January Training

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone
What: Information and Training
When: March 24th, 2017
Where: Outside the Meeting Hall, the Far Shore
Summary: Training and informational sessions for newly arrived gods and shinki



Gods and shinki arriving at heaven's meeting hall are brought into small one-on-one meeting rooms as they appear, with a white-robed shinki offering them an explanation of their current role (God or Shinki), the name of the god they will represent (Gods) or the god they will serve (Shinki), and directions to the temple that will be their new home, regardless of role. During these initial meetings for Gods, paper and pens are provided as an unsubtle suggestion to take notes on the information they're given. For Shinki, there are stacks of informational pamphlets sitting out on a table inside the room, and which new shinki are offered as they are leaving the Meeting Hall.

Gods and Shinki alike are cordially invited to a training session beginning in early afternoon - several hours later - after they've had the chance to return to their homes, meet their new partners, and have their questions answered.

This time, it is implied that the Training Session will have a different purpose, so it is highly encouraged for ALL new gods and shinki to attend, no matter how long they have been in the Far Shore.



Divine Service

New gods are assigned a time to meet with an attendant in white robes with a chrysanthemum on their robes bearing a notepad. Gods can request a changed time slot, but they are not given an option to avoid the appointment entirely. Unless they are bullied into allowing multiple gods in one interview session, they insist on one god per time slot. All meetings take place in private rooms similar to those for New God and New Shinki meetings.

The interview consists of questioning the God's commitment to serving the needs of their followers, the Far Shore, and in turn Amaterasu herself. There is the matter of "A God's Actions Are Always Just" and The Gods' Greatest Secret as well, to see if the God believes these are true and important. Do they espouse these opinions to other Gods? Will they respond to a summons by Amaterasu to defend The Far Shore? (If prodded, the attendant will admit that they are in fact an Old God, despite wearing clothing similar to Amaterasu's shinki. They will claim it an honor to do a favor for Amaterasu during her preparations.)

The second round of questions are about their shinki. What vessel forms do they take, in order starting with Exemplar? How do you use them in combat? What sort of opponents have you faced with your shinki in vessel form - human, ayakashi, or other? Do you have any plans to personally train your shinki for battle ahead? For wielders of multiple shinki, when was the last time you used all of them working together?

They insist that all questions are answered. Afterwards, the God is dismissed.

(An OOC breakdown for you characters IC answers to the God Interview...)
On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being low and 10 being high, what is your commitment to serving the needs of...<blockquote><b>1. Your followers?</b> ## <b>2. The Far Shore?</b> ## <b>3. Amaterasu herself?</b> ##</blockquote><b>4. Do you believe that A God's Actions Are Always Just?</b> ... <b>5. Do you protect The Gods' Greatest Secret?</b> ... <b>6. Do other Gods know your opinions on the above matters?</b> ... <b>7. Will you respond to a summons by Amaterasu to defend The Far Shore?</b> ... <b>8. What vessel forms do your shinki take, in order starting with Exemplar?</b> ... <b>9. How do you use them in combat?</b> ... <b>10. What sort of opponents have you faced <i>with your shinki in vessel form</i> - human, ayakashi, or other?</b> ... <b>11. Do you have any plans to personally train your shinki for battle ahead?</b> ... <b>12. For wielders of multiple shinki, when was the last time you used all of them working together?</b> ...

Tempering the Vessel

Shinki are assigned time slots to meet with the white-robed shinki as well. While their sessions are shorter, the conversations are similar, and likewise held in private meeting rooms.

What is your vessel form? How many battles have you been in while in vessel form and what were your opponents? Do you have any opponents you would resist fighting alongside your God and fellow temple shinki? What have you done to increase your resilience while in vessel form? If you have other shinki at your temple, how often have you fought alongside them in vessel form? What spells do you know? Do you have any plans to further that training?

The shinki are then dismissed after all questions are answered.

