Dueling Fate
- Thread starter KreenWarrior
- Start date
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
We chose the reckless fighting style.
We will also choose the reckless cultivation style.
The safe choice is the wrong choice.
Cultivation is rebellion.
This is a recorded message.
O B E Y T H E G H O S T
We chose the reckless fighting style.
We will also choose the reckless cultivation style.
The safe choice is the wrong choice.
Cultivation is rebellion.
This is a recorded message.
O B E Y T H E G H O S T
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
What's the worst that can happen?
What's the worst that can happen?
WhoTheHeckity
But no one ever asks HowTheHeckity
- Location
- Murica 🦅
Sweet heavens that roll
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
Some interesting world building.
Still that person gives me bad vibes, and make me feel like we are about to be digested into a pill.
Also water and a lot of qi reserve sounds great.
[X] Turn down the offer. The Bottomless Depths sounds more than useful enough for your purposes, and you have no wish for power from this creature.
Still that person gives me bad vibes, and make me feel like we are about to be digested into a pill.
Also water and a lot of qi reserve sounds great.
[X] Turn down the offer. The Bottomless Depths sounds more than useful enough for your purposes, and you have no wish for power from this creature.
- Location
- United States
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
My main concern is how long that breathing technique is useful.
Its probably great now but what about as we advance? Do cultivators use the same technique their entire life or do they need new ones as they progress?
With the Sect technique if we need an upgraded version it wouldn't be that hard to get it. With the imperial version we might have to be part of their faction to get access.
My main concern is how long that breathing technique is useful.
Its probably great now but what about as we advance? Do cultivators use the same technique their entire life or do they need new ones as they progress?
With the Sect technique if we need an upgraded version it wouldn't be that hard to get it. With the imperial version we might have to be part of their faction to get access.
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
- Pronouns
- He
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish
Anyone else hoping to see if this unlocks some kind of Qi based necromancy options? Not even the souls of our prey will escape our arrows!
Anyone else hoping to see if this unlocks some kind of Qi based necromancy options? Not even the souls of our prey will escape our arrows!
[X] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
Mhm, sad we didn't get the last mystery loot box of dreams so this will have to do.
Mhm, we also don't have a cycling tech last I recall so getting one asap would be nice.
Mhm, sad we didn't get the last mystery loot box of dreams so this will have to do.
Mhm, we also don't have a cycling tech last I recall so getting one asap would be nice.
WhiteNights
Notorious Phoneposter
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
[x] Accept the Ghost's offer. It is the nature of a cultivator to strive to improve themselves, and to turn this down would be foolish.
Vote Closed
A Student of the World
All eyes are on you as you face the Ghost. Still, in the end, this choice is no choice at all. Unable to find breath, you nod decisively.
You feel the Ghost's presence lighten, and get the impression of quiet amusement as his posture relaxes. "You are a wise young man, Lind. I'm sure you'll go far. If you wish, you may seek me out later. We can speak more about your future."
He holds out a hand and deposits a rune-carved obsidian shard into your palm. "The Devouring Crucible is not for the faint-hearted, but will serve you well. If you wish to see it's true power, I suggest you finish the battle you started last night."
Breathing Style - Devouring Crucible gained!
Breathing Style Tutorial - Breathing Styles affect the gains from cultivation actions and may have additional effects on your cultivation, techniques and more. Practicing a technique regularly is the only way to gain these benefits, as use over time attunes the spirits to the principles of the style. Breathing styles may be upgraded or altered with extensive study or unique events.
Devouring Crucible Style:
+2 Cycling Skill!
+25% Effectiveness of Pills, Elixirs, and Immortal Chef Cuisine!
+1 Strength/Will for each Stage of the Consecration Stage! (Benefits for future stages currently locked)
+???
Holding the shard, you feel power within, waiting to be unlocked. You've heard of technique tablets like this - all you need to do is to cycle a bit of qi into it and knowledge will burst forth. Stumbling to remember your manners, you bow and offer awkward thanks to the man.
"Use it well, Lind." He shifts his gaze from you to gaze at the rest of the room. "It should go without saying, but this gift is for you and you alone. I would be most displeased to find that this technique has spread."
