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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Reader mode
Thor's Twin said:
This seems to be really hinging on the assumption that because Ling Qi uses stealth as a tactic and weapon it is not a life philosophy. Seems to be a poor hinge to rest the argument on. The question, then, becomes why does she use stealth as a tactic and a weapon. Why does she use stealth at all? Purely because she is good at it? No. If she didn't want to use stealth she has had plenty of opportunities to ditch it to the side and focus on other skills. So why didn't she? We'll get back to that in a bit.

There also seems to be a hinge on stealth vs. hiding. That a stealth insight would in turn be forced to be defensive which, is being claimed, to be a regression of character. But clearly stealth can be used offensively. A whole bunch of times it has been used offensively has been listed, so why the assumption that any stealth insight is going to be defensive when we've used it very offensively so far? It seems that there is a mold or expectation that stealth insights must be this type of insight, and that type of insight doesn't work with how Ling Qi's future domain is imagined. Seems limiting and self-constricting. But, if Life Philosophy is what is desired, let's see if we can't bring some to the table.

"An unaware opponent is at a disadvantage. Press at that moment to succeed."

"A seen gambit is a foiled gambit. Prepare your plots unseen to bring them to fruition."

"The unseen breeze is more dangerous than the revealed hammer, for it can be where the opponent is weakest."

Ling Qi has learned, through her life experiences, that an unaware opponent is much easier to destroy, dismantle, and disperse then an opponent that is aware she is coming and is, subsequently, prepared for her. She's learned this through Yan Renshu, the Fortress infiltration, the Weilu Tomb excursion, her work with Elder Jiao in training with him, the Outer Sect Tournament, the Barbarian Incursion, and, most recently, the infiltration of the Corpse Eating Demons. To claim, then, that the only stealth insights she would have available would be defensive ones while at the same time that it is Ling Qi's life experiences which control what insights are available seems to have a disconnect.

Hopefully, this helps demonstrates that there are plenty of stealth insights that can be used offensively. And, should a stealth insight be focused more on its offensive potential, then any conflict with Family would be null since Ling Qi isn't going to be going on the offense against her own family and friends.
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Okay, that's more in the right direction. The reason I was focusing on defensive stealth over offensive, however (despite clearly acknowledging that she uses offensive stealth instead, I'll note!), is that Ling Qi's Insights largely don't concern themselves with anyone outside her sphere of care. I should have made that more explicit instead of assuming it as an axiom, so let me establish that bit real quick.

(And I'll apologize now if you feel that I'm moving the goalposts, because this probably qualifies. I didn't establish every aspect of my argument clearly enough, and I'll own that.)
  1. Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured.
  2. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.
  3. Though a path might be hard and lonely, it has worth if you can present something of beauty to those you care for at the end.
  4. There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
  5. Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
  6. Even walking alone, footfalls echo beyond your hearing.
Look at Insight 1, 3 and 5. "and one's guests": enemies lie to you too, but the Insight doesn't really care about that. A "path might be hard and lonely," which treats opposition as an environmental condition. "Branches and trunks bend and sway" continues the "opposition as weather" trend. The other three are personal and internal.

Ling Qi divides up the world into enemies and allies, yes, but she seems to think of enemies as basically The Thousand: that is, basically an abstract collective that's more like weather than a group of people. (She dehumanizes in general outside her monkeysphere; think of her attitudes on barbarians.) So she doesn't really concern herself, at a deep identity level, about how she relates to people she doesn't already care about. I think Meizhen and CRX are pretty good proof that this isn't universal; Meizhen's Insights almost certainly specifically include something about how to deal with enemies, and CRX's almost certainly include how to relate to people in general. But Ling Qi doesn't care about that. Enemies are weather.

(Because she was weak and powerless for most of her life, so concerning herself with anything above survival was difficult. Problems could be endured but rarely dealt with. Life philosophies!)

So your proposed Insights still don't match, because they're not about Ling Qi or the people she cares about. Which means the Insights need to be more about doing offensive stealth to protect people, but the focus is going to be that it's because she wants to protect people, which... probably just results in more Armor and Avoid and protection from effects. Which is what her Domain does already, because that is the natural consequence of how she thinks about the world and opposition. You don't go out to punch a tornado*, you batten down the hatches.

(I mean, Cultivators probably do deal with problematic non-Spirit weather that way, insofar as there's any non-Spirit weather at all. But Domains work at the axiom level, and you form your axioms earlier than the point where she Awakened. So she doesn't instinctively take tornado-punching into account.)
 
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Anderein said:
Okay, that's more in the right direction. The reason I was focusing on defensive stealth over offensive, however (despite clearly acknowledging that she uses offensive stealth instead, I'll note!), is that Ling Qi's Insights largely don't concern themselves with anyone outside her sphere of care. I should have made that more explicit instead of assuming it as an axiom, so let me establish that bit real quick.

(And I'll apologize now if you feel that I'm moving the goalposts, because this probably qualifies. I didn't establish every aspect of my argument clearly enough, and I'll own that.)
  1. Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured.
  2. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.
  3. Though a path might be hard and lonely, it has worth if you can present something of beauty to those you care for at the end.
  4. There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
  5. Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
  6. Even walking alone, footfalls echo beyond your hearing.
Look at Insight 1, 3 and 5. "and one's guests": enemies lie to you too, but the Insight doesn't really care about that. A "path might be hard and lonely," which treats opposition as an environmental condition. "Branches and trunks bend and sway" continues the "opposition as weather" trend. The other three are personal and internal.

Ling Qi divides up the world into enemies and allies, yes, but she seems to think of enemies as basically The Thousand: that is, basically an abstract collective that's more like weather than a group of people. (She dehumanizes in general outside her monkeysphere; think of her attitudes on barbarians.) So she doesn't really concern herself, at a deep identity level, about how she relates to people she doesn't already care about. I think Meizhen and CRX are pretty good proof that this isn't universal; Meizhen's Insights almost certainly specifically include something about how to deal with enemies, and CRX's almost certainly include how to relate to people in general. But Ling Qi doesn't care about that. Enemies are weather.

(Because she was weak and powerless for most of her life, so concerning herself with anything above survival was difficult. Problems could be endured but rarely dealt with. Life philosophies!)

So your proposed Insights still don't match, because they're not about Ling Qi or the people she cares about. Which means the Insights need to be more about doing offensive stealth to protect people, but the focus is going to be that it's because she wants to protect people, which... probably just results in more Armor and Avoid and protection from effects. Which is what her Domain does already, because that is the natural consequence of how she thinks about the world and opposition. You don't go out to punch a tornado*, you batten down the hatches.

(I mean, Cultivators probably do deal with problematic non-Spirit weather that way, insofar as there's any non-Spirit weather at all. But Domains work at the axiom level, and you form your axioms earlier than the point where she Awakened. So she doesn't instinctively take tornado-punching into account.)
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Or she could actually begin to actually look at the world at large, enemies and just people in general outside her orbit. Like really look and concern herself with issues that affect strangers and people she doesn't know. Make no mistake, I know it would take a while before she'd actually get there but I'm just saying, those sort of Insights aren't out of the question completely. They're just a ways down the line.
 
