Essence Fever

[Aria the Mage]

You are entering the Climbing Vines Sect, in order to become one of its disciples and use your powers to support the Empire in its battle against demons, invaders, rebels, and hungry ghosts. Your future power, that is, for while you may have the ability to touch the Essence of the world, you haven't yet done so. Indeed, you are a peasant child, born to ordinary parents, who know nothing of the secrets of the universe.

Of course, that isn't true. In fact…

[ ] None of it is true! The blood of the dragons runs through your veins! Sure, it may runner thinner than some, but you are hardly a peasant's child! You are grateful to Beautiful Dawn and Steadfast Grain, who took you into their home, but they aren't your parents. You haven't seen your parents…for a long time. A friend dared you to come with her when she snuck out during Calibration…and you didn't return to school the next morning.

[ ] It's entirely unrelated to the truth. The only thing that rings true is the bit about your parents. If you couldn't shapeshift, this "imperial tester" might have gotten a bit suspicious. When you got caught up in this "imperial test", you thought that you could hide your power from this artifact they used, and decide what to do next on your own terms after getting a read on the situation. Instead, you had to pretend to be one of the divine scions they're drafting, or make a scene. And this village may be welcoming, but it doesn't have any leads about getting you home. You'll need to find some other way to slip back into the Ways of unreality.

 

[Aria the Mage]

You are a young scion of the Realm, 14 years when Calibration last passed, when you last saw your family. Well, you wouldn't have seen them for a while anyway. Mother had been busy this year, so you had to stay at school, and Ledaal Keruna decided to sneak out with you to cheer you up….you hope she's alright.

As a young scion of the Realm, the most notable thing about is that you are a Prince of the Earth, one of the Terrestrial Exalted. But even amongst your peers you were notable for your….



[] Quickness of mind
[] Physical ability
[] Social connections


And your peers, if not your teachers, certainly noted your


[] Courage in the face of danger.
[] Kindness, even to those beneath you
[] Unshakable certainty
[] Untemptable spirit


Of course, you are of the Dragon-Blooded,

[] And so your virtue is unremarkable for one virtuous enough that this incarnation was graced with the Dragon's blood.
[] Remarkable, even for those of the deepest moral character.


Yet perhaps even this is not so remarkable, as compared to

Choose Up To 1 Boon


[] The undeniable purity of your blood. No, only the Empress has blood purer than yours. Your peers have whispered of infidelity, or that your blood will not run true, but your power is certainly truer than theirs, and the grace of the dragons is undeniable.

[] Your incredible diligence. While your peers are certainly not lazy, you might make them feel so. It isn't that you don't have fun. It's just that you don't have it often.

[] The brilliance of your mind. When your peers struggle to learn, you understand it in moments. If you can't remember something, it's because you didn't bother to learn it.


Yet for all of such a gift, you….

If a Boon if Chosen, so must be a Bane


[] Your blood runs thinner than any of your peers. Not so thin as an Outcaste's, certainly….but even you have wondered if your mother was truly faithful. Or if your father convinced your mother to hide an…..inconvenient dalliance.

[] You are simply lazy. At least, that is what your parents say. And your teachers. You won't argue. When your peers labor, you relax. Surely there's nothing wrong with taking life at a slower pace?

[] You've always struggled with learning. Reading, katas, etiquette. It all came slow and with great effort. When your peers understand something, you need to go over it again. And again. It's not that you're stupid. You always understand eventually. It just takes a while.

 

[Aria the Mage]

You are indeed a Dynast of the Realm, born to a family of good standing. But everyone begins somewhere.

What is your Aspect?
[ ] Water
[ ] Wood
[ ] Fire
[ ] Air
[ ] Earth

You are of what House?
[ ] Write in

And you are named?
[ ] Write in (Personal name)

And while you are far from your home, there are other things worth mentioning.

[ ] Write in - Assign 9 dots in backgrounds. None may be higher than 3.

Note: Character creation is almost done: I'll handle the character sheet after this. This is finishing off everything that I think players should be able to decide.

