tumblr grail war sideblog

[holygrail-cycle]

The First Tumblr Holy Grail War is OVER!!!!!

WHAT’S THIS IT’S TGRAILWAR-ZERO WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!!!!!!

Important tags: #!clues - For posts that I think contain info for unraveling the mystery of the War. #!past - For snapshots from the previous cycle of the first War. #!theories - If you want to see me lose my mind in real time.

Wars will be differentiated with #!1 and #!0, respectively.

[tgrailwar-zero]

Hey Avenger. It took a bit for you to wake up, so I wanted to check on how you're doing before we get down to business. I can tell you're a bit confused right now, but how are you feeling besides that? Are there any other issues going on?

Your words mostly seem like they're bouncing off of AVENGER. Eventually, he does acknowledge you, but doesn't directly answer the question.

"Ah... are you my Masters...?"

You're getting the feeling that there's enough inherently 'wrong' with this Servant on a fundamental level, that trying to parse out anything specific would be difficult. Either as a result of the summoning, or just due to his nature as an AVENGER. However, as Masters, you do have access to a list of his skills.

Avenger (C)

Oblivion Correction (B)

Self-Replenishment (Mana) (C)

Innocent Monster (EX)

Lamenting Exterior (A)

Wildfire (B)

No Noble Phantasm, though... and it seems like the skill descriptions aren't present either... you might need to do a bit of trial and error to figure out exactly what AVENGER can do.

Either way, you need to figure out your next steps, or more appropriately, your first steps.

[tgrailwar-zero]

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Chapter 1: phantom/grey messenger

Darkness. Never-ending, ever-black. Cold and unfeeling. Quiet and resolute. To exist within a void is to exist as nothingness, and yet you can feel something. A breeze. A whisper. Emotions that shouldn't exist within a space like this, and yet they are ever-present. This feeling is familiar, unnervingly so. The sensation of transitioning from one 'nothingness' to the next.

A moment washes over you, before replaced with a burning sensation. Agonizing. Intense. Binding.

A sigil, made of pure mana, emblazons itself upon you, and light quickly fills your vision. Darkness turning to light, and light turning into scenery.

Looking around, you see a destroyed building, and a figure standing in the middle of it. A Servant. Your Servant.

The Servant before you reeks of death and desecration, the armor surrounding them constantly outputting a dangerous, off-putting aura.

You can recognize this Servant as AVENGER. He speaks. It's hard to tell whether he's addressing you or not.

"I am death. I must kill the one that is loved by God. My name is… my name is… Who…who am I…?"

AVENGER hovers in front of you, addled and confused, gripping at his head.

Looking around at the chaos, you're not sure if you're the ones responsible. However, you do understand that you're most likely not alone. Both in terms of enemies, and allies.

What will you do?

Search for the source of this destruction.

Search for your allied Servants.

Voting ended onApr 10, 2023

Welcome to the T.H.G.W, a Fate-based Quest run via polls!

There are two different posts to progress. Standard polls, that allow you several 'premade' options, and 'Blank polls'- which give the observing Masters a chance to 'write-in' an answer for a following poll! Your poll results will impact the story progression in a number of ways, both based off the choices made, and how many people picked that option! On the base level, the results would be impacted like this:

When dealing with a 2-Option Poll:

90%+: Spectacular success, no consequences are incurred.

76%-89%: Great success, if there are consequences, they’re minimal.

61%-75%: Fair success, the action is successfully taken, and while not the worst possible result, there are a few snags along the way.

50%-60%: Rough success, the action is taken, but there are notable consequences due to your indecision.

When dealing with a 3-Option Poll:

80%+: Spectacular success, no consequences are incurred.

56%-79%: Great success, if there are consequences, they’re minimal.

41%-55%: Fair success, the action is successfully taken, and while not the worst possible result, there are a few snags along the way.

34%-40%: Rough success, the action is taken, but there are notable consequences due to your indecision.

