LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Nice! Good luck on your Breakthrough!
Disciples of Red Dew Sect (Cultivation Riot Quest)
- Thread starter Arcanestomper
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Nice! Good luck on your Breakthrough!
CedeTheBees
Probably high right now
- Location
- Somewhere
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Time to Meditate on the Dao next turn.
Guys, I'm so tempered.
Rolling like a river...
- Location
- Many Places
Ok heaven this is the one tempered organ that would be fit me perfectly
Darn
Darn
My plan is to work in the archive for six months.
I'm going to help Cheng Nianzu with paperwork.
A kind of personal achievement.
You can give a bonus according to your taste. Development of Dao maybe? As you wish.
- Location
- North Carolina
My cultivation progress is terrible...Was that ??? evil?
I MUST KNOWWWWWW
I MUST KNOWWWWWW
SoixanteZio
Dead man walking
- Location
- anywhere
I got some done at least.
If I've gotten a success on my cultivation rolls, then I do believe that should finish tempering my eyes, rather than leaving them at 4/5. Unless I also failed mine, in which case carry on.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sweet, got to Tempered Eyes.
Edit: not so sweet to not get Rainbow Eyes.
Edit: not so sweet to not get Rainbow Eyes.
- Location
- Israel
Is that including pils and elixirs?
Cause if so you can add this llama to that list.
You got a success on turn 3 as far as I can tell.
You had four successes all told given the cultivation catch up I do for new disciples.
Last edited:
Rolling for Jin Mei Tempered Eyes.
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
I do have a plan for an Omake, but I need to see how the Forest Culling Mission went first. And find out what I got for a Nat 20 on my Lungs.
I don't know how your mission went but as for the lungs it has been said that the rolls are just to pass a DC of 15 with no special bonus for rolling a 20 so you should be getting storm lungs. Hopefully the mission goes well too.
LinkOnScepter
The One who Strangles Concepts to death
- Location
- Interwebs
Hey, I'm just happy I got something. Not expecting to get anything special. Thanks for the info though.
- Pronouns
- He/It/Argh!
You might want to track Insights as well.
Emblem of the Red Dew Sect
Turn 4: Results
@LordEdric
@moon-llama
@SootCube
Once again the disciple advance on the spirit beast ranch. And this time they are ready for the llamas. Teams of disciples haul massive timbers into place with their cultivation enhanced physiques. These are then bound together and reinforced with other timber before Elder Zhang redoes the formations of protection, solidity, and defense. Ding Dong and Luotuo especially are instrumental in organizing disciples into teams and ensuring the fence is solidly constructed.
Other cultivators move outward searching for the lost llamas. Rather than the more haphazard search of last month this time Gu Jin takes the time to research the llamas thoroughly and talk to their mortal caretakers to learn about individual llamas and their habits. He is able to cajole several of the wandering beasts into following him back with no coercion. And seeing his success numerous other disciples begin using his methods to reassure the llamas and lead them home.
Soon enough almost all the llamas are accounted for. The remainder have unfortunately probably been lost to the local predators. In addition several disciples help with the construction of a new pasture and coop for the granite pheasants that the sect has been accumulating.
As a reward for their efforts the assisting disciples are allowed to take several bundles of extra llama wool.
Ding Dong: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Luotuo: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Gu Jin: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
For his part Luotuo takes the time to speak with the other llamas again. With a more in depth conversation he finds that they are not very smart. Mostly limited to their instincts and shallow observations about their surroundings. They think all the human cultivators are also some kind of deformed llama, and ones that can't talk properly at that.
Luotuo realizes that the fruit he encountered did more than just transform into a human. It increased his understanding of the world. And perhaps if he continued to cultivate his understanding would develop further and show him how exactly that was done.
Luotuo: +2 Insights Path of the Spirit Beast
@wrecksalot
@Epic Bygones
@digital2
Feng Shou, Wu Ji Nin, and Jian Ke all join the disciples guarding the mortal woodcutters. It is a fairly large expedition all told with several hundred disciples and mortals involved. Which just makes it all the more dangerous. The forest does not tolerate intrusions well.
The initial entry is relatively uneventful and some of the experienced senior disciples pick out a location near some prime timber to be cut down. The camp is set up, defenses are erected, and everyone prepares for the harvest operation.
Then the first lumberjack ax swings down and all the hells break loose. Roots attack from below. Branches attack from above. Vines whip everywhere. The disciples fight back in the desperate melee. Feng Shou and Jian Ke are whirlwinds of sword strokes cutting everything around them. While Wu Ji Nin leads his friends in a solid team strategy that keeps everyone from being overwhelmed.