Anderein said:
Okay, that's more in the right direction. The reason I was focusing on defensive stealth over offensive, however (despite clearly acknowledging that she uses offensive stealth instead, I'll note!), is that Ling Qi's Insights largely don't concern themselves with anyone outside her sphere of care. I should have made that more explicit instead of assuming it as an axiom, so let me establish that bit real quick.

(And I'll apologize now if you feel that I'm moving the goalposts, because this probably qualifies. I didn't establish every aspect of my argument clearly enough, and I'll own that.)
  1. Sincerity is the measure by which the worthiness of the self and ones guests should be measured.
  2. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.
  3. Though a path might be hard and lonely, it has worth if you can present something of beauty to those you care for at the end.
  4. There is no peace in emptiness, no content in stillness. Stagnation is death; act, change, move, think, and grow until the very end.
  5. Branches and trunks bend and sway, but the roots must remain unyielding. Retreat only so far and then no more.
  6. Even walking alone, footfalls echo beyond your hearing.
Look at Insight 1, 3 and 5. "and one's guests": enemies lie to you too, but the Insight doesn't really care about that. A "path might be hard and lonely," which treats opposition as an environmental condition. "Branches and trunks bend and sway" continues the "opposition as weather" trend. The other three are personal and internal.

Ling Qi divides up the world into enemies and allies, yes, but she seems to think of enemies as basically The Thousand: that is, basically an abstract collective that's more like weather than a group of people. (She dehumanizes in general outside her monkeysphere; think of her attitudes on barbarians.) So she doesn't really concern herself, at a deep identity level, about how she relates to people she doesn't already care about. I think Meizhen and CRX are pretty good proof that this isn't universal; Meizhen's Insights almost certainly specifically include something about how to deal with enemies, and CRX's almost certainly include how to relate to people in general. But Ling Qi doesn't care about that. Enemies are weather.

(Because she was weak and powerless for most of her life, so concerning herself with anything above survival was difficult. Problems could be endured but rarely dealt with. Life philosophies!)

So your proposed Insights still don't match, because they're not about Ling Qi or the people she cares about. Which means the Insights need to be more about doing offensive stealth to protect people, but the focus is going to be that it's because she wants to protect people, which... probably just results in more Armor and Avoid and protection from effects. Which is what her Domain does already, because that is the natural consequence of how she thinks about the world and opposition. You don't go out to punch a tornado*, you batten down the hatches.

(I mean, Cultivators probably do deal with problematic non-Spirit weather that way, insofar as there's any non-Spirit weather at all. But Domains work at the axiom level, and you form your axioms earlier than the point where she Awakened. So she doesn't instinctively take tornado-punching into account.)
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There are some fatal flaws in this argument, specifically insight 6. This whole argument seems predicated upon, now, that Ling Qi's insights primarily deal with her and her own, but then ignores insight 6, and insight 2. Even insight 1 deals with others not her own, as "guest" does not have to be friendly or family. Even enemies can be invited into your space either knowingly or unknowingly. To take half of the insights Ling Qi has and then predicate an argument that a majority of her insights involve her and her own while ignoring the other insights seems to be shooting the argument in the foot before it can even start the race.

Insight 2 doesn't deal with just herself or family but also has been applied to others and enemies. Frequently in Ling Qi's interactions with enemies, she has sought to end them, and, presumably, from the ending of an enemy a new beginning beneficial to her and her family can occur. This argument being portrayed that Ling Qi's domain insights primarily focus on herself and family implicitly allow for such insights against opponents, being that primary is not totally, merely a majority, but then takes an absolute stance that unless the stealth insight focuses on protecting herself and others it won't work as an insight, which loops right back around to the prior fallacy of the previous argument, assuming a defensive insight for stealth despite the offensive uses of said stealth being predominant.

Insight 6, meanwhile, is explicitly about others outside of Ling Qi. Family, friends, enemies, others all could hear the echoes far outside of Ling Qi's hearing. This argument ignores this insight entirely and simply doesn't address it at all. It can not be successfully argued that Ling Qi's stealth insight must be about protecting family and friends because that is what her insights are primarily about when there exists an insight specifically about others and Ling Qi's effect on them. It is an extreme disconnect.

This argument again, as mentioned before, just goes in circles of logic without end. There is an expectation that an insight must be about Ling Qi and family, despite evidence to the contrary, and that expectation feeds into an expectation that the stealth insight has to be defensive in nature, despite evidence that Ling Qi uses stealth offensively, which circles into an expectation that the insight must be about Ling Qi and her family. And around, and around it goes.
 
Mmm, honestly one of the obvious places to put a stealth insight would be under the "unstoppable" traitline. You can't stop what you can't detect, and we get that line from SCS in the first place.
 
I always saw stealth as intimately tied to the movement and dodge aspects of our build. It's about avoiding danger on the larger scale where dodge is its more immediate version. Half of our Arts are about combat, yet I don't see anyone complaining about Ling Qi fixating on that to the point Alingge comments on it.

The reason Ling Qi isn't vengeful is because she doesn't want to deal with conflict and Stealth is conflict avoidance incarnate. Everyone is concerned about basing even a speck of our Way on serving the Cai yet we spend most of our AP on battle Arts. Ling Qi wants strength yet she doesn't want to have to use that strength, because conflict is means hurting or being hurt. It is the same as stealing a mans blanked in winter or abandoning a friend to the guards. FSS, BKSD, UGM, SNR, these are the Arts that would see Ling Qi join the Cai because they teach her not to avoid conflict but to endure it, which leans more on the aspect of connections that says she needs powerful allies. The Insights for Stealth are the things that would give us the option to disengage and keep some distance from all that and hide away with our family for a while. It's not about not being noticed, it's about having a deft touch in avoiding unwanted attention or keeping our enemies from being unable to engage us in the first place.
 
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Anderein said:
Enemies are weather.
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... Treating enemies as an environmental condition rather than entities whose behavior you can influence isn't great for stealth insights, no.

It's not great for a lot of other things, either.

Something to keep in mind when we're voting on insights in the future.

Ling Qi would look very different right now if she'd taken insights from Covetous Wraith's Yearning or Lonely Winter Maiden, I think.
 
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Turn 9: Arc 3-3
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    • Laughing Flight of the wind thief

