda. From what you've seen so far, does this seem like an enemy you had a chance of beating down without learning more about him?

>>3944132
I mean sure. But that's even more a reason to not stick around and try to fight an enemy we have literally nothing to gain from fighting and everything to lose.

I have no idea what the hell half those 1 post anons were thinking.

>>3944141
We're able to gauge his power better now, found out about what's highly likely to be a voice-projection ability, and we got him to give away a few details about his situation that he might not have given away if we immediately skedaddled. Don't treat this like it was 100% a wash. Now just need to get through the dynamic escape sequence.

>>3944141
It's just that when you bring up a "mandatory clause" it makes it sound like you feel the development is unnatural or forced, and that's something I want to make sure I'm avoiding in my writing.

>>3944162
Oh no no, not at all.
I'm just saying the other anons were acting stupid again by trying to take on Assassin in potentially the worst possible location.

>>3943747
>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.

Assassin is Odin.
>has no interest in the wish
>can use magic to conceal his presence
>has already shown that he can project his voice
>is a serial LARPer

>>3944627
>It's an "everyone is Odin" episode
>It's a repeat

We should call Rushorou again when we get back and see if we can bluff/cold-read him into admitting that he/Circe sent Assassin after us. Out of anyone, Alberich should know how to get under his skin and slip him up, right? The lead is pretty strong anyway but a little extra confirmation would be nice before we plan out how to deal with him.

Also we need to ask Ayaka about her house's insurance policy. I have a bad feeling someone's going to be a sore loser and try some property damage at the very least before this is over.

>>3944632
It's fine, we'll just have to repurpose the gold Circe has used in her horrible temple if we need money after we deal with her and Rushorou.

Or if we do actually successfully manage to get her back on side, we can just have her make as much as we need in order to buy whatever want.

I don't approve of her likely being the one sending Assassin after us (to specifically target Lily) though, so her continued survival is questionable.
If it is her, I can see why she's so dead set on wanting Lily dead after our display at the theme park. Especially the whole thing with us acting like we're Lily's brother, to Circe, that would just one hundred percent look like somebody is taking advantage of the memoryless body of the man she loves.
Of course, we aren't actually suffering from amnesia at all, so the confrontation with Circe ought to be fun if she's behind this nonsense.
God knows how Rushorou will try to spin it. It would probably be wiser for him if he kept his mouth shut.

Just an FYI for you folks, I'm headed to the family ranch for Thanksgiving so will be away from my computer. I'm hoping I can do an update from my laptop tonight, but can't make any promises.

>Sweets has family in the sticks
I'm jealous.

>>3944797
Have a great Thanksgiving!

>>3944926
It has its ups and downs. Definitely is nice to have a place to go back to for the holidays, though, the years when we all manage to get together.

>>3944927
Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well, anon.

>>3943747
>>[ ] Dispel your barrier on the exit and rush with all haste up the stairwell. Better to get above ground entirely under such dire circumstances.

Boo assassin booo

Ok but seriously, if Circe is sending this abolutely bullshit earthquake Assassin after us, how do we deal with her?

>>3945331
Assassin knows he can't take us in a straight fight, and he only spoke when he had a chance to kill us instantly: that means he'd go after Ayaka if he saw her unprotected -- in fact, he probably didn't attack her because Odin's in the house.
Tsubaki hasn't taken part directly in any battle, so there's a good chance Assassin doesn't know about her.
I say we have her conceal herself as a strong magus and escort Ayaka when we attack Circe (away from us and Shirou), so if he is working with her he'll make his move then and open himself up to being murdered by Tsubaki.

>>3945339
>murdered
Well, captured, because we need to eat him.

>>3945339
Yeah, we really need to use that element of surprise we have with her.

>>3945339
That can work, maybe we can try training K-hime and give her the rundown on what we know about Assassin soon.

We should also ask if she'd be ok with letting Lily potentially be the master of SAlter since we should get around to altering her soon. Lily has all that mana output not being used and SAlter would need a lot of power to really get going. At very least we need to test out our Absorption power and Saber seems like a safe guinea pig at the moment.

If Lily doesn't want to play along we could just eat her then and be done with it.

On the topic of SAlter (meta-question), does anyone remember how exactly her Dragon-core produced mana? Did her respiration amplify the amount she got from Dark Sakura or did it just make a ton literally out of thin air for free?

Sure is quiet in here.

>>3946441
Almost too quiet.

>>3946503
I blame Assassin.

>Assassin can create an Earthquake and kill both us and Lily at any time he wants while we're asleep
>decides to wait until we're awake and can just leave before doing so
What the fuck is this guys problem?

>>3946441
If we had anything to base a combat strategy off of then there might be more.

>>3946648
Yeah, this enemy is both ridiculous and kind of boring at the same time.
It turns out "Bad luck and accidents" isn't really a fun thing in any aspect. Even discussion is hampered by this no limits fallacy ability.
I can't wait until he just fucking drops a meteorite on us because "bad luck lol".

Fuck Assassin, literally always the worst and most boring class.

>>3946654
What I've found particularly annoying is that this guy's been taking potshots at us all day, but his Presence Concealment hasn't deteriorated in the slightest even once. Has he been attacking remotely this whole time and is too far away to detect when he attacks? Does he have EX-rank PC?
Seems kind of cheap. You'd expect causing an earthquake would be enough of an "attack preparation" to make it possible to sense him for even a second but nah.
Harris and Matsuda probably just got trolled by him all last night as well.

>>3946724
Yeah, this Assassin is just really annoying.
I don't really get anything emotions from him other than that.
He's just a pest who's abilities are way too powercreepy.

Also, where did Sweets go?

>>3947155
He last reported goinginto the sticks, so he probably got killed by some /x/-files shit.

>>3947210
Nah, he's just taking part in a grail war.

Hi there, folks! I'm back.
Sorry for the radio silence! You never know what'll end up happening at these family gatherings. Sometimes it all goes according to plan, other times everybody rushes off to go their separate ways before we even get to dinner, after idle talk opens old wounds and it starts to look like Mike and Chris will really kill each other finally.
This time everything went well - maybe too well. Thanksgiving at the ranch turned into three days at the ranch, and between the eating and drinking and merrymaking and whatnot, I kind of, sort of, totally forgot about the quest. Sorry!
I'm back in the city now, late though it may be, and have a short update to tide you folks over until I can write more tomorrow. It's a Sunday and I have no work obligations, so I'm hoping we can do a real Akeldama-style rapid-updating session in the evening, starting around 6:00pm PST tomorrow.

Thinking quickly, you decide there's nothing to be gained by staying in this place of churning stone and water. Even if it is possible for you to keep yourself and Liliesviel safe from the surging waves, Assassin may well be able to collapse the chamber entirely. You'll have to abandon your plan of sealing him down here in order to secure your escape. Obviously you're playing into his hands, giving him the exit he requires in exchange for your own survival, but there simply isn't any alternative.

As the stone below your feet splinters into jagged shards and gives way to the water, you leap back again onto surer ground and tighten your grip on Liliesviel, clutching her to your chest. The girl is trembling against you, a part of your brain separate from that which focuses on the danger observes, so you lean down and assure her, "Don't worry, Liliesviel; I'll be sure not to jostle you too roughly," hoping humor will raise her spirits a bit. Indeed, she does seem to calm slightly at your words, although your observation of this is limited to your sense of touch, with your other senses focused on more vital input.

Sidestepping a towering black wave you turn on your heel and fly, speed ever-increasing, towards the still-unmarred wall of Nothingness which you raised a few minutes before. You cut off the energy which sustains it as you move, so that the solid barrier melts into a foggy illusion as you pass through, before vanishing entirely. The moment you pass under the Roman arch, the ground seems to steady below your feet. Whatever seismic activity is going on is certainly at its worst in the chamber of the Greater Grail. Still, you don't slacken your pace. You take the first few steps of the spiral stairwell at a run before deciding to hasten your progress still further by leaping across the stairwell, devouring height in ravenous gulps by crossing the shaft and ascending by half a rotation with each step.