Once a tree has been denuded of branches, mortal lumberjacks cut it down and pull it back to camp, sometimes assisted by disciples for particularly large specimens. Meanwhile the ring of disciples pushes outward subduing yet more trees and preparing them for harvest.
The first five days are much like the first. The tree attack and the pile of logs at the camp grows ever larger., but on the sixth day the disciples are assailed from a different direction as the beasts of the forest join in the attack. Deer and wolves attack together. Predator and prey setting aside their differences to strike at the enemy. Occasionally panthers will strike from the shadows down disciples and attempt to carry them off. Though Sect Mistress Ping is always there quickly enough to prevent any deaths or dismemberments.
For another week the disciples fight and the lumberjacks cut. Until the area around the camp grows too large. The disciples can no longer defend the perimeter and subdue the trees properly. The mortal lumberjacks have nothing to cut. So Sect Mistress Ping declares the operation over and the group begins the long arduous task of transporting their bounty of logs back to the nearest mortal village where it will be dried and stored for winter.
The trees here are not very suitable for artifact carving. But there are a few pieces of heart wood that are very nice indeed and the disciples are able to harvest their pick. Along of course with quite a few dead beasts that are mostly intact.
Jian Ke: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Wu Ji Nin: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Feng Shou: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Extra: 1 Natural Treasure
To harvest trees one more is an experience for Jian Ke. This is not like the simple tame trees of his youth, but huge monster oaks that tower over the landscape and lash out with deadly spiked branches. Yet he finds it exhilarating. He can see the qi rise off them and direct his sword accordingly. He slashes through iron hard wood with ease and sword is metallic glint as it slides through the air. Surely he has come so far from that one fateful day.
Jian Ke: +2 Insights Path of the Sword
@Floom
@Uber_Fail_Dinesh
@LinkOnScepter
@Guest99
@dingdonghadron
While one group of disciples ventures deep into the forest another spreads out around the mortal villages themselves. One group in particular distinguishes themselves as they cull the local spirit beasts that have been harming the mortals.
Wuyin helps target spirit beasts suitable for the group. Mostly the ubiquitous leaf deer that like to graze in the hinterlands. Hong Xing and Hawk work together to subdue the beasts at close range while Yu Siyuan and Jiang Chen dispatch them.
There are a few slipups such as when Hawk misjudges the strength of a buck and gets kicked into a tree, and when Wuyin misidentifies one that proves to not be a simple Leaf Deer, but rather a Root Elk in the soldier realm, and the group subsequently has to spend several days being chased by the incensed spirit beast before a senior disciple intervenes.
Still at the end the disciples have picked up quite a bounty of deer corpses along with a few random natural treasures they harvested along the way.
Wuyin: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insight Path of Elements
Hong Xing: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
Hawk: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
Jiang Chen: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insights Path of Calculation
Yu Siyuan: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
@SeptimusMagisto
@Poofs
@Vanestus
Expanding the farmlands of the mortals is very similar to harvesting lumber, except substantially less dangerous. The trees near the mortal villages are slower and weaker, and there are significantly less spirit beasts to contend with. Especially since there are other disciples in the process of culling them.
That said less dangerous is still dangerous. The mortals have already harvested all the trees that they could after all. So the disciples move in groups of three or four. They escort bands of mortal workers who clear the land and prepare it for next year's crop after the disciples finish clearing the more belligerent trees and plants.
Jin Mei, June Peng, Liao Chuanli, and Qin Xiaobo make up one such group. June eagerly rushes ahead while Liao and Qin follow to make sure he doesn't get in over his head. For her part Jin mostly stays with the mortal farmers helping them ensure their fields will be properly watered when the time comes and protecting them from any surprise attacks.
The work is not too hard, and the fights are not too dangerous. Close to the farms as they are this is some of the safest land in the barony besides Roaring Furnace city and the sect itself. And if anything the disciples are working to make it even safer.
Still they do get attacked every so often, and the group ends up with a fairly sizable stack of corpses by the end of the month.
Jin Mei: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
June Peng: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
Liao Chuanli: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
Extra: 1 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
@CedeTheBees
@Oseanman
@MrRageQuit
The disciples spread out across sect mistress Jiugui's pavilion, under close supervision of course, and work to begin expanding and remodeling it. Gan Jia works on the gardens and manages to make something of a mess of things as the herbs he is used too don't have quite the same requirements as the one in the sect mistress's garden. Fortunately Song Zhili helps him identify the actual best locations and quickly move the herbs around.
Then Song Zhili moves on to his own preferred task of helping with the construction of the still. Most of the work is done by the sect mistress herself as she bends and welds massive metal plates and oaken slabs that hum with qi into place. However the disciples help move other secondary pieces into position and test that the stills are operating properly after they are completed.