 

[Aria the Mage]

Tepet Theresa - Air Aspect

Essence - 2

Essence Pools
Personal - 15/15
Peripheral - 20/20 (10 Attuned)
Anima Flare - 0

Cultivation

Step - 2

Permanent Willpower - 10
Current Willpower - 9/10

Virtues & Virtue Channels

Compassion - 5/5
Temperance - 2/2
Conviction - 2/2
Valor - 2/2

Limit - 0/10

Boon - Fast Learner

Theresa learns incredibly quickly.

Effects - When learning from a tutor, bank an experience towards a skill for every 10 successes they roll, rather than 25. Techniques are stabilized with half the Essence, and only need xp to upgrade on odd numbered levels.

Bane - Fatiguable

Theresa is less diligent than her peers. In time, she has grown to accept that.

Effects - Possible social consequences. -1 Action.

Backgrounds

Resources 1 - Family Stipend

Connections 2 - I know everyone in Red River Bridge, and many people in nearby towns.

Connections 1 - Climbing Vines

Allies 2 - Starlit Night was also recruited from the Red River area. They're my friend.

Followers 1 - Climbing Roses, a girl from Red River Bridge, has decided to tag along in the hope of adventure. She'll be willing to do menial labor for a few weeks, maybe… but she'll want something more exciting at some point.
I hope I don't have to tell her family she died. Mortals are so fragile.

Artifact 3 - Mela's Fury

This powerbow was wielded by several generations of the Tepet family, passed to their youngest daughter when she showed talent for the bow.

Commitment: 10 m

When the Dragon-Blooded's anima is at the 16+ motes level and she has attuned her anima to the winds, she may, if using Dragon-Graced arrow, pay an additional mote and cast her anima into her arrow. It deals an additional Essence lethal damage, and nullifies her anima power and flux for Essence ticks. She cannot use this power while her anima is nullified. The arrow, if made of mortal materials, is destroyed by the force of the Essence channeled through it.

Speed 6 Accuracy +1 Damage +3 Rate 3 Range 350 ft

Jade Bonus: Speed -1 Range +50 ft

Attributes Abilities Charms Techniques

• Strength: 1
  Dexterity: 4
  Stamina: 2 - 1 XP banked.
  
  Charisma: 2
  Manipulation: 5
  Appearance: 3
  
  Perception: 5
  Intelligence: 2
  Wits: 2
• Air
  
  [Caste] Linguistics - 3 ~ Specialty - Standard Imperial
  [Caste] Lore - 3
  [Caste] Occult - 0
  [Caste] Stealth - 0
  [Caste] Thrown - 0
  
  Earth
  
  Awareness - 0
  Craft - 0
  Integrity - 0
  Resistance - 0
  War - 1
  
  Fire
  
  Athletics - 0
  Dodge - 2
  Melee - 1
  [Favored] Presence - 1
  [Favored] Socialize - 3
  
  Water
  
  Bureaucracy - 0
  Investigation - 2 ~ Specialty 1 - Conducting Interviews
  Larceny - 0
  Martial Arts - 1
  Sail - 0
  
  Wood
  
  Archery - 3 ~ Specialty 2 - Covered by an Ally
  Medicine - 1
  [Favored] Performance - 1
  Ride - 1
• Air
  
  First Linguistics Excellency - Essence Overwhelming
  
  Reflexive Charm. Add 2 dice per mote spend to a Linguistics pool, to a maximum of Ability + Specialty.
  
  
  Language Learning Ritual -
  
  Duration - 1 week
  Cost - 5 m (committed) 1 wp
  
  Spend one hour meditating and listening to a language to absorb the language, gaining complete fluency for 1 week.
  
  
  First Lore Excellency - Essence Overwhelming
  
  Reflexive Charm. Add 2 dice per mote spend to a Lore pool, to a maximum of Ability + Specialty.
  
  
  Terrestrial Lore Reinforcement
  
  Duration - Scene
  Cost - 1 m per ally augmented, 1 m per 2 dice added.
  
  Augment allies with the power of the First Excellency. This Charm can effect up to the Terrestrial's Essence of allies at once, so long as these allies are holding hands. It can only boost dice pools up to the ally's own Lore.
  