With that, he is gone. You don't see him take a single step before you're staring out at the lake, that suffocating presence lifting in his absence.
Roll Empathy 1 + Insight 0 (Assessment 0)
8. 1 Success!
As you turn back to the class, you feel the stares of those around you. No one dares to raise a whisper, but you feel as though the other students are edging away from you. Some hungry and jealous, others cold. Others… you don't know.
Senior Shirong coughs and sweeps back into place at the center of the class. "We should, of course, all be grateful for the presence of our Imperial masters. Now, please, inhale, then hold…"
He doesn't even glance at you. You suppose that makes sense.
You're no longer going to be learning what he's teaching.
Instead, you delve deep into the obsidian shard. Pressing your qi into it. You gasp as you feel knowledge course through you.
The actual breathing pattern of the Devouring Crucible is simple enough. However, the tablet teaches you that the true secret of the breathing lies in the circulation of the qi which you inhale throughout the body. Rather than simply gather it into your center and then spread it out through your body, you must circulate the qi, and apply pressure to it with your will, purifying and making it more energetic, more potent, before you allow it access to your body. According to the tablet, this technique will help release the full power of medicinal elixirs and pills.
Roll Spiritual Prowess 2 + Qi 0 (Cycling 3) 5d10:
5, 4, 9, 10, 6. 3 Successes!
9, 8, 4, 8, 1. 3 Successes!
3, 4, 5, 3, 4. 0 Successes!
2, 5, 7, 5, 7. 2 Successes!
Early Consecration Stage: 14/15!
You marvel as the Qi you circulate breaks up under your own will, cleaning the impurities of the world with greater efficiency than your own past efforts. The inefficiency of the breathing style you've been using since childhood is discarded with perhaps the barest tinge of regret.
At the end of the day, the students disperse - covered in foul-smelling sweat and flecks of black impurity, staining their clothes. Senior Shirong looks at you as you follow suit, his eyes inscrutable even if his silence feels deafening.
—
Dawn is barely stretching across the horizon when Shao Suyin returns from her expedition. Rather than rest, she ghosts into your room and wakes you with an invitation to trek with her. Feeling you could learn much from the clearly experienced hunter, you agree and gather up your gear.
The mists rise off the wet ground as you wander to whatever destination Suyin has in mind. Eventually, you find yourself at the edge of a lake. The waters are reflecting the morning light, creating a sea of yellow and orange fire reflected in the water's edge, as the morning chorus of birds send out their calls and insects waken from their slumber.
Wordlessly, she points, and you follow her finger to the designated target - a rather fat duck that's perched on the side of the lake, perhaps 25 yards away. You glance at her and she nods. You take out and string your bow, taking careful aim.
Roll Physical Prowess 3 + Survival 2: 5d10
1, 5, 9, 4, 8 = 2 Successes!
The arrow flies clean and true, and though other birds rise in flight and alarm, your target does not. One of Suyin's arrows follows yours, though, and claims the life of another duck that tried to escape the same fate.
The two of you trudge forward and claim your prizes from the marsh, cleaning your prey on the scene to ensure the meat does not spoil.
"Who taught you to shoot?" Suyin asks.
"My father." You respond, as you pluck the bird as you were taught, before the feathers set. You resist the urge to check your process against Suyin's - you were taught how you were taught, and she will surely correct you if she feels the need.
She doesn't.
"You aim with your eyes and your hands." She remarks, not a question.
"Is there another way?"
"Yes."
The statement hangs heavy in the air as you finish your work.
Suyin places the dressed birds in a waterproof bag, leaving it dangling in the lake to keep cool, as the chill of the morning is already being cut by the sun. Taking you past the lake, she leads you to a small copse of trees on the outskirts of the woods.
Pointing at a tree, she commands, "Shoot."
You string your bow, doing your best to find the point she was aiming at. You shoot. It thuds into the tree, and you look to Suyin for approval. She nods.
"Shoot." She says, pointing at another tree.
You follow suit again, to much the same results.
"You need practice. Your basics are good, but you are unhoned. Experience will help. Shoot for me."