When dealing with a 4-Option Poll:

70%+: Spectacular success, no consequences are incurred.

46%-69%: Great success, if there are consequences, they’re minimal.

31%-45%: Fair success, the action is successfully taken, and while not the worst possible result, there are a few snags along the way.

26%-30%: Rough success, the action is taken, but there are notable consequences due to your indecision.

-

However, your Servant's statistics, as well as items you find along the way, may also serve to either help or hinder your choices! Work along your Servant and stay aware of their strengths and weaknesses in order to survive the Holy Grail War! Additionally, all posts after this one will exclusively be on @tgrailwar-zero, instead of being crossposted to @tgrailwar!

[holygrail-cycle]

I think it’s very cute that Avenger isn’t even conscious yet and he’s already making friends!! And it’s a nice way not to start from complete zero with our team too.

It’s also interesting because it seems like we’re near, if not the, slowest ones to summon in this War. And it doesn’t sound like they’re waiting for all participants, either, if two of our allies dropped by to help keep an eye on Avenger. I think we should all be ready for action the second Avenger’s up, just in case.

[tgrailwar-zero]

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As the first 'stranger' Servant leaves, the Avenger is left alone to compile themselves once more, close and closer to fully manifesting. However, the process still takes time, and the time seemed to tick slowly.

However, the loneliness is cut short for a moment, as another familiar stranger approaches, fortune and fate seeming to smile upon the Servant yet again.

"Ah. So you're… Avenger? What a spot you've chosen to manifest in…"

Their voice is soft, the sound of their smile apparent even without a visual. The voice of someone 'good', as loose as a definition it may be at times. You can sense that they stop for a moment, quietly keeping the Avenger company, if only for a short time.

Your Avenger hears...

The sound of a rustling flag as they wait patiently alongside your Servant.

A short prayer before they leave, leaving behind one black key, just in case.

A one-sided, spirited conversation that turns into a intricate fortune-telling.

The quiet rumble of a slumbering dragon, and a kind voice shushing it.

The gentle hooting of an owl, accompanied by the sound of flipping pages.

Voting ended onApr 9, 2023

"Thank you for the company" they say, "It's a shame I can't bring you with me, but I look forward to working with you in the future."

With that, they left, but not without leaving a small gift behind to help you on the journey ahead.

You received a new code cast! - heal(16);

[holygrail-cycle]

Genuinely now I hope that it turns out we AREN’T the only Masters in this War. Can you imagine how fucking funny that’d be if Rider has a Master/group of Masters and we just fuckin yoink their friendship/trust anyway? Get to be like ‘yeah they got your seals but WE called you here’? I wanna be Ms ‘On my way to steal your Servant’. It would be SO funny and I think we deserve it <3

[tgrailwar-zero]

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"It seems as if there's a problem concerning your Rider."

"For some reason, the majority vote for RIDER was on corrupted Servant data that can't be properly summoned. I wonder how it got in there in the first place. For data to get that corrupted, something truly awful must have happened… but that still didn't understand why it was chosen. It had no statistics, barely enough there to salvage a personality and abilities for even a fractured Spirit Origin, remnants of Foreigner-class data… it was a mess by all accounts. This wasn't a usable Servant, I thought I had made that clear. Perhaps you simply wanted to sabotage the other Team? Giving them something so mangled is quite a cruel way of doing so, but I suppose you are practicing magi..."

"It didn't make any logical sense, but after processing it for a moment longer, I understood. You weren't trying to pick the corrupted Servant data for usage, you were simply alerting me to its presence so that I could properly purge it. Brilliant work from brilliant Wizards! No wonder you successfully completed the Preliminary war, such aptitude is to be expected from skilled hackers and masters of the virtual space like yourselves. Well, my greatest apologies for assuming that you'd do something so reckless like wantonly choose data that was repeatedly said to be corrupted and invalid."

"Such a horrible blunder from me as an Administrator, I'll get to purging that disgusting data as soon as I can. Thank you so kindly for bringing it to my attention."