  
  Elemental Concentration Trance
  
  Duration - 1 day
  Cost - 5 m 1 wp
  
  The Terrestrial meditates upon her element to augment her capacity to absorb knowledge, absorbing a week's knowledge into a single day of study. When used more days in a row than the Exalt's Lore, she suffers one level of unsoakable lethal damage for each extra day. This damage cannot be healed while this charm lasts.
  
  
  Fire
  
  First Socialize Excellency - Essence Overwhelming
  
  Reflexive Charm. Add 2 dice per mote spend to a Socialize pool, to a maximum of Ability + Specialty.
  
  
  Wood
  
  Dragon-Graced Arrow - Air
  
  Instant Charm
  Cost - 1 mote
  
  The Terrestrial can channel the power of her element into an arrow and unleash it upon her target. On a successful Archery attack, she can buffet her foe with harsh winds, subtracting two dice from their next action.
• Ghost Strike: Strike the ephemeral with physical force. Level - 0
  Spend 1 Essence and Roll Intelligence + Occult. For each success, every attack can deal up to Successes in lethal damage to an intangible being, to a maximum of Technique Level.

 

[Aria the Mage]

Beautiful Dawn was crying.
"Oh, but this is such an opportunity, Theresa, and you clearly aren't meant for farming, and the Empire will be such an opportunity, yes, but we'll miss you so much..."
You smile at the woman who has cared for you in past few months.
"You know that I can handle myself. I've been to school before, Dawn." You consider your next words, harmonizing your Essence to the element of fire as you draw the passion of Hesiesh into them. "I know that you worry, Beautiful Dawn. But you don't need to worry about me. Climbing Roses is coming with me, and Starlit Night will be there as well. I won't be doing anything reckless." You consider for a moment.

Roll Compassion - 5d10
3, 7, 2, 8, 9
3 Successes

"I promise. I'll be careful, and I'll..." You remember that Beautiful Dawn and Steadfast Grain are not literate. You can't send letters. "I'll visit if I can."

Steadfast Grain is calmer, but no less worried. You can read that on his face.

"Be careful, Theresa. The Empire protects us." He considers his words. "But protecting people isn't always safe. Don't get swept up in over your head." His features soften.
"You know that we care about you like our daughter, Theresa. If you get asked to join the army, or to marry, or something that a young lady shouldn't be choosing for herself, make sure to ask us. We can handle it."

You want to sigh, but you decide to be diplomatic.
"If I join the army or marry, I'll make sure to tell you first."
He does sigh. "Alright. That's all I can ask for."

Beautiful Dawn steps in. "Alright. Be safe, and make sure to eat well. We'll send you money."
She doesn't need to know that the money will be going to Climbing Rose, so that she can send it to her family. Their harvest hasn't done so well in the past years, but her parents are too proud to accept charity from neighbors that have little already.

 

[Aria the Mage]

And so you pack up your clothing and things, clip your quiver to your belt, and holster you bow across your back. When you used a mortal weapon, you wouldn't have left it strung like this, but imperishable jade and moonsilver alloy won't be harmed by mere tension.

Starlit Night meets you with "tester", Climbing Rose following you, and he points you towards a young noble who walks like some of your elders do when they've spent a long time in the satrapies. Like someone who thinks he can win any fight he might pick. He raises an eyebrow at the three of you but says nothing as he points you towards three horses. You recognize one of them, apparently requisitioned from Graceful Waterfall's household.

You help Starlit Night and Climbing Rose onto their mounts, and the four of you set of.

Over the week you travel together, you learn a few things about this nobleman. Like that he isn't much of a noble, actually, his mother was the daughter of a wealthy merchant, though you certainly don't tell him that. He is named Mountain Mist, and learned to fight from the martial sect you have been drafted into. You find that you are probably the best rider of this group, which surprises you a bit, but perhaps his family prioritized financial education over more meritorious skills.

When you arrive, you are drawn into a chaotic scene. Apparently the Empire sends recruiters each spring, and so the next week is spent assigning rooms, showing people around, and getting people signed up for classes. Surprisingly, you get to pick your own classes, though you are required to take 12 hours of classes each week total (the weeks here are five days, which is, if you ask must offer an opinion, barbaric. A week ought by seven days, to be divided neatly into the cycles of the moon, and classes are not held on the end of each week, which is a set aside for meditation. It seems a sensible arrangement to you; secondary school would have much improved by one day in five set aside for quiet relaxation. Apparently, you will be expected to pay rent. This is waived until the first week of classes begins.

