Remove ads

Dueling Fate

Voting is open
Reader mode
Hmm... The boat option is very mystery box.
Looks like we are at least putting in some effort into helping our team though, but I expect they will question our training methods of running away to sea.
 
The Meddler said:
The boat action was available last week and it's good for two weeks, so this should be our last chance to do it.

Apart from that I'd like to go for the martial training, survival training with the squad, then maybe silent rhythm? Also,@KreenWarrior did we get any XP from the social with Vijaya?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Oh, right. 2 rolls, +1 die to each from Vijaya's skills:
10 8 3 9 9 2 6 7 3 3 6
7 7 1 7 10 10 10 5 7 1 10

*blinks* Okay, you're now at 28/30 to the next level. Google Doc Sheet updated.
 
[X] Plan: Prep and Plunder w/Silent Rhythm
-[X] You already have some skill in the art of cultivation, and you're recently found a Qi spot, go forth and cycle.
--[X] Silent Rhythm technique, at the Prismatic Mudpots
-[X] You have a trial ahead of you, and your team's skills are not ideal for the challenge. You will try to prepare yourself and your team for the challenge of the mountain. (x2)
--[X] You will put the others through a wilderness survival course. Skill may often achieve more than any supernatural power.
--[X] You will attempt to help Yan by hunting for materials that would help your team's chances.
-[X] The Qīnghé is back in port, Captain Yang and his crew are looking to explore some isolated coves along the sects' shores. Three Actions will be used on this encounter – Rewards (???) – Available for two plans. (2/2)

Last time we managed to spar on the sailing trip for Valiant champion XP, so considering we're at 28/30 I'd rather spend one of our actions on trying to learn the Silent Rhythm technique.
 
Remove ads
Bruises and Books
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan: Prep and Plunder
    -[X] As a member of the Golden Reeds you are now able to access training and lessons from Elders and highly regarded Seniors of the Sect.
    --[X] To cultivate is to wage war on the heavens themselves, and to wage war you should know how to fight. Martial Lessons can be found by the open fields.
    -[X] You have a trial ahead of you, and your team's skills are not ideal for the challenge. You will try to prepare yourself and your team for the challenge of the mountain. (x2)
    --[X] You will put the others through a wilderness survival course. Skill may often achieve more than any supernatural power.
    --[X] You will attempt to help Yan by hunting for materials that would help your team's chances.
    -[X] The Qīnghé is back in port, Captain Yang and his crew are looking to explore some isolated coves along the sects' shores. Three Actions will be used on this encounter – Rewards (???) – Available for two plans. (2/2)

    The strike starts in your feet. Your foot grips the ground as your body turns, your legs tensing slightly, your torso turning further, as muscles in your shoulder propel your fist forward, trying to straighten your arm into a spear through your opponent.

    Nearly a month ago, you barely knew how to throw a punch. Any brawling you had done with other boys in the village had been a matter of using your superior speed and strength. Now… you had grown. Your body and mind were nourished by the qi that surrounded you in the sect lands. You had been instructed by a Senior of superhuman skill and insight, and you had forged yourself in sparring against others growing just as fast. Your mind and body had quickly assimilated the motions of this mortal art called after the Valiant Champion.

    Wu Chanying is no passive opponent, though. Her body is turning as well, footsteps pulling her body out of the direction of the main force of your strike even as her arm rises up in an attempt to bind your arm for a follow-up strike. But your experience with grappling Vijaya has left you very familiar with being grabbed and tossed about on the dirt of the training arena, and you have no desire to repeat the experience just now. A twist and a pull and you are free. Wu's loses no time in launching another attack which comes when you are already chambering your next punch. You take the palm-strike on your side, trusting the teachings of the Champion that letting a blow through to deliver a stronger one of your own is often the correct path.

    As you move again, you feel something. Your dantian flows Qi throughout your body with every breath, passively strengthening you even without active cultivation. If you understood your lessons correctly, opening the Gates will dramatically increase this effect on your body and soul over time.

    But this time, as you start to move with your punch, a pulse of energy gathers with it. You don't gather the energy intentionally - the Qi follows the action of your body, the flow of blood, the tensing of muscles. It's as though it knows what you're trying to do and tries to help you.