She spends the next hour making you shoot over and over. Sometimes she tests your speed, other times she marks targets and tests your accuracy. She tosses apples in the air and has you try to take them in flight. When you empty your quiver, you retrieve your arrows and fire again.
Roll Physical Prowess 3 + Ranged Combat 0 (Archery 1):
6, 8, 7, 4. 2 Successes!
Suyin makes a few comments about the placement of your fingers, the length of time you aim, the degree to which you draw back on the bow, but nothing significant. Nothing that would explain what she meant before.
"What other way is there to aim?" You ask through gritted teeth after what feels like your hundredth shot.
She smirks. "I was beginning to think you would never ask."
She took out her own bow and began walking backwards, first ten spaces, then twenty, then a full hundred paces behind the comfortable range at which you'd been shooting. "Name the target!"
You glance back at Suyin, then at the trees, somewhat dubiously. "The one with the mushroom at its base, third from the left!" It's one of the smaller targets, with a trunk a bare handspan and a half wide.
"Right!"
Feeling a little uneasy, you take a few steps out of the path between your teacher and the tree. Then a few steps more.
"Watch closely!" She cries. You glance in her direction.
A thrumming blur crossing your vision is the only sign your eyes can follow, before a thud of impact draws your eyes back to the tree. You see the target bending over backwards, rocking back and forth from the impact, though it rights itself rather than cracking.
"Again!" Suyin calls out.
This time, you watch not with your eyes, but with your spiritual senses.
Roll Spiritual Prowess + Qi 0 (Perception 0)
8, 1. 1 Success!
You see nothing at first… but then something. You feel a line of qi, coming from Suyin towards the target.
As the arrow speeds forward and slams into another target, you realize it's not a line, but a river. The qi courses towards the target, and the arrow follows its course.
You do not realize you are lost in thought until Suyin pokes you in the back of the head. "You saw."
"I did." You frown. "Is that a qi technique? I thought you were not a member of the sect."
She smiles. "I have lived among the rivers of the sect for forty years. Do I need to wear the robes of the Golden Reeds to understand their flow? Must I bear a flying sword to strike down a deer? I live a good life, regardless of the title I bear."
No answer seems necessary, but you have a response. "Can you teach me?"
She shrugged. "What do you think I am doing right now?"
Techniques are learned via cycling. Cycling the correct aspect of qi makes learning a technique easier, but is not required. Techniques have levels, and leveling the techniques will increase the power of the technique and unlock new benefits.
Roll Spiritual Prowess 2 + Qi 0 (Cycling 3) +3 Suyin
9, 8, 3, 1, 9, 1, 4, 9, 6. 4 Successes!
7, 1, 9, 10, 6, 1, 3, 2. 4 Successes!
Coursing River Arrow Technique (Water Aspect) 8/10!
Learning the method Suyin teaches is difficult. It is no simple matter of moving the qi within your body, but letting it flow out of you, forming into that thin river, aiming the river at the target with your soul, connecting yourself to it, and then loosing the arrow along the path. You breathe the qi in, then send it out, then send an arrow, over and over, until the sun is high in the sky.
You have yet to reach the point where you think you could send fort the arrow in battle, but Suyin shrugs when you express frustration at the lack of progress. "You will grasp it in time. Come, let us find something worthwhile to bring to the village."
Worthwhile, in this case, means a young stag bearing antlers that bristle with captured sunlight. She directs you to drive the stag towards her so she can make the kill, and you do so readily enough, startling it with a cry and sending out an arrow that wizzes past it, startling it and causing it to let out a dazzling sunburst. You don't see Suyin's arrow end it, but you find the evidence a minute later as you rub the last of its technique out of your eyes.
"Good work." She hands you an antler. "We'll split the meat as well. You can find someone to sell it at the town. It will be good for you to make such a contact."
Glowing Antler Gained!
Sun-Deer Meat gained!
1 Duck Gained!
---
The trip back to the town is more pleasant than your last, the spoils of victory in your grasp – even if you are aware that your teacher did much of the work. As you break from each other's company when you enter the city, you consider your senior's words.