You are required to take, each week, six hours of combat classes, and two hours of lessons in literature or philosophy, and because you are new recruit, you are required to spend two hours learning the laws and two hours learning cultivation. Whatever that is. You are somewhat doubtful they teach farming, but maybe they are so barbaric as to insist that farmers are the most virtuous or something. By how everyone acts, though, you think it's probably some sort of martial art inspired by farmers or something. Maybe you can take a history class to learn that.



Each action is 2 hours of labor. Theresa, because she is Fatigable, has 20 Actions each week. Sect rules require that 3 actions be spent on Combat Classes, and 1 Action each on Literature or Philosophy, Law, and Cultivation Classes.

Available Classes

Combat

Combat Conditioning - 3 actions
Spear Drills - 2 actions
Sword Techniques of the Imperial Style - 1 action
Advanced Sword Techniques of the Imperial Style - 1 action
Ghosts, and how to fight them. - 1 action

Literature and Philosophy

Basic Literacy - 3 actions
Excellent Poets - 1 action
Excellent Writers - 1 action
Poetry Writing - 1 action
Writing - 1 action
Rare Characters - 1 action
Morals of the Family - 1 action
Morals of the Cultivator - 1 action
Morals of the Subject - 1 action
Morals of the Soldier - 1 action
Ghosts, and Their Pains - 1 action
Barbarian Philosophies - 1 action

Law

Laws of the Empire 1 (General Imperial) - 1 action
Laws of the Empire 2 (General Provincial) - 1 action
Imperial Taxation - 1 action
Provincial Taxation - 1 action
Imperial Product Standards - 1 action
Imperial Laws of Nobility - 1 action
Imperial Court - 1 action
Of the Imperial Bureaucrat - 1 action
Laws of the Meeting of Sects - 1 action
Of the Specifics of Legal Burials - 1 action
Barbarian Law - 1 action

Cultivation

Cultivation - 1 action
Paths and Knowledge of Them - 1 action
Techniques (Theory) - 1 action
Techniques (Practical) - 1 action

Climbing Roses can be set to complete 1 task each week, which she will complete with her own abilities. She will provide 5 actions worth of completion to this task.
Current Mood - This is new and exciting!

[Climbing Roses] - Chores and Miscellaneous Tasks - Theresa gains 5 Actions over the course of the week.
[Climbing Roses] - Learning Something - Theresa will spend 1 Action, or provide another trainer. Climbing Roses will learn the specified Ability, or increase it if she already knows it.
[Climbing Roses] - Explore the Sect - Climbing Roses will look around the Sect, and collect information on important locations, as well as investigate anything specified.
[Climbing Roses] - Explore Nearby Town - Climbing Roses will explore the nearby town, and make note of anything interesting. She will also investigate anything specified.
[Climbing Roses] - Explore Nearby Forest This is too dangerous to ask of Climbing Roses. (This goes against a Primary Virtue. If this is chosen, Compassion will be rolled. If the roll succeeds, Willpower will need to be paid)
[Follow on Adventure] - Ask Climbing Roses to follow you into an Adventure.
[Climbing Roses] - Write-in

Actions - Actions can be repeated, in as far as this makes sense. You can invite Allies to join you on actions, they may join you or refrain. You can also set aside time to spend time with them, and do what they want to spend time doing.

