CATHARSIS is a non-canon OC fate/series site, loosely based off of fate/apocrypha. Knowledge of the fate/series canon is helpful, but knowledge of fate/apocrypha isn't needed!
I figure since our masters are talking about boring stuffs, us servants should talk about heroic stuffs. I'm sure we already know each other's characters but let's put that in words!
This is Zheng, first Emperor the China who's surrounded by a bunch of stubborn warriors plus one opera singer. I guess just like the Caster in Apo, Zheng provides the territory for the team. And since he isn't really fit to be combat plus considering he's king and all, he's pretty much on the role of support / backup / communicating with everyone. Not happening right now but it can as early as Day 2.
Zheng is Lawful Good but not Lawful Stupid. The only reason he isn't Lawful Evil (he has a lot of blood on his hands) is because he does value life and the lives he take are "sacrifices" to him. His actions might sound cold when you read it on text, but Zheng never stopped feeling like a human being.
Looking at the current roster of Team Black, I think he'll get along with everyone. Not that I think it's necessary for Zheng to like the person to work with them. He's had to resort to low tactics and team up with the worst kind of people since he didn't have the luxury to choose his allies. He's a very pragmatic kind of hero. To him, it's not breaking his beliefs, but simply making ends meet.
And I have mentioned this in the cbox but Zheng is pretty damn lucky with his fellow Servants. His worst enemies in battles would have been among them xD Shikhandi in particular. Hector's, Nakula's, Yehoshua's anti-fortress phantasms might be a threat too especially when damn combined. Julie's songs would definitely be bad for Zheng's army. So yeah, heavens favour Zheng lol.
I forgot to mention the boy band. Which reminds me. Who wants to have a date with Wang Ben
"...I am unsure of this, sister. Perhaps...Perhaps a better way would be- AAAAHHH!!!"
*is swallowed by a whirlwind of mint leaves and forcibly brought to Plot Page*
***
While Shikhandi's deed of a weaker soldier felling a nigh-invincible warrior are typical for a hero, his/her receivement from scholars and literary critics was not, and depending on which version was read or (in case of Indian and Indonesian discrepancy) which people were talked with the view on Shikhandi can be anywhere from a shallow plot-filler to a true tragic hero(ine) to a cautionary tale to a symbol of Women Empowerment. And considering that his/her story spans three lives, with what might be the first mention of a transgender hero(ine) in literature and the many taboo themes his/her side stories often involved with, this difference in view is understandable.
The Black Archer here is an amalgamation of sorts from various sources I have read (mainly Indonesian version) about the story of Mahabharata. Here she was seen as a symbol of strong independent women, and the term "Srikandi" has been used to denote a woman who achieved something that was previously only done by men. Most often they would be female athletes, but the latest CEO of Indonesian national oil company had also been dubbed "a Srikandi". That's why I thought bringing her as a Servant would be interesting! :D She was my first thought when I tried to create a Servant on my very first Fate Forum, but I never really had a chance until now.
But the more I delved into her real history the more I knew that people's views have few actual basis. Oh well...
Black Archer is a very prim and proper individual. Certainly there's a slight influence of Arturia there (in the first-half of the Visual Novel anyway. She was a character I really looked up to until her abrupt change of character development in the Einzbern Forest, and for me she never really recovered her dignified presence after that...
But what differentiate her from Arturia is the fact that Archer has no rules to follow, and her actions are purely from her goodwill rather than her good conduct. She has little pride in her battles, and willing to take any and all actions if it would be for what she viewed as the greater good. In a way, she might be an Arturia + EMIYA in one strange package XD
I think she will most likely be closer with Hector due to sharing the same theme of "loss" and perhaps with Nakula if he would not be so baffled as to no one found his face charming when Shikhandi is around. Shihandi negates any Mental Interference effects Julie might be able to bring an unseen side of her, and I am really looking forward to Heike and Eli's influence on her!
The one I think she would clash against is most likely The Emperor of China, if he adhered too strongly to his "Lawful" before putting on the "Good" Also, if he is a strategist then he would be very frustrated with Archer's stobborn tendencies. Plans will go awry! :D
She has a very versatile combat style, so I think there is no Servant that she is really bad against, but consequently she excels at nothing too. If anyone needs a hand in machine-gunning a Servant with magical arrows please tell me.
And I am also looking for a Servant to use her Sankalpa Shakti on. Anyone for Double Death?