Finally Bái Yǔ helps in the new healing hall digging the pit for the baths and filling them with water before the sect mistress infuses them with spiritual qi. He even gets to see them in operation first hand as several of the inner disciples are brought in towards the end of the month and placed in the baths to heal from some fairly significant looking injuries.
In the end the pagoda remodeling is finished and all the disciples benefit as they are allowed to salvage some of the extra bits of wood that went unused in the construction of the stills and baths. They are mere scraps by an elders standards, but extremely useful for a peasant.
Gan Jia: 5 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insights Path of the Herb
Bai Yu: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Song Zhili: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
@Jaguar2234
@fluxeal
@Worm_that_Walks
@alexthealright
@Shadowolf235
The pagoda does have spirit beasts in it. The five disciples of the horsemen can hear the sounds of fighting in the distance, but it turns out when you have the personal attention of an elder that doesn't matter so much. There is the occasional spirit beast that bothers them, but with five disciples none of them stand a chance. Elder Cheng mostly just watches them but the disciples have just enough sensitivity to realize that the elder is doing things beyond their notice.
What they mostly have to deal with instead are traps and secret rooms. They move through the pagoda cautiously finding traps of ice and fire. Ones that slice your legs off and others that turn you blind. Fortunately they are a clever group and none of the traps manage to stand in their way for longer.
Almost harder than that however is finding everything there is to find. Whoever once lived here dearly liked their secret compartments. There's one or more in just about every room. Though occasionally there isn't just to break the pattern. And finding them is a tricky matter of touching exactly the right spot or rotating the correct bit of trim. Occasionally they don't even find the correct method and just happen to spot a decaying wall with something behind it.
The rewards for all this are scrolls. Hundreds of them in that same ancient language. Elder Cheng takes these. While the disciples must satisfy themselves with the detritus of the tower. Fortunately there's enough good metal and wood among all the rotten and broken pieces of furniture to be quite a good haul in itself.
Liu Jin: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Xìngyùn xīng: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Sum of 7, 3, and 5: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Cai Delan: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Daiki Inoue: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
@KreenWarrior
@CoreBrute
@szymonmolitoris2
@LawsOfRobotics
@Abyssius
The mines are quite frankly terrifying. The young outer disciples are left behind to guard the mortal miners by sect mistress Ping as she ventures deeper to cull the hordes of cavern beasts. And they are left to man barricades and watch out for assaults.
Assaults which happen nearly immediately. They are assailed by tides of shadowy crawling things. They cover the walls. They cover the floor. They even cover the ceiling and each other. They his and chitter and attack with claws and sharp bladed limbs.
They are not particularly strong individually, but there are so so many of them. And what's worse is the darkness. This deep in the mines the light only comes from pale blue spirit lamps. They cast strange shadows and make it hard to pick out one creature from the next. And sometimes a disciple will forget to refill a lamp and an entire barricade will be plunged into darkness.
What follows next is a writhing melee as the disciples fight hand to claw with the cavern monsters and desperately force them off the barricades. It is a successful fight, but more than a few disciples are heavily injured by the time sect mistress ping and the inner disciples return.
If anything the inner disciples look even more haggard than the outer disciples. To hear them tell it the hordes that assault the barricades were only the dregs of the dregs. The tiny fragment of weak monsters that managed to slip past Sect Mistress Ping, and then slip past the Inner Disciples guarding her flanks.
The idea of what the main horde might have been like is enough to give the outer disciples nightmares.
All except Maggot whose one overriding goal over pleasing the Soldier gives him other concerns. In fact his preparations of bringing mining equipment pays off as he is able to mine a few exposed outcroppings of spirit stones before the expedition returns to the sect once more.
Zise Ren: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Maggot Gravedirt: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 25 Peasant Spirit Stones
Li: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Bai Kouta: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Liang Xinyue: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
@DiscordOxymoron
@SoixanteZio
The caravan that sets out is basically a mobile tea ceremony. The disciples pack llama after llama with everything elder xuan deems necessary for a diplomatic effort. A pavilion, furniture, utensils, and of course a chest of his best tea leaves. Once it is fully loaded the caravan first travels east. It follows the roads as far as possible, but eventually they degrade into a mere dirt trail.
The caravan follows the path closely, but the forest is strong here and the disciples often have to move logs off the path or even chop down trees while others guard the caravan against the constant possibility of attack. Something that happens with regular frequency as they cross over various spirit beasts territories. Some of the monsters are terrifying to the younger disciples and even the more senior ones look a bit shaken after the three story giant praying mantis attack. What's even more worrisome is that Elder Xuan didn't even bother responding to the giant mantis. So when he disappears for worryingly long periods of time the disciples hunker down with their llamas and try to ignore the sounds of intense violence in the distance.
