Adhoc vote count started by Duesal on Sep 1, 2020 at 8:01 PM, finished with 58 posts and 7 votes.
[X] Speak to Hua Heng explaining his daughter's doings and why she had chose to leave Yi Ti -[X] Offer to facilitate a meeting between the two so that she can explain her actions in her own words --[X] Support her in this discussion (carefully, making sure not to accidentally cause offense), try to make it seem less like thoughtless rebellion against her family and more like her working to bring honor and prestige to her parents' name since other paths were barred to her --[X] Explain the scope of a full Scholarum education and how his daughter could benefit from being the first among the Yi Tish to join --[X] If deemed necessary, offer a tour of Sorcerer's Deep so he can see for himself the kind of city his daughter would be studying in [X] Azema Level Up -[X] Class: +1 Chameleon -[X] Feats: Practiced Spellcaster (Chameleon), Weapon Focus (Claws) -[X] Skills (6 points): +1 Bluff, +1 Concentration, +1 Diplomacy, +1 Disguise, +1 Gather Information, +1 Sense Motive
"Alright, I think we are done here," the young woman blew gently on the paper to allow the ink to dry properly as the small golden construct took time to fastidiously wash its claws of ink.
If there was one thing in this strange new realm she found herself in that Hua Fen appreciated unreservedly, it would have to be the small ink dragons. At first it had seemed faintly disturbing to see the symbols of imperial power forged to such a lowly tasks as petty scribes, not even proper scholars, but she had slowly come to appreciate the subtle genius of whatever sorcerer had forged them long ago. They had no pride nor petty interests, the sort which often pushed less reputable scholars to try to warp their writings to the demands of the day, and they were as loyal as... well, as the eunuchs of the Emperor's court were supposed to be, so self-effacing that one hardly noticed them unless they had some request or need.
Fen was ashamed to admit that she had great need of their aid over the past few months. She had assumed that foreign tongues would be easier to study than the major dialects of the Golden Empire that she had learned as a child. After all, men lived simpler lives beyond the borders of the Empire. Perhaps that would have been so if she did not have to master merely the local tongue, but also the tongue of magic, the Old Tongue of Valyrian maho.
She had to struggle to keep her shoulders from tensing in wariness at the reminder. Their legacy was all around her here, from the great fiery beasts that cast their shadows over the island, to the temples of the fire god and the dark spirits who had sworn themselves to the lord of this place, to this Dragon Emperor.
At first she had been concerned that her studies would include those manner of unclean powers torn with blood and pain from the ever-turning wheel of the world in spite of Lady Sandviper's assurances. As she had come into her studies, however, enough to call on some small wisp of power, Fen realized this was truly the magic of language itself, of the Word unbound commanding the world, echoing the decrees of the Great Kami. Presumptuous perhaps, but she was honest enough with herself to admit that she had been dressing up as a man to prove herself to her father, and then leaving aside even that path in search of strange realms and stranger powers.
"May we depart then, Honorable One?" the choppy syllables of northern speech interrupted Fen's thoughts, and it was all she could do not to glare at the man for his presumption. It was clear she had been selected to aid in the translation of the Imperial texts because the king in these lands did not trust them to northern-born twice traitors, shugenja though they may be.
The lore itself was... dark. Drawn from the deepest vaults of the Palace archives, some of it referenced practices and rituals that Fen was surprised had survived the passing of the Yellow Dynasty. She wondered if there was a lesson here from her new teachers, that the only maho she had laid eyes on since coming here to Sorcerer's Deep had been one she had brought with her from Yin. Were they trying to make a point that maho could be used for good if one was careful how one spilled blood, and why?
Common Lore
Knowledge Religion +3
Knowledge Nature +5
Knowledge History +6
Knowledge Nobility and Royalty +2
Rare Books
The Hungry Chalice
Description: The compiled travel journals of centuries worth of Yi Tish diplomats and bold Shugenja, this lore speaks of the tomb cities of the Bloodless Men, where lords of old lie still upon their funerary slabs, but never silent, of the priesthood that pours fresh blood into withered lips. Contained within these pages are accounts of delegations and accords, but also witnessed rituals of blood magic and fel power
Contents: +5 to all knowledge checks relating to the cities of the Bloodless Men (Note: Due to the biased nature of this lore, using this bonus has a 1% chance to lead to misleading or even dangerous conclusions)
Tales of the Five Wars
Description: Being an account of major incursions from the Shadowlands compiled from the accounts of the Emerald Magistrates, shugenja, and even a few brief writings said to originate with the Kami themselves, this collection of books provides not just knowledge of the Shadowlands and its denizens, but also the mining and use of True Jade.
