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

flazeo25 · Jun 27, 2021

So Zheng Lu gone off to North pole supposidly where Jing went long time go with 2 out of three ships.

CedeTheBees · Jun 27, 2021

yrsillar said:
...And with that, I bid the fellow goodbye, letting him resume his swim across the ocean. I certainly wish him luck with that lion hunting business. Such a wrestler, who could pin even me, is a hero worthy of every respect!

Oh my god I wanna read about Xianxia!Heracles

ImperatorV · Jun 27, 2021

Someone is familiar with the Epic of Mwindo I see. That's a fun one.

Interesting that, out of all the diverse cultivation methods we've seen, the Qin's still seems like the one that most allows for the common-born to rise to greatness, unless I'm misremembering. Perhaps because it's the most individualistic?

Thor's Twin · Jun 27, 2021

The Starlit Lord

Kneeling upon the bare stone of the chamber, Cai Jieju finished tying the sash of his sparring robes. It was time. Leashing his qi, so as not to startle the poor attendants, he rose and walked out into the dueling ring, a circle of finely polished marble fifty meters in radius brimming with formations to ward off danger from affecting any onlookers. It should be enough, but looking at the ensemble sitting in the stands he decided to be a tad cautious. A slight gesture to a servant sent them scurrying off to acquire more assistance in containing the duel. Hopefully, Hu Chun would be able to live up to his reputation.

Speaking of the man, Hu Chun stepped out onto the ring as well. Armor of gleaming steel graced his form, each piece bearing powerful formation work. If he was surprised to see Cai Jieju without any talisman to his name, Hu Chun concealed it well. Both simply stood there, the dueling ring between them, as their seconds desperately attempted to resolve the dispute without needing blood to be shed.

It took a few moments for the negotiations to finish, but when Ling Peng stepped out from behind his shadow, Cai Jieju knew that blood would be spilled.

"Well, Ling Peng? What is our august guest's final offer?"

"My Lord," Ling Peng said with a slight nod, "Lord Hu does recognize the error of his language and the grief he has imposed upon your household with his comments regarding the food, drink, and entertainment. He will publicly apologize to all here and your court for his uncouth statements. He will, of course, also pay recompense for the injury to dignity and pride this has caused the servants of your estate and lands."

Letting the silence linger for a moment, Cai Jieju let out a hiss of air through his teeth. "And the comments about my fair lady wife?"

"On that matter, he…," Ling Peng hesitated for a moment before continuing, "has indicated to his second his belief that a duel for satisfaction should not be held when the statements at issue are true."

"Has Uncle received my letter, Ling Peng?"

"He has. There has been no response from him on the matter."

"Then we proceed with the duel."

"Very good sir. I will inform Hu Chun's second."

With a whisper of air, Ling Peng stepped back into the shadows and disappeared. Shortly after, Hu Chun gave a quick nod.

"Ladies and Gentlemen in attendance," Ling Peng's voice echoed out across the stands, "Lord Cai Jieju has accused Lord Hu Chun of slander most egregious and has demanded a duel for satisfaction. An agreement to resolve this duel has not been reached and Lord Hu Chun has accepted the challenge. This duel is until surrender or death, whichever comes first. Both parties will comply with the rules negotiated for this duel and have sworn an oath to abide by them. It will begin upon the third ring of the bell."

A deep sound rang out across grounds, causing the very air to visibly shake. Cai Jieju took his stance, lowering his center of gravity and freeing his hands to shunt Hu Chun to the side. Hu Chun himself lowered himself into a sprinter's stance, almost entirely horizontal to the ground.

A second sound rang out, just as deep as the first. Relaxing his hold on his qi, Cai Jieju felt the world slightly warp in response to his unfettered presence. Ice began to form around him and snow precipitated from the air, and it felt as though the stone itself was trying to peel away from him. Hu Chun also unleashed his qi, with the scent of ozone and bright blue sparks wafting off from him. The very air seemed to hold in its breath as if it was a man before diving into Lake Hei.

Then the third ring sounded out, and violence began. Activating one of his techniques, Cai Jieju was barely fast enough to avoid being speared by the human-sized bolt of lighting Hu Chun had become. Slamming his hands into Hu Chun's back to keep him moving towards the edge of the stage, Cai Jieju breathed out a sigh as he felt nothing more serious than a slash across a thigh, dribbling out starlit blood. As Hu Chun turned around with an annoyed click of a tongue, Cai Jieju relaxed. Both expressed their domain weapons, a sphere of eerily lit ice floating above his open right hand for himself and a spear of caged lightning for Hu Chun.

With strikes like a snake's flickering tongue, Hu Chun attacked Cai Jieju, each lash leaving behind a trail of lightning to restrict his movements. To cage him. He simply waited, his regalia forming all around him. Robes of eternal starlight coming into form around his chest and legs with tassels of frozen night trailing off the hems, and sandals the color of broken nightmares coalescing around his feet. Though the true prize of this art was the jewels of the frozen stars that began to form around his brow.

Hu Chun began to strike more directly at Cai Jieju, spearing bolts of lightning attempting to pierce him with each strike of the spear. But with the Regalia of the Starlit Lord mostly completed, the distance between them could not be overcome. Bolts petered out before reaching him, the stronger ones simply warping around him and striking the ground. Then the final jewel formed and the world wept.

Air and worldly qi screeched away from him. The very ground tried to pull away, becoming like a baker's dough in the efforts. Everything around him was bleached white, not a shadow remained. He was a blazing torch of starlight, desolating everything in reach. Hu Chun tried to escape, to buy time for something. Either surrendering or fighting on. Cai Jieju didn't care. With a flex of his will, the distance between the two of them snapped back to something resembling natural, resulting in Hu Chun's flesh and spirit being scoured from the world, bleached and torn apart until nothing was left. It was finished, the comments avenged. As he released his techniques and let the world become normalized, he contemplated his next moves. Now he needed to deal with the political fallout for killing someone from a count clan residing in the Celestial Peaks.

A/N: @yrsillar another omake for the omake throne! By the way, I really enjoyed your piece about the Khem and the men of Adamant.

Thanks for reading my omake and I hope you enjoyed it!

ThreeWater · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)

darkoda · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)

dreamdweller · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)

veekie · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)

On consideration, while building on trade is lucrative, it lacks a certain stability as a foundation. Some local production would give us a route to survival, should the regional situation take a turn for the worse

Axel Fones · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)

Erebeal · Jun 27, 2021

Ok, since I've had a whole pile of art ideas over time here, looking at things like successor ideas or trying to address things like our Zhengui issues, and I know some other people have had some cool ideas as well (@JohnnieBoy123, @Floom?), I figured it could be helpful to actually compile them all so they can be found easily for reference and inspiration if wanted @yrsillar.

They're not all complete art designs, but at least trying to lay out a clear framework for how they might work?
Successor ideas:

This was me exploring ideas for how to solve various practical problems at the same time - trying to build off unbroken will for armor while getting a more PLRish SNR replacement, as well as creating much more active and engaging defensive play and choices and offering opportunities for Liminal Carver integration etc.. Possibly a bit too complicated though.

Not sure how we'd get to something like this either. Like it's sort of SNR + PLR filtered through Abyssal Mantle, but doesn't really clearly follow from any of them and drops a lot of their themes.

Dreamer's Veil
Construct, recovery, armor, enhancement

The boundary twixt the Liminal is thinned, creating a connection to the endless chaos of dream. Condensed, the qi summoned by the cultivator hangs behind her, a shimmering amorphous pool reflecting endless possibilities. Thus called, the dream qi may be reshaped and directed at will to bring dream into reality, and reality into dream within its bounds, enabling further techniques. The construct may be moved away from the cultivator to anywhere within near range, and can always be instantly returned to the cultivator (becoming significantly more flexible when [The Mist] is active).

As long as this technique is active, the cultivator may draw on dream essence spilling through the connection, enhancing qi recovery and fortifying their spirit. For one who has sufficiently cultivated Dream, and taken it into their body, this may be taken further. With dream and will they may strengthen their body and even repair minor injuries.

Sub-techniques:

Shield: at its heart the veil is a thinning of the boundaries, and portal into the Liminal. Perhaps the simplest application then is use it as a shield for oneself or allies, with attacks entering it falling into the liminal.
The veil drops: collapsing the veil around her allies, she sweeps them from danger back to her side (nb: "her side" may be a nebulous concept when [The Mist] is active)
Field: thinning her veil over a wider area, it becomes a swirling mist of shimmering reflections. No longer a complete transition into the liminal, it instead produces a mixing, bringing the chaos of dreams into the real, and rendering space uncertain. The cultivator's evasion is significantly enhanced within the field as they dance between simultaneous possibilities.
Creation: dreams beget creation. The construct may be twisted flexibly into endless illusory constructs to entertain and inspire. Alternatively, it may be imbued into another construct to significantly enhance its power. Enables bunshin. Combo action with LFWT: kawarimi counter using an illusory double to take a blow and create an opening.
Healing [anti-finisher]: consuming the construct entirely, all the Dream essence is absorbed by the cultivator and used to reknit their flesh and spirit, healing their body.

Possible synergies/upgrades: Liminal Carver integration to create teleportation markers we can travel to through the veil (i.e. more controllable escape talismans within limits). Creation of spatial pockets that we can store things we drop through the veil in and then dump them out again – possible counter tech? Use of our moon eyes as extra nodes we can use to transfer the veil around and be in more places at once?

Dreaming Idol's Meditation
An art born of an artist's study of Dream, and which seeks to make manifest the inspiring power of dreams in their own works.

Techniques:
Endless Sea of Dreams
Zone, empowerment, movement, support

Thinning the boundaries of the world, the cultivator brings a shadow of Dream into the waking world around them. A fragmented scintillating chaotic fog of possibility and freedom wafts through the air, twisting the world, and imbuing it with potential. Constructs, creation, illusion, and Dream are all empowered within this field, and the adept artist may even weave phantoms from dream here without need of an Art.

In the realm of Dream, location and distance too is a changeable and inconsistent thing, subject more to story, and dreams of connection and isolation than any material law. Within this field you may move to wherever you are needed, unless prevented by a technique of greater potency. Allies and constructs find themselves wherever they are needed, always able to support their comrades, drawn together by their bonds.

Dreams beget Dreams
Empowerment, counter
When a dream ends, where does it go? What mark does it leave? The ending of a dream is no true End, instead an opportunity, or source of inspiration in its own right.

Whenever the cultivator's techniques are dispelled, she may draw upon the inspiration and energy of their fading dream to craft something anew, bringing her technique back in new form, or if that is not possible, reinforcing another of her techniques against what was just used against her.

Dreams never die
Armor, recovery
A dream cannot die as long as it is believed in. As long as the people remember. Molding will and spirit in the depths of the Dream, the cultivator becomes something more.

They become an idea.

With unbroken will, stand tall. When form is shattered, simply get back up. When exhaustion comes, remember what drives you, and draw upon the dreams of your self, and all those you fight for.

Greatly enhances armor, healing, and qi recovery. As long as their will and self hold strong, the user cannot be incapacitated - any blow that would reduce their health to that point instead reduces it to the lowest rank possible – though this may take progressively more qi.

Lunatic Crescendo
Type: Empowerment
Duration: Stunt

The realm of dreams is the land of faith and belief, thought and yearning. In twisting the border of reality and dream you may draw a trickle of that belief into reality, a song, a strike or anything else of your fancy at a moment of dire need or significance, empowering them with the might of belief. Increases the potency of technique used by yourself or an ally by up to 5 depending on the action's dramatic value.