Eventually however the forest starts to thin and the path becomes better maintained. The disciples start seeing mortal working fields again and eventually come to a massive river. In the center of the river is an island covered with verdant gardens. And after the caravan crosses a long intricately carved bridge they are greeted by a group of cheery cultivators in green and white robes. What follows is two days of feasting and gossip as gifts are exchanged and the sects reestablish their close relations.
The disciples are extremely reluctant to leave the comfy guest houses, but Elder Xuan chivies them all outside and back into a caravan that departs back over the bridge heading south. The path there is even worse than the one to the Five Leaf sect. It's little more than the barest hint of a road between towering stands of golden grass that stretch so high as to overshadow the caravans.
Somewhat terrifyingly is that Elder Xuan is on high alert. He is constantly flying overhead and often disappears to deal with some manner of spirit beast that the disciples can't even sense. So it is a long and tense journey to the border of the Jade Claw sect.
There the caravan is greeted by a trio of massive hounds nearly two stories at the shoulder. On top of them are riders dressed in leather decorated with bone implements. The two side guards leer at the disciples while their leader negotiates passage with Elder Xuan. Eventually the caravan is led to a large cleared circle in the grass filled with large grass hunts, cultivators, and dogs. So many dogs. While Elder Xuan meets with the leaders the disciples are left to their own devices.
Despite the fact that the Jade Claws are noticeably colder than the Five Leaf Garden there is still feasting, with a far larger proportion of meat than the disciples are used to, along with some light trading that lets the disciples exchange small treasures and artifacts with their peers.
Finally the caravan heads home, and after another grueling week of travel it is a relief to finally see Red Dew mountain's sky piercing silhouette and the sect compound once more.
Kang Shui: 7 Clay Natural Treasure
Changjian Meinu: 7 Clay Natural Treasure, +2 Insights of the Piercing Blade
Extra: 1 Clay Natural Treasure
@Froggo Fantastic
Wanwuyishi helps out in the technique pavilion. He's mostly left to his own devices and develops an ingenious system for cataloging the various technique manuals. At the end of the month he is grabbed by the elder and gets to help test an interesting new formation that seems to be able to copy any manual placed in it.
Wanwuyishi job is mostly to move manuals in and out of the formation and then carefully check that there are no mistakes in the end result. It's tedious but important work.
Wanwuyishi: +1 Insights Path of Archival
Wanwuyishi: Knows where Techniques are
@rush99999
Being a resourceful sort, Hanyi Huoshui manages to source quite a few empty barrels from the kitchen. He then fills them with alcohol. So much alcohol. He is hampered by the fact that he drinks as much as he pours, and often finds himself in a haze somewhere else in the sect. But by the end of the month he has accumulated quite a large stash of alcohol in his quarters.
Hanyi Huoshui: Many Many Barrels of Alcohol
@Synergy
Fortunately Elder Huo seems to be in a good mood and after manipulating a formation for a few minutes produces a copy of "Heavenly Purification of Liquid Bodies". Jang Hui immediately takes it and begins practicing. It takes some effort with her reserves of qi, but by the end of the month she is able to turn small glasses of muddy water into relatively clear water. There's still a few bits of debris left, but she can feel that she's close.
Jang Hui: Heavenly Purification of Liquid Bodies 2/3
@Bylba
Lung Doji works in the archives. In the day he helps organize the scrolls and clean the archives. In the nights he studies all sorts of history and scholarly works on the various aspects of nature. It is a very solitary existence, but Lung Doji has his drinks to keep him company, and he broadens his knowledge on all sorts of topics.
Lung Doji: +1 Insight Path of History
Lung Doji: Can navigate the archive
@HousePet
Not wanting to waste any time and potentially forget crucial parts of the lecture, Pan Tingfeng works hard to fully master the movements and techniques embodied in the Red Dew School. He attends several additional lectures held by the senior disciples and while they are not as broadly informative he is able to ask the older disciples several questions that help him clear up some of his confusion about some of the more esoteric parts of the school. By the end of the month he is confident that he has a solid grasp on the Red Dew School and is well prepared for anything.
Pan Tingfeng: Red Dew School Learned 3/3
@_Plague Doctor_
Putting his insights into time to good use, Riyadh works on his practical technique. He practices speeding up his own perception over and over again until he can do it easily and instinctively. It doesn't last very long, but in times of crisis it should let him stretch out a few seconds into enough time to really think things through.