There was no fanfare. No alert. Simply the feeling of something becoming more and more lost. Not gone, but very much in danger of being forgotten.

"It will take some time to fully sanitize and destroy the data, but it'd be cruel of me to simply throw away your answers. I'll consider this a 'redraw', redoing your poll with another Servant in the place of the corrupted data. Of course, as the results from your first poll seem to be going, you've firmly planted yourself on the Extra-class team, so consider this an advantage. Knowing the True Name and statistics of one of your enemies is quite the boon, after all. And even still, despite being enemies, you may be able to forge a bond with them."

"My humblest apologies. If you don't mind, could you please choose again?"

Medusa

Constantine XI

Alexander

Saint Georgios

Dobrynya Nikitich

Voting ended onApr 8, 2023

Alexander

The Prince of Macedonia, that would soon become one of the greatest generals known to history. He possesses a mount blessed by Zeus, a strong sense for tactics, and an indomitable spirit that would lead him to greatness. While not as strong as his adult counterpart, he's still a strategic savant with incredible potential and versatility as a Servant.

Strength: C

Endurance: B

Agility: B

Mana: C

Luck: A+

NP: B+

Starting Health: 9

Starting Mana: 7

[tgrailwar-zero]

Visit Original Link

The Avenger-class Servant quietly seems to rest… cold and vulnerable, not yet fully active. Their Saint Graph slowly patching itself together, the data compiling into the complex nature of a Heroic Spirit. Unmovable from this liminal space, they hover silently. Both 'here' and 'not', as they're compiled.

An enemy Servant could pick them off easily as this Servant awaits contact from their Masters.

However, during this Grail War, this Servant isn't alone. A teammate, yet a stranger, slowly passes by your Avenger's unconscious form before stopping and raising their hand, offering their power to protect their ally.

This power looks like…

…A rustling of magical flower petals, granting safety and sweet dreams.

…A barrier of magic from the Age of Gods, blessed with reverie and witchcraft.

…A cool, stone bunker, rife with ancient mana, smelling of rain and blood.

…A quiet gathering of insects, swarming oppressively, yet protectively.

Voting ended onApr 8, 2023

Satisfied with their work, they continue on their way, not wanting to waste too much time.

You'll see them again, after all.

[holygrail-cycle]

So it IS Extra vs Standard. That makes sense, but it also makes it even weirder that we were allowed to summon on both sides. At this point, I don’t think we’ll be able to actively control the one that doesn’t end up as our ‘True Servant’. We’re just influencing who one of our enemies will end up being. Not to say that it would be impossible to make more friends down the line... but in the face of how this War is set up, I imagine that’s going to be a lot more difficult this time around.

And this isn’t even getting into the fact that we’re voting to summon a Rider who got his data deleted. I’m not surprised things ended up that way, but all things considered it does make the possible consequences we’ll be facing pretty wild to consider. I know everyone is doing it as another shot to help Mandricardo, and I don’t blame them - I felt really bad for him too, and if it’s possible, I’d like to help him get a second, better shot at things. But will helping him even be a possibility? Will we even be summoning him, any reasoning form of him, or will it just be bits of fragmented code in the loose, tortured shape of him? I’m worried that we’re paving the road to hell at best, and possibly summoning another nightmare at worst.

I’m glad Angra’s not the leading Avenger option though. I doubt, if we’d summoned him, we’d be getting OUR ‘Avenger’... though his card being the only one with ‘features’ does pique the interest. That said, I’m really worried about our Terminal friends. I can only hope our Super Affection point will be able to help them out of whatever’s happening, somehow.

[tgrailwar-zero]

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"Welcome, Masters. I feel now is the time for proper introduction, as the days tick closer to the beginning of the war. I am simply The Administrator of this War. No fancy names or titles required. If you would please follow me, I'd like to show you to your battlefield."