Contents:
+3 to all knowledge spells relating to the Bloodstone Emperor and the denizens of the shadowlands
Contains the means of identifying jade invested with the balance of all four elements and forging it into potent weapons against the Servants of the False Emperor
Ritual:
Fire's Boon (Blood Magic; Major):
School: Conjuration (Fire); Level 8
Casting Time: 80 minutes
Material Components: A wooden shrine dedicated to a major fire Kami which must be burned with the full consent of the patron spirit
Blood Component: The willingly offered blood of a dragon lord
Required Caster: Fire aspected Shugenja of at least level 8
Secondary Casters: The would be dragon rider or riders (may bind up to three dragons to their riders)
Backlash: Caster is unable to call upon fire spells for a full year.
Effect: Dragons are bound to serve their riders loyally.
Failure: The kami takes the one of the dragons' bodies as their own to do with as they wish. The kami are not greedy and will never claim more than one lesser dragon, all others are bound.
New Class Available:
Wu Jen
As she left the library for the night, the young woman banished the concerns from her mind and allowed her thoughts to linger upon more wholesome texts. Should I perhaps try studying the magic of the Elements in Balance, the Way of the Wu Jen? There was no teacher in that art here, only books, and much as Fen was loath to say this of the magic of her homeland, she found the predictable magic of words more approachable than the complex interplay of the elements.
Better the foreign art you have a skilled teacher in than clinging to home at the cost of future skill, she decided at last, slipping into bed in the Scholarum Dormitory. Little did she know that her home was not nearly done with her for today.
OOC: The lore is from this post. @Duesal reminded me that I had never expanded it into stuff that would actually fit in the library. The update was also getting really long so I figured a break point before the meeting proper would be best. Leaving it without a vote rather than try to force one.
Contents: +5 to all knowledge checks relating to the cities of the Bloodless men (Note due to the biased nature of this lore using this bonus has a there is a 1% chance that using this bonus will lead to misleading or even dangerous conclusions)
If cross referencing this specific lore with a "friendly" or at least unlikely to take offense but knowledgable local (an actual scholar) could we remove the 1% chance for mishaps with footnotes (to retain the original text while correcting mistaken assumptions, I guess, seems like a scholarly thing to do)?
"Alright, I think we are done here," the young woman blew gently on the paper to allow the ink to dry properly as the small golden construct took time to fastidiously wash its claws of ink.
If there was one thing in the strange new realm she found herself in that Hua Fen appreciated unreservedly, it would have to be the small ink dragons. At first it had seemed faintly disturbing to see the symbols of imperial power forged to such a lowly tasks as petty scribes, not even proper scholars, but she had slowly come to appreciate the subtle genius of whatever sorcerer had forged them long ago. They had no pride nor petty interests, the sort which often pushed less reputable scholars to try to warp their writings to the demands of the day, and they were as loyal as... well as the eunuchs of the Emperor's court were supposed to be, so self effacing that one hardly noticed them unless one had some request or need.
Fen was ashamed to admit she had great need of their aid over the past few months. She had assumed that foreign tongues would be easier to study than the major dialects of the Golden Empire that she had learned as a child. After all, men lived simpler lives beyond the borders of the Empire. Perhaps that would have been so if she did not have to master merely the local tongue, but also the tongue of magic, the Old Tongue of Valyrian maho.
She had to struggle to keep her shoulders from tensing in wariness at the reminder. Their legacy was all around her here, from the great fiery beasts that cast their shadows over the island, to the temples of the fire god and the dark spirits who had sworn themselves to the lord of this place, to this Dragon Emperor.