Comments: The art here is ofc based on our FSS insight again, but is also designed to synergise with construct arts, because I think that fits the "new beginning" ideas really well, and also perhaps gets around some of the challenges created by the conceptual space needed to manage a dual concept art like this. Thus, rather than this one art trying to take all the attention, the beginnings part works to emphasise other parts of our arsenal, and so draw the whole build together.

In terms of design philosophy, it also explores the idea of using Upkeep techs/stances to create better choices in encounter votes. The idea being that the upkeep options are designed to enhance what we can do, representing us focusing on particular things without any particular upkeep actually being required, because we still have all of our main techniques available to us regardless. Thus, if we can only have ~2 active at once then we have to make choices about how we want to approach different scenarios.

Blossoms of Winter's End
An attempt by Ling Qi to develop Frozen Soul Serenade further based on her insights and experiences with Zeqing. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.

Upkeep:
Echoes of Absolute Winter
The first notes of the users song herald the end of warmth, draining the heat from the area and around them and crystalizing the moisture in the air into snow and ice. Their songs and attacks carry the chill of true winter, freezing the air around them and Ending all they touch. Defenses are broken permanently, and Arts dispelled are shut down for the rest of the scene. Enables Finishers for her song. However, the essence of endings is naturally corrosive to constructs, and she may find her constructs slowly decay, their lives shortened, and resistance weakened. Yet in their endings, there is still possibility, and whenever any of her constructs ends, they too may fuel the Thousand Blossoms of Spring.

Chorus of Spring
The song of bursting spring ringing out through her domain, the cultivator channels the energy of growth and rebirth, of the building of new things. She bursts with vitality, qi recovering and body healing from any endings. Should her constructs be ended, new ones sprout from their ruins. The power Thousand Blossoms of Spring is significantly enhanced.

Techniques:
Song of Winter's Silence
To be alone in the depths of winter is a tragic thing. Bereft of resources, of warmth, of shelter, of support. The freezing cold saps strength, leaving blood and qi sluggish. The whirling snow blinds your eyes, and ice encrusts itself on your limbs, sapping the strength of your blows. A weak and pitiful existence, vulnerable to the depredations of those around you. And over the wind and snow, the song of winter serenades you to your final rest.

With this song the cultivator plunges the world into winter, every note and tumbling snowflake her limb. Weaving music around her foes, she seeks to stifle their every efforts. With wintery song cutting away the support of their allies, leaving them alone. And, limb by limb, art by art, rendering them vulnerable, reducing them to nothing.

Usage: attritional/dispel/disabling offensive Art, removing defenses and disabling enemies to open them up to allies' attacks and slowly freeze them to death.

Thousand Blooms of Spring
Yet as cold and ice bring endings, so may it cleanse the land of the old, opening it up for new growth. Successful endings produced by the cultivator, whether the dispelling and breaking of defences, the removal of harmful effects, or the ending of foes, create charges of potential that may be used to enhance allies' attacks, restore health and qi, and enhance the production of constructs.

Use: support/buff technique fueled by the previous technique. Teamwork buffs to enhance allies when they try to take advantage of you opening holes in defences, as well as big synergy with construct/summon arts.

An alternative to our current armor approach building off FSS and SCS - what if instead of having armor we just had multiple lives?

Frozen Soul Blooms
Recovery, Armor, Dispel
No song lasts forever, yet the ending of one need not spell the end of the symphony. The ending of one simply spells the beginning of the next piece. Every new song offering the musician to adapt and create something new in response to the situation.

Incorporating this Truth into their very essence, the musician reweaves their form from purest song, restoring themselves to full health as they begin a new chapter. Adapting their song to the situation, they gain temporary resistance to whatever challenges they suffered during the previous piece. As long as their will strength holds out, even fatal blows may be survived and recovered from.

Comments: This isn't really a successor per se. Rather, it's an attempt to reframe FSS/Hoarfrost into a more complete and active style. An exploration of how a user of this art might fight, and might be able to use the concepts to create a more dynamic back and forth while building on our themes of community/isolation and endings/beginnings. This, or something similar, could readily be woven into any FSS successor.

Lonely Winter Elegy
Field, defense, offense, drain, control, support

To be alone in the depths of winter is a tragic thing. Bereft of resources, of warmth, of shelter, of support. The freezing cold saps strength, leaving blood and qi sluggish. The whirling snow blinds your eyes, and ice encrusts itself on your limbs, sapping the strength of your blows. A weak and pitiful existence, vulnerable to the predations of those around you. And over the wind and snow, the song of winter serenades you to your final rest.

With this song the cultivator plunges the world into winter, every note and tumbling snowflake her limb. Weaving music around her foes, she seeks to stifle their every efforts, sap their strength and defences, and leave them vulnerable to the attacks of their foes. A twist of qi there and a foe is blinded, a song focuses and their legs are frozen in place, a note of pure cold drains the energy from an attack, a frozen limb leaves them open to a blow… and with every touch that lands the cold builds, their life and qi slowly draining away.

Example uses: opening enemies up to attack by blinding them or freezing them or drawing their attention, defending allies by freezing blows, or draining attacks' energy, debuffing enemies to reduce their strength, breaking defences by draining them. Multiple foes can be targeted, but effects are strongest when focused.

Comments:
Another Art idea inspired by suggestions about drawing out people's fears and conjuring them. Tried to play around more with LQ's story here for something more FSS/Isolation-ish, as well as potentially trying to weave in social to our arts at the same time rather than having them sit around separately (because honestly, with how much we're moving towards social it should be woven more into our cultivation imo).

Possibly a bit overcomplicated though, trying to fit too much stuff in with trying to account for our FSS insight as well. I do like the spirit ideas though - particularly the damage reflect one. In use it'd probably function like a kind of shell-game-esque counter technique, where you swap around your position with the spirit with slight of hand and are like "look! you stabbed this innocent person/your friend! How could you?!" and their sins hurt them

Trials of Lonely Winter
Cold, Music
Isolation, Empathy, Endings, Truth
Offense, Dispel, Summons, Counter

This is the story of a girl. Lost and alone in the endless streets. The cold winter winds sapping your strength. Every day a struggle to survive. No life. When all is stripped away, what do we see?

Weak. Vulnerable.

Desperate. Guilty.

Friendless. Yearning.

No-one. Nothing.

A story ended and forgotten, in ignominious silence.

Or does it?

Singing of the trials of this lonely winter, the cultivator's song freezes the spirit, stripping down her opponents. Cutting away the support of their allies, leaving them alone. And then, limb by limb, art by art, taking them down to just their heart.

Three spirits are brought forth by her song to assail her foe. The predator, to take advantage of their vulnerability. The sin, to reveal the cost of their desperation and how their crimes hurt themselves. And lastly the friend, to grant them the love and respite they yearn for.

As her song strips away their defences, and reveals their heart, she comes to understand them. To read their hearts' desire, and manifest their dreams and fears. The small endings of their arts and actions opening up new possibilities to restore and build.

Uses: Cold offensive art focused on isolating foes and disabling them, stripping away their arts and defences. Social art about understanding people and who they are. Three summons that can grow in strength and solidity as you get a better understanding of your target and how to manifest their dreams: one who attacks, one who reflects damage done, and a siren who attempts to protect them by freezing them in an eternal embrace, reducing damage but also incapacitating. "Ending" things grants charges of potential that can be used for healing or enhancing constructs.

Comments:
Ok, I've made a bunch of adjustments to this with the new system and new ideas. The basic idea of the art is still to take our FSS insight and play with the idea of endings and new beginnings by using our attacks to gather and condense qi that can then be used on cool new thematically appropriate techniques.

The new passives were an obvious place to put Frozen Soul's Heart, and the new techniques are largely things that are unlocked when it is filled. Beyond that though, there was a bunch of patching of our existing techniques to address problems I feel FSS has. Mainly this was refocusing Echoes to be a more visible and active offensive buff to try to give it more impact. Make it be something that really visibly enhances our attacks when its up! Turn eagle into an Articuno that trails ice and freezes the world with its cry! Aria honestly has no visible defensive presence, and we already have a million other defensive tools, so this is better imo.

Apart from that then, I wanted to adjust Hoarfrost to be something that is more flexible, and also do something about the "excessively convenient AoE" to make there be more of choice that matters there, and then to do something about the problems with Call to Endings' narrative following points @AbeoLogos has made. The idea of the art is a slow freezing to final death – a sudden one-two punch doesn't fit this, as well as creating a lot of balance issues that have to be worked around.

Winterspring Sonata

An attempt by Ling Qi to develop Frozen Soul Serenade further based on her insights and experiences with Zeqing. There are endings and Endings, only the very last one is final. Just as winter ends in spring, small endings are new beginnings.

Yin, Cold, Music
Keywords: Endings, Beginnings, Expression
Antithesis: Contentment, ???
Type: Offensive

Passive Effects:
+1 to Primary Offense Trait

Frozen Soul's Heart: A crystallisation of the possibilities that may arise from endings. Bonus qi drain is added to all actions the user takes to harm or hasten the ending of their opponents, with final endings providing substantial qi. The qi gathered is stored and condensed, and may be expended on various powerful techniques when the pool is full.

Active Effects:
Echoes of Absolute Winter
Upkeep, Song, Cold, Empowerment
The first notes of the users song herald the end of warmth, draining the heat from the area and around them and crystalizing the moisture in the air into snow and ice. Their songs and attacks carry the chill of true winter, freezing the air around them and striking with a terrible cold that tears through armor, and saps the life from their foes.

Hoarfrost Refrain
Potency G4
Type: Cold, Attack, Area, Toxin
Duration: Stunt
The howl of a blizzard in the depths of winter. The scream of the wind that flenses flesh. The cold that saps away the last light of life slow and irresistible. The song may be focused on a single target for maximum effect, or be spread out over multiple targets in an area as needed with a corresponding reduction in individual potency. The chill spreads through the blood and meridians of the target(s), carrying the chill deeper still, like a frigid poison seeking the heart of its victims' warmth. The chill clings long after the technique ends, the insidious cold crawling ever closer to the victim's heart until at last it stills or the technique is dispelled. The effect builds ever greater the longer a target is subject to the singer's song, until at last they fall.

Call to Ending
Potency: G5
Type: Attack, Area, Cold, Finisher
Duration: Stunt
The final verse of the Serenade is a quiet, sad thing, lacking the furor of earlier verses. Upon singing it, all enemies in the area who suffer from Hoarfrost Refrain's cold feel a terrible pain as the chill infecting them grows to a terrible potency, and every last shred of heat flees their body. Damage done depends on how much they have been exposed to the Refrain. Should the singer lay hands upon the victim, no defense may save them from the cold. In this condition, the technique is treated as having a Potency of G7 and ignores lower ranked defense techniques.

Techniques unlocked by Frozen Soul's Heart:

Winter's End Aria
Type: Restoration, Area, Dispel
Duration: Stunt
The qi gathered and crystallised in Frozen Soul's Heart opens up new possibilities. By expending the full pool, the user may recover ??A qi, and E health}}. The restoration cleanses the body, and Ends ailments afflicting the user, providing a free dispel attempt against up to three debuffs.
If Echoes of Absolute Winter is active as well, it may also be consumed to revitalise all allies within its area of effect, at a penalty of two ranks to the qi and health recovery, and attempting to dispel a single debuff on each ally.

New Buds of Spring
Type: Empowerment
Duration: Scene
Qi borne of endings blossoms into new possibility and growth. A chosen non-winter technique may be cast twice. ~~get two doggos~~

Inexorable Winter
Type: Empowerment, Cold
Duration: Stunt
While one can be hopeful of the potential renewal borne from endings, sometimes endings merely beget more endings. An inexorable cascade sweeping across the land, and covering it all in ice and snow. The qi condensed in Frozen Soul's Heart may be expended to raise the potency of one of Winterspring Sonata's techniques by 3, or to reset Call to Endings, allowing another use of it.