As you ascend, the colossal rumbling and grinding below you fades, and it strikes you that there seems to be no earthquake damage at all in this outer shaft. Everything appears quite as sturdy and heavily built as you left it, despite being of concrete and generally less sturdy than the solid stone of the inner chamber. Perhaps in triggering that earthquake Assassin was in fact making use of a more localized ability, you muse. In fact, when you replay the sights of that chamber in your mind, it does begin to seem as if all of the damage were localized about your person; as if the earthquake had emanated from your own feet, and resounded exclusively through the promontory. If that were so, however, and Assassin were indeed causing you by some uncertain method to emanate seismic activity, it should surely have followed you out of the chamber. Manifestly it hasn't, and neither has your assailant's mocking voice. Despite his confrontational attitude he seemed content to let you escape.

Assassin's power and motives remain something of an enigma, unfortunately. You're confident in stating that he has some ability to cause the inanimate environment around his targets to become hostile, either through or resembling extremely bad luck; and that his Master is someone who bears you a strong grudge, likely relating to your relationship with Liliesviel. Is he tied to Yumigawa, then? Certainly if what Odysseus had to say about Circe's ambitions was true, your basis would lack a concrete need for the Lesser Grail. At the same time, it's difficult to justify someone who believes you hold a piece of his power which can be reclaimed in some way attempting to kill you in such an isolated place, without his own presence.

You're shocked out of these thoughts by bright afternoon sunlight cresting the ridge of debris in emulated sunrise as you reach the final, surface level of the stairwell and scale the conical pit surrounding it. A few feet away from you, Stachel stands at the rim, looking concerned over the hasty manner of your exit. By your watch it's four in the afternoon; in another hour, the sun will set. You ought to get back to the Shijou manor soon, you suppose.

>[ ] Go back to the manor on foot, directly from here. (Duty)

>[ ] Go looking for your car, and drive back to the manor. (Pride)

>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)

>[ ] Say/Do something else. (Write in)

>>3947933
>I'm hoping we can do a real Akeldama-style rapid-updating session in the evening, starting around 6:00pm PST tomorrow.
oh boy oh boy
>>3947937
>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)
That thing was supposed to keep Circe out, after all.

>>3947937
>>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)

>>3947937
>>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)

We must learn of...The Enemy!

>>3947937
>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)
inb4 all the bad luck was actually just illusions

>>3948162
inb4 Assassin is Merlin cheating the Assassin class container with Multi-class or something.
There's no way this motherfucker is a Hassan and that should have had no reason to have been changed, so bullshit has to be afoot.

>At A Rank, the introduction of nightmares unto the realm of the psyche is a matter of course; and even within reality, an illusion on the scale of a single village may be manifested with ease, to the end of successfully beguiling humans.At this level, it is even possible to go beyond people and deceive the environment.

Would explain his "own reasons." no? He'd probably be quite pissed about what we've got planned for Arturia.
And it would sort of make sense for him to try stepping in after the shit that went down in the 5th to her.
Though I wonder who he would take as his master.
It's not like he needs one.
Of course, if it really is Merlin, we're sort of totally fucked.

>>3948171
Summoning Merlin would require two impossibilities to occur simultaneously: first, the human order would have to be erased (that's why he can appear in F/GO in the first place); and second, someone would have to really fuck with the Grail in a way only Einzberns could pull off because he's alive and imprisoned in Avalon.

>>3948223
Merlin doesn't actually have to die to be summoned, and he can just sort of ignore his own imprisonment.
He has Independent Manifestation at rank A, remember?
Oh right, IM should also give him resistance to being cut by Heilig, which is even worse for us.
Merlin can really just show up whenever and wherever he wants. He could have simply hijacked Assassin's summoning in order to take part in this war.

As for the grail being fucked, they already did, that's why they've got Odin.

>>3948226
>Merlin doesn't actually have to die to be summoned, and he can just sort of ignore his own imprisonment.
>He has Independent Manifestation at rank A, remember?
No, I mean it.
>>Yeah. Seeing as the World's been reduced to a tabula rasa by the Incineration of the Common Sense of Man, I was able to sneak here by way of the Faerielands!
Quoted from his first appearance in the Underworld.
>As for the grail being fucked, they already did, that's why they've got Odin.
That doesn't open it up to everyone else.

>>3948232
>That doesn't open it up to everyone else.
Not even a Grand Caster candidate who's probably watching things go on?

This grail war could be the cause of Ragnarok, or a return to the Age of Gods.
Probably something he should be keeping an eye on.
Merlin is a lying shit anyway, so he's not exactly reliable.

I'm not saying it's totally Merlin, but "muh human order" is a shit excuse as to why it can't be him.

What's your theory as to who Assassin is then?

>>3948238
>This grail war could be the cause of Ragnarok, or a return to the Age of Gods.
Then why didn't he show up in F/SN, when you had Gilgamesh roaming around and AM in the Grail?
>What's your theory as to who Assassin is then?
My theory is that we have nothing to say who Assassin is and we can't do anything now, so we should focus on what we CAN do something about: Yumigawa. If Assassin is working with them, Circe will have a deterrent in case of a betrayal or will be planning to kill him anyway at a later time.

>>3948255
Eh, the fifth war is really something that Alaya can solve by throwing Counter Guardians at if shit really hit the fan. It never got to that point. So it's not something he'd really have to take note of.

>>3947937
>[ ] Before leaving the area, interrogate Stachel about how Assassin could have passed by her and through the barrier. (Curiosity)
Odin. Buddy. Your barrier didn't seem to do anything. Care to explain?

>>3948269
Oh I should add
>Call Ayaka via telepathy and ask if she's ok
We seem to have used a lot of energy to block the exit, better check in. And maybe she'll tell us some of what she's been up to today.

As you gaze across the pit carved out of Einzbern Tower's shattered remains at Stachel, taking in her expression of bland surprise and vague concern, a seed of suspicion plants itself in your heart. How can Assassin have passed by her, and through Odin's barrier, when Liliesviel set the maid out here for the express purpose of keeping watch over that barrier? You probe her expression with your eyes, seeking any hint of duplicity, any grounding for your suspicion to be found in a twitch of her lips' curve or slant of an eyebrow; but there's nothing there. The only emotion you can read in the maid's face is concern for her mistress, peppered with surprise at your rapid leap up from the stairwell. You doubt the woman could be a traitor.

All the same, even if her loyalty is unimpeachable there's much to be gained from hearing her side of events. Perhaps she saw some sign of Assassin's entry which didn't alarm her, but could prove useful in your own endeavor to learn the secret of his abilities. Still carrying Liliesviel in your arms and well away from potential sharp edges in the ruins beneath your feet, you dismiss your armor and walk around the rim of the pit to stand within speaking distance of Stachel.

"We were attacked in the chamber of the Greater Grail," you begin, in explanation of your flight. "I believe our assailant was the same as he who orchestrated the earlier attacks on us, and was the Servant Assassin. How is it that he was able to slip through the barrier and past you, Stachel? Did you observe nothing out of the ordinary while Liliesviel and I were down below?"

With your explanation resolving her confusion and the evidence of her eyes to assuage her concern for Liliesviel, Stachel returns to her customary expression of mechanical neutrality as she replies, "Several birds passed overhead, but none approached the catacombs' entrance. Nothing else drew near while I waited for your return, Lord Alberich."

"What about Otto's barrier?" Liliesviel interjects. "Of course Alberich and I know you couldn't have noticed Assassin," she notes, dismissing the maid's prior report in a contemptuous tone. "You must have seen something happen to the barrier when he went through it, though."

