The in progress royal road rewrite of this quest can be found here
The biting chill of autumn was in the air, traveling down from the cloud-piercing mountains that formed the Wall. The other signs could be seen as well; the seemingly endless forest for which the province took its name had begun to change colors and would soon be a lurid riot of warm hues rather than a sedate sea of green. Of course, for old Hu, these things were a lesser concern compared to the hungry spirit beasts who would soon be prowling about the edges of his farm driven by the increasing scarcity in the woods. Mystic beasts that might feast on one's herd or tear out one's throat were a definitely one of the more pressing concerns about the changing seasons. Even a single beast slipping through could spell disaster for a small family like his.
It was for that reason that he was now pacing the perimeter of his middling plot of land, a scowl on his weather worn face. He bent down and ran calloused fingers over the faintly glowing cyan characters carved into one of the stone beast quelling totems that kept him and his family safe... for the most part. After a few more moments the old laborer removed his hand, his scowl still firmly in place, and spat on the ground in disgust.
It was cracked, there was a hair thin fracture on the eastern face. Probably from the attack by the Black Steel Bear that had tested the perimeter a few weeks back. He'd have to go into town tomorrow to find an expert to repair it. It would be expensive, but he'd be a fool to go into winter with a damaged ward. He could still remember that incident a few years back when he'd lost a neighbor to that kind of carelessness. That old bastard Ji might have been a cocky fool but his wife and the little ones hadn't deserved that. A right mess that was, but at least the Sect had sent someone to hunt down the beast that did it. Damn things got too smart when they tasted human blood.
Standing up straight with a wince, he looked in the direction of of the White Cloud mountain and the town that lay out of sight at its base. Finding an expert might be a bit of trouble now that he thought about it. It was that time of year again; the sect would be welcoming new disciples, and many of the old ones would be up on the mountain taking examinations. That meant finding a sealing expert open for business would be a pain.
Hu supposed he couldn't grumble much though. If that pair of outer disciples hadn't driven that blood crazed bear off he might have a broken totem instead of a cracked one, and besides, he'd made a bit of a profit that day off the goldwood trees shattered by the fight. A smile crossed his well-lined face. Those lads had been so focused on carving up the bear they hadn't even bothered to check through the smashed wood. He'd gotten a few sun crystals out of that.
'Course now he'd be spending most of it getting his totems fixed, but that just meant the Great Spirits had been looking out for him, even if he hadn't known it at the time. He'd have to burn a few sticks of incense at the temple of the Bountiful Earth in thanks. Without that find, he'd likely have gone into debt. Growing spiritual herbs might be a profitable business, but most of it went back into maintaining his tools and fields at the best of times. The perils of being in such an expensive business he supposed.
Hu didn't much feel like making the trek out to town today, though. He'd have to send his youngest son out to look. It'd give the boy a chance to see some warriors in town, spirits knew the boy was bad at hiding his ambitions. He'd have to hope he wasn't too let down if it turned out he didn't have the talent for it, no one else in the family did after all. Then again, from what he had heard it wasn't something easy to predict. Having a disciple in the family would be a boon, but Hu wasn't one for wild fancies; best to just take things as they came. Hu turned his eyes from the mountain and continued his path. He always had more work to do at this time of year.
The streets of the town below seemed almost like rivers of fog from the balcony Minister Xiao stood upon. The damp mist which tended to engulf everything at this time of year was certainly not the best feature of this far-flung province of the empire, but it had a certain beauty from an aesthetic point of view. A rustic charm to make such an isolated place feel worth it, he supposed.
...as long as one could quickly return to the the dry warmth of their hearth and the comforts therein. He doubted those who had the misfortune of needing to be out and about today could appreciate the beauty. The weather would certainly not help shake off the current lull in trade, either. The Argent Peak Sect would be holding its introduction for new disciples today after all, as well as the advancement tests for the older ones, which meant the the shops and stalls ran by the Sect's more business-minded disciples would be closed. As a silver lining, at least it meant the various ruffians would be out of town as well. Half the inhabitants would likely be out gawking at the new arrivals and the Masters ushering them up the first of the Sect's mountains. He had heard there were several highly born candidates this year, and his people did certainly buy into the propaganda of the heroism and virtue of the nobility. It was likely his own fault, as he was the only 'noble' most of his citizens ever saw.
Minister Xiao only hoped that those children would remain in the Sect and leave the troubles of the court back at their homes. He was quite pleased to have been given the opportunity to leave that viper's nest behind, despite the greater physical danger he faced here on the frontier. He'd take the simpler and more easily understood threats over the deceptively obscure plotting back home, thank you very much.
Shaking off sour memories, the Minister sighed and returned his thoughts to the likely low revenues for the day. Thoughtfully running his fingers through the luxurious, if greying strands of his beard amidst his musings, he turned away from the view of the city to go back inside. He supposed he could not begrudge the Sect its crass behavior. After all, it was due to their efforts that his town could even exist so close to the border. That said, the younger disciples had a terrible habit of breaking things at times. At least the Sect Elders were dependable in regards to paying restitution… though they were often irritatingly condescending in doing so.
No, he had greater concerns in any case. His gaze flicked to the side as he reentered his manor, where one of his attendants stood with a stack of ledgers in his arms a few steps away from the balcony door, and silently gestured for the younger man to follow him. No, the real concern was that this day would also bring an inspection from an agent of the Ministry of Integrity. Their agents were… unsettling at the best of times, and could not be offended at any cost. He had spent the previous week going over his records, double and triple checking for accuracy in his accounts. He had never allowed any truly large indiscretions in the decade since he had been appointed to this post, and he would not allow that to change this year.
Still, there was always some young fool of a clerk who thought it possible to get away with skimming from the coffers meant for the Imperial Court. Xiao had one such foolish young man in the towns cells now, ready to hand over to the Agent when they arrived. It was unfortunate, for such a talented young man to meet his end over such a trifle, but corruption was not tolerated in the slightest by the current Imperial Court. It was certainly a far thing from the light hand disciples received for all but the most serious crimes. He was assured by the Elders that punishments for such things were a serious matter, but he sometimes doubted that, given some of the repeat offenders over the years. Of course, there were things even a great Sect could not protect a disciple from, such as the assault or murder of an official like himself, or various other Imperial laws.
Hopefully there was nothing which had escaped his notice and the Agent could quickly go on their way without any other members of his bureaucracy needing to disappear.
Zhu Qing strode down the misty street, hands clasped behind her back, never needing to so much as slow her steps to avoid the early morning foot traffic. The sight of her plain black and silver gown, white streaked hair fluttering in a nonexistent breeze, and the featureless white jade mask concealing her features was enough to cause all those before her to give way with a hasty bow and a murmured apology. All was as it should be. She was fairly pleased with this city; since she had been assigned as the inspector of this region by the Ministry not once had she been forced to take any truly drastic action. The mortal governors were hard working, honest, and obedient to the edicts of the Imperial Court, as they should be. So much more so than the nobles and ministers of the more central provinces, who far too often assumed their own prosperity and position granted them the right to defy Imperial law. Perhaps it was that the difficult life on the border did not afford them the time for such indiscretions.
The Agent smiled behind her mask; not that they were without flaw. No one was, mortal or otherwise. She knew the minister had caught a thief already, due to the informants she had in his manor, and she was pleased to know that Minister Xiao was still as proactive as ever. She would need to inspect everything personally, of course. The man was only mortal, and he would miss things. She was confident that he would never need feel the touch of her Reaper, though. The man was too sensible for that.
The thought caused the spirit bound within her to stir, its icy qi pulsing through her spinal meridians for a moment and intensifying the phantom breeze that blew around her person. A man who had the misfortune to be passing her by at that moment shuddered face paling. He took one look at the frost forming in the wake of her footsteps before he increased his pace, hurrying away from the Agent. For her part she did not spare the mortal laborer a glance, quickly quelling her spirit with the ease of long practice.
Death aspected spirits were nearly always the most difficult to control, and binding the Reaper had been among the most difficult tests for entry into the Ministry. Zhu Qing's gaze drifted to the mountains that towered over the town as she recalled her own days as a disciple of the Argent Peak Sect. It had been an enjoyable time, full of youthful indiscretion, and she still thought fondly of it even now. It was one reason she was glad for the sensibility of the local governor. She would hate for her yearly return to be stained by anything truly… unpleasant. The accountings required for major purges were terribly tedious and time consuming after all.
As it was, she looked forward to completing her inspection, so that she could visit her junior sister for tea. It had been too long since she had seen the other woman, who was often out at the more far-flung forts fighting the barbarians. She had been assured in their last correspondence that the other woman would be home this year, though.
After that would come the meeting with the Sect Head, which she was looking forward to substantially less. He would likely be less than pleased with the response to his funding request, but sadly as much as Zhu Qing wished to see her old home prosper, she knew that the Empress' opinion differed on this matter. The Argent Peak was a major sect in this region, but at court it was considered to be one of the less crucial points in the empire's defense, particularly with the stirring of the barbarians in the north and west, and the difficulty in reining in the western lords themselves. Perhaps if the Sect had managed to produce a good crop of Ministry or Imperial Guard candidates she could speak to her superiors on the matter.
There was little to do about it for the moment, though. Zhu Qing's knew her duty must as always come before personal concerns.
The Emerald Sea Province is a wild place on the edge of the Celestial Empire, bordered to the south by jagged and near impassible mountains that are home to many nomadic tribes who look upon the soft men and women of the lowlands with scornful, envious eyes. It is only by the strength of the Immortal Sects which lie on that border that keep their sky raiders from reaching the richer and more prosperous provinces further north.
It is only the continued recruitment of those with the talent for shaping Qi and binding spirits that the Sects maintain the line, for despite their name, very few of those who walk the path of the warrior or sage reach the status of true Immortality.
You are among those who have been brought to the foot of the mountains to be inducted as a disciple of the Argent Peak Sect, one of the three great sects of the province. It remains to be seen whether you will make a name for yourself… or simply be lost among the crowd.
Forging the Path is a quest inspired by various xianxia, fantasy, and wuxia works, with a sprinkling of Dominions in the world building. In it you will decide the path and fate of a new disciple on the Path of Immortality. Your first task is to decide the background, talents, and gender of the disciple you will be following. Keep in mind that your disciple will begin at fourteen years of age, and thus their personality is not set in stone, and can be molded over the course of the quest.
