Day One - Compass Rose

[veekie]

"Hadn't had a race worth notice in a great while either." Lancer offers the much abused bit of cloth back, to it's owner, along with a handshake, "When next we meet, it will likely be on the fields of war, and nothing better than a worthy foe to wage war against."

[Bozwevial]

As Lancer speaks, the other Servant's face darkens. "That day may come sooner than you think, Servant Lancer. My Master is here."

Not a second after he finishes, a loud crashing sound and a curse comes from the treeline as someone makes their way toward the group with absolutely no stealth whatsoever. A few moments later, a man wearing dark blue robes with ostentatious, hawk-shaped epaulettes stumbles into view. Long, stringy hair frames a cruel-looking face, and his white gloves and wire-rimmed glasses set on a hooked nose give him the overall appearance of a man who wants as little to do with the world as possible.

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Florianus von Einzbern straightens up, smirking. "You see? I told you there would be a Servant here." He glares at the other Servant accusingly. "Have you fought him already? Your collar's been ripped off!"

The gold-armored Servant sighs deeply. "Merely testing the capabilities of our enemies, Master. As I advised you to do before we engaged in combat."

"Are you scared of them? What a useless Servant you make!" Florianus sniffs, folding his arms. "The effort I went to for your catalyst..."

The other Servant doesn't say anything in response. Instead, he stares dead into his Master's eyes, and even from a distance Lancer and Laoise can sense pent-up killing intent, directed straight at the newcomer. Florianus doesn't seem to notice, and turns to Lancer. "So! You're Lancer, hmm? You don't look like much. And this pretty girl is your Master?"

[veekie]

"My Master is at home, so you'd have to settle for just the Servant tonight. " Lancer takes up a relaxed stance, dangling from a tree by the knees, "So, shall we move from contest to battle? A sense of fashion that atrocious deserves an appropriate response, you look like a three headed turkey."

Provoke (4d3-8+2=3)

[Agita]

Yet another problem. Laoise bites her lower lip and takes a step back. She can't afford to get into a battle after that disaster, much less with an experienced magus and a Servant with unknown capabilities. At least, if they get away, the name Florianus von Einzbern is something to go on.

Lore (4d3-8+4=6)

[Bozwevial]

Will (4d3-8+2=4)

"A turkey? Heh, you're one to talk! Did your Master botch the summoning ritual, or have you always been color-blind? Then again, I can't imagine any Master so weak they'd have to summon a little kid to fight for them. Man, this War's going to be easier than I thought!" Florianus laughs derisively.

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Provoke (4d3-8+4=7) right back at Lancer.

Laoise remembers hearing from her brother that the Einzbern family has been split on the issue of the Grail War, and Florianus here was never the magus the family would have considered acting as their champion. He was far too unreliable to be trusted with the duty, yet here he is with a Servant. He must have jumped the gun somehow and forced himself in. Does that mean he's the only Einzbern in the War, or could there be another one out there with the family's full backing?

[Agita]

A difficult child among the Einzberns, she remembers. If he's acting on his own initiative, he might be more talented than Laoise, but he would be running on even fewer resources than her. And more importantly... he will almost assuredly not take her seriously. Though she doesn't show it, Laoise's mind runs through possibilities to...
Oh no, she thinks.
Lancer will definitely react to that.

Empathy (4d3-8+1=4)

[veekie]

Lancer flips vertical, holding his staff tightly as he fought his rising fury at the goad,"Much talk from poultry. I've forgotten more about magecraft than you've ever learned. Hell, I know pigs who know more magecraft than you do."

Will (4d3-8+3=6)
Create Advantage - Pissed Beyond Reason
Provoke (4d3-8+2=2)

[Agita]

"..." If nothing else, Lancer sure makes a good distraction. Thinking that, Laoise sighs and slinks back into the darkness, disappearing between two trees. If Lancer is going to get into a fight after all, she needs to be ready for it... as ready as she can get, anyway. Which means, ideally, not being there.

Stealthily Stealthy Stealth (4d3-8+4=6)

[Bozwevial]

Will (4d3-8+2=5)
Notice for Master and Servant (4d3-8+1=0, 4d3-8+1=-1)

Neither Florianus nor his Servant notice Laoise slipping off into the trees. One is too busy snickering at Lancer, while the other has his eyes turned skyward in frustration. "Oh, you fancy yourself a magus? Please, don't think that carrying a staff makes you powerful. This isn't a children's book! I wouldn't even need my Servant to destroy you...but as long as I have him, well, why not take advantage of it? After all, I shouldn't be bothered by such trivial things."

[Agita]

With nobody so much as paying attention to her, Laoise lurks away from the looming fight. She has an idea already. Her aim is the Servant's gravesite; the delphinium that the cowboy left for the armored woman. She didn't prepare a familiar because she thought she wouldn't get in a fight right on the first day, but with the grave's power, she should be able to improvise one.

A small bush will serve as the core. The flower grows and twines around it, making its limbs, each its own flower stalk. And the power in the ground helps her animate it. It's not a process that should be done in the middle of an escalating situation, but Laoise hopes the posturing of Einzbern and Lancer will buy her enough time.

...She feels bad about taking the flower from the grave, but it was the best material around, and not just because it has been connected to the grave since it was placed there. It's a somewhat obscure plant, but all parts of a larkspur are poisonous to humans.
In return for taking from the grave, she removes the morning glory from her hair and places it on the grave in the delphinium's place.

Lore to prepare plant familiar on the fly (4d3-8+4=2)
And invoke the boost to make a 4 out of that.