Song of Ten Thousand Endings

To Live is to End.

A hundred times, a thousand times. A life is a finite series of endings that will eventually end for good.

Yet it is not the Endings that are important, but rather how one responds to them. To lie down and stop moving is to abandon hope, to stagnate and die. To find happiness, to create meaning even though it be transient – indeed because it is transient.

An ending then is a question, and a lesson.

What do you do when you fall down? When your works crumble? When those you love leave you?

What do you do when you succeed? When your great work is finished?

Techniques:
Endsinger's Aria
Attack, Dispel, Area, Drain

A song of silence, a song of endings. A song of life, and all of its trials.

She who sings of ten thousand endings seeks not the final End, but to embrace and communicate all life's tribulations. To pose the question of endings to her audience. Foes cannot be killed by the song, though their spirit and arts be shattered. Blows aim not for great damage, but rather to disable and tribulate. The song ends defences, leaving them unable to be used again. It suppresses support, leaving the targets bereft of ally's aid. Focused on the body, meridians are suppressed, weakening and disabling arts. Disabling arms, and preventing attacks. Disabling the head, and blinding the foe, Disabling the legs, leaving them unable to move. Marked by ending's touch, victims find their actions themselves to be endings, their qi depleting twice as fast as normal.

What can one do, when faced with such trials? When one's arts are taken away, and endings build?

Endsinger's Coda
Support/Finisher, Counter/Disable

A song of beauty, a song of creation. Of the completion of a great work, and the new beginning to come.

While endings are often seen as sources of suffering and fear, there is another side to them. The beauty of a great creation at the end of a long journey. The accomplishment of a great achievement. The lessons learnt, and the beginning of a new journey as the old one ends.

Applied to a technique – from any party - this song seeks to elevate it in all its glory, letting its ending ring out over the lands. The technique's potency and scale is greatly enhanced, but at the cost of it being unable to be used for the rest of the scene.

Alternatively, the song may be used as a counter, expressing the appreciation of a completed journey. Upon an attacker successfully landing a blow on the singer, they may sing a song of that journey's end, preventing the attacker from using that technique on them again in the scene. They must instead adapt, and begin a new journey to bring the singer down – though perhaps a sufficiently creative artist may find novel ways to apply their old tools instead…

Hopesinger's Reprise
Recovery, Armor, Dispel, Resist

A song of rises, a song of falls. A song of hope, and unbroken will.

The lesson of endings is that what counts is how you respond to them. That you may rise, and you may fall. But as long as your will holds out, as long as you can think and learn, you can always rise again.

Incorporating this Truth into their very essence, the musician reweaves their form from purest song, restoring themselves to full health as they begin a new chapter. Adapting their song to the situation, they gain temporary resistance to whatever challenges they suffered during the previous piece. As long as their will strength holds out, even fatal blows may be survived and recovered from.

In the same vein, the musician may also use this technique to revive any arts that a foe dispels, or constructs broken by an attack. Depending on the strength of the dispel, this may happen immediately with but an act of will, or may require more focused effort should the dispel seek to end the art more permanently. And with such a trial, there is the opportunity to learn, and bring back one's art stronger than ever.

Notes: Idea here is to build on the themes we're currently developing, supporting things like our new insight here and building off the kind of development we looking to with Eye of Grudges in terms of empathy and understanding. Goal is to also compress a lot of our current stuff to refine our build, putting together an art that covers perception, all our social arts including MoSS, and also fills out the support angle we're currently having trouble with with thematic teamwork/coordination buffs.

Silent Songseeker's Regard II: The Sequel
SEE the ties that connect men, in community and in conflict.
HEAR the song of the heart, the dreams and the passion.
FEEL and understand, to shine the light forward.
Seek song and story under the eye of the Moon.

Techniques:
Songseeker's Curiosity
Conjures up to eight shimmering silver faeries in the image of their creator. Expressions of the Diviner's curiosity, these wisps seek their parents' interest eagerly. The user's senses extend from the wisps, and when they overlap, the user's perception is improved in the area. The wisps ignore obstacles below their potency rank, but cannot travel very far from their creator. Wisps are fragile and may be destroyed easily by the direct actions of peer cultivators if noticed, but are quite subtle and hard to detect. Alternatively you may merge all the wisps into one, extending their range a great deal and increasing its potency to 11.

The faeries act as relays for the other techniques, extending their user's presence and range. Additionally, they may be attached to people or places the user has a strong connection to, greatly extending their range.

The Heart's Song
Persistent, Perception
Stories that inspire, bonds of community, grudges that drive… to understand those one interacts with one much have empathy, and understand that which motivates them. See their intent in expression and action. Hear their desire in voice and spirit. Understand them, read them. Predict their actions, and act, whether to cut down or befriend.

Songseeker's Harmony
Scene, support
Communication. Connection. The songs that bind a community together, enhancing and protecting. Together we are strong, alone we are weak. Connecting her allies, the songstress facilitates mutual understanding, and allows them to act as one. The technique may be used to coordinate groups with common purpose in battle, allowing them to work together to great effect and strike down mighty foes. Enhance multi-attacker effects, reinforce spirit, protect against fear, share perception to see through illusion.

The technique may also be used to connect with entities that would otherwise be alien or lack common tongue in order to understand each other.

Comments:
The basic idea for fusing HDW and RME/SSR, quickly edited for system changes etc.

Main thing is really the wisp/fairy change, adjusting them to use connections/community to extend their range, and gain the ability to use them as relays for comms. Think of how adorable it would be if Renxiang had to carry around a little LQ fairy on her shoulder as a communication device! \o/

Would like to get radar back too, but maybe yrs has gotten rid of it because he didn't feel like it was working?

Also there's maybe that postcog tech idea that people seemed into.

Whispers of the Divining Wind

For one who can listen, and play the music of the winds, their harmony reveals the web which connects all things. The beautiful patterns that connect men and spirits alike. For one who seeks to find that which would be hidden from them, this understanding can be a great boon. For it is in those connections and patterns that things of meaning and importance may be found - and attempts to hide those connections whisper ever brighter to those who know what to listen for.

Yin, Moon, Music
Keywords: Expression, Community, Mystery
Anthesis: Chaos, Isolation, Silence
Art Type: Perception

Passive Effects:
+1 to Primary Perception Trait
The senses are enhanced, allowing the user to sense others through the echoes of their thoughts, made more effective when entities are expressing themselves in some way. Whispers comes clearly to your ears, and subtle sounds to your notice. Even in the cacophony of a crowd or battle, you can easily pick out individual sights and sounds of import. In objects, this manifests as a rough sense of their purpose and frequency of use by thinking beings.

Active Effects:
Hidden Wind's Breath
Type: Perception, Communication
Duration: Upkeep 1 / Stunt
With your understanding of expression and communication, you encode words and feelings into your songs not for the public but for allies alone. Transfers simple two way communication through the medium of Music based arts to allies in a scene.
May also be used as a stunt for brief communication with allies. Allies may be linked to as long as LQ may perceive them – the other techniques in the art can be used to extend its range.

Merry Moon Fairies
Type: Construct, Perception
Duration: Scene
Conjures 8 coin-sized silver fairies in the image of the user. Expressions of the Diviner's curiosity, these fairies seek their parents interest eagerly. The user's senses extend from the wisps, and when they overlap, the user's perception is improved in the area. The wisps ignore obstacles below their potency rank, but cannot travel very far from their creator. However, this distance may be greatly increased if they are tied to a location or person the user has a strong connection too - up to 5km x SL. Wisps are fragile and may be destroyed easily by the direct actions of peer cultivators if noticed, but are quite subtle and hard to detect.

Alternatively you may merge all the wisps into one, extending their range a great deal and increasing its potency to 11.

Songseeker's Eye: G5
Type: Scry, Noncombat
Duration: Stunt
A long range Clairaudience technique. Thinning the veil between reality and the liminal, the user extends their senses through the thinned space to attempt to peer at something far away. Success is improved by familiarity with the target creature or location, and degraded by distance and unfamiliarity. When successful the user's hearing and spiritual senses extend to the target, allowing the user to hear them and feel their general spiritual disposition.

Echoes of Songs Past
Type: Perception, Noncombat
Duration: Stunt
The actions of the past lie heavy upon the world, events echoing through time. To the sensitive and knowledgeable musician, these songs may be an open book, their sounds revealing the secrets and drama of the past. Upon using this technique, the user attempts to perceive the history of a location or object. Strong emotions, secrets, and stories of great weight may come through more clearly.

Comments: this could perhaps be taking things too far for a direct BKSD successor, and could even potentially be LQ's personal art. A fun idea for a higher level summons art that would be much more personal to LQ. It's linked to BKSD in that it's built off the ideas of calling on those memories and stories, but instead focused on stronger individual summons with special abilities. Summons are good and something I think we want to continue to have, since they fit in well with community and group play stuff, allowing us to produce more allies to fight with where needed.

Lonely Maiden's Song
Music, Dream, Darkness
Community, Isolation, Power
Summons, offense, defense

The value of a friend is beyond compare. The maiden who has known the depths of isolation sings of her yearning, of the bonds she has made and clasps so tightly to her bosom. Of the paths they have walked, of the fights they have fought. Of the times they have laughed, of the times they have cried.

The maiden expresses the bonds within her heart through song, conjuring phantoms of her friends to support her. They are not as strong as the real people of course, and are restricted to specific uses of their powers – but may still provide able support. Summons count as allies for art and domain purposes.

Examples: Meizhen (defensively strong, powerful fear attacks, can put out fires); Xiulan (big fire, big dps); Renxiang (dispels, laser finisher); Zhengui (strong defense, plant/fire barriers); Suyin (personally weak, has skeleton army, can do basic first aid)

Comments: This idea was originally coming from thinking about how to adjust SNR to be dream-based and more in our style. Ended up with something that's basically a cross between PLR, FVM, and SNR's blocking, and probably wouldn't make much sense as an SNR successor. Really it's more of an FVM successor if anything... don't know if we can do that - or maybe it's the kind of abilities we could be building into our Domain if we slot PLR? From a potential build-fit/role standpoint, it would help support group play a lot, giving us that group defensive shield defenses as well as the moving people around that's so useful for PLR, allowing us to strategically isolate and focus down enemies in our mists. As well as ofc working very well with our general annoying SCS-based style of play.

Mysterious Moonlit Mists
Moon, Dream, Wind
Mystery, Motion, Boundaries
Field, movement, defense

If the arrangement of the board does not favour you, then the best option is to rearrange matters so that it is.
- Countess Ling, "The Art of Winning"

The luminal is endless and ever twisting. A realm of endless possibilities and mystery. In places where it bleeds into the real, space warps and bends, and travellers may find themselves lost far from where they entered.

Dreamlike fog pours into the world, thickening and thinning seemingly at random, warping the space around the cultivator. Foes find themselves trapped in endless maze. Arrows find themselves flying away from their targets, or simply vanishing into the mist. Even the greatest of heaven's blows may find themselves simply vanishing, scattered across a thousand endless journeys.

Yet at the same time, the mists need not be a foe. The cultivator and their allies move unhindered, a single step taking them to where they need to be. Assaulting their isolated foes, and vanishing back into the endless fog.

Uses: you've got fog you can use to warp space, move people around, trap enemies, redirect attacks or block them with fog "portals", adjust the timing and placement of allies' attacks so that multiple volleys arrive at the same point at the same time…

Comments: goals here was to create something that covered a lot of art functionality at once, so this is basically a PLR/BKSD/SNR replacement, that also ties into formations and potentially social as well. May be too powerful for Green, and potentially overshadows cold stuff in an awkward way.

