[Mystle] Nagao Kagetora & Noah O'Brien

Servant Information

True Name: Nagao Kagetora
Aliases: Uesugi Kenshin, The Dragon of Echigo, Echigo's God of War, The Avatar of Bishamonten, Warlord of Eight Flowers
Class: Rider

History:
Praised as a peerless warrior in Japan when it comes to battles, the Sengoku Daimyo of Echigo later known as the God of War, Nagao Kagetora. A self-proclaimed avatar of Bishamonten who fought all their lives with righteousness, in the turmoil of the Warring States. Uniting the nation of Echigo plagued by continuous internal strife, and dispatched her army countless times after receiving aid from other nations.

As such, innumerable battles unfolded between her and the likes of other warlords, such as Hōjō Ujiyasu, or perhaps the most famous rivalry, with Takeda Shingen. Constantly standing at the forefront of the battlefield, she has not lost even a single clash in her career spanning more than 70 battles, leading her army with her overwhelming charisma and tactical genius. She never resorted to underhanded tactics, and believed in fighting only with righteousness, even going so far as to aid the rival Shingen when he was dealing with the Hōjō clan boycotting salt trades to the Kai province, one of Shingen's territories, claiming she "does not fight with salt, only the sword", and sending some of her own salt reserves. Having changed names multiple times, she went variously as Nagao Kagetora, Uesugi Masatora, and finally took on the name of Uesugi Kenshin. The most famous name of all, Kenshin, is actually a Buddhist dharma name from her later life.

Kagetora's last conquest was that of Oda Nobunaga once she had considered his own expansion into the most powerful warlord in Japan at the time. They had previously had a couple of minor conflicts prior, but nothing as big as what she had planned. When the death of a lord in the Noto Province sparked up confusion and conflict, Kagetora took advantage of the chaos to strike immediately and take land, putting her in a position to threaten Nobunaga, who eventually pulled together his own forces to fight back. Despite Nobunaga's overwhelming numbers, Kagetora managed to score a solid victory on the field by predicting Nobunaga's attack's timing, pretending to send a small unit on a flank to bait Nobunaga into attacking what was presumably a weaker main force, when instead Kagetora's full military might was waiting. In the fall of that year, she arranged to put forth a grand army to continue her assaults into Nobunaga's land. Kagetora entered alliance with Takeda Katsuyori against Nobunaga, but held up by bad weather, she abruptly died of esophageal cancer in the spring, still undefeated in combat.

Personality:
As a Heroic Spirit, Kagetora is mostly a lively and sometimes devious individual with unending self confidence. She doesn't believe in any other principles aside from that of her own, which she constantly exemplifies and doesn't hesitate to share it with anyone else. Kagetora is fairly expressive despite her apparent lack of human morality outside of honor in combat, often longing for it and generally dragging her master along for the ride. She tends to take or do whatever she feels like at the time, a habit that gets worse when she's drunk. Kagetora is something of a wine addict, but also constantly complains about it, boasting Echigo's wine was the best in the world. Despite this, she doesn't seem to be picky, downing whatever she gets her hands on, even joking that a birthday party was just another excuse for a drinking party. Fairly forward and direct, and maybe a little bit of a sadist, she doesn't see a reason to hide her intents. Unless it's on the battlefield, a place where she goes all-out and doesn't focus on anything else until victory has been achieved.

As a self-proclaimed Avatar of Bishamonten, during her lifetime Kagetora has tried to protect people under the human rationality outlined as 'righteousness'. Nonetheless, having been born with excessive strength as a person herself, Kagetora during her lifetime has never managed to comprehend the exceedingly frail entities known as humans. Without understanding human emotions like sadness or anger in the slightest, she wears a smile as her only compromise with her surroundings regardless of how she truly feels. As the recipients of her unapproachable behavior and words, her retainers feared her, yet that fear morphed and took form as fanatical faith. And as a result, an even more inhuman way of life, reminiscent of gods and buddhas, had been forced upon her. To Kagetora, the brief scenes of life and death interspersed among the lethal conflicts she took part in were the only times she felt human at all.

Returning to the earth as a Heroic Spirit has alleviated this to an extent. She dearly treasures her bond with her master because he treats her like a fellow human, something she's lacked forever during her own lifetime.