    5, 5, 6, 9, 9, 10, 9, 5, 7, 3, 3, 4, 9, 1, 5, 2, 8, 3, 2, 7, 2, 1, 10, 3, 8, 2, 2, 9, 2, 7, 8, 7, 2, 3, 9, 2, 10, 4, 5, 7, 5, 2, 6, 8, 7, 1, 5, 5, 3, 1, 10, 8, 7, 3, 5, 2, 7, 8, 5, 4, 4, 10, 9, 8, 1, 7, 5, 3, 5, 9, 5, 1, 10, 1, 6, 10, 8, 3, 4, 4, 3, 7, 5, 4, 1, 6, 7, 6, 9, 10, 5, 6, 5, 4, 10, 7, 9, 5, 4, 9, 3, 1, 4, 8, 4, 3, 4, 9, 2, 4, 9, 8, 3, 6, 10, 9, 2, 7, 8, 1, 6, 7, 2, 1, 1, 7, 5, 3, 9, 10, 5, 1, 9, 1, 7, 7, 3, 4, 2, 6, 4, 10, 4, 2, 1, 5, 6, 4, 1, 10, 4, 5, 2, 3, 1, 3, 8, 7, 10, 9, 7, 5, 6, 9, 10, 10, 1, 10, 10, 2, 8, 7, 7, 7, 1, 7, 8, 6, 2, 10, 6, 7, 8, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1, 8, 4, 1, 9, 9, 9, 6, 6, 9, 6, 4, 8, 8, 6, 6, 1, 1, 5, 2, 10, 7, 6, 4, 3, 9, 4, 9, 10, 9, 5, 1, 3, 7, 8, 3, 1, 9, 2, 2, 2, 7, 3, 6, 10, 3, 6, 10, 2, 1, 9, 1, 5, 4, 10, 8, 4, 5, 6, 1, 7, 4, 7, 3, 10, 9, 4, 10, 4, 1, 9, 4, 3, 8, 9, 5, 3, 8, 8, 1, 1, 2, 8, 3, 9, 4, 8, 4, 3, 8, 3, 7, 4, 3, 2, 7, 5, 10, 7, 3, 4, 3, 4, 8, 3, 2, 7, 7, 7, 2, 3, 2, 10, 5, 5, 4, 9, 1, 5, 1, 8, 2, 1, 7, 6, 1, 7, 4, 2, 3, 8, 8, 1, 10, 3, 8, 6, 1, 8, 4, 8, 3, 2, 9, 6, 2, 5, 7, 7, 5, 1, 10, 4, 6, 8, 6, 1, 3, 1, 10, 10, 9, 10, 5, 6, 2, 3, 2, 7, 5, 9, 6, 3, 6, 10, 9, 10, 9, 10, 8, 1, 7, 1, 3, 3, 9, 7, 2, 10, 2, 10, 8, 6, 5, 6, 8, 1, 4, 8, 1, 1, 5, 9, 8, 5, 10, 6, 8, 5, 1, 6, 2, 10, 3, 8, 2, 2, 10, 4, 5, 2, 6, 10, 10, 5, 7, 7, 10, 10, 7, 5, 2, 8, 9, 5, 7, 5, 7, 10, 1, 3, 6, 3, 3, 6, 6, 2, 6, 4, 10, 5, 3, 9, 9, 2, 4, 10, 10, 2, 4, 4, 2, 1, 1, 1, 5, 9, 7, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 7, 2, 3, 9, 5, 3, 8, 5, 6, 2, 9, 5, 3, 2, 3, 2, 8, 5, 2, 6, 9, 9, 2, 6, 7, 3, 5, 8, 7, 8, 3, 2, 4, 7, 9, 2, 6, 7, 2, 5, 9, 5, 9, 2, 8, 1, 6, 2, 4, 6, 3, 2, 1, 5, 10, 10, 4, 3, 5, 5, 6, 1, 3, 4, 3, 5, 5, 7, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 3, 5, 2, 6, 9, 10, 4, 5, 2, 4, 8, 8, 8, 8, 2, 2, 9, 3, 6, 2, 10, 1, 3, 2, 5, 7, 5, 1, 5, 9, 6, 7, 5, 7, 1, 10, 7, 8, 3, 5, 4, 8, 10, 6, 4, 4, 10, 6, 3, 3, 10, 4, 5, 5, 7, 10, 2, 3, 7, 6, 5, 3, 9, 3, 6, 10, 4, 10, 6, 6, 2, 8, 2, 9, 9, 7, 1, 8, 8, 1, 7, 4, 3, 7, 5, 9, 10, 9, 9, 5, 4, 10, 3, 5, 9, 2, 1, 1, 10, 6, 9, 3, 9, 5, 4, 3, 10, 1, 10, 5, 2, 10, 9, 5, 1, 3, 3, 6, 7, 2, 6, 3, 10, 4, 5, 2, 1, 4, 9, 9, 3, 7, 7, 8, 6, 3, 10, 6, 5, 5, 10, 8, 2, 9, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 6, 3, 4, 4, 5, 1, 3, 9, 9, 7, 4, 4, 2, 7, 8, 6, 9, 10, 8, 1, 10, 4, 6, 3, 9, 1, 9, 10, 8, 8, 4, 6, 10, 3, 9, 2, 9, 9, 7, 5, 4, 7, 9, 7, 10, 5, 1, 4, 7, 3, 6, 9, 2, 10, 5, 9, 2, 5, 6, 3, 10, 3, 8, 1, 5, 8, 10, 8, 2, 8, 8, 7, 9, 10, 3, 5, 5, 6, 9, 1, 2, 7, 6, 7, 4, 1, 2, 10, 3, 2, 1, 4, 2, 8, 1, 6, 10, 7, 5, 10, 4, 6, 7, 9, 6, 4, 6, 4, 9, 7, 10, 3, 1, 7, 8, 8, 10, 9, 1, 4, 6, 3, 3, 8, 7, 9, 1, 9, 8, 1, 7, 7, 4, 9, 2, 7, 6, 8, 8, 8, 10, 10, 1, 6, 9, 6, 7, 4, 1, 3, 9, 1, 9, 5, 2, 9, 4, 9, 1, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5, 2, 5, 1, 9, 7, 2, 5, 1, 10, 7, 5, 6, 4, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2, 9, 3, 6, 7, 9, 7, 2, 8, 1, 4, 1, 6, 6, 1, 8, 3, 4, 3, 6, 1, 9, 2, 1, 9, 4, 2, 1, 4, 10, 9, 8, 5, 9, 7, 4, 7, 8, 4, 10, 4, 7, 5, 8, 1, 8, 8, 7, 3, 10, 3, 7, 1, 2, 4, 8, 6, 2, 3, 8, 4, 10, 4, 6, 10, 1, 3, 7, 1, 7, 5, 4, 2, 9, 5, 9, 3, 3, 6, 2, 7, 4, 10, 7, 6, 7, 2, 6, 2, 1, 8, 2, 3, 6, 3, 5, 7, 8, 8, 1, 8, 3, 2, 2, 5, 8, 6, 7, 9, 7, 6, 6, 5, 1, 6, 4, 5, 5, 4, 1, 2, 2, 9, 4, 9, 8, 10, 9, 6, 1, 9, 6, 6, 3, 7, 1, 1, 3, 10, 5, 3, 10, 5, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 5, 9, 9, 4, 9, 3, 3, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 3, 7, 3, 8, 7, 8, 9, 1, 6, 1, 8, 2, 9, 1, 9, 1, 3, 8, 2, 2, 5, 3, 9, 8, 10, 9, 9, 9, 3, 4, 7, 7, 4, 5, 7, 9, 3. 536 successes


    Rerolling 107
    7, 2, 7, 3, 10, 6, 8, 10, 4, 6, 2, 2, 7, 3, 7, 10, 6, 4, 8, 6, 9, 2, 5, 8, 4, 7, 9, 6, 4, 9, 3, 5, 4, 9, 2, 3, 5, 8, 6, 5, 5, 3, 5, 4, 10, 7, 3, 9, 7, 6, 3, 5, 10, 10, 10, 4, 10, 5, 2, 2, 8, 9, 6, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 7, 4, 2, 5, 10, 6, 5, 3, 5, 3, 8, 2, 5, 10, 3, 3, 8, 6, 8, 7, 9, 1, 5, 3, 5, 5, 6, 10, 4, 1, 9, 7, 6, 4, 3, 9, 10, 8, 5. 53 x2=106 successes