Riyadh: Technique "Temporal Perception" 3/3
That should be everyone. Please let me know if I missed your action.
For the lines that say extra that is to be divided by the participants.
If you haven't already roll a 1d20 for every tempered organ you gained this turn.
@moon-llama
@SootCube
Once again the disciple advance on the spirit beast ranch. And this time they are ready for the llamas. Teams of disciples haul massive timbers into place with their cultivation enhanced physiques. These are then bound together and reinforced with other timber before Elder Zhang redoes the formations of protection, solidity, and defense. Ding Dong and Luotuo especially are instrumental in organizing disciples into teams and ensuring the fence is solidly constructed.
Other cultivators move outward searching for the lost llamas. Rather than the more haphazard search of last month this time Gu Jin takes the time to research the llamas thoroughly and talk to their mortal caretakers to learn about individual llamas and their habits. He is able to cajole several of the wandering beasts into following him back with no coercion. And seeing his success numerous other disciples begin using his methods to reassure the llamas and lead them home.
Soon enough almost all the llamas are accounted for. The remainder have unfortunately probably been lost to the local predators. In addition several disciples help with the construction of a new pasture and coop for the granite pheasants that the sect has been accumulating.
As a reward for their efforts the assisting disciples are allowed to take several bundles of extra llama wool.
Ding Dong: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Luotuo: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Gu Jin: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
For his part Luotuo takes the time to speak with the other llamas again. With a more in depth conversation he finds that they are not very smart. Mostly limited to their instincts and shallow observations about their surroundings. They think all the human cultivators are also some kind of deformed llama, and ones that can't talk properly at that.
Luotuo realizes that the fruit he encountered did more than just transform into a human. It increased his understanding of the world. And perhaps if he continued to cultivate his understanding would develop further and show him how exactly that was done.
Luotuo: +2 Insights Path of the Spirit Beast
@wrecksalot
@Epic Bygones
@digital2
Feng Shou, Wu Ji Nin, and Jian Ke all join the disciples guarding the mortal woodcutters. It is a fairly large expedition all told with several hundred disciples and mortals involved. Which just makes it all the more dangerous. The forest does not tolerate intrusions well.
The initial entry is relatively uneventful and some of the experienced senior disciples pick out a location near some prime timber to be cut down. The camp is set up, defenses are erected, and everyone prepares for the harvest operation.
Then the first lumberjack ax swings down and all the hells break loose. Roots attack from below. Branches attack from above. Vines whip everywhere. The disciples fight back in the desperate melee. Feng Shou and Jian Ke are whirlwinds of sword strokes cutting everything around them. While Wu Ji Nin leads his friends in a solid team strategy that keeps everyone from being overwhelmed.
Once a tree has been denuded of branches, mortal lumberjacks cut it down and pull it back to camp, sometimes assisted by disciples for particularly large specimens. Meanwhile the ring of disciples pushes outward subduing yet more trees and preparing them for harvest.
The first five days are much like the first. The tree attack and the pile of logs at the camp grows ever larger., but on the sixth day the disciples are assailed from a different direction as the beasts of the forest join in the attack. Deer and wolves attack together. Predator and prey setting aside their differences to strike at the enemy. Occasionally panthers will strike from the shadows down disciples and attempt to carry them off. Though Sect Mistress Ping is always there quickly enough to prevent any deaths or dismemberments.
For another week the disciples fight and the lumberjacks cut. Until the area around the camp grows too large. The disciples can no longer defend the perimeter and subdue the trees properly. The mortal lumberjacks have nothing to cut. So Sect Mistress Ping declares the operation over and the group begins the long arduous task of transporting their bounty of logs back to the nearest mortal village where it will be dried and stored for winter.
The trees here are not very suitable for artifact carving. But there are a few pieces of heart wood that are very nice indeed and the disciples are able to harvest their pick. Along of course with quite a few dead beasts that are mostly intact.
Jian Ke: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Wu Ji Nin: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Feng Shou: 3 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 2 Clay Natural Treasures
Extra: 1 Natural Treasure
To harvest trees one more is an experience for Jian Ke. This is not like the simple tame trees of his youth, but huge monster oaks that tower over the landscape and lash out with deadly spiked branches. Yet he finds it exhilarating. He can see the qi rise off them and direct his sword accordingly. He slashes through iron hard wood with ease and sword is metallic glint as it slides through the air. Surely he has come so far from that one fateful day.
Jian Ke: +2 Insights Path of the Sword
@Floom
@Uber_Fail_Dinesh
@LinkOnScepter
@Guest99
@dingdonghadron
While one group of disciples ventures deep into the forest another spreads out around the mortal villages themselves. One group in particular distinguishes themselves as they cull the local spirit beasts that have been harming the mortals.