Physical Appearance:


Kagetora measures in at 5'6" and 117 lbs. She has a well-toned athletic build, with proper posture and body language that exudes confidence. She has long two-toned hair, primarily white on top and black underneath, though there are a couple of black patches on the surface as well. She has bright olive-green colored eyes, and with her disposition to smile all the time regardless of her actual mood, can sometimes cause a sharp dissonance with that smile. It can inspire abundant excitement and energy, or incite gripping terror. Not all smiles are the same.

Clothing and Armor:

Warlord's Armor

Casual Clothing


At Home


Weapons of Choice:


Armament of the Eightfold Blossom

"As Himezuru flies, Sanchomou plays..
As Tanikiri crosses, Gokotai falls back...
As Saiken worships and Shichisei flies by...
What Taimatsu lights up is the treasured spear of Biten..."

Kagetora was constantly troubled. On the battlefield, between a sword and a spear, which weapon would be better? …Guns? She can’t aim those, so it’d be impossible. And then on a certain day, she encountered an inhuman figure of Bishamonten wielding eight swords, the “Eight-bladed Bishamonten”, and a revelation dawned upon her. And as such, she realized everything would be solved by simply bringing both her sword and spear! The next day, brandishing the eight weapons known as the Armament of the Eightfold Blossom, was the figure of the God of War from Echigo, wreaking havoc energetically. Thus, the strongest invincible Warring States general "Full Armor Kagetora-chan" was born.


Hōshōtsukige

Kagetora's beloved horse, Hōshōtsukige has been with her for a very long time as her trusted steed. Faster than the wind, her mount trusts its owner completely, allowing Kagetora to call complex orders that Hōshōtsukige's movements follow without even a fraction of delay, and with more ordinary actions, without a verbal command whatsoever. Kagetora can summon and dismiss Hōshōtsukige with a simple flash of mana.


Noble Phantasm:

Biten-Hassō Kuruma Gakari no Jin [Anti-Army Rank B]

Bishamonten's Eight Phases Wheel Charge Formation is the rotating formation that Nagao Kagetora was fond of, transformed into a Noble Phantasm suitable for individual combat. Originally, the formation involved splitting the army into several sections, which all take turns attacking the enemy lines, but for Kagetora herself, when the Noble Phantasm is invoked, the mounted and fully-armed Kagetora splits into eight clones with lightning-quick speed on the level of instantaneous movement to strike the enemy as a sure-kill one-person alternating rotation formation.




Skills:

Magic Resistance - C
Granting protection against magical effects, Kagetora has a level of magic resistance that will automatically cancel spells with a chant below two verses. However, this trait cannot innately against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals on its own.

Riding - C
The ability to ride mounts and vehicles, Kagetora can handle most vehicles and animals with above-average skill. However, she cannot ride the likes of Phantasmal Species such as Monstrous Beasts. Her preference is with horses, her mastery and synergy with her beloved steed Hōshōtsukige is rivaled by none.

Divinity - C
The measure of whether one has Divine Spirit aptitude or not, which has an effect that purges special defenses in proportion to the Divinity's Rank, and can break through skills such as Protection of the Faith. After having lived her life so detached from the mundane, Kagetora attained her divine seat as the God of War, and was venerated accordingly. By now, there would be no way of ascertaining whether that had been her intention.

Fate is in Heaven - A
For Kagetora, who believes in the protection of Bishamonten, it's possible for her to actualize beneficial outcomes when undertaking various actions on the battlefield. Some might call it luck, some might call it fate, others might even believe it to be divine intervention. Derived from her personal mantra and famous quote, "Always fight with your opponent in the palm of your hand, and you won't get wounded. If you fight willing to die, you'll survive; if you fight trying to survive, you'll die. If you think you'll never go home again, you will; if you hope to make it back, you won't. While it is not incorrect to consider the world uncertain, as a warrior one should not think of it as uncertain but as totally certain." As Kagetora believes this to be true, expected outcomes of events will occur and play out precisely in the manner that she thinks they will, as if there was not a doubt in the world something else could happen.

Armor is on the Chest - A
A defensive skill against projectile weapons. The anecdote during her life — in which she calmly sipped her wine right in front of her enemies with bullets flying everywhere, while dodging every single one of them — became a skill. With her strong sense of pride, a phenomenon similar to reality warping occurs, where as long as she couldn’t think of getting hit, bullets would never hit her, to the extent that their trajectories would curve to avoid her. However, if the shooting is done with enough aggression to the point where Kagetora herself believes the possibility of her getting hit, the protection could be broken through.