"Of course, my lady," Stachel replies deferentially, lowering her eyes. "I am at fault for not detecting the focus of Lord Alberich's question. The barrier's energy remained constant at all times after you temporarily lowered it to allow us entry."

So whatever Assassin's means of entry was, it didn't disrupt the barrier. How strange; if that's the case, he can only have either followed directly on your heels or passed through the barrier by some means which would not interfere with its ordinary functions; yet the former implies he waited for quite some time while Liliesviel performed her ritual without interfering, while the latter would suggest mastery over a magical construct raised by a God. Neither seems plausible.

As you contemplate Assassin's powers of infiltration, you turn your eyes back to the catacombs' entrance. With the buildings on either side of the lot obstructing the afternoon sun, the pit sloping down to the stairwell has become an inky circle of shadow. As far as you can tell, the darkness being what it is, nothing is moving down there. Perhaps Assassin is still down in the chamber of the Greater Grail, or perhaps this is no more than a continuation of his thus-far perfect ability to conceal himself. In either case, it seems there's little to be gained from remaining here.

>[ ] Travel back to the manor directly, covering the rooftops as you did on the way here. (Duty)

>[ ] Locate your car and drive back. There's nothing pressing you to rush to excess, after all. (Pride)

>[ ] Say something more to Liliesviel and/or Stachel before departing the area. (Write in specifics)

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

If there's any particular action or person you'd like to focus on taking when you return home, please note it.

>>3949098
>>[ ] Travel back to the manor directly, covering the rooftops as you did on the way here. (Duty)
Our breaks are still severed, and I don't fancy expending more energy on making a magical solution.

>>3949098
>[ ] Travel back to the manor directly, covering the rooftops as you did on the way here. (Duty)

>>3949107
>breaks
>BREAKS
guess I'm a retard.

>>3949098
>[ ] Travel back to the manor directly, covering the rooftops as you did on the way here. (Duty)
If assassin isn't actually here then his magical reach is insane. Does he have a massive bounded field over Tokyo or what?

Anon who said we needed a big incident to think about our motivations: what about our convo with Lily on the stairs? Any new ideas for our longterm goal?

>>3949120
It happens to the best of us, anon. Just think how many typographical errors I've left in my updates.

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>>3949137
>Any new ideas for our longterm goal?

All I know is that I want a break from Grail Wars after this.

Seriously though, what's something that we can want to do that isn't just ruling the world?

>>3949401
We could always take up a hobby, I guess.

Or just do Carnival Phantasm stuff.

>>3949401
Invent a technique? All the greatest heroes have speshul op techniques like Nine Lives, Tsubame Gaeshi, the duel field...
Techniques are where it's at.

>>3949401
Learning to cook
Learning to ride horses
Using these two skills to help take over the world

>>3949430
We'll get Riding A+ from a sacrifice at some point, so all we need to learn is cooking.

>>3949431
Sacrifice Shirou and take Cooking A.

>>3949433
Plan Unlimited Food Porn:
>Kill Matsuda and sacrifice him to Shirou, forcing him to take Culinary Refinement A
>Make Shirou cook for us until he reaches Cooking EX
>Kill him and take Cooking EX

Attempting to fight what appears to be an invisible foe, near a lethal lake, in an extremely dark cavern is probably the dumbest idea we have ever had.

>>3949455
Yes.
It shouldn't have even been a question.

"We have no more reason to linger here," you declare. "Let's return to the Shijou manor. Liliesviel, do you mind if I carry you on foot? It will be rather cold, of course, but I'd rather not bother with the car when we know it's been compromised by Assassin's machinations."

"Hmm-mm, that's fine," she replies without hesitation. "Just hold me tight, and I don't mind the cold."

"Excellent. Stachel, follow me." With that, you begin scaling one of the neighboring buildings, using the protruding ventilation equipment that would formerly have been hidden by the side of the Einzbern Tower for your footholds. In short order you've made the rooftop, and can begin retracing your earlier route to return to the manor. Liliesviel seems deep in thought as you travel, and makes no effort at a conversation, so you're left with your own contemplation.

Your mind has been working at the issue of Assassin's mysterious nature up until now, but having gotten some distance from him with no further interference your thoughts turn to other subjects. Can you really trust Odin to have waited at the manor without taking action, when Liliesviel believes he has some nefarious plan in mind for the Holy Grail? What if he's used some subtle, ancient magic of the northern Gods to influence Ayaka or Kōrakuhime in ways you'll be unable to detect? In that case, though, it's pointless to speculate, you decide; a hypothetical you can neither influence nor confirm is meaningless.

What about Circe, then? What could she be planning? Yumigawa spoke over the phone of his belief that you were a fragment of his own lost power, and certainly implied that Circe would help him to take that power back; yet her course of action so far seems strange given that as her goal. You would have expected the two of them to seek you out as quickly as possible, and strike without giving you a chance to retaliate: the same tactics you often used in the Grail War Judas hosted in his Akeldama. Circe's tactics have been just the opposite, however. She's been biding her time, acting indirectly, and now that she has finally entered the fray it's been to target Liliesviel, seemingly with the aim of removing the Lesser Grail in order to presumably facilitate some sort of magic she intends to work on the Greater Grail.

How can these conflicting courses of action be justified? Is Yumigawa no longer in control, but merely a figurehead for some more shadowy scheme of Circe's? The idea is difficult to credit, considering the significant deference and devotion to your cause that she demonstrated during your prior association. On the other hand, suppose everything Circe has done up until now has been part of a plan to somehow consume your power and give it to Yumigawa. If she's been targeting the Greater Grail, is it possible that by linking yourself to it you've been playing into their hands? There's a chilling notion. In the end, though, you conclude that there simply isn't enough information at your disposal yet to formulate any certain idea of the intention behind Circe's actions.

As you're considering this, you leap over one alley and casually glance down to catch a glimpse of a man passed out on the street far below, half-in and half-out of the dying afternoon light. Faced with the incongruous unconsciousness, you suddenly think of Ayaka and the way she passed out after your overuse of her magical energy during your battle with Saber. Is she alright now, you wonder?. With worry stealing into your heart, you reach out over the connection between Master and Servant.

'I thought I might let you know that we're en route, returning to the manor,' you inform her with forced casualness, hiding your sudden concern. 'What have you been spending your day at, Miss Ayaka?'

Drowsy but comfortable thoughts greet you in reply. 'Oh, you know,' Ayaka begins. 'Just reading our old family journals. This stuff is really interesting, but a lot of it's way too high level for me yet. I'll need to do so much more studying before I can even understand enough to explain, I'm really making up for lost time now. It is pretty dry, though, so I guess I ended up drifting off while I was reading.'

'I'm glad to hear you've found a fulfilling way of spending your time, Miss Ayaka,' you reply. 'Don't let me take you away from your books. I'll be back at about five, and we can discuss our plans for the evening then.'

'Alright, Saber-san, see you then,' comes the answer, and the connection between your minds fades into silence. It seems Ayaka was drained enough to pass out, but not harmed by your expenditure of magic. A fortunate thing, then, that you left when you did rather than staying down there and protecting yourself with Nothingness as you'd briefly considered. You're not sure exactly what would happen if you pulled magical energy from Ayaka beyond the limits of her consciousness, but from your own memories of a sensation like veins filling with molten metal, you have little doubt the consequences would be dire.

"Alberich," Liliesviel begins, startling you out of your thoughts, "Who do you want to kill tonight? I want to get back at that witch who attacked me, but cornering Assassin would also be good. Saber is still around somewhere too..." She trails off, looking questioningly at you.