(An OOC breakdown for you characters IC answers to the Shinki Interview...)
<b>1. What is your vessel form?</b> ... <b>2. How many battles have you been in <i>while in vessel form</i> and what were your opponents?</b> ... <b>3. Do you have any opponents you would resist fighting alongside your God and fellow temple shinki?</b> ... <b>4. What have you done to increase your resilience while in vessel form?</b> ... <b>5. If you have other shinki at your temple, how often have you fought alongside them in vessel form?</b> ... <b>6. What spells do you know?</b> ... <b>7. Do you have any plans to further that training?</b> ...

Shinki Training

A well-appointed dojo has been prepared for newcomers to practice their physical or magical arts. There are five or six white-robed shinki present, who will willingly answer any questions or instruct newcomers in the use of the borderline. They accompany their answers, or their lessons, with an explanation of what is expected of a shinki and the importance of teamwork with other shinki and with gods.

Inside the dojo, there's room for several pairs to spar, and weapons are set up all along one wall, everything from polearms to rifles, chakrams to broadswords. They're all meant for practice, with edges dulled or padded to avoid any accidental deaths, but sparring partners will still have to be careful to avoid injury. Although there are many fewer white-robed shinki here than usual, except for the children, there is one adult shinki keeping an eye on things inside the dojo and one keeping an eye on things in the yard. They are willing to answer questions, help with borderlines or teach shinki new spells on request. Comment to the NPC REQUEST form to request a thread with one of them or if you have questions about handwaving an interaction. (Shinki characters who are interested in learning more about the borderlines or want to learn new shinki spells or songs may approach any of the training shinki for advice or instruction. Please remember to comment on the Shinki Spells page when your character begins to learn a new spell, excluding the borderline.)

Physical Training

While each month the Far Shore attendants try to adapt the physical training to the Near Shore's weather and holidays, the weather is fair and any festive impulses have been subdued. This time, Physical Training encourages pitting a God with one or all of their Shinki against another God with one or all of their Shinki. This is touted as a benefit to the Shinki, so the white-robed shinki make clear that certain Shinki need this training more than others. For example, the ones who answered their Interview questions saying they hadn't spent much time in their vessel form, or fought in many battles, or hadn't fought with their fellow Shinki much - if at all.

There are Old Gods (NPCs - not run by a mod) who can be targeted as opponents, allowing the temple residents to gel as one fighting unit. (OOC: So that your multi-person thread can be limited to as few players as possible, if you choose.)

Rest and Refreshments

Gods and shinki who are finished with their training can step into a large room in the Meeting Hall that has been set up with comfortable cushions and low tables. Moreso than other Training Sessions, there is a wide array of international alcoholic options this time. If you've heard of it and you can get drunk by imbibing it, it's probably here in a bottle or glass. Guests can help themselves, settle in, chat, and make new friends.

The Old Gods in particular will begin to regale the crowd at the end of the afternoon with War Stories from the ages past, speaking of their great deeds they performed as prayers for their followers, miracles to convert the unbelieving, powerful ayakashi they fought, and other amazing feats, especially if they involved a shinki at their side - who it was and the form they took. After many Old Gods have spoken, they turn to the New Gods as if in challenge to tell better stories, mocking words exchanged that imply the New Gods could not possibly have done anything so impressive in their short time in the Far Shore.

In Summary:

• Get all the information you can handle
• Veteran new gods and shinki are welcome to volunteer showing the ropes
• Practice sparring or shinki magic
• Answer Interview Questions
• Tell the truth - if you dare - or lie through your teeth... if you dare
• Tell War Stories
• Have fun~

Comments

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ See, at this point, Judar can relax in the white-space meant for a shinki as the vessel form does most of the work. Mind, he's able to cast a shield of integrity that only a magi (as his world considers them,) could manifest, but it's still something small that he cast up in an instant and set down just as quickly. He'll do it when it seems important. ]

[hypomeneo]

[Accident, too many mages on the field, and the fact that Waver is very... feisty and will answer a perceived challenge.]

Above.

[Caster... are you trying to slay everyone with you sex appeal? Your abs are cutting but! Nope... he's rattling on about air and since one of Waver's elements is wind...]