Backgrounds- Determine the starting skills and attributes of your character. It will also determine, to an extent, the path of the quest. Your character is more likely to focus on the sort of conflicts that suit them after all. It does not lock you into a path though, as the character will be able to grow and change based on your choices.
[] High Noble
You are a scion of one of the great houses of the inner provinces… if one who is not particularly high on the line of inheritance, and not the most diligent of your siblings either.
Advantages: High starting resources, connections and social ability. Higher starting cultivation.
Disadvantages: Average innate talent, weaker physical ability. Attitude issues
[] Scholar
Of a lesser house, still wealthy and prosperous, but needing its members to work to maintain that. Was intending to take the Imperial placement exams before their talents were discovered.
Advantages: Good resources and connections, higher mental abilities and skills.
Disadvantages: Weaker social ability, lack of combat skills
[] Artisan
Child of a working family, owners of a fairly prosperous Spirit Herb farm, local to the sect itself.
Advantages: Some resources, Average starting ability. Numerous miscellaneous skills. Above average innate talent.
Disadvantages: No outstanding areas
[] Soldier
You are the child of a military family, more than commoners, less than nobles. You are nonetheless proud of your heritage among the fighting men of the Empire.
Advantages: Some resources, Higher physical ability. Begins with a weapon based martial skill. Above average talent.
Disadvantages: Lower mental ability. Lack of non combat related skills
[] Street Rat
You have nothing. Child of a prostitute and an unknown father, you have always lived by your wits and by stealing from others. Yet you were still discovered by an Agent as a budding talent, and now everything has changed.
Advantages: High innate talent, 'practical' skills, decent physical and mental abilities, Possible hidden ability?
Disadvantages: No resources. Very low social ability. Compulsory Military Service. Somewhat cliche
[] Prisoner
You are, as far as others are concerned criminal scum. A murderer branded and marked. Ready to be sent to labor unto death in the mines of the southern mountains. You of course thought your actions justified, and now your apparent talent for cultivation has granted you a second chance.
Advantages: Best Innate Talent. Good combat and practical skills. High physical skills.
Disadvantages: No Resources. Social stigma. Significant enemy from the get go. Compulsory Military Service
Only the title is required in your vote
Talent
This will decide which branch of the mortal arts you are more talented in. It does not lock you out of the other branch, and neither is truly more powerful than the other.
[] Melee Talent
You will more easily learn close range and physical combat arts with both weapon and fist.
[] Ranged Talent
You will more easily learn ranged weapon and martial arts, both mundane and mystical
[] Support/Exotic Talent
You will more easily learn skills which enhance or weaken others, as well as more exotic effects
[] Sensory Talent
You will more easily learn skills which relate to the senses, both in enhancing and obscuring.
[] Production Talent
You will more easily learn crafting, harvesting and other production skills
Gender
Whatever roles men and women might have among mortals, among those who walk the Path the difference is largely meaningless, something which most disciples will quickly learn whatever their background. This choice has no mechanical effect.
[] Male
[] Female
Name
And finally of course, everyone needs a name. The setting is chinese themed, so please keep that in mind.
[] Name?
Examples-
Male- Li Fan, Zhao Hai, Fatty Hao
Female- Xu Liling, Lu Zhen, Orchid Su
THIS VOTE WILL BE BY BLOCK, NOT LINE.
An example of a full block would be…
[] Scholar
[] Ranged Talent
[] Male
[] Ma Fan
With X's in the brackets for a valid vote of course
AN: mechanics will be explored over the course of the first several posts, but I will note that the base abilities are storyteller based, as is the dice system. The system has been modified fairly heavily though and is subject to tweaks as it gets playtested. Please wait a few minutes before posting while GM posts are reserved.
This is my first quest on this site, but not my first ever, hopefully any new readers will enjoy my writing as well
Social
Presence: ooo (13/20)
Manipulation: ooooo o (25/45)
Composure: ooooo (17/35)
Domain: o (47/600)
Effects:
Allies with whom Ling Qi has at least four dots of positive relation receive a four die bonus to spiritual defense, and a two die bonus to resolve and composure tests when within one hundred meters
-Ling Qi receives a four die bonus when attempting to discern lies or see through illusions.
-Empty
-Empty
-Empty
-Empty
Spiritual Cultivation:
Early Green Soul (7)-677/1200
Physical Cultivation:
Early Bronze Physique (7)-61/1200
Permanent Bonuses
+8 Qi total
+4 Health Box
-During Cultivation roll again for each 1.
+15 Bonus Qi
Reduce the successes needed for opening Meridians by one.
Breakthrough Value increases by 5.
+5 Auto Successes on Spiritual cultivation
+10 auto successes on Qi cultivation
+5 Auto Successes on Physical and Meridian Cultivation
+5 Auto Successes to training Imperial element arts
+3 Initiative
+4 dice to training of arts which use spine meridians.
+4 dice to Stealth and Larceny at night/+2 dice otherwise
+2 to dice for resistiung dispel of darkness arts
+2 dice on offensive clashes with darkness arts
+2 dice on all defensive clashes while a water technique is active
Permanent Non Die Bonuses
Wind Techniques require fifteen fewer successes after initial mastery
Ranged weapons require one fewer experience per mastery dot
Multiply die bonus of natural sites by 1.5(rounded up)
-Ling Qi receives bonus dice on all non-art cultivation equal to dots in the Larceny skill
-Ling Qi is unaffected by low light or darkness
-Ling Qi may store up to twenty five qi when cultivating, this qi may be added to the users pool at any time with five minutes of meditation.
-Ling Qi may reroll a single failed larceny, stealth, subterfuge or streetwise check per turn
Ling Qi received five bonus successes to the cultivation of moon and music arts
Ling Qi receives a ten die bonus to the cultivation of heart and lung arts
Cultivation Art:
Eight Phase Ceremony
Attribute: Moon, Yin
A mystic Art based upon consumption of celestial qi to improve and refine body and mind. Granted to those smiled upon by some aspect of the moon, in order to bring them closer to their patron. The form granted by the Grinning Crescent Moon emphasizes the mystery and hidden nature of acts performed in the night. Some part remains hidden to you though...
Effects
-Adds twenty dice to Spiritual Cultivation until Green Appraisal(8)
-Adds fifteen dice to Physical cultivation up until Bronze Appraisal(8)
-Adds fifteen dice to the cultivation of all Yin aspected Arts
-Adds ten dice to the cultivation of Moon natured arts
-Grants the user a two 'virtual' stones of up to Yellow grade per week
-Allows the user to bind spirits of up to Grade three
-User receives 15 successes toward increasing qi each week.
-User may apply successes on stealth and larceny tests during the week as bonus successes on spiritual, physical, Moon or Yin aligned arts, as selected at the start of the week. Bonus successes cap at thirty.
-User may reroll a single investigation or perception test per week
-User receives a three die bonus toward perception and investigation tests
-User receives between 1 and 30 successes toward spiritual, physical, Moon, or Yin aligned arts when discovering unknown information or hidden treasure, depending on value.
44/500
Attributes: Balanced, Neutral
This technique for the cultivation of qi is among the easiest to understand. Rather than sheer power, versatility, or any other more practical use it is primarily focused on fortifying one's Qi and building a strong foundation for later cultivation.
-Users gain seven bonus dice on physical, spiritual, and Meridian cultivation up until Late Yellow Soul Stage.
-Users gain a four bonus successes on all attempts to expand their Qi pool up to a maximum of forty.
-Users may reroll a failed check or test once per turn.
-User may bind Grade 1 spirits
-Total Spirit Upkeep reduced by 2, to a minimum of one
The evolution of the emerald seas wind arts focusing on the fleetness and encompassing nature of wind. Grants the user and their followers fleetness of foot and quickness of action.
Passive Effects:
-Provides four additional dice to all projectile weapon attacks of the user and allies
-Provides three additional dice to defense against projectile attacks against the user and allies
-Increases the initiative of the user and all allies within eighty meters by three
-Increases the speed of the user and allies within eighty meters by four
-Increases maximum range of all projectiles to forty meters if less
Active Effects
Against the Wind: oo
Cost: 6 Qi
The user chains their foes with bonds of dragging wind. On hit reduces the dice pool of enemies within eighty meters by four for the next four turns. In addition enemy speed is reduced by five and initiative is reduced by two.
Encircling Winds: ooo
Cost 6 Qi
The user grants allies alacrity and and accuracy, perfecting their timing to strike in an encircled foes weakness. Grants a five die bonus to the attack of all allies when targeting a singular foe, designated at activation. Each consecutive attack gains a stacking damage bonus of one, to the maximum of their weapons DV. The user may combine this skill with a projectile attack of their own, in which case they are included in the bonuses.This effect lasts three turns, though the stack resets each turn.
Shielding Gale: oo
Cost: 5 Qi
Instant, Response
The user releases a sudden pulse of qi in an expanding spiral around themselves, kicking up furious winds. Provides five dice of defense against projectile attacks targeted at allies or the user within sixty meters, which lasts two turns. As a secondary effect, on a successful clash, all enemies within ten meters of the user are pushed back twenty meters, suffering a DV 1 attack.
On the Wind: ooo
Cost 7 Qi
Instant
The user guides the wind to bolster her allies movements, granting an additional eight speed and two initiative to the user and allies within eighty meters for two turns. In addition speed or initiative dampening effects are dispelled on a successful clash. The user receives a four die bonus on this dispel clash
Fleeting Strike: ooo
Cost 8 Qi
The users command of the wind surges into a mighty gale, driving back onrushing foes and enabling escape. The user makes a projectile attack with a five die bonus against a foe within eighty meters. On hit, the target is pushed backward sixty meters, along with any other enemies under the effect of Against the Wind. This motion must be away from the user and their allies. If completing the push becomes impossible due to obstacles, the target suffers four basic damage. The push may be resisted with a four success Strength test.
Attribute: Darkness, Moon, Yin
Current Meridians: Legx3, Spine
Needed Meridians: Spine(8)
Max level: 8
Darkness has no form nor presence, and so those who master it learn to cast these things aside, and embrace the absence and silence of the empty night. This movement art focuses on understanding of this rare element allowing the user to move from place to place with little regard for what lies between there present position and their goal.
Passive Effects
-Increases user's speed by 9
-Increases user's initiative by 5
-Add three dice to all stealth rolls
-Speed and initiative bonuses increase by two in low light, and three in darkness
-Stealth bonus becomes auto successes in darkness or low light
-User adds five dice to their first offensive clash pool if attacking first
-User adds three dice to all offensive clashes against targets which cannot perceive them.