As you entered the sect, you remember one of your fellow aspirants discussing matters of trade with another. From the way she spoke, it seemed to be as much of a vocation for her as hunting was to you. Having no better leads, you attempt to seek her out.
Inquiring of a few townsfolk, you find that there is a permanent market set up near the docks. Deciding that this would be the most likely place to find her, it is there you make your way.
The market square is a riot of color – dyed cloths decorate stalls, painted signs claiming the type and price of wares, and townsfolk dressing as much to be seen as anything else. A musician blows into a pipe in one corner, adding a lively atmosphere to the place. The goods themselves range from the identifiable – food, cloth, tools – to the strange – an apothecary, a hawker of talismans and a man selling clockwork trinkets.
Still, you are a hunter, and a hunter is not to be distracted from their prey. Your eyes scan the melange, and, yes! The girl – sturdy in frame, keen-eyed, with long black hair kept in a ponytail – is having a discussion with another pair of aspirants, a broad-shouldered girl with a spear and a mouse-faced boy with almost comically large ears. The other two depart as you approach, the keen-eyed girl waving them off with well-wishes. She then turns to you, and you feel yourself being keenly inspected and assessed.
"You must be Brother Tallak." She says, with a polite smile and a small bow. "I am Wu Changying. It is a pity that we have not had the chance to meet before, but I am glad that this is now corrected."
Roll Insight + Lore 0 (Local 0)
10, 4, 10. 4 Successes!
The name Wu seems strangely familiar to you, and you take but a moment to put it together with the medallion the girl wears and her placement in the market. At every city you passed through, you saw the name Wu placed on auction houses and other institutions.
"I am pleased to meet one of the esteemed Wu clan," you manage with all the politeness you can muster. The greeting brings a smile to her face.
"You are well-informed, Brother Tallak, from one so obviously from the far north. This speaks to your keen eyes." Her eyes dart to the bundles hanging over your shoulders. "I heard you were a hunter. Have you come to the marketplace to sell?"
You shrug, taking your burden into your arms. "I have meat and an antler from a spirit deer, and duck."
She turns to a nearby table, nodding to the stallkeeper who clears off a few pieces of bric-a-brac, and at her gesture you lay out the parcels. She unwraps the meat, sniffs it, runs a finger along the flank of venison and tastes it. She stares for a moment, presumably evaluating it with her spiritual sense. Then she repeats the same with the antler (minus the tasting) and the duck.
"A hunter indeed." She sounds pleased.
You glance around the market, unsure exactly what the next step is. "Do you work for one of the merchants here? Would they buy it?"
A glint appears in her eyes. "One of the merchants? Better to say I work with any who have something to offer. And almost everyone can offer something. Be it qi or be it water or be it coin, Brother Tallak, the world is ruled by that which flows. But yes. I can barter for you, if you wish. I will take my cut, as is right and proper, but I suspect I can arrange a better deal for you still. Tell me, what do you wish to sell, and what do you wish to buy?"
How do you answer?
Wu Changying is a master merchant. Going through her will involve her applying her skills and knowledge to the task of matching supply to demand. However, it means you have less control over the outcome. Please vote by plan.
[] [Sell] Write-in what goods/silver he gives to Wu Changying for trade.
[] [Buy] Write-in what Lind wishes to buy. Write in order of preference. Suggestions include:
-[] Silver
-[] A new weapon. (Specify what kind)
-[] Armor
-[] Cultivation aids (Specify qi aspects)
-[] Medicines
-[] Talismans
-[] Fine Clothes
-[] Trinkets
Example Plan:
[x] [Sell]
-[x] Glowing Antler
-[x] Duck
-[x] 2 Silver
[x] [Buy]
-[x] Cultivation Aids
-[x] A spear
You feel the Ghost's presence lighten, and get the impression of quiet amusement as his posture relaxes. "You are a wise young man, Lind. I'm sure you'll go far. If you wish, you may seek me out later. We can speak more about your future."
He holds out a hand and deposits a rune-carved obsidian shard into your palm. "The Devouring Crucible is not for the faint-hearted, but will serve you well. If you wish to see it's true power, I suggest you finish the battle you started last night."
Breathing Style - Devouring Crucible gained!