Wuyin helps target spirit beasts suitable for the group. Mostly the ubiquitous leaf deer that like to graze in the hinterlands. Hong Xing and Hawk work together to subdue the beasts at close range while Yu Siyuan and Jiang Chen dispatch them.
There are a few slipups such as when Hawk misjudges the strength of a buck and gets kicked into a tree, and when Wuyin misidentifies one that proves to not be a simple Leaf Deer, but rather a Root Elk in the soldier realm, and the group subsequently has to spend several days being chased by the incensed spirit beast before a senior disciple intervenes.
Still at the end the disciples have picked up quite a bounty of deer corpses along with a few random natural treasures they harvested along the way.
Wuyin: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insight Path of Elements
Hong Xing: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
Hawk: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
Jiang Chen: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insights Path of Calculation
Yu Siyuan: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 1 Clay Natural Treasures
@SeptimusMagisto
@Poofs
@Vanestus
Expanding the farmlands of the mortals is very similar to harvesting lumber, except substantially less dangerous. The trees near the mortal villages are slower and weaker, and there are significantly less spirit beasts to contend with. Especially since there are other disciples in the process of culling them.
That said less dangerous is still dangerous. The mortals have already harvested all the trees that they could after all. So the disciples move in groups of three or four. They escort bands of mortal workers who clear the land and prepare it for next year's crop after the disciples finish clearing the more belligerent trees and plants.
Jin Mei, June Peng, Liao Chuanli, and Qin Xiaobo make up one such group. June eagerly rushes ahead while Liao and Qin follow to make sure he doesn't get in over his head. For her part Jin mostly stays with the mortal farmers helping them ensure their fields will be properly watered when the time comes and protecting them from any surprise attacks.
The work is not too hard, and the fights are not too dangerous. Close to the farms as they are this is some of the safest land in the barony besides Roaring Furnace city and the sect itself. And if anything the disciples are working to make it even safer.
Still they do get attacked every so often, and the group ends up with a fairly sizable stack of corpses by the end of the month.
Jin Mei: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
June Peng: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
Liao Chuanli: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
Extra: 1 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse
@CedeTheBees
@Oseanman
@MrRageQuit
The disciples spread out across sect mistress Jiugui's pavilion, under close supervision of course, and work to begin expanding and remodeling it. Gan Jia works on the gardens and manages to make something of a mess of things as the herbs he is used too don't have quite the same requirements as the one in the sect mistress's garden. Fortunately Song Zhili helps him identify the actual best locations and quickly move the herbs around.
Then Song Zhili moves on to his own preferred task of helping with the construction of the still. Most of the work is done by the sect mistress herself as she bends and welds massive metal plates and oaken slabs that hum with qi into place. However the disciples help move other secondary pieces into position and test that the stills are operating properly after they are completed.
Finally Bái Yǔ helps in the new healing hall digging the pit for the baths and filling them with water before the sect mistress infuses them with spiritual qi. He even gets to see them in operation first hand as several of the inner disciples are brought in towards the end of the month and placed in the baths to heal from some fairly significant looking injuries.
In the end the pagoda remodeling is finished and all the disciples benefit as they are allowed to salvage some of the extra bits of wood that went unused in the construction of the stills and baths. They are mere scraps by an elders standards, but extremely useful for a peasant.
Gan Jia: 5 Clay Natural Treasures, +2 Insights Path of the Herb
Bai Yu: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
Song Zhili: 5 Clay Natural Treasures
@Jaguar2234
@fluxeal
@Worm_that_Walks
@alexthealright
@Shadowolf235
The pagoda does have spirit beasts in it. The five disciples of the horsemen can hear the sounds of fighting in the distance, but it turns out when you have the personal attention of an elder that doesn't matter so much. There is the occasional spirit beast that bothers them, but with five disciples none of them stand a chance. Elder Cheng mostly just watches them but the disciples have just enough sensitivity to realize that the elder is doing things beyond their notice.
What they mostly have to deal with instead are traps and secret rooms. They move through the pagoda cautiously finding traps of ice and fire. Ones that slice your legs off and others that turn you blind. Fortunately they are a clever group and none of the traps manage to stand in their way for longer.
Almost harder than that however is finding everything there is to find. Whoever once lived here dearly liked their secret compartments. There's one or more in just about every room. Though occasionally there isn't just to break the pattern. And finding them is a tricky matter of touching exactly the right spot or rotating the correct bit of trim. Occasionally they don't even find the correct method and just happen to spot a decaying wall with something behind it.
