[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore
[X] Get it out of the way and say "Ni."

Oh god, yes. Lack of weapons is going to be problematic, though.

GET OUT OF MY HEAD, KARESH. I was going to write this, almost exactly the same.

Argh. I may just write it anyway. My concept might be different enough. Anyway. Votes.

[x] The Fae must have spirited me away from the battlefield. This has to be Faerieland.
[X] Wait. if I've been brought here it's doubtful whomever is responsible will leave me waiting for long

[X] This is Limbo, land of the virtuous heathens. But this cannot be my destination.
[X] Explore

Let's make like Dante and find our Virgil.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore
-[X] Search for God and ask him for your next quest!

WE SHALL SEEK THE HOLY GRAIL! Or, barring grails, THE HOLY SOMETHING!

And I shall prepare a Knightly name for our Knight!

[X] Oh goodie, I'm dead and I'm in hell
[X] Wait. if I've been brought here it's doubtful whomever is responsible will leave me waiting for long

Couple of things I probably should have put in the first post;

Historical accuracy isn't a primary concern. It's doubtful any Knight of any order would be a smartass or make modern references, but don't shy away from it as long as it's funny.

By default, you're a Knight of the Hospitaller order who uses a sword and shield, though you are proficient in a lot of other weapons and unarmed combat.

Feel free to change these with a write in if it strikes your fancy though; for your allegiance any order of Knights including one you make up is acceptable, but I'd prefer to keep it as a Hospitaller...If for nothing else, I think their coat of arms is awesome.
Any weapons feasibly in the hands of a crusader Knight are acceptable but if you do choose to change that try to specify the type as there's a whole freaking ton of weapons that could fall under the category of say, "a two-handed sword".

Through some crazy mad time warping, you're in what would count as modern day Gensokyo. Roughly a month after the Unidentified Fantastic Object incident. So even though you're from 1291 AD, Sanae is still wandering around. The characters are...Something of a mix between canon, fanon and whatever suits the story as it moves on.

I do have a basic idea of where I'd like us to go, but nothing is set in stone.

For the most part you look like the pictured Knight. Take away the sword, the banner and add a little hole in his chests armor and you're set.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore

He died defending his faith. He has to be in heaven, right?

>>127315
And as the two knights paths diverge and cause havoc all over Gensokyo the stories start crossing over, with each having to solve problems the other created.

>>127324
>He died defending his faith. He has to be in heaven, right?

Unless he was fighting for the wrong faith.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore

Interesting. We had a Viking already, so why not a Knight! Knightanon fought in the Fall of Acre, confirmed as a Frank?
But i sure hope you know how to write a knight, he must think like one and act like one. This will not be easy but when you can pull this off it will be ver enjoyable.
My Main concern is that this will be just another Average Joe or Yukari did it.

>>127320

Oh, goody...customization!

Weapon, well, how about a footman's hammer? Of about the same make as Venetian Heavy Infantry was wont to use. it would probably prove useful against the banded and splint mail used in the Holy Land around the time, anyway. Definitely a kite shield, of the legitimate historical variety, not the generic 'shield shaped' kind of shield.

I personally love the Hospitaller knights. Keep this. Perhaps make him a second son of Baron Hilton? Able to trace his lineage back to Launcelot du Hilton, who fought and died alongside William I, King of England during his invasion?

The family was granted lands in return for their service, and had, at one point, a legitimate claim on the crown via Henry the IV, I believe.

And he would be of the proper social strata and landholding status to be able to gain entrance into the Knights Hospitaller, if they hadn't restricted the entry by this point. (I honestly can't remember.)

>>127329

'Frank' is meaningless in this context, given he has in fact been confirmed as a Knight of St. John, and thus Catholic, which automatically grants the ethnonym 'Frank' given the period and location.

>Unless he was fighting for the wrong faith.

He clearly believed in the wrong god. It is high time to change that, make him a Knight of Suwa. Along with his own flag and coat of arms.

Why not a Knight Templar? Admit the Red Cross on White background as awesome too!

[x] is this... the Garden of Eden?
[x] Explore.

We are a Knight of the Militant Orders. We fear nothing.

[x] Explore.
[x] Find Dragon.
[x] Slay Dragon.

We're a Knight. We slay Dragons.

>>127329
Unless something drastic occurs that makes me change my mind, it's not a case of Yukari did it.
If you're interested I could post the general idea of how he comes to Gensokyo. But hopefully it'll get revealed over the course of events anyway.

>>127337
Founder of the Holy Order of Myouren Temple Defenders.

[X] is this... the Garden of Eden?
-[x] Explore.

Works for me~!

>>127342
Once we realize that people here are heathens, we're gonna have to go on a converting spree. Knightanon must construct additional churches.

[X] -
[X] Explore

>>127341

What did Meiling ever do to you?

>>127335
I wrote that before >>127320 was posted, got kinda distracted and posted it too late. He cleared much up with that.

>>127349
She's a Dragon? We slay Dragons. Because Dragons are a symbol of Evil and the Devil.

Freaking Pagans.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore

I'm interested in seeing how Knightanon reacts to the large cast of powerful females in Gensokyo, given the time period he came from.

[x] The Fae must have spirited me away from the battlefield. This has to be Faerieland.
[x] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[x] Explore

Karesh:
Get a trip, posthaste. Also use either Notepad++ or OpenOffice. Something with a spellchecker.

>>127354
I actually do use Open Office, but for some reason the spell check doesn't like to work.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore

>Knights Hospitaller
>1291, Siege of Acre
Uh, damn. I was going to make a snarky comment about not being stabbed in the back by someone dressed like an overly armed scholar, but this is a century too late for that.

>>127342
>Holy Order of Myouren Temple Defenders
Fund it!

>>127344
>>127352

Is your favorite color blue but not very green?

[x] The Fae must have spirited me away from the battlefield. This has to be Faerieland.
[x] Explore

Despite all the christfaggotry going on, I'll remind folks that famed knights in legends got aid from the Fae folk. Who do you think forged Excalibur?

That picture with Cirno and the knight would be pretty fitting here.

[x] The Fae must have spirited me away from the battlefield. This has to be Faerieland.
[x] Explore

>>127367

The lady of the lake.

Does that mean Cirno can forge Excalibur?

OR someone else? Knightanon! We finally get to be real Knights!

>>127367
Friend, Knightanon is a Knight of the Order of St.John the Hospitalier, a Holy Order Militant blessed by the Pope to protect the Holy Land and take the fight to the Muslims. We're from 1291 and The Knights of St.John would go on to fight the Ottomans for the next 4 centuries, without faltering or giving up, despite being grievously outnumbered and suffering several defeats. They were the boogeymen of the Eastern Med.

Knightanon is a zealot, a fanatic. He is a Catholicfag by the simple definition of who he is. You cannot dissociate him from the fact that he is devotedly Roman Catholic.

>>127367
He is a Knight who kills muslims and wants to recapture the holy land in the name of god. And make a name for himself in Life or even Death.

I think his motives are pretty clear.

You guys sure are assuming a lot about a guy we know almost nothing about yet.

>>127375
It's pretty good assumption to assume that a crusade (especially one in an order) would be a fanatic.

>>127376
It's a reasonable assumption, but not entirely something you can put on every single soldier or Knight involved in the crusades.
There were exceptions, and Knightanon may be one.

>>127378
Will you choose for us or can we actually choose with votes as the story progresses if he is a fanatic, in between or not?

>>127379
More or less. I have a general idea of who he is just like I have a general idea of where the story might go. But it's likely going to be overwritten, rewritten and then thrown out the window and set on fire as you guys shape him up.

For the moment I'm trying to keep it a fair bit vague, but part of how I see him will filter in here and there until some more definitive traits are conjured up through the votes.

It's always possible that he started out as a fanatic only to start losing that as he spent more time fighting, and being forced to deal with shitty politics in the Crusader states.

After all not all the Crusaders stayed because they believed in their original mission, some stayed to get rich, some to kill people, and some do to their duty to the oaths they swore.

[X] Obviously I've died and been given my eternal reward for my tireless service to the lord. I'm in heaven.
[X] Explore

>>127332
Why a peasant's weapon? In the very least, shouldn't we be be most familiar with a sword?

>>127384
Spears were here, swords are for losers.

>>127380
All i can say then is: Get back to work nigger.

>>127385

Once again, spears are for peasants. Swords are for nobles, i.e. knights.

> Spears were here, swords are for losers.

Explain?

>>127389
I know, right.

>>127387
>Spears kill knights

>>127385
Axes were here, spears are for losers.

The thought occurs to you, but it quite frankly seems too good to be true...It couldn't really have been so...simple? Could it? Yet from a situation you clearly should not have survived, you're...Here! There's no other explanation, clearly, you're in Heaven!

The moment you realize what this truly means you try to stand, but find yourself struck by a bout of dizziness. Thankfully you're able to brace yourself on the tree you'd been leaning against up till that point.
As the dizziness passes you use your free hand to pull your helmet away from your head, and take a deep breath of pure air. No smoke, no dirt or sand or the smell of blood and free of your helmet, not even...Whatever the smell that you could never seem to get out of it was.... Nothing but air.

You feel like you're on the verge of tears...A pure, unquestionable joy that you haven't felt in many many years. You tuck your helmet under your shoulder, pick a direction and begin walking.

Nowhere in particular, really. You don't know where you are, where to go, what to do...But you're here. A perfect world, eternal freedom from war and strife. Your promised reward in death. Heaven.

You see many sights along your walk; most glimpsed through the light cover of the trees that surround you. But none truly stands out as deserving of a change in direction.

Continuing along your path you come to a river; rather than strip your armor or attempt the trip across while wearing it, you change direction and follow down along with it....It's such a simple thing; picking the easiest solution. Changing your course rather than fighting through all obstacles. But the simplicity doesn't change how important it feels to you.

Taking the easy way...Going with the flow...Finally being able to relax. It's a simple joy, but joy that you've not been able to feel for years. And as you bask in that joy your life seems to replay through your mind.

Before you can truly begin to ponder your life in its entirety however, the river runs its course. Flowing into a lake you see just ahead.

Exiting the forest, you step out onto the beach and take in the view...You can't remember the last time you saw this much water...But even still, you're not feeling all that thirsty. And while you're almost entirely sure that it's not forbidden to drink the water in Heaven...Why take the risk?

Looking around you can see two likely choices for destinations; Directly in front of you and strikingly...Almost mockingly red is a large western mansion. It seems that if you follow the edge of the lake, you'll reach a land path that will lead straight there. Certainly the owner would have a greater understanding of where you are specifically.

On the other hand, you could turn back and follow back up the river once again...Or even head off in some other direction. The choices are near endless.

[] Mansion
[] Follow the river
[] Somewhere else?

________

Not much has changed for you. You're still unarmed and pretty lost. But don't worry! We'll figure out who you are soon enough, and then we'll get you getting your ass kicked by Touhous left and right.

[x] Mansion

Seeing Knightanon's reaction to a vampire will be fun.

One question:

Why is it that everyone always automatically goes batshit when confronted with any hint of Christianity? Seriously, this dude is a Crusader, and while not all of them were frothing, KILL-HERETICS berserkers as most people make them out to be, they all did hold some belief in Catholicism.

One post into the actual storyline and people are already going "FUCK THE CHRISTIANS, LET'S HAVE THIS GUY ABANDON HIS FAITH FOR THE SAKE OF OUR OWN PERSONAL BELIEFS." Jesus Christ, at least keep with the spirit of the character, and if you have a problem with his choice of belief system, maybe you should go try a different adventure. Just seems hypocritical to me that so many of you hate Christians for "pushing their beliefs on others", but have no problem doing the same to them.