Echoes of Ages Past
Dream, Earth?
Community, History, Expression, Causality?
Defense, armor, support, movement, summons, formations

Though the past may be gone into mist and memory, its presence is felt all around us. In the cities built upon the ruins of their own streets. In the stories that bind the people together and drive them apart. In the fables that teach them what to fear and what to venerate. Such histories and dreams of import are imprinted upon the Liminal, hundreds of layers of the history that define the world.

Through study and understanding of those moments that echo still, the cultivator has learnt to draw upon those Great Dreams of history, and manifest them upon the world. The thousand layered corpse of a city blossoms into the world, space warping as streets shift, and buildings and walls rise up to shield her and her allies from danger. Phantom allies rise from memory and connection to assist her, while the beasts of the past stalk the lands to menace her foes. Shared history rises to bind her and her allies together, reinforcing their bonds and enabling them to stand tall.

Uses: conjure walls and hide behind doors to block attacks and evade enemies. Block big attacks with big buildings. Summon allies to support you and allies or attack foes. Warp space to move yourself and allies to where you are needed within your phantom realm, and trap enemies. Conjure phantom armor to buff allies instead of summoning minions? Reinforce allies through invocation of shared history and bonds?

Liminal Carver synergy? Build formations to enhance constructs and allow greater dream fields to be created?

Comments: A possible development of LFWT focusing on the thief side of things. From a role perspective, the idea here was looking at something LFWT based that could cover the active blocking SNR does if we had an armor art like Thousand Year Faith. This could be run as a separate successor to LFWT with the movement/stealth/dodge stuff on another branch (Laughing Flight of the Dream Thief

), or you could just stick everything together into one big art.

Also, I wanted to play around with how we could potentially use Liminal Carver to enhance our stuff there if possible. Lots of fun thief-based stuff we could potentially do, though my criticism here would be that it's less group focused than something like Mysterious Mists, and you'd want to be thinking about how to address that build-wise.

Audacity of the Dream Thief
Defense, counter, movement?, dispel?

A successor to Laughing Flight of the Wind Thief, developing the arts of thievery with Ling Qi's work in the Liminal. Transcending the boundaries of base physicality. To steal the intangible, and line the poor starving girl's pockets with food. To baffle and bewilder with sleight of hand, tripping one's enemies with their own tools. To snatch lightning from the air with a flick of the wrist.

Supported by a finely crafted set of personalised magical dream pockets, the daring thief may even store attacks stolen for their own ends, either to hurl them back upon their foes, or breaking down the qi to feed their starving belly.

Uses: Active defences by stealing attacks out of the air to protect yourself and allies, or stealing the qi to disrupt techniques. Pickpocket defences to open people up to attacks. Steal from storage rings etc. Use pockets made by Liminal Carver to hold stolen things and either break down and absorb the qi like money you steel, or throw them back at enemies (though 'ware the pockets' durability). Anti-finisher: Thief of Winds – pick apart and release the qi being gathered by an enemy, causing their technique to explode in their face? Also potentially fold PLR movement stuff in here by snatching nearby allies to you with slight of hand, or stealing them away with you when you move? Steal things that you're obviously too far away from to steal from because you're just that good (and also lol dream).

Comments: An attempt at playing around with ideas of how to fold social into our main arts rather than having them hanging around separately in an awkward way. This sort of looks at folding PMR/MoSS into Dream Thief in a thematically consistent way.

Freedom of the Dream Thief
Freedom, Motion, Expression, Truth
Her freedom is joy, her freedom is truth. The Dream Thief is an emissary of ideals and connection, who waltzes through dreams to steal hearts. To be true to yourself, and to see the truth in others. To dare to dream of a better world. A world not for the few, but for the many. This is her audacity.

Upkeep:
Dance of the Dream Thief
Filling her meridians with Dream, the Dream Thief has become something that transcends the real. Her dance is one of freedom. She cannot be caught, or prevented from pursuing her dreams. Those that would seek to bar her way find themselves unable to find her, memories slipping through fingers. Her presence fading in and out of the world, her form ephemeral yet solid. Every attempt to touch her finding naught but air.

Enhances evasion, stealth, movement, resistance to attempts to prevent movement.

Emissary of Dreams
Freedom is the ability to be true to yourself. To pursue your happiness honestly, and without regret. To express your Truth, and act sincerely with those around you. Yet such pursuit of Truth is often misunderstood. To communicate one's self clearly to others, it is necessary to understand their Truths and desires as well, no matter how foreign or inhuman. To find happiness and harmony, it is necessary to for the Emissary to be able mediate between her truths and theirs, and to understand how small truths can be mutable in service of the greater.

Enhances perception of what others value and desire (including the environment and objects), and ability to understand and predict them; enhances honest communication, and ability to communicate with spirits. Environmental effects that would hinder the emissary's attempts to connect with others may be ignored as long as she acts with sincerity.

Techniques:
The usual dodge, super dodge, super stealing stuff, just, y'know, Dream-flavoured

From @JohnnieBoy123

Court of Gossamer and Leaves

In the wilderness there are countless tiny spirit courts. They will likely never amount to anything but they see far more than their betters would ever guess

Yin, Moon, Music
Keywords: Mystery, Community, Chaos
Antithesis: Order, Fate, Ignorance
Art Type: Perception

Passive Effects:
+1 to Primary Perception Trait

Active Effects

Spirit Lady's Retinue: G5
Type: Construct, Perception
Duration: Scene

Conjures up to a dozen tiny humanoid wisps from leaves, pebbles, and so on. Expressions of the Lady's curiosity and whims, these wisps seek their lady's interest eagerly. The user's senses extend from the wisp, and when they overlap, the user's perception is improved in the area. The wisps ignore obstacles below their potency rank and, while they can travel a fair distance from their creator, they lose contact with her until they return and quickly run out of qi over the course of a day without additional infusions. Once they return, the user is aware of what the wisp found as though they were there themselves.

Wisps are fragile and may be destroyed easily by the direct actions of peer cultivators if noticed, but are quite subtle and hard to detect.

Respite of Dutiful: G5
Type: Scry, Noncombat
Duration: Stunt

The user may scry any of their wisps' locations, bringing themselves in contact with them and allowing the user to refill the wisp's qi, with the efficiency decreasing as the distance grows. Any peer within line of sight will immediately detect the wisps while this technique is active.

Predecessor Art: Silent Songseeker's Regard

Notes: Here's my PLR+. Rather than a wild revel, its us putting on a play so as to play to our insight

The reason for making it Formation based is to give us practice with Liminal Carver and to reduce the pressure on Yrs to make everything Music.

Getting the formations out to affect the area in the first place can be done in a variety of ways
1. Minor wind manipulation via LFWT
2. Sneaking around and making/distributing them when no one knows we are there
3. Creating them during the fight ourselves or through our domain weapon
4. Using FSS+ to create snowflake arrays

The Theater of Ages
An art born from a playwright who always sought to hold a mirror to the past. This art uses formations and the nature of the liminal realm to allow the user to recreate one of their plays on the spot.

Potency Increase (0/3)
Balanced, Moon
Keywords:
- Clarity, Dream, Persistence
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Support

Passive Effects:
+1 to primary Formations trait

Set the Stage
Potency G5
Type: Zone
Duration: Scene

Before a play commences, the stage must be set. The area enclosed by your formations changes, becoming charged with Dream and transforming into the setting of the story you wish to tell. You may reactivate this technique to change the setting, altering the other techniques as appropriate

Assemble the Cast
Potency G5
Type: Construct, Support
Duration: Scene

What is a play without actors? Phantom constructs appropriate for the current stage appear and the appearance of the people within change to fit their roles, though their identities remain recognizable. Allies are aware of the actions the user intends them to perform and find any attempts to follow along boosted by her qi and may teleport anywhere within the stage to fit their role.

The Moment of Destiny
Potency G5
Type: Empowerment
Duration: Stunt

Theater is the land of faith and belief, thought and yearning. A defining moment at the climax of a story is empowered by these forces. Increases the potency of technique used by yourself or an ally by up to 10 and the opposition by half that. The size of the actual boost is based on the respective actions' dramatic potential, as all those around have their attention drawn to the clash.

Can only be used once per scene and you must immediately reactivate Set the Stage for a different story if you wish for it to continue.

From @Floom:

Lonely Soul's Serenade
Yin, Cold, Expression
Keywords: Endings, Isolation, Void
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Offensive

Call to the Cold
Potency: X
Type: Cold, Toxin, Drain
Duration: Scene
Doubt enters the mind, and the cold seeps into the spirit. Something is wrong. In a city of thousands, there is not a single soul that can truly forget, for all will remember in time. A low quiet note resounds from the user, and though none can hear it, all can feel it. A single nearby foe is inflicted with an insidious affliction of Cold Qi, that quietly saps at the target's Qi, draining it away to the user until dispelled. While this affliction lasts, the user's other techniques may ignore one of the target's own techniques at the user's discretion, directing the Cold Qi to undermine the target's spirit and body in subtle ways. This technique may be used from Stealth, and does not reveal the user's presence if the target lacks the perception to detect them. Additionally, this technique cannot be perceived until the target is completely aware of the user's presence and location, and cannot be targeted by either the target or any ally of the target until detected. This technique can be applied to a target an amount of times equal to the amount of defensive or support techniques that the target has, be they passive or active.

Call to the Lonely
Potency: X
Type: Song, Area, Drain
Duration: Scene
The spirit knows what is wrong, but the mind rejects. All the same, the truth remains. It resonates like a wave, and all dance to it's tune. The song goes on and on. What will happen when it ends? A high but faint hum emanates from the user, and their surroundings take on a subtle hue, as if being drawn to an end. At the user's discretion, all effects or techniques in the nearby area are subtly drained of their residual Qi. While this technique is active, affected techniques have their durations lowered or their upkeep cost increased, restoring Qi to the user based on the amount of affected techniques. When used out of combat, the technique suppresses and drains away all signs of Qi use, as well as silencing and suppressing the shades of the dead, making it difficult to determine if a fight occurred in an area, who was there, or what was used in the area. This technique may be used from Stealth, and does not reveal the user's presence if the targets lacks the perception to detect them. Additionally, this technique cannot be perceived until the targets are completely aware of the user's presence and location, and cannot be targeted by any of the targets until they are aware of this technique.

Call to the End
Potency: X
Type: Attack, Cold, Finisher
Duration: Stunt
Truth sinks in like a cold knife to the heart. All that you have, all you will be. None of it will last. All songs come to silence, all treasures turn to dust. You were born alone, you have lived alone, and you will die alone. Nothing will change that. A shiver heralds the end, as the user grasps a target afflicted by Creeping Chill and reveals to them the Truth. The fundamental emptiness of existence is brought to bear, the target suffers horrendous damage both spiritually and physically as their very existence is attacked at it's core. This technique ignores all active and passive effects of the target, and cannot be affect by the techniques of others without the use of Shen. This technique may be used from stealth, and does not reveal the user's presence if a target lacks the perception to detect them.

Reprisal of Season's End
Balanced, Cold, Moon, Expression
Keywords: Cycles, Endings, Creation
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Offensive

Frozen Soul Serenade
Potency: X
Type: Cold, Zone, Drain, Song
Duration: Scene
From Winter comes the End. Be it slow or sudden, the Cold will draw it all to a close. The air takes on a subtle chill, and enemies both near and far find their techniques stifled in the face of Winter. While this song plays, all enemies suffer a Qi drain and are unable to regain Qi from techniques or effects with potency lower than this technique. Each time an attempt is made by an enemy to interfere with this technique, it gains 1 potency. Enemies may willingly end an effect or technique they are using to temporarily ignore the effects of this technique at the cost of being unable to re-activate said effect or technique while this technique lasts.

