so, i ask of thee, are you my master?

[anonily]

The HOLY GRAIL WAR Meme

 

Seven Masters, magi of the present day. Seven Servants, heroes of days past.One Holy Grail, granting whomever claims it a wish. Only one team of Master and Servant may claim it.
Who will it be?
For those unfamiliar with Fate/Stay Night or Fate/Zero, you can find a better explanation of the Holy Grail War here. (Note: The Holy Grail War in Fate/EXTRA functions in a dramatically different way, and one not followed for purposes of this meme.)

Instructions
1. Comment with your character. In the subject line, put that character's name, canon, and which role (Master, Servant, or either) you would like them to fulfill. Though not mandatory, it would be preferred that you give a brief summary of your character as they will (most likely) be AU'd into the setting. (NOTE: If your character can fill the role of Servant, I suggest you state which class(es) -- Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, or Berserker -- they fall into.)
2. Reply to others' comments. Pick your character's role (and the other character's if they list "Either" as their preference), then use the RNG to pick a scenario that fits the two characters' roles.
3. Enjoy! Though there might be triggers, depending on how the prompts are interpreted.


TWO MASTERS

1. Battle. Who says that Servants get to have all the fun? After all, most Masters try to kill each other, too. Whatever the circumstances, the two of you are locked in a fight. Neither of you are willing to use your Command Spells just yet, so no Servants here. Just two magi duking it out.

2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action aginst it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?

3. Protection. Uh-oh! One of you has lost your Servant! Unfortunately, there's no way you'd get to the church safely on your own, so the other one will help you get there! Or maybe you don't trust the priest presiding over the Holy Grail War and are giving shelter to them yourself? Given their track record, no one would blame you.

4. Death. One or both of you lay dying. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in the presence of one of your rivals?

5. You, Too? Surprise! You may have been friends before, but you've just discovered that you're both Masters! How will you handle this revelation?

6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!


MASTER AND SERVANT

1. Are You My Master? The summoning is complete. Whether intentional or not, catalyst or not, a magus has summoned a Servant. What kind of meeting was it? Was everything totally under control, or did a hitch occur? Or maybe it happened in the middle of a life-or-death situation!

2. Identity. Either the Servant has flat out told the Master their identity, or they unleashed their Noble Phantasm. Either way, the cat is out of the bag. How will the Master react, now that they know their Servant's name and legend? Will anything change between the two?

3. Battle Aftermath. A battle has just ended. Who participated? Are either of you hurt? Did the Master have to use a Command Spell? Any number of things could have happened here.

4. Discord. Uh-oh. It looks like the Master and the Servant don't get along. Here come the arguments! Don't do something stupid, like waste a Command Spell over a triviality...

5. Love. And then, there's the opposite. Sometimes Masters and Servants fall in love with each other. How will this affect things?

6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!


TWO SERVANTS

1. Battle. This is what usually happens when two Servants meet -- they duke it out. This probably says enough as it is.

2. Alliance. There's a bigger threat out there. Either one Servant is exceptionally powerful, or the situation has changed and the participants need to take action aginst it. One way or another, you're teamed up with one of your rivals for the Holy Grail. How long will this last before you try to stab each other in the back? Or, will something more develop?

3. The Grail Dialogues. Maybe you're not interested in fighting just yet. Maybe you just want to sit down and talk with the other Servant. Find out what they want, what makes them tick. Get some wine while you're at it -- nothing like good wine to go with good talk!

4. Death. One or both of you lay dying...again. It might have been by the other's hand, or by someone else's entirely. How will you spend your last moments in this War in the presence of one of your rivals?

5. Identity. Congratulations, you've just learned each other's identities! Will this change the situation, or will you press onward?

6. Wild Card. Roll again, pick one of the previous options, or make one up!

Comments

[axeatyourside]

[Would you be interested in any of the servant v servant options? Because Saber and Sumerians always ends in a clusterfuck.]

[knight_king]

( Sure! Which option would you like? )

[axeatyourside]

[I'm caught between five given Enkidu's identity, and alliance, truth be told. Do you have a preference?]

[knight_king]

( You can mix it? )

[axeatyourside]

[Okay, sounds good! Any time period setting, or just be vague with the grail war number? (I'll write the starter in the next tag!)]

[knight_king]

( up to you?? Saber would not speak highly of his BFF if she's post Zero :( )

[axeatyourside]

[I'm half tempted to go with post-Zero just so Enkidu can be greatly and deeply embarrassed at his hot mess of a friend.]

[knight_king]

( she would not bring him up unless he does. )

[axeatyourside]

[OK. I thing I've got something then!]

