Author Topic: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure  (Read 224701 times)

Hello Purvis

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Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« on: February 17, 2018, 01:39:57 AM »
>You are Lily Humboldt!  Magus of Calumet City and a Master in a very unusual Grail War.
>Your Servant is Robin Hood -AHEM- Robin Wood, who is of the Archer Class. The two of you have gotten along well so far. You have met or at least heard of several other Servants in the Calumet City thus far, which is curious because as near as you can tell, the Grail is actually someplace in Delaware. That it's even on this continent is strange enough... Your servant has encountered Berserker, and the two of you decided to leave him be. You have had a battle with Rider; who turned out to be Henry Ford under the command of none other than Charles Koch; and came out victorious. More distressingly, you have also met Assassin, whom you have identified as Gavrilo Princip. He took to killing Charles himself, employing a Noble Phantasm that apparently strikes at the world order itself.
>Thankfully, the police didn't batter down your door that night as you slept, and even more thankfully Assassin was nowhere to be seen. Instead, you made your way out of Illinois while the nation went more and more insane in the wake of the murder of a highly influential billionaire. Passing through Indiana, you encountered Lancer and his Master, a Native America woman named Kimimela. Your meeting was tense, but ended somewhat peacefully, until Berserker showed up and you left them there to deal with it. After overnighting in the soulless husk of the eastern-most midwest, you make your way through the Appalachian Mountains and encountered another master, this one with a servant whose class didn't fit any of the ones that you expected. Just contemplating his information gave you a sense of disquiet. This time, things broke down and you ended up taking a more lethal solution to deal with things.
>Finally, you managed to reach your goal of Delaware, and had a reasonably peaceful and restful night. You've been making your way through the state this morning, checking out coastal areas. Having just finished up looking into a tiny bay-side neighborhood called Kitt's Hummock, you prepare to move on to somewhere more southern. You've also just found that Archer and Lancer were talking with each other last night.

> "Is that alright with you? I just checked for messages and skimmed it while I was waiting for the map to load."
> "But yeah. In all honesty Kimimela isn't unjustified in what she wants to wish for, but I don't think it would end very well."

>"It's kind of annoying, actually," Archer says. "I didn't paw through all your conversations."
>She nods when you mention Lancer's master. "I suppose. I don't know, back in my time that sort of thing happened all the time. But they get seem to have a whole lot of bad luck."

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #1 on: February 17, 2018, 02:13:31 AM »
> "Er, right, sorry."
> "Anyway, it turned out most other nations weren't nearly as imperialistic, so when Europeans stopped fighting each other and turned their sights outward, a lot of the rest of the world got bowled over, like Kimimela's people."
> "The modern world doesn't look back very fondly on it, so it's, uh, a contentious issue, is one way you could put it."

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #2 on: February 17, 2018, 02:46:06 AM »
> "Er, right, sorry."
> "Anyway, it turned out most other nations weren't nearly as imperialistic, so when Europeans stopped fighting each other and turned their sights outward, a lot of the rest of the world got bowled over, like Kimimela's people."
> "The modern world doesn't look back very fondly on it, so it's, uh, a contentious issue, is one way you could put it."

>"I'll say," says Archer. "Given how you two were squabbling about it."

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #3 on: February 17, 2018, 03:39:16 AM »
> "Come to think of it, did the French pick any fights with England back during your time?"

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #4 on: February 17, 2018, 05:32:15 AM »
> "Come to think of it, did the French pick any fights with England back during your time?"

>"From what I've gathered, we didn't really have French back then," says Archer. "We had Franks, and Saxons, and stuff like that. And if they did, they didn't bother Nottingham."

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #5 on: February 17, 2018, 03:13:56 PM »
> "I think you're from a lot further back than the era I keep thinking of...what was the last year you remember?"

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #6 on: February 17, 2018, 08:21:25 PM »
> "I think you're from a lot further back than the era I keep thinking of...what was the last year you remember?"