-User gains a four die bonus to physical defense in darkness
-User cannot be tracked through mundane means, All other attempts suffer a five die penalty
Grinning Crescent Dancer: oooo
Cost 9 qi
Instant, response
Calling upon the favor of the Grinning Moon, and using their skill at manipulating dark qi, the user's form is made an indistinct phantom, a flicker of shadow dancing between lights. The user adds six dice to their defensive pool, one point of perfect defense and increases their speed by 5. While active, the user ignores all terrain penalties, slopes or falling damage. Users may cross water or gaps freely as long as their movement ends on solid ground, and may move through spaces too small for their bodies, so long as they can perceive their destination. In addition the user gains a five die bonus to all attempts to escape from any effect that impedes mobility in any way, as well as attempts to bypass formations. Lasts five turns. When not activated in low light or darkness, this technique costs an additional two qi.
One with Shadow: ooo
Cost 10 qi
The user merges with shadow and dark, dematerializing entirely to slip from shadow to shadow. The user gains a five die bonus to stealth in this form and may move from one shadow to another without interacting with any intervening terrain or obstacles, even if they lack line of sight. While in this form the user gains one point of perfect defense(stacks with GCD), but being damaged ends the technique. Distance between shadows must be less than the user's movement speed, and must be cast be at least roughly the size of an average human. If the shadow in question belongs to an animate target, the user must succeed on a clash to use it at a four die bonus. On success, the target suffers a three die penalty on perception checks to notice the user. On failure the user is revealed. The user receives an additional five die bonus to their first attack against the target, this stacks with passive bonuses. Lasts four turns.
Seventh Step 43/500
Attribute: Darkness, Water, Music, Yin
Current Meridians: Heartx3, Lung x2
Max Level: 8
There are many forgotten places in the world where human kind does not tread easily. This technique is a part of the chronicle of a long dead wanderer, composed into music and offered to the smiling moon. It speaks of mist covered valleys hidden deep in the mountains and the mischievous and hungry spirits that wait in the dark, and the loneliness of the wanderer's path.
Passive Effects
-Adds four bonus die to all music based expression rolls
-Adds six bonus dice to all attempts to resist dispels on water and darkness techniques
-User receives no penalties for acting in low light or darkness-Permanent
-User receives three bonus die on defense against sound and music based techniques
-Expression is used as Mastery when using this art(does not receive the previous passive bonus when used this way)
-Instruments wielded by the user may be used to make sound based melee attacks at up to ten meters range. These attacks may be used in conjunction with appropriate arts without interrupting the melody. DV equals manipulation or expression, whichever is higher.-Permanent
-An additional three qi may be spent to 'hold' the arts effect for one turn as if playing had continued. Cannot be used if art is interrupted by hostile action.
Mist of the Vale: ooo
Cost 5
The users melody causes a light mist to roll forth from their instrument. The mist is filled with deceptive shadows and sounds, and weakens the light within to low light. The mist spreads to cover a sixty meter radius centered the user. An additional ten meters of radius may be added for two qi, up to a maximum radius of two hundred meters. All single target techniques targeted at the user or an included ally suffer a automatic three dice penalty. The user gains a four die bonus at stealth attempts within the mist. The user may waive the negative effect on up to five allies, while paying two qi for each additional ally included. This technique persists as long as the user continues to play and up to four turns afterward, regardless of weather conditions.
--Diapason of the Lost Traveler
The mournful sound of the lost traveler is an integral part of the melody, no longer player separately. The user clashes with all enemies within the mist with a bonus of five dice. On hit the targets perception rolls take a three die penalty, and attempts to leave the mist or move toward the user or an included ally result in the target doubling back unless a 6 success perception test is passed. Enemies within twenty meters of the user or an included ally do not need to make this check. Additionally the target suffers a four die penalty to defense while under this effect. Lasts for as long as the target remains within the mist. Counts as a two die effect for the purpose of dispels.
Dissonance of Night's Terror: ooo
Cost 6
Instant(If used the same turn as Mist of the Vale)
May only be used within Mist of the Vale. The users music grows low and eerie, punctuated by high, sharp notes, while the mists darken with indistinct and predatory shapes. Enemies within the mist suffer from immaterial attacks of phantasmal nightmares every turn. These attacks are DV 4 melee attacks, made with a two die bonus. On hit, targets suffer a three die penalty to their defense dice pools. This penalty stacks up to three times. In addition, on damage targets suffer one additional bleed damage the following turn.This effect activates immediately after the users turn when activated, and immediately before in all proceeding turns.
Starlight Elegy: ooo
Cost 7
The mournful and despairing tune saps the energy of those not insulated from the mist, making their limbs heavy and their thoughts clouded. The user clashes with all enemies in the mist with a bonus of four dice. On Hit, targets suffer a three die penalty on all clashes, and lose three qi per turn spent in the mist. Affected targets must make a four success resolve test or lose their active action the first turn after being affected. This effect persists until a target leaves the mist.
--Despair of the Lost
Alternatively, the power of the Elegy may be focused on a single target, drowning them in the endless mist, leaving them to wander as if alone and far from from home. When used in this manner, the clash receives a six die bonus. On hit, the target receives the normal effects of the starlight Elegy. In addition, the user makes a stealth test roll. The target and their allies must surpass the users stealth in order to perceive one another, which they may attempt each turn. While under this affect, allies cannot target or affect the victim deliberately, nor may the victim target them, as well as excluding them from the passive bonuses of allies. The victim also suffers a three die penalty to all offensive clashes while under this effect.
Travelers End: oooo
Cost: 8 Qi
In a distant, misty valley, far from the works of mankind, a traveler completed a melody and offered it too the moon, the final notes echoing long after his last breath. This melody is but a shadow of that… but even shadows hold power. Only usable if all other Forgotten Vale Melody techniques are active. Once activated, the mist no longer fades, even if the user ceases playing. In addition, attempts to dispel any Forgotten Vale techniques must dispel Travelers End, first and separately, even if it would otherwise dispel multiple techniques. While Travelers End is active, the qi loss from Elegy is increased by two, and the damage from Dissonance becomes semi perfect.
Locked until Green Appraisal
Attributes: Heaven, Wind, Yang
Current Meridians: Arm x3
Max Level: 5
An archery Art based upon the meditations of an Imperial General on the nature of shooting stars and meteor showers, and observations on certain spirits. Foundational art for several more advanced archery styles. Wraps the users projectiles in wind and infuses them with the wrathful light of the heavens allowing the user to strike down far away foes with powerful shots, piercing through armor and disrupting movement.
Passives
-Reduces all environmental penalties to ranged attacks by five.
-Increase maximum range of bows by sixty meters
-Adds two point of armor penetration to all bow attacks
-Adds four die to the users pool for all bow attacks
Luminescent Star: o
Cost: 4 qi
Gathers and infuses elemental power into an arrow to be fired, adding five dice to the offensive clash and adding four semi perfect damage on a successful hit. In addition this shot gains a further two points of armor penetration.
Disruptive Star: oo
cost: 5 qi
A more complex technique, focusing on the heavenly aspect of the art, the user's arrow crackles with latent electricity and when it strikes home, disrupts the enemy's qi and nerves from the shock. Adds three dice to the offensive clash, and on hit halves enemy speed for three turns. Additionally, on damage, attempts a dispel clash against the targets lowest ranked buff, with a two die bonus to the attempt.
Meteoric Shower: ooo
Cost 7 Qi
A honing of the archers ability to fire quickly, explosively increases the archers speed for handful of moments, allowing them to unleash a blindingly bright volley in the time of a single shot. Allows the archer to fire up to four arrows with a single clash at a penalty of four dice. Targets struck must succeed in a Wits test of two successes or be blinded. Successful attacks add two semi perfect damage each.
Falling Star Shot: ooo
Cost 9 Qi
Infuses an arrow with the force of a heavenly bolt, in a display of raw power that crushes defense and leaves the target reeling. Adds seven dice to the users offensive clash, and deals four additional damage. All damage from this attack is considered semi perfect. This attack gains two additional armor penetration. Cover and other obstacles do not grant bonuses to defense against this technique, as the arrow twists and weaves with the archers will. A full enclosure still prevents targeting.
Mastered
Attributes: Mountain, Lake, Balanced
Current Meridians: Headx3, Spine
Max Level: 5
The early form of the Sects defensive and perceptive arts. Through inner tranquility and surety of self, allows the user to defend against and dispel enemy illusions and crippling techniques as well. Through clarity of mind it allows the user to judge with world with sharp and clear eyes.
Passive Effects
-Adds five dice to all tests and clashes to resist or bypass illusion effects
-Adds five dice to all perception tests
-Adds three dice to composure and resolve tests as well as dispel clashes
-Adds four dice to survival, investigation, and empathy tests
-Adds three dice to spiritual defenses
-Allows the user to sense qi, out to two hundred meters away. The user may tell the cultivation realm of living things of their own stage or lower, and the realm of those higher.-Permanent
-Allows the user, on a successful perception test, to determine a living things primary elemental alignments, spirit binding connections and overall level of qi.
Serene Reflection: ooo
Cost: 5 qi
Instant, response
The user balances and cycles their qi, expelling external influences. Dispels up to two negative effects from the user after a successful clash, and grants six additional die to spiritual defense against the effects caster for three turns.
-Tranquil Rebuke
Centering themselves, the user finds serenity, and in doing, rises above the world, as the mountain stands above the earth. Any spiritual technique which targets the user suffers harsh repercussions if their technique fails to find purchase. If the user wins such a defensive clash against a spiritual attack, the attacker suffers one point of perfect lethal damage, as well as suffering a three die penalty to their own defenses for the next turn.
Discerning Gaze: oo
Cost: 3 Qi
Instant, response
Channeling qi into their senses the user greatly enhances their ability to discern the truth of the world, gaining four additional dice on all perception and empathy tests for the length of a scene, in addition if the user is under the effects of an illusion or other sense affecting technique, they receive an immediate attempt to break out of it, with a six die bonus.
Imperturbable Peak
Cost 6 Qi
Instant
In battle, he who maintains the wider view and a clearer head is victorious. Upon activation spiritual debuffs on allies within fifty meters of two dice or less are automatically dispelled, unless their casters cultivation equals or exceeds the users. The user may then attempt to dispel up to three other debuffing techniques at a six die bonus. In addition, for each debuff dispelled this way, the user receives a two die bonus to perception and spiritual defense for four turns.