>[ ] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)

>[ ] "I don't want to let this Assassin business fester. One way or another, we ought to track him down as quickly as possible." After the slinking vermin tried so many times to kill Liliesviel, you intend to put him through particularly excruciating torment. (Pride/Compassion)

>[ ] "On the subject of Saber, I believe you should know..." There's no reason to keep the truth of your having captured Saber from Liliesviel, is there? You're sure she'll understand wanting to take advantage of the research 'Shijou Tsubaki' has done into controlling hostile Servants. (Compassion/Duty)

>[ ] Say something else (Write in)

Alright, so trying to update at the pace I did during the early days of Fate/City Akeldama was wildly optimistic. Still, two updates in an evening is something at least. Now I've got to hit the hay for work tomorrow. Thanks for sticking around until now with all my intermittent writing pace and weird developments, folks. I appreciate it.

>>3949464
>>[ ] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)
IT'S ABOUT TIME.

>>3949464
>[ ] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)

>>3949464
>>[ ] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)
We should tell her about Saber too.

>>3949499
>We should tell her about Saber too.
After we get back, though. If Assassin hears about it you can bet he'll try to set her free at the worst possible moment.

>>3949464
>[ ] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)
We have no way of locating Assassin.

>>3949464
>[X] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)

>>3949464
>[X] "Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority. Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices." You want to have your own confrontation with Yumigawa as well, but now isn't the time to discuss that. (Pride/Self-Preservation)

>>3949499
>We should tell her about Saber too.
Should consult with Ayaka and Tsubaki first, but definitely get to this before sleeping tonight.

>>3949464
>>[ ] "On the subject of Saber, I believe you should know..." There's no reason to keep the truth of your having captured Saber from Liliesviel, is there? You're sure she'll understand wanting to take advantage of the research 'Shijou Tsubaki' has done into controlling hostile Servants. (Compassion/Duty)

Mwahahahaha

>>3950380
>There's no reason to keep the truth of your having captured Saber from Liliesviel, is there?
Something something "my dad is Judas."

Been awful quiet today.

We should sit down with Ayaka and Tsubaki when we get back and discuss
1) what to do about Saber, because this needs to be resolved soon and we need to test out our Absorption ability
2) how much to involve Lily, because she'd make a great master for Alter if the former was up for it

>>3951621
>been awful quiet today
I blame the long updateless and wordless periods from Sweets, as well as the fact that it feels like we've already discussed everything worthy of discussion over and over.

For Saber, yeah, we should do that.
For Lily, I honestly don't know if involving her is a good idea.
"How is it you've kept a Saber servant with powerful Magic Resistance as your prisoner?" and all that.

>>3951805
>I blame the long updateless and wordless periods from Sweets
Yeah, I'll take fair blame on that. The rebound from taking a long weekend out of town is a superheavy couple of days at work, and since I've been offline for both you folks have gotten the short straw both ways. I'm really sorry for the way it's gone.
Not really sure what I can say to keep conversation up during these times when I can't update, either; I think when we had more players back around Awakening Mirror VIII there was more generalized conversation and so I could easily pop in with feedback and such, but at this point the silence is kind of self-perpetuating. Hopefully once I've gotten some updates in and the Yumigawa arc is back in full swing you folks will be having some more fun.

>>3951844
Eh, don't worry.
I'm sure we'll get back to discussion soon enough.
At the moment though, there's too much uncertainty to even bother discussing plans.

>>3951847
>uncertainty
You can say that again, I've only been barely following along and have been that way since we entered the retarded misunderstanding NTR fuckfest.
Depending on how it resolves I'll probably just drop for real.

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It never seemed like the right time to post this, but now that everyone is gone I can put it up without ruining the mood.

Unfortunately, it's also ten threads late.

>>3951914
What a shame that it no longer feels like it applies to our hero Cuckberich.

>>3951877
>>3951917
Just wait for the arc to actually unfold first before you make any judgements.
Tableflips may not yet be justified, so stop jumping the gun.

Ever think it would've been more interesting if we chose Duty instead of Self-Preservation?

Totally not a Dutyfag, by the way.

>>3952025
Choosing our main character traits like we did was dumb and restrictive, in hindsight.
>Do something sensible (Self-preservation)
>LARP as Gilgamesh and do something dumb (Pride)

>>3952057
But muh "Seigi no Mikata", amirite Pridebros?

God I hate these periods of silence.
Is complaining all we can do anymore.

>>3952845
We can either complain to try in vain to plan ahead when there are so many variables and unknowns that sticking to any plan beyond a nebulous "Attack enemy X" or "Go to location Y" will be a supreme longshot compared to just winging it as new things come up.

Maybe we can try to work out how to eliminate unknowns? But even when we try it seems like anons will throw ideas out there but 99% of the time there isn't a lot of back-and-forth to refine them.

>>3951805
>For Lily, I honestly don't know if involving her is a good idea.
>"How is it you've kept a Saber servant with powerful Magic Resistance as your prisoner?" and all that.
This is because keeping so many secrets from allies for so long is restricting our options to the point of becoming infuriating. Altering Saber and then coaxing Lily into being Alter's master would be a great development in the "punish Artoria" subplot with a potentially great strategic payoff, but "muh secrets" cockblocks it indefinitely.
The only other options I see are
1) Have Alter succ the leylines too
2) Sacrifice for more stats
I really don't like 1 since it would cause so much collateral damage the Church and Mage Association would be pushed beyond all restraint.
2 seems like the easy way out and I get the impression we're going to hit a point of diminishing returns on eating people soon. We've been accumulating power too quickly to process it and the product is a half-baked, unbalanced powerset. Although getting a dragon-core might come in handy, so of the two I'd prefer that.

>>3953084
It's amazing how many problems could be solved if we just sacrificed literally every Servant.

>>3953084
No way we could convince Lily that a family of magi dedicated to stealing prana with rituals could ise a ritual to steal seiba's prana and lock her in a ritual. That's just too fuckin crazy to buy.

>>3953088
Maybe, but at that point we'd kind of cease being a character and become more of a powerlevel-amoeba.

But anyway, if I had to choose it'd be
Preferred plan: Alter Saber while practicing Absorption, then work out a way to enlighten Lily on the situation and get her to command Alter.
More likely: Alter Saber while practicing Absorption, then realize we don't have the resources to make her run at full power without Lily agreeing to help so just have Ayaka draw the high-efficiency sacrifice magic-circle and CONSUME. That way at least we could have gotten a last humiliation before offing her.
But then we'd need to worry about the Grail getting contaminated, so we might need to tell Lily simply because we want to make sure the leftovers of our meal get filtered and no bad juju leaks out.

>>3953098
I'm still annoyed we were never given an opportunity to sacrifice Tsubaki.
Fucking liability she is.

>>3953098
>At that point we'd kind of cease being a character and become more of a powerlevel-amoeba.
How could you say such a terrible thing about Sakura, anon?

>>3953100
If I recall, you had several options to fight her during your first meeting. You folks decided to make her your sister instead.

>>3953102
Yeah, but if I recall, Ayaka was sort of taking a nap.
So that's hardly an opportunity.
God knows if the encounter would've gone anywhere close to the same way had we had the assurance of another power-up.

>>3953098
>But then we'd need to worry about the Grail getting contaminated
More importantly, we'd need to worry about US getting contaminated.

>>3953106
And besides, since making her our sister, she's just failed time and time again.
An Embarrassment unworthy of being considered a sibling to be sure.

>>3953102
>Sakura
Alberich's existence is a total blank-slate compared to Sakura's lifetime of suffer-porn. I see us ending up more like the Shadow, except also autistic. Or a loli if the earlier threads are any indication.

>>3953107
Maybe. I got the impression that we kind of pick-and-choose what we absorb from people but that's worth considering at least.
>>3953109
>An Embarrassment unworthy of being considered a sibling to be sure.
She's below mediocre on the battlefield, yes. But as a NEET she can handle mundane logistics well enough.
Speaking of logistics we should tell her to up our tech-level like we wanted Oguwara to do in Akeldama. She should still remember everything he knew and it'd be a handy edge to gain. Plus Tool Creation and that dormant Golden Rule variant.