    642x2.45=1572 successes

    1572/500 First Flight achieved
    1072/600 Second Flight Achieved

    Third Flight locked

    472x.1= 47 successes to physical


    Ephemeral Night's Memory 708 dice

    3, 9, 2, 7, 8, 8, 1, 8, 10, 5, 2, 2, 5, 5, 5, 7, 4, 2, 6, 2, 1, 8, 10, 3, 9, 4, 4, 7, 5, 7, 4, 3, 6, 5, 7, 9, 4, 10, 5, 3, 5, 2, 7, 5, 1, 10, 2, 1, 8, 6, 4, 2, 4, 4, 10, 6, 5, 6, 7, 6, 3, 5, 7, 4, 2, 8, 8, 8, 3, 8, 5, 1, 4, 1, 10, 3, 4, 9, 4, 5, 7, 9, 1, 3, 5, 1, 4, 8, 2, 1, 4, 2, 3, 10, 9, 7, 1, 10, 9, 9, 2, 3, 7, 6, 1, 6, 1, 9, 3, 3, 1, 7, 7, 5, 8, 6, 8, 10, 4, 4, 2, 10, 10, 2, 3, 7, 10, 1, 5, 6, 8, 5, 2, 5, 10, 9, 7, 3, 2, 3, 7, 8, 2, 1, 7, 9, 4, 5, 1, 7, 10, 8, 4, 6, 10, 10, 5, 10, 2, 7, 4, 1, 9, 8, 2, 10, 4, 6, 6, 1, 6, 4, 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 8, 4, 1, 8, 1, 10, 9, 3, 7, 8, 10, 8, 10, 5, 6, 1, 5, 1, 4, 8, 2, 6, 7, 5, 4, 6, 5, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5, 5, 3, 2, 4, 10, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6, 4, 4, 9, 8, 10, 8, 1, 7, 9, 1, 1, 9, 7, 8, 10, 6, 6, 10, 9, 2, 2, 5, 5, 3, 10, 7, 9, 5, 5, 9, 5, 9, 9, 2, 3, 2, 4, 5, 9, 10, 5, 4, 5, 10, 9, 7, 8, 1, 5, 9, 4, 2, 1, 3, 6, 2, 4, 3, 7, 2, 7, 2, 6, 4, 3, 3, 9, 2, 1, 8, 7, 10, 10, 9, 3, 6, 1, 5, 4, 4, 9, 7, 8, 10, 5, 9, 7, 10, 1, 3, 9, 6, 2, 9, 6, 1, 8, 7, 3, 3, 6, 7, 5, 2, 10, 9, 10, 7, 6, 6, 3, 8, 8, 3, 3, 7, 3, 8, 1, 10, 5, 10, 4, 8, 10, 6, 6, 3, 5, 10, 8, 4, 2, 5, 7, 3, 5, 1, 2, 8, 6, 4, 7, 7, 2, 4, 6, 4, 9, 3, 6, 6, 7, 5, 3, 10, 8, 2, 4, 9, 9, 6, 2, 1, 6, 7, 10, 10, 1, 10, 3, 4, 2, 1, 1, 10, 8, 5, 6, 3, 3, 7, 9, 3, 3, 5, 6, 7, 5, 7, 10, 10, 3, 4, 10, 5, 3, 6, 4, 2, 9, 1, 2, 6, 7, 1, 8, 5, 9, 1, 7, 8, 5, 1, 6, 5, 10, 5, 1, 1, 7, 9, 5, 9, 7, 2, 9, 7, 6, 3, 5, 6, 4, 6, 4, 3, 2, 3, 7, 5, 8, 10, 5, 7, 6, 10, 1, 4, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 7, 4, 8, 5, 6, 4, 10, 10, 10, 6, 6, 9, 6, 10, 4, 7, 5, 10, 3, 6, 6, 9, 9, 7, 6, 10, 9, 10, 5, 5, 3, 2, 2, 5, 5, 2, 2, 6, 8, 8, 10, 3, 4, 7, 9, 3, 7, 6, 7, 8, 3, 5, 4, 3, 3, 4, 6, 9, 8, 10, 6, 4, 5, 10, 5, 9, 2, 2, 7, 1, 3, 2, 9, 6, 1, 9, 9, 7, 4, 8, 1, 9, 4, 8, 1, 3, 9, 5, 6, 6, 2, 5, 4, 10, 9, 6, 5, 8, 4, 5, 8, 8, 8, 10, 3, 6, 7, 5, 4, 4, 3, 9, 5, 8, 10, 10, 7, 9, 2, 9, 4, 7, 7, 2, 8, 3, 1, 2, 9, 1, 1, 2, 5, 4, 1, 5, 5, 6, 8, 4, 4, 1, 4, 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 9, 6, 6, 8, 7, 3, 7, 9, 4, 3, 1, 9, 9, 4, 3, 9, 3, 2, 5, 10, 8, 1, 7, 9, 5, 8, 4, 5, 5, 9, 9, 4, 9, 9, 3, 8, 4, 3, 1, 5, 9, 3, 4, 10, 3, 3, 4, 6, 9, 2, 3, 8, 7, 2, 5, 10, 5, 6, 7, 2, 10, 6, 7, 5, 3, 5, 4, 6, 3, 7, 2, 4, 3, 5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 9, 2, 10, 2, 10, 6. 361 successes


    Rerolling 60
    2, 2, 1, 3, 6, 4, 6, 4, 8, 10, 5, 5, 2, 8, 5, 7, 6, 7, 5, 7, 1, 6, 6, 5, 1, 7, 2, 4, 2, 7, 6, 3, 10, 8, 5, 1, 10, 9, 5, 10, 1, 10, 2, 6, 3, 3, 2, 4, 8, 8, 9, 10, 2, 7, 3, 2, 5, 10, 8, 8. 31 x2=62 successes

    423 x2.2=930

    1093/300 Fourth Fading Achieved

    793/400 Fifth Fading Achieved, Art Mastered

    393x0.1= 39 to physical

    Phantasmagoria of Lunar Revelry
    5, 7, 5, 7, 6, 5, 7, 6, 5, 3, 10, 3, 1, 1, 10, 6, 6, 10, 3, 6, 5, 6, 7, 9, 2, 5, 6, 6, 1, 3, 5, 8, 3, 2, 6, 8, 7, 4, 4, 2, 3, 10, 8, 7, 5, 10, 4, 3, 2, 4, 7, 7, 6, 2, 8, 7, 2, 3, 7, 9, 2, 4, 1, 7, 4, 10, 9, 6, 10, 7, 9, 1, 1, 2, 1, 10, 7, 9, 8, 5, 9, 4, 9, 9, 4, 6, 6, 4, 5, 1, 8, 9, 6, 8, 3, 5, 1, 10, 1, 7, 5, 2, 3, 4, 7, 6, 7, 9, 3, 8, 10, 5, 5, 2, 1, 2, 9, 4, 10, 10, 1, 3, 5, 10, 7, 9, 10, 5, 6, 10, 7, 10, 10, 4, 9, 3, 1, 5, 2, 9, 8, 7, 9, 6, 10, 9, 8, 4, 3, 7, 10, 10, 7, 2, 5, 6, 2, 8, 5, 7, 9, 10, 10, 8, 2, 2, 6, 7, 3, 4, 3, 8, 2, 8, 9, 3, 5, 7, 6, 10, 1, 2, 8, 6, 2, 8, 7, 4, 2, 3, 7, 1, 3, 4, 8, 7, 8, 7, 5, 8, 6, 10, 7, 2, 1, 9, 6, 2, 4, 6, 3, 4, 9, 5, 7, 7, 5, 1, 10, 10, 8, 2, 5, 4, 2, 8, 3, 9, 6, 9, 7, 7, 5, 5, 5, 8, 10, 2, 6, 5, 6, 6, 9, 8, 3, 7, 7, 5, 6, 3, 10, 8, 3, 2, 5, 5, 10, 9, 9, 8, 4, 3, 4, 8, 6, 5, 6, 3, 8, 3, 8, 1, 9, 3, 7, 4, 1, 2, 1, 1, 6, 2, 3, 7. 132 successes