Accomplishment is in the Feet - A
The tactical intuition of Kagetora, praised as a peerless warrior within Japan. Having won all of the 70-plus battles she experienced in her life, Kagetora finds sieging castles somewhat troublesome, preferring up-close and personal combat instead. Her natural talent and boundless combat experience allow her to think and develop complex strategies on the fly, as well as adapt her plans to any new variable she encounters, both in regards to one-on-one combat and for strategy on an army-size level.

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Master Information

Name: Noah O'Brien
Age: 27
Gender: Male

Visual Appearance:




History:
Noah hails from a renowned mage ancestry out of Ireland, with parents both significantly experienced in the field of magic. However, for the most part, after he was born, Noah's family lived a fairly normal life settling down in urban England, where his parents could maintain their connections with the Mage Association yet remain comfortably in a peaceful locale, for the time being. Noah attended a subsidiary school for magic before eventually transferring to the main Clock Tower branch when he was older, having received some practical lessons at home to supplement his earlier teachings at a younger age in order to familiarize himself with magic faster and make it second nature. Noah picked up on the principles of his mother's Alteration-class magecraft at an unnatural pace, so it was decided that he would continue to pursue that line of study.

Upon enrolling in the Clock Tower, while his background screening already covered this information, his professor still found it difficult to come to terms with the youth's current progress. After a discussion with him, Noah was recommended an advanced track within the Department of Archaeology to deploy for a more practical assignment where his level of magical ability could be taken advantage of and cultivated. Despite being aware of this, Noah did not let it slip his mind that even though he was fortunate to have a good upbringing and talent, that his own efforts should not slack off as a result. He maintained giving full effort throughout his time at the Clock Tower, applying himself to the areas he was most interested in, both academically and recreationally. Athletics were a strength of his, and he did love to spend time painting, but most of his attention was actually grabbed by strategy games, both for tabletop board games and of video games. It was probably one of the few things that could infringe on his time studying.

It wasn't until a couple of years later that this interest would actually bear fruit. Following his professor's customized track, Noah began undertaking expeditions outside of London into active field research for the Clock Tower, investigating a variety of magic-related phenomena and privately issued tasks and commissions, especially concerning old-era archaeology and potential sites for magical relics. On many occasions, their field investigations would be formed from a small group of assembled Department of Archaeology mages, but other times the limited availability and often long duration of such expeditions meant that there were commonly personnel shortages in the case of new incoming information and assignments. Thus, Noah was also sometimes assigned on joint expeditions with squadrons of tactical homunculi specially created and trained for field activity and combat. Later on, he would be assigned the leader role for some of these outings, letting him take command of the expeditions and assign routing to optimally cover ground and retain clear lines of communication and backup.

This phase in his life gave Noah a wealth of experience in traveling, primarily across Europe, although there were times where he had visited distant locations such as America or Japan. Over time, Noah picked up a variety of languages quite fluently, and his tactical acumen provided great efficiency towards shortening their investigation times, something which the Department of Archaeology had noticed and continually praised him for. Not everything was all sunshine and roses, of course, especially when dealing with private matters of this inherently dangerous nature. Some explorations went south quickly, including a few where their positions had been compromised and he and the other team members had been forced to escape under attack from a variety of assailants, from magical phenomena, to phantasmal beasts, and other humans. After the first such incident, Noah requested and completed a training course on firearms, and begun carrying around a Five-seveN model tactical handgun with him in addition to his magecraft, which he soon realized could be used to augment his own fighting style, but any difficulties encountered were often recorded and had contingency plans developed for. Of course, magical investigations were not so smooth as for this to actually prevent their troubles, but it was good practice to at least make records of all kinds of anomalies regardless.

