Sign Up the Holy Grail War

[Neko]

[SIZE="1"]Servants. In the world of magic, hidden from normal human eyes, they are among the highest level of existence ? the most powerful beings, familiars beyond control or summoning. Servants are historic heroes granted immortality through the legends told of them, after all, and no mere magician could ever hope to form a pact with a great hero of men. At least, not until the Holy Grail came into being. Long ago, the three mage families Matō, Einzbern, and Tōsaka schemed together to come up with a system to summon the Holy Grail ? an immensely powerful spiritual body said to be capable of granting a single wish ? any wish ? to its possessor. In their scheming, they formulated a system that allowed Servants to be summoned by the power of the Holy Grail itself, and form pacts with the seven powerful magicians required to summon the Grail itself, therefore becoming known as ?Masters? ? magicians with control over Servants. But what then? Only humans can summon the Grail, but only Servants can touch it. And only one wish could be granted. This brought about the birth of a tradition called the Holy Grail War. Seven magicians, and their seven servants, would compete against one another in a battle for supremacy, and the right to the Holy Grail. As a magical war, it of course had to be carried out hidden from normal humans? eyes. Servants, as the most powerful beings, could not easily be killed, even by other Servants, so the easy solution was for the Masters to direct the Servants to attack the other Masters. Strip away all the magical and spiritual connotations of this tradition, and it was a simple, deadly game of ?last man standing?. Seven Servants, seven Masters. Never more, never less. Even the almighty Holy Grail had its limits, and could not give legendary heroes physical form limitlessly. To help aid the pulling of heroic souls from the spiritual plane, the Seven Servant System was created by the three families. The Holy Grail would only pick heroes from seven predetermined classes to participate. Saber, Knight of the Sword. Lancer, Knight of the Lance. Archer, Knight of the Bow. Mounted Soldier, Rider. Magus, Caster. Silent Killer, Assassin. Mad Warrior, Berserker. With these guidelines to expedite the process of pulling a heroic soul into the physical plane, the rules of the War were laid out to help govern the handling of such an immensely powerful artifact. The father of Kotomine Church was appointed as the overseer of the War, the idea being that it would be wise to have a member of the church, which obviously detested anything having to do with sorcery, to act as the organizer of the competition, to remove any fear that such authority be misused to obtain the Grail for oneself. The time for the Holy Grail War has come once again, and once again, seven magicians are about to be chosen to become the Masters of the most powerful beings, known as servants; a summoning and contract with a heroic spirit beyond human control, to win the Miracle beyond human grasp. [/SIZE]

Welcome to the Fuyuki city Holy Grail War, an age-old battle for ultimate power, hidden away from human eyes. Based on the general storyline of the visual novel [u]Fate/Stay Night[/u], this adventure will feature the same basic mechanics and rules of [u]Type Moon[/u]?s ?universe?. Your goal should be very simple: to win the Holy Grail and fulfill your desires. The others will stand in your way, and there will be times when you have to fight, but there are no rules in how to obtain the Holy Grail; you may work your way through the War in whatever way you wish.

Sign-ups for this adventure are going to be unusually involved, as you?ll essentially be creating two characters for your use ? the Master (you) and the Servant (controlled by you).

Don?t be terribly concerned if you don?t fully understand the mechanics of the [u]Fate/Stay Night [/u]world, as I?ll be providing a general database of basic information in an Underground thread which will be up shortly after a few people begin signing up, and I?ll be happy to answer any further questions as they arise. For obvious reasons, the initial cap for sign-ups is going to be seven players, although circumstances allowing, I may re-open sign-ups later on in the adventure (you probably know what I?m talking about if you?ve done a lot of research on the original [u]Fate/Stay Night[/u]?s plot).

Here?s your sign-up sheet.