>>127402

Oh, and for the sake of the story choice, if we can still pick a weapon, go for the halberd. The spear tip allows for thrusting, while the axe head allows for slashing. It also has length, which is almost always an advantage in any fight. It doesn't hurt also that most European medieval soldiers would use polearms as their main weapons, with swords relegated to sidearm position.

[x] Mansion

Admittedly meta knowledge, but the Scarlets are much more likely to speak the same language as knightanon than most other people in Gensokyo.

agree with Halberd

>>127402
He is going to need allies to survive... that, or magic powers/sweet legendary gear. If he is going to have any allies at all, they will be witches, demons, or false idols.

[x] Mansion

This. Remilia being Catholic isn't exactly unrealistic, and a Christian vampire might be just as monstrous as the other demons in Gensokyo, but from a Crusader's perspective, at least she's not a heathen.

>>127412 here.
Oh, and I forgot to add. We should totally get a sword. Swords are badass, accurate enough for a knight Hospitaller, and frankly, this is a fiction story, nobody will complain if technical efficiency takes a backseat to awesomeness.

[X] Mansion

I say, dear chaps, that we continue our path towards the scarlet-colored mansion near the lake shore, using the prescribed path as mentioned before. As a great warrior of the knightly code of ethics of Chivalry, Honor, and Piety, we should be able to greatly find lodgings with whoever be the master of said mansion. As being in the paradise stated in our Christian religion, whoever is in the mansion should surely grant us lodgings and rest, and if not, at least provide with information of where we can go to gain a place to rest for the rest of our eternity in heaven.

...

Good lord, verbosity is hard to pull off. I don't even think I pulled it off properly.

But yeah, our first trial in Gensokyo! Scarlet Devil Mansion!

>>127411

So he's going to completely abandon the deities he's believed in and the moral system he's followed because there are people around him that are more powerful? That's not how belief, let alone faith works. Hell, that didn't happen when the Saracens beat the shit out of the Crusaders at Hattin, the Crusaders didn't go "LOL FUCK JESUS ALLAHLLAHLLAHLLAHLLAH", many of them agreed to be put to death rather then renounce their faith, because they believed whole-heartedly in it. And wouldn't the presence of supernatural powers only reinforce, with his mindset, that there is definite proof that Gods exist, and therefore, his God could definitely be behind them.

Not only that, there's the underlying fact in Gensokyo that enough accumulated faith in something can give birth to something powerful. So, what would happen if this man has powerful enough belief in his God to actually manifest some avatar of Yahweh, or Jesus, in Gensokyo? That would make for a far more interesting plotline, seeing a monotheistic, Western deity interact with Eastern, polytheistic gods, then say, yet another CYOA where the protagonist gets on both knees and virtually fellates any powerful figures he comes across.

[x] Didn't you just see a Mountain the other way.

Crusader and Vampires, Witches and Fairies don't mix too well. Let's go find some Gods.
>>127411
Let's not go for a fight everything on sight every 2 or 3 updates. Some take it easy and fight only when necessary sounds good.

He is, after all, glad that he is in "Heaven" and finally got rid of war and killing.

>>127418
pagan gods would mix even worse

>>127421
I am more thinking what >>127417 meant.
>That would make for a far more interesting plotline, seeing a monotheistic, Western deity interact with Eastern, polytheistic gods

But not only that. There are just too many possibilities here.

>>127417
Well, I wasn't thinking so much "sudden total change in beliefs" as "beliefs are slowly weakened by the fact that some of the demons and witches and heretics are actually being nice", but if you want to get angry at me go ahead.

>>127424

It's not so much anger directed at you as much as it sounds like you want him to go "Hey, some of these people are nice. You know what? Fuck Jesus and fuck the Gospel! From now on, DOUMAN SEIMAN AKRYUU TAISAN!" If you actually mean he retains some belief in his own mythos, but just learns to coexist and get along with people following a different belief system, then that's fine.

And like I said before, if faith can power Shinto gods like Kanako and Suwako, and imbue natural forces with sentience, why couldn't it give birth to the beginnings of a Abrahamaic divinity in Gensokyo?

>>127427
Are you sure you aren't confusing me with someone else? >>127411 was my first post in this thread, and I thought it was fairly neutral?
Also, I thought the reason Suwako and Kanako came to Gensokyo was they weren't getting much faith outside? There are lots of devout Christians in the outside world; it's not like the Abrahamic God is one of the forgotten/no longer believed in things that are attracted to Gensokyo.

>>127402
It's that CERTAIN people use that as an excuse to make them "KILL HERETICS RRAAAAHAHH" types, that and Christanity/Catholicism is infamous intolerant of other reglions, insisting on being the only thing, in contrast to say Shintoism which was content to get along

[x] Mansion

Just for a stop over at least; kinda wary of a /th/ story being SDM-heavy... seems to be a slight curse.

>>127429

It's not the deity getting attracted to Gensokyo, it's that one of his more devout followers somehow ended up past the barrier in a place where strong faith can affect the very state of being. Regardless of whether or not the author decides that there isn't an Abrahamaic god, or there is, but he's supplied with enough faith to not think about moving to the 'Soak, someone with that level of belief, should have some sort of effect on the supernatural order, even if it's only miniscule compared to the established religions there. I mean, when Suwako and Kanako first came to Gensokyo, Sanae was pretty much the only follower they had, but through her efforts, they managed to revive and prosper. Why wouldn't a Crusader have the same effect?

Anyways, reviewing >>127411, are you trying to simply state he's going to need help to survive in Gensokyo, so he'll have to interact with the residents, even if only reluctantly? Or are you saying he's going to adopt the local beliefs for the sake of survival? The first one makes sense, but the second one, not so much.

>>127431

Ever read about the period after the Meiji restoration? The Emperor of Japan declared Shinto the state religion, and outlawed its mixing with Buddhism, and during the Showa period, it was used to support militarism. No religion is guilt-free, and while Christianity definitely has a blood-stained past, it's unfair to act as if it's the only one to have performed deeds like that.

And how is Christianity claiming to be "the one true religion" different from, say, Judaism, or Islam, or Buddhism, or Hinduism, or any other major belief system that still exists today. Even Atheists claim all other systems besides ones founded solely on scientific principles are false.

Lets not make this thread into a religous debate guys.

All that really matters is this.

Main character is a crusader knight from a religous order.

We can conclude that he is fanatical enough to fight for his religous beliefs.
The extent to which he will fight for his belief is not known.
There are two scenarios

1). He is a religous fanatic who wishes to convert or kill all infidels.
2). He wishes to protect a holy city of his faith from infidels.

I prefer option two where he is dedicated to his beliefs but will be able to exist with some Gensokyo residents.

>>127432
I kind of assumed that Sanae had an effect on the belief system of Gensokyo because she actually went around actively encouraging people to give their faith to Kanako, working out deals with the Tengu and Kappa, etc, not due to some sort of 'reshaping reality out of pure faith' thing. I would think a Jesuit or someone similar would be the best person to spread the Catholic faith to Gensokyo, and the Jesuits didn't exactly exist in the 1200s.

I was saying that he will need to seek allies. And that maintaining allies would probably result in shaking his beliefs at least some, since... well, cooperation eventually leads comradery, comradery eventually leads to respect, and respect leads to a greater willingness to actually hear someone out.

>>127433
True... though christ-based religions seem be popular with the wrong folk Let's see... KKK, the spanish inquisition, the republican party, HILTER.

I have doubts of Christianity agreeing with Gensokyo as I feel it played a factor in driving things into Gensokyo. Trying to convert others to Christianity would no doubt make very powerful enemies. Gensokyo is pretty crowded as it is with two shrines and a temple, one of which vital to Gensokyo's survival.

A preferable way would a crusader that isn't so much fantic as protector of innocent pilgrims, but would be tolerant of other religions. Basically he'd tolerate the natives, but wouldn't force anything on them.

>>127440

Actually, while Hitler did use extremist Christian anti-Semitism as one of the ways to enact his policies, he himself did not follow Christianity. At one point, he actually stated regarding Islam "The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?", and regarded Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammed as necessary sources of "Spiritual sustenance." His main source of inspiration for the Nazi swastika was Hinduism (although other religions also use similar designs, but the Aryan concept is definitely Hinduistic in origin.)

Republicans are mostly Protestant, actually. Catholicism is more along the lines of leftists, due to there being a greater amount of Spanish-influenced minorities within the Democratic party. Same for the KKK, they are mostly southern-baptist/Protestant.

Spanish Inquisition, is of course, a Catholic organization, but one that has been completely dissolved by the church. There is no officially-sanctioned Catholic sect going around torturing people for their beliefs, and while I have no doubt there are Catholics doing that, every belief system has its own extremists. There are even extremist Atheists, who decry the bloody pasts of religion, but have no qualms about enacting widespread genocide against those who believe in deities.

While I feel you are little biased against Christianity in regards to events like this, I definitely do agree with you that coexistence with the natives would be almost required in this setting. However, in regards to his background, it would have to be a gradual transition for sure. He would certainly not be able to jump straight away to acceptance.

>>127442
Wait when was the "Aryan" concept from Hinduism? You're correct about the other stuff, but this is the first time I've heard "Aryan" associated with Hinduism.

>>127443

The original word, arya, is Sanskrit in origin, and was used to describe a "superior" race that was believed to have migrated from Indo-Europe to the Indian subcontinent, specifically, the northern region. This is where Hitler got his idea about the northern origins of the Vedic Aryans, which were supposedly ethnically similar to Goths, Vandals, and other Germanic people. Technically, you're correct, since most anthropologists have concluded that the ancient Aryans were the native Indo-Europeans, but the Indians ran with the Aryan concept and incorporated it into Brahminical "Aryan" Hinduism.

After reviewing the discussion in this thread, I think the best way to sum it up is that people believe that the Crusader will eventually have to adapt and learn to coexist with the new religions, but that doesn't necessarily involve giving up his own belief system entirely. Also, people on this board can actually have a reasonable, albeit slightly heated debate regarding religion.

A man in heaven needs not weapons.

Well, as far as he'll be concerned, there's not a single Fairy in Gensokyo.

There are, however, a hell of a lot of Pixies. He'd probably be very hesitant, depending on his country of origin, to mis-name them fairies, since traditionally the two races were locked in war for basically ever.

Halberds are for peasants. Any weapon Knightanon wields should either be one-handed, or a big sword. It's not at all a matter of optimization, so much as it is he's a knight.

[x] Mansion

Because how will Remilia react to a freaking Hospitaller Knight just walking up to her front door, I wonder?

>>127452
Actually, I believe knights usually use a spear/pole-arm as a main weapon when mounted, and have squires carry spares for them when they inevitably broke after charging into enemy formations. A sword or other such short distance weapons were usually reserved when they were forced down their horses, or when they're already in the thick of it and can't ride out.

Therefore, it's actually pretty much expected for knights to wield pole-arms, at least on horseback.

Anyway, vote!

[X] Mansion

>>127454
which is meaningless because he won't be on horseback

>>127454
Also, it was neither spears nor pole-arms(unless they were Moorish or Egyptian), but rather lances, which were only any good during the charge, and typically discarded when locked in combat in favor of sword, mace, axe, or hammer.

When fighting dismounted, the close-in weapon was the only viable choice.

[x] Mansion

A mansion should be very recognizable to him right?

Interestingly enough...