[veekie]

"Alchemy certainly has gone downhill if such as you are the representatives of the art. You can't even find the Dragon Lines if you were standing on them."
Lancer steps forward, then slams his staff into the ground causing ripples as he aims and strikes at a minor nexus of earth power, causing the plants nearest to him to vitalize, brightening as the shift in terrain refocuses the energy to his advantage, "Really, such a loser."

Create Advantage - Geomantic Surge
Lore (4d3-8+3=4)

[Bozwevial]

The delphinium fuses with the bush quickly, forming a living arboreal construct out of the poisonous larkspur. The animated hybrid responds to Laoise's commands, ambling around on its multiple limbs like a bizarre spider.

Florianus' eyes widen at Lancer's staff blow, which ripples outward as the balance of earth power shifts in the area. Even Laoise can feel the effects from the Servant's grave. "...Hmph. Certainly not useless, at least. Say, why don't you do me a favor? Go hunt down the other Masters, and I'll tell my Servant here to let you off the hook."

At this, the golden-armored Servant shakes his head. "This is why you ought to have waited. Any fool could see that this Lancer won't cooperate with you, even before you insulted him." He shrugs. "Well, any fool but you, I suppose."

Florianus turns a spectacular shade of scarlet. "S-Shut up, you wretch! Any more of your insubordination and I'll..." He trails off, apparently looking for a suitable punishment.

[veekie]

"No demonstration of magecraft? No famous Einzbern homunculi? I was so looking forward to seeing the european style too. "
His scarlet eyes meets the other Servant's, "Tough to have a stupid Master isn't it? What a waste."

[Bozwevial]

"I've fought for the unwise before, but this one is rather special." The Servant grins. "But you've got me talking about my identity again, haven't you?"

"Wait!" Florianus stares around wildly. "Where did that girl go? The one who was with you?"

The Servant shrugs. "Likely slipped away while you were posturing."

The Master glares at his Servant, giving him the appearance of nothing so much as an angry turkey. The Servant meets the glare with a placid, bored expression. "Keep this wretch busy while I find her!"

The Servant looks as though he's about to tell Florianus to do something that would require a great deal of flexibility before he shudders violently. "...Command spells. Be thankful you have them, magus. I've killed for less insult." He turns his gaze to Lancer, looking almost apologetic. "It seems someone in high places has decreed we fight sooner than I expected."

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Rough park layout: South end <----> open clearing <----> Servant's grave <----> North end. Exits with actual pathways are at either end, and trees/shrubs/brush serve as zone borders between each area.

South end: Lancer, Florianus, unknown Servant
Open clearing:
Servant's grave: Laoise
North end:

Initiative order:
Laoise
Lancer
Mystery servant
Florianus

[Agita]

Overhearing the surge of power and Einzbern's orders, Laoise knows she managed to complete the familiar just in time. It's a little crude, but it will do. Time presses now.

She runs to the side of the clearing nearby, the familiar carefully grabbed by a part that won't give her a horrible rash, and releases it in the branches of a nearby tree. From there, she has it move towards one of the ambush points they found earlier - a doubly good thing, in retrospect.

Stealth: Create advantage on Natural Chokepoint (4d3-8+4=6)

[Bozwevial]

Notice opposition (4d3-8+1=4)

[veekie]

"Run, flowery arse. Run while you can! B'awk, b'awk!" Lancer mocks the fleeing Florianus even as he spun his staff into an upward hook, to sweep the Master away with the wind of his motion, intending to punt him down the park to get a clear space to fight.

Fight (4d3-8+4=3), tag Rogue Einzbern Magus and Inferiority Complex to make that a 7 on the Master.

[Bozwevial]

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Athletics (4d3-8+1=2), tagging two aspects to make up part of the deficit. 1 stress inflicted.

The magus is already fleeing when the blow comes, and most of the damage done is to the Master's pride as he momentarily eats dirt on his way out. Lancer's staff is barely back in a ready position when the golden-armored Servant lunges for him, a long, straight-bladed sword appearing in his hands and moving to cut off any possible pursuit.

Florianus, meanwhile, hurdles a hedge in his desperate flight away from Lancer after the girl who's gone missing.

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Fight (4d3-8+4=2), tagging HC for a reroll
Fight (4d3-8+4=2) nope.

Athletics (4d3-8+1=4)

South end: Lancer, Lionguy
Clearing: Florianus
Servant's grave: Laoise
North end:

[veekie]

Lancer, feeling much better now that he's swatted the magus, catches the blade in a spray of sparks on his staff, then flips over, trapping the blade between staff and Saber.

Fight(Parrying) (4d3-8+4=6)
Succeeds with Style, gain Boost: Trapped Blade

[Agita]

Laoise waits. Now, she can't afford to act too early or too late. She crouches at the back end of the clearing, half covered behind a tree, watching the Einzbern Magus's steps. Right now, he must be frantic to find her, both to do honor to his family name and to take out the hits to his ego on someone else. Even if he suspects she might be up to something, he won't be paying full attention.

As she watches Florianus move into the clearing, her hopes pan out. Just one more step...
Like so many whips, the familiar's limbs hook around the enemy magus's throat, his right shoulder, both legs. Boosted further by Lancer's earlier outburst, the familiar lifts him bodily off the ground and slams him onto the tree it was hiding on, grappling him in place against the trunk.

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Invoke Larkspur Familiar to activate the Plant Familiar stunt.
Lore tentacles (4d3-8+4=4)
And free invokes of Natural Chokepoint, Geomantic Surge, Rogue Einzbern Magus, and Inferiority Complex add another +8 for 12 shifts total.