Attend Classes - Variable - Attend your classes. Unknown consequences may otherwise result.
Explore Sect - 1 Action - Explore the area and look for interesting things.
Set up Rumor Mill - 5 Actions - Create a rumor mill amongst your peers, and become an informal center of information trading.
Spend time with a friend - Specify a number of actions, and let your friend choose what you will do together.
Explore the Forest - 1 Action - Nearby wilderness, full of dangerous monsters. Sounds interesting!
Explore Nearby Town - At least 2 Actions - You'll have to travel to get here, but you could spend some time in town, seeing the sights and exploring.
Meet People - 1 Action - Spend some time getting to know people.
Teach Climbing Roses - 1 Action - Spend some time teaching Climbing Roses something. If she wants to get herself in danger, she should learn how to protect herself. Or she might get more reckless. You don't think so, though.
Work - 1 Action - There seems to be a list of available jobs by the Sect, to earn some sort of internal currency. You can see what you qualify for, and try to start getting enough to cover expenses.
Adventure - 5 Actions - There's a list of bounties. Or a list of angry ghosts and Essence wielding beasts that they "would be deeply grateful if a virtuous disciple though to slay them." With a precise amount of gratitude, in fact. Ugh. Bounties are beneath you, but angry ghosts do need slaying. - Start an Adventure, a short storyline with unknown rewards.
- The ghost of a woman enraged that her eldest son used her hard earned money to gamble and drink, and has returned to haunt him. Reward - 20 points. ???
- The angry ghosts of bandits hung by the government and placed beside the road, who have continued the sins of their lives into death. Reward - 50 points. ???
- A creature only described by a panicked survivor as "a mountain cat, but bigger, and meaner, and the teeth...it moved faster than I could see, and killed three men in moments! Reward - 30 points. ???
Adventure - 5 Actions - The nearby cave system goes deep into the Earth, and apparently has many demenses for those with the strength to defend them from the stranger things beneath the world. At least, according to rumor. It may be nonsense, but you could certainly investigate.
Write in - Variable - Anything else that you can think of.

Only one Adventure May be Chosen.

Voting should be done in plan format.

 

[Aria the Mage]

You read, slowly and laboriously, the list of classes and write your name at the end. A boy nearby stares at you and laughs; you wrote your name in Realm script rather than the local language.

Roll - Appearance + Presence

6, 1, 1, 10. 2 Successes

You raise one eyebrow, turning towards him. You stare, for a moment. He mumbles an apology and turns away, avoiding your gaze.

The matter so resolved, you sign up for your classes.

Combat conditioning…will suck, probably, and you'd rather learn about ghosts, which would be useful, at least, but you want to embarrass yourself with a sword or spear even less. Ugh. You are, quite frankly, in need of both remedial literacy and writing, as embarrassing as that is. If only wherever this is used normal script, you wouldn't have this problem. You sign up for the legal classes most likely to be relevant for you, and every "cultivation" class save the eponymous. If it's actually farming, you won't waste as much time.

And so Climbing Roses fetches you breakfast each day this week, while you grab a few more minutes of sleep before making your way to "combat conditioning" for a bit longer than an hour each day.

Roll - Conviction

10, 3. 2 Successes. Each day, spend 2 Willpower without spending reserves.

It is as miserable as you feared.

6/10 "Free" Willpower Spent

You push on nonetheless, pushing you body to the edge of capability over and over again. You improve, though it is no thanks to your teacher. Rising Smoke yelled at a boy who collapsed from overexertion until he cried, and you had to get him a drink of water. You've had harsh teachers before, but none so incompetent.

Rising Smoke rolls 11 successes. 11/10 = 1 xp banked towards Stamina 3.



Remedial Literacy class, is, at least, better taught. You attend with diligence, if not enthusiasm.


4 Free Willpower Spent. 25 Successes rolled. 25/10 = 2 xp banked towards Standard Imperial Language.

You begin developing a functional grasp on writing this new language. In a few days, you have most of it down. You have always learned quickly, and Winding Road is a good teacher, able to tell where a student is and grasp what needs to be explained next.

6 Successes

You push yourself past the point of real sustainability, and master writing to your satisfaction, if not in any objective sense.

1 Willpower Spent

11/10 = 3 total xp banked towards Linguistics Specialty - Standard Imperial. Specialty gained!

At this point, you are fairly certain that you've learned everything you can from this class.


After such a morning, you tend to zone out in law classes, details of protocol fleeing from your mind like mist before a breeze. (Free Willpower is spent. Theresa will not spend Willpower in this circumstance, unless otherwise specified.

You do, however, try to pay a bit more attention during cultivation classes. And Climbing Roses hands you a cup of hot tea before each class. She's wonderful.