At first she had been concerned that her studies would include those manner of unclean powers torn with blood and pain from the ever-turning wheel of the world in spite of Lady Sandviper's assurances. As she had come into her studies, however, enough to call some small wisp of power, Fen realized this was truly the magic of language itself, of the Word unbound commanding the world, echoing the decrees of the Great Kami. Presumptuous perhaps, but she was honest enough with herself to admit that she had been dressing up as a man to prove herself to her father, and then leaving aside even that path in search of strange realms and stranger powers.
"May we depart then, Honorable One?" the choppy syllables of northern speech interrupted Fen's thoughts, and it was all she could do not to glare at the man for his presumption. It was clear she had been selected to aid in the translation of the Imperial texts because the king in these lands did not trust them to northern-born twice traitors, shugenja though they may be.
The lore itself was... dark. Drawn from the deepest vaults of the Palace archives, some of it referenced practices and rituals that Fen was surprised had survived the passing of the Yellow Dynasty. She wondered if there was a lesson here from her new teachers, that the only maho she had laid eyes on since coming here to Sorcerer's Deep had been one she had brought with her from Yin. Were they trying to make a point that maho could be used for good if one was careful how one spilled blood, and why?
Common Lore
Knowledge Religion +3
Knowledge Nature +5
Knowledge History +6
Knowledge Nobility and Royalty +2
Rare Books
The Hungry Chalice
Description: The compiled travel journals of centuries worth of Yi Tish diplomats and bold Shugenja, this lore speaks of the tomb cities of the Bloodless Men, where lords of old lie still upon their funerary slabs, but never silent, of the priesthood that pours fresh blood into withered lips. Contained within these pages are accounts of delegations and accords, but also witnessed rituals of blood magic and fel power
Contents: +5 to all knowledge checks relating to the cities of the Bloodless Men (Note: Due to the biased nature of this lore, using this bonus has a 1% chance to lead to misleading or even dangerous conclusions)
Tales of the Five Wars
Description: Being an account of major incursions from the Shadowlands compiled from the accounts of Emerald Magistrates, shugenja, and even a few brief writings said to originate with the Kami themselves, this collection of books provides not just knowledge of the Shadowlands and its denizens, but also the mining and use of True Jade.
Contents:
+3 to all knowledge spells relating to the Bloodstone Emperor and the denizens of the shadowlands
Contains the means of identifying jade invested with the balance of all four elements and forging it into potent weapons against the Servants of the False Emperor
Ritual:
Fire's Boon (Blood Magic; Major):
School: Conjuration (Fire); Level 8
Casting Time: 80 minutes
Material Components: A wooden shrine dedicated to a major fire Kami which must be burned with the full consent of the patron spirit
Blood Component: The willingly offered blood of a dragon lord
Required Caster: Fire aspected Shugenja of at least level 8
Secondary Casters: The would be dragon rider or riders (may bind up to three dragons to their riders)
Backlash: Caster is unable to call upon fire spells for a full year.
Effect: Dragons are bound to serve their riders loyally.
Failure: The kami takes the one of the dragons' bodies as their own to do with as they wish. The Kami are not greedy and will never claim more than one elsser dragon, all others are bound.
New Class Available:
Wu Jen
As she left the library for the night, the young woman banished the concerns from her mind and allowed her thoughts to linger upon more wholesome texts. Should I perhaps try studying the magic of the Elements in Balance, the Way of the Wu Jen? There was no teacher in that art here, only books, and much as Fen was loath to say this of the magic of her homeland, she found the predictable magic of words more approachable than the complex interplay of the elements.
Better the foreign art you have a skilled teacher in than clinging to home at the cost of future skill, she decided at last, slipping into bed in the Scholarum Dormitory. Little did she know that her home was not nearly done with her for today.
OOC: The lore is from this post, @Duesal reminded me that I had never expanded it into stuff that would actually fit in the library. The update was also getting really long so I figured a break point before the meeting proper would be best. Leaving it without a vote rather than try to force one. Not yet edited.
Here's an edited version of the chapter, @DragonParadox.
I highlighted a sentence in one of the lore descriptions which is wonky. +3 to knowledge spells seems odd. Wasn't sure if it should be Divination spells or Knowledge checks.
"May we depart then Honorable One?" the choppy syllables of northern speech interrupted Fen's thoughts and it was all she could do not to glare at the man for his presumption. It was clear she had been selected to aid in the translation of the Imeprial texts because the king in these lands did not trust them to northern-born twice traitors, shugenja though they may be.