>"We didn't really keep track of numerical years," says Archer, shrugging.
>From what you gathered on the first day of the trip, she comes from some point before Britain unified. At least she's mentioned places like Mercia as being existent.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #7 on: February 17, 2018, 10:17:04 PM »
> Continue along to Rehoboth Beach!
> (Lament not stopping at Slaughter Beach.)

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #8 on: February 18, 2018, 12:10:02 AM »
> Continue along to Rehoboth Beach!
> (Lament not stopping at Slaughter Beach.)

>You hop back into the car and make your southward. The estimate that you were given is about an hour, and not having to dodge around any toll roads you certainly get there closer to it, just following state highway 1 most of the way. You enter Sussex County; Archer is starting to grumble more and more about pilfered English names; and traffic becomes heavier. You find yourself entering a metropolitan area; you gather it isn't one city so much as a bunch of little towns that just sort of grew into each other. And given the number of "Now entering..." signs you see, they are very concerned you don't mistake any one of them for any other town just across the street. It's not quite as large as what you're used to, but it's at least more familiar than the awful nowhere towns of Indiana and Ohio.
>Traffic gets about as bad as Chicago's shortly, and you quickly realize a non-trivial portion of it is vacationers. With a long sigh, you settle into crawling through traffic as you slowly but surely make your way toward West Rehoboth, and the selfsame beach. As you do, you notice a lot more hotels and lame chain restaurants popping up. This is definitely a resort town... It might be more tolerable to make your base  of operations a bit further inland. Then again...

>_

Jana

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #9 on: February 18, 2018, 01:04:59 AM »
>"The English were the ones to colonize this area, and they just re-used a lot of names they were already using."

Having all these people around will at least make it less likely that someone will magically ambush us.

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #10 on: February 18, 2018, 01:17:10 AM »
>"The English were the ones to colonize this area, and they just re-used a lot of names they were already using."

>"They could have done a better job," Archer says. "So, going to the beach again?"

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2018, 01:24:53 AM »
> "That's right, although the number of people headed the same way doesn't excite me."
> "At Kitt's Hummock I felt we needed to go east and also south...if I'm still feeling east when we get to the beach this time, it'll be a safe bet it's somewhere out on the ocean."
> "...Or beneath. God, please don't let the Grail be underwater."

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #12 on: February 18, 2018, 04:19:40 AM »
> "That's right, although the number of people headed the same way doesn't excite me."
> "At Kitt's Hummock I felt we needed to go east and also south...if I'm still feeling east when we get to the beach this time, it'll be a safe bet it's somewhere out on the ocean."
> "...Or beneath. God, please don't let the Grail be underwater."

>"At least...it wouldn't be wholly impossible to get to, these days, if it were." says Archer.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #13 on: February 18, 2018, 05:23:08 AM »
> "Uh...are you prepared to steal a submarine, if it comes down to it?"

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #14 on: February 18, 2018, 06:26:35 AM »
> "Uh...are you prepared to steal a submarine, if it comes down to it?"

>"Wouldn't be the first thing I stole," says Archer.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #15 on: February 18, 2018, 04:21:19 PM »
> "Well, that's reassuring, in a way."
> Continue to slog through traffic towards Rehoboth Beach.

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #16 on: February 18, 2018, 08:56:40 PM »
> "Well, that's reassuring, in a way."
> Continue to slog through traffic towards Rehoboth Beach.

>"They're not much harder to drive than cars, right?" Archer says.
>Slowly but surely, you make your way there. On the bright side, there is parking just about everywhere. On the less bright side, it is still a nightmare. But eventually you manage to get parked, and see the beach not terribly far away.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #17 on: February 18, 2018, 09:41:21 PM »
> "Finally."
> Stretch our legs, grab a coke out of the cooler, and get ready to walk out to the beachfront.
> "Let's check it out and hope our next destination isn't the docks."

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #18 on: February 18, 2018, 10:57:38 PM »
> "Finally."
> Stretch our legs, grab a coke out of the cooler, and get ready to walk out to the beachfront.
> "Let's check it out and hope our next destination isn't the docks."