Vernal Soul Reprise
Potency: X
Type: Wind, Bind, Zone, Song
Duration: Scene
From the End, comes Spring, herald of a new Beginning. The West Wind howls forth, given strength from the Winter chill. The air takes on a subtle warmth, and the wind begins to stir, as enemies near and far find themselves flung by sudden squalls. While this song plays, all enemies suffer forced movement at the user's discretion, including rendering an enemy airborne, and cannot activate movement techniques of potency lower than this technique's potency. Each time an enemy attempts to escape this technique's area of effect, this technique gains 1 potency. Enemies may willingly end an effect or technique they are using to temporarily ignore the effects of this technique at the cost of the user gaining Qi equal to the potency of this technique.

Season's End
Potency: X
Type: Empowerment, Moon
Duration: Stunt
The Moon bears witness as the seasons die and live. The changing force that drives their endless ends and beginnings. So it was, and so it will be once more. The sky takes on a dark hue, and the Moon shines bright for but a moment. If Vernal Soul Reprise and or Frozen Soul Serenade are active, they are immediately dispelled, and any potency they have gained is transferred to the user's next technique.

Song of Winter and Spring
Balanced, Cold, Wood, Expression
Keywords: Isolation, Endings, Cycles
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Offensive

As Spring Ends
Potency: X
Type: Song, Cold, Drain
Duration: Scene
Warmth is fleeting, and the cold sets in, as familiar notes bring a font of cold anew into the world. Qi shivers and whimpers, drawn to a close as the creeping Cold steals it away to survive, leaving naught but ice and chills in it's wake. Nearby foes have their Qi drained, and their meridians sealed in their wake, reducing their maximum Qi capacity until the blockage is dispelled. If a foe lacks Qi, then Cold begins to sap away at their very vitality, damaging their Health and sealing away their maximum Health until dispelled. If the target is affected by Spring Begins, this technique becomes internal, and can not be affected by external techniques or effects unless they outrank this technique by at least 2 potency.

Winter Begins
Potency: X
Type: Cold, Attack, Area, Toxin, Drain
Duration: Stunt
The wind howls, and the snow falls. Winter has arrived, and with it comes the Cold in all it's terrible beauty. White blankets all, and a cloying stillness settles in, as all things slowly fall quiescent. All are alone in the Cold, and warmth shared is simply warmth lost, as Winter claims all in the silent Cold. All nearby enemies suffer damage as chilling winds cut into them, and Cold qi settles into the wounds, dealing damage over time until dispelled. Additionally, enemies with techniques or effects that either passively or actively support their allies suffer a Qi drain for each of such techniques or effects that are active, multiplied by the number of allies those techniques or effects affect. Such enemies are given the option to retract their techniques or effects from their allies, at the cost of leaving their allies undefended against Winter Begins. Any nearby enemy affected by Spring Begins has it's lingering effects dispelled and replaced with the lingering effect of Winter Begins. This effect is internal, and cannot be affected by techniques or effects which are external to the target unless they outrank this technique by at least 2 potency.

As Winter Ends
Potency: X
Type: Attack, Cold, Finisher
Duration: Stunt
The wind falls quiet, and the snow ceases to fall. Stillness is all that remains, as even Winter itself falls quiet. A deathly peace falls, and though it makes no sound, it echoes all the same. A single target which suffers from Winter Begins feels a terrible pain as the chill infecting them grows to a terrible potency, and every last shred of heat flees their body. The damage to spirit and body is immense. Should the singer lay hands upon the victim however, no defense may save them from the cold. In this condition, the technique is treated as having a Potency of GX+2 and ignores lower ranked defense techniques. Should the target fall, any ally of the target that had been benefiting from any of the target's techniques or effects suffers this same effect as the original target suffered it.

Spring Begins
Potency: X
Type: Wood, Attack, Area, Drain, Toxin
Duration: Stunt
The Cold recedes, it's job done. In it's wake, comes the beginning of Spring, as familiar notes bring forth warmth where there was once cold. All nearby enemies still affected by As Spring Ends have any remaining blockages inflicted by As Spring Ends dispelled, and suffer a Qi drain and damage as the plant life springs forth from the icy blockages. This damage is internal, and cannot be affected by techniques or effects from external sources unless they outrank this technique by at least 2 potency. Any enemies that died to any of the other techniques of this art have their corpses erupt into flowers and grasses, becoming unusable by any other effect, inflicting any other enemies near their corpses with similar growths that sap away at their health until dispelled. This same effect is inflicted on any nearby enemy that is still affected by Winter Begins, dispelling the lingering effects of Winter Begins in the process.

Requiem of Winter's End
Balanced, Cold, Dream
Keywords: Endings, Isolation, Renewal
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Offensive

Winds of Winter
Potency: X
Type: Cold, Drain, Attack, Toxin
Duration: Stunt
Even in the brightest spring, the hottest summer, or the most bountiful fall, the winds of winter are never far, and with them, comes dreams of the cloying cold. Dreams of friends far distant, of loved ones not here, and of memories of that which you have left behind. As the user sings their haunting song, these dreams spill forth into reality, assaulting a single nearby foe with chilling winds and biting ice, reinforced by the countless memories of Winter that lay dreaming in every mortal mind. The target suffers damage directly, as well as an equally potent Qi drain, and a further Qi drain for each technique the foe is using, both passive and active, as the cloying cold saps the very essence of the foe's techniques. The memories of winter continue to cling to the target long after the effect has taken it's toll, continuing to drain Qi from the target and preventing Qi regeneration of lower potency than this technique until the clinging dream of cold is dispelled.

Winter's End
Potency: X
Type: Attack, Cold, Finisher
Duration: Stunt
In dreams of Winter, lay a quiet truth: all things End. Joy or suffering, pain or pleasure, story or song, all things come to a close. It is a truth all know of, but do not dream of. For a Dream of the End is the End of the Dream, and even Winter itself must come to a close. A single target which suffers from Winter's Wind feels a terrible pain as the chill infecting them grows to a terrible potency, the Dream itself shuddering as every last shred of heat flees their body, lost to the deafening End. The damage to spirit and body is immense. Should the singer lay hands upon the victim however, no defense may save them from the cold. In this condition, the technique is treated as having a Potency of GX+2 and ignores lower ranked defense techniques. This technique is empowered by the Dreams of the dead and dying, and increases in potency for every target that has perished in the scene, with targets of lower cultivation requiring higher numbers of dead to increase this techniques potency, and vice versa for targets of higher cultivation. Upon resolution of this technique, the lingering effect of Winds of Winter is dispelled.

Spring's Release
Potency: X
Type: Drain, Area, Song
Duration: Stunt
Winter is gone, and the Dream has ended. Yet what lies in it's wake? The user rings out a quiet sound, as the Ending meets it's End, and making way for something new. This technique targets the lingering shades and spirits of the dead, granting them release as any of their residual Qi is turned to Cold, before being absorbed by the user. The user regains Qi based on the number of foes that have died in this scene, with targets of lower cultivation requiring higher numbers of dead to increase this techniques potency, and vice versa for targets of higher cultivation. Additionally, targets affected by this technique cannot have their corpse or their lingering spirits affected by other techniques, as Spring's Release lingers on the targets and maintains their release until dispelled.

Thousand Forests Forever
Yang, Wood, (Life?)
Keywords: Community, Vitality, Power
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Support/Armor

Ten Rings Vitality
Potency: X
Type: Armor/Support/Dispel
Duration: Scene

The vitality and strength of a tree lies not in it's wood, but in the living rings that surround it. The user releases a pulse of vital qi, forming a verdant ring around themselves and all allies nearby or affected by the user's other techniques, shielding them from the next blow that would have pierced their defenses otherwise. All those affected receive a +1 on both their primary armor trait versus the next attack to hit them, as well as +1 to their Qi potency for as long as the ring persists, as it gathers qi from it's surroundings and forms a barrier as hard as the bark of great trees. Additionally, each time a ring appears on a target, the user may attempt to dispel one negative effect on the target using their Qi potency as they feed vital qi into the living ring to overcome all that would oppose it's growth.

Hundred Trees March
Potency: X
Type: Support/Empowerment
Duration: Scene

Nothing can truly stop the endless march of the forest, and none may bar new trees from seeking new ground. So long as one tree grows, the forest marches on. The user deepens the qi of the rings, tapping into the deeper strength of the forest itself, a force greater than any single tree. All targets that are currently affected by Ten Rings Vitality or had been previously affected by Ten Rings Vitality immediately have Ten Rings Vitality refreshed on them. Additionally, so long as at least one target still has a ring affecting them, other rings on other affected targets automatically re-appear if they are broken dispelled, and any target with a ring on it may not be affected by a root or bind technique with a lower potency than the target's Qi potency. Finally, if a technique or attack would hit a target but fail to pierce the target's defenses, the target may treat the attack or technique as if it had never hit at all, just as a forest seems erase all damage that fails to end it.

Thousand League Forest
Potency: X
Type: Empowerment/Armor
Duration: Scene

There are no lone trees in a forest, and each sapling that sprouts grows with an endless forest behind it, each tree supporting and shielding each other, weak or strong. Every target affected by Hundred Trees March may choose to use the primary defense attribute of any other target affected by Hundred Trees March, and any technique used by any target affected by Hundred Trees March has the potency of Thousand League Forest for the purposes of resisting Dispel, Attack, Area, or Finisher techniques.

Endless Emerald Sea
Potency: X
Type: Anti-finisher/Dispel
Duration: Stunt

A thousand trees, a forest. A thousand forests, a sea. From the mighty Xiangmen to the humblest seed struggling to take root, each are a part of the same endless Emerald Sea. Each target affected by Ten Rings Vitality gains +1 to their defense trait for each other target affected by Ten Rings Vitality, and no technique may ignore any target's defense trait. For each target affected by Ten Rings Vitality that is not targeted by a Finisher technique, each target that is targeted gains a further +1 to their primary defense trait. If a Finisher Technique completely fails to pierce the armor of any target that is affected by Endless Emerald Sea, the entire Finisher Technique is treated as if it had absolutely no effect whatsoever on both the target it would have affected, or the environment that it would have affected, and all other active or passive techniques maintained by the target who used the Finisher Technique are dispelled. Only usable once per scene.

Fleeting Winter Zephyr
Balanced, Cold, Wind, Expression
Keywords: Motion, Cycles, Freedom
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Offensive/Movement

Wandering Winter Winds
Potency: X
Type: Attack/Bind
Duration: Stunt/Upkeep 1

The winds of winter are cold and biting, wandering the world at their whim as they draw warmth. The user forms a note of pure wind, tipped with seeking Cold qi. The note is then launched into the sky under the user's control, seeking out any target that the user is capable of perceiving at any distance, driven ever forward by the endless cold of winter. This note may stay in flight for as long as the user wishes, so long as an upkeep is payed for each note controlled by the user, and each note has an effective speed equal to the user's own speed. Upon striking the target, the target is chilled to the bone, dealing damage and slowing the target's movement and penalizing their primary dodge attribute.

Fleeting Spring Zephyr
Potency: X
Type: Support/Movement
Duration: Scene

The winds of winter retreat south, and the winds of spring come forth from the west with great haste. If the user strikes a target with Wandering Winter Winds, they may immediately activate this technique. Any ally near the User that moves towards the target struck by Wandering Winter Winds may move at the User's speed towards the target. If both user and their nearby allies are moving towards the target, then all of them move using the User's primary movement trait plus 1.