    Rerolling 21
    2, 8, 7, 2, 1, 9, 4, 6, 5, 6, 6, 9, 4, 10, 10, 4, 4, 9, 7, 1, 4. 10x2=20 successes

    152x1.9=288 Successes

    944/800 Seventh Revel Achieved

    144/1000

    An art born from the nature of the dreaming moon, patron of artists and innovators, granted as a favor to one who impressed at her moonlit gala. This art calls upon the memories of that chaotic spiritual revel, allowing the user to use their qi to impress them upon the waking world, and move with the grace of a trueborn maiden of moonlight.

    Potency: Green 3
    Potency Growth: Green 4(9)
    Keywords:
    - Moon, Motion, Revelry, Yang.
    - Athletics, Dance, Dexterity, Composure, Presence.
    Meridians: Lung x2, Leg x4; 4 moon 2 dream
    - Growth: Leg(1,1,5,7), Lung(1,3,9)
    Experience Needed: 800, 1000, 1200
    Max level: 9

    Passive Effects:
    +15 bonus to Dance, Music, Art
    +10 to Poise
    +15 to Speed
    +15 bonus to Physical Avoid
    +15 bonus to Spiritual Avoid
    +10 bonus to Dexterity when escaping grapple or confinement
    +15 bonus to begin or maintain a grapple
    -This Art uses Dance as mastery for all techniques


    Illustrious Phantasmal Festival: B
    Duration: Persistent
    The foundational technique from which all others in the art arise. The user gathers their qi and the memories of their night of revelry and expels them through every available channel in a rush of power and gleaming many colored mist. Within Close range centered on the user, ghostly dancers ever shifting in form coalesce from the midst in a riot of color, laughter, music and movement.

    The festival counts as an opponent for the purposes of determining multiattacker bonuses. The user is the master of the revel, the host and the creator in one. The revel may move with them or remain still at their volition. The user may freely move to any point within the confines of the revel instantly and without crossing the intervening distance, and is immune to any physical obstacle or barrier or constraint of a rank lower than A(Adjusted for potency). To move the revel, the user must move normally, or with another technique. While the revel is active the users Physical Avoid and Spiritual Avoid is increased by one half rank, this bonus also applies to up to Eight allies within the revel. Said allies receive a half rank increase to speed within the confines of the revel.
    --Lunatic Whirl: B
    Duration: Persistent
    Activates automatically at no additional cost when Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is activated. The ghostly dancers gather around an intruder in the festival, laughing, singing and demanding a dance, forcing them to join the revelry. The dancers seize their arms and hands, dragging them through the chaotic revelry. Though the dancers will do no harm to their captive, the frenetic pace of the revelry is highly draining, and victim finds their qi dribbling away(D rank qi drain), siphoned to the user while the sights and sounds of the revel cloud their minds and steal the strength from their limbs. So long as their hands lie in the grasp of the dancers, they will also find the meridians in their arms blocked and unusable. Each usage of Lunatic Whirl may target up to 5 targets. The user may target a maximum of fifteen enemies of lower realm or five of equal realm (mixed groups are counted at a 3:1 ratio).

    Joyous Toast: C
    Duration: Immediate
    Usable only while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active. The guests of the festival raise their voices and cups and stamp their feet in joy, roaring encouragement for the user and their allies and jeering at their foes. The next music, dance or art based technique used by those affected is treated as if it is one rank higher for determining effects. If Joyous Toast is dispelled, the effect lingers regardless granting a half rank increase(Effect nulled by Dispels of Rank A or higher)

    Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer: C
    Duration: Short
    Having begun to understand the nature of the dreams, the user flits from place to place, shrouded in the phantoms of paths not taken. While active the users speed is increased significantly. Techniques which would still hit the user have a 60% chance to simply fail (-15% for each rank of Combat Perception above the user's derived stealth), shattering instead some of the dreamlike phantom images the user is shrouded in. Each use of this technique generates four 'charges' which do not stack with additional uses. Each charge provides a small stacking boost to Physical Avoid and Speed.

    If used while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active, the user may use this technique to pull others into the shallows of Dream. When the revel next relocates in material space, up to five targets in addition to the user move with it. Targets position within the space of the revel is unchanged, this movement ignores terrain and intervening space. Unwilling targets may resist this effect, but are disoriented and receive a penalty to Avoid and Perception until their next action. The technique must be activated again each time the user wishes to move other targets. Doing this in quick succession is taxing upon a user of the third realm, and so the techniques cost increases by one rank after the second use of this variant, and one additional rank after the fourth.


    There are many passing fancies dreamt of in the late hours of the day. Yet there are some which would be better remembered. Memory is a tricky thing, a tenuous thread, easily severed and even important details might slip from us in time, let alone a passing shadow or the soft touch of a breeze, and surely that is all that it was.

    Potency: Green 2
    Potency Growth: Green 3(5)
    Keywords:
    - Connections, Darkness, Memory, Wind, Yin.
    - Dexterity, Fade, Stealth.
    Meridians: Arm x2, Leg x3; 3 dark 2 wind
    Max level: 5

    Passive Effects:
    +30 to Stealth
    +20 to Speed
    +10 Spiritual Avoid
    +5 Spiritual Hit


    Passing Phantom, Fading Dream: C
    Duration: Long
    The user's presence fades from the mind, forgotten the moment that one's eyes stray from them. Grants a bonus to Stealth and speed, a Large bonus to Spiritual Avoid. Attacks made from stealth while this technique is active reduce the target's Spiritual Armor by half a rank when applying damage. Allows the user to reset unsure targets to unaware if their stealth is sufficient.


    Evening Breeze Flourish: C
    Duration: Immediate
    In an instant the user pulses their qi in a feint, and for one foe a single second of memory vanishes into the mist of time, leaving them disoriented and open for a blow, unable to activate arts in response to the users next art.

    Wavering Mind Strike: B
    Duration: Immediate-Short
    May be activated in tandem with another offensive art against an Enemy within Close range. The user briefly touches on the enemies spirit, plucking the memory of one of their techniques from the enemies thoughts. If successful, the enemy is unable to activate the targeted technique for a Short time. The user must have witnessed the technique in order to steal it, and stolen techniques cannot be of a higher rank than Wavering Mind Strike as modified for potency. If the user steals a second technique from the same enemy, the first is returned.