"A Path" the lecturer begins. "Is a method, a philosophy, and a statement of intent. When you have begun to cultivate, and take the essence of the world into yourself, you, eventually, will likely find yourself at a point of understanding. No longer infusing the body with essence, but the soul itself. In that moment, you combine essence and spirit into one, and take the next step on your path."

Oh. That's what "cultivating" is.

Roll - Intelligence + Occult

4, 3. 0 successes.

You have absolutely no idea what any of that means.

Nonetheless, you take notes as he continues to speak. Maybe it will make sense later.

"A Path, then, is beyond any of you, but may not continue to be so! And so, we will study the most common of these, that you may expose yourself to them before the matter is truly urgent. We will begin with the simplest of them, the one all of you have begun upon!"

Oops.

Paths Discovered

Step 1 (Universal) - Body Refinement

Increase physical attributes. Each dot requires 5^1.5 Essence per dot. Second requires (5^1.5)^1.5, and so on.

Step 2

Core Refinement: permits the cultivator to store Essence equal to Stamina + Willpower. Refinements count.
Path of the Body: Develop physical mutations. If mutations cannot be combined into coherent theme, Third Step is not possible. Mutations cost 2^1.5 Essence per dot. Mutations must be developed in full. Mutations can be converted when appropriate. (Use Revlid's Mutation system)
Path of the Crafter: Adds an attunement slot.
Path of the Chef: Can infuse food that one crafts with 1 Essence.

Technique classes are more helpful, really. Apparently, a technique is a supernatural ability developed with a source of external essence. Techniques can be learned from other people, created through experimenting, or occasionally come to people in moments of inspiration.

Technique Gained -
Ghost Strike: Strike the ephemeral with physical force. Level - 0

Spend 1 Essence and Roll Intelligence + Occult. For each success, every attack can deal up to Successes in lethal damage to an intangible being, to a maximum of Technique Level.

Upgrade: Spend 2 1 Essence and 1 xp.

Theresa's Notes - Whenever it says Essence, it means the external essence. The stuff I respirate is too...airy, I suppose. Too attuned to my element to bind into something solid, even when I resonate it with a different element.

 

[Aria the Mage]

You aren't wasting your time outside of classes. Your mother would be proud, you think. You eat meals with your peers, explore the area, and meet people as you do so. You give bits and pieces of information (Don't sign up for Rising Smoke's classes, he's a poor teacher, if need money for your family talk to Crystal Lotus, she'll sponsor you if you pay her back) and you listen. And you trade that information too, as well as less important things. Seats as a table. Introductions to peers. You weave spiderwebs of connections around everyone you talk to, and pull on them so gently that it goes unnoticed.

Roll - Manipulation + Socialize + Excellency

1, 5, 4, 4, 2, 7, 5, 6, 2, 10, 7. 4 successes

You have no family name to back you up, no allies with real skill in this, no position to support you. If you were any less skilled you would fail. But barely, slowly, by the grace of Hesiesh and every drop of skill you have won, you make contacts. You make connections. You weave, lightly, barely, but you have succeeded.

Background Gained - Connections 1 - Climbing Vines
To go farther would require station, name, or connections. You cannot make contacts with those of greater stations without leverage you simply don't yet have.

You have succeeded.

And you make time to teach Climbing Roses the skills she will need. Combat, if she insists on being so reckless as to seek it, and social grace, to better serve you. Archery will suit her well. First, to obtain a bow.

Work - Intelligence + Linguistics - 5 Dice

You spent two hours copying a few pages of a text that one of your peers needs. The sect, sensibly, pays for part of the copying, which means that she could afford to pay you a sect point (Some sort of script currency. Perhaps they are aware that sacred jade is too precious for mortals to use for so mundane a use). This is enough to barter for a bow from a wealthier student, who sells mundane items to other disciples in return for the sect's script, which cannot be easily converted to and from silver coinage.

Teaching - Perception + Archery

10, 2, 1, 10, 1, 3, 3, 7. 5 successes. 5/25 successes banked.

She is clearly delighted to be learning a weapon, and carries her new bow with her at all times. You do manage to teach her how to string and unstring it properly. She only tried to mimic your habit at first, and you managed to explain how that wouldn't work for an ordinary bow surprisingly easily.