Breathing Style Tutorial - Breathing Styles affect the gains from cultivation actions and may have additional effects on your cultivation, techniques and more. Practicing a technique regularly is the only way to gain these benefits, as use over time attunes the spirits to the principles of the style. Breathing styles may be upgraded or altered with extensive study or unique events.
Devouring Crucible Style:
+2 Cycling Skill!
+25% Effectiveness of Pills, Elixirs, and Immortal Chef Cuisine!
+1 Strength/Will for each Stage of the Consecration Stage! (Benefits for future stages currently locked)
+???
Holding the shard, you feel power within, waiting to be unlocked. You've heard of technique tablets like this - all you need to do is to cycle a bit of qi into it and knowledge will burst forth. Stumbling to remember your manners, you bow and offer awkward thanks to the man.
"Use it well, Lind." He shifts his gaze from you to gaze at the rest of the room. "It should go without saying, but this gift is for you and you alone. I would be most displeased to find that this technique has spread."
With that, he is gone. You don't see him take a single step before you're staring out at the lake, that suffocating presence lifting in his absence.
Roll Empathy 1 + Insight 0 (Assessment 0)
8. 1 Success!
As you turn back to the class, you feel the stares of those around you. No one dares to raise a whisper, but you feel as though the other students are edging away from you. Some hungry and jealous, others cold. Others… you don't know.
Senior Shirong coughs and sweeps back into place at the center of the class. "We should, of course, all be grateful for the presence of our Imperial masters. Now, please, inhale, then hold…"
He doesn't even glance at you. You suppose that makes sense.
You're no longer going to be learning what he's teaching.
Instead, you delve deep into the obsidian shard. Pressing your qi into it. You gasp as you feel knowledge course through you.
The actual breathing pattern of the Devouring Crucible is simple enough. However, the tablet teaches you that the true secret of the breathing lies in the circulation of the qi which you inhale throughout the body. Rather than simply gather it into your center and then spread it out through your body, you must circulate the qi, and apply pressure to it with your will, purifying and making it more energetic, more potent, before you allow it access to your body. According to the tablet, this technique will help release the full power of medicinal elixirs and pills.
Roll Spiritual Prowess 2 + Qi 0 (Cycling 3) 5d10:
5, 4, 9, 10, 6. 3 Successes!
9, 8, 4, 8, 1. 3 Successes!
3, 4, 5, 3, 4. 0 Successes!
2, 5, 7, 5, 7. 2 Successes!
Early Consecration Stage: 14/15!
You marvel as the Qi you circulate breaks up under your own will, cleaning the impurities of the world with greater efficiency than your own past efforts. The inefficiency of the breathing style you've been using since childhood is discarded with perhaps the barest tinge of regret.
At the end of the day, the students disperse - covered in foul-smelling sweat and flecks of black impurity, staining their clothes. Senior Shirong looks at you as you follow suit, his eyes inscrutable even if his silence feels deafening.
—
Dawn is barely stretching across the horizon when Shao Suyin returns from her expedition. Rather than rest, she ghosts into your room and wakes you with an invitation to trek with her. Feeling you could learn much from the clearly experienced hunter, you agree and gather up your gear.
The mists rise off the wet ground as you wander to whatever destination Suyin has in mind. Eventually, you find yourself at the edge of a lake. The waters are reflecting the morning light, creating a sea of yellow and orange fire reflected in the water's edge, as the morning chorus of birds send out their calls and insects waken from their slumber.
Wordlessly, she points, and you follow her finger to the designated target - a rather fat duck that's perched on the side of the lake, perhaps 25 yards away. You glance at her and she nods. You take out and string your bow, taking careful aim.
Roll Physical Prowess 3 + Survival 2: 5d10
1, 5, 9, 4, 8 = 2 Successes!
The arrow flies clean and true, and though other birds rise in flight and alarm, your target does not. One of Suyin's arrows follows yours, though, and claims the life of another duck that tried to escape the same fate.
The two of you trudge forward and claim your prizes from the marsh, cleaning your prey on the scene to ensure the meat does not spoil.
"Who taught you to shoot?" Suyin asks.