>>3953114
Pfft.
If we want mundane logistics we may as well just get the original Ogawara.
At least he doesn't have an absolutely unwarranted ego the size of the fucking Moon.

>>3953109
She failed one time that I recall. What's this 'time and time again' business?

>>3953117
>the original Ogawara
I do wonder how that guy's doing sometimes. Does he think it was all just a freaky dream or has he gone full Dale Gribble?

>>3953119
I mean failed in many aspects, not just combat.
Though HAHAHAHA LOST TO A FUCKING HUMAN IN A BATTLE OF MAGIC.

>>3953122
I'd prefer keeping him around than Kourakuhime, honestly.

"Finding and cutting down the second Caster should be our first priority," you declare. "Anyone who can face your Lancer on his own terms cannot be left to her own devices. Once we've returned to the manor, I intend to begin planning our attack on her posthaste."

"Of course!" Liliesviel replies, her tone full of satisfied vindication. "In the end, doing away with her is the most important thing! I'll have Otto find out where she is when we get back, and then we can all get revenge for my penthouse together! With you and Otto working together, there's no way you could lose to anyone!"

"Yes, I'm sure that our cooperation will smooth things considerably," you agree, thinking just the opposite. Not that her idea lacks merit entirely; if Circe is powerful enough to stand on even footing with Odin, you'd certainly want him by your side when attempting to kill her. The problem, of course, is with your intent. It isn't to kill her; or at least not immediately, not without an exchange of words. The more you consider Circe's actions, the less certain of your previous conclusions you become, wandering in a fog of motive uncertainty. You've got to have it out with the woman face to face, to hear just what it is she's really after from her own mouth! Indeed, if you make your true nature clear to her she may well leave Yumigawa and return to your service. There's the as-yet unknown fate of Adelheid to consider as well, an enigma the answer to which you certainly must find.

All of these aims, however possible they may be in and of themselves, are certain to be made nigh-unreachable if you go to the Yumigawa residence flanked by Odin and Liliesviel. Trying to engage in reasonable conversation with Circe while a god is bent on her destruction would be a fool's errand; and what if you should stick to your role and attack her wordlessly? Your former Servant might well make some statement in the heat of combat that could seriously jeopardize your relationship with Liliesviel later.

Lost in pensive consideration, you sail from skyscraper to skyscraper through downtown, transformed by the setting sun from a mundane city into a network of crystal spires shot through with gilded rays, all thrusting up from deep shadow with their lowest floors lost in darkness. You realize you've let the conversation lapse into silence when you feel Liliesviel's small hand tightening her hold on your lapel. You glance away from your course to look at the girl and find her prior brightness fled; she looks up at you now with only worry in her expression.

"...Be careful, okay, Alberich?" The words come out in a small voice, a barely audible confession of fear for your safety. "I know you won't lose, but... just be careful fighting that witch, alright?"

"Don't you worry," you reply, giving her a confident smile. "Wait and see. I won't be so much as scratched."

After about 45 minutes' travel, you return to the Shijou Manor. By now the last rays of the setting sun barely touch the tips of the roof's peaks and cones, giving the red building an impression of flame. When you enter and set Liliesviel down, she turns and informs you, "I'm going to find Otto; do excuse me." With that, the girl and her maid head off down the hall, leaving you alone in the Shijous' luxurious entryway. You should definitely discuss your next moves with either Ayaka or Kōrakuhime, but which to prioritize?

>[ ] Find Ayaka, so you can tell her about the ritual at the Greater Grail and make a plan to confront Yumigawa and Circe. (Duty)

>[ ] Find Kōrakuhime, and discuss what consult with her regarding tonight's plans and Liliesviel's intervention. (Self-Preservation)

>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)

Almost forgot.
And yeah, I know this is a super short update; but hear me out. I'm sticking around tonight and will start writing the next one in an hour or two, provided we've got a good player consensus on what you want to do.

>>3953130
>>[ ] Find Ayaka, so you can tell her about the ritual at the Greater Grail and make a plan to confront Yumigawa and Circe. (Duty)
We should probably try to get them both together to discuss our plans for tonight, honestly.
Just talking to one at a time about the night's plan seems silly.

>>3953130
>[ ] Find Ayaka, so you can tell her about the ritual at the Greater Grail and make a plan to confront Yumigawa and Circe. (Duty)

>>3953145
but...
...we've been to his house before.

>>3953138
>We should probably try to get them both together to discuss our plans for tonight, honestly.
This is a valid write-in option.

I'm going to delete >>3953145 in a second.
>>3953130
>[ ] Do something else. (Write in)
Get Ayaka and Kōrakuhime together, so you can tell them about the ritual at the Greater Grail and make a plan for your confrontation with Yumigawa and Circe.

>>3953147
I thought he moved or something.

>>3953148
Aight, then switching
>>3953130
>>3953138
to
>>3953149
These two sisters can put up with each other for now.

As for a plan, I'd suggest something along the lines of going with both Tsubaki and Ayaka to start the attack with Odin and Lily hanging back in order to ambush the enemy when the opportunity arises while we distract the enemy Caster.
Of course I don't really want Circe taking a Gungnir to the chest.

So we need to make sure this plan falls apart in a beneficial way.

>>3953130
>[X] Talk to both of them together
Topics:
- Plan to confront Yumigawa & Circe
- Discuss what to do with our basement prisoner and imply that we ought to come to a conclusion in dealing with her soon, preferably no later than after the battles tonight.
- Bring up the fact that Lily mentioned she was free to accept another Servant since Odin generates his own mana. She tried to get us to contract with her but we declined. Ask them for input on disclosing more information about ourselves and potentially handing off Saber (or Alter) to Lily.

>>3953138
>We should probably try to get them both together to discuss our plans for tonight
Are you formally voting for this?

>>3953154
Sorry forgot to update before posting, ignore
>>3953156
>Are you formally voting for this?

Just remembered, if Circe tries to strongarm Adelheid into fighting us could Tsubaki use that paralyzing bounded field ability that she trolled Alberich with that one time to non lethally incapacitate her since she doesn’t have magic resistance? Or did it only work in her territory ?

>>3953318
Reading that update again, it seems she has to place a bounded field in an area to use that curse. Luckily, she can put it down very quickly.

>>3953127
>>3953149

Supporting sister double trouble

The best thing to do, you decide, is to gather Ayaka and Kōrakuhime together and discuss the matter of your plans for the night with both of them. Based on your last conversation you're fairly sure Ayaka will still be in the library, so you'll begin by looking for Kōrakuhime. Odds are even, you suppose, whether she'll be in her bedroom or downstairs in Vaisset's laboratory working on her attempts to control Arturia, so you set off for the basement; it's a shorter trip.

As you'd hoped, Kōrakuhime is hard at work once again, sitting behind her appropriated desk and scrutinizing a baffling set of magical diagrams; no less diligent for her human disguise. She looks up at the sound of your entrance, setting down the papers and turning to face you.

"Ah, Ani-ue... you've returned," she says, giving you a slim smile. "How are the results of your... new connection? Do you feel any change?"

"The ritual seems to have gone well, though the circumstances surrounding it were far from ideal," you answer shortly. "Follow me upstairs, and I'll tell you and Ayaka all about it. We have a great deal to discuss." Without waiting for her reply, you turn on your heel and begin ascending the stairs again.

"Very well, then... no need to rush," follows you up the stairs, along with the click of Kōrakuhime's shoes across the stone floor as she hurries after you. You don't say anymore as the two of you make your way up to the library; no reason to tell Kōrakuhime anything now when you'll just have to repeat it for Ayaka's benefit. Striding up to the library door, you try the knob, but find it still locked. This morning's uncharacteristic preference for solitude on Ayaka's part is still in force, evidently. All the same, you can hardly leave your Master out of things. You knock sharply, three times.