Mastered
Attributes: Wood, Yang
Current Meridians: Spine(x2), Heart
Needed Meridians: Heart(6)
Max Level: 6
An old and well polished art developed by a once powerful but defunct family within the Emerald Sea province. The user joins themselves to the qi of the land, becomes as one of the mighty trees which stand in the deepest forests of the province, vital and sturdy. Yet one tree is not a forest, and so the user may extend their vitality to their allies.
Passives
+4 die to physical defense pools of the user and all allies within eighty meters
+3 dice to stamina and resolve tests of the user and allies within eighty meters
User gains a four die bonus vs poison and disease effects
The user negates one damage from poison or disease effects each turn
User and all allies within eighty meters have their armor ratings improved by two
Deepwood Vitality: oo
Cost 7 qi
Instant, response
The user channels their qi into the earth, spreading like a great tangle of roots to link with up to ten allies. On activation the user and each target are granted two temporary health boxes and a four die bonus to physical defense for three turns. On use the user may attempt to dispel an effect on themselves and each ally, with a five die bonus. Temporary health boxes receive damage first, and disappear upon being used. Temporary Health boxes do not stack
Ten Ring Defense: oo
Cost: 4 Qi (initial)
Instant, response
This user fills themselves with the vital qi of the great forests to protect themselves and their allies from harm. Grants the user a four die bonus to physical defense for five turns. In addition the first two points of damage the user suffers each round is downgraded one stage. Aggravated becomes lethal, lethal becomes nonlethal, nonlethal is negated. The user may expend two qi to gain one point of semi perfect defense. This effect may be used on allies within range. If the user is not damaged in a turn in which this art is active, they recover two qi.
Hundred Ring Armament: ooo
Cost: 7 qi(initial)
Instant
The user armors themselves and their allies with the iron bark of primeval forests. The user gains two points of perfect defense. This effect may be extended to as many as five allies, for an additional three qi each time. In addition, the user and all allies affected have their armor increased by two. This effect lasts 3 turns.
Thousand Rings Unbreaking: oooo
Cost 10 qi
The eldest trees of the Emerald Seas are mighty things, ancient and nigh invulnerable, akin to living mountains. By calling upon the image of their power, the user gains some measure of their resilience. On activation, the user and up to three allies becomes immune to effects which would move them involuntarily and cannot be grappled, unless the enemy's cultivation exceeds theirs by two levels or one realm. In addition, the user and allies gains a four die bonus to all defenses, and negates, for free, the first point of damage they would take each round, regardless of source or quality. While this technique is active damage to armor durability is reduced by two(Min 1). This technique lasts six turns.
Locked until Green Appraisal
Attributes: Earth, Dark, Yin
Current Meridians: Lungx3
Needed Meridians: Arm(5), Lung(7)
Max Level: 8
An art designed by a wanderer of the deep paths under the earth, where things best not seen gnaw at the foundations of the world. Yet in the darkness, he found truth. That earth and darkness are as one, devouring all things in the end. This art allows its user to surround themselves with that power, and consume the energy of their foes, and call upon the things that lie in the dark.
Passives
-User gains a four die bonus to spiritual defences
-The user regains two qi per combat turn as long as an enemy has been damaged that turn
-The user gains a five die bonus to perception against any target touching the ground
-The user gains a stacking one die bonus to offensive clashes each time the user damages an enemy. Stacks decay after one turn. (Max 8)
-Constructs created by Abyssal Exhalation are unaffected by the negative aspects of Abyssal Exhalation techniques
Breath of Stygian Depths: oo
Cost 6 qi
The user exhales, expelling the hunger that lies within their soul into their surroundings. This qi takes the form of poisonous purple mist and stretches to encompass up too fifty meters around the user, reducing lighting to low. The user clashes with all targets within range with a four die bonus, on hit, the targets suffers a three die penalty to defenses for the turn and loses four qi. This effect repeats each turn for three turns after. In addition, all targets suffer two points of armor degradation per turn spent in the mist. The user may exclude a target from the mists effects for one additional qi per target. Crawling Horror Constructs receive a four die bonus to all clashes when within the mist, and negate the first point of damage that would be dealt to them each turn.
Crawling Horror: ooo
Cost 9 Qi
Effect may only be used in low light or darkness. The user shapes their qi into the mold of the the things which crawl far below the earth. This wormlike creature forms within ten meters of the user and acts last in the turn. The worm has four health boxes and nine qi, in addition to armor 3 (durability 5). It uses the user's attributes for defense and offense, with a twelve die bonus to both pools, and technique dots for mastery. A worms melee attacks are DV 4, with one point of armor penetration. On hit, targets struck by the worm are grappled, suffering a four die penalty to defense in addition to being unable to move until they break free. Worms may expend 3 qi to give their attack a four die bonus and one additional point of semi perfect damage on hit. Up to three additional worm may be summoned for 3 additional qi each. Worms count as Late Yellow/Silver combatants and last five turns, or until destroyed.
Black Earth Voraciousness: ooo
Cost 8 Qi
The user fills their body and mind with a terrible unending hunger, and lashes out with strands of spiritual power to drain their foes of power. This technique may target one enemy or all targets save the user and their bound spirits within forty meters. If used on a single target, the clash receives a six die bonus. On hit, the target suffers a DV 7 attack, dealing one additional point of semi perfect damage. Against targets who have been damaged by breath of Stygian Depths in the last turn, this attack has 4 AP and deals one additional semi perfect damage. Against targets grappled by Worm constructs the attack has DV 9 and one additional point of semi perfect damage, as well as inflicting an additional two die penalty to all defense clashes. The user receives two qi back for each point of damage dealt with this technique. This recovery only applies to targets which have a qi pool.
Locked Until Green Appraisal
The First form of the Argent Sects melee combat arts. Combines the devouring nature of fire with the persistence of water to break through enemy defenses and bolster allied assault into an unstoppable flow. Together, no defense may stand against the Argent Sect.
Fire, Water, Balanced
Current Meridians: Heart, Arm
Needed Meridians: Heart(5)
Passives
Adds three bonus dice to physical melee attacks of the user and allies within forty meters
The Damage Values of the user and all allies within forty meters increase by two.
The multiple attacker penalty increases by one for the user and all allies within forty meters.
Damage to armor durability inflicted by the user physical melee attacks is doubled
Scalding Stream: oo
Cost 4 Qi
Channeling their boiling qi into a strike, the user washes away a foe's defenses, to tenderize them for their allies. The user gains a +5 bonus to their attacking die pool with a melee weapon. The attack is granted armor piercing three, and deals an additional one semi perfect damage on success. On hit the enemy receives a 3 die penalty to their physical defense pool for three turns. If an enemy with this penalty is struck again by Scalding Stream, this penalty stacks up to four times(Max -12) renewing the duration each time.
Pressure Crack: ooo
Cost: 6 qi
Instant
Uttering a command or encouragement to their allies, the user fills themselves and up to five allies within fifty meters with vigor and determination to strike down their foes manifesting as rising steam. The number of affected allies may be increased for three qi per target, up to ten allies. Grants a four die bonus to the offensive pools of all affected allies for three turns. Allies who attack the same foe as the the user add an additional point of semi perfect damage on hit and two additional AP. In addition, for each ally who attacks the user's target, the user gains +2 die bonus to their offensive clash against the target the following turn. This effect may only apply to a single target at a time.
Inescapable Flow: ooo
Cost: 8 qi
Instant
The user catches their foe in their rhythm, shrouding themselves and their foe in painful opaque steam that drags at their limbs, creating ephemeral chains connecting them to the user. When using a melee attack or art, the user may activate this technique, granting them an an additional point of semi perfect damage on a successful attack. On damage, the target becomes unable to disengage or move out of melee range unless they succeed at a four success resolve test. Targets effected this way suffer one additional point of semi perfect damage each turn they remain in melee with the user. This effect lasts two turn after application, but is renewed at no cost as long as the user continues to land successful melee attacks.
Fifth Flow 66/240
The early form of the Sects physical enhancement and movement arts, combining the flexibility of wind with the sudden force of thunder. Fills the user with the strength of the great seasonal squalls which beat down upon the Wall year after year.
Wind, Thunder, Balanced
Current Meridians: Spinex2, Leg
Needed Meridians: Spine (5)
Passives
Adds four dice to all physical defenses
DV of user's melee weapons increased by two
User's Armor Value increases by one
User gains three additional speed
User's initiative increased by 2
Rumbling Squall: oo
Cost 4 qi
Instant, response
Cloaks the user's body in powerful winds, granting them armor 1 and three additional dice on physical defense. While this technique is active, the user may negate semi perfect damage at a cost of four per point. In addition upon a successful melee attack, the user's target must make a three success stamina check or be deafened. Lasts four turns, but may be renewed for an additional 4 qi if the user chooses, this does not consume an action.
Thunderous Retort: ooo
Cost 5 qi
Instant, response
A powerful blow, charged with the speed of a storm's wind and the power of a thunderclap, which punishes those who fail to strike the user. The user falls into a defensive stance, concentrating their qi on countering their foes. Melee attacks against the user trigger a counterattack. This counter uses the users standard physical attack dice, with a bonus of four, and one point of semi perfect damage on successful hits. The user may counter a maximum of four attacks per activation, or, if unused the effect fades after three turns.
Boom Leap: ooo
Cost 5 qi
Instant
Gathering thunder qi into their leg's the user launches themselves forward in a powerful charge. This technique allows the user to immediately move adjacent to a target up to forty meters away, regardless of remaining movement or terrain impediments. Enclosures or barriers more than fifteen meters in height may still block this movement. If the target is in midair, the user may take falling damage after the movement. If the user makes a melee attack in the same turn as the activation, the attack receives a four die bonus, and an additional point of bonus semi perfect damage.