"My father." You respond, as you pluck the bird as you were taught, before the feathers set. You resist the urge to check your process against Suyin's - you were taught how you were taught, and she will surely correct you if she feels the need.
She doesn't.
"You aim with your eyes and your hands." She remarks, not a question.
"Is there another way?"
"Yes."
The statement hangs heavy in the air as you finish your work.
Suyin places the dressed birds in a waterproof bag, leaving it dangling in the lake to keep cool, as the chill of the morning is already being cut by the sun. Taking you past the lake, she leads you to a small copse of trees on the outskirts of the woods.
Pointing at a tree, she commands, "Shoot."
You string your bow, doing your best to find the point she was aiming at. You shoot. It thuds into the tree, and you look to Suyin for approval. She nods.
"Shoot." She says, pointing at another tree.
You follow suit again, to much the same results.
"You need practice. Your basics are good, but you are unhoned. Experience will help. Shoot for me."
She spends the next hour making you shoot over and over. Sometimes she tests your speed, other times she marks targets and tests your accuracy. She tosses apples in the air and has you try to take them in flight. When you empty your quiver, you retrieve your arrows and fire again.
Roll Physical Prowess 3 + Ranged Combat 0 (Archery 1):
6, 8, 7, 4. 2 Successes!
Suyin makes a few comments about the placement of your fingers, the length of time you aim, the degree to which you draw back on the bow, but nothing significant. Nothing that would explain what she meant before.
"What other way is there to aim?" You ask through gritted teeth after what feels like your hundredth shot.
She smirks. "I was beginning to think you would never ask."
She took out her own bow and began walking backwards, first ten spaces, then twenty, then a full hundred paces behind the comfortable range at which you'd been shooting. "Name the target!"
You glance back at Suyin, then at the trees, somewhat dubiously. "The one with the mushroom at its base, third from the left!" It's one of the smaller targets, with a trunk a bare handspan and a half wide.
"Right!"
Feeling a little uneasy, you take a few steps out of the path between your teacher and the tree. Then a few steps more.
"Watch closely!" She cries. You glance in her direction.
A thrumming blur crossing your vision is the only sign your eyes can follow, before a thud of impact draws your eyes back to the tree. You see the target bending over backwards, rocking back and forth from the impact, though it rights itself rather than cracking.
"Again!" Suyin calls out.
This time, you watch not with your eyes, but with your spiritual senses.
Roll Spiritual Prowess + Qi 0 (Perception 0)
8, 1. 1 Success!
You see nothing at first… but then something. You feel a line of qi, coming from Suyin towards the target.
As the arrow speeds forward and slams into another target, you realize it's not a line, but a river. The qi courses towards the target, and the arrow follows its course.
You do not realize you are lost in thought until Suyin pokes you in the back of the head. "You saw."
"I did." You frown. "Is that a qi technique? I thought you were not a member of the sect."
She smiles. "I have lived among the rivers of the sect for forty years. Do I need to wear the robes of the Golden Reeds to understand their flow? Must I bear a flying sword to strike down a deer? I live a good life, regardless of the title I bear."
No answer seems necessary, but you have a response. "Can you teach me?"
She shrugged. "What do you think I am doing right now?"
Techniques are learned via cycling. Cycling the correct aspect of qi makes learning a technique easier, but is not required. Techniques have levels, and leveling the techniques will increase the power of the technique and unlock new benefits.
Roll Spiritual Prowess 2 + Qi 0 (Cycling 3) +3 Suyin
9, 8, 3, 1, 9, 1, 4, 9, 6. 4 Successes!
7, 1, 9, 10, 6, 1, 3, 2. 4 Successes!
Coursing River Arrow Technique (Water Aspect) 8/10!
Learning the method Suyin teaches is difficult. It is no simple matter of moving the qi within your body, but letting it flow out of you, forming into that thin river, aiming the river at the target with your soul, connecting yourself to it, and then loosing the arrow along the path. You breathe the qi in, then send it out, then send an arrow, over and over, until the sun is high in the sky.
You have yet to reach the point where you think you could send fort the arrow in battle, but Suyin shrugs when you express frustration at the lack of progress. "You will grasp it in time. Come, let us find something worthwhile to bring to the village."