[SIZE="1"] [b]Master [/b]Name: (self explanatory, any nationality allowed)[u] Age: [/u](no restrictions here, either)[u] Gender: [/u](par for the course)[u] Appearance: [/u](images preferred, descriptions will not be discriminated against)[u] Magic Specialty: [/u](what type of magic are you best at? Shielding magic, altering magic, enchanting magic? Good old fashioned ?fricken lasers? magic?)[b] EDIT: [/b][u]Reality Marble: [/u](Only give yourself one of these if you know what it is, and think you can make a reasonable one. If you're really desperate for the extra edge this could give you, I highly encourage that you go out and do some research on Reality Marbles.)[u] Personality: [/u](Keep in mind that what sort of person you are will have an effect on what kind of Servant you can have ? brave and honest people attract brave and honest heroes, and so on.)[u] Bio: [/u](Give a little backstory, maybe a glimpse at what reason you might have for wanting the Holy Grail?)[b] Servant [/b][u]Class: [/u](Pick from one of the seven; this will also serve as the Servant?s primary name)[u] True Name: [/u](Which legendary hero/villain/monster does your Servant represent?)[u] Gender: [/u](Oddly, this does NOT have to be the same as the Servant?s gender in their previous life; their memories of their past life will also be modified accordingly.)[u] Appearance: [/u](What does your servant look like?)[u] Noble Phantasm: [/u](This is a Servant?s ?Proof of Heroism?, or their weapon from their past life. A Servant?s Noble Phantasm is the Ultimate Weapon without equal, but its name must be called out to bring out its full power, the drawback to this being that knowing a Noble Phantasm?s name gives insight to the Servant?s identity, which may betray their weakness.)[b] EDIT: [/b][u]Reality Marble: [/u](Only give yourself one of these if you know what it is, and think you can make a reasonable one. If you're really desperate for the extra edge this could give you, I highly encourage that you go out and do some research on Reality Marbles.) [u] Personality: [/u](This will determine how your Servant acts, and also will determine to what degree you can control them ? remember, Servant?s aren?t Required to obey their Masters? orders, and if you tell your Servant to do something that goes against their own personal beliefs, they can refuse to do so.)[u] History: [/u](What made your Servant into the legendary being that it is? What is their ?Claim to Fame??) [/SIZE]

Don?t worry about making your Servants extravagantly powerful ? that?s the idea of a servant being the most powerful type of being, anyways. To put it into perspective, the ?Saber? class Servant from the original game?s ultimate technique involved firing a gigantic kamehame-hadouken-type energy blast from her sword, and that was probably the simplest and most straight-forward Noble Phantasm in the series. Create your Servant thusly.

Well, there you have it. Commence sign-ups, and I will post my own after one or two people submit their entries. Technical excellence will be taken into as much account as creativity when I decide who?s ?in?, so do your best and proof-read your entry a few times before submitting it!

[Orcus]

[CENTER][size=7][font=freestyle script][U]Master[/U][/font][/size]
[FONT="Nyala"][Size=2][B]Name:[/B]
Alexander E. Meridius
[B]Age:[/B]
17
[B]Gender:[/B]
Male
[B]Appearance:[/B]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Reizou/NEar3.jpg"][Alexander][/URL]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Reizou/444.gif"][Alexander 2][/URL]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Reizou/y.jpg"][Alexander Clothing- sans the eyepatch, and the pants are a normal length and fit][/URL]

[B]Magic Specialty:[/B]
[I]Shield Magic[/I]-
Alexander’s magic specialty augments his servant nicely- due to the fact that the Archer class is only slightly above average at close-range melee fighting, the extra boost in defense that Alexander’s shield magic creates gives Archer a better chance at either surviving the close quarters attack or an opportunity to retreat and attack from afar. This magic is also particularly useful for protecting Alexander from attacks by other servants.

[b]Personality:[/b]
Alexander is an interesting person. When taking all of his characteristics into account, he appears to be a bit of a contradiction- He prefers to analyze situations and weigh his options and act accordingly, but unfortunately, his passionate, protective, caring nature often causes him to act impetuously; especially if his friends and family, and especially if Archer, is in danger.

In everyday transactions he is a bit aloof- he is caring, gentlemanly and genuine, undoubtedly, but he seems a bit distant as well, as if his mind is wandering elsewhere. The truth is, Alexander tries to stay alert for as long as possible, always attempting to be ready for a servant attack.