Also, if he is a strategist then he would be very frustrated with Archer's stobborn tendencies. Plans will go awry! :D
Zheng is too cool for strategists. The one making strategies would be General Meng Tian and General Wang Ben who, especially Ben, would be more likely to be displeased about having soldiers who can't obey orders. Zheng is just there to overseer and give speeches. HE'S VERY USEFUL. He'll listen to everyone and make things run smoothly. He acknowledges that the other Servants are equals with each other and there is no particular hierarchy here. HE WILL CHEER-LEAD EVERYONE TO DEATH.
The God fearing warrior with a speech problem is here! Yehoshu'a is primarily concerned with people's devotion to the God of Israel, or failing that at least adhering to something similar to his laws. The lawful bunch of Team Black are probably going to find a good ally in him, though those who show overt devotion to other gods are going to find him VERY upset with them. He'll probably have a slight beef with Nakula if he figures out that he's supposedly offspring of a God.
Oh and Julie. Julie's gonna be getting hate, cuz she's... kind of one known for screwing the rules because she feels like it. As for everyone else, keep your act together and pray to the right guy upstairs and everything will be peachy keen.
As for combat, Yehoshu'a effectively needs to fight only one on one, and in general will need to be able to retreat should his Blight of the Aged take effect too quickly. Anyone who could provide support to cover his necessary retreats would be much appreciated!
Post by Hector of Troy on Aug 27, 2014 4:45:11 GMT
So I guess this is about Hector, your resident Rider of Black.
Long story short, I interpreted Hector in a different sort of way than some do and wanted to give him a my own sort of twist after reading through the Iliad again and looking at various character analysis. I wanted to emphasize his flaws and weaknesses, rather than making him the goody two shoes people sometimes see him to be, since that’s a lot less fun than a sometimes doubtful, occasionally awkward and loud man with a spear and dead horses.
As far as teamwork goes, Hector is not hard to get along with. He probably likes most of his teammates and would be very happy to help them out in combat if they need it, since he worked to defend Troy with many previously-unacquainted allies. Nakula and Shikandi would definitely be his kind of Servants, Julie bothers him occasionally but I think he trusts her. He respects Berserker’s power enough to not mention the Greek gods loudly within earshot. He would definitely look down on Zheng for not fighting personally, though he’d get along with the warrior boy band.
Hector is a good combatant both on and off the chariot. His true prowess lies in his Noble Phantasm when his spear is thrown, but he can use corrosive prana in close quarters as well. His biggest weaknesses would definitely be his dedication to family (aka Archer of Red) and his fear of death (which has somewhat lessened after actually dying). His biggest rival on the Red Team would be Mulan, who is basically built to destroy Hector because she can shrug off his every attack and match his mobility.
Anyone who could provide support to cover his necessary retreats would be much appreciated!
Hector can do this! He has a chariot, which is good for tactical retreats, and he would be more than happy to provide back up support if need be. Hopefully Berserker doesn’t notice his occasional utterances to Apollo.
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I’ll put some brief Meng Tian stuff too. So Tian is a masquerading Master, who is really a Heroic Spirit, who is really not a Servant but still a relatively famous general who started the Great Wall of China. He is a strategist by nature, and he remains relatively suspicious of the whole of Team Black, save his fellow boy band kids. Still, he’s a friendly guy who will get to know most of the allied Servants so as to decide who is the biggest threat.
As far as combat goes, Tian is skilled at parrying and has high Luck, so he can be a tricky opponent. In fact, he relies on that because he is absolutely not the strongest Spirit out there. He’ll rely on his tactical mind first, before his sword and he needs to stay alive to use his Noble Phantasm. He’s Zheng’s loyal right-hand man who caters to Caster’s whims and wishes (pretty much doing secretary work)
Resident goody-two-shoes-ish Saber reporting in. Nakula's pretty sociable so probably likes the majority of his team mates, especially since they're all fellow warriors now. COMRADERY FUCK YEAH. Just don't break ze rules. Luckily every Servant on Team Black seems in the morally light-grey alignment at least, so there shouldn't be to0 much of an issue there. Some personal points with each Servant--
Ying Zheng, He can get down with the friendly Emperor thing, just don't mention "Mandate of Heaven" or any of the chosen by God stuff around him. You'll make him think you're trying to rip his big brother off. Also he might not take kindly to the whole big deception "IT WAS ALL A RUSE, I WAS THE -REAL- CASTER ALL ALONG" thing. It would give him very mixed feelings at least.