Beware of cutting attacks by pressurized air. He could probably create blades of wind from long range...

... so can we.

[Waver is busy with something to do indeed. Namely using that blood sigil to give Iskandar as much access to his abilities as possible. Not that he recalls, but he was able to forge a connection with Iskandar's younger self to transfer mana remotely during that battle with Goetia and if you have magic circuits and you can connect them... mages can share power like Luvia and himself did so long ago in the Castle of Separation.

The process leaves the mages with complete understanding of the other's magecraft afterwards, and Waver's unknowingly banking on similar principles working for Heroic Spirits.

First step mana... next his sensitivity to mana itself so Iskandar can detect attacks coming faster... here goes...]

[boneofsword]

[Here comes interference - rain of swords. All aimed perfectly, to create a half-circular barrier a mere hair width from Iskandar's feet. Each of the weapon is a perfect physical replica, and each comes from the king's times. Who knows if his army has been using those exact swords.

It's a tribute and a warning at the same time.

What Waver can recognize is that it comes without a spell at all, save for the one he has seen earlier when Archer projected a weapon for his Caster.

The fight has merely started.]

[towards_okeanos]

[It's as if he gained another sense suddenly becoming aware of the incoming hail of blades. Caster's up there gliding down with his sword drawn. Iskandar may have time to block Caster's sword if he decides to strike but it's too late to react to the torrent of weapons from above. Though he does not need any particular extra sense to recognize all too familiar shapes of many of the falling blades.
Yet the final straw is no sword at all.
A mere hair width from his face ground strikes a 6-metre pike, its two parts connected in the middle by a brass ring. A design so unique and effective it remained in use for two hundred years.]

You're clearly intent on stealing my stuff, Archer! One can even think you're trying to compete with King of Heroes on grounds of varied armoury!

[As much as he hates being on the defensive Iskandar has no intent on calling his ultimate weapon. No matter how angry he might be he has not forgotten that they have an audience. And not everyone in that particular audience deserves the sight of his army.
And it's not as if they're trying to kill each other, right?]

[hypomeneo]

[Waver... is not sure about the killing each other bit. Is this approaching murder-death-kill? The kinda-youngest Heroic Spirit in the bunch has... questions... for his seniors about this.

That sure was a sarissa that just got planted in front of them - how Waver knows this, he can't recall. That sure was a title that stirred something briefly, then passed.

There's going to be a limit to multi-tasking and Waver's not sure when he's going to be hitting it but probably soon. Next step... try to hook into Discerning Eye. Which may or may not work as well (or at all) for Iskandar, as he doesn't have Waver's knowledge that goes into how the ability works... but it's something, right?]

[futhark]

[ The swords were a surprise, but guess Archer is set on rehabilitating himself from his earlier blunder.

That sent them on a tree.

And all those things.

If Caster had any modicum of self-restraint maybe he would pause and notice that they are doing way too much damage to the area than it should be allowed. But he's himself so instead, he lands, hitting and parrying with his weapon then jumping (flying) back to get out of the area affected by Territory Creation x2. From the distance, he can test (go overboard) with spells granted to him by Judar.

Temple vs temple, combines with Servant vs Servant, makes him take little precautions. Iskandar has enough of his own crafty- and sturdiness and help of his two shinki (one of which clearly on protective side, given the barriers showing up in just right times, and the other being an analytical mage with Servant elements to a boot). He can either avoid the attacks or tanks them if they hit.

The nearby trees are not taking well stray cutting wind though.

Will the gardener curse their names again? ]

[towards_okeanos]

[They should be forever banned from the training grounds after this nonsense. No matter the gardener's opinions.]

So that's how we're playing right now?

[If Archer is going to supply him with weapons it would be such a pity not to use any of them. So Iskandar forfeits his most glorious weaponry for a moment and grabs the sarissa instead. He throws it in Caster's direction. The only problem being it's a pike. Long and heavy. Not the kind of weapon designed to be thrown. So when it is the object it hits, the tree, explodes in a cloud of splinters. The sarissa disintegrates on contact.
Hopefully, no one was near enough to get hit because there are some truly vicious pieces of wood and drops of molten brass flying around.