>Archer claims a soft drink as well. "Frankly, if it is out to sea, I wouldn't recommend going out any further right now."
>There's a fair amount of activity at the beach, from what you can see.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #19 on: February 18, 2018, 11:42:35 PM »
> "Yeah...realistically if it's out in the ocean we'll have to give up on finding it until we win the war. But we'd have to get to it eventually."
> "If it's a dead end we'll spend the rest of the day looking for a good campsite."
> Head on over to the beach.

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #20 on: February 19, 2018, 02:03:20 AM »
> "Yeah...realistically if it's out in the ocean we'll have to give up on finding it until we win the war. But we'd have to get to it eventually."
> "If it's a dead end we'll spend the rest of the day looking for a good campsite."
> Head on over to the beach.

>"Or at least until we get an idea of who and what we're dealing with," says Archer. "After that, the shift in terrain might work out for us."
>Making your way toward the beach, you can see it kind of crowded despite the weather. There's a lot of families, and a fair number of people who are probably retirees. Children are running around around, raising a ruckus as they tend to do. Despite this, things seem fairly calm.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #21 on: February 19, 2018, 02:56:04 AM »
> It's probably safe to let our guard down. Nobody's going to hassle us on a crowded beach.
> Right? Right??

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #22 on: February 19, 2018, 06:22:11 AM »
> It's probably safe to let our guard down. Nobody's going to hassle us on a crowded beach.
> Right? Right??

>If they can hassle you on a somewhat crowded beach, it probably doesn't matter whether your guard is up or not.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #23 on: February 19, 2018, 03:44:47 PM »
> True enough!
> Head out near the water and take in the scene. Feel the ebb and flow of mana, or however this magic bullshit works.
> Where's our Grail Radar pointing now?

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #24 on: February 19, 2018, 08:34:48 PM »
> True enough!
> Head out near the water and take in the scene. Feel the ebb and flow of mana, or however this magic bullshit works.
> Where's our Grail Radar pointing now?

>You make your way toward the ocean, Archer walking along with you, and don't feel anything particularly unusual. This area doesn't seem to be unusually active in a magical sense.
>You...don't have a good feel for the Grail from here. You know this isn't it, but the next step isn't very clear at the moment.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #25 on: February 19, 2018, 08:43:46 PM »
> Oh man. Archer's gonna be mad.
> Are we sure?? Furrow our brow and concentrate really hard.

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #26 on: February 19, 2018, 09:32:27 PM »
> Oh man. Archer's gonna be mad.
> Are we sure?? Furrow our brow and concentrate really hard.

>You focus harder. ...Signs are uncertain. You feel...there's another step, but something is in the way. Not the presence of an ocean you might have to traverse, rather it seems like something less easy to get around.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #27 on: February 19, 2018, 09:55:25 PM »
> Send to Archer, given the number of people around. "Well, I can't feel the Grail, but I think this is the place...rather, this is as close as we can get right now."
> "I think the Grail is somewhere strange. A place we can't reach yet. There's something we have to do first, but I can't guess what."
> "How about you? Can you feel anything?"
> Take a good look around the beach. Can we tell if there are any other masters around, or just any other persons of interest?

Hello Purvis

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #28 on: February 19, 2018, 11:27:08 PM »
> Send to Archer, given the number of people around. "Well, I can't feel the Grail, but I think this is the place...rather, this is as close as we can get right now."
> "I think the Grail is somewhere strange. A place we can't reach yet. There's something we have to do first, but I can't guess what."
> "How about you? Can you feel anything?"
> Take a good look around the beach. Can we tell if there are any other masters around, or just any other persons of interest?

>"Hmm," Archer sends back. "I suppose that means we don't have to worry about someone getting ahead of us, at least."
>Looking around, no one really immediately stands out to you.

>_

Stuffman

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Re: Jojo's Bizarre Grail War Part 3: A Z-Machine Adventure
« Reply #29 on: February 19, 2018, 11:58:31 PM »
> "Well, someone might show up sooner or later. Let's hang around for an hour or so."