The Crusades had far-reaching political, economic, and social impacts, some of which have lasted into contemporary times. Because of internal conflicts among Christian kingdoms and political powers, some of the crusade expeditions were diverted from their original aim, such as the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Christian Constantinople and the partition of the Byzantine Empire between Venice and the Crusaders. The Sixth Crusade was the first crusade to set sail without the official blessing of the Pope. The Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Crusades resulted in Mamluk and Hafsid victories, as the Ninth Crusade marked the end of the Crusades in the Middle East.

Knightanon may very well be more flexible upstairs than we'd give him credit for.

>>127455
But the point still stands that swords and maces weren't the only weapons a 'noble knight' would use.

And come on, how awesome would it be if we managed to find ourself a horse? Or even a Pegasus?

>>127456
I can never remember their differences without looking it up. The point I was making was that lances and other such long-reaching weapons weren't only for peasants.

You know how this whole religion debate could be solved? Kanako and Suwako are pals with Jesus. That's where Sanae gets the Christian imagery for some of her spell-cards - back in the outside world, Jesus totally liked to drop by in Japan to have tea with the goddesses.

With this, the Gensokyo intra-faith conflict is solved.

...at least until we meet a Muslim youkai, or whatever.

>>127463
Except that they really were, and lances are a totally different sort of weapon from spears, and would never be used by peasants

>this entire thread

The response is hilarious. And it's funny, because I was also kicking around the idea of a knight-in0gensokyo story (which would make at least three of us.)

[X] Mansion

The mansion seems to be the best choice for the moment, even if the owners have...Unique tastes in design. You climb the bank of the Lake and begin to circumnavigate it, however as you begin to walk becomes increasingly clear that what pathways exist alongside it have not been maintained or even used in a very long time...Could the manor be abandoned? If not, whomever lives there obviously no longer has use for this particular pathway.

_____________

A bug landing on your cheek prompts you to return your helmet to its rightful place atop your head, but otherwise the trip is somewhat uneventful. Even if the walk takes far longer than you would have expected initially in part due to your boots continually sinking into the ground, but also due to you simply not putting as much effort into it as you might have thought.
In fact ever since you've arrived here you've lacked much of the drive that kept you moving forward through the Crusade...Only a day ago you would never have considered allowing such a thing as a river to impede your progress...Perhaps it has something to do with losing the motivational appeal of the afterlife now that you're actually here?

Regardless you find yourself getting closer and closer to the mansion, the qualtiy of the road improves considerably. And upon reaching the peninsula you've seemingly stepped onto the actual grounds of the manor itself; the dirt road giving way to a perfect stone path, the tall and unruly grass replaced by a meticulously maintained garden.

And ahead you see it; the Manor standing in all of it's glory. From afar you'd simply assumed it was of western design, but now you can confirm it. It's extremely unorthadox, unlike any you've seen before. Even aside from it's color. But quite clearly built by someone from Europe all the same.

And...At the back of or perhaps attached to the manor itself is a tower...A strange circular design adornes it's high center. With several symbols in a ring around a pair of lines...peculiar is the word that sticks out in your mind to describe the entire thing. But nothing so far out of the ordinary that it deters you from your objective...As you begin the final push through the grounds towards the gate, you spot a lone woman.

It seems like she's waiting for you outside the gate...Or perhaps even standing guard, but even at first glance you can see her most impressive feature...Her long flowing hair kicking around behind her as the wind blows. As you approach the gate you begin to make out more details...Her outfit is unlike anything you've seen, And from here it seems like she's wearing pants. Most peculiar.

She regards you with a cold angry stare as you finally close the distance between you and her...after a moment of silence, you decide to attempt to break it with a greeting

"...Hello?" You eventually decide to say, far more meekly you'd intended.

Her expression is unchanged. And after a moment it becomes clear she doesn't intend to reply...Maybe she doesn't speak your language?

You clear your throat before bowing before her slightly, hoping the gesture will cross whatever cultural boundaries you may have come against. And...It couldn't hurt to try again, right?

"I am ________, of the Holy Order of Hospitaller Knights...I seek an audience with the Lord of this manor, would you be so gracious as to allow me entrance?"

You glance back up at the Woman, hoping to see her response...But she's turned around.
...She turned around. She's ignoring you!
Intent on grabbing her attention again you speak; "Excuse m-" but stop yourself as you notice she's begun to hop slightly in place...and you swear you can hear her giggling...

She spins back around, and in contrast to the giggling you'd heard a moment ago her expression has returned to a cold stare.
She returns your bow, and responds; "I apologize...But my lady-, the owner of this manor has certain...Demands of her guests."

'Lady'? The lord must be absent...A shame. But at the least someone is here who can answer your questions. And better yet, as the guard speaks, it seems her demeanor is improving. Her expression has already lightened considerably.

"Such as?"

"For the moment, the one you'd be most interested to know is..." She pauses and places a hand upon her chin, pondering for a moment
"Suffice to say...She has no interest in meeting with weaklings. And, as part of a local tradition of challenging me to duels...She only allows those that can prove themselves to enter."

"A...Duel then? Of what sort?"

"It's fairly simple, really. All you must do is draw blood from me. You may use any weapon you choose, the wound can be anywhere upon my body, and even a single drop of blood is sufficient for you to enter. You can try as many times as you like. But I may refuse to accept your challenge if I feel you'd die if we continued."

This...Is quite unexpected. Certainly not how you'd thought your trials in the afterlife would go...
Still, without your life on the line you'd always enjoyed a good fight, right?

"If I may...This hardly seems fair to you, milady. I'm unarmed at the moment, but had I come with a sword, would you not be defenseless?"

She stares at you, an eyebrow raised...After a moment passes, she wanders toward the gate and grabs a bag from the floor.
From within, she retrieves a pair of swords; one of which she tosses to you;

As she draws the blade from its sheath she speaks again "You don't need to be so roundabout it...If you didn't want to face me unarmed, you could have just said so."

>>127467

Wait, so we can have physical gods, faeries, and vampires bunched up together, but we can't have tea-drinking (spellcard-teaching?) Jesus? That is just discriminatory.

*sigh* not yet another fucking story that starts out by going to SDM and then getting into a rut of being effectively Remilias errand boy. If I had a dollar every time a writer/audience does that I'd be almost a thousandnaire...

>>127472

Jesus is too busy hunting vampires and hanging out with his buddy Buddha to be drinking tea with minor Shinto gods.

>>127474

Yeah, if this is going to be good IMO it needs to embrace and work the religion angle which is not going to happen at the current location.

>>127474

And if there is a legit reason why an MC does something for Remilia?

Whatever, looks like Karesh is still writing. I wonder what our next options shall be? Will we accept this challenge or will our Knightly Code prevent us from doing harm? I mean, if Knightanon is a Knight, you'd think he would follow the Code of honor that Knights follow. Well... then again, we decide.

>>127477
Accept. You do not not accept a Challenge.

>>127478

>Accept. You do not not accept a Challenge.

I don't understand. So we can't accept challenges? What's with the 'Accept.' thing?

>>127479
Double negative. Two wrongs multiply to make a right, etc.

Proper way to identify the order would be "of the Militant Order of the Knights of St.John of the Hospital (or Hospitalier)". Or simply "of the Knights of St.John the Hospitalier"

Might I propose Francis of Normandy as a name for Knightanon? Makes it ambiguous as to he's Frank, English or Norman. We're in the right time period for it to still matter.

Finally, a Knight of the Militant Orders Accepts Any Challange, No Matter The Odds. We were trained from childhood to be the best warrior we could be, and then spend most of our adult life using that training in real battles and training some more. It might not be a pretty, acrobatic and smooth style of combat, but it's a brutally efficient one, designed to end a fight quickly to move on to the next.

>>127477
Actually it just cut off the choices and I went to math without actually checking to see if it'd gone up right.

[] Accept the Challenge
-[] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?
-[] Even with swords, and her confidence. She's still just a woman. I can't risk harming her too much.
[] Reject and leave
[] Reject and try to convince her to let you in anyway

[X] Accept the Challenge. Though she be a woman, she still wishes a challenge, and the terms are reasonable enough. Besides, it is a feat of strength, and as a Knight, we shall show what the finest of the Hospitaller can offer!
-[X] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

... Okay!

[x] Accept the Challenge
-[x] Use the sword.
-[x] Even with swords, and her confidence. She's still just a woman. I can't risk harming her too much.

Okay, it's been said before, but I'll say it again, more explicitly.

FRANKS ARE NOT FRENCH.

Well, they can be. But Frank refers to ANY western European. Spaniards, Portugese, English, French, Danes, the Dutch, any of them. ESPECIALLY in the area and time Knightanon is from.

[X] Accept the Challenge
-[x] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

Works for me~!

[x] Accept the Challenge
-[x] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

>-[] Even with swords, and her confidence. She's still just a woman. I can't risk harming her too much.

If he thinks it's the afterlife, then the people challenging him could well be angels or martyrs. The normal rules of propriety would go out the window; anyone he meets is likely to have more knowledge of divine etiquette than he does.

>>127477
It's not about the MC, it's the writer and readership that will do it. It's almost a fucking rule that whenever one of these stories start, if you have the option to go to SDM, it WILL happen, and almost as invariably we'll be treated to the same old, tiresome crew that we've all seen a thousand times over. And still people insist on it.

[x] Accept the Challenge
-[x] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

>>127493

Meiling could very well be absolutely bored as the rest of the household are on vacation away from the SDM (Patchouli? Vacation? hmm

Meilling got better things to do that to toy around with a seemingly heavily armored human

such as guarding the grounds from invasive thieves.

>>127498
Or Remilia has refined tastes, and only wants the creme de la creme around for dinner.

>>127487
Incorrect. Franks refer to the Germanic people who occupied the territories of the old Merovingian Kingdom and the Carolingian Empire. Spaniards/Iberians, Angles, Saxons, Bavarians, Italians/Lombards, Poles and Danes are not Franks.

The French, the Germans (mostly of Western Germany, more specifically around the Rhineland) and the Dutch are considered Franks in this timeframe, mostly due to the memories of the old Carolingian Empire still living on in the Holy Roman Empire. The Normans are also considered distinct from the Franks and the French in texts of that time, despite being vassals of the King of France and having been assimilated into French culture for close to 4 centuries.

>>127500
And to illustrate my meaning, a map of the Frankish Empire. Note that Charlemagne's conquests were not "Frank" people, but people who submitted to his armies.

I forgot that Burgundians are also considered Franks in this timeframe.

>>127500
Frank was also used to describe Europeans in general as opposed to people from the middle east. (Though mostly by the Middle eastern people.)

Though I might have my time periods mixed up.

A Catholic?

In Gensokyo?

This is relevant to my interests.

>>127502
Considering that about... what? 80% of all Crusaders came from France and Western Germany, they weren't particularily wrong about calling Europeans Franks.

>>127503
OH LORD NO.

>>127501
Yes, but as a Crusader, Frank refers to all Catholics of European origin, basically. It was actually something of a derogatory ethnonym used by the Muslim inhabitants of the area. Franks as actual Franks are not considered in the context of the Crusades, but rather as the more general Muslim ethnonym.

[X] Accept the Challenge. Though she be a woman, she still wishes a challenge, and the terms are reasonable enough. Besides, it is a feat of strength, and as a Knight, we shall show what the finest of the Hospitaller can offer!
-[X] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

No peasant weapons. I don't care if it's cool, it just doesn't make sense to go at length about how we're an actual knight from an actual order and then use something that they handed to peasants so they could do something before they died in combat.

Also, sudden bout of internet debates on THP... Wouldn't have to deal with A Wizard is You being linked to on /tg/, would it?