From @JowKeen

Comments:
This Art builds an additional facet to our Song-Seeking. We Seek Songs in the Liminal, that place brimming with histories and hypotheticals, but what do we do with the things we don't like? Well we remind those things of the End, the inevitable annihilation of everything, and through The End convert them into raw materials.

This is part of a trio of Arts. Next is a Movement Art that leans into our Thief aspect. It grabs up all the base Qi left behind by Eulogy of Fates, allowing us to steal their ruined Fates to empower our own.

The third Art is a Field Effect that leans into our Creative aspect. A revelry of Existence/Creation of altered Fate for those involved, as we spin them away from the Fate they intended and disrupt their plans. Just as the Moon disrupts the plans of mortals seeking Ascension, as one that guards the Humanity of Creation.

These Arts are a Cycle that has our Movement Art between the other two. The Harsh Uncaring End can create fuel that we take for ourselves, and immediately use in our Creative Revelry. Or we can start with the Revelry, and carve horrifying dissonant End through it that unravels those trapped by that Creation alongside our Creation, and then we pass through to gather materials from both. If we don't fully annihilate our Creation Construct, from the inside it'd be like being at a party where the music has really messed up lyrics but so long as you're not paying attention it's alright c:
then the lyrics hit you and you're like "yo wtf"

Eulogy of Fates
Moon, Darkness, Music
Ending, Cycles, Inevitability
Offense, Dispel, Combo

A Eulogy for all those whose Fates have been taken from them by the uncaring advancement of forces beyond their comprehension. Song-Seeker, Thief of Fates sings directly to her target, slipping into their channels and singing of that deep desire to resist the ultimate End, even though it's futile.

The additional verses detail the endless cycle of Annihilation and Creation. Volcanic eruption, Winter snows, ephemeral Dreams, all things End to the Cycle.

the fertile Ash, the Spring bloom, a new Reality
the End of the target will feed the Arts and Constructs of Song-Seeker, Thief of Fates.

and it's a tragedy they crossed your path

Usage: Primary Offense
Song-Seeker, Thief of Fates attacks by singing of the impotent desire of existence in its attempt to resist the Inevitable End.
When attacking, all Qi Constructs struck by the attack are reduced to their base Qi and may be gathered by Song-Seeker, Thief of Fates to fuel themselves.
Targets slain by Elegy of Fates have their remaining Qi reduced to base Qi, which may be gathered by Song-Seeker, Thief of Fates

New arts:

A big summon art trying to really build on everything we've learnt from our existing arts. Probably more a low cyan thing or something?

Lessons of Future's Past
From stories, lessons.
From lessons, trials.
From trials, treasures.
We are, all of us, products of history, personal and collective. Face it. Learn from it. Use it.

Hidden Phantasmagoria
Supported by her arts, insights, and carefully crafted formations, the cultivator brings forth a bubble of Dream into the world to test her foes.
Enter Dream, Enter Nightmare.

Available Dreams:

Xiangmen Stands (BKSD, TRF, WHR)
- 'neath Xiangmen's boughs, the people of the Emerald Sea stood to defend home and hearth. The cultivator and her allies stand on the fortress of Xiangmen to defend against their foes on land and sky. Within the fortress, defensive formations and life giving qi grant the cultivator and her allies greatly enhanced defences and recovery, shrugging off poison, disease and fear, while the terrain offers them the high ground.
Journey to the South (FSS, FVM, ?UGM?)
- 'cross frozen peak, and crushing glacier. 'gainst avalanche and storm, and the predations of spirits cold. The cultivator brings all to a harsh dream of snowy mountains and an endless journey. The cold saps strength and defences, while the world around you becomes your enemy. All cold arts are greatly enhanced here, while the cultivator shapes weather and land to crush her foe.
Lunar Rhapsody (ToN, FVM)
- [Requires Thief of Names] To test a foe requires understanding, communication. Touching a singlular foe's heart, the cultivator draws out what lies within, plunging them both into nightmare. What flaws may be found in their past? What cracks in their Way? The cultivator benefits from the ability to shape the Dream and make arguments with enhanced social perception. However this will ultimately be limited by her and her opponent's Ways, and effects may vary significantly.

Heart's Dreams
Drawing forth that which has touched her Way and heart, the cultivator conjures phantoms from dream. With this, she may produce constructs to support her in combat based off those that have had significant impact on her. Monsters from the Arts that shaped her Way, or even limited phantoms of her friends and allies to assist her with their abilities. Only a single construct (or group of constructs in the case of pack summons) may be active at a time.
(basically I'd still like the ability to summon things to harass our foes and assist us beyond just environmental effects, and also I really want Summon Friend

)

For minions need to cover your bases in a fairly tight and compact art set.

Ranger Suite
⦁ Howling Blizzard Art - archery art
⦁ Formless Breeze Art - movement, stealth, defense
⦁ Eternal Wind Art - perception, communication, support

Howling Blizzard Art
An archery art inspired by a snowstorm's howl, practitioners imbuing their arrows with its song. The art's power is greatest when used en masse, the many arrows flying through the air carrying the blizzard behind them to lash their foes.

Snowsong Stance

Enhancement, support, scene

The foundational technique of the art. The archer imbues their bow and arrows with the song of the blizzard. Their arrows howl through the air, carrying wind and snow behind them. Adds cold damage to attacks. The more arrows fly, the more the blizzard intensifies to lash their foes, enhancing the potency even more when used in groups.

Hoarfrost Arrow

Damage, poison

The blizzard's chill cuts to the bone, slicing through armor and freezing flesh beneath. To those who cannot find shelter, the cold will eventually prove fatal. Arrows have enhanced armor penetration and the cold qi carried by successful hits slowly sap the strength of those struck.

Snowstorm Shot

Offense, debuff

Imbued with cold qi, the arrow shatters into a thousand freezing snowflakes. The snow blinds its targets, freezes their limbs, and coats the ground in ice and snow to hinder their movements.

Windchill Arrow

Damage, accuracy

No matter where you run, you cannot evade the freezing wind that cuts to the bone, the cold mercilessly seeking out heat. The archer's shot is carried on the wind, twisting and bending through the air to unerringly seek its target. Arrows gain homing and significantly enhanced accuracy.

Formless Breeze Art
An art derived from the study of the Four Winds. Drawing the winds' essence into their bodies, cultivators of this art move like the wind, gliding softly over the ground, and fading from blows.

Formless Breeze

Filling their body wind wind qi, the cultivator becomes like a gentle breeze. Lightly moving over the ground, barely disturbing the world, scent and sound fading into the air as if they were never there. Enhances speed and stealth, as well as lightly enhancing physical evasion when active.

Gusting Step

Wrapping themselves in the wind, the user steps through the air in a sudden gust, instantly crossing the intervening distance. While a pale shadow of the true form of the technique, it is nevertheless a valuable defensive tool at this level, significantly enhancing physical evasion.

Zephyr's Embrace

Channelling and focusing wind qi, the user deflects blows directed at them, enhancing their qi blocking and blunting physical attacks.

Cleansing Breeze

As the wind flows over the land, it cleanses the air, carrying away miasma. Letting the wind flow through them, the user attempts to dispel a harmful effect afflicting them or the environment. The technique can be used by groups to greater potency.

Eternal Wind Art
A meditation on the all-encompassing nature of the wind, and how it connects everything. To those who can read and use it, much can be gained.

Reading the Wind

Focusing their senses with wind qi, the user opens themselves up to the information the wind carries through the air. Significantly enhances perception and the distance over which the user may observe things. May be applied to sight, hearing, and smell.

Eternal Wind's Call

The ever-present winds connect all. Attuning themselves to this principle, the user connects themselves to allies, allowing them to communicate over long distances. While the range may be limited by cultivation here, multiple users can chain the technique to connect them all together, covering a much greater range.

harmony something idk

Requires Eternal Wind's Call to be active. Drawing up the connections between them, the users bolster their spirits and coordinate their movements. Coordinated attacks fall with deadly accuracy, carefully calibrated to create and strike openings, and break through defenses with successive blows. Enhances the power of group attacks, and enhances spiritual defenses of the group.

Comments: This was more an armor art designed to cover holes if we had something else providing shielding. I was trying to get something that could provide a good working option with, say, cool regeneration out of shadows but perhaps without getting into the difficulties that some of the older ideas had with wood-based aesthetics not necessarily fitting LQ well. This idea is very abstract and philosophical really (which makes working out the elements hard since their imagery isn't that relevant). The idea here built off Unbroken Will and our SCS insight, as well as playing off the historical stories thing with SSC.

Thousand Year Faith
Water, Wood?
Motion, Persistence, Contrast
Armor, Healing, Support

A meditation upon the history of the great and most long-lived cults of the Empire. To become great, one must have a strong core. An idea that resonates with hearts and minds and draws people together in shared purpose. But, at the same time, to flourish and grow and stand the test of time one must be flexible. To be able to continually adapt to fit the needs of different places and times, while never losing the core truth that binds everyone together. To be able to renew and regrow after inevitable hardship, and survive the harshest of repression.

To embody the spirit of these lessons the cultivator must strengthen their spirit, and become as an idea. Unbroken will held together by their ideals, yet always able to adapt to the situation. Should they be cut, they may regenerate, and adjust to flow around the blade without injury. Should they be burnt they may heal, and adapt to the heat. And these lessons they may share freely with their allies around them, supporting each other so that their shared ideals may live on.

Usage: it's active regeneration combined with adaptive armor. Get hurt? Regenerate and build (temporary) resistance to that type of attack. Potentially also have an Upkeep buff for preplanning so you can choose a specific thing you've already learnt to resist ahead of time. Can then also share the resistance with allies.

Comments:
This art was about me exploring how to look at the Zhengui problem from a very different and more abstract angle. It's kind of "Sixiang's take on a Zhengui art", as well as building off Unbroken Will etc.

Not sure how well the narrative of O Transient Beauty and Inspiration Renewed would work tbh. There's only so many times you can be overcome with the transient beauty of your arts and inspired as a power up

Also flow might be awkward in fast fights. Sixiang might be down with it, but I'm not sure how much LQ would be into Deidara-Art-is-a-Bang style

Muse's Blessing

The artists of the Emerald Sea have long been touched by the Dreaming Moon, her blessing inspiring them to go beyond mortal limits, and create works of sublime beauty. This art calls upon the lessons of the muses, exploring the beauty of transience and endings, and how such visions can drive one to even greater heights.

Yang, Moon (Dreaming), Wood?, Fire?
Keywords: Expression, Creation, Endings
Antithesis: Permanence, Ennui, Order
Art type: uhhhh Armor? Support? Utility? 🤷

Artist's Fervor
Upkeep, Armor
Fueled by dreams, the artist's passion and determination grant them unending stamina and will to keep going in the face of all the world's adversity. The user's qi potency is increased by 2, while the effects of damage and debuffs that would impair the user are reduced. Should an attack do enough damage to incapacitate the artist, they will instead hold on long enough to complete their work. They may use one technique empowered by both O Transient Beauty and Inspiration Renewed, with normal restrictions on the technique removed, before falling.

O Transient Beauty
Stunt, Empowerment
Dramatically enhance the beauty and effect of a chosen technique for but a brief moment. Once the technique is gone, however, it may not be used again for the rest of the scene. If it is a scene or upkeep technique, it will expire after a brief period. Enables follow-up use of Inspiration Renewed.

Inspiration Renewed
Stunt, Empowerment
Transcendent beauty leaves a mark upon the world, and in the hearts of its viewers. Its passing a void, yearning for fulfillment. The artist draws upon these feelings and the energies left by the shadow of O Transient Beauty and uses it to raise another of their techniques to even greater heights.