    In this world there are a million tales long forgotten, great and small. In a time before the rule of men, before the arrogance of dragons, there were only beasts that called themselves gods. Yet strength breeds arrogance, and arrogance breeds complacency, and so long ago a cunning young girl plotted and planned and stole the Sovereignty of Wind from the gods. She flew beyond their reach, and mocked them with every league, the wind carrying her laughter across the land. In this art are the seeds of the way she forged, refined for the modern day, to inspire a disciples own flight. In mastering the dual powers of darkness and wind, that they might never be caught unwillingly again.

    Potency: Green 3
    Potency Growth: Green 4(3), Green 5(6), Green 6(8)
    Keywords:
    - Darkness, Intangibility, Motion, Wind, Yin.
    - Athletics, Dance, Dodge, Stealth.
    Meridians: Spine x2[-1], Leg x3[-2]; 1 dark 4 wind
    - Growth: Leg(5,8), Spine(3)
    Experience Needed: 500 800, 1000, 1200, 1400, 1700, 2000. 2500
    Max level: 9

    Passive Effects:
    +25 to Speed
    +10 to Initiative
    +15 to Stealth
    Speed and Stealth bonuses increase by 10 when airborne
    +20 to Physical Avoid
    +20 to Spiritual Avoid
    +10 to Physical and Spiritual Avoid against effects which would restrain or impede movement
    +15 to stealth when avoiding divination arts


    Zephyr's Mocking Escape: B rank
    Duration: Long or upkeep 15
    The user immerses themselves in wind and darkness, becoming nothing more than a flitting shadow in a windy night. Filled with the joy of endless movement, they can only laugh as their foes attempt to grasp at what cannot be touched. Greatly increases Physical and Spiritual Avoid as well as speed and initiative. In addition the user gains G rank damage reduction against physical attacks, and cannot be impeded from reaching a destination by wholly physical barriers so long as they may perceive their destination. While active the user cannot be grappled or rooted by techniques of less than B rank, unless the enemy techniques potency exceeds theirs by at least two. This technique can be reactivated at D rank cost if done immediately upon the activation ending.

    Breeze in the Vault: C rank
    Duration: Short
    Calling upon the mastery shown by the girl in slipping unnoticed through the realms of the gods, the user channels the qi of wind to become silent and trackless, passing through perception as no more than a silent breeze. Greatly increases most stealth derivatives while active. In addition the user may outright ignore the effects of formations and techniques of C rank or less (modified by potency) which would detect, impede or record them, without interacting with any conditional requirements that they might have. Active attempts to track or divine the users location remotely suffer a 1 rank penalty before being compared to the users stealth.

    West Wind Step: B rank
    Duration: Immediate
    From the warm west wind comes spring and summer, heralding spring, and in it's recession is the coming of fall and winter. Predictable in a way that the other winds are not, nonetheless it was the last to be captured. The west wind comes and goes, and naught may halt or capture it again. A single attack of equal rank or lower may be avoided, no matter how unerring the aim, as the user scatters, rematerializing with Far range of their current position. When retreating through this method, the user of the canceled technique receives C rank cold damage as they are lashed by the winds of encroaching winter.

    Alternatively, the user may instead activate this technique to advance up to Far distance, avoiding all effects of the interposing space. Up to ten allies within close range of the destination receive a significant bonus to Physical and Spiritual avoid, and reduce the damage of all incoming effects by one rank until the users next turn.

    Ling Qi laughed as the warm wind ruffled her hair. The western wind, warm and inviting, herald of spring and summer in it's coming and herald of fall and winter in it's going. The wind enwrapped her, and Ling Qi knew that whatever artifice had captured it in the first place would never come again.

    The wind was stolen, and things would never be the same.

    Carried on rising warm winds, Ling Qi spiraled upward as the other winds howled free. The wind of the northern storm howled, fierce and unrestrained, shaking the vault. The South wind screamed the song of a blizzard, and lashed the mighty gates, making hinges groan and indolent gods raise their heads in alarm. The east wind whispered softly, and locks and bindings came loose

    Borne on the four winds, the thief burst forth, and the long neglected gates boomed open and shattered upon the walls, scattering their riches back into the earth.

    How the Gods howled, enraged by the theft of riches unremembered and unused!

    But in the face of wrath fit to break the world, Ling Qi could only grin. Flying on the winds the halls became blurs, and the flabby talons and claws of the Gods and their creatures could not touch her. In the face of fury, she laughed, and the mighty raged!

    The winds cackled along with her, and so the final blow was struck. Stolen were not only their riches, but their pride, and that was a trespass the mighty could never forgive.

    From the halls of the gods, the wind thief flew, and behind her, stone trembled and broke as the Gods tore their own home asunder in fury and haste to chase her. Into the bright sky, Father's embrace she flew with all Gods of the earth at her back.

    But it was futile. Their claws and fangs and paws she flitted and spun through, their artifice she escaped, their sovereignty she flouted.

    For she was not the girl any longer. She was the Thief of Winds, and she had changed the Law of Heaven forevermore.

    The cool night air struck Ling Qi like a flung glass of water, and she blinked as she looked up at the clear night sky and the twinkling stars. The wind tugged at her gown and hair as she fell from from the apex of her leap, some thirty meters in the air.

    She fell, and Ling Qi smiled as she took hold of the wind, and shot off to the east, sending the canopy of the trees rustling in her wake. She spun, she flew, she danced in midair, and she could not restrain her laughter at the sheer joy of her movement. A second and a third time she guided the wind, until at last she had to allow her foot to lightly touch the top of a hill and grant her new momentum.

    Through forest and glade she flew, and one by one, restored function to her other arts. Through a mazework of webs in which she had once carefully snuck, she flew freely, scattering and startling the dreamweaving spiders in her wake, untouched by their threads. Around an old forest shrine, she circled and danced, and an old and hoary stag raised his head to watch her flight in bemusement.

    And somewhere, far under the earth, behind a maze of broken space, an ancient corpse's horned skull shifted, and black flower petals drifted to the carpet of bones at its feet.

    ***​

    Ling Qi was humming cheerfully as she returned to her Sect housing. The mundane gown she had worn out was ragged now, worn threadbare by twigs and leaves and the rush of wind. But it was fine, none of her peers had noted her passage, only the faint blowing of the wind. Through the cracks in her window slats she flowed, only rematerializing as her feet touched the smooth stone of the interior.

    She just felt so… refreshed, it was hard to describe. Lately she had been feeling pressured, tasks and worries and goals clouding her mind and distorting her focus. And they were not gone. Her chest still ached with the pain of crack in her nascent way, the Duchess' task still loomed. Thoughts of courtship and cultivation and social activities crowded the edges of her thoughts.

    Ling Qi blew out a breath and smiled as she strode down the hall to her bedroom. She would handle them all. She was going to succeed. She would not accept any other outcome.

    Even those tasks which had been imposed on her… it was her choices that had led to those impositions. And if she had decided she was going to do something, it was going to be done. It was only a matter of finding the how.

    Her confident smile vanished as she opened her bedroom door.

    Her dress was gone.

    It had been laid out on her bed, and now it wasn't there. Her bedding was gone too, the bed stripped down to the frame.

    Ling Qi stood there and stared, and wondered if the low sound of distress she heard was coming from her own throat.

    But then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught motion. The door to her wardrobe was partially open and beginning to swing in the breeze kicking up around her. There dangling from the wardrobe, she saw a corner of one of her sheets.