Worthwhile, in this case, means a young stag bearing antlers that bristle with captured sunlight. She directs you to drive the stag towards her so she can make the kill, and you do so readily enough, startling it with a cry and sending out an arrow that wizzes past it, startling it and causing it to let out a dazzling sunburst. You don't see Suyin's arrow end it, but you find the evidence a minute later as you rub the last of its technique out of your eyes.
"Good work." She hands you an antler. "We'll split the meat as well. You can find someone to sell it at the town. It will be good for you to make such a contact."
Glowing Antler Gained!
Sun-Deer Meat gained!
1 Duck Gained!
---
The trip back to the town is more pleasant than your last, the spoils of victory in your grasp – even if you are aware that your teacher did much of the work. As you break from each other's company when you enter the city, you consider your senior's words.
As you entered the sect, you remember one of your fellow aspirants discussing matters of trade with another. From the way she spoke, it seemed to be as much of a vocation for her as hunting was to you. Having no better leads, you attempt to seek her out.
Inquiring of a few townsfolk, you find that there is a permanent market set up near the docks. Deciding that this would be the most likely place to find her, it is there you make your way.
The market square is a riot of color – dyed cloths decorate stalls, painted signs claiming the type and price of wares, and townsfolk dressing as much to be seen as anything else. A musician blows into a pipe in one corner, adding a lively atmosphere to the place. The goods themselves range from the identifiable – food, cloth, tools – to the strange – an apothecary, a hawker of talismans and a man selling clockwork trinkets.
Still, you are a hunter, and a hunter is not to be distracted from their prey. Your eyes scan the melange, and, yes! The girl – sturdy in frame, keen-eyed, with long black hair kept in a ponytail – is having a discussion with another pair of aspirants, a broad-shouldered girl with a spear and a mouse-faced boy with almost comically large ears. The other two depart as you approach, the keen-eyed girl waving them off with well-wishes. She then turns to you, and you feel yourself being keenly inspected and assessed.
"You must be Brother Tallak." She says, with a polite smile and a small bow. "I am Wu Changying. It is a pity that we have not had the chance to meet before, but I am glad that this is now corrected."
Roll Insight + Lore 0 (Local 0)
10, 4, 10. 4 Successes!
The name Wu seems strangely familiar to you, and you take but a moment to put it together with the medallion the girl wears and her placement in the market. At every city you passed through, you saw the name Wu placed on auction houses and other institutions.
"I am pleased to meet one of the esteemed Wu clan," you manage with all the politeness you can muster. The greeting brings a smile to her face.
"You are well-informed, Brother Tallak, from one so obviously from the far north. This speaks to your keen eyes." Her eyes dart to the bundles hanging over your shoulders. "I heard you were a hunter. Have you come to the marketplace to sell?"
You shrug, taking your burden into your arms. "I have meat and an antler from a spirit deer, and duck."
She turns to a nearby table, nodding to the stallkeeper who clears off a few pieces of bric-a-brac, and at her gesture you lay out the parcels. She unwraps the meat, sniffs it, runs a finger along the flank of venison and tastes it. She stares for a moment, presumably evaluating it with her spiritual sense. Then she repeats the same with the antler (minus the tasting) and the duck.
"A hunter indeed." She sounds pleased.
You glance around the market, unsure exactly what the next step is. "Do you work for one of the merchants here? Would they buy it?"
A glint appears in her eyes. "One of the merchants? Better to say I work with any who have something to offer. And almost everyone can offer something. Be it qi or be it water or be it coin, Brother Tallak, the world is ruled by that which flows. But yes. I can barter for you, if you wish. I will take my cut, as is right and proper, but I suspect I can arrange a better deal for you still. Tell me, what do you wish to sell, and what do you wish to buy?"
How do you answer?
Wu Changying is a master merchant. Going through her will involve her applying her skills and knowledge to the task of matching supply to demand. However, it means you have less control over the outcome. Please vote by plan.
[] [Sell] Write-in what goods/silver he gives to Wu Changying for trade.