>>127507
I'll have to admit not having studied the Crusades all that much yet. Still, as Occidentals (I assume most of us are at least), let's keep to the right names and denominations.

>>127508
I seriously doubt it.

Anyway,
>>127466
Well, maybe you could write a story concerning an Eastern Roman Cataphract, then?

>>127510
Oh! And everyone will call him Byzantine while he rages that he's a Roman!

[x] Reject and leave.
[x] Ask where else one might go.

What kind of place needs to have women guarding its walls? There are greener pastures to be found.

And yeah, not too keen on SDMing it up. We've got enough of that.

[x] Reject and leave.
[x] Ask where else one might go.

I like the discussion in this thread. And yes, i agree with >>127500. Knightanon could be a Frank, but it is not confirmed.
So, let us go and find some other place, as much as i love Remilia we already have them in nearly every story. Why not focus on someone else, like the Moriya Shrine or Byakuren. It could prove really interesting to interact with Hijiri.

[x] Accept the Challenge
-[x] Use the sword. She has one as well, so it's fair. Right?

You grip the sword the woman has tossed you...It's certainly a reasonable offer, and it's not really like you have many other appealing options at the moment anyway...

As you think it over, you can't help but notice the woman is staring at you...Her stare is best described as 'eager'.
You pull the sword from its sheath and line yourself up with her, making you both parallel to the wall. Giving each of you the entire length of the peninsula to retreat...So long as neither of you attempts to step around the other, anyway.


Before you can vocally accept, the woman speaks up "Oh, you're up for it then?"

You toss the now useless sheath toward the gate, pumping your sword arm up and down a few times to gain an understanding of the blades weight "Yes...I must say however; in settings like this I'd prefer to have your name before we begin." You bend your knees slightly and grip the sword with both hands. Normally, your off hand would hold your shield...But without it, you're better off putting more power into your swings.

The girl stands straight and mirrors your toss, the sheath landing right on top of yours. Her sword lazily gripped to her side; she speaks "Meiling. Guard of the Scarlet Devil Mansion"

You raise your eyebrow along with your sword "...Scarlet Devil?"

"An old nickname of Lady Remilia...The owner of the mansion. She's quite fond of it, really. And if you can believe it we painted the house after they named her that."

As she finishes speaking, Meiling's sword arm twitches slightly...It seems she doesn't want to talk anymore.

Not one to disappoint your gracious opponent, you move forth; a cautious advance of one foot being pushed out, and the other dragged behind. Slow as it is you're allowed to stay in a guarded position whether or not you're in the middle of moving...

Normally, depending on how experienced the opponent is they might perhaps charge against you, adopt a stance of their own, or even retreat...But Meiling does none of these things.
She stands, back straight, knees unbent, sword practically dangling from her hand, while the other hand rests on her hip.

She's not taking you seriously...A grave mistake. Once you've closed the distance you can lunge forth; With a quick and relatively small cut to the arm you can end this duel.

All the while you keep a careful watch on Meiling, and her sword. At almost any moment she could shift positions and counter, but by staying alert you can pull back as quickly and the duel can begin in earnest...

But Meiling doesn't move...On the contrary, she's holding completely, perfectly still.
You're not even sure if she's blinked since the 'duel' began.


In an instant you snap your body to attack; leveling the point of your blade at her outer arm and pushing your upper body forward...

Meiling is faster, however. Her grip on the sword tightens, and she swings it directly in front of her body, parrying your blade away easily.

You'd expected as much; and almost immediately recover your guard, waiting for her counter attack.

You retreat three paces, Meiling advances the same, but then one more; you grip the handle of your sword and prepare to parry...But Meiling doesn't strike back.

She interrupts your thought process by stepping toward you once more, as calm as she had been the moment you'd met she speaks; "Waiting for my turn to end?"

You don't have time to remark, nor the will to. Fast as she is, she's still leaving herself wide open. You charge toward her, raising the sword high and swinging it down! But Meiling simply raises her sword in response...She's trying to guard against an overhead swing with a simple parry?! Insanity!

The Forte of your blade strikes against her own and by all rights with almost your entire weight behind the strike, you should have pushed her back...But she's holding you off. One handed, admittedly with some visible effort...But nothing beyond heavy lifting. The woman is putting you to a dead stop as easily as you would lift a crate.
You try to wrap your head around this...Her size, weight and stance...There's nothing logical about it..She's unquestionably far stronger than she appears to be...And apparently, far stronger than she's letting on so far.


___________________________

It's been...Somewhere in the area of Six minutes since you began. Which would mean it was four minutes ago that she stole your helmet, and began responding to every single attack of yours with a parry followed by a punch to the face. Meiling has yet to use her sword to actually strike you, yet you've been pushed back nearly two thirds of your half of the peninsula.

Thankfully though, for the moment she seems to be giving you a chance to catch your breath...You were sorely lacking in it a moment ago...Yet she seems to have barely even warmed up...

"...Meiling?" You manage to gasp out between haggard breaths

"Yes? Are you ready to give up?"

"..N...No...Not quite yet...But...You're...Why...?" You take a deep breath, hoping to get through the sentence before she gets agitated and punches you again... "How are you so strong?"

She looks the length of her blade over while she visibly ponders the question...Even from here, you can see that despite the beating you've received, Meiling's sword has suffered all the while for it. Her strength has given her utter domination in every clash, to the degree that she hasn't bothered with proper leverage for quite a while now. The forte of your sword has been the only point to clash with hers, meanwhile she simply forced her sword in front of your own without regard for such things. Some of your better attacks even managed to indent or crack her sword...

"Why Am I strong? ...Odd question."

She disregards the damage to her sword and glares at you...No hint of anger, but you can tell the question itself annoys her "Tell you what...If you win, I'll let you know.
Sound fair?"

She's obviously only saying this because she's assured that she'll be the victor...But still, if you're going to be continuing anyway there's nothing wrong with an added bonus. Whatever Meiling does to be so powerful, surely it'd work wonders for you as well...

But the problem there is going to be winning, isn't it? Obviously you can't keep this up. But she can. The only solution is-

[] Unrelenting Assault
[] Defend and wait for an opening
[] Surrender

I'm very eager to see whatever criticisms you'll surely have for me folks, so please feel free to tear me a new one!

I can't get any better if I don't know what horrible mistakes I've made, after all.

>>127515
>>127517
...Apparently mistake number one will be; "Assuming we'd reached a consensus and starting to write the post without refreshing the thread"

[X] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.
Some battles you just can`t win.

Just call the votes when you start writing, or not.

I like it so far.

>>127519
Time to do things like a real knight. She's obviously used to samurai and their swords. If we have an European sword, we can use the superior weight and less acute sharpness of our blade to grasp it with one hand and deliver more powerful blows. Similarly, we can switch things around, seizing the blade of our sword with two hands and using the hilt, guard and handle as a bludgeon to stun her or batter her arms with heavy strikes or even disarm her by locking her sword and tearing it from her.

Aim for the legs, the armpits, the hands and other vulnerable places. Don't be afraid to tackle her and finish her while she's stunned on the ground. Don't be afraid to punch her too, since we're used to fighting with a shield, bashing attacks with our shield hand should be instinctive. Six minutes spent fighting one foe means your not using your advantages and, most importantly, that you're losing irrecuperable time on the battlefield.

Why are we afraid of being hit? We're a armored Western knight. Assuming we have armor like displayed in the original picture, slashing attacks like those a Japanese sword is made for mean nothing to us. More then that, losing our helmet because she grabbed it means that we lost a chance to cut her hand off. In fact, that she managed to rip it off despite the leather straps holding it in place makes me wonder why our neck isn't broken. If we aren't already bleeding or fainting from the repeated blows to the head, we can tank a few more to get our blows in.

She's strong, yes, but we've been fighting for our lives for most of our adult life. We're veterans straight from one very bloody land and one particularly nasty siege. Time to stop being nice and start being a warrior, no more Sir Nice Knight. Don't wait for a bloody turn to attack! That's not how we learned to fight and we've never fought that way. We were born to wage war and that's how we lived, taking every advantage, every opportunity to bring down our foe and survive, never holding back even an atom of our strength and ability because holding back on the battlefield is death.

>>127519
I was just about to vote to leave as well. Sorry I wasn't able to get it in on time.

Anyway, I feel that we should take this story and our route to the opposite direction, following the river until it connects with the Sanzu and meeting with Komachi, who would in turn help us to meet Miss Eiki. There we may gain a better understanding on our perceived afterlife in a setting exteremly similar to the judgment we surely would have expected upon reaching the gates of Heaven.

[X] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.

Clearly we are outmatched in strength, and that may very well be the same with most people in this world. There is no real reason to press further, but regardless we should have commanded some respect from Meiling. I'm actually curious as to why she happens to have swords lying around in a sack at her gatepost, but perhaps that can be answered at another time.

The one chance we have of winning this duel would be a final, all-out assault. We clearly can't win if the fight draws out any longer.
If that doesn't work, just give up. We are outmatched.
So:
[X] Unrelenting Assault
and/or
[X] Surrender


Just a thought.
If he thinks he has come to heaven, shouldn't he find all this rather odd?
"Scarlet Devil" Mansion, being challenged to a duel by a woman that is clearly much stronger than should be possible, and so on.
What happened to eternally basking in the Glory of God and all that?

>>127522
Alternatively, yeah, we might want to leave and reconsider the situation. Maybe go elsewhere. Maybe convert some people to Christianity as well. As a warrior-monk, we do know how to read and write, and are very familiar with the Bible.

[x] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.
Indeed.

[x] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.

Afterwards, comment on her horrible technique with the sword and that great physical strength is no reason to forgo skill. She should be ashamed to have so badly mishandled her sword.

[x] Unrelenting Assault

What? Just give up?! Not bloody likely! We're a Crusader Knight! We are entirely capable of winning this! Hell, we could probably get her to cut herself on our armour if we angle it right.

>>127525
Considering he's a warrior monk do you think he'd have the kind of training the Jesuits had? You know like learning multiple languages, studying the arts, oratary, etc. along with being good at fighting? The Jesuits were very good at their job in general.

>>127522
This [X] Unrelenting Assault

[x] Unrelenting Assault

[X] Unrelenting Assault

[x] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.

We may be a Crusader, but we're not some retarded fanatic. We know that despite the girl's sloppy form, she's far superior to us now if she isn't even breathing hard.

Hey if anyone wants to find more information about knights vs. samurai, there this website: http://www.thearma.org/essays/knightvs.htm

Also in case anyone thinks I voted more than one with the same option, by which they mean post 127545, I think I've only made 3 posts: 127443, 127540, and 127544.

[x] Surrender
-[x] Ask where else one might go.

Don't see why we can't come back later on. Too many questions floating about for him.

>>127540
Nah, Jesuits are the product of the Counter-Reformation, where the Catholic Church tried to convince all of you Protestants to come back to the mother Church. They're literally designed as an order of missionaries, theological debaters and scientists to out-think, out-debate and out-argue any Protestant thinker.

The Orders Militants were, conversely, made to fight. Sure, they could read, write and knew the Bible very well, either due to their noble upbringing or to learning after they became members of the Order, but their true purpose wasn't to argue fine points of theology with other, "heretical" Christians. It was to argue the ownership of the Holy Land by the point of the sword and lance (and incidentally relieve pressure from the Muslims towards the Byzantine Empire) with the Arabs or Turks.

>>127547
you forget the savage beating her sword's taking; another assault and it'll break, cutting her and winning the challenge.