Not holding back, eh? Maybe they should start.]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ See, that's a time for one of those bubble-ish shields to come up and protect Caster from some of those splinters. Judar wouldn't have, but it seems that convenient barriers seem to be showing up for the other one. So, why not? It's a very strong barrier of his own, but more flexible.

His attention is on the surrounding environment more than that, though. Not because he doesn't care, but because the magi is good at multi-tasking. ]

If the staff don't come to murder you two, I'd be surprised if you're allowed back at all.

[sageprincess]

[Come for the fan-service, stay for the property damage. Such is her relationship with the Servants of the Far Shore.

She had hoped, perhaps, that at least one of them would acknowledge the destruction they're causing, or the risk they're posing to the others who have come to train. Maybe not Rider or Caster - prideful hotheads that they are - but there are plenty of shinki involved in this battle as well, aren't there? Surely at least one of them would be able to reign this disaster in a bit before the whole Training Hall is leveled.

She had hoped, and as per usual, reality has fallen short of her expectations. One tree explodes and others are looking like they're barely standing up, and just beyond the din of the battle she can hear distressed cries and shouts of alarm, no doubt coming from white-robed shinki that cannot believe their Lady is letting this happen again. Zelda sighs.]

So be it.

[Caster would know what the sight of golden light meant if he were to see it, so he's the one that has to go down first. A bright beam forms seemingly out of nowhere given how little the combatants are paying attention to their surrounding and aims to blast him right out of the sky. Iskandar doesn't get a moment to wonder where it came from because in the next moment, two more beams are leveled at him, one at his back and one at his head, the wielder of this new magic apparently not trusting that one hit would be enough to stun a man of his stature. The analytical minds of this battle, if they are not so thrown by this sudden interruption, might be able to tell that the magic the gods are being riddled with is explicitly divine in nature and extremely raw in practice, appearing to be the very essence of light and law in a marginally tangible form.

In another, less potentially blinding flash of light, Zelda teleports between the two "human" fighters, a glowing golden hand leveled at each of them. Some would consider it suicide to get between such clearly powerful fighters (that's probably why no one has stepped in until now), but she is confident that the gods in this equation at least would not risk harming a hair upon her head.]

All of you! [Shinki, you're included here too.] Stand down this instant!

[Yeah, she's... she's not impressed with this dick measuring contest training battle dick measuring contest.]

[hypomeneo]

[... irony is, Waver gets into a fight with Dark Precure after this, and what happens? BOOM - though not by his hand.

Yes, the Servants of the Far Shore should be banned. They just egg each other on and their instincts don't help. They get battle-swamped.

For instance, instinct is faster than thought and there's a pulse of sheer surprise-fright-worry for Iskandar's safety and Waver yells:]

Barrier!

[Even as Discerning Eye tears into the magic, deduces it as light and law and raw divinity, even as Waver's swinging for the counter and throwing up a Borderline and preparing for the drain...

THWUMP!

Contact.]

WHAT THE HELL, YOU IDIOT!

[... oh, give him a moment to snap out of it and realize the property damage. But if intimidation's the name of the game, smacking Iskandar turned on Waver's full protective mode.

Especially if he's now unconscious.]

[defensivematrix]

I didn't see that coming!!

[ S-sorry? Satya was way too focused on the barriers for the weapons coming from the other god's side. SHE HAD NO IDEA THAT THERE WAS A THIRD PARTY READY TO JOIN IN.

She does envelop Iskandar in full protective bubble right now though. If there is any follow-up after those hits...

if... ]

[hypomeneo]

... not calling you an idiot. I saw her coming.

... Christ...

Iskandar...?

[boneofsword]

[In the split second Archer notices the golden light and knows what's happening. In the next he realizes the amount of collateral damage.