Fourth Rumble 33/105
Attributes: Yin, Water, Dark
Current Meridians: Lungx2(water), Arm 2(dark)
Needed Meridians: Lung(6)
Max Level 6
Passive Effects
Cold effects by the user gain armor piercing 4
User gains armor 5 vs cold effects
Basic unarmed and music attacks by the user gain two bonus cold damage
The user receives a four die bonus to all expression based offensive clashes
The user gains a two die bonus on all intimidate tests
Springs End Aria: oo
Cost 5 qi
Instant
The first notes of the users song herald the end of warmth, draining the heat from the area and around them and crystalizing the moisture in the air into snow and ice. Enemies within fifty meters suffer a four die penalty to spiritual defenses as the song saps their will, and the user gains a three die bonus to their own spiritual defense.The user becomes the nexus of the cold, draining the energy from their opponents attacks. Unsuccessful clashes vs the user allow them to recover one qi per three spent on the clash by their opponent(min. 1). Enemies without qi suffer one cold damage per turn. This effect lasts six turns.
Hoarfrost Caress: ooo
Cost 6 Qi
The user's song becomes the howl of of a blizzard in the depths of winter as they focus the expression of their will upon a single enemy. This triggers a spiritual attack with a bonus of five and an additional armor piercing of two. On a successful clash, the target finds frost spreading across their body as their blood and qi alike runs sluggish. This attack is DV 6, with one bonus damage, with all damage being semi perfect. On damage, the target suffers a four die penalty to all clashes for the next two turns. On hit, Damage is applied again on the following turn.
Winter Eternal Cadenza: ooo
Cost 8 Qi
The completing half of the Spring's End Aria, a song with it's roots in the bleak, frozen lands that lie beyond the Wall. Usable only while Spring's End Aria is active, this technique unleashes if only for a moment, the absolute cold of a winter without end. This technique triggers a spiritual attack against all enemies within fifty meters at a bonus of two. This attack is DV6, and deals semi perfect damage. The user gains one qi for each point of damage dealt to a target which has at least one level of cultivation. On hit, targets have their speed penalized by 5 and their initiative by 2, as well as suffering a two die penalty on all clashes, this effect lasts two turns.
Locked until green Appraisal
An art born from the nature of the dreaming moon, patron of artists and innovators, granted as a favor to one who impressed at her moonlit gala. This art calls upon the memories of that chaotic spiritual revel, allowing the user to use their qi to impress them upon the waking world, and move with the grace of a trueborn maiden of moonlight
Attribute: Moon, Yang
Current Meridians: Legx2, Lung
Needed Meridians: Lung(3), Leg(5), Leg(7), Lung(9)
Max Level: 9
Passive Effects
-User adds two dice to all expression tests
-User adds two dice to all socialize tests
- Users speed increases by five
-User gains a four die bonus on all physical defenses
-User gains a three die bonus on all spiritual defenses
-User gains a five die bonus on all rolls to escape grapple or confinement
-User receives a two die bonus on all rolls to begin or maintain a grapple on others
-This Art uses Expression as mastery for all techniques
Illustrious Phantasmal Festival: oooo
Cost: 10 Qi
The foundational technique from which all others in the art arise. The user gathers their qi and the memories of their night of revelry and expels them through every available channel in a rush of power and gleaming many colored mist. In an area eighty meters around centered on the user, ghostly dancers ever shifting in form coalesce from the midst in a riot of color, laughter, music and movement. When attempting to target the user, an enemy must succeed at a seven success perception test. On success they suffer a three die penalty on the clash. On failure their attack automatically fails and the threshold for the next perception test is reduced by one(stacking). Area of effect attacks which cover at least half of the area require only a four success test for hit. Effects which cover the whole area of the technique do not require a test. This effect persists for five turns, and may be renewed as an instant on the final turn for three qi. This technique is an illusion effect, affecting all senses.
Lunatic Whirl: ooo
Cost: 5 qi
Usable only while Illustrious Phantasmal Festival is active. The ghostly dancers gather around an intruder in the festival, laughing, singing and demanding a dance, forcing them to join the revelry. The user clashes with the opponent, and on success, they are grappled, and moved to a random location within the area of effect. Though the dancers will do no harm to their captive, the frenetic pace of the revelry is highly draining, and targets lose five qi each round in which they remain grappled. In addition, the target suffers a five die penalty on all attempts to escape. While grappled, targets may not activate any technique which requires arm meridians, or would carry them outside of the revel.
Third Revel Locked until Green Appraisal
Unequipped Arts
Unlearned Arts
Ebony Heartswood Flute:
A fine instrument, beyond the abilities of mortal craftsmen. Made of dark wood lacquered black and edged with silver, this flute channels qi into sound with great ease. Sturdier than any mortal steel. Contains the memory of Ling Qi's original flute. Adds three dice to all offensive clashes when used for music based arts and reduces the cost of darkness and moon arts by 3, to a minimum of 1. +3 on all Expression rolls. grants music based arts an AP of two, and applies a penalty of 3 to the dispel attempts of targets affected by music arts.
Cloudskewer Bow:
A bow shaped from molded cloud, made solid by intricate formations, it thrums with the energy of the open skies. Adds two dice to the use of offensive wind and heaven arts. Reduces the cost of wind arts by one, to a minimum of one. Armor Penetration 1. DV 7. Range 250 meters
Drifting Petal Blades ( x10)
A set of ten fine knives with a slightly pink cast, modeled off of falling blossoms. Adds two dice to the use of offensive wind arts. Reduces the cost of wind arts by two to a minimum of one. DV 5
Singing Mist Blade
A twisting obsidian blade that releases a mist between its coils. It pulses frequently, releasing bursts of boundless Hunger, coveting all before it's glorious sight. The holes that line it's white bone hilt release a terrifying inhuman whistling screech as it soars through the air. DV 8. AP 4. Dexterity+Expression. Darkness. This weapon provides a five die bonus to all offensive musical arts cast by its user. This weapons basic attack targets spiritual defenses and strikes a fifteen meter radius. On hit the targets receive a two die penalty to spiritual defenses, which stacks up to five times and lasts five turns. If a target has three or more stacks on them at the start of their turn, they must make a five success resolve test or lose two qi for each stack. Health 12
Swaying Twilight Gown:
A many layered gown of water smooth black silk with prominent white hems and a dark blue mantle split down the center like a pair of wings and embroidered with patterns of white lotus flowers. It's train trails behind the wearer, never touching the base earth. A finely painted silk panel is affixed to the front, displaying curling vines and white petaled azalea flowers, spotted with red like drops of blood. Made by an apprentice of the Duchess Cai, and infused with a thread from the spirit Liming, it's craftsmanship is near unparalleled, though its potential still sleeps. Armor 4. Reduces the cost of Darkness and Water and Wind arts by 3 to a minimum of one. Provides an additional four die to defense in low light and darkness, and two under normal light. Provides a four die bonus on intimidate and stealth tests. Self Repairs. Durability 15
-Wings in Shadow: At the cost of three qi per turn, provides flight at the user's speed, or negates any damage from a fall of two hundred meters or less
-Twilight Beauty: For one qi per turn, the user may reduce light levels to low within fifty meters.
Band of Occlusion:
A thin fragile ring of white gold, studded with three tiny amethysts. Provides a two die bonus to spiritual defense and stealth. Penalizes all remote viewing and divination attempts on the user by four dice.
Anchor of Eight Imperial Duties:
A surprisingly heavy silver choker engraved with each of the eight elements. -3 Spine art Qi cost(min 1), +3 dice to defense while using spine arts. +3 dispel resist
Fairy Flower hairpiece:
A beautiful floral hair decoration based off a certain notorious flower in the depths of the Emerald Sea. Like a plant, it drinks in the ambient qi, but when under threat, the rustling of its petals fortells the spread of hallucinatory pollen. -3 Wood/Moon art costs(min 1). 2 Qi regenerated per turn.
- Startled Blossom: for 2 qi, the hairpiece releases pollen around its user, disorienting a nearby enemy. An Enemies within ten meters must pass a DC3 Wits test or suffer a penalty of -3 to all rolls for 1 turn (this turn + the next).
Soaring Charm:
A woven bracelet with the shape of a bird picked out among its threads in jade. Upon being broken, transports the user up to half a kilometer in any direction. Landing accuracy improved by knowledge of destination, injury may occur if user is unfamiliar with target location
Lesser Storage Ring
A plain and unadorned grey ring, it holds an extradimensional space for the storage of objects. Eighteen slots.
3 Life Essence Salve
Heals a single point of lethal damage completely. Not usable in combat. One per week.
Spirit Restoration Pill
Restores twenty qi to the user. Usable in combat. Do not use more than once a day.
Heavenly Bliss Salve
Instantly heals up to three lethal or nonlethal damage. In addition reduces the healing time for up to two points of aggravated damage to one week. Cannot be used in combat. User receives a five die penalty on all actions for two hours after use.
Blinding Fate Charm: Attempts to remotely view or use divination upon the user suffer a two success penalty for up to four hours.
Fading Light Slippers:
A pair of martial arts slippers woven from the silk of sable silkworm. Adds two dice to all stealth tests while worn, and reduces the cost of dark arts by two to a minimum of one. Increases the users speed by three in darkness.
Champion's Band:
A plain and unadorned steel armband. Reduces the cost of spine arts by two to a minimum of one.
-Adrenaline Rush: By paying three qi, the user may ignore up to four die worth of penalties to their dice pool for a single clash.
Blizzard Pin
A silver pin with a snowflake ornament. Icy cold to the touch. Adds two dice to offensive clashes in which the user casts a wind or water art. Reduces the cost of wind and water arts by one to a minimum of one.
Stellar Shadow Tools:
A set of fine scouts instruments, including lockpicks, wires, etching tools and brushes. Provides a three die bonus to all larceny checks which would involve tools, and a single reroll on a failed attempt.
Fleeting Moonlight Shawl
It's hard to tell the color of this thin gossamer fabric. From some angles it seems like a pale white and from others a shiny black. Gives a +3 bonus to offensive clashes with Dark and Moon Arts. Perception checks against the wearer have an 3 dice penalty in low light or darkness.
3 Disciples Uniforms
Mother's Comb
An old comb carved from a piece of bone in the shape of outstretched wings. A gift from your mother, it offers a feeling of comfort when used.
Cultivator's Cosmetics Kit
Provides +1 to relevant socialize and persuasion rolls
Musician's Manual
A thin tome detailing tips for songwriting and composing, interspersed with minor qi exercises and other handwritten notes. +6 dice to cultivation of musical arts of second realm and below.
1 Qi Card (Formless Shade) [2 uses remaining]
1 Qi Cards (Formless Shade) [3 uses remaining]
Stores a single technique of three dots or lower indefinitely. A stored technique can be used once.