[X] Unrelenting Assault
If she's a devil, then we are in hell. If we are in hell, we must defend our and our Lord's honor... above all.

[x] Unrelenting Assault

The frick, Anon? Of all the stories where pussying out would be an option, the one where we play a goddamn medieval knight decked out in full plate armor shouldn't even be considered.

Oddly enough it looks like we're tied, Seven to Seven for Unrelenting Assault and surrender. Counting the one guy that voted both.
Maybe I should just make it both?

Also, nobody voted for Defense.
Knightanon must suffer, apparently.
>>127522
>In fact, that she managed to rip it off despite the leather straps holding it in place makes me wonder why our neck isn't broken.

Actually there was a lengthy and humilating sequence where Meiling held Knightanon upside down by his foot, undid the strap with her toe, kicked the helmet off and then tossed him down a cliff.

Or it wasn't strapped on right.

>>127548
It's also a site to look at for research into how things really were (Knights' armor is said to be quite agile for its protective value)

>>127566
You said one guy voted twice. Was that me? If so I apologize because I thought I had only voted once.

[x] Unrelenting Assault

>>127568
I didn't word that properly, but I was trying to draw the connection that there's simply such a close draw that it might make more people happier if both happen.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems the surrender side is vested in getting somewhere other than the SDM, and the Unrelenting Assault side wants to at least come away from the fight with your heads held high. Whether or not you stay at the mansion.

>>127566
To be fair, we're a Knight. If we're trying to defend, we're doing something wrong. Our defence is our armor and a very good offence. If we get pinned in melee, we're vulnerable. For a Knight, standing still is dying, because then the normal footmen can throw you down on the ground and finish you off.

>Actually there was a lengthy and humilating sequence where Meiling held Knightanon upside down by his foot, undid the strap with her toe, kicked the helmet off and then tossed him down a cliff.

...

>Or it wasn't strapped on right.
For a Knight, poorly put or maintained equipment means death. To verify the straps on their armor before a fight is a routine for well trained Knights.

>>127570
true, though I'd least tried to make a stop there before going elsewhere.

>>127572
>...
That was a joke.

>For a Knight, poorly put or maintained equipment means death. To verify the straps on their armor before a fight is a routine for well trained Knights.

Remember, he hasn't taken it off since he plopped it back on for the sake of avoiding bites from the insects around the lake. And even from the start of the fight to the helmet stealing, and even till now; he has no reason to believe Meiling will be trying to kill him. And because of that there's a sort of etiquette to follow...Namely; chopping someone's hand off for trying to pinch your hat is sort of a dick move.

>>127577
>That was a joke.

So I gathered.

> no reason to believe Meiling would be trying to kill him.

Still is a fight with deadly weapons.

But fine, I'll stop being a kill joy and follow the Bellisarios Maxim "Don't look at this too hard."

>it seems the surrender side is vested in getting somewhere other than the SDM
You are correct.
>>127577
This whole fight seems more like a challenge than a fight till one drops death. Meiling probably knows exactly her position and just plays around because she is either bored or happy to have someone to fight with.

[x] Unrelenting Assault

>>127582
Quite!
It's unfortunate for Meiling, living in a world of spell cards and fights that take place in midair, where leverage means next to nothing.

Anyway; we're still fairly close and it's closing in too late for me to finish writing anyway. I'll see where we are tomorrow and act accordingly.

If you've already voted, feel free to clarify your position on whether you'd be okay with both the unrelenting assault, and surrendering to go off somewhere else afterward.

>>127539
This is me.
I don't care about the SDM, really. We just can't give up. I'm fine with just leaving after we win/collapse. Just as ong as we don't give up.

>>127586
A choice I would support. The Knights of St.John always showed their brightest moments when they were the most stubborn. For instance, the Siege of Rhodes. Sure, they eventually lost Rhodes, but Hell's Bells the Ottomans paid dearly for it.

Here's a specific article on longsword fencing, which might help people wondering about how it compares to modern day fencing: http://www.thearma.org/essays/Longsword_Differs_From_Modern_Fencing.html

[x] Surrender
[x] Ask where else one might go.

> If you've already voted, feel free to clarify your position on whether you'd be okay with both the unrelenting assault, and surrendering to go off somewhere else afterward.

Indeed doing our utmost is our life. Giving up before our body gives up for us would be giving in to the flesh.

>>127570
More or less I just don't really see anything interesting happening there and as others have said other locations old more potential for interesting interaction.

>>127585

That would be my call fight it out exchange 'gg' and then move on elsewhere. So yeah:
[x] Unrelenting Assault
-[x] Win or lose inquire about other locations nearby and go off to check them out

>>127585
As I said earlier, I'd have least like to stop by in the SDM to get situated with Gensokyo before moving elsewhere... that is if we ultimately win. We voted to go here, we might as well stop by at least for info/food/rest.

[x] Unrelenting Assault
-[x] Win or lose inquire about other locations nearby and go off to check them out

[x] Unrelenting and strategic assault

All we need is a simple cut - a small drop of blood. Hell, the next time she punches us in the face, we can just nip at her fingers.

[x] Unrelenting Assault

From anons ARMA link (an excellent resource, btw):

>Made with quick and coordinated motions they lead to a diverse and sophisticated repertoire of grappling and disarming moves that make up a considerable component of overall martial prowess. It is impossible to understand Renaissance fencing without skillful use of the second hand in this way.

>As a weapon, the longsword was never just held by the handle... Managed in such a way the longsword could be easily manipulated as if it were a short staff to press, hit, and trap with either end as well as with the point. It could also be wielded as if it were a spear, a warhammer, or a polaxe, striking (or defending) with the pommel or cross.

>The historical source teachings on the longsword are unanimous that defensive actions are best accomplished by offensive actions... simultaneously delivering a strike while in the same motion closing-in to stifle an attack by encountering the opponent’s weapon near its hilt using your blade near its hilt.

This is an excellent summary of the vast, flexible, dangerous martial skill our Knightanon possesses- he is a consummate, flexible, and deadly warrior. Karesh's writing coudl use some polish, yes, but he clearly understands a few basics of swordplay. He's made it quite clear that Meiling either doesn't know how to properly use a sword, or she's so overconfident that she hasn't bothered to try:

>Meiling's sword has suffered all the while for it. Her strength has given her utter domination in every clash, to the degree that she hasn't bothered with proper leverage for quite a while now. The forte of your sword has been the only point to clash with hers, meanwhile she simply forced her sword in front of your own without regard for such things. Some of your better attacks even managed to indent or crack her sword...

In other words, if we press the assault, we might be able to shatter or break her blade- and even a youkai won't be able to avoid getting a scratch in the second or two that follows before she can get out of reach. Every attack so far has been "Meiling effortlessly parries, punches us in the litso." If we press an attack, using all of our skill- strikes with our armored off-hand, rapidly shifting how we're using our blade, (half-swording, pommel strikes,) and utilizing our superior knowledge of leverage and the dynamics of swordplay, we have an excellent chance of at least scratching Meililng.

Thus, my vote:

[X] ALL OUT ASSAULT! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!

>>127680
FOR THE EMPEROR! CLEANSE! PURGE! KILL! UNRELENTING ASSAULT!

[x] Unrelenting Assault

[X] Unrelenting assault
[X] Flarble Garble

You let out a deep sigh. There's enough distance between you and Meiling that you feel comfortable with relaxing a moment. You plant the sword into the ground and carefully wipe the sweat forming on your forehead.

There's not many tactical options left to you at this point...If you were trying to kill Meiling, perhaps. But harming her without causing permanent damage presents problems in and of itself...But isn't that part of your problem?

Here you are; faced with a vastly stronger opponent, who challenged you, who is quite clearly confident in her abilities to guard the gate and of course defeat you...Even now she's watching you with that same relaxed stance, not even hiding the incredible amount of amusement she's getting out of knocking you back and forth in the field.

Why are you going so far to avoid hurting her? Whether it had been an actual battle, during practice, or a duel of honor. Saracen or Crusader, you've always treated the enemy with a degree of respect. The respect anyone willing to step on the field of battle deserves...
But not Meiling. Your greatest mistake of the battle had happened before it began; faced with the greatest opponent you've met thus far you...

You grasp the sword in your strong hand, and begin to march towards her once again.

Insulted, shamed, embarrassed. These words are all that you can do to describe both your actions toward her, and how you've failed to properly represent your order. But it's not too late. Not by a long shot.

Win or lose, whether she shows the same respect you'll give her, you're going to make sure Meiling understands what it means to fight you. Knight? Crusader? Hospitaller? Man? Woman? These titles mean nothing.
Whether or not your life is on the line, this is a battle. You and Meiling are warriors.
It's high time you treated her as such.

You glare at Meiling...Sensing the shift in the mood, she returns it. The same cold expression she had as you first approached creeps over her face.

For the first time she adopts a proper stance, her right foot slides in front of the other a she holds the sword ahead...Even if she's taking you more seriously, she doesn't seem to intend to come to you.

You swing the sword back as you begin to charge, clutching it in both hands and preparing for an overhead swing; you make no attempts to conceal your intent, no hidden motions or secret techniques. You rush forth and broadcast to her and anyone else that wishes to know.

As you enter the range of attack Meiling moves to counter you, lifting her sword and bracing for your attack. The sword swings down against her own, the forte of your blade strikes against the center of hers.
Meiling lowers herself, bracing against the ground, her off hand alongside the back edge of her sword....It's considerably more effort on her part, but once again you cannot break Meilings guard.

From her lowered position you can attack freely; any attempt to retreat should take long enough for an opening to appear...You push against her blade, and in the instant she pulls back slightly to gain more leverage, you swing backward and into another overhead slash.

The swords meet once more...By all rights, the same result should have occurred...But Meiling has been careless; for her part, the defense is just as solid as before...But her sword is not so resolute.

To your horror it shatters upon contact with your own blade...Your realization comes too late, you pull yourself back, trying to stop the blade from slamming into Meilings face...Out of instinct you close your eyes and wrench yourself back; hoping to save her.

The blade doesn't budge...And soon enough you see why; It's stuck, inches away from Meiling's face. Held in place between her hands...At the last moment she'd slammed her palms together and halted it. Yet despite another incredible display of strength, for the first time she honestly seems quite shaken.

She lets out a deep sigh of relief at the same time you do...It seems you've narrowly avoided a messy end to the duel.

"Well..." She finally breaks the silence; "I think we might need to call it a draw. Unless you have a spare sword on you."

_____________________________

[] Accept the draw
[] Refuse, restart the fight and go bare handed
[] I don't recall anyone calling time out! Punch her in the face!

>>127680
>Karesh's writing coudl use some polish
Any tips for polishing it? Or anything in particular I need to fix?
So far the primary thing I think I might need to work on is being less long winded with how Knightanon thinks or feels about things happening and get more actual actions happening.

>but he clearly understands a few basics of swordplay.
I actually spent a fair number of years practicing Fencing. Foil and Epee in particular. Hopefully despite the differences between it and actual sword fighting, the insight in leverage and form still work.

[X] Accept the draw
-[X] Ask about her power
-[x] Ask where else one might go.
[X] Leave

[X] Accept the draw.

Ask to see the broken sword. Is the one you are carrying also about to break? If so she shouldn't use it.

[X] Accept the draw.

We would have been defeated if Meiling had taken sword fighting seriously.
Besides, I think knightanon could probably see why barehanded fighting is a bad idea.
This is a woman that could probably lift him, armor and all, over her head if she really wanted to.

>>127696

>Any tips for polishing it? Or anything in particular I need to fix?