Full facepalm incoming. And a bonus groan.]

...wonderful.

[A pause. Look, he's been on a receiving end of such hit. It takes a moment to switch the gears from the full battle mode.]

Caster? You okay?

[futhark]

[ That THUD is Caster hitting the ground. Not that the fall is going to hurt him much, but weh- second hyliablasting.

Just as effective as the first one. (Hey, the princess was watching, that's a good thing) ]

That was-- quite a hit.

[ Wowow, such magic, much arcane power. Let him lie down for few more seconds, admiring the handiwork ]

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Look, it's fine. Even if Cu doesn't catch himself, Judar can use his magic to at least soften the blow to the ground. Archer already did the 'you ok' thing, so he can be pissed about the interruption. That hurt, seeing as he was technically... the entire transformation.

Seems that he provides a bit of protection, for as little as it seems like Cu was wearing now. ]

The fuck was that bullshit? I thought everyone was just running and staying out of this 'training' fight of theirs.

[towards_okeanos]

[Iskandar has no idea what hit him. It could have been an elephant. Or two. A glowing, golden elephant. Or whole heaven forsaken horde. The world goes black for a blink of an eye but he's able to shake it off by some unforeseen miracle.

Must ...
be ...
the ...
shields ... diminishing the impa...

His vision blurs again. The world swims as he drops to the ground. A little disabled maybe but still conscious.

A sudden rush of panic comes from two directions and surprisingly it helps to sober him up.
He blinks then sits both hands raised to his head. That was one hell of a hit. He had no idea Cu Chulainn can punch like that! Or was it Judar? Both of them?

But no. Neither. There is a voice. A familiar one. Iskandar shakes his head which only makes things worse. There's a lot of panicky noise in the shinki space.

Waver? Satya? Are you alright?

Please don't tell him the blast hurt them too?

He looks up ... and has some difficulty comprehending the sight.]

Princess, what are you ...

[ Why are your hands glowing? Iskandar blinks.

The voice.

It was her.

Oh.

That's not...very...good. ]

[sageprincess]

Have the lot of you been brought to your senses?

[Zelda asks, and it's less of a question as it is a warning. If they haven't, then she's plenty willing to emphasize the point accordingly. Her hands remain raised.

No, it's not very good at all.]

Look around! You could have killed someone!

[FUCKING. EXPLODING TREES AND SHIT. There's only so much staying out of the way can do when a battle reaches that size and scope!]

[hypomeneo]

No. No, I am not.

[Waver's mental voice is... clipped as he tries to breathe and calm the fuck down. Emotional links, shinki state... this is the wrong place for a panic attack.

He is so done with this bullshit. So done...]

I just had a bad scare on several fronts.

[.......... hoooooooooooooooooooooooo boy... a lecture about consequences?

...

... oh... oh... that's------------



Stop. No Guilt. Breathe. We're not going to blight. Is she even thinking about blight?

Think Consequences.

He could have killed her - he was reacting. Someone else could have killed her. It was an unknown ambush and instinct is faster than thought. They would have to live with that.

If Iskandar got knocked out - Satya and him could have panicked. They have no control over their bodies like this... they can do about nothing like this. They could have panicked and guilt spiraled over this and done a lot of harm. Same with Caster's crew.

That... could have been handled better. Waver's mouth flattens because, no, this is not very good at all.

Breathe.]

[towards_okeanos]

[That answer hits him harder than the golden beam ever could. Stupid. That was so incredibly stupid Alexander.]

Waver?

[He can feel that Waver is struggling. Trying to calm down and kind of succeeding but ... ]

Satya?

[He's no longer a king nor a Servant responsible only for himself. He's a god. He should start acting like one. At least as gods should. His pantheon is not a good example to follow. Nor are most of the locals to be frank.
But this is irrelevant. If he decides to do something stupid and has his shinki with him? It's no longer only him who gets the fallout. He let this training spiral down to all-out mayhem by his own foolish pride. That's a lousy example of a god's behaviour at best. His father would do something like this. Iskandar tries not to be like him. ]

I'm sorry. I should have handled it better. I got carried away. It was irresponsible and foolish. I've put you both in harm's way.