Comments:
Idea around this art was playing off the idea of seasonal cycles which some people are keen on and which could be another avenue of connecting with Zhengui and Hanyi. The general concept was this idea of setting up a large zone effect that basically changes the rules of the battle depending on the chosen season, affecting all parties to create interesting strategic choices.

That last part though, while interesting, does make it challenging to create effects that would actually have clear use, and I'm not sure how well all of them would work. Summer particularly was kinda hard to think up something decent. You don't necessarily have to have it work that way ofc if it's too awkward – it could just be a more straightforward buff/debuff art.

Symphony of the Four Seasons
Balanced, Music
Keywords: Seasons, Expression, Cycles
Antithesis: Buildings, Hearth, Chaos? Dunno
Art type: Support

The Four Seasons
Scene, Zone
The songs in this art each establish a wide zone effect around the musician, applying the effects of the chosen season to all within its domain. Only one season may be in play at a time. If the effect should be dispelled normally, then it will instead change to the next season in the cycle. Effects may be resisted by individuals with appropriate Traits.

- Winter
The freezing winds of winter cut to the bone, the cold sapping energy and wamth and softly blanketing the world in snow. All cold damage is enhanced, while qi and warmth is drained away, reducing speed and stamina of those exposed to the elements.

- Spring
Flowers bloom, and the forests spring to life as the world warms. Qi regeneration and healing is enhanced, and any techniques that are dispelled may be instantly renewed unless blocked.

- Summer
The forests are warmed by the sun, and life is healthy and strong. Health and endurance is enhanced, buffs are harder to dispel, and the effects of debuffs and poisons are reduced.

- Autumn
As summer fades, the harvest time begins, and the leaves redden and fall from the trees. The strength of dispels is enhanced, and any techniques (excepting this one) dispelled are ended as long as the season is Autumn or Winter.

Comments:
Here I was trying to play around with an armor art with some kind of linked spring/winter effect that would get at the idea of renewal.
Not sure what else to add to this though.

Renewal of the Seasons
Balanced
Keywords: Cycles, Renewal, Endings
Antithesis: ???
Art type: ???

Breath of the Seasons
Upkeep
Through breathing technique and meditation, the user imbues themselves with the essence of the seasons. This technique may be expressed in two different ways, and its expression may be switched by the user as needed.

-> Breath of Winter
Empowerment, Dispel
Winter is the season of endings, the freezing cold sapping life and cleansing the land to be reborn. The user gains some measure of this, their attacks draining the qi of their foes, and the breath flowing through their lungs slowly draining and ending any debuffs they are suffering.

-> Breath of Spring
Armor
Spring is the season of rebirth, the land blooming after the long cold. The user's body is flooded with life, granting them unending stamina. The user's qi potency is increased by 2, and the effects of wounds are mitigated. As spring renews the land following winter's cleansing, so too may the user be restored. For each debuff fully cleansed under Breath of Winter the user may be healed. Similarly, they receive qi recovery dependent on how much qi they have drained with their attacks.

Comments:
So the first two techs here I actually originally stuck into the previous art, but wasn't really happy with how everything was fitting together. But then I realised that with allowing flexible usage, they could honestly make a whole art on their own, and also I could stick in "LQ copies Zhengui but with winter/spring themes" as the final tech

Again, it's looking at trying to do something Zhengui-ish while also giving us some nice armor and support tools that should mesh with our toolset and open up strategic options.

One notable point here is the idea of having these buffs as repeatable scene techs that can be applied to multiple things as long as one's qi pool can support it. I like the idea there since it starts to use the qi slot stuff to actually create meaningful choices about how we want to be approaching a fight – but this does mean it also actually needs room for us to make choices about our qi slots. If they're all filled up with our main "must have" buffs then it isn't really usable. Winter's Sleep might be better off just as a stunt as its basic use is more reactive.

Winterspring Renewal
Balanced
Keywords: Renewal, Endings, Cycles?
Antithesis: ???
Art type: Armor/Support?

Spring Growth
Scene, Empowerment, Support, Armor
Channelling the endless growth of spring, the user applies a buff to either a person or technique. If applied to a person, then it enhances qi regeneration and endurance, reinforcing the spirit and mitigating damage and poison. If applied to a technique, then recovery, durability, and size of the technique is enhanced as appropriate. If the enhanced effect is dispelled, this buff may be consumed to instantly renew the effect. The technique may be applied multiple times to different targets as long as the user's qi allows for it. This may not be applied to techniques that run counter to the "Spring" themes, such as winter techniques.

Winter's Sleep
Scene, Dispel
As winter's snow blankets the forests, the land and animals hibernate and wait for spring. This technique "pauses" the activation or effect of a chosen technique from the user, an ally, or enemy. If the technique is released by the user or dispelled then the paused technique will resume as normal. This technique may be used multiple times to different techniques as long as the user's qi allows for it. Opponents will gain resistance to this sleep once their techniques have been "awoken", so if an individual has multiple techniques paused it will be easier for them to release techniques after the first one, and attempts to reapply the sleep will be difficult.

Winterspring Rebirth
Stunt, Finisher, Anti-finisher, Recovery, Dispel
Winter cleanses the land, allowing it to be reborn in spring. The user funnels all their remaining qi into an all-consuming winter that cleanses the land and body. All negative effects are removed from them, and their health and qi are restored to ?"low"? after the winter subsides. Active casts of Spring Growth and Winter's Sleep may be consumed to further enhance the user's recovery.
Due to Unbroken Will, this may be cast automatically if the user would otherwise be finished by an attack.

Comments:
An older idea from when we were asking the question of what to replace ENM with, and me feeling that what would be really nice would be some kind of teamwork based stealth and offensive art. Vaguely AC-ish, but more Ling Qi.

Hundred Dancing Shadows Art

An art from a long lost mysterious sect of assassins, who used music and dance to beguile and ensnare their foes, lulling them into final rest.

Yin, Darkness, Dance
Keywords: Community, Motion, Mystery
Antithesis: Clarity, Isolation, Truth
Type: Movement

Passives +1 to primary stealth

Guiding Shadow Steps (group stealth buff)
Scene, Stealth
Through coordinated dance, the leader guides the group through the steps that will see them pass through unseen. Raises stealth of self and allies by up to 1 rank, or the skill level of the highest member - whichever is lower.

Hundred Shadow Dance (group attack buff)
Stunt, Empowerment, Avoid
Coordinating their movements, the group targets an opponent with a disorienting dance, their movements producing illusions that confuse the target about how many opponents they face, or where the next attack is coming from.

Dance of Laughing Phantoms (teamwork based self buff)
Stunt, Empowerment, Stealth
Through illusory dance and qi manipulation, the user and their allies manipulate their targets' attention, making some of them appear more important, and allowing others to vanish from the target's mind. By using this technique, the user attempts to use the attack of an ally to vanish from the enemy's senses, and attack from a blind spot. May be used to reset and reestablish stealth, or to make an attack as if the enemy was unaware with no defensive reaction upon a successful stealth check.

I haven't bothered really editing these because they're not really serious... though I do think they have some sound ideas

Be the magical girl we were meant to be! \o/

Symphony of the Heart

An Art expressing the power friendship and mutual support.

Connections, Friendship, Music, Support
+ Resolve, Stamina, Composure checks of allies and user when not alone
+ Health of allies and user when not alone

Techniques
Symphony of the Heart
Scene
The users song connects them and their friends, expressing their determination to support each other. Together, they are more than the sum of their parts - and they won't let their friends down! Allows each ally of Bond 3 or above to share a single one of their solo buffs with the rest of the group.

Song of Stars
Stunt, Attack
Drawing upon the strength of their friends, this song manifests their bonds as a great star to crash down upon their foes, ignoring armor. However, this song take time to build up, and can be interupted. The musician must trust in their friends to protect them while they are vulnerable, and to pin the opponent down so they cannot dodge.

Raising Heart
Dream, Yang
Keywords: Courage, enduring, community
Anti: isolation, fear, despair

Art gets stronger the more friends Ling Qi has. Don't fight your friends, it won't work well

Techs:

I can't give up, not while my friends are counting on me!
Upkeep
Personal armor. Glue TRU and TRD together and power it with dreams. Unbroken Will + endless stamina and DETERMINATION

Together, we can defeat them!
Scene
Extend above buff to allies

I won't let you hurt my friends!
Stunt
LQ conjures a clone who dives in front of an ally to shield them

I have to defeat you! For the sake of everyone's dreams!
Stunt, Empowerment
Draw upon everyone's support through the Dream to dramatically enhance the chosen technique.

From @Floom:

Ballad of the Bird's Flight
Balanced, Cold, Wood, Darkness, Music
Keywords: Motion, Endings, Renewal
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Support/Offense

Cruel Cold World
Potency: X
Type: Zone, Drain
Duration: Scene

As a bird takes flight, it finds itself alone in a world that cares only for itself. Melancholic notes that sting like frost fill the air, singing a song of loneliness and selfishness, of a world that cares only to continue itself, drawing into itself further and further into privation. Enemies in the area find their Qi draining away for each technique they strive to hold onto, with techniques that attempt to affect others causing further loss for each other that they target, as the world cares not for those that try to reach out in anger or in aid.

Driven Flight
Potency: X
Type: Empowerment, Area
Duration: Scene

The cold cuts deeper than any knife, and the cruelty festers in wound deeper than any poison. Yet cold is also motion, drawing the bird to fly further and faster in search of a destination is does not know. If an enemy ends a technique within Cruel Cold World, they begin to take persistent damage that only ends if dispelled successfully, with further stacks damage being added for each technique ended and each stack needing to be individually dispelled. Additionally, for each enemy technique that ends within Cruel Cold World, the user's own techniques become increasingly difficult to dispel.(edited)

Journey's End
Potency: X
Type: Finisher, Anti-Finisher, Recovery
Duration: Stunt T

The bird flies far and true, and just as the Cold Ends, the End comes for the Cold. What remains is a new Beginning, free for the Bird to determine for themselves. All other techniques must be active for this technique to be available. Upon use, every target afflicted by the damaging effect of Driven Flight has their stacks dispelled, and takes a large amount of damage as their Cold Qi in their bodies bursts into a riot of plants, flowers, and wood. Similarly, the user's own stacks gained from Driven Flight are consumed in a pulse of vital Qi, fortifying themselves and all allies who were once in the area of Cruel Cold World to repel even the strongest of attacks, and to heal weeping wounds and sapped spirits.

From @JohnnieBoy123:

Body of Mists
Water, Wind, Yin
Community, Isolation, Persistence
Armor, Healing

Each drop of water in mist is divided from the others, yet they appear as a whole. No matter what happens to any given one of them, the others surrounding it will be unharmed. At the same time the remnants of drops destroyed will join with the larger group, cared for by those around them.

By purposefully weakening the bonds between the parts of your body, you minimize the damage any particular hit can inflict. Once the strike is over, the unharmed parts of your body refresh the damage site, rendering the cultivator unchanged by the violence inflicted upon them.

Usage: Attempts to create a damage cap and adds regeneration. Injuries caused by strong strikes potentially appear horrific but ultimately don't matter.

Romance of the Emerald Seas
Balanced
Keywords: Order, Chaos, Cycles
Antithesis: Mystery, Persistence, Isolation
Art Type: Support

The province, long divided, must unite and, long united, must divide. Thus it has always been.

All Stand Together
Scene, Empowerment, Zone
If an area buff covers a portion of the zone, it affects everyone in it instead. This effect cannot be active simultaneously with Society Crumbles and does not distinguish between allies and enemies.

Society Crumbles
Scene, Empowerment, Zone
If an area attack covers a portion of the zone, it affects everyone in it (save for said tech's user) instead. This effect cannot be active simultaneously with All Stand Together and does not distinguish between allies and enemies.