    Frowning, Ling Qi cautiously approached the wardrobe and opened the door the rest of the way. There, she could only stare blankly at what she saw.

    Her dress was pooled in the corner of the wardrobe, it's layers in disarray, sleeves wrapped around a bundle of fabric that she recognized as the tatters of her bedspread. She reached down, picking up her dress, and the ragged cloth dropped away, but a few threads still dangled from her gown, slowly being drawn into its fabric.

    ...Had her dress been stress eating, Ling Qi thought in bewilderment. The silky garment hung between her hands, inert and inanimate, save for the rapidly disappearing stray threads. She had thought that her dress was not yet conscious but…

    Ling Qi peered down at the wrinkled fabric and reached out with her thoughts.

    She could not feel anything to contact, just the flows of qi that made up the arrays worked into the gown. Just a simple animal reaction? She knew that talisman's drew on their users qi to function, but they were supposed to go dormant when not in use. Maybe the Cai thread made it different.

    "Let's get you cleaned up. You're all wrinkled now," Ling Qi murmured, turning away from the wardrobe and the scraps She felt a little odd, talking to her dress, but… she supposed she should probably get used to the idea.

    ***​

    Sixiang snorted out an inelegant laugh as they spun through the steps of a new dance. "You're so cruel Ling Qi," they chuckled.

    Ling QI huffed in irritation, her gown swaying around her feet as they separated, reaching the end of the set. "I'll just have to remember to leave a few spirit stones out the next time I'm out like that."

    "I'm surprised you plan on there being a next time," Sixiang said, resting their hands on their hips. Here among the standing stones, it was easier for them to remain manifested.

    "...It's always possible," Ling Qi said. She certainly hadn't intended her little cultivation trip to take three days. She had thought that she was gone for only a single evening. Thankfully this sort of thing was not totally uncommon with third realm cultivators, so no one had raised a fuss. What few people didn't think she had just been on a cultivation trip seemed to figure that Cai Renxiang had set her some secret task.

    "If you say so," Sixiang said in amusement. "Anyway, I think you're fully healed. I didn't sense any leakage."

    "Do you have to say it like that?" Ling Qi complained. It made her sound like she was incontinent or something.

    "Not my fault you're still a bag of meat and fluids," Sixiang teased, sticking out their tongue. "Don't worry, you're solving that too."

    Ling Qi rolled her eyes, and Sixiang yelped as a gust of wind sent them scattering into multihued particulates.

    "Hey! My projection is still fragile you know!" they complained, voice echoing from near her ear.

    "Not my fault that you're a bag of bad humor and dream gunk," Ling Qi replied dryly.

    "Hmph, you've gotten mean," Sixiang grumbled, spinning a new face from moonlight and wind. "I'm funny."

    "Sure you are," Ling Qi said with amused condescension.

    Sixiang stuck out their tongue again as they took a seat on a flat stone. For a moment there was silence between them as Ling Qi arranged herself on her own favorite rock. "So what happened anyway?" Ling Qi asked quietly. She still couldn't easily step back and forth between dream and material without a technique, but in cultivating the Phantasmagoria of Lunar Revelry, she could feel that something had changed.

    Sixiang frowned a little. "You flooded yourself with way too much dream qi, even if you held onto your self… you're a little less material than than you were before. I don't think it'll be too much of a problem for you but…"

    Dreamstep: Derived from Dance. The first tentative steps into movement between the material and liminal worlds. Allowing the user to interact more with spirit than flesh. When using Dance Skills, the user uses whichever is higher of the physical and social attribute categories to derive. When using Dreamstep as a skill, effects are considered spiritual even if this contradicts the text of arts in use.

    Way Penalty gained. -20 to Physical Penetration

    "It'll be something to keep an eye on," It was something she had checked after her sojourn without her arts. She really was physically lighter now, as if she had lost a dozen kilograms without changing her appearance one bit.

    "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to drift away, you're too stubborn for that," Sixiang chuckled. "So what do you say? Wanna try another dance?"

    "Sure thing," Ling Qi said. She would be more cautious with the liminal realm in the future, but for now, there was no need to worry.

    ***​

    With the end of the month looming, Ling Qi soon turned her attention to one last art. Ephemeral Nights Memory was a subtle little art, and not something she had made great use of since she had begun cultivating it earlier this year. It was an art for muddling and snatching fragments of memory, enabling the user to more easily sneak around and avoid leaving traces. She had mostly used it as a combat trick, to disorient an enemy right before striking by making them forget her position.

    Compared to the likes of Wind Thief it seemed a minor thing indeed, and when she returned to it, she found it's cultivation incredibly simple, compared to the other art, mastering it's remaining lessons in a very short time.

    However, even if the art was more a tool in her belt than anything else, Ling Qi found herself pondering it's lessons as she worked out the last flaws in her usage. She knew very well that memory was a tricky thing. Something people could rewrite to avoid facing contradictions. She had done it herself, unconsciously, blowing up her Mother's stress and lessons into something they were not to reinforce her justification for leaving home.

    No, memory was not always reliable at all, even before considering arts like this. Indeed, false memory could supplant reality, easily enough, if one's actions were guided by it.

    [] The self is a story, and memory is the teller of tales.
    [] No Insight from Ephemeral Nights Memory


    Passive Effects:
    +20 bonus to Dance, Music, Art
    +10 to Poise
    +20 to Speed
    +15 bonus to Physical Avoid
    +15 bonus to Spiritual Avoid
    +10 bonus when escaping grapple or confinement
    +20 bonus to begin or maintain a grapple
    -This Art uses Dance as mastery for all techniques


    Illustrious Phantasmal Festival: B
    Duration: Persistent
    The foundational technique from which all others in the art arise. The user gathers their qi and the memories of their night of revelry and expels them through every available channel in a rush of power and gleaming many colored mist. Within Close range centered on the user, ghostly dancers ever shifting in form coalesce from the midst in a riot of color, laughter, music and movement.

    The festival counts as an opponent for the purposes of determining multiattacker bonuses. The user is the master of the revel, the host and the creator in one. The revel may move with them or remain still at their volition. The user may freely move to any point within the confines of the revel instantly and without crossing the intervening distance, and is immune to any physical obstacle or barrier or constraint of a rank lower than A(Adjusted for potency). To move the revel, the user must move normally, or with another technique. While the revel is active the users Physical Avoid and Spiritual Avoid is increased by one half rank, this bonus also applies to up to Eight allies within the revel. Said allies receive a half rank increase to speed within the confines of the revel.
    --Lunatic Whirl: B
    Duration: Persistent
    Activates automatically at no additional cost when Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is activated. The ghostly dancers gather around an intruder in the festival, laughing, singing and demanding a dance, forcing them to join the revelry. The dancers seize their arms and hands, dragging them through the chaotic revelry. Though the dancers will do no harm to their captive, the frenetic pace of the revelry is highly draining, and victim finds their qi dribbling away(C rank qi drain), siphoned to the user while the sights and sounds of the revel cloud their minds and steal the strength from their limbs. So long as their hands lie in the grasp of the dancers, they will also find the meridians in their arms blocked and unusable. Each usage of Lunatic Whirl may target up to 5 targets. The user may target a maximum of fifteen enemies of lower realm or five of equal realm (mixed groups are counted at a 3:1 ratio).