[And he has an answer for Zelda too. He bows down.]

You are right to berate me, Princess. I'll take whatever punishment you deem appropriate.

[hypomeneo]

Stop. Immediately. Before you go any further.

We all fucked up. Including her.

[Breathe.]

She jumped right into a battle that was consented to before hand. She jumped right into a battle and ambushed all of us without warning, while all of our battle instincts were at full force. Now what do you suppose would have happened if one of us had reacted to that in time and attacked back? Instinct is faster than thought.

I can tell you it was very close on my end. I saw her coming to attack you and didn't realize it was her but knew it wasn't our opponents. I would have reacted fully to protect you.

That is not on you. That is on me. And that is on her. And it will have to be lived with.

Another consequence she might not be thinking of. What would happen if she knocked you out. Her action. What could have happened if Satya and I had been stuck in shinki space? Our bodies are not our own... and that has consequences of its own. Caster and his crew? Same deal.

... there are four people here that do not have the luxury of guilt because we get the lovely little gift of hurting others when we feel it and you know what? Everyone involved has responsibility in that one and it is not a case of who has more.

Don't take too much blame upon yourself.

This is an emotionally charged moment. We all fucked up. We all could have handled this better.

We need to all take a step back and learn from this.

And now it is my moment to apologize because I certainly could have handled it better myself.

[defensivematrix]

[ Plenty of shinki involved to rein the gods destructing the training grounds indeed. Plenty and yet... ]

Waver- [ She speaks but too quietly to be heard. It's a barely audible whisper, not even that, a breath. Now that it's clear Iskandar is okay, just a little roughed up (nothing new, the other side were throwing swords at him and that was considered An Okay), Satya gets a better look around their surroundings. Some of the aforementioned weapons still dot the landscape. Not for long- as they also soon dispell into the blue motes, a sure sign Archer has also waved a white flag. Broken trees, damaged bushes, the ground is torn and scarred from all their antics.

There is no lie, they did overdo it by a large margin.

The hardest pill to swallow here is a discovery she made about herself. Satya always prided herself as the one who is level-headed, as the one who is the voice of the reason when her god needs it. And what she did here? Followed blindly into the heat of the fight.

Does it mean she's just as competitive as most involved or... or does it mean she will simply follow orders, trusting the ones giving them always to make right decisions? Iskandar is her god, but Iskandar is also-- a first friend she ever had here, he's closest someone like her could get a family. Of course, she's going to trust him. But here her job is actually put into question some of the things he does. She should be vigilant, she should advise him to do better. Leveling a training ground for a contest "Who is the most powerful here", especially when they supposedly were to keep their abilities hidden...

Those are thoughts and concerns that run through her head as she hears Waver get through his rant. ]

Waver... she is not wrong. [ Satya states bitterly when he finishes. There is no one around on the training grounds but them and Zelda. No one else dared to get between the fight of two forces of nature. White-robed shinki start to peek from behind the walls, and this could have been much worse. What if the owner of this area intervened? Literally, the last thing they should be doing now is making an enemy of an old god. ] We disrupted the order here. It was our battle but not our place. Actions have consequences. Wouldn't you step in if you saw mayhem like this in public space?

[PROBLEM-SOLVING MODE - next time move it to some isolated place. Either on Near Shore or maybe in the mountains of Far Shore?

But yes the whole "disrupting the order" makes her plenty ashamed of allowing this to happen. Dammit she's the Exemplar. She will have to do much better next time, whatever that caused her to charge blinded here needs to be... worked on. So yeah, she's cranky as well but for entirely different reasons. Even if Iskandar's was to get unconscious for an hour or more-- while that would be indeed unfortunate, staying for a few hours more in shinki space doesn't bother her. Which is a big difference between her and Waver, another realization to note. Iskandar would wake up eventually with a terrible headache, and the only feeling would be frustration that she's not there to help him around. ]

I apologize as well. Not just because I failed to protect you. But-- for not being a better advisor. I will make up for it.