    The punch is on a different level than before. It thunders in, buoyed by the strength of your body and spirit working in harmony. You see Wu's eyebrows raised in a heartbeat of surprise as she throws her arms up in a cross-block, too caught off-guard to deflect the blow. She does, but she is pushed back several inches, an ethereal shockwave seeming to spread outward from the point of your strike, and her guard is broken as the blow sends her spinning.

    Your spirit and training almost make you follow up with the next blow, a kick that would take advantage of the opened range and send her sprawling. But you hold yourself back, surprised by what has happened.

    And also, by a distinct pain in your arm. As you move it, you realize that the muscles have been damaged slightly, as though you had overexerted them.

    The merchant scion regains her stance. "A new technique? I would appreciate the warning next time, Lind." You cannot tell if her annoyance is genuine or not, a fact that sends a worm of doubt crawling into your belly.

    A voice speaks up from the sidelines. The chiselled form of Hyun stands there, watching - you realize you never noticed him approach, a fact you file away for future contemplation. "Lind has just proved that his spirit is ready to begin training an Immortal Martial Technique."

    Valiant Champion Style Mastered. +1 Unarmed Specialization. Trait Gained: At All Costs: When gaining 4 or more extra successes (successes over an enemy's defense) on an unarmed attack roll, deal oneself (Str/2) damage to add (Str) damage on the attack.

    Strength +1

    You flex your arm, your curiosity numbing the pain as you feel your Qi circulate and wash through the limb, you offer a brief apology to Chanying before you look at Senior Hyun. It wouldn't do to continue to train a technique you've already mastered and you would prefer to not hurt either yourself or one of your sparring partners. Hyun nods to himself, reaching the same conclusion as he instructs you to merely watch the remainder of the afternoon's sparring session before he joins you on the sands of the beachfront.

    "I requested that you wait another week before I show you a technique, but to make you wait for no reason would be a waste of your time and get you just as likely to hurt yourself or whatever poor initiate ends up sparring with you."

    "Did you gather the techniques already?" You ask, sensing an opportunity that fills you with the same excitement you felt as when The Ghost offered you skills from the Empire's repertoire.

    "No," Hyun admits as he rises up and shakes off the sand on his pants. "But the library has many technique scrolls for your perusal. Some of them require contribution points, but the basic training is available for all. Let's go pick a couple up. Shame about the reading though."
    Together the two of you move back towards the center of the sect. Talking as you move. Hyun was born in the great city of Basking Phoenix, to a father who was one of the city's guards. A comfortable upbringing, though one with little to share by way of stories. Seeing the worst of the streets by day had made his father reluctant to let his son see the true measure of the city and once he was discovered he had been moved to the Golden Reeds soon enough. His dreams were simple, to build his strength and return to his home to carry on the work of his father in keeping the streets safe and its citizens happy.

    You in turn told him that your village had never really had law enforcement or guards. Law and order were instilled by the head of the village and any disputes or incidents were managed by the village as a whole. It was nothing like the grand city of Hyun's home, nor was there anything like the Imperial Observers of the Empire. There was no Ghost who lurked around the village outskirts waiting to step in at the first sign of trouble.

    It was just a group of people, doing their best to survive together.

    You missed it.

    The pair of you walk into the heart, through the markets and job boards. On one side you can hear bargains being made and see the pain of those who in turn had found themselves fleeced. Currency flowing in the favor of some as Chanying would tell you. On the other you see initiates and members of the sect fighting to be the first to look at the jobs on offer, claiming payment, or arguing with the officials if the points they've received are not enough for the trouble they've been through. Further down you can see a group of hunters, bows and arrows on their backs and their game laying before them ready for inspection.

    Further ahead, the tallest building looms over you both. A stone cylinder reaching out towards the heavens, and you look up at open windows to see initiates moving about, some sitting on the window's edge and reading.

    "We'll just be kept to the first two floors today," your Senior tells you. "Any new initiates are kept to the bottom floors unless they are given permission by a Master or earn their way higher. I can go as far as the sixth, though those who are the Sect's finest have access to all twelve. It'll have whatever you need, techniques, breathing patterns, the history of the sect or even just stories to help pass the time if you're so inclined. So long as it's been written, there's strong odds that the Golden Sect has a copy of it lying around somewhere. That said, the real trouble is finding things. Asking a research assistant to help you requires contribution points… or knowing the right person." He winks

    Vaguely, you recall you are owed contribution points from the night of the demon attack. You should spend some time to find out more about what they are, how they are awarded and on what they can be spent.