First Floor Archive Pass
Allows the holder unlimited access to the first floor of the Archive.
Jade Slip
Allows the user to learn the arts Sable Crescent Step, Eight Phase Ceremony, and Forgotten Vale Melody.
Jade Slip
Allows the user to learn the Argent Current Art
Pale Manual
a crudely bound tome with a pale white cover and crumbling pages. The text is indecipherable.
Soothing Streams Gown
A masterfully crafted silk gown fitted to Ling Qi at the request of Gu Xiulan. Armor 1. Provides a +1 to all defense clashes, and a +1 to relevant socialize rolls. Reduces the cost of water element techniques by 1 to a minimum of one. Self repairs to a minor extent restoring durability and fixing cuts and tears over the course of several hours. Durability 5.
-4 Net Arrows: Immobilizes target until they succeed at a 12 success escape attempt.
-4 Flare Arrows: Adds armor piercing two to an attack, as well as an additional point of damage on a successful one
-4 Disruptor Arrows: On dealing damage, dispels the lowest ranked buff on the target. Cannot affect buffs of four dots or higher
New Moon Puzzlebox
103 Red Stones
3 Yellow Stones
0 Green Stone
3 Sect Points
1 Imperial Eight Sets: High Quality second grade cores of each of the eight imperial elements
Rotting Pod: A hard, leathery pod, snatched from something growing beneath the darkness, shaking it reveals the sound of sound of seeds within. It smells faintly of rot though.
Entropic Mirror: A pane of reflective material, harder than any glass, sifted from the muddy bottom. In it your reflection is a staring skull, and all the world is dead.
1 Silverblood Pills
Adds ten dice to the cultivation of balanced arts. Adds one third of the resulting successes to spiritual and physical cultivation
0 Sable Light Pill
Grants five bonus dice toward opening meridians and learning Yin aspect arts. All successes in such efforts trigger a roll to increase the user's qi pool as well, retaining the pill's die bonus
Argent Vent: A small deposit of spirit stones surrounding a crevice that leaks silver mist. Provides 8 additional dice during spiritual, physical, and qi cultivation, and takes the place of the required spirit stone for cultivation. Provides 5 automatic successes per week during the cultivation of 'Argent' techniques.
Mineral Spring: +3 dice to cultivation of fire, water and earth arts
Growing Cavern: +5 to cultivation of Earth, Mountain and Water arts.
Starlit Meadow: +5 to Heaven, Sun and Moon Art cultivation. One fifth of successes added to qi cultivation.
The Black Pool: +6 dice to Darkness and Water Arts. Adds one fourth of successes in such arts to spiritual cultivation. Improves Resilience and Resolve when used
Windblown Snowfield: Adds twelve dice to the cultivation of wind and mountain arts.
Mystic Vale: Grants bonus successes equal to talent multiplied by cultivation realm to physical, spiritual and qi cultivation, Grants nine bonus dice to Wood, Earth, and Water Art cultivation.
Resources
+10 dice to cultivation of Fire Arts
+10 dice to the cultivation of Wood arts
+2 Armor vs Fire damage
+2 dice on all power/expression based offensive clashes
+1 health box
Upkeep: 18 qi
Spirit Beast Bonuses
+10 dice to Music, Moon Art cultivation
+5 dice to Wood and Water art cultivation
+2 dice on all expression tests and clashes
+2 on presence based tests
Alarm: o
Set up: Non Combat
A common defensive formation able to be set up over a single room or other enclosed space. Creates an immaterial barrier linked to the caster or a single other subject designated at the time of creation. If crossed by an unauthorized human or spirit, the intruder must pass a five success stealth test. On failure the formation begins to flash and emit loud sounds from the intruders position.
Thieves Bane: o
Set Up: Noncombat
A common security formation. Placed upon doors and windows, if the affected threshold is crossed by an unauthorized intruder, they must make a five die stealth check or be stuck in place by adhesive qi requiring a three success strength check to break free from. In addition if used on a locked portal, attempts to unlock via larceny suffer a two die penalty.
Thieves Monument Formation: oo
Non Combat
A common formation which, when inscribed into a lock, inflicts complete paralysis upon unauthorized tinkers. Triggers if the target fails to get a minimum of eight successes on a larceny test when attempting to open the lock. Clash for blinding effect is fifteen dice. Target receives a penalty to defense for each success less than eight on their attempt. Paralysis lasts one hour
Ossuary Scout: oo(4/6)
Non-Combat
Cost 8 Red Spirit stones
Duration: two weeks(21 active)
By carefully inscribing the bones of a small animal such as a mouse or frog or bird. You may imbue it with animating qi. The scout has a single health box, and no ability to attack, and moves at a speed of 12, or 15 in flight. The scouts stealth and perception are equivalent to the creators without any auto successes granted by cultivation or arts. While the scout does not share senses with the user, upon touching the scout and speaking a set activation word, they will receive a vision of what the scout saw and heard in the eight hours. For the purposes of opposed rolls, scouts count as two levels below their creators cultivation.
The tiny scouts created by the Ossuary Scout Formation are but a small part of the whole, when the time for observation has passed, they can be gathered to fight on their masters behalf. The construct created by the activation of this formation has a cultivation level equivalent to the number of scouts used to create it divided by three. Eg. A Horror created from 15 scouts would have a cultivation level of 5. The constructs cultivation level cannot exceed it's creators.
The horror has a movement of 21 and an initiative of 18. It's base combat statistics are as follows.
Offensive Clashes: 18 dice, plus 3 for every cultivation level above 4
Defensive Clashes: 15 dice, plus 3 for every cultivation level above 4
Armor 2 Durability 5(increases to 3 and 8 at cultivation 7)
DV 4 Armor Piercing 2
Health 5+1 for every cultivation level above 4
No more than one horror may be commanded at a time, on creation, the horror may be assigned one arm based and one spine or leg based technique from the users roster, each of which it may use up to three times. Techniques must be two dots or below.
Li Silk Guard: ooo(7/9)
Cost: 40 Red Stones, Plus 20 for each guard. Upkeep 1 yellow stone per month, Currently requires assistance from Li Suyin to create.
This home defense formation allows the operation of up to three semi autonomous bone puppets within a one hundred meter range of the formation location. Bone Puppets can operate beyond this range, but will lose power after five minutes, and require replacement of their individual power source. The creator may designate up to ten individuals as friendly in addition to themselves, upon creation, allowing them to bypass the formation freely. The user may extend this friendly designation to up to three other individuals at a time for up to 24 hours.
All other individuals must pass a 10 success stealth test when entering the formations range in order to avoid assault from the warriors. Warriors prioritize the nearest hostile unless otherwise instructed. Each warrior has five health and armor of two, with a durability of five and ten qi. Warriors have sixteen base dice in all clashes, and count as Mid yellow/silver combatants. Warriors have a speed of 18 and an initiative of 12. Warriors natural attacks are DV3, but they may be equipped with weapons to change this. Warriors have four dots in all physical attributes for the purposes of tests, as well as four dots in resolve. All other attributes are two dot equivalent.
Finally, fire based attacks deal one additional damage and ignore the warriors armor.
Physical
Strength: ooooo o
Dexterity: oo
Stamina: ooooo oo
Mental
Intelligence: ooo
Wits: oooo
Resolve: ooooo o
Social
Presence: ooo
Manipulation: oo
Composure: oooo
Advantages
Health:
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Qi: 65
Speed: 18
Initiative: 13
Armor: 8 (15/15)
Skills
Athletics: ooooo o
Stealth: oooo
Survival: ooooo o
Empathy: ooo
Intimidate: oooo
Masteries:
Natural Weapons: ooooo o
Power: ooooo
Toughness: ooooo oo
Resilience: ooooo o
Weapons:
Gui Chomp: DV 4. AP 1
Zhen Bite: DV 5. AP 2
Abilities:
Blooming From Ash
Passives:
+10 dice to physical and spiritual defense
+6 to perception and survival rolls in plant life heavy regions
+5 on all Stamina and Resolve tests
2 qi per round regenerated when not moving
Ingraining Roots: oo
Cost 4 qi
Zhengui channels his qi through the roots of the plant life around him, allowing him to better sense his surroundings as well as drawing in further strength. While active, Zhengui's speed is reduced by half, but he gains a four die bonus to perception rolls, his armor increases by one and he gains a six die bonus on all defenses. In addition Zhengui may spend two qi to regenerate his armors durability by one as a free action while active. Lasts four turns.
Eternal Vitality: ooo
Cost 6 Qi.
Instant
Zhengui's draws on the concept of regrowth and renewal to seal his wounds and break the power of enemies over him. This art allows Zhengui to heal one point of lethal or nonlethal damage, or reduce one point of aggravated damage to lethal damage. Alternatively, he may use this to dispel a negative effect on himself or Ling Qi on a successful clash, which receives a four die bonus.
Stone in the Soil: oo
Cost 4 qi
A technique granted by Zhengui's bond with Ling Qi. Allows Zhengui to rapidly bury himself in loose soil, temporarily appearing as little more than a large spiky boulder. Grants a four die bonus to stealth and a five die bonus to attack against unaware targets. Lasts until revealed.
Woodland Grasp: ooo
Cost 5 qi
A technique allowing Zhengui to create and manipulate roots beneath the ground to trap his enemies. On a successful clash, Zhengui grapples a single target with a DV 2 attack with a five die bonus, immobilizing it and inflicting a three die penalty to their physical defense until they escape. The roots use Strength+Power to determine their dice pool.
Spearing Roots: ooo
Cost 5 qi
Building upon previous techniques, Zhengui hardens and sharpens the roots he manipulates with potent wood qi, using them to assault instead of entrap. Zhengui clashes with a target with a six die bonus for a DV 5 attack, which deals one additional semi perfect damage, with three AP. On damage, the target is also has their initiative halved on the following turn.
Blazing Blood
Passives
4 additional armor against fire based attacks
+10 dice on physical attacks
Adds two armor piercing fire based attacks
Blood Boiling Venom: oo
Cost 5 Qi
Instant
Zhengui strikes with venomous fangs injecting a terrible, deadly heat into the target. Grants a eight die bonus to Zhen's bite attack which also deals two additional points of semi perfect damage. In addition upon successfully dealing damage, the target is poisoned, taking two fire damage each turn for three turns unless dispelled. While poisoned targets suffer a four die penalty on defensive and offensive clashes.