    Joyous Toast: C
    Duration: Immediate
    Usable only while the Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active. Activated automatically once after Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is activated. The guests of the festival raise their voices and cups and stamp their feet in joy, roaring encouragement for the user and their allies and jeering at their foes. The next music, dance or art based technique used by those affected is treated as if it is one rank higher for determining effects. If Joyous Toast is dispelled, the effect lingers regardless granting a half rank increase(Effect nulled by Dispels of Rank A or higher)

    Ephemeral Dreamlit Dancer: C
    Duration: Long
    Having begun to understand the nature of the dreams, the user flits from place to place, shrouded in the phantoms of paths not taken. While active the users speed is increased significantly. Techniques which would still hit the user have a 60% chance to simply fail (-10% for each rank of Combat Perception above the user's derived stealth), shattering instead some of the dreamlike phantom images the user is shrouded in. Each use of this technique generates four 'charges' which do not stack with additional uses. Each charge provides a small stacking boost to Physical Avoid and Speed.

    If used while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active, the user may use this technique to pull others into the shallows of Dream. When the revel next relocates in material space, up to five targets in addition to the user move with it. Targets position within the space of the revel is unchanged, this movement ignores terrain and intervening space. Unwilling targets may resist this effect, but are disoriented and receive a penalty to Avoid and Perception until their next action. The technique must be activated again each time the user wishes to move other targets. Doing this in quick succession is taxing upon a user of the third realm, and so the techniques cost increases by one rank after the second use of this variant, and one additional rank after the fourth.


    Passive Effects:
    +25 to Speed
    +10 to Initiative
    +15 to Stealth
    Speed and Stealth bonuses increase by 10 when airborne
    +25 to Physical Avoid
    +25 to Spiritual Avoid
    +15 to Physical and Spiritual Avoid against effects which would restrain or impede movement
    +15 to stealth when avoiding divination arts


    Zephyr's Mocking Escape: B rank
    Duration: Long or upkeep 12
    The user immerses themselves in wind and darkness, becoming nothing more than a flitting shadow in a windy night. Filled with the joy of endless movement, they can only laugh as their foes attempt to grasp at what cannot be touched. Greatly increases Physical and Spiritual Avoid as well as speed and initiative. In addition the user gains G rank damage reduction against physical attacks, and cannot be impeded from reaching a destination by wholly physical barriers so long as they may perceive their destination. While active the user cannot be grappled or rooted by techniques of less than B rank, unless the enemy techniques potency exceeds theirs by at least two. This technique can be reactivated at D rank cost if done immediately upon the activation ending.

    Breeze in the Vault: C rank
    Duration: Short
    Calling upon the mastery shown by the girl in slipping unnoticed through the realms of the gods, the user channels the qi of wind to become silent and trackless, passing through perception as no more than a silent breeze. Greatly increases most stealth derivatives while active. In addition the user may outright ignore the effects of formations and techniques of C rank or less (modified by potency) which would detect, impede or record them, without interacting with any conditional requirements that they might have. Active attempts to track or divine the users location remotely suffer a 1 rank penalty before being compared to the users stealth.

    Vault's Opening: C Rank
    Duration: Short
    Ten thousand locks, and not a one to stop her. When seeking to open a sealed space or container, the users stealth or derived stealth receives a large bonus. In addition, while active the user may interact with dimensional storage techniques as if they were part of the physical world, modified by any security enhancements. The user may expend this technique, ending it instantly to temporarily dispel such storage techniques, causing their contents to be dumped on the spot.

    West Wind Step: B rank
    Duration: Immediate
    From the warm west wind comes spring and summer, heralding spring, and in it's recession is the coming of fall and winter. Predictable in a way that the other winds are not, nonetheless it was the last to be captured. The west wind comes and goes, and naught may halt or capture it again. A single attack of equal rank or lower may be avoided, no matter how unerring the aim, as the user scatters, rematerializing with Far range of their current position. When retreating through this method, the user of the canceled technique receives C rank cold damage as they are lashed by the winds of encroaching winter.

    Alternatively, the user may instead activate this technique to advance up to Far distance, avoiding all effects of the interposing space. Up to ten allies within close range of the destination receive a significant bonus to Physical and Spiritual avoid, and reduce the damage of all incoming effects by one rank until the users next turn.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • slightly putout about the results of the last vote but I've lost bigger votes before

    this update quite nice, dress is cute, skull is ominous, hits good beats
     
    This insight means that ENM kills storytellers, but Ling Qi is in part about uncovering and spreading stories of the world. I don't want this insight.
     
    Not a fan of this insight. It feels off to me. Like a pebble in a shoe. I look at it and just feel irritated, but I don't know why.
     
    [] No Insight from Ephemeral Nights Memory

    That is a dangerous lesson. The truth of it is too easily misunderstood.
    ----
    That aside, to read of delight and freedom; ah, to fly unbound, no need of steel wings and spinning blades. A dream I wish manifest.
     
    If we get this insight I expect to see a way conflict in the future. It can easally become self deception.
     
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    Neshuakadal said:
    Not a fan of this insight. It feels off to me. Like a pebble in a shoe. I look at it and just feel irritated, but I don't know why.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It mixes the materiel reality that memory (an emergent.. illusion) is based upon; with the emergent illusion.

    We can say that lies are taken to be true by people, and as they drive those people, inform their choices, those lies are what those people view as reality... but they are still lies, and they are not real. And my guess is that a part of you sees how the wording mixes [actual reality] and [that which people perceive as reality].

    If the [territory] is not the [map], then the wording of this can be too easily misunderstood to be mixing the two.
     
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    Zephyr's Mocking Escape on Upkeep sounds so incredibly cool. "The user immerses themselves in wind and darkness, becoming nothing more than a flitting shadow in a windy night." We can just walk around as a fleeting shadow at zero cost. We'll be easier to spot by the Mist the clings to us than our actual self.
     
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    yrsillar said:
    And somewhere, far under the earth, behind a maze of broken space, an ancient corpse's horned skull shifted, and black flower petals drifted to the carpet of bones at its feet.
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    Oh, by the way. Hello creepy Weilu corpse. Yeah, I remember you and your pool of infinite darkness that consumes all enmeshed in a web of broken time and space. You need to stay dead. Not this creepy am I dead or am I alive crap. No. Stay. Dead. I don't want to have to deal with you in the future because you thought it would be funny to come back from the Liminal Realm or wherever your impetuous for movement comes from.

    While it's cool that LFtWT is such a potent art that it reverberates through space and time to tickle your fancy, I don't want to have to answer to the Sect about why there is a rampaging undead Weilu Lich wanting to talk to us.
     
    fictionfan said:
    This is unusually. Normally techs say that their is some level of tech or realm that can overcome it. This gives not such limitation.
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    It's a transcendent dodge, unless opposed by a transcendent attack, it just wins unless grossly overpowered

    So like Sun Liling doing her perfect accuracy timespace spear? Goes to a Potency contest instead of "She hits"

    So yeah, this is the first time we've seen something that can counter the Bloody Princess's opener. Even Meizhen could only endure it by throwing enough obstacles in a way to drain its momentum that her defenses could take the rest.
     
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    I mean if jumping into pure dream gave us dreamstep then jumping into the pure darkness will do good things for us. Thus we should visit the totally friendly maybe lich. Only good things will happen.
     
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