The Cycle Repeats
Stunt, Anti-Finisher, Empowerment

If All Stand Together is active, switch to Society Crumbles and you may choose the target of an incoming finisher from among those in the zone surrounding the user. If Society Crumbles is active, switch to All Stand Together and all allies' defensive techs apply against the incoming finisher (including counters and even personal range effects).

This can only be used once per scene

Winter Labors' Antiphony
Yin, Cold, Music
Keywords: Expression, Persistence, Retribution
Antithesis: Motion, Community, Contentment
Type: Support

The Southern Emerald Seas has many simple songs that people hum as they go about their winter chores to help keep the cold at bay. This is Winter's part.

Passive
-1 to the Movement trait of people nearby

Snow fills the cold air and gathers on the ground, making movement and vision difficult and stealing heat from those unprepared.

Techniques
Gather the Blanket
Type: ???
Duration: Stunt

The wind bellows and the snow drifts around an enemy and resists their movement, slowing them down dramatically until overcome. This can also be used as a shield but keep in mind that the barrier is ultimately made of snow and won't be stopping much outright.

Emerald Titans' Cloak
Type: Counterattack, Armor
Duration: Scene

Snow gathers on your allies. Moving suddenly (such as receiving a blow in melee combat) will dislodge a portion of the snow, doing Cold damage to an enemy in melee range and triggering Gather the Blanket on them. It also mildly reduces the damage that your allies take from attacks.

RebelYell · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)

Lena27 · Jun 27, 2021

Just wanna make point here, to advocate for trade goods before the actual trade route is putting the horse before the cart. We wanna talk to to the nobles who control the trade routes in the region and make sure they aren't planning to put tariffs (or are already doing so) to enrich themselves. I think a lot of these guys won't mind lining their own pockets. Few people object to making more money and they may look down on craftsmen.

So we gotta firm say no tariffs. I think the craftsmen faction will actually appreciate that more than us going to talk to them first.

Floom · Jun 27, 2021

Ballad of the Bird's Flight
Balanced, Cold, Wood, Darkness, Music
Keywords: Motion, Endings, Renewal
Antithesis: ???
Art Type: Support/Offense

Cruel Cold World
Potency: X
Type: Zone, Drain
Duration: Scene

As a bird takes flight, it finds itself alone in a world that cares only for itself. Melancholic notes that sting like frost fill the air, singing a song of loneliness and selfishness, of a world that cares only to continue itself, drawing into itself further and further into privation. Enemies in the area find their Qi draining away for each technique they strive to hold onto, with techniques that attempt to affect others causing further loss for each other that they target, as the world cares not for those that try to reach out in anger or in aid.

Driven Flight
Potency: X
Type: Empowerment, Area
Duration: Scene

The cold cuts deeper than any knife, and the cruelty festers in wound deeper than any poison. Yet cold is also motion, drawing the bird to fly further and faster in search of a destination is does not know. If an enemy ends a technique within Cruel Cold World, they begin to take persistent damage that only ends if dispelled successfully, with further stacks damage being added for each technique ended and each stack needing to be individually dispelled. Additionally, for each enemy technique that ends within Cruel Cold World, the user's own techniques become increasingly difficult to dispel.(edited)

Journey's End
Potency: X
Type: Finisher, Anti-Finisher, Recovery
Duration: Stunt T

The bird flies far and true, and just as the Cold Ends, the End comes for the Cold. What remains is a new Beginning, free for the Bird to determine for themselves. All other techniques must be active for this technique to be available. Upon use, every target afflicted by the damaging effect of Driven Flight has their stacks dispelled, and takes a large amount of damage as their Cold Qi in their bodies bursts into a riot of plants, flowers, and wood. Similarly, the user's own stacks gained from Driven Flight are consumed in a pulse of vital Qi, fortifying themselves and all allies who were once in the area of Cruel Cold World to repel even the strongest of attacks, and to heal weeping wounds and sapped spirits.

Erebeal · Jun 27, 2021

I'm not sure that free trade is a popular ideology here

Remember that merchantism is looked down upon - the proper way to acquire wealth is via owning land and rentseeking. For nobles on trade routes, that means tariffs and controlling access.

AbeoLogos · Jun 27, 2021

I'm mostly focusing on developing a production base that serves our more direct needs themselves, rather than a pure trade focus. We don't have the means in-house, so I figure regional partnerships are an acceptable stop-gap.

The way cultivation specialization works, we might even be able to lure those who are particularly enamored with working resources we source from the south to our service, over time. Or maybe youngest commoner cultivator kids not on track to inherit their parents' workshops, or whatever.

Lena27 · Jun 27, 2021

Erebeal said:
I'm not sure that free trade is a popular ideology here

Remember that merchantism is looked down upon - the proper way to acquire wealth is via owning land and rentseeking. For nobles on trade routes, that means tariffs and controlling access.

Ok then keep the tariffs to a reasonable level and allowing economic growth.

JohnnieBoy123 · Jun 27, 2021

Here you go, Erebeal. I modified Society Crumbles slightly so now it doesn't affect single target attacks. Now it only punishes people who spam AoEs

Romance of the Emerald Seas
Balanced
Keywords: Order, Chaos, Cycles
Antithesis: Mystery, Persistence, Isolation
Art Type: Support

The province, long divided, must unite and, long united, must divide. Thus it has always been.

All Stand Together
Scene, Empowerment, Zone
If an area buff covers a portion of the zone, it affects everyone in it instead. This effect cannot be active simultaneously with Society Crumbles and does not distinguish between allies and enemies.

Society Crumbles
Scene, Empowerment, Zone
If an area attack covers a portion of the zone, it affects everyone in it (save for said tech's user) instead. This effect cannot be active simultaneously with All Stand Together and does not distinguish between allies and enemies.

The Cycle Repeats
Stunt, Anti-Finisher, Empowerment

If All Stand Together is active, switch to Society Crumbles and you may choose the target of an incoming finisher from among those in the zone surrounding the user. If Society Crumbles is active, switch to All Stand Together and all allies' defensive techs apply against the incoming finisher (including counters and even personal range effects).

This can only be used once per scene

Winter Labors' Antiphony
Yin, Cold, Music
Keywords: Expression, Persistence, Retribution
Antithesis: Motion, Community, Contentment
Type: Support

The Southern Emerald Seas has many simple songs that people hum as they go about their winter chores to help keep the cold at bay. This is Winter's part.

Passive
-1 to the Movement trait of people nearby

Snow fills the cold air and gathers on the ground, making movement and vision difficult and stealing heat from those unprepared.

Techniques
Gather the Blanket
Type: ???
Duration: Stunt

The wind bellows and the snow drifts around an enemy and resists their movement, slowing them down dramatically until overcome. This can also be used as a shield but keep in mind that the barrier is ultimately made of snow and won't be stopping much outright.

Emerald Titans' Cloak
Type: Counterattack, Armor
Duration: Scene

Snow gathers on your allies. Moving suddenly (such as receiving a blow in melee combat) will dislodge a portion of the snow, doing Cold damage to an enemy in melee range and triggering Gather the Blanket on them. It also mildly reduces the damage that your allies take from attacks.

Erebeal · Jun 27, 2021

JohnnieBoy123 said:
Winter Labors' Antiphony
Yin, Cold, Music
Keywords: Expression, Persistence, Retribution
Antithesis: Motion, Community, Contentment
Type: Support

The Southern Emerald Seas has many simple songs that people hum as they go about their winter chores to help keep the cold at bay. This is Winter's part.

Passive
-1 to the Movement trait of people nearby

Snow fills the cold air and gathers on the ground, making movement and vision difficult and stealing heat from those unprepared.

Techniques
Gather the Blanket
Type: ???
Duration: Stunt

The wind bellows and the snow drifts around an enemy and resists their movement, slowing them down dramatically until overcome. This can also be used as a shield but keep in mind that the barrier is ultimately made of snow and won't be stopping much outright.

Emerald Titans' Cloak
Type: Counterattack, Armor
Duration: Scene

Snow gathers on your allies. Moving suddenly (such as receiving a blow in melee combat) will dislodge a portion of the snow, doing Cold damage to an enemy in melee range and triggering Gather the Blanket on them. It also mildly reduces the damage that your allies take from attacks.

This art is so adorable and wholesome. I love it, even if it feels a bit more like a yellow art than a green one.

I could also maybe see Hanyi developing something along these lines given her current path maybe?

Joseph0o0 · Jun 27, 2021

[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)

Yun · Jun 27, 2021

AbeoLogos said:
I'm mostly focusing on developing a production base that serves our more direct needs themselves, rather than a pure trade focus. We don't have the means in-house, so I figure regional partnerships are an acceptable stop-gap.

The way cultivation specialization works, we might even be able to lure those who are particularly enamored with working resources we source from the south to our service, over time. Or maybe youngest commoner cultivator kids not on track to inherit their parents' workshops, or whatever.

Alternatively depending upon how large the supply of raw material is we might be able to make use of the auction coming up, and build up grassroots support for relations with White Sky by holding a follow up auction that shows off whatever the local craftsman can produce with the raw material from White Sky. Because if successful it would allow them to have a spare around just in case, and if phrased correctly can make use of their patriotism to give it a chance, which has a secondary benefit of boosting the regional economy long-term as cultivators who'd otherwise lack the funds have them.

Although it would work best if we had raw material for some of the local craftsman to turn into artifacts, and use the artifacts of the past to show off the potential of the future.

Lena27 · Jun 27, 2021

Again, people from other regions will be discouraged from trading available in this area if the tariffs are too high. There needs to be actual cleared trade routes available (without insane tariffs) before we go into what goods to sell. Logistics (aka transportation) need to be established and secured before gathering resources to actually transport.
The option talks about an Old Road/New Road and Black Lotus Pass. I wonder if maybe a battlefield from Ogodei's time is full of spiritual hauntings that need to be propitiated maybe? Perhaps its blocking the town's Old Road. At a guess, I feel like some might argue for building a New Road entirely if clearing Black Lotus Pass is too daunting/costly.
This would be an interesting dive into Emerald Seas history and allow Yrs to give the story some feeling of continuity by staying on familiar topics. People have been complaining that the story feels aimless but a lot of that is the quest format. The story turns at the whims of us questers. The more we jump from one interest to another, the more disconnected and aimless the narrative will feel. Some people may not mind that but as for those who've been complaining about the lack of direction...well this is why.

So here's an idea--Ling Qi was just expressing interest and curiosity in the history and the why of things in the last mini-arc, maybe she can do so in this one as well??

Trilobite · Jun 28, 2021

[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)

Catwings · Jun 28, 2021

[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)

azatol · Jun 28, 2021

[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)

TheCount · Jun 28, 2021

Adhoc vote count started by TheCount on Jun 28, 2021 at 1:58 AM, finished with 112 posts and 71 votes.

36 people have voted
[X] Speak with the nobles whose lands lie on the trade road. (Begin Political Quest, old Road/New Road Part 1. Other route locked until Part 1 completion)
- NoxOfUmbra
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- Lena27
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- TheCount
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- Vicont
- ThreeWater
- dreamdweller
- Joseph0o0
- Trilobite
- azatol
35 people have voted
[X] Speak with the craftsman and hill nobles (Begin Political Quest, Craftsmen's Eye. Other route locked until Part 1 completion.)
- Neshuakadal
- Erebeal
- 065tdsa
- Random12345
- JowKeen
- Astro Ambulance
- Kiera
- JohnnieBoy123
- tryingtobewitty
- Yun
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- Juugo
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- AbeoLogos
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- Thor's Twin
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- kfrar
- olamide
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- ActionKermit
- Zeful
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- Catwings

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

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