I'll tell you flat out- this is a tricky area, because there's no "one true way" to write. There's a range of writing styles- brief to verbose, literal to metaphor-laden, etc. You've got to be careful when listening to critics- some will criticize you simply because you don't write in the fashion they prefer. That's why the best way to refine your technical skill is to find respected authors who write much like you do and read their stuff, when you can. Your style is clean and direct, which is just fine, so I'm going to focus on some technical stuff that will make your text look prettier.

First, you want to pay more attention to punctuation, and how you use it. For one, you over-use ellipsis a lot all probably blow formal rules of grammar to hell,) but capitalizing a word indicates a "new sentence," i.e. the beginning of a new, concrete thought, and that's clearly not what you want here- you're just indicating a pause of some sort (as Knightanon uncomfortably searches for a word in the King's English to describe the BLOOD MANSION OF BLOODY DOOM, in this instance.)
Also, don't capitalize the first word after a semi-colon. Also avoid opening sentences with "and" or "but" unless you really need to (if the character is actively going 'but on the OTHER hand...[/i])

This also makes your writing a bit snappier and more decisive-sounding. Compare this:

>Normally, depending on how experienced the opponent is they might perhaps charge against you, adopt a stance of their own, or even retreat...But Meiling does none of these things.

To this:

>Normally, depending on how experienced the opponent is they might perhaps charge against you, adopt a stance of their own, or even retreat. Meiling does none of these things.

You're also dropping periods all over. Take a little time to edit your work, or hop on IRC and bug somebody to give it a once-over before you post (slap it up on pastebin.) Don't do this:

>As she draws the blade from its sheath she speaks again "You don't need to be so roundabout it...

After "again," there needs to be a period. If anybody ever told you that you don't have to put a period there, when the next sentence starts with a quotation mark, they were lying bastards. (This is a common happenstance.)

Don't put so many line breaks in, unless you really need it for emphasis. And when you do, make sure you put TWO in, so a line of space separates them. Try only to make new paragraphs when somebody new is speaking. Given how dialogue-heavy touhou stories have to be (given their nature,) that's usually more then enough.

[X] Accept the draw

>>127704
The swords are more or less a pair and they've both seen extensive use, but for as long as Meiling had them she's used the same one for her duels. The one Knightanon has is in much better condition.

>>127707
I really do put a lot of ellipses..-WAIT there it goes again!

With the line breaks; part of it is that my English class has a standard of double spacing between every line. It's somehow made large paragraphs or clumps of text look really off to me. But I'll definitely keep all of this in mind.

>>127707

On style: as I said, you've got a clean and simple style, which is fine. One good thing about this is you can be quite descriptive without getting long-winded; it's all in proper word selection. Consider this:

>As she draws the blade from its sheath she speaks again "You don't need to be so roundabout it...

This is bad word use, it sounds like you've used "roundabout" as a noun (like the roundabout cars drive around.) Properly used, it'd go: "You don't have to be so roundabout about it." But that's awkward, because you've repeated "about" twice in a row, neh? How to avoid this?

Bust out your thesaurus and sexify that shit: http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=roundabout&gwp=13

>anfractuous, circuitous, circular, devious, indirect, oblique

Each of these words has slightly different connotations, which you'll pick up on the more you read and write, giving you very precise control over how the character communicates. And you can also choose the word that most reflects how verbose or sophisticated the character is. Add answers.com or thesaurus.com to your Firefox search-engine bar; and you can get these options in literally a second or two.

And most importantly- by writing a CYOA, you're doing the best possible thing you can do to get better. The only way to get better is through practice, and a CYOA- which you must update regularly, lest anon find you and skin you- forces you to put in that practice. Keep on writing, and more importantly, reading (even other stories on this site,) and you'll improve.

>I actually spent a fair number of years practicing Fencing. Foil and Epee in particular.

There's certainly huge differences between a sport and a martial art, but your mastery of the essential basics- understanding of spatial relationships (reach, timing, how far and fast you can move with a lunge, etc,) should allow you to convincingly write swordplay. And you know the proper terminology.

I like the story. Keep at it.

>>127710

Yes, it's extremely annoying, isn't it? What I do is write it all out with normal spacing, then select all text and set it to "double-space." Tracking page count is easy; just multiply by x2.

Apologies to anon for the walls'o'text.

[X] Accept the draw

A worthy opponent. Tis honorable to accept that our skills are equal right now and to speak of pleasantries and philosophy. Or what not.

What? Knightanon should be cultured in the ways of speech and decorum!

>>127712
But we like your walls of text, friend. At least I do.

Accept the draw, and then comment on her terrible technique and lack of skill. Admonish her on relying too much on her strength and not on skill. Finish up by offering to train her if she wishes, in exchange for the secret to said strength. A draw might mean no one wins, but we can still bargain and she's entirely too strong for us to dismiss her as a simple woman.

Then go somewhere else. While the duel occupied our attention, I'm pretty sure Knightanon might not want to meet a lady who thinks that Scarlet Devil is a good nickname in noble society. Let's find some place more respectable to get a look at the politics and features of this land.

Finally, I'm pretty sure Knightanon is now sure that he's not in Heaven. After all, he hasn't met St. Peter yet! That means he hasn't passed the Pearly Gates. This must then be Faerieland! There goes eternal peace and contentment, I suppose.

>>127723
I think it was less her being sloppy and her underestimating Sir Knightanon's might and skill.

[x] Accept the draw
This was a good Fight. Seems like we found our first friend here.

>>127711
>twice in a row, neh?
>neh
As much as I love you man, don't do that. Ever again.

>>127723

Do you mean Avalon, the place where King Arthur was carried off to by the Lady of the Lake? Or the supposed Fey underworld that exists underneath the hills and mountains of Europe? It would be interesting for either scenario, but not very likely. How would you get from Acre all the way to the fairy lands?

>>127738
How exactly does one get to the magical fairy land from anywhere?

>>127738
They're faeries. They got devilish pagan magics to aid them. They don't need explanations.

>>127738
It's not just an underworld, and it doesn't just exist under the hills of Britain and Ireland. Those are just the common and most well-known entrances. Hills, that is.

Besides. Fae wizards did it. Obviously.

[X] Accept the draw

You nod in agreement and release the handle of the sword while offering a hand to Meiling to help her up. It takes her a second to safely move her own hand to the handle of the sword and gain a proper grip on it, but once she's successfully done so she accepts your help without hesitation. With Meiling on her feet once again, you turn to retrieve your helmet. After all, having failed the challenge you'll need to find somewhere else to gather information and supplies. Surprisingly Meiling follows along, idly inspecting the sword you handed her as you both walk.

You wonder whether it would be rude to ask why she's following, but before you can get a chance she speaks up first. "You know I can't let you into the Mansion, but I can give you some advice if you're looking for somewhere to go or a place to stay" You can't help but wonder if the moment you ask for help, she'll reveal she only helps people who can defeat her in a duel...

Regardless you turn, locking eyes with Meiling before you respond "I...That's not really the problem. I can sleep in the forest if it comes to it...Yet perhaps there's something else you could help with, Milady."

She dips into a shallow bow, "I'd be honored."

"...Where am I?"

"Well, at the moment you're outside the gates of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Home to Remilia and Flandre Scarlet."

"...Meiling, as much fun as I had during our battle, and as abhorrent as it is of me to be rude toward you after you've been so gracious; I really must know. More and more, I've begun to believe that I am not where I originally thought I was. So please, tell me. Where are we? What land is this?"

"Gensokyo."

You grimace as the reality of it hits you. On some level or another you'd already realized that either this place was not the afterlife, or your scholarly brethren had been gravely misinformed of it. But worse the name Meiling has given you is entirely unfamiliar. You literally have absolutely no idea where you could be at the moment. Whether it's simply some far off country you'd been carried to, or somehow the wrong world entirely.

Seeing the confusion and agitation upon your face Meiling speaks once more. "So...I take it here isn't where you wanted to be?"

You mull the question over, there's something really funny about the idea; you'd been so happy to be here only a short time ago. Not because it was anything like the heaven you'd been described by the more scholarly of your order but simply because it had been a reprieve. Desert replaced by a verdant green forest, war replaced by a friendly duel... Crusaders and Saracens replaced by a friendly, beautiful girl that could most likely crush your skull. Even if this isn't the afterlife, your removal from the battlefield had been entirely involuntary. And given that there's no foreseeable way bac-

You shake the thought off as you remember Meiling is still waiting for an answer.

"Not quite, I'm afraid...I suppose I thought this was Heaven."

Meiling makes an exaggerated motion of looking you up and down

"You look pretty alive to me. Though you looked a whole lot better before someone went and punched you a few times."

You can't help but chuckle at that. "I suppose I am, and I did...Meiling, would yo-"

"Tell you where you might find A home you won't get beaten into the dirt for trying to enter?"

"...I was not beaten to the dirt, Milady. And as I recall you ended the duel upon your knees."

"Oh? You're ready for round two then?"

"...Some other time."

Meiling shrugs and walks back toward her gate, beckoning you to follow with her free hand. After the short walk, she re-sheathes the sword she'd been carrying throughout your conversation and offers it to you.

"...I was under the impression you'd be directing me somewhere I wouldn't need to fight to enter."

"The problem is what might be between there and here, I'm afraid."

You're hesitant to take the sword from her...As though owning a weapon may drag you straight back into the war you'd only just barely escaped with whatever life you may have now. Eventually however, you shake these thoughts away along with a myriad of others. You tuck the sword into position on your belt; the sheath fitting snugly into a strap on your hip.

Meiling directs your attention toward the forest you'd emerged from, pointing directly toward the area of the river you'd been wandering along, and somehow it seems much farther away from this perspective. "From here, there are two places you could easily reach before nightfall. The first is up that same river you followed here. The human village."

"Human village? Why would i-...wait. You saw me? Over there? From here?"

"I am an exceedingly alert guard. Now shush."

She points up toward a road positioned at the edge of the peninsula, both directions along the road lead further into the forest.

"The path to the right is a road built to connect this place with that same village, meanwhile the left leads toward a temple."

"...Of what sort?"

"Myouren Temple. They'll take you in for sure... and you won't need to worry about discrimination or anything. The owner is very big on coexistence, so whoever you are it won't matter much to her."


[] To the Village
[] To the temple

______________


Item gained! "Meiling's Sword!"
Meiling respect gained! +15!
(Side effect; Flandre respect gained: 10! Sakuya respect gained; 7! Cirno respect gained: 5! Remilia respect gained: 5! Patchouli respect lost; -5!)

[] To the Temple

Heaven or not, this is a chance to take reprieve. A place of faith and worship, as heathen as it may be, is still a better bet than the village. I don't like the way Meiling specifically noted it as a 'Human Village'

[x] To the Temple

It's blasphemous, but hopefully, these are virtuous heathens.

>Patchouli respect lost; -5!
Whawhawhawha-- ;__;

So everyone was watching the duel the entire time? Even Cirno and Flan?

[x] To the temple

The "human" village seems like an odd name for a simple farming community, and the villagers might be a bit wary seeing a tall guy fully clothed in platemail. The temple seems like it could be a simple sancturary and shelter for a travelling missionary such as ourselves, regardless of its preference of faith.

>>127753>>127753
I wouldn't let the name "Human Village" deceive you, it's just as far as I know there's no other name for it.

Besides which, from what I recall the average human there is stronger than the average Youkai in some way or another. Scary stuff, right?

>So everyone was watching the duel the entire time?

Yes and no, I'll say no more than that there was at least one person watching. The rest will simply hear about it between now and the next time we meet them.
If we meet them.