Teaching - Perception + Socialize + Excellency

1, 6, 6, 5, 10, 10, 5, 2, 6, 10, 7. 7 successes. 7/25 successes banked.

She isn't a complete novice towards social interaction as she is in combat, and she is clearly less interested, but you do manage, pointing out each method you use as you build your budding network over the week, and testing her on reading people as you go about your daily life. She learns well, though with less enthusiasm.



And you explore the sect. You walk over the grounds, you read signs, and you talk to people. You question contacts, you make inferences, and you investigate in person when these things fail to inform you to your satisfaction.

Contacts 1

Discovered - Patronage System

Crystal Lotus, among other students born to local nobility, sponsors her peers with coin to send to families and use for their own purposes in return for sect points, acting as a system of arbitrage that lets them leverage their families resources to get ahead of their peers.

Resources 1 - 3 sect points a week.
Resources 2 - 10 sect points a week.
Resources 3 - This amount of money requires a personal patron, and specific negotiations, probably with contracts that give a noble scion exclusive access to the products of an artisan or the services of a skilled bodyguard.

Roll - Wits + Socialize + Excellency

7, 5, 2, 2, 8, 9, 5, 7. 4 successes.

You estimate that you could probably negotiate this sort of contract for 25 sect points a week, and the implication of future negotiations, without actually promising anything.

Allies 2

Discovered - Demesne Rental

Starlit Night drags you to a demesne they found, and when you ask later, explains how to reserve the use of a place of power in return for sect points. If you go in too late, though, the essence flows may be so diminished as to be unusable.

Demesne - 5 points per dot per action cultivating.

Roll - Perception + Awareness

8, 5, 5, 10, 8. 4 successes.

You walk around for almost an hour, and spend time reading over the rules for sect points, and how spending them works.

Discovered - Alchemical Aids

Apparently, cultivators are fond of using potions and other alchemical thaumaturgies to aid them in their duties. And they are evidently quite advanced in this art.

(Potions - A potion is a thaumaturgical creation that grants a number of mutation points for a certain period of time. Each week, a number of potions equal to Stamina can be drunk safely. More than this only poisons the drinker. Exotic potions are made using exotic ingredients, and are more powerful and much more dangerous. The sect charges 1 point for a basic potion.)

The most common potions sold to disciples are the Eye of Essence, a potion which makes the drinker able to perceive the flow of Essense, but blinds the drinker to the mundane world, lasting for two hours, the Skin of Iron, which hardens the drinkers skin like iron but induces recklessness, lasting for an hour, and the Lucid Dreamer, a potion that makes the drinker's dreams lucid for the next 8 hours, but also brings terrible nightmares if the drinker is not sleeping in a demesne aspected to a specific element, induces sleep almost instantly, and marks the drinker to any spirits of dreams as a being that seeks to cheat them of their due.

Discovered - Tutors

Sect points can also be used to pay tutors to teach a specific skill, for 5 points an hour. It seems more costly than practical, but perhaps some find it useful.

Discovered - Rent

After the first week, the sect begins to charge its disciples rent. Each disciple is charged one point per week for room and board, and one point for each servant, increasing rapidly with each additional servant. While you and Climbing Roses are housed for two points a week, two servants would require three points, and three servants six points. High quality housing, in a manse built to aid sleep and rejuvenation, can be rented for 5 points each week.

Discovered - Jobs

While the bounties the sect issues are available at any time, and can in fact be issued by anyone as long as the sect is able to take their cut of the profits, most sect points are issued in the form of smaller tasks.

Routine tasks, such as cleaning a building or running messages, usually pay a point for two hours of labor.

Copying is also almost always available, and the average copyist is paid about the same.

(Copying texts pays one point per two pages, and costs one point for three pages, because it is partly subsidized. A copyist can copy one page in an hour for each five dice in their calligraphy pool they have.)

More complex tasks, such as repairing books or brewing potions, usually pay five to eight points for an hour's labor, assuming that the disciple has enough skill to do so very well indeed. Even you would struggle with work to such a quality.

(An expert's task requires ten dice in an appropriate skill pool, including specialty dice.)