The other biggest event that happened while Noah was on deployment for the Clock Tower field work was when on an expedition in the forests of northern Germany, a magical insignia appeared on the back of his hand. He didn't know what it was, and it faintly glowed an ominous red, but it didn't hurt nor impede his condition, so he continued on until the mission's completion. It was not until a couple of hours after submitting the combat report did he receive a strange request and conference called by the Clock Tower's Assistant Headmaster, in addition to upper management from the Department of Spiritual Evocation. It was a seminar and lecture on the history of the Holy Grail War ritual, as well as its workings and a summary on various terms that it involved, including the fact that he had been chosen as a participant by the command seal on his hand. Noah was also informed that this Holy Grail War in particular seemed to have some abnormalities, in that there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of participants or the classes of its servants, and their current objective regarding it was still further investigation into its cause and dealing with the current incidents seemingly everywhere resulting from it.

Noah decided to continue with the result on the condition that he would not be used as an experiment by the Clock Tower. It was revealed to him that they had several other members already also participating in the Holy Grail War, though their cooperation was not always exactly stellar. He was also given the choice of a a collection of catalysts the department was currently in possession of. The decision was quick, one of the relics was a fragment of a statue of Bishamonten, the Buddhist god of war. A week later, Noah was ready for the summoning ritual, and met his servant, the Japanese warlord Nagao Kagetora, although perhaps more known by the name Uesugi Kenshin, that name did not seem to be what she went by at her current age for this summoning.

The addition of the powerful Rider-class servant with an incredible tactical mind was a massive boon to the deployments of the Archaeology department's expeditions, and they quickly became a renowned elite pair within the Clock Tower. Despite the oddity of the current ongoing Holy Grail War, servants were still a rarity, especially among a magical organization like the Clock Tower with no end to the number of individuals who would kill to get their hands on such power. Noah and Kagetora also found themselves in communications not only with the Department of Spiritual Evocation, but also on occasion the Department of Lore. While the general class of their missions did not change much, they all became focused on the events of the current hidden Holy Grail War going on behind the scenes. As much as Noah preferred leading communications from whatever operational base camp the expedition teams were able to station at, Kagetora enjoyed dragging him along headfirst into the assortment of locales, ruins, towns, and whatever else their informational leads might take them. While it was a world of difference for Noah to be relied on for actual combat, it also helped him grow as a person, and also became closer to the other members of the Archaeology department as more of a central figure than he had ever used to be previously. That said, Kagetora's own brilliant mind helped Noah bounce plans and theories off of each other, and wherever the Rider set foot, success was sure to follow.

Noah currently works for the Clock Tower's departments of Archaeology, Spiritual Evocation, and Lore out in the field as a Pride-ranked magus alongside his Servant and partner, Kagetora, wherever necessity finds them.


Personality: Noah is an honest, hardworking, dedicated individual who always gives full effort to the current task at hand. While he can be stubborn at times, he's also risk-averse and prefers planning out tactics to prioritize safety. He gets great satisfaction and sometimes relief at being able to 100% guarantee an outcome, but some of the hardest choices for him to make comes when there is no chance at a 'next time'. An empathetic person, Noah is always willing to compromise to a reasonable extent to accommodate others, as long as it doesn't interfere with the outcomes of his planning. He loves tasks that keep his mind busy, giving him something to focus on or at least provide a mental outlet. He is the type to get bored easily, and will tend to find something to do rather than idle. This also has given him the bad habit of unintentionally overworking himself - Noah has a hard time recognizing when he needs to take a break. Ever since summoning Kagetora, he's also made an effort of trying to get to know her better. If they're going to spend the foreseeable future together, he finds it important that they mesh well.


Magical Preference: Noah's magical affinity is Wind. His particular in Magecraft he refers to as Pulse, the ability to apply a direction of movement to a non-living source, either radial or as a vector. Classified primarily under Alteration within the Material Transmutation category, Pulse infuses Noah's mana to the target to apply kinetic force rather than modify the object itself, though this primarily requires him to be in some sort of contact with the target. This can be done through an intermediary, for example applying a vector Pulse to a projectile aimed at the target, allowing the transfer of mana from the projectile to the target to apply kinetic force to it. While this form of magecraft has widely diverse possibilities in application, it also lends itself to Noah needing to make the most of the surrounding environment. While especially effective when physically strong objects such as boulders or metal are around, he also carries a Five-seveN handgun when expecting combat, a lightweight, low-recoil model whose smaller 5.7mm ammunition carrying a shorter effective range is offset by his ability to apply Pulse to the bullets, including in directions other than where he is aiming to change the trajectory, or as a radial pulse to cause it to explode. Noah also has basic knowledge of standard-fare Wind-element magecraft.