[x] To the Temple
We need to pray. and preach to the heathens.

[x] To the Temple

Surely, fellow "oratores" ('those who pray' in medieval times) will not be opposed to welcoming a man of the cloth (and sword) amongst them for a night. As a man who respected all the followers of the Book (Karesh told us he always respected his foes, Christians and Saracen alike. He might disagree with their dogma, but he seems the type of fellow to respect their devotion to the Lord despite that), Knightanon will do his best to respect and try to understand their creed and tradition, even if they are pagan heathens.

Three Pater Noster and four Ave Maria if he is forced to submit to a pagan ritual.

>>127754
"Average Youkai" in Touhou terms is like the cannon fodder in the levels. Things like rabbits in IN and such. Only a few people in the village would be as strong as any of the bosses.

[x] To the temple.

[X] To the temple

What will knightanon do when he meets Jesus?

>>127757
That's a valid interpretation, but it leaves me wondering; if the cannon fodder is the average, who is the lower class?

[X] To the temple

I'm very interested in seeing how a Crusader will react to Youkai Jesus.

>Patchouli respect lost; -5
What.
So, is this some kind of Fallout Faction Popularity System? SDM Fame up etc.."

[x] To the temple
Pump Repair, Melee Weapons and Speech. Everything else is unimportant.

[x] To the temple.

[x] To the temple

I think it'd be the best choice to get used to Gensokyo as Knightanon would get used to both Humans and Youkai from a non-biased position.

And equality is always a worthy cause.

[X] To the temple

Have to wonder what the knight would think about youkai, considering they traditionally were monsters, until reletively recent times? I remember reading on TV Tropes that whole thing with Byakuren is an example of Values Dissonance because she wanted to protect youkai. It had something to do with Western values of equality.

>>127760
Statistically speaking, all of the bosses are outliers. The low tier of the average masses of youkai would be the stage 1 fairies, while the high tier would be Lily White and nameless bosses like Koakuma.

[X] To the temple

>>127766
That was written by someone who was A) Retarded B) Doesn't undestand what the Western standard of "equality" is. I've tried getting rid of it before, but someone put it back up without providing a reason. FastEddie is currently in a Ban 'Em All And Let God Sort 'Em Out mood regarding edit wars, so I let it go.
Basically, in her day, Byakuren sympathized with powerful critters who played around with humanity. Youkai didn't care what humans thought, and humans didn't want to die. Back then, she was in favor of a group on roughly even footing with humans. Since her era, Youkai have become endangered, marginalized critters, whom most humans (were we still aware of them) would be glad to see die off. Her views are much more relevant now.

[x] To the temple
It sounds like a good place to start in order to find out where/what exactly Gensokyo is.
It's easier to try to explain our situation to a handful of people rather that an entire village. Especially since Meiling said they were very much into peaceful coexistence.

>>127760
I'm guessing lower class would probably be Easy Mode cannon fodder, then. Or at least the cannon fodder from the early levels.

>>127762
Pick up energy weapons instead of melee weapons. This is Touhou, the "secret handshake" for making friends is a wall of multicolored death.

>>127756

>Pater Noster
>Ave Maria
>The correct numbers for each

Religious Studies?

>>127776

Also, they should definitely be in Latin, for a Hospitaller.

For your possible future convenience, Karesh, here's a link to the latin versions of the most common Catholic prayers.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/prayer/latrosar.htm

>>127777
or Greek. this is the 13th century after all many of the manuscripts would be in the "original" Greek

[X] To the temple

We shall make our way to this religious site and learn of this new land. It would be a great honor of meet someone new. Or something.

Bah!

>>127776
I was right?! ... You will not believe me, but I pulled those numbers out of some half-forgotten memory of my childhood, more instinctively then anything. I think I saw those numbers in a franco-belgian comic once...

I'm in History and Classical Studies, incidentally. I'm also the guy (>>127500 , >>127501) who made corrections on the terminology of "Franks". Other comments under "Bentusi Tradeship(.)" are also mine.

>>127779
Ach, here we go. No, the manuscripts would not be in the original Greek. Occidentals used Latin translations since before the fall of the Western Roman Empire (first Latin translations I'm aware of are around the 2nd or 3rd Century). Knightanon, at most, knows Classical Middle Age French/German/English (three most likely nationalities for a Knight of St.John, pick one), Dog/Ecclesiastic Latin (don't ask him to read Cicero, Pliny or Seneca, he'd be lost. Still the Lingua Franca of the Mediterranean), some/most of the local dialect of Arabic and a smattering of Medieval Greek (really, really don't ask him to read any classical author, he'd never make heads or tails of it.)

I dabbled in paleo-christianity and am currently following a class on the Middle Ages. I will do what I can to help.

Seems like it will not be easy to write for this Audience, Karesh.
I hope you did your studies and researched much.

I at least would like it if we stay in Character.

>>127782
I thought much of the nobility at least knew more classical Latin or Greek, or was that more during the Renaissance?

>>127786
It's going to become more frequent during the Renaissance, yes. By then, most nobles have switched from hereditary Warriors with fiefs to Lords which don't do much except administrate and do politics. Cultivating one's education became, during the Renaissance, a mark of sophistication and of a true elite, akin to the old Roman patricians. The reason so many great classics of our literatures and art come from the Renaissance and the Enlightenment is that the nobility had little else to do other then cultivate their minds and enjoy works of art.

In 1291, however, nobles are still mostly warriors ("bellatores") protecting those who work ("laboratores") and those who pray ("oratores") and are thus raised from childhood to be warriors, not clerics (this is a period where literacy, while in not such a bad shape as will later follow, is not a favoured skill amongst the nobility). The Orders Militants are weird in this because they ask their members to be warriors AND monks, thus requiring they spend at least some time reflecting on God and the teachings of the Bible, which they can't do if they can't read said Bible.

Also, keep in mind that, apart from Ecclesiastic writings, few texts in Latin, much less Classical Latin like that of Cicero, are widely available. The degradation of Latin was a phenomenon noted by Gregoire of Tours (biograph of Charlemagne), who apologized to posterity for his bad Latin. Guillaume de Poitiers (biograph of William the Conqueror), by contrast, is noted for his excellent Latin, very close to Caesar and Cicero's Classical Latin. Medieval Latin is similar but also very different from Classical Latin.

[x] To the Temple

Haven't seen Byakuren before. This should be interesting; don't screw up, Hospitallymous!

[X] To the Temple

It doesn't take too long for you to make a decision, but you feel compelled to inform Meiling and gain her opinion of it before setting out. "I suppose the Temple would be the more suitable choice for the moment."

"Good choice, the village is boring."

"...Given what I've learned of your definition of fun, perhaps I should reconsider?"

"It's not like you're more likely to get into trouble at the temple. I just think it's a more lively place."

"...Lively?"

"You'll see."

Ominous as that sounds, you still feel you owe Meiling a great deal, even if you'd only met her a short while ago.

"Thank you Meiling...I don't kn-"

"Don't mention it." Meiling cuts you off. "But if you want to repay me, just come back some other day and give me a better fight. Alright?"

You nod, and Meiling almost immediately turns back toward her gate. Walking away without another word...

________________

You've been walking for a fair amount of time, yet there's been no sign of another person along the road so far. Worse yet, since you reentered the forest you've had the distinct impression of being watched. Thankfully, it seems as though your troubles are over; ahead is a bridge, and from what you can see the other side of the river is forest free.

However, a rustling in a nearby bush brings your walk to an immediate stop. You place your hand upon the hilt of your sword and adopt a stance, prepared for whomever or whatever might emerge from the forest around you. The rustling from the first bush ceases, just in time for it to begin again in another location...Whatever they are, they have you surrounded.

You whirl around to face the new presence...Staring intently at the source of the noise.
The creature emerges! It's A...

"...What?" Your words echo your thoughts.

To be frank, you have no idea what the creature is. It's almost as though a shadow had stolen a pair of eyes and balled itself up. It rolls along the ground, no visible weapons or appendages of any sort. If it were not an abomination, you might think it somewhat cute.

What's more, it's coming toward you...Rolling along. As it approaches, however. You feel the confusion as to what it is replaced with primordial apprehension. And even that is quickly replaced when you realize...You've started bleeding.

The hole in your armor; where you had been struck by an arrow has begun bleeding. You step away from the creature, giving yourself a chance to examine the wound. It's returned. As painful as you remember it.
You must escape! You turn to run, across the bridge and to the temple that surely must be just ahead...But the originator of the first noise you heard has rolled from his hiding place as well. He blocks your escape. Which means you've been outsmarted by a pair of fuzzballs.

You draw your sword, prepared to cut the creature down! But as you march toward it, a new sensation takes hold. You quickly recognize this feeling as well; The feeling of hitting the ground after falling from the walls of Acre strikes at you. The feeling of several of your bones breaking brings you to your knees, then the floor. As you lose consciousness, the last thing you can see is the creature ahead drawing closer.

_________________________


You awake, lying in a bed of a sort, upon the floor of some unfamiliar building...It seems that as you slept, night has fallen outside.

Further, whomever brought you here was kind enough to strip your armor, and tend your wound.
Unfortunately, it seems as though even though your bones have somehow recovered, the wound on your chest has remained this time.

You suppose you should-

[] Get up and find out where you are
[] Rest for now.

[X] Rest for now.

Wherever we are, we are with someone who probably won't harm us. Otherwise they wouldn't have tended Knightanon's wounds.
Rest and give the injury some time to heal. We wouldn't want it re-opening again.

[X] Rest for now.

Someone must have come to our aid. If they wished us harm, they wouldn't have attended our wounds. At the most, let's just look around the room without moving, see if we can see our equipment.

[X] Rest for now.

We have no clue where we are and this person obviously cared enough to drive off the monsters or recover your wounded body. It would be bad manners to simply try and leave. Besides, we might just make our wound even worse.

Check the furnishings of the room if possible. Their quality might tell us something of their owner. Also, look to see if our savior has left us bread, meat, or wine.

>>127772
But in her era, it was the start of the end for Youkai. People are quick to forget that humans are very good at systematically killing off species. Also consider how most youkai are loners while humans often band together. A youkai can deal with one human trying his luck, but not so much group of them with a plan. Gensokyo is closer to what she wished for than any other place or era.

[X] Rest for now.

How did our wound start acting up only after we left?

[x] Get up and find out where you are
They might have a sinister reason for this. I doubt it but...

[x] Rest for now.
Take it easy.

[X] Rest for now.

Rest. It's good for you. Even in a strange place, we should be fine.

[x] Rest for now

[X] Rest for now.

As others have noted though see if you can get a look around without doing anything that might aggravate your injuries.

>>127828

I've always look at this allot like how we regard wolves today, with people going on and on about how little threat they pose and how wrong it was for use to slaughter them. What tends to be ignored is they pose little threat BECAUSE we slaughtered them on mass and put the fear of death in them if they came within sight of a human settlement.

Back in the old days before they were hunted to near extinction "eaten by wolves" was not an unheard of cause of death, particularly in winter in rural areas. We didn't start killing them for shits and giggles we killed them because they could kill us They were rival predators and as such killing them wasn’t immoral it was natural. If a bunch of lions come across a lone hyena what happens? They don’t sit down and engage in a meaningful exchange as fellow apex level predators that’s for damn sure.

Youkai back then clearly weren’t interested in integrating with human society and were often overtly hostile. Humanity responded as nature intended: it exterminated them. Some might call it genocide, but I call it evolution in action. After all why do you supposed modern youkai are by and large kinder, gentler, and much more integrated with humans? Me I don’t think it’s cause of some moral or philosophical shift among them. No I think it’s because we killed all the ones that weren’t.