The rewards for all this are scrolls. Hundreds of them in that same ancient language. Elder Cheng takes these. While the disciples must satisfy themselves with the detritus of the tower. Fortunately there's enough good metal and wood among all the rotten and broken pieces of furniture to be quite a good haul in itself.
Liu Jin: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Xìngyùn xīng: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Sum of 7, 3, and 5: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Cai Delan: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
Daiki Inoue: 7 Clay Natural Treasures
@KreenWarrior
@CoreBrute
@szymonmolitoris2
@LawsOfRobotics
@Abyssius
The mines are quite frankly terrifying. The young outer disciples are left behind to guard the mortal miners by sect mistress Ping as she ventures deeper to cull the hordes of cavern beasts. And they are left to man barricades and watch out for assaults.
Assaults which happen nearly immediately. They are assailed by tides of shadowy crawling things. They cover the walls. They cover the floor. They even cover the ceiling and each other. They his and chitter and attack with claws and sharp bladed limbs.
They are not particularly strong individually, but there are so so many of them. And what's worse is the darkness. This deep in the mines the light only comes from pale blue spirit lamps. They cast strange shadows and make it hard to pick out one creature from the next. And sometimes a disciple will forget to refill a lamp and an entire barricade will be plunged into darkness.
What follows next is a writhing melee as the disciples fight hand to claw with the cavern monsters and desperately force them off the barricades. It is a successful fight, but more than a few disciples are heavily injured by the time sect mistress ping and the inner disciples return.
If anything the inner disciples look even more haggard than the outer disciples. To hear them tell it the hordes that assault the barricades were only the dregs of the dregs. The tiny fragment of weak monsters that managed to slip past Sect Mistress Ping, and then slip past the Inner Disciples guarding her flanks.
The idea of what the main horde might have been like is enough to give the outer disciples nightmares.
All except Maggot whose one overriding goal over pleasing the Soldier gives him other concerns. In fact his preparations of bringing mining equipment pays off as he is able to mine a few exposed outcroppings of spirit stones before the expedition returns to the sect once more.
Zise Ren: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Maggot Gravedirt: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 25 Peasant Spirit Stones
Li: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Bai Kouta: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
Liang Xinyue: 2 Clay Spirit Beast Corpse, 15 Peasant Spirit Stones
@DiscordOxymoron
@SoixanteZio
The caravan that sets out is basically a mobile tea ceremony. The disciples pack llama after llama with everything elder xuan deems necessary for a diplomatic effort. A pavilion, furniture, utensils, and of course a chest of his best tea leaves. Once it is fully loaded the caravan first travels east. It follows the roads as far as possible, but eventually they degrade into a mere dirt trail.
The caravan follows the path closely, but the forest is strong here and the disciples often have to move logs off the path or even chop down trees while others guard the caravan against the constant possibility of attack. Something that happens with regular frequency as they cross over various spirit beasts territories. Some of the monsters are terrifying to the younger disciples and even the more senior ones look a bit shaken after the three story giant praying mantis attack. What's even more worrisome is that Elder Xuan didn't even bother responding to the giant mantis. So when he disappears for worryingly long periods of time the disciples hunker down with their llamas and try to ignore the sounds of intense violence in the distance.
Eventually however the forest starts to thin and the path becomes better maintained. The disciples start seeing mortal working fields again and eventually come to a massive river. In the center of the river is an island covered with verdant gardens. And after the caravan crosses a long intricately carved bridge they are greeted by a group of cheery cultivators in green and white robes. What follows is two days of feasting and gossip as gifts are exchanged and the sects reestablish their close relations.
The disciples are extremely reluctant to leave the comfy guest houses, but Elder Xuan chivies them all outside and back into a caravan that departs back over the bridge heading south. The path there is even worse than the one to the Five Leaf sect. It's little more than the barest hint of a road between towering stands of golden grass that stretch so high as to overshadow the caravans.
Somewhat terrifyingly is that Elder Xuan is on high alert. He is constantly flying overhead and often disappears to deal with some manner of spirit beast that the disciples can't even sense. So it is a long and tense journey to the border of the Jade Claw sect.
There the caravan is greeted by a trio of massive hounds nearly two stories at the shoulder. On top of them are riders dressed in leather decorated with bone implements. The two side guards leer at the disciples while their leader negotiates passage with Elder Xuan. Eventually the caravan is led to a large cleared circle in the grass filled with large grass hunts, cultivators, and dogs. So many dogs. While Elder Xuan meets with the leaders the disciples are left to their own devices.
Despite the fact that the Jade Claws are noticeably colder than the Five Leaf Garden there is still feasting, with a far larger proportion of meat than the disciples are used to, along with some light trading that lets the disciples exchange small treasures and artifacts with their peers.