Shikhandi, Probably gets along pretty well with his old comrade, assuming he recognizes her. So long as she keeps her breaking the rules to a minimum around him, that is. He'd probably not care much about his charm being turned off around her because, well, he gets super powers from being pretty, not prettiness from having super powers, so it's irrelevant to him whether they're active or not among his allies. In fact it'd make interacting with the team much smoother.
Yehoshua, They're fine just as long as nobody mentions religion. As a matter of fact maybe Team Black should just have a secular agreement to agree to disagree because I don't think anybody will agree on anything in that regard. That said though, Nakula could temporarily get rid of his Mad Enhancement for some rational conversation from time to time-- Even if it doesn't stay rational for long.
Hector of Troy, His kind of comrade. Noble Warrior bros. He could even understand the not wanting to fight his brother bit, and probably support him in, well, not murderizing Paris. Nakula would not be shocked if Hector jumped ship to avoid fighting Paris; He might do the same if Sahadeva or one of his other brothers was on Team Red. Except Karna. Fuck that guy.
Julie d'Aubigny, Rivals in being Fabulous. Probably some "Ew Assassin" sentiment but considering her entire thing is straight 1v1 duels he'd probably come to respect how she does things a lot more.
lol religion. I just realized how diverse the beliefs the team has. If it's any consolation, Zheng has high respects for Christ the King. Beyond that, religion is... China has no religion lol. Been the same for 2000 years. The Qin Dynasty was never really the cultural state. They were viewed as barbarians, haha. It's sadly accurate. They have to import their dancers and musical instruments to have any of them.
I feel like Nakula is more of the Lawful kind of person than Zheng will ever be lmao. He doesn't really flaunt about the Mandate of Heaven so it's ok. But when he's addressing everyone or representing himself as emperor, he'd do it and not give a damn xD Given Zheng's background, I think he may find religion an idiotic concept. The only reason he'd be quiet about it is so they can be more efficient. He personally would think Nakula and Yehoshua should stop being butthurt about it. He can be an asshole like that.
He also would think Nakula needs to stop being butthurt about the whole lying/secrecy thing.
Hector is a loser don't look down on the emperor, you oaf.
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Since Vira did it, I might as well talk about Wang Ben and Li Xin too.
Wang Ben and Li Xin are both fellow generals with Meng Tian. They're combat-oriented with Ben having both might and mind and Xin having pure power. Their noble phantasms are the opposite of each other and so are their personalities lol.
Xin is the man and power in manpower but he happens to be useful in spy job too because of his NP. For clarification, you can remember him if your character have a really sharp mind or/and high luck. If not, you won't remember him xD Xin is a good man. Everyone would like him more than they'd like Zheng. He's already fiends with Hector and Yehoshua...and I guess he'll just have to make friends with them again after.
Ben is a strategist specializing in sieges. If he were in the other team, he'd definitely be very useful. He can locate key areas by just looking at a map. If we're looking for new bases or places to cover, Ben is our man.
Ben has an attitude but he's not a complete asshole. He will demean weaklings, berate disobedience, and pick a fight when he gets really pissed off. But he'll still watch out for others so you can at least trust him in battles. He will even go as far as to endanger himself to secure a path of retreat for others.
As for the date I'm offering, I'm looking for someone in Team Black to discover Zheng and Ben's existence in the shrine. Zheng is likely to be gone before allowing himself to be confronted and Ben will probably just drag whoever encountered them along. Thinking of having this happen in Day 1.
Nakula He can do that? Neato, we'll definitely have to make use of that. I think without Mad Enhancement Yehoshu'a would probably be able to come to an agree to disagree stance. He would particularly care for it, after all letting "heathens" coexist with believers is something that he regrets allowing in life as he feels it led the nation of Israel down the wrong path repeatedly, but without the madness he'd know he has no people's faith but his own to concern himself with in this Grail War.
Hector of Troy The same "agree to disagree" thing would apply in this case I suppose, though to be honest since he would be under Mad Enhancement, not to mention just fresh from bloody battle, don't expect him to take it too kindly in the moment, at least if he can deduce you're talking about a deity. Though granted, the situation in which he'd need to retreat would probably mean he'd be too weak to do anything if he got upset.
Julie might be able to bring an unseen side of her, and I am really looking forward to Heike and Eli's influence on her!