[B]Bio:[/B]
The Meridius family has been attempting to obtain the grail for ages, hoping to use it’s powers for dark intentions, such as domination, or the ability to create vast armies with which they could achieve domination. Despite their ignoble intentions, cruel mistreatment of their servants, and tendency to summon evil spirits, they have been allowed to participate in every battle for the Holy Grail thus far, but have been painstakingly unable to retrieve the grail. They are infamous among the families that participate in the completion, and even members of the family who don’t participate are regarded with disdain.

One of the Meridius clan broke from this mold, however- Erebus Meridius. He ventured out the Holy Grail to better the world, and decisively fought and killed any members of his family who sought out the grail for impure intentions. He did not succeed in obtaining the grail himself, but he found peace in having kept the grail out of the hands of villains. With only his direct bloodline left, the Meridius family became a renown one, and his legacy was widespread.

Since Erebus Meridius’s time, the Meridius have upheld his legacy by combating any and all dark forces the enter into the competition first and foremost, and setting out to use the Grail to do good for mankind. If they find, however, that another Master may be more noble than themselves, they will engage the fighter in an intense battle, and if defeated, will yield to them, allowing them to obtain the grail. Such honor is rare among competitors, and is often viewed by the other family’s to be naïve, despite the good intention, and ultimately an advantage for themselves.

Alexander is no different; with the battle for the Holy Grail now at his feet, he is determined to act as a proper symbol for the Meridius name and see to it that the Grail is used in the best possible way.[/FONT][/size]

[size=7][font="freestyle script"][U]Servant[/U][/size][/font]
[font="Nyala"][size=2][B]Class: [/B]
Archer
[B]True Name:[/B]
Chiron
[B]Gender:[/B]
Male
[B]Appearance:[/B]
[URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Reizou/coolguy6og.png"][Archer Chiron][/URL]

[B]Noble Phantasm: [/B]
[I]Sagittarius Bow[/I]
When Archer calls out the name of his bow, a run circle appears in front of it, with the Zodiac symbols surrounding it. As he draws back his arrow, the symbols twirl, rapidly gaining speed, until he finally releases- at that moment the arrow hits the rune circle, the Sagittarius symbol encompasses the circle and a large blast of energy is fired at his opponent, and will not cease until it hits it’s mark,

[B]Reality Marble:[/B]
[I]Apollo’s Bright Fire Arrows[/I]-
This reality marble creates a rocky, mountainous area where one single plane is surrounded by tall, nearly insurmountable cliffs. Archer’s enemies are deposited in said plain, whereas Alexander and Archer are positioned at the top of the cliffs. Archer’s eyes glow, filled with the “light of Apollo” and his speed at firing arrows is increased tenfold, and his vision is augmented to easily surpass that of a sniper scope, ensuring that he can launch multitudes of arrows with pinpoint accuracy.

[B]Personality:[/B]
Archer is a compassionate, kind, gentle, and intelligent figure. He is very analytical, but he is not cold whatsoever, and though being quite the intellect, never flaunts his intelligence or attempts to “educate” those who are unwilling to hear of his vast knowledge. Thanks to his studies from his past life he is a great strategist and also posses a moderate form of healing, acquired through his interactions with the gods.

[B]History: [/B]
Chiron was a great Centaur, extraordinarily unlike his kind- where they were savage, brutish and instinctive, he was capable of rational thought, and was a civilized, caring figure. Due to his nature, he was accepted favorably by the gods, and was taught many arts by god Apollo and goddess Diana, such as archery, medicine, the ability to fight, and other noble crafts. He also trained many other heroes, including Achilles and Heracles, who would ultimately, albeit accidentally, kill him.

During an attack by the other centaur over the retrieval of wine, Heracles shot down many of them with poison tipped arrows. Unfortunately, because of Chiron’s distance away from his disciple, Heracles could not tell him apart from the other centaurs and shot his dear friend. Chiron was racked with agony; being immortal and unable to die, the poison simply sat in his body and tortured him. He thusly gave up his immortality-- with subsequently allowed for the freeing of Prometheus, as Zeus would free Prometheus if Chiron gave up his immortality. For his nobility in life and death, he received a place amongst the stars as the Sagittarius symbol.[/size][/font][/CENTER]