"Let me take you to a Nameless City. Filled with Nameless People. Digital souls that aren't a part of this story, but are merely background actors on the stage for a grand performance. They live their lives, some blissfully unaware of the conflict around them, others quietly supporting from the sidelines."

"Contrasting their dissonant serenity is the sound of battle. Dancing flames over decaying Earth, battling for dominion. Servants. The actors of the grand performance of the T.H.G.W, a grand ritual that would even put the lauded Great Holy Grail War to shame."

"However, while most Holy Grail Wars would be a blatant free-for-all between Servants, this Grail War operates differently."

"On one team will be SABER, ARCHER, LANCER, ASSASSIN, CASTER, RIDER, and BERSERKER."

"On the other will be RULER, AVENGER, FOREIGNER, ALTER EGO, MOONCANCER, and PRETENDER."

"Of course, the locus of survival falls to you. Despite being on a team, you're still separate beings with separate desires. Even you can't be sure how much you can trust your allies, and what secrets they're hiding. If their ideals will clash with yours, and if they'll leave you in the dust to make their dreams come true. And your enemies will be coming at you with their own lust for victory, unrelenting and uncompromising."

"Also, things will be different this time around. New 'mechanics', so to speak. You're the winners of the Preliminary Holy Grail War, after all. I've known you're up for the challenge."

"So, best of luck, Masters. Live or die by the sword. Discover the power you hold in your hands. Fill the Grail, and achieve true Victory."

[holygrail-cycle]

And right off the bat things are breaking down. That said, the decision to allow us two Servants, after all that talk about needing to ‘change our mindset to survive’ is an interesting one. I really don’t think this is a kindness. It reads like letting us shoot ourselves in the foot right out of the gate. There was no reason to make this concession; it serves no practical purpose, and hampers the idea of cohesion. Even if they are both ‘our Servants’, it’s still an unnecessary split to make if we’re supposed to rally behind our ‘True Servant’ in the end. So, what’s it for?

And I keep going back and forth on whether to be paranoid about that ‘set of Masters’ wording. She could have been speaking more specifically about ‘those voting for Extra class’, but then again we’ll only be controlling two Servants out of an entire War. So who or what is handling the rest?

Are we, all of us currently responding to tgrailwar-zero, not the only Masters anymore? Were we just the guinea pig group before the War went out on the market, so to speak?

[tgrailwar-zero]

Ummm Lady in Veil? Can we get more information on what to expect in this Grail War? This could further help us as Masters to decide on which kind of Servant to summon. Most of my peers seem to want a powerhouse in Avenger or Alter Ego but maybe we might need someone with more utility that a Caster or Assassin could have provided if standard classes had won. So Choosing a Pretender could be more beneficial in that instance I think. PD: I did choose Extra Class, the Caster/Assassin bit was just an example.

"I figured the concept of a 'Holy Grail War' combined with how I was asking you to align yourselves as either Standard-class or Extra-class would make the nature of the T.H.G.W apparent by now, but I suppose some extra clarity is fine. You are a set of Masters participating in this War, after all."

"The T.H.G.W is an augmented 'Great Holy Grail War' with two sets of opposing Servants, designated by Servant Class. You fight the other Servants, and proceed as normal until you've successfully eliminated the other Team, in which you may be given different instructions on how to progress. Any further information will be supplied at the appropriate locations once you begin. Summon whoever you like from the options provided, though if you summon a weak Servant and die early due to a string of bad decisions, then that's that. So, hypothetically, summoning an Avenger with all E-Rank stats would be a poor choice, if you ended up going for an Extra Class."

[tgrailwar-zero]

Miss Administrator! You referred to us as 'Masters and Wizards.' But I thought magic-users in this world were referred to as mages. Is there some significance to your choice of word?

"I do not understand the question. The T.H.G.W is a Simulated Grail War. Of course the Masters participating would be skilled Wizards, proficient in navigating virtual spaces with their magecraft. Perhaps you're just trying to make conversation. If that is case, then save such 'small talk' for your Servant."