Roll - Wits + Investigation + Interviews

8, 1, 8, 7, 3. 3 successes.

Discovered - Exotic Ingredient Bounties

According to the handsome secretary you strike up a conversation with named Bright Victory, the sect also pays for exotic ingredients, to be used in artifacts, potions, and sometimes even cooking. You have no idea how magical materials and frozen lightning would be used in food of all things, until he explains that that usually means the meat of powerful beasts and essence active herbs.

The sect pays forty points for an exotic ingredient.

Discovered - Library

Bright Victory is so kind as to walk you to the library when you ask what you think the most important thing that new disciples need to learn about is. The library requires that a disciples pay a single point for an entry pass, after students one year played so many pranks on one poor librarian that a rare book was destroyed, and it was decided that making it more difficult to start causing problems would be more effective than punishing those who abused the privilege. Unfortunate, but still a low price for a permanent pass, in the end. A book in the main section can be borrowed for three points a week.


And you make sure to spend time with Starlit Night, who, ever cheerful, shows you the demesne that they somehow found in the woods nearby.

"How did you find this?"

They shrug. "I was just exploring, looking around, and trying to find something cool. And I did!"

"I mean, yes. Definitely. But…how? It's close enough that someone should have claimed it by now, right? Other demesnes claimed by the sect are farther than this. Not much farther, but farther away."

"I mean, it looks pretty overgrown, and it's off the beaten path, and looks abandoned. There were actually some herbs growing in it that I traded into the sect for some points. Should last me a while, actually."

"It still seems unlikely."

You'll think about it later.

"Anyway! We're here. And I noticed that you weren't in class, so I wanted to show you how to cultivate. So. How I do it, anyway, is I start meditating, and I push the essence into my body…

Breathing Pattern Discovered - Willful or Ignorant Breathing Pattern
Roll Willpower. Respirate Successes of Essence, to store or spend immediately.

Starlit Night respirates 8 Essence, and spends it and 4 Essence they have stored to cultivate an artificial dot of Stamina. Their three dot demesne now has 109/125 Essence.

"So, you try it!"

Roll Willpower

7, 1, 5, 10, 9, 5, 5, 4, 6, 10. 5 successes.

You draw Essence from the world, wrenching it into your body by force of your will alone. Your own Essence flies through your veins, answering to your every though without a moment's delay. This stuff isn't your Essence, it's drawn from the world, and fights every moment you try to carry it. You think of what you were taught. You don't have enough power to infuse your bones and flesh, it would sink back into the earth. But you can reinforce yourself. And so you layer power into your soul, building a foundation. It feels like it should be wrong. You are of the air, and this stuff is wood through and through. But it isn't. You place the last limb into place, and you rise. Your soul is more solid, but no less you. The wood changes, the element of life becoming part of your life, and so the power of your blood transforms it. You have built a foundation of clouds and winds, solid like the wall of a hurricane's eye. You feel more like yourself than you have since you drew your Second Breath.

(The only Path Theresa has unlocked is Body Refinement, which requires 11 Essence to perform. As she has no way of storing Essence, she spends 5 Essence to break through into the Second Step. She may now choose up to two Paths of the second step or lower. She does not need to choose immediately. This choice cannot be taken back.)

[Choose up to 2 Paths to develop. While almost every cultivator chooses Core Refinement, other Paths are chosen occasionally. Theresa does not know of every Path; she may perform further research, or even attempt to create her own.]

Later, as you both walk home, and you thank Starlit Night for the teachings they have given you.

"Don't worry about it. I can't let my favorite rival fail out!"

You roll your eyes. Like they could be your rival. No matter how lucky they seem to be.

Roll - Intelligence + Occult

4, 8. 1 success.

Starlit Night….Starlit.

"Did you ever mention why your parents named you Starlit Night, anyway? It seems a pretty odd name."

"Uh. I think my mother told me that she saw a new star the night I was born."

[X] Write-in You think that destiny may have laid a hand on Starlit Night, considering the odd coincidences that tend to follow them around, and the Loom is rarely kind to those it touches. Do you say anything? And if so, what? Write in a few sentences about the matter, or change the topic and ask them a few questions you have.