I've always been a cynic though.

>>127850
It's more then that actually. We not only hunted the wolf (the European one at least, although it survives in greater numbers in Italy) to near extinction, we assimilated them. We made them our very best friends and allies against the rest of nature. We made them our dogs.

I would not be surprised if Gensokyo was, at first, an history of bloody wars between humans and youkai before we started to turn some youkai against the rest. Eventually, humans probably exterminated the more hostile species and left the more benign or reasonable ones more or less alone, with certain periods of bloody youkai hunts to thin their ranks.

The strangest thing is that Humanity proceeds like this in a very ordered and systematic fashion every time, despite the lack of any true directing will behind it. It's just... what we were designed to do.

[x] Rest now.
-[x] Recall the times before you entered knighthood.

I'm kinda interested in our characters past.

>>127850
One might consider that that humans in the course of expanding their area, intruded upon a youkai's turf. We all know that when human expand, all native creatures usually suffer for it. Unlike lesser creatures, Youkai could easily fight back against a sloppy expeditionary force unaware of what they were up against. So some of these youkai might have been just defending their homes while the humans in question labeled them as monsters and crafted malicious tales as to galvanize the population against them.

Out of the two groups, it's humans that would be more likely to plan a genocide of the other side. If someone made a proper war between the two sides back then, there wouldn't be any winners, just a small group of survivors. On that matter, Byakuren merely protected Youkai, not urged them to make any sort of conflict.

Not to say there weren't any needlessly dangerous or aggressive ones, but just that it wasn't always the case. I suspect by the point of Byakuren's era, the policy towards youkai were "Kill/seal them all and let whatever foul god they worship sort them out" Byakuren in her time of Youkai sympathizing must have seen this, though she had other motives at first. Knowing this, the first thing Byakuren hears upon being unsealed are humans talking about basically punishing her because she was a youkai. Very fast, she readied herself for a fight.

>>127850
There are many types of youkai who aren't interested in eating humans, though. Tsukumogami mostly play pranks, for instance, and there are some youkai who are actively helpful like hakutaku and kirin.
Note that there are very few tsukumogami, one half-hakutaku, and no kirin in Gensokyo. Compare this to the three separate vampires, the night sparrow, the entire society of kappa, the entire world of demons, the city of Oni, the dozens of vanilla/elder youkai, and so on. Some of them even still are willing to eat humans! It seems evolution in action has favored the man-eaters.

[x] Rest now.
-[x] Recall the times before you entered knighthood.

I'm kinda interested in our characters past.

[X] Rest for now.
Take it easy.

>>127855
>no kirin
Isn't it sad, Rin? ;_;

>>127855
Well, then our purpose is clear. Surely, once we're aware of the situation, Knightanon will realize that the Lord wants him to rally the Humans of Gensokyo and lead them on a righteous Crusade against the man-eating youkai.

DEUS VULT!

[x] Get up and find out where you are.

We were attacked by shadow F.O.E.s using psychological warfare, and now we're in a bed. Wouldn't you wonder what the heck is going on?

>>127855

I had a whole big post prepared to refute this, but then I realized this could easily derail into moral debate faggoty so fuck that. I will just say this though of all those groups you mentioned I don't think we've ever seen them acutally kill a single person in canon terrors of the night these people are not...

>>127854

>only humans cause damage to the environment when they expand past their boundaries.

Yeah, no. I understand you're trying to provide a defense for why the Youkai went around killing and slaughtering people in ancient times, but that quality goes for all species. Any animal entering a new environment where they can prosper and spread causes imbalances, not just humans. Try not to be such a misanthrope.

>>127871
Er, so? They are still all former man-eaters or descendants of man-eaters. Even if they don't actively eat people, many of them still seem to want to... for instance, Mystia and Rumia. Meanwhile, the types of youkai who were never man-eaters to begin with seem to be gone or almost gone.
It was hardly a case of all of the man-eating youkai being killed off in self-defense; if it were, you would think that the youkai who were friendly to humans would be dominant now. It seems more like people were just exterminating all youkai they could find irrespective of their actual dangerousness. They weren't just killing the wolves, they were killing the foxes and dogs too.

>>127883
>>127900
You guys mind taking your arguement somwhere else?
You're clogging up the thread.

[x] Rest now


You scan the room, there's really not much furniture, and you cannot see your armor anywhere...However, your sword is thankfully resting against a wall nearby. Whomever brought you here is either so trusting that they'll leave you unguarded without a weapon, or entirely confident that there's nothing you could do with it to harm them...
That rather morbid thought in mind, relax your head and lie back on the pillow you've been provided. For the time being at least, you're safe.

__________

You get a few hours of sleep, but are abruptly awakened. Voices outside your room. Unfortunately, it seems that by the time you've become aware of them, their conversation is over. The pair walk off, somewhere down the hall. Only to be replaced by a third set of footsteps approaching from the other direction...They get closer, and closer still. Whomever is making these footsteps is right outside your door...

Part of you wants to get up and ask them where you are, but that voice is quelled by an intuition...Something about this person is odd...The weight of their steps seems to change with each passing moment, heavy to light, light to heavy, over and over again. You can't begin to understand why, but you know that whomever it is doesn't need to know you're awake just yet.
The door slides open, there's a pause...you lie almost entirely motionless save for the rising and falling of your chest.

The door is shut...You allow yourself to breath a small sigh of relief. But the oddity continues; the person outside isn't leaving. Do they mean to stand outside your room all night? Are they waiting to see if you're so foolish as to make them aware of your current state just because of a simple trick like closing the door once again?

The room remains silent all the while...You close your eyes, listening intently for something, anything to break the maddening silence....
It comes; in the form of a heavy, armored footstep. Directly to your side.

Your eyes snap open, and you stare into the face of a man towering over you; his sword raised above his head, ready to slam down upon you. You move quickly, rolling away from the attacker mere seconds before the loud slam of his sword crashing into the bed you were inhabiting only a second ago.

From your roll you shift your weight, bringing you to a kneeling position in front of the man...You recognize his armor, and the man wearing it instantly.
A Saracen...Not just any, either; you can recognize him as one of the men you'd fought and killed upon the walls of Acre, barely a day before.
He's tugging at his weapon, trying to free it from the floor he's impaled it into.
You bend your back leg, and then snap it open; thrusting you directly into the chest of the Saracen. He's caught entirely off guard, tumbling backward onto the floor, almost immediately he moves to stand again; but you intercept him with his own sword. Slashing his exposed throat open with a small slash.

He stumbles backward, clutching his throat as it bleeds profusely. You, as you have done so many times before; raise your blade and plunge it down upon him. Ending his life instantly.


You give the sword a quick swing, sending the blood upon it splattering to the floor. To god and yourself, you mutter;

"Kyrie eleison."


Even from this much, it's a wonder your wound hasn't reopened. Intent on not being surprised again, you glance about the room, there's nobody else. Just the corpse of your attacker. But the darkness surrounding you is deepening as time progresses...At first the light of the moon had illuminated everything, but now you can barely see five feet in front of you. If someone else is here, you won't be able to see them until they approach.

A distinct hissing sound erupts from below you. You glance down to see the source...A snake?
A snake, wrapped around your sword...You try not to move suddenly, agitating the animal would hasten its strike.
But as you stare close you begin to notice, the snake hasn't wrapped itself around the sword .It is the sword!
It crawls down its own hilt, and up toward your upper arm...Slowly and carefully you reach your other hand around, and at the right moment, snatch it by what passes for it's neck and drag it away from your arm.
The snakes lower body remains firmly wrapped around you, but with your grip on its head you're quite confident it can't bite.

You look around the room once more. Hoping to find some source or cause to this madness. It emerges in the form of a pair of Red eyes, strikingly glaring at you from a corner shrouded in darkness.

You stare at this pair of eyes, and they stare straight back with obvious delight. The darkness around you recedes, and you're able to make out the outline of the person in front of you.

It's clearly a woman...Or at least a girl.
She raises a finger, holding the hand it's attached out to you in an attempt to grab your attention, before pointing toward...Your arm?

You look, just in time to see that the head of the snake you were holding has become its tail.
You realize the implications of this just in time to see the former tail of the snake rear back and bite into your bare arm.

"Argh!" You swing your arm back and forth, desperately trying to shake it loose. But the creature holds tight...Your vision blurs, and surprisingly you could swear that you've begin to see colors...Lots, and lots of colors.

The last thing you see is a bright flash, and the last thing you hear;

"NUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

_____________________


You awake once more, in what seems to be the same bed, minus the hole the Saracen had created.
It's morning now, and alongside your bed is a blond haired girl. At first you think she's awake, but it seems she's fallen asleep while sitting upright on her knees.
...Strangely enough, the wound on your chest doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did last night, even despite all the activity.

[] Wake the girl
[] Leave the room, quietly

[x] Wake the girl

Oh, now that was fun. Now, let's get some explanation.

[X] Wake the girl

Night terrors, huh?
Do we know how to use a bow well?

>>127919
We won't be a marksman, but we should know how to hit something at a reasonable distance. It would be harder to find someone from our time(who hadn't spent their entire life in a city being a merchant or something like that) who couldn't use a bow

[X] Wake the girl

It would be rather rude to just leave.

Strange visions and a pair of red eyes? Red Eyes of Madness, perhaps? Hmm?

>>127919
Depends... Most likely not. Nobles hunted with lances most of the time (for big game), or falcons (for small game), in this timeframe.

>>127922
Would Knightanon have used a crossbow at any point, or was that for footsoldiers?

>>127923
>Nightmaric visions
>Red eyes
>"NUEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Nue_Houjuu

[X] Wake the girl

>>127923
Not visions, nightmares. Like the ones she gave Emperor Konoe.

[x] Wake the girl

I do not envy Nue. It could get worse for her, but a Byakuren lecture will take a bit.

Let's just talk to girl-who-is-probably-Shou.

[X] Wake the girl

>...
Too many of those.

[x] Wake the girl
Knight & Nue. That will be something.

>>127934
Yeah.
I think I'll hook up a car battery to my chair, and rig it to deliver a shock if I hit the . key three times in quick succession.

>>127935
I think that's gonna get rather painful, rather quickly.

[x] Wake the girl

>>127927
For footmen almost exclusively. Certain cases exist where knights used crossbows, but it's mostly too much of a pain in the ass to reload on horseback.

>>127939
Indeed, however Knightanon was familiar with its use, and has fired one at least once.

This Nue.... It is practically Sanaeke's Nue

>>127939
The Moors, mind you, did have Crossbow cavalry. People from Granada were absolutely crazy about the crossbow. Think...Texans and guns.

>>127952
We're speaking about Europeans, not the Moors. However, I didn't know that fascinating bit of information. Please elaborate.

>>127954
Commoners, mostly, professional soldiers. They were dedicated crossbowmen, in purpose, that is, not belief. They used lighter crossbows than the footsoldiers would, light enough to draw the string by hand, but used the mobility of their horses to make up for the loss in range and power.

Hell, there were even medieval sayings about how everyone in Granada had a crossbow. Damned if I can remember what they were though.

>>127957
Me.
Forgot the trip.

I'll be making a new thread in the morning.

>>127958
Y'know, we really don't care whether it's you or not, unless you're posting in your story. All the older authors vote tripless; you might consider doing the same.

Well, we now know what those black fuzzy balls are.

Or should I say, Who they were.

[X] Wake the girl