[holygrail-cycle]

Idk if anyone needs this explained, but just in case (and also I love Extraverse so I’ll take any opportunity to talk about Extraverse):

‘Wizard’ is a term from the Extraverse. In the Extra series, an event in the past closed the book on Mysteries and caused mana to completely dry out; with no ability to perform magecraft left, mages shifted their focus to Spiritron Hacking - sending their consciousness into the digital realm - instead. ‘Hackers’ refers to garden-variety mages; ‘Wizards’ are the cream of the crop, and their higher ability/compatibility gives them extra perks, such as the power to change their own 'bodies' (or the code that represented their body) and harder hitting codecasts, aka Extra’s version of spells. (In Fate/Extra, hackers who couldn’t make their own self-image were provided with generic NPC bodies.)

Basically, Miss Admin is calling us Wizards because, as she said, this is a Simulated Grail War. It’s not taking place in the real world, we’re all in the Matrix, baBEY.

TL;DR: Wizards = Mages. Don’t worry too much about it.

[tgrailwar]

Uhhhhhhhh *cough* …Avenger? Ruler? *cough* is this supposed to be happening? Is this normal? … You guys still good?

Seems like there's a poor connection.

[holygrail-cycle]

JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I MADE THIS SIDEBLOG TOO EARLY!!!!

Oh my god. Okay. There’s so much going on here. I’ll lay out the big three points that got me then a bunch of ramblings under a read more.

1. We were addressed as wizards. That’s terminology specific to the Extra series, which makes sense, what with the digital nature of these Wars. Yet they’re Holy Grail Wars, not Moon Cell Wars; they’re two different things, and ‘Avenger’ established that veeery specifically with his April Fools joke (because as we all know, Jokes Are Deepest Lore). Then again, Moon Cancers are on the table this time around...

2. ‘A test run’. Across TRILLIONS of failed iterations. Jesus christ!!!! WHAT FOR!!!!!!

3. ‘You’ve already agreed to this contract long ago.’ Which makes sense, since the last War seemed to imply that throughout all those trillions of iterations, the Masters were... always us. Always. Because it was always ‘the first Tumblr Grail War’. So in the end, it’s not just the Servants and terminals caught in this cycle, it’s us too.

All of these points culminate in a question I’ve been wondering since the start: who started this, and why? And why have they chosen to continue it? (again, in the narrative sense, not the meta one)

It’s no surprise that our kind ‘host’ this time around is taking the face of Tamamo Vitch, considering how much of a devil’s bargain this is. The last time around, we got the best ending for the scenario we were presented with; with the Grail already corrupted and ‘Ruler’ glitching out hardcore, we couldn’t have begun to succeed at a true Grail War or wish. Yet in the end, it wasn’t enough to free us from the cycle. With that in mind, the core issue, and presumably what might ‘free’ all of us, hasn’t been fixed here: with a mass of Masters to contend with, is it possible to successfully make a wish upon the Grail?

The last time around, the Grail was also corrupt, and I really don’t think a wish was truly possible; I think it would have backfired hard on us, given just how much mana the Grail is meant to contain when full. Corruption, a whole crowd’s worth of wishes, and an omnipotent wish-fulfilling device full of mana spelled disaster to me. Theoretically, this Grail will be clean. That said, I still don’t know if the Grail would still be able to handle a horde of wishes without backfiring, because it’s so powerful but was created to handle only one wish.

Then again, this War is starting out on the conceit of all of us cooperating from the start. Maybe a lesson learned from the first run, meant to make it easier for us to get used to the idea of pushing for one path together. But it doesn’t present much of a War, so what’s going to be ahead of us? A ‘boss rush’ kind of gauntlet seems likely to me, especially if we end up summoning an Extra class Servant, with all the other Servants summoned by the Grail to face off against and cut down. At first, anyway - after all, that’d be way too easy if it stayed straightforward and ‘proper’.