If cross referencing this specific lore with a "friendly" or at least unlikely to take offense but knowledgable local (an actual scholar) could we remove the 1% chance for mishaps with footnotes (to retain the original text while correcting mistaken assumptions, I guess, seems like a scholarly thing to do)?
I highlighted a sentence in one of the lore descriptions which is wonky. +3 to knowledge spells seems odd. Wasn't sure if it should be Divination spells or Knowledge checks.
She can't help the cultural baggage that shapes her perceptions. Seeing plots and hidden agendas around every corner and under every rug is probably second nature for her as the daughter of a prominent Yi-Tish general. That doesn't mean she is wrong, per se, merely that she is looking in the wrong places. The plots and hidden agendas are chilling in the shadows and hanging from tapestries.
I bet she'll get some use out of the Cultural Adaptation spell, once she learns enough to cast 1st level spells.
She can't help the cultural baggage that shapes her perceptions. Seeing plots and hidden agendas around every corner and under every rug is probably second nature for her as the daughter of a prominent Yi-Tish general. That doesn't mean she is wrong, per se, merely that she is looking in the wrong places. The plots and hidden agendas are chilling in the shadows and hanging from tapestries.
I bet she'll get some use out of the Cultural Adaptation spell, once she learns enough to cast 1st level spells.
Basically, she's not important enough to even peripherally be impacted or included in any schemes or intrigues. Back home, she's the daughter of a prominent general and kingmaker.
Here, she's just some nobody who the King took an idle fancy to like his collection of various orphans (or kidnapped nobles).
Backlash: Caster is unable to call upon fire spells for a full year.
Effect: Dragons are bound to serve their riders loyally.
Failure: The kami takes the one of the dragons' bodies as their own to do with as they wish. The Kami are not greedy and will never claim more than one elsser dragon, all others are bound.
@DragonParadox, I'm pleasantly surprised to find a major blood magic ritual here. All this time I thought they were super squeamish about everything to do with blood magic, but here we are having kami literally steal the bodies of Valyrian Dragons.
Did they manage to get their own Rakshasa or something, or was this the work of that one blood mage Shugenja we met at the auction in Heaven's Shore?
@DragonParadox, I'm pleasantly surprised to find a major blood magic ritual here. All this time I thought they were super squeamish about everything to do with blood magic, but here we are having kami literally steal the bodies of Valyrian Dragons.
Did they manage to get their own Rakshasa or something, or was this the work of that one blood mage Shugenja we met at the auction in Heaven's Shore?
@DragonParadox, I'm pleasantly surprised to find a major blood magic ritual here. All this time I thought they were super squeamish about everything to do with blood magic, but here we are having kami literally steal the bodies of Valyrian Dragons.
Did they manage to get their own Rakshasa or something, or was this the work of that one blood mage Shugenja we met at the auction in Heaven's Shore?
Count me in as a contributor for any GoFundMe related to original art for this quest. What I'd really like to see, if it's at all possible, is a full map of Planetos, once what the rest of the world looks like has been formalized. I find that the world map being updated as Events Occur really adds a sense of weight and progress that many quests lack. Plus, it's clear that quite a bit of time was spent editing in the various provinces, features, political and democratic divisions, etc. Azel, if I'm correct, that was/is mostly your work - kudos, it's great. I have no idea how difficult it would be to, in essence, add on the rest of the world once it's known, but it'd be fantastic to see. Of course, the Afreet of Copyright might raise its ugly head if it's a paid commission. Anyone know how viable this idea is?
Count me in as a contributor for any GoFundMe related to original art for this quest. What I'd really like to see, if it's at all possible, is a full map of Planetos, once what the rest of the world looks like has been formalized. I find that the world map being updated as Events Occur really adds a sense of weight and progress that many quests lack. Plus, it's clear that quite a bit of time was spent editing in the various provinces, features, political and democratic divisions, etc. Azel, if I'm correct, that was/is mostly your work - kudos, it's great. I have no idea how difficult it would be to, in essence, add on the rest of the world once it's known, but it'd be fantastic to see. Of course, the Afreet of Copyright might raise its ugly head if it's a paid commission. Anyone know how viable this idea is?