[] [Buy] Write-in what Lind wishes to buy. Write in order of preference. Suggestions include:
-[] Silver
-[] A new weapon. (Specify what kind)
-[] Armor
-[] Cultivation aids (Specify qi aspects)
-[] Medicines
-[] Talismans
-[] Fine Clothes
-[] Trinkets
Example Plan:
[x] [Sell]
-[x] Glowing Antler
-[x] Duck
-[x] 2 Silver
[x] [Buy]
-[x] Cultivation Aids
-[x] A spear
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Our new breathing style is called Devouring Crucible and people who use it get bonus for cultivation by eating.
We are so going to be digested and eaten if we fail.
We are so going to be digested and eaten if we fail.
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
How much is silver worth? I'm not sure what a fair cut for her would be.
Also I wanna nab a cultivation aid but idk what aspects to pick. Do we know what the basic elements are? If those are a thing?
Also I wanna nab a cultivation aid but idk what aspects to pick. Do we know what the basic elements are? If those are a thing?
I tried to correct the wording on that part. She will take her fair cut before delivering Lind's goods to him. What I meant was that Lind can hand her silver as well as goods to trade on his behalf. Like, "I will give you 2 silver and this antler for you to trade for me". The exact value of a silver varies from time and place, but can buy a meal at a fancy restaurant, a high quality mortal weapon or tool, a set of silk robes, or a relatively low value pill.
Lind's formal cultivation training is lacking, but you've seen water, fire and earth so far.
DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
[X] plan contacts
Sell
-[] Glowing Antler
-[] sun-deer meat
-[] duck
Buy
-[] contacts with good immortal chefs/alchemists
-[] armor for hunters
-[] cultivation aid (water)
-[] new weapon (a good bow or saxe knife)
-[] talisman
-[] medicine
-[] silver
-[] fine clothes
-[] trinkets
Sell the meats to attract the interest of immoryal chefs and the antler for immortal alchemists
Sell
-[] Glowing Antler
-[] sun-deer meat
-[] duck
Buy
-[] contacts with good immortal chefs/alchemists
-[] armor for hunters
-[] cultivation aid (water)
-[] new weapon (a good bow or saxe knife)
-[] talisman
-[] medicine
-[] silver
-[] fine clothes
-[] trinkets
Sell the meats to attract the interest of immoryal chefs and the antler for immortal alchemists
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CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
@KreenWarrior Does "order of preference" mean she's gonna go down the list til she finds something worth as much as the antlers or that she's gonna get us the cheapest version of everything on the list and the total will equal the antlers?
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DangerKitty
shoddy writter
- Location
- lala land
I dont think we need to sell and buy. Shell prob barter or liquidate our assets as needed to get whay we ask for.
So, to clarify, as I apparently have made a bit of a mess of this explanation:
Lind is giving Changying the assets he is willing to part with, and in exchange, a wishlist of items he wants.
In general, she will do her best, as your personal shopper, to get you what you want and she thinks would benefit you.
So to @DangerKitty, your "Sell" vote should contain what budget you are giving her to work with. To @CedeTheBees, the latter is closer to correct, though if something is low on the list and outside of your budget, she will attempt to work with what she's given to make sure what she gets you is useful.
Maybe a good Immortal Chef could use even the antlers as part of a meal, but anyway, finding a Chef/Alchemist should be a priority now that our Breathing Style gives us a bonus. Hunting and growing is the way to go.
Mostly agree with Cede's plan, but wanna wait and see if we can use the deer stuff for cultivation.
However, RECKLESS, so we're probably selling and buying everything right now...
[X] Plan: CALMLY
-[X] [Sell]
--[X] Duck
-[X] [Buy]
--[X] contacts with good immortal chefs/alchemists
--[X] armor for hunters
--[X] new weapon (a good bow)
Mostly agree with Cede's plan, but wanna wait and see if we can use the deer stuff for cultivation.
However, RECKLESS, so we're probably selling and buying everything right now...
[X] Plan: CALMLY
-[X] [Sell]
--[X] Duck
-[X] [Buy]
--[X] contacts with good immortal chefs/alchemists
--[X] armor for hunters
--[X] new weapon (a good bow)