"I'm... fuwa~h... I'll be there in a minute," you hear Ayaka reply drowsily, interrupting herself with a yawn. A few seconds later the lock slides out of place and she opens the door to let you in, still dressed in the (now in slight disarray) cardigan ensemble you recall from this morning. "Hi, Saber-san," she says, stifling another yawn. "Come in. What's up?" As you and Kōrakuhime pass by her into the room, Ayaka's eyes flick past you before widening in shock. The drowsiness quickly disappears from her tone and countenance as she lays eyes on Kōrakuhime's human form. "And who's this? Don't tell me..."

"Ah, yes," you say, reminded of the fact that Ayaka hasn't seen her 'sister' yet. "Allow me to introduce you to your younger sister. Miss Shijou Ayaka, this is Miss Shijou Tsubaki. As you've been secluded here in your library, she's played the part of hostess to our guests."

"It is a pleasure to... finally 'meet' you, Onee-san," Kōrakuhime says with a smirk, curtsying to Ayaka with sarcastic politeness.

"Tsubaki," the girl echoes dully. "So that's your 'sister' in disguise, huh, Saber-san?" At your confirming nod, she flicks her eyes back to Kōrakuhime and adds "Neat trick," with undisguised hostility. Even Ayaka's constantly maintained pleasantness isn't capable of withstanding Kōrakuhime's provocations, you suppose. Then again, thinking back to their first meeting it could be that she didn't need any prompting. What was it Kōrakuhime said about "getting territorial"?

Enough musing on the relationship between the two girls. You settle into an armchair; the same, you realize, as that which you had first sat in when learning how to begin your elemental manifestation. Ayaka and Kōrakuhime take their seats on either side of you, facing one another while leaving the chair opposite you empty. Not that either girl actually is facing forward. Each of them is turned in her seat to regard you while studiously ignoring her 'sister'.

"So," Ayaka begins, tone carefully bright, "where did you go today, Saber-san? You didn't even tell me you were going out."

"As far as we have discussed the matter," you begin, "I am working with Liliesviel because the power of her Servant makes her a useful ally in battle. That was my original reason for visiting her with you, of course, but during our cooperation it's come to my attention that she can help me in another way. Once the Holy Grail War is completed, and all Servants but myself have perished, Liliesviel will be able to conduct a ritual with the Holy Grail to stabilize my existence, so that I might persist after the end of the War. Today I worked with her to complete a preliminary ritual necessary to the function of that later ritual."

As you explain, the pleasant expression falls from Ayaka's face. Her eyebrows droop, then twitch slightly. Her lower lip quivers. "You didn't tell me about this?" she asks, voice receding to a choked whisper. "You didn't think I'd want to know you'd found a way to survive?"

"I understand how you feel about Liliesviel," you explain, making your tone as calming as possible and privately thanking the absent Gods that Ayaka isn't seeing Kōrakuhime's repressed mirth. "It wasn't essential that you know, and I thought you might be hurt to find out that I was relying on her for anything more than her Servant. This doesn't change what I told you before about your superiority as a Master, I want you to understand."

"Oh, Saber-san," Ayaka gushes. "Don't you get it?" She pulls off her glasses to dab furiously at her eyes with a handkerchief before continuing, "I was worried about you! I'm so glad you don't have to be afraid of disappearing at the end of the War; I mean, you talked about incarnating yourself with the Grail, but we didn't even really know if it was possible. Now... now..." she lapses into tears for a moment, then composes herself enough to finish, "I'm happy for you, Saber-san; but I really wish you would have told me. Here I was, going through my mother's papers and hoping she'd written anything concrete about what the Grail could do, and you knew all along how you'd make it through!"

"Please accept my apologies, Miss Ayaka," you say, giving her a gallant smile to encourage her tears to dry. "I had no idea you'd take the news so well. You've truly become much stronger since your first conversation with Liliesviel, I see."

"If the melodrama is quite finished..." Kōrakuhime interjects acidly, "I believe you had some reason for bringing me away from my work, no, Ani-ue? What was it you had to tell me, that required the three of us to be together?"

Ayaka, still a little damp, looks affronted at Kōrakuhime's comment, and you shoot your her a glare of reprimand that washes over her impassive expression without impact. "If we must rush on, very well," you reply. "I would like to discuss future plans with the pair of you. To begin with, there is the matter of..."

>[ ] "...our captive, in the basement. Kōrakuhime, how is your work into controlling her progressing?" (Add any other details, such as her potential Master or concerns about methods of control.) (Pride)

>[ ] "...Circe and Yumigawa. We'll be making our attack on them tonight, and I'd like your opinions on a plan." (Add any details of the plan, such as whether or not you intend to leave Liliesviel behind, and how if so.) (Duty)

>[ ] Something else (Write in)

I realize you folks already made notes regarding these topics in your votes before this update, but I wanted to give you a bit more time to talk detail now that you have a concrete conversational context.
Sorry about the slow pace (again).

>>3953981
>>[ ] "...Circe and Yumigawa. We'll be making our attack on them tonight, and I'd like your opinions on a plan." (Add any details of the plan, such as whether or not you intend to leave Liliesviel behind, and how if so.) (Duty)
Right, So I've been thinking. We could tell Liliesviel something like...
If this enemy Caster is so powerful, then surely they would be keeping an eye on Odin, the most powerful servant in the war, no? Some sort of remote viewing must be possible for a magician of her caliber, especially if she's truly some sort of Goddess, didn't Odin himself have some method of watching the enemy servants?

If we were to attack her fortress with our combined force, there's no guarantee that she won't just use that teleportation of hers in order to escape, making our entire endeavour completely pointless. Seeing Odin and a powerful Saber coming to attack would certainly give her cause to withdraw from the battle, this Caster clearly knows when to retreat.

So if we wish to cut this Caster down, then we will have to draw her out of her own defences, and more crucially, her territory and kill her before she has a chance to react. She's been acting far too cautious in this war so far, and clearly knows how to pick her targets.
Perhaps we could feign a disagreement between us and Odin and a brief fight ending in our injury and retreat in order to draw Caster out.
She surely wouldn't miss the opportunity to finish off a weakened Saber, especially not one with Magic Resistance as high as ours.
Then, when she thinks her victory is certain, we reveal our bluff and cut her in twain.

You know, if Yumigawa truly was the one in charge, I wonder why his faction isn't trying to replicate what we did in Akeldama, as in actually going after their enemies with extreme force... This plan they've gone with is clearly Circe's. The person we were in Akeldama would never willingly have hidden himself away in the shadows, too much pride.

Ok, but for real.
Where is everyone?
I guess it might be because the update is earlier than usual, maybe?
This is just... odd.

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>>3954172
It seems we've reached the nadir of Fate/Awakening Mirror. I'm sure a couple of people will show up later, but... yeah, one vote in two hours is pretty sparse.

>>3953981
>[ ] "...Circe and Yumigawa. We'll be making our attack on them tonight, and I'd like your opinions on a plan." (Add any details of the plan, such as whether or not you intend to leave Liliesviel behind, and how if so.) (Duty)
We obviously can't leave Lily to fend for herself.

>>3953981
>[X] "...Circe and Yumigawa. We'll be making our attack on them tonight, and I'd like your opinions on a plan." (Add any details of the plan, such as whether or not you intend to leave Liliesviel behind, and how if so.) (Duty)

>>3954072
>Perhaps we could feign a disagreement between us and Odin and a brief fight ending in our injury and retreat in order to draw Caster out.
I wonder if our "feigned disagreement" could be the fact that we've been deceptive about our identity? Would certainly give Lily a great casus belli to attack us.
We can run "the script" by Lily ahead of time to rehearse the "fake dispute".
[Then of course after the fact we can say "You know that cover story we made up to trick the enemy? Yeah it was kind of actually true lmao."]