Yet with all this in mind, even assuming we do everything perfectly and it’s all hunky dory, would finally making a wish actually fix things? Is it supposed to? Are we trapped by forces outside ourselves, or simply by our own ambition and desire for a wish?

[tgrailwar-zero]

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She didn't introduce herself. Just appeared, with the authority of someone who needed no proper introduction. The space grew cold as she spoke, her voice artificial and unfeeling.

"Satisfied with your 'happy ending'? It was a truly quaint sort of thing. Hugs. Kisses. Fine enough for a test run of the THGW."

Her tone was sharp and concise, like needle gently finding its way into one's pressure points, each syllable weaseling their way into your ears as her voice dripped with mechanical saccharinity.

"You've gotten rather used to fighting against one another, yes? I'm sorry, but things have changed. Cooperation will key towards your success. If you choose to actively participate, at least. You'll all be sharing one Servant, at least for now, and the more disjointed you are will make your commands more difficult to them to follow. I'd call it a challenge, but you can do it. You're all rather talented Wizards, aren't you? I mean, you snipped apart a small simulacrum of a Holy Grail."

"Of course, if you'd simply want to stick with your 'happy ending', then that's fine. Perhaps you don't have a wish or desires. If you enjoy lying to yourself, then simply hold tight to your ending. The Grail is destroyed. The two main terminals disappear without argument. You've forever lost your Rider, failed to grant the wishes of the Servants you didn't permanently delete, but had the strength to stand by your convictions. Truly, a 'happy ending'. Or at least 'an ending'."

"But you can do better, can't you? You have wishes you'd want granted. Questions you'd like answered. Curiosities to be sated. So, take my hand and make your vow. We'll talk more once you've finalized a contract with your Servant. The process will take a while. Consider it your first attempt at 'teamwork'. Of course, that isn't the only 'contract' for you to sign."

I OFFER MYSELF AS A MASTER OF THE T.H.G.W. TO FIGHT TO THE END, AND TO SEE THE FULFILMENT OF THE THEORHETICAL GRAIL.

Simply say 'I agree'.

(Nod Emphatically)

(Nod Hesitantly)

Voting ended onApr 4, 2023

"Not much choice, is there? Don't worry, you'll have more real choices later. This is more to see how on-board you all can get with one another. Your Servant will only suffer if their Masters cannot agree on even the simplest of tasks after all. Besides, 'Prospective Masters'. You've already agreed to this contract a long time ago."

With that, she simply turned and left, leaving you to continue the process of establishing a Servant Contract.

[tgrailwar-zero]

Visit Original Link

Darkness. Never-ending, ever-black. Cold and unfeeling. Quiet and resolute. To exist within a void is to exist as nothingness, and yet you can feel something. A breeze. A whisper. Emotions that shouldn't exist within a space like this, and yet they are ever-present.

A moment washes over you.

For a while, there's a feeling of joy in that moment. Levity. Hope. The overwhelming sense that no matter what, things will be okay.

The moment subsides, and is replaced by a voice. Wordless at first, sound bouncing aimlessly off of you. Perhaps as protection. Perhaps simply because you haven't adjusted to it yet.

The voice is benign. Unthreatening. Devoid of emotion, yet heavy and defined.

And yet when you finally begin to process what's being said, the words latch on like a hook. Binding. Unrelenting. As if the moment you bore witness to them, there wasn't an escape.

The first word, ever familiar, latches on as you begin to see light.

"…Summon…"

Another few moments of silence, as more sound brushes past without any meaning, before suddenly another word worms its way into your psyche.

"Servant…"

The light flickers for a moment, before shining brighter, as you're faced with the full question.

"What kind of Servant do you wish to summon?"

Standard Class (Saber, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Caster, Rider, Berserker)

Extra Class (Ruler, Avenger, Alter-Ego, Foreigner, MoonCancer, Pretender)

Voting ended onApr 9, 2023