[knight_king]

( OK! )

[axeatyourside]

(Let me know if you need me to change any details!)

[Rider sighs, and leans forward on his axe. The truth of the whole our masters just agreed to team us up to take out Caster and his overly elaborate stronhold deal is that Rider's master really just wants to see Saber's noble phantasm. Dealing with a living fortress of a maze - Rider's master spent a half an hour swearing about realizing that indicated Caster's identity was likely Daedalus, from some mythology long after Rider's time - is a hell of a pitfall and best felled with things that work against a fortress.

But destroying the place isn't as easy as it sounds. The key to call of it is making sure Caster's within, and trapping him in his own maze, then destroying everything in one fell swoop. As it is, for some reason Rider's master has offered Rider to take on the Renaissance portion of the alliance, giving the servant full permission to finally summon his mount if need be to get out of the maze.

Tiredly, Rider sighs, and looks over at Saber.]

You want me to head in now, or wait a little bit more to see if he's gonna just pop home before I waste time and effort going in there?

tell me if this is fine!

[knight_king]

[Outwardly, she looks calm as ever, studying the makeshift of the territory Caster has claimed. It is a good stronghold, immense and strongly fortified with bounded fields and undoubtedly traps. She has no doubt this allegiance is short-lived and Rider’s Master is just using it an excuse to get information from her. It is expected, so she cannot fault the magus' obvious plan. But somehow… she is uneasy.

The more she inspects the maze, the more she has a sinking feeling something is missing from this picture, something is wrong and she has overlooked it. She glances at Rider’s direction and when she is about to answer, she spots something hanging on a tree. It seems to be a piece of red fabric. She points at that direction, saying.]

Wait, Rider. Over there.

[She fetches it immediately and returns. She has found a scarf tangled on the lower branches, it seems as if belonged to a child by its length and design with bears embroidered at the edges, above there a name she vaguely recalls from somewhere. Her eyes widen in realization from where. She remembers the news in that miraculous device that civilization called television. Fourteen children of the ages from twelve to fourteen are missing; seven boys and seven girls, all disappear around the time Caster finished his labyrinth.

This area is abandoned, the bounded field does not allow anyone side, so the only explanation she can think about.]

He has taken children as hostages. [She hisses under her breath, cursing his insidious Class. Another explanation chills her blood even more, no—what if he has not anticipated their arrival and he has not taken those children as assurances?

If this man is Daedalus, for what purpose did he build a labyrinth in the first place? They are sacrifices.]

There is a change of plans. We will head in together.

You're fine and what IS it with Casters and kids?!

[axeatyourside]

[Rider's not happy when he hears over there. But as he tracks Saber to that tree and back, the feeling transmutes into a low boiling anger. What the hell was wrong with Caster? Was there even a point to it, other than acting out an old story?]

I'm fine with together, and I cannot believe these words are coming out of my mouth but what would you have us do within? Especially if we get separated? No way Caster'll let anyone leave the death trap.

[Nor is it possible to summon the Bull of Heaven if there are to be children involved. The creature is a great thing, a towering dusty cloud that would sooner trample the world than step carefully for the sake of young lings.]

[knight_king]

Hm. That is true.

[She frowns, tapping her chin to think about their course of action. They do not have a magic thread to find the exit and surely a Caster will manipulate the terrain to make them separate their ways by tricks and illusions.]

I do not suppose there is something we can use to link our bodies like a magical thread our Masters could supply.

[They will need long hair from a magus to create something with alchemy.

She can't carry him with her arms, that would probably leave her disarmed and cripple their battle chances. She is Saber after all, not a steed for combat. That- She hesitates, but so she proposes something ridiculous that might work.]

You could stand or sit on my shoulders. Your Riding Skill will allow you to stay there without falling, correct?

[axeatyourside]

[Rider considers the proposal. It is flat out silly. But that could be an advantage, all things considered. Caster looking at them twice and choking out a laugh could buy precious, precious time.

But that leaves another question.]

I'm assuming it would work, but is it easier for me to leap off of your shoulders into action, given what we're up against, or vice versa?

[knight_king]

You are Rider.

[Though she feels this is so humiliating as it is ridiculous, she does not know if her Riding Stat covers 'Servants' as things permitted to 'ride' with such skill.]

It must be you. We cannot leave any room to mistakes when children's lives are at stake.

[axeatyourside]

I'll not argue that. If circumstances were less dire, I'd make a joke about me being an acceptable mount as well, but--

[Rider flaps a hand, dismissive. With his other, he heaves the axe up, and dismisses it in a twinkling of gold dust. There's no point in keeping it out right now, or adding extra weight for Saber to carry.]