Volcanic Stone Shell: ooo
cost 4 qi
Instant, Reactive
Zhengui infuses his shell with withering heat and stony resilience, burning bright with a volcanic blaze. Adds a four die bonus to physical defenses, and an additional two against melee attacks. On clashing with an enemy in melee, Zhengui counters with a DV 4 fire attack at a three die bonus which deals one point of bonus semi perfect damage. This effect lasts two turns.
Ashfall: ooo
Cost 6 Qi
Instant
Zhengui expels ash from both of his mouths, filling the sky with falling gray dust. The ash cloud extends for twenty five meters around him and persists for four turns in that space. While Zhengui and Ling Qi are immune to the effects, others within the ash suffer a DV 3 semi perfect fire attack each turn with a three die bonus, and suffer a four die penalty to perception and offensive clashes against Ling Qi or Zhengui. Zhengui may use this art multiple times to expand its area. Four stacks may be active at a time.
Boiling Shot: oo
Cost 4 qi
Zhen gathers his venom and spits, launching a ball of corrosive superheated venom up to thirty meters. This attack is DV 6 and fire based with a five die bonus to its clash, dealing one extra semi-perfect damage, and repeats on the following turn.
Boiling Spray: ooo
Cost 6 qi
Zhen gathers his venom, as he does with Boiling Shot, but instead discharges a spray of molten venom in a burning fan damaging up to three targets within ten meters.This attack is DV 4 and deals one extra semi perfect damage, which repeats the following turn.
Verdant Ash Duality
+4 dice on defensive clashes vs any single spiritual attack
+2 on all offensive clashes when techniques from Blazing Blood and Blooming from Ashes are used in the same turn.
Multi attacker penalties reduced by one.
Minds Apart: ooo
Cost 3 qi
Instant
This art, while active allows Zhengui to use one additional technique every other turn. This art lasts two turns, but may be renewed freely once active for the same activation cost.
Ashfield Flowering: ooo
cost 8 qi
Usable only while at least one instance of Ashfall is active, this technique consumes the ashfield to revitalize allies. On activation one instance of Ashfall is dispelled, allied targets within the ashfall zone receive a two die bonus to all defensive clashes, resolve, and stamina tests for three turns and have one point of lethal or nonlethal damage healed.
Rebirth Inferno
Cost: Special
Instant
When reduced to three or fewer health. Zhengui may instantly discharge all of his remaining qi into a roaring inferno that consumes all save Ling Qi within fifteen meters. This effect expends all remaining qi and on a successful clash with a eight die bonus inflicts a DV 10 fire attack dealing five bonus semi perfect damage to all targets in range. In the aftermath Zhengui falls unconscious, but his armor durability is restored to maximum and his armor value increased by three for six turns.
Equipment
Flaming Frond Sash
This small sash is made from a single tropical leaf, and covered with enticing fire artwork that seems to dance as it moves. Physically worn by Zhen. The wearer's Fire and Wood Arts cost 3 less Qi, reducing them to a minimum cost of 1. They also gain a +2 bonus on offensive clashes with Fire and Wood Arts. (cost should be ~200 for speed order)
Ashen Branch Necklace
This thick necklace is shaped like a tangle of roots and vines, but on inspection is actually composed entirely of fused ash. A trace of it rubs off when you touch it, but it never seems to wear down. Physically worn by Gui. The wearer's Fire and Wood Arts cost 2 less Qi, reducing them to a minimum cost of 1. They also gain a +3 bonus on defensive clashes when a Fire or Wood Art is active. (cost should be ~200 for speed order)
Cultivation:
Early Green(7)
-NA-
Physical
-NA-
Mental
Intelligence: ooo
Wits: ooooo o
Resolve: ooooo
Social
Presence: ooooo o
Manipulation: ooooo oo
Composure: ooooo oo
Health
[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
Qi: 80
Speed: NA
Initiative: 17
Armor: Special
(Having no physical form, Sixiang cannot be targetted or damaged by physical attacks unless the attack specifies an ability to damage spiritual entities)
Skills
Investigation: oooo
Occult: ooooo oo
Politics: o
Animal Ken: ooooo
Empathy: ooooo o
Expression: ooooo oo
Persuade: ooooo
Socialize: ooooo o
Subterfuge: oooo
Masteries
Power: ooooo
Resilience: ooooo o
Weapons
NA
Available Abilities
Everchanging Moonlight Promenade
Passives
+5 dice on persuade and socialize tests with spirits
+5 dice on Empathy tests with spirits
+3 dice on persuade and socialize tests with humans
+8 on perception tests
+4 dice vs. Illusions
+12 dice on spiritual defenses
Chaos Phase: ooo
Cost 8 qi
Drawing on the everchanging nature of the dreaming moon to slip through the base bonds of ordered qi, Sixiang may dispel up to two negative effects on herself or her binder at a six die bonus. In doing so, she or her binder gains a four die bonus to spiritual defense for four turns.
Laughing Moonlit Maiden: oo
Cost: 4 qi
Instant
Channeling through her bond with her binder, Sixiang may grant Ling Qi an air of amiable approachability, and make her words seem both more fair and agreeable. Grants Ling Qi Sixiang's passive bonuses to persuade and socialize tests for four turns
-Other abilities currently unavailable-
Relationships
This section will serve as a quick summary of how Ling Qi feels about her fellow disciples, followed by a measure of her reputation with relevant groups.
So we've begun, and while nothing mechanical has come up just yet, the character sheet is up so a basic explanation is in order. As I said the quests system is based on storyteller with some things added and others removed for the purpose of making it quest friendly and fitting the setting.
Still the basics you need to know are as follows. All conflicts are resolved by rolling various numbers of d10's. Seven or higher on a roll is a 'success'.
Your character has skills and attributes which have a number of dots ranging from one to five 'dots'. Each dot represents one dice you get to roll in tests involving the relevant attribute or skill. Skill rolls typically add an attribute to the skill check to determine your total dice pool. Dots in stats can go past five in this once a certain cultivation level is reached.
Next, specialties are areas of a skill where your character is especially skilled, in tests involving your specialty you receive one additional dice.
Those familiar with storyteller may notice some things missing as well, in this case, willpower and defense are not used in this. Defense due to the way I'm handling combat(this is also the reason for the absence of the brawl and weaponry skills). Willpower's purpose has largely been folded into Qi which we'll get into later.
Speed is the number of yards(adjusted to meters since I'm using metric in this quest) that a character can cover in the space of a single turn, assuming no obstructions. Since I'm not being super granular with that kind of thing the length of a turn is a little variable, but you can assume that it's the ground you can cover in a single clash. You can cover twice that distance in a clash if you aren't taking any other actions.
Your health track is used to determine how damaged you are. There are three types of damage. Bashing, which is essentially nonlethal damage, and heals quickly. Lethal, which is what it sounds like, and aggravated which is 'special' damage that is difficult to recover from. If you're entire track is full of lethal or aggravated damage, then your character is disabled. When your health is reduced to two or less clear tracks, you begin to receive stacking penalties to all actions as well.
We'll get into the new mechanics in the next couple of posts.
Talent can range from 1-9, and serves as the target for you roll under while attempting to cultivate or learn Arts and techniques. For Ling Qi that number is six. Talent is mostly fixed, but there will be opportunities to increase it or unlock further potential as it were.
To reach a new cultivation level or learn an art you must fill the 'XP bar' for it. In the case of reaching level one spiritual cultivation you need a total of ten 'points'. To determine how many points you get in a session you roll a number of dice equal to your talent modified by other factors such as teachers, environment, and tools.
First, you have Qi equal to 3+Your cultivation level+Cultivation art bonus+ Expanded Qi reserves/misc bonuses.
So if you can math, you will see that Ling Qi begins with 6 qi. Qi is a replenishable resource which is used to perform techniques, arts and other superhuman feats.... Once you learn to do so.
At it's base, Qi can be expended in place of health to prevent lethal wounds at a 2:1 ratio. That is you may expend 2 qi to prevent one point of damage. If a wound would reduce Ling Qi to 0 health, this happens automatically.
Qi reserves may be expanded by focusing cultivation time on it. You require a number of successes equal to the amount of Qi you will be increasing to. That is going from 6->7 Qi requires seven successes. This only takes into account your 'base' Qi I.E 3+Cultivaton level+previous increases. Cultivating in this way does not require a spirit stone.
In addition, Qi may be expended in place of various needs, thus granting you extra action slots. The thresholds for this vary and are also reliant on the stage of cultivation you have reached.
Finally, in regards to cultivation level. Your cultivation acts as a modifier for all relevant actions, providing a free success on any relevant role for each stage of your cultivation. Now most times when you are receiving such bonuses, you will be competing with other cultivators in some way. As you can see, against someone of equal level this bonus cancels out, essentially leaving things up to your skills and abilities. Against someone of higher or lower level it begins to make quite a difference.
A fight against someone two levels above you for example, gives them a rather large two success bonus over you before you even begin rolling dice. It is even worse when competing against someone a full stage(that is if they are Yellow and you are red for example) the number of bonus successes doubles. So a late red stage(3) versus and early Yellow stage(4) results in two bonus successes even though they are only one level apart.
The first Meridian is relatively easy to open, and only requires five successes, so Ling Qi has succeeded in a very short time once again due to her high talent. The number of successes needed increments upward by one for each meridian opens. So the next one will require 6, then 7 and so forth.
To Summarize the above in a non-narrative fashion. Meridians function as your 'equipment slots' when determining which and how many arts you can have active at once. Earning more meridians allows you to use more advanced arts as well as allowing you to equip more arts in general.
Combat Explanation:
Since this is a quest and not actual tabletop combat is being streamlined. For this quest combat works off of clashes. As in when two or more enemies fight, each participant chooses an action and acts in initiative order. Each participant then rolls the number of dice in their clash pool to determine how successful they are at the action.
An action need not be a direct attack. It can be defense, an attempt to flee, trying to gain an environmental advantage or even a verbal assault. The number of dice in your clash pool is determined as follows
Relevant Attribute+Relevant Skill/mastery+Misc Modifiers+Dot value of technique used+stunt bonus.
Techniques are the active effects of arts and each one has a dot value which determines how much it adds to your pool when being used.
Damage is determined by how many successes you have over your opponent in the clash if you are attacking. Damage maxes out based on the damage value of your weapon though. The damage value of a weapon will be listed next to the item. For unarmed the value is your strength or mastery value, whichever is higher, unless otherwise modified.