Finally the caravan heads home, and after another grueling week of travel it is a relief to finally see Red Dew mountain's sky piercing silhouette and the sect compound once more.
Kang Shui: 7 Clay Natural Treasure
Changjian Meinu: 7 Clay Natural Treasure, +2 Insights of the Piercing Blade
Extra: 1 Clay Natural Treasure
@Froggo Fantastic
Wanwuyishi helps out in the technique pavilion. He's mostly left to his own devices and develops an ingenious system for cataloging the various technique manuals. At the end of the month he is grabbed by the elder and gets to help test an interesting new formation that seems to be able to copy any manual placed in it.
Wanwuyishi job is mostly to move manuals in and out of the formation and then carefully check that there are no mistakes in the end result. It's tedious but important work.
Wanwuyishi: +1 Insights Path of Archival
Wanwuyishi: Knows where Techniques are
@rush99999
Being a resourceful sort, Hanyi Huoshui manages to source quite a few empty barrels from the kitchen. He then fills them with alcohol. So much alcohol. He is hampered by the fact that he drinks as much as he pours, and often finds himself in a haze somewhere else in the sect. But by the end of the month he has accumulated quite a large stash of alcohol in his quarters.
Hanyi Huoshui: Many Many Barrels of Alcohol
@Synergy
Fortunately Elder Huo seems to be in a good mood and after manipulating a formation for a few minutes produces a copy of "Heavenly Purification of Liquid Bodies". Jang Hui immediately takes it and begins practicing. It takes some effort with her reserves of qi, but by the end of the month she is able to turn small glasses of muddy water into relatively clear water. There's still a few bits of debris left, but she can feel that she's close.
Jang Hui: Heavenly Purification of Liquid Bodies 2/3
@Bylba
Lung Doji works in the archives. In the day he helps organize the scrolls and clean the archives. In the nights he studies all sorts of history and scholarly works on the various aspects of nature. It is a very solitary existence, but Lung Doji has his drinks to keep him company, and he broadens his knowledge on all sorts of topics.
Lung Doji: +1 Insight Path of History
Lung Doji: Can navigate the archive
@HousePet
Not wanting to waste any time and potentially forget crucial parts of the lecture, Pan Tingfeng works hard to fully master the movements and techniques embodied in the Red Dew School. He attends several additional lectures held by the senior disciples and while they are not as broadly informative he is able to ask the older disciples several questions that help him clear up some of his confusion about some of the more esoteric parts of the school. By the end of the month he is confident that he has a solid grasp on the Red Dew School and is well prepared for anything.
Pan Tingfeng: Red Dew School Learned 3/3
@_Plague Doctor_
Putting his insights into time to good use, Riyadh works on his practical technique. He practices speeding up his own perception over and over again until he can do it easily and instinctively. It doesn't last very long, but in times of crisis it should let him stretch out a few seconds into enough time to really think things through.
Riyadh: Technique "Temporal Perception" 3/3
That should be everyone. Please let me know if I missed your action.
For the lines that say extra that is to be divided by the participants.
| Hawk "Primal Monkey" Cyr: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: 0/9 |
| Lung Doji: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Hanyi Huoshui: Tempered Eyes: 2/5 |
| Wu Ji Nin: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Song Zhili: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: 2/9 |
| Li: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Sum of 7, 3, and 5: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Riyadh: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Wanwuyishi de Xin: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 4/7 |
| Jin Mei: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| Changjian Meinu: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: 0/9 |
| Wuyin: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: 1/9 |
| Bai Kouta: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| Hong Xing: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 6/7 |
| Gu Jin: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: 5/9 |
| Luòtuó: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Liao Chuanli: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Bái Yǔ: Tempered Eyes: 2/5 |
| Feng Shou: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 1/7 |
| Xìngyùn xīng: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: Done, Tempered Heart: Done, Tempered Stomach: Done |
| Pan Tingfeng: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 1/7 |
| Zise Ren: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| Cai Delan: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| Daiki Inoue: Tempered Eyes: 4/5 |
| Gan Jia: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| Liang Xinyue: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 3/7 |
| Ding Dong: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Jang Hui: Tempered Eyes: 4/5 |
| Yu Siyuan: Tempered Eyes: 3/5 |
| Jian Ke: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 3/7 |
| Maggot Gravedirt: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 6/7 |
| Kang Shui: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 2/7 |
| Jiang Chen: Tempered Eyes: 4/5 |
| Liu Jin: Tempered Eyes: Done, Tempered Lungs: 0/7 |
| June Peng: Tempered Eyes: 2/5 |
If you haven't already roll a 1d20 for every tempered organ you gained this turn.
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