But if anything becomes too much as we head in, tell me and we'll reconfigure this arrangement.

[knight_king]

As Saber, my Magic Resistance is higher, too. If we are against Caster, I would be the one less affected by his spells.

[She continues her reasoning, obviously not seeing the punchline of his joke; anything can be a mount to those with high Riding stats, right? Either way, she believes that she is somehow unable to dodge because she is carrying Rider, she does not need to, that's what she means, unlike he.

Even so, she does not foresee this a problem.]

That will not be necessary. Come. We must hurry. [She does not dismiss her sword, she will keep it and trust him to be able to stay on her shoulders. She looks at him expecting him to just leap on her shoulders so they could start this.]

[axeatyourside]

[Rider's not sure how to take the missed joke, but Saber's words make it clear that while their masters may have made an alliance of convenience, they seem to balance each other out well. Not as perfect as an old friend might, but it is damn fine for something left to chance.

With that look, Rider feels a twinge of red in his cheeks.]

Can you crouch down a little? I'm tall, but I'm not about to hop up three feet onto your shoulders.

[knight_king]

...

[Saber wordlessly assents with her head and turns to face the entrance of the labyrinth. From that position, she proceeds to sit seiza-style, perfectly upright and flawlessly rigid as the way she normally stands and moves. Even her breathing, for every occasion, is strictly regulated to not be wasteful.]

[axeatyourside]

Thanks.

[There's a note of apology in Rider's voice - he knows how silly this is, and how humiliating it must look from the outside. But he's careful as he climbs onto Saber's shoulders, kicking at nothing, not grabbing onto anything on Saber's person either, and one he's settled, he focuses his own gaze on the labyrinth before them.]

Whenever you're ready.

[knight_king]

I proposed this, you do not need to apologize.

[She answers him, shaking her head. She takes responsibility for her own actions and suggestions, after all. She wishes she can end this quickly and destroy Caster. She waits until he is settled and hopes for the best. If he falls this will be completely pointless.

She nods and takes off when he gives the signal he is confident to start. She rises slowly and, after a few tentative steps, bolts within the labyrinth walls. If he burdens her, her prana-infused Strength simply shrugs off the extra bulk to make it weightless.]

[axeatyourside]

[It feels like going into a full gallop, and in a way, Rider supposes it is. Saber is surefooted, and the confidence she has in her movement makes Rider think that the plan could very well work. Certainly his master has not expressed any problems with the decision so far - Rider would know otherwise - although he doesn't dare presume to speak for Saber's.

The labyrinth's character is distinct. For something new in the world, it has a thick patina of grime on the walls, a sense that the place is truly old. That it has been lying underground, waiting, rather than be a Noble Phantasm.

But more than that, there's a sense that the place is hungry. That it needs more than just Caster's mana, and that anything entering it is fair game.]

I'm not seeing any signs of the kids yet--

[knight_king]

[The strange maze is more than enough to occupy her attention, making Saber forget about the absurd strategy they have agreed to carry out. She has carried a few ladies in her arms, including her late wife, but she has never carried one of her companions, her knights, on her shoulders unless they fell on battle and that had been placed on one shoulder.

She scans the walls of the labyrinth, briefly, noticing the appearance of the ruin, before she gazes back to their path. It does not go unnoticed to her that the road she has been navigating has started to shift with every step onwards, she no longer will find the exit if she looks back, something they will worry about once the children were found.

She does not like when she steps on the ground, she feels like there are invisible tendrils, attempting to slow her down, to lull her into staying here forever. Perhaps if her Magic Resistance were lower, she would have been tempted to linger. This place is hungry: for mana, for blood, for company in general. She buries her uneasiness when she talks to Rider once more.]

Neither do I. This might be futile, thought I have to try. Hold tightly, Rider. [She warns him while she leaps toward the walls of the maze, trying to topple it when the wall starts to grow taller and taller until she could not reach it. She lands in front of it and the wall returns to its original height.

She glares at the wall, unsurprised by what has happened.] Kuh- I assumed this would happen.

[axeatyourside]

Hm.

[Trying to leap up over the walls is a good plan. Rider would've done the same on his own, and probably tried to smash down the walls as he went. Saber's control, even if her frustration is palpable, is a painfully sharp contrast.

Rider rubs his chin, trying to make sense of what the next step might be. Burrowing under is just plain silly. Summoning the Bull is impractical.]

Maybe we should let the place guide us for a bit. Clearly we were expected, but Caster can't have planned for everything we might do when facing of against him.