    "Spoken well for someone who has been in here less than any of his fellows," a voice sings out from behind you and your turn to see another of your Seniors.

    Hyun laughs. "There is nothing in your scrolls that Elder Yu cannot teach me with his fists, Min. Perhaps you would be better served leaving the stuffy archives and learning new talents on the sands."

    Min sniffs, turning her nose up at his advice. "As brutish as ever, you are as stubborn and as well-read as an ox Hyun."

    "So long as I hit harder than one, I take it as a compliment," Hyun replies before he puts a hand on your shoulder. "My wonderful Junior here is in need of a Martial Qi technique, are you willing to lend a hand?"


    Archives Search: Insight 4 + Assistance 2 + Sight 1 = 7d10
    2, 2, 4, 1, 3, 3, 9 – 1 Success

    "I can do my best," she tells the both of you. "However, the Archives are currently being reorganised and the majority of the material has been stripped from the lower floors."

    "What's left?" Hyun asks.

    "Better to just follow me." Min says and the three of you enter the Archive of the Golden Reeds.

    You pass by the guards who stand at the door, Min's presence allows the three of you to be waved through though Hyun does hand over two silver coins. You step through the door and walk into a land fall of endless shelves of which almost all are empty. Your feet echo off the stone steps, as you find that the three of you are the only members on the first floor. Looking up, you see scrolls and parchment flying through the air as your seniors go about their studies while initiates like you are simply not here.

    "Elder Ying decided the Archives needed to be reviewed." Min says simply as you and Hyun continue to stare at the emptiness.

    "Reviewed or torn apart?" Hyun mutters more to himself. "At least you've got rid of the monsters."

    "A small benefit yes." Min replies.

    Your eyebrows raise at the conversation.

    "Inkhearts, small but vicious little things." Min tells you. Sneak themselves into the parchment and if you touch the ink they can sap away at your health. A few pages in and we'll be picking your withered husk off the floor."

    Empathy 2 + Discernment 0 (Heart Reading 1) = 3d10
    9 2 8 = 2 Successes!

    You almost miss it, but you do not. There is a quiver in the librarian's qi as he speaks, a shadow of a cloud passing under the sun.

    Whatever reason there is for the archive reorganization, it does not have to do with inkhearts.

    However, you do not have time to pierce this veil, before you see a small table on which a couple of dozen scrolls have been stacked. Newer scrolls, which have seen little use judging by the lack of wear and tear.

    "This is all you can find for today, if you would like to come by another time I'm sure that Hyun can make an arrangement." Min says as you wander over and begin reading.

    "Don't feel pressured to choose one today Lind," Hyun's voice rings out as he also takes a scroll. "If we don't find anything that feels right I can have a word with Elder Yu and some of the Seniors."

    The Archives are small but there were still two possible techniques you were able to retrieve. You have chosen to study:

    [] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form

    [] A Blade's Edge – Sharp as a razor, your arms become encased in a sheen which cuts through anything it comes in contact with. (Sword Qi) Offensive Qi Form

    [] Neither of these techniques suit you, you will meet with Senior Hyun another time and find something more agreeable.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • I'm not necessarily against the Water move, given we are spending time with Captain Yang on their boat, and I imagine we might travel the seas if we go exploring cultivator route, it could be really useful.

    What do the rest of you think?
     
    [X] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form


    Seems the best of our limited options.
     
    [X] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form

    Defensive options are never wrong
     
    [X] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form
     
    [X] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form
     
    [X] A Blade's Edge – Sharp as a razor, your arms become encased in a sheen which cuts through anything it comes in contact with. (Sword Qi) Offensive Qi Form

    SORD GUD
     
    Both of them work well with our fighting style, but if i had to pick one.

    [X] Wall of Water – Protective plates of water swirl around your body, blocking the attacks of your enemies. (Water Qi) Defensive Qi Form

    Lets us focus on attack then defending ourselves allowing us to go all out even more.
     
    Last edited:
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Voting is open
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top