Plan definitely has potential. Now we should evaluate who the possible enemy combatants are and how to deal with them. Nonzero possibility Yumigawa would try to ally with Harris, we should scan for him/Matsuda before we depart. Then there's Circe, maybe Adelheid, and probably Assassin.
We kind of considered having Tsubaki be the hidden ace against Assassin if he tried something on Ayaka. We're bringing the two of them with us aren't we?
Would we be having Odin continue a frontal assault after we "withdraw" to make sure Circe splits her forces?

>>3954175
>That level of despair
Ouch

>>3954175
The update is on the longer side, and some people might have still been at work and be unable to read it, additionally, it's one that sort of requires a write-in so that tends to put off some voters.
And finally, it's earlier than usual.

I can't really say much other than suggesting more frequent updates. Everyone can say what they want about the events of the quest, but it's true that more updates would bring more discussion, and more discussion brings in active players. It does kind of feel that we've exhausted almost all of our topics of conversation so far.

Of course, there's your schedule to worry about too, but that's life.

I suppose, in my experience, big game-changing twists that turn the story on it's head are excellent for the short term, acting as a great catalyst for conversation, but have clearly had the highly unfortunate drawback of making almost everyone wary of everything being pulled out from under them.
Fortunately, can be remedied with enough time.
I suppose the lesson to be learned is you can't keep your momentum just with twists.
Discussion requires stability.

As the most popular example I can think of of how too many twists can ruin a story... I mean, we all saw how Bleach ended, right?

Because of their nature as things completely outside of the Player's control which sometimes completely redefine the main character's actions, they take away the player's agency and in Alberich's case... I suppose their connection to his character was damaged? Even if I don't quite agree with their points, I can sort of see why they've become upset with the progression of the story so far.
But as far as they go "magical super clone" is not the most egregious plot twist I've ever seen, not even close.
That probably still goes to Akira "I just watched Star Wars so this Journey to the West martials arts manga is now about space aliens with spiky hair and the protagonist is an alien who totally doesn't just have a bootlegged version of Superman's backstory. Shut up." Toriyama.

But stuff like "the Espada aren't ranked 10 to 1, we're ranked 0 to 9." also ranks up there for sheer stupidity, Toriyama wins out though because of just how much of a genre shift Dragonball took out of the blue.

And hey, Dragonball turned out to be one of the most successful franchises on the planet, so after all is said and done, I'm sure all will be well once again.
Could you imagine how much people would shit on Dragonball if it was just releasing in these days though?
The entire time travel thing would be universally mocked.

>>3954188
The idea is that we don't go straight up to Circe with the Lancer who will ruin all attempts at resolving things peacefully and maybe cause her to just take her things and leave.

>>3953981
>[ ] "...Circe and Yumigawa. We'll be making our attack on them tonight, and I'd like your opinions on a plan." (Add any details of the plan, such as whether or not you intend to leave Liliesviel behind, and how if so.) (Duty)
Before we start, we should hand out radios for communication or have Tsubaki make something.
The first thing to do is to go to Shirou's house. I've elaborated on that in >>3931886 so I won't bother repeating it here.
Once Shirou's allegiance has been secured (assuming we didn't eat him) we attack immediately. We will attack from one side of the building, opening with a portal slash to collapse a section immediately and possibly any bounded fields around the perimeter as well; Shirou and Rider will enter from another side, while Tsubaki (disguised as a human) and Ayaka follow us. The two teams will fight their way through the temple, and meet in the throne room. After Circe is defeated, we kill and eat Shirou and Rider in front of her to show that we're friendly.

>>3954224
I know we have a good chance of getting Shirou to agree to help if it's to stop the Servant draining the leylines, but still have some misgivings in adding more variables to the plan. That said if Harris and Matsuda happened to join Rushorou I'm 100% on board to ask Shirou and Medusa to come.

>>3954224
Oh and what are Lily and Odin doing while all that's happening

>>3954233
I doubt Harris and Matsuda would join them, not unless Circe captured the two and did her mind control mojo on them.
Yumigawa (and Circe) won't likely tolerate letting potential threats like an enemy Servant with an unknown origin + bullshit OP Master duo in on their plan.
Not at this stage.

As for Assassin, haven't we been told that none of the people Judas targeted were viable Masters selected by the grail?
I can't remember, Rider was the only Servant left to summon after us, right?
So he couldn't be the official Master of Assassin, and I doubt that Assassin would've been caught by Circe, not when even Odin can't see him.

It's lucky, but all evidence really should point towards just having to take care of a hostile Adelheid and Circe, which we should easily have the capacity for.

>>3954246
If only Circe and Adelheid are at the manor, we'd probably want to find a way to aggro Adelheid since we could have Tsubaki use that paralysis curse to non-lethally restrain her. If Circe shows us we gotta go for the gag+blindfold on sight to mess up her spells.
Would we want Odin to cautiously press the attack after we "retreat" to act as crowd-control on the generic mob-summons?

>>3954236
Well, Assassin has already shown his willingness to ruin the Grail War just to kill Lily, and he already went through Odin's barrier once, so who's to say he might not do it again?
Odin and Lily ought to stay in the manor, because she has to be kept safe from Assassin and it's a defensible location. It would be too difficult for Odin to keep her safe from both Assassin and the witch if she came with us, and staying away from Odin is just out of the question.

>>3954319
I like it. Keep Lily home because we care.

>>3954221
>I can't really say much other than suggesting more frequent updates.
This would be great, and I definitely want to do it.
>Of course, there's your schedule to worry about too, but that's life.
This is what I'm working through. At the moment I'm hopeful about at least getting back on a one update daily pace, with extras when I can manage it.
>Too many twists can ruin a story, and here are some examples.
I like twists! They're fun; but you do make a valid point. I decided a while ago that I'd dial back the revelations; hopefully you folks will start feeling like you're on steadier ground as time goes by.

>>3954212
>>3954224
>>3954319
These are all interesting, potentially great potentially doomed plans. They're also all pretty different from one another. What are you thinking, folks?

>>3954563
Well, I'm still supporting the false disagreement plan.
The "Get the Emiya's help" plan is way too risky, and we basically sacrifice the ability of being able to use Tsubaki if we invite them along.
So it's just us and Rider vs Circe and Adelheid, probably.
Not a fight without it's chances, I suppose.
But at this point it's just a waste of time.
Then there is Lily to explain the insane plan of trying to deceive them into helping.
Then there's the fact that Alberich killed a couple dozen people in his fight with Archer and the Emiyas might know that...
It's just too much.

Keeping Odin in the manor is too predictable on our part.

We need to deceive Circe and more importantly deceive ourself.
Yumigawa is probably dumb enough to take the bait if we pretend our false identity has been exposed poorly.

Unrelated, but if there's one twist I would change, it's how Judas revealed the truth of our identity to us.
I think people would've liked Kōrakuhime and Matsuda a lot more if we were informed that there might've been others from Akeldama like us.

>>3954574
>we basically sacrifice the ability of being able to use Tsubaki if we invite them along
That's one of the reasons they should attack from another direction: they won't be able to see her use her full power from the opposite side of the temple.
>Then there is Lily to explain the insane plan of trying to deceive them into helping.
What's difficult about that? We can simply tell her that we plan to hit two birds with one stone, killing Circe and then betraying Shirou and Ruder when they're weak. We nearly won the first time as well, so it's a plausible story.
>Then there's the fact that Alberich killed a couple dozen people in his fight with Archer and the Emiyas might know that...
They're unlikely to know, seeing as they were spending the last few days being inconspicuous and recovering (and being distracted by Circe), and there's nothing remaining to connect us to that battle. Even so we're the lesser of two evils, because Circe is going to kill the entire population of Tokyo at this rate.
>Keeping Odin in the manor is too predictable on our part.
If anything, bringing him along would be the predictable choice because they both believe we and Lily are allied.