[ The bitterness is replaced with determination. ]

I insist you let me handle any aftermatch with the tenders of this place. I'll make sure both of us Exemplars attend to it.

[ Get rekt Archer. She thought you were the level-headed one! ...but then she proved to not be exactly that either, so guess it fits. Still, she will very politely and diplomatically drag your ass here ]

[boneofsword]

[Archer isn't too far behind Satya in his conclusion, and will follow as grumpily diplomatically as he can. Even though there's no shred of guilt from levelling the training ground, or giving a scare to white-robed shinki, he is directly responsible for escalating the conflict to such level. Given what they are, it's incredibly lucky that buildings are still standing.

Zelda is, and always was, well aware of repercussions of her action. She's as much of seasoned warrior as each and every one of their bunch, wielding a power that's not to be ignored, and able to fight on par with Servants. As well as the fact that seasoned warriors can't afford to foolishly mistake friend from foe, no matter their actions.

Archer kneels next to Judar, touching the magi's shoulder. As an Exemplar he should set the example, not allow his worse instincts to take front seat.]

Are you okay? You took quite a hit. [he's been so distressed by the results that for a second he forgot about everything else. Even with keeping an eye on their surroundings there's a limit to his abilities.]

[hypomeneo]

I could have killed her, Satya... I was reacting without thinking... [Waver is equally quiet and calmer, but he's shaken because he's realizing exactly how far he would go to put down a threat. Again. Servants do protect their Masters. He may not be thinking entirely reasonably.] It was very close...

Yes we needed to be stopped, we were out of control, but that was not the way. It could have easily ended very different. That it didn't turn into a friendly fire incident is a blessing.

[Breathe.

One, two, three...

One, two, three...

One, two, three...

Ugh.]

Sorry... give me some time... I may not have my head on straight right now.

[kuroi_taiyo]

[ Forgive the way he pulls his shoulder away, Archer. This is one of those things where he's ready to have one reaction and it's just not happening. It hurts and he's annoyed, but the need to lash back isn't overflowing, just as the urge to ruin this submissive peace to the third party was absent. When you live with a constant violent anger affecting you, it's a pretty big deal. ]

I could've taken a couple more like that... Tch. This guy's on his own now, though.

[ Sorry Cu, he's pulling back the transformation, to leave you back as you were. With more clothes and blue hair all over again. He's not taking the brunt of someone else's dumb choices.

So naturally, Judar doesn't feel any guilt over this. Mostly because he's adopted the thought process of not having any blame in all of this. All he did was throw a snowball.]

[towards_okeanos]

I doubt you would be able to even scratch her, Waver. Princess knew what she was doing. I’m glad she stepped in. In the unlikely event, she did knock me out you would just have to wait until I wake up. Don’t tell me you’re incapable of waiting.

[Iskandar is aware of how much you are uncomfortable with your vessel form, Waver. Now more than ever. He's already planning some countermeasures for it.]

If anything I’m more worried about the spectacle we made ourselves of. I’d lie if I were to say I didn’t want to see how I would fare against Cu Chulainn. I still think I could have defeated him. Still, this was not the time nor the place for such a thing. Not with that kind of audience. But what’s done is done. With some work, we may yet turn it to our advantage. All this mayhem sends a message. I just need a moment to decide what I want this message to be.
For that, we all need to calm down. [Yes, he's aware that means him too.]
I see that you’re unharmed even if shaken. We go back to the Temple as soon as I finish my business with the Princess. Only then we decide on the further course of action.

[Iskandar looks up. Quite a spectacle it was. Incredibly foolish but for all the destruction it was definitely a show of power. Though in truth the same result could have been achieved with a lot less damage. A word may reach Heaven’s upper echelons, maybe even the Queen herself. Now it’s time to shape what that word will be.
He stands up.]

I wish to speak with Princess in private. Waver, can you make it so that none would hear us?