>>3954614
Nah, Tsubaki is just too dangerous to any interaction we have with the Emiyas.
Shirou will almost certainly pick up on her energy and recognize her as the arsonist.

Rin wasn't recuperating and is far more likely to have taken more of an interest in that battle.
Bringing Odin is too risky, he's an ass.

>>3954621
>Shirou will almost certainly pick up on her energy and recognize her as the arsonist.
Have you forgotten that she can hide her presence? She did it when she was watching Sakura.

>>3954628
In fact, she's been doing it continuously since Lily came here.

>>3954628
You forget that Shirou is exceptionally good at detecting magic and the radius is fairly large.
And sure, she can conceal herself but then we've just got a useless combatant anyway.
I doubt she can both conceal her status as a servant and be useful in a conflict between us and Yumigawa's faction.

>>3954574
>I'm still supporting the false disagreement plan.
I will too unless we find that Harris/Matsuda is helping Rushorou. Improbable but not impossible. In that unlikely case I'm ok with just making that entire area a hectic battle-royale. And the false disagreement should totally be the "faked identity" thing. We can even joke about it being a little cliche but still a plausible point of conflict.
And a good way to get a little spar in with Odin to see some of what he's made of.
What's our escape plan though? Maybe have ribbons snag Lily and while Odin's distracted removing them we nigerunaway?

However we need to make sure we give Odin something concrete to do, otherwise he's going to do something that I'm sure he'll find amusing but will 99+% be detrimental to our long-term goals.
Maybe do a few probing attacks on Circe's bounded fields? See if he can cut off the manor's leyline connection? And simultaneously dick around killing her summoned mobs?
I foresee an issue of Circe telling Adelheid to stall him which would be a worst-case scenario for me since I'm an Adelheidfag and Odin would probably BTFO her.
How about we tell Odin that they might have a small Berserker in reserve and give him a message to tell her and see if we can get her to turn traitor to Circe?

We also should assign Futodoki a support role. I imagine he could hide in the shadows, "stalking" us and making a few illusions or some other tricks to throw off our enemies while never overtly revealing himself or attacking directly.

>>3955078
>Futodoki
Damn cat must have Presence Concealment: EX because I completely forgot he existed.

But yeah, giving Odin something to do is kind of important.
I don't really want him getting too close to the battle though.

>>3955082
>don't really want him getting too close to the battle though.
The thing is we kind of made a commitment to Lily to bring him. As far as I can tell the best we can do is ask him to take things easy initially to wear down the manor's defenses safely and feed him a few lines to calm down Adelheid should the unlikely situation arise. Then maybe he can break off the attack temporarily and rejoin the fight once we deal with any ambush that gets sent after us (should get Tsubaki to rig up walkie-talkies or some similar device if possible via Item Creation to communicate our situation to Lily once its resolved; or just buy a set on our way over). This can be justified by the fact that someone seems to have a vendetta against us and would probably attack when we're separated.

We should consider telling them that we "have a history" with Adelheid at least and are concerned she may have been strongarmed into helping Circe. So Odin can pull his punches and have a reason to try to break things off. Maybe Lily can volunteer to provide mana as a Master to bargain, it's not like Adelheid would be loyal to Circe.

>>3955113
>we have memory loss
>but we have a history with this enemy servant
Huh?
We haven't really made any commitment, Lily doesn't trust Odin anyway.

If you think Odin is going to be satisfied with fighting Circe's trash mobs, then you're very mistaken.
He'll almost certainly try to kill Circe or Adelheid, just to see how we react.
Will it break our deception? etc.
Remember, he knows we know them.

We can't allow him to get the opportunity to fuck with us.

Besides, there's still a chance that we can go the non-lethal route if we take Tsubaki with us.
She's excellent evidence in favour of our side of the story.

>>3955129
Well if we need Odin to leave maybe we could tip him off on the location of another one of our enemies? He could trade blows with Shirou and Medusa? Get him to job to Harris?
We should also ask Lily what's the deal with having extra servants running around and how it would affect the Grail, if at all in Medusa's case.

>>3955129
>We haven't really made any commitment
We agreed taking Odin with us would keep us safe and promised not to get hurt. Seems like an emotional commitment to me.

I can't believe we're unironically considering what could be a very costly strategic failure for the sake of not hurting somebodies feelings.
What the fuck happened to Alberich.
Sometimes you need to make the hard choices.

>>3955471
I'm a little surprised you're still in disagreement over your plan myself. Hopefully you can settle on something tonight; I'd like to start writing the next update in a few hours.

>>3955775
I would also like us to come to an agreement.
But nobody can come to any sort of agreement.

Can we at least rule out the Emiya plan?
As fun as it might be, that plan is such a horrible gamble which opens us up to all kinds of blindsiding.
It's all fun and games until Circe takes a Caladbolg II to the face.
There are just too many variables.
What we should be trying to do is organize the battle in such a way that we are aware of all the variables and can control them somewhat.

The Shirou plan concept is great.
If we only had to convince Shirou, and not Rin, Rider and Sakura too.
You know, after we revealed that we were an agent of the house dedicated to the destruction of the Emiyas because they are responsible for messing up not one but TWO near complete Heaven's Feels.

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No but seriously, where the actual fuck is everyone?
It seems like these last few threads have just had extremely reduced player counts.
It's not just these threads though, I've noticed a trend.
Is it the Christmas period, maybe?
Is /qst/ finally dying?
Bitching was definitely far more preferable to this insufferable silence.

Anyway, here's an Alberich meme.
That's probably one of the things I miss the most.

>>3955913
>Alberich memes
Those were great. What happened to them?
Remember that drawfag? The fuck happened to him?
The fuck happened to ID Lock? Where'd he go?
The fuck happened to this quest?

>>3953981
>>3954072
This shit works

>>3953981
>>3955078
>>I'm still supporting the false disagreement plan.
>I will too

We need to start properly brainstorming in-quest. After hearing the girls' feedback we can start filling in the blanks.

>>3955913
I mean it's that time of year.
Holiday season is very busy for people with families or classwork, or both or maybe neither.
I actually assumed that the thread was done a almost like a week ago.

>>3956014
>I actually assumed that the thread was done a almost like a week ago.
How's that? Did you think I was going to be on hiatus all through December, or something?

>>3956017
Yeah, something like that.
Couldn't tell you why exactly.
I was busy, this place was slow, I just made an assumption and didn't have the free time to check until today, and even NOW I still gonna be busy with finals next week so I'll still probably be out of it.
I'd imagine many are in the same boat, just replace finals with any other holiday responsibility.

>>3956037
Well, that's something interesting to consider. I hope the folks who come back after the holidays won't be frustrated with what they missed.

>>3955981
>what happened to them
My competition vanished and I was running out of ideas.
>the drawfag
Something about a holiday?
>ID-lock
I miss that tripfag like you wouldn't believe.
>The fuck happened to this quest
Wouldn't we all like to know?

>>3956017
Didn't Overgrowth go on Hiatus?
I mean, that in a strange way might be a cause of the reduced post count too.

It's supposed to be coming back mid December iirc.
Honestly though.
The amount of potential reasons behind the reduced post counts is too high.
>the constant shitstorms (Jobbing, Titania, NTR and for the love of God nobody mention Achilles)
>Pacing is slow: nobody can argue against this.
>Updates are slow: combined with the slow pacing, this is a killer
Sometimes it feels like we just accomplish absolutely nothing over the span of weeks. Alberich himself is just becoming boring as a character too.
He's terribly lacking in development.
As the QM, it's your job to ensure our hero doesn't get stale.

>>3956252
Of course, this arc of the story has the potential to fix Alberich's stagnant development.
Finally.

>>3955981
>What happened to them?
Well, I haven't had a lot of time or ideas lately.
>The fuck happened to ID Lock? Where'd he go?
I'm wondering where that anon who always capitalized his i's went. He had a good head on his shoulders.

What if everyone is just lurking?