In a fight with multiple combatants, one who is targetted by multiple opponents suffers stacking penalties to defense on each consecutive attack ion the turn. For opponents on the same level this penalty occurs in increments of two. For attackers a stage lower than the defender, the penalty is one.
Damage is divided into three types. Nonlethal which is designated by a '/' in a health box, Lethal, which is designated by an 'X', and Aggravated damage which is marked by a '*'. The first two are fairly obvious in their meanings, and aggravated damage is simply damage from supernatural sources that are much more difficult to heal. The primary difference in damage types is in fact how long they take to heal.
Regardless of damage type a character with three or less health boxes remaining unmarked suffers stacking penalties to all actions starting at -1 dice. A character with no health boxes is incapacitated and unable to act.
This brings us to the last item to be added to the character sheet. Masteries. For the purposes of combat individual weapons are divided into broad types in which you earn masteries, which function roughly the same as skills. Some arts will require different mastery levels to practice in addition to other prerequisites.
Multiple spirit stones used in a turn provide twice the effect of the first. So a second red adds two dice to all cultivation instead of one, a third would still only add two however. However, a cultivator may only use a number of spirit stones equal to his or her lowest cultivation level in a turn. So for Ling Qi, two is the limit for the moment.
A more thorough explanation is that there is two factors: how many stones you can use and what quality of stones you can use. As we are mid of second realm, we can use up to 2 yellow stone, and as we are mid yellow (5)/ mid silver (5), we can use up to 5 stones total. So we can use 3 red stones and 2 yellow.
First red stone is 1, subsequent ones are 2. First yellow stone is 5, subsequent ones are 10.
So 3 red stones and 2 yellow stones - 1+2+2RSS+5+10YSS
Dispel resolution is being altered. Dispel clashes now consist of; Intelligence/Presence+Dispel tech's dots vs. Resolve/Composure+Target techs dots, with relevant cultivation autos and modifiers. Automatic dispels will be scaled back
Damage which bypasses qi negation will now be referred to with the keyword 'Semi-perfect'
Similarly defenses which block this kind of damage will be referred to as 'semi perfect'
Effects which grant bonus armor use the durability of the targets base armor and are negated when this reaches zero
Debuffs will now either take effect 'On Hit' 'On Damage' or 'Automatically'. This will be reflected in technique text. On Hit effects take effect after a successful clash. On Damage Effects take effect upon damaging a targets health boxes. Automatic effects take effect on technique use
Total actions taken in a turn will be clarified and standardized. A cultivator may in the course of a turn, Activate one non instant technique and one instant technique, as well as one defensive instant in response to an attack. Techniques which may be used as Responses will be clarified in text.
Semi Perfect and perfect damage do not negate armor. Armor penetration is a separate mechanic.
Qi Regen does not function out of combat. This is a hard rule, and not a part of relevant techniques.
Archery now suffers a three die penalty when used in melee against an aware target.With melee defined as within range of the targets melee weapon.
Changes to multiattacker penalty cannot reduce it below one per attacker
Armor durability is damaged by one for each attack is blocks or is penetrated by, as modified by techniques and arts.
New formula is as follows.
Domain Value *(Stat1+Stat2+SP) +Element Bonus+Passives
Domain Value is as follows
0 dots. 1
1 dot. 2
2 dots. 2.5
3 dots. 3 etc.
Element Bonus is the number of meridians you have matching the weapons element. This value has a maximum of 2xCultivation level, so Ling Qi could have a max of 14 since she is at early green(7). Passives and stats are more obvious. SP I'm not sure of the name yet, suffice to say some folks can get special passives that slot in here. These are rare though and you'll only see them in the higher quality sorts of weapons. They may also be conditional like a normal passive
To further clarify how Flying swords work. Their durability is essentially their health, they can be damaged like anything else, though as noted before they receive half damage from anything except other domain weapons. A domain weapons defense pool is the same as its offense pool, barring other modifiers. Flying weapons can have armor values as well, but typically only defensive ones do.
The carriage was impossibly fast, Ling Qi thought as she stared out of the tiny window at a landscape that was little more than a green and brown blur. She knew she should be excited, maybe awed, she was witnessing the power of an Immortal after all. It wasn't something a girl like her could have ever expected to see. Instead she simply felt numb. Absently she brushed a strand of her unruly black hair out of her eyes. She had let it get too long again, hanging down below her ears as it was, it had slipped her mind in the last couple of months.
She was being taken to the Wall, the impassable mountains that formed the southern border. She was going to a Sect. She apparently had the talent to become an Immortal herself, or at least to walk that path. It was apparently why she sometimes heard voices no one else could hear, why she could feel things when she ventured out to the outskirts of the city where the wards against the spirit beasts were porous and weak. She had always assumed she was just a bit crazy really.
Tomboyish, inelegant, crazy Ling Qi, who ran away rather than play doll for her Mother. It had grated, when she was younger, listening to her mother's complaints about her lack of care for her appearance, hearing the frustration in the woman's voice when she talked with other women. Her daughter was too tall, too thick of limb, her skin too dark, her features too long and lacking refinement.
She couldn't say she regretted leaving. It wasn't as if Mother had tried very hard to find her in the four years since she had run off. Ling Qi blew the stubborn strand of hair out of her eyes again and turned her thoughts away from the past. It was pointless now, she had hated it when her mother had tried to force her into the mold of what she wanted, so she left. She was free, even if it meant she was often hungry or cold. Even if it meant she had been hurt or frightened on occasion. She might be ugly, she might be poor, but she was herself, did as she wanted, and to her that was all that mattered.
Which was why this grated on her. She should have been ecstatic. She was the only commoner from her city that had the talent, she should be proud, holding her head high. Would any of the other children she knew be able to raise their heads in front of her by the time she was done training? Would even Mother be able to criticize her anymore? No, of course not. She still wasn't happy though, because she once again found herself without a choice. She had no money at all, no resources. Even if she had gone back to Mother she wouldn't have been able to pay the fees described by the recruiter, and if she had refused to go along to the sect, he had said her talent would be removed. She hated the idea of something that was hers being taken away even more.
So she would owe the Empire eight years of service instead, once she was done training. Not very long at all in an Immortals lifespan, she had been assured. Really she couldn't say that the idea of being a figure from a story, facing off against the wind riding mountain barbarians didn't excite her. She just hated not having a choice.
Ling Qi shook her head and turned away from the blurring landscape outside the carriage window. The carriage was eerily quiet, very little sound reaching inside. More magic she supposed, and despite her misgivings she couldn't help the spark of excitement she felt at the thought. Still it had been hours since they left, and she was bored. Even at this speed it would still be some time until they arrived, going by what the recruiter had said. So rather than continuing to mope about the past, she decided to turn her attention to the leather satchel sitting on the bench across from her. It contained her meager possessions, a few coins, some clothing, an old wooden flute that she had liked to play on occasion. Mothers music lessons had been one of the few happy memories she had of the woman.
It also contained what she had been provided by the recruiter. Reaching over Ling Qi picked up the bag and flipped it open before running her fingers over the bundle of grey cloth that sat on top. She once again marveled at the smooth softness of the material. Her disciples uniform, the man had said. Something provided to less well off disciples, since normal clothing would have difficulty holding up to the rigors of training. There was a few other things, a hand mirror, a comb, and a sewing kit, among a few other miscellaneous items. She supposed the implication was that she should make herself presentable before she arrived. She glanced down at her rather ragged brown shirt, pants, and muddy sandals. Not exactly the most impressive outfit. This was the first time in a long time that it might matter though. She hadn't had much time before she had been shuffled onto the carriage, so if she was going to make an effort she supposed she should do it now.
Ling Qi glanced toward the locked door on the other side of the carriage, then back toward the window. There was enough space at least, it really seemed like the carriage was meant for several people. Maybe that was just her poor upbringing showing though. In any case, after another moment spent contemplating the contents of the satchel she drew the shutter down over the window and got to work changing.
Some time later, Ling Qi sat back down with a frown on her face, idly smoothing the wrinkles out of the amazingly soft gray fabric of the outfit she now wore. It was… nice, but she hadn't worn a dress in years. At least it didn't pinch and cling like the ones Mother used to try and make her wear though. It felt loose instead, and was layered and cut on the bottom half to allow for easy movement. It was annoyingly loose around her hips though, she had to bunch of the sash and tie it twice. At least the wide, billowy sleeves would be good for concealing her hands. She could probably hide things inside them pretty easily with a bit of work.
The embroidery of clouds and stylized wind currents were kind of nice too. She still felt uncomfortable though. It felt strange to wear something that probably cost more than team of horses or a small house. Well to her guess anyway, maybe whatever this was made of was the Immortal equivalent of sack cloth? She glanced down at the mirror in her hands. There weren't any cosmetics provided thankfully, so apparently they didn't expect her to dress up that much. There had been a few hairpins though, made of some kind of painted bone. She thought they went well with her bright blue eyes, which was nice for a change. That was her best feature in her own opinion. No one else in her home town had eyes that shade after all.
Not that her effort at pinning up her hair in some resemblance of order had prevented the eternally stubborn strands from falling back into her eyes. She snorted as she blew the unruly strands out of her face. She'd probably need some kind of magic to manage that. As she put the mirror away and reached for the clean sandals that had been under the uniform the carriage suddenly jerked, almost sending her tumbling headfirst into her bag. Snapping a hand up to grab the frame of the window, she managed to steady herself.
"Be ready, we're nearly at the entrance plaza," she recognized it as the voice of the man who was driving the carriage. He hadn't spoken to her directly, but she had heard him talking to the recruiter. He had seemed… less formal than she would imagine an immortal to be, and had even given her an encouraging smile as she passed the two adults to enter the carriage. Lifting the shutter that she had pulled down over the window she saw that they were now moving along at a much more normal pace, and were traveling up a meandering mountain path. Somehow the inside of the carriage remained level despite the slope though.
"I will be ready ready shortly," Ling Qi called back after a moment's hesitation, apparently whatever had been blocking the sounds from outside was gone. She could hear birdsong, the wind and the sound of the horse's hooves again. "H-how, long do I have?" She asked tentatively a moment later, frown at the hesitant stutter that had come out despite her best efforts. She was nervous, true, but she couldn't let them see that. One thing she had learned quite well by now was that the appearance of confidence was important.
"Oh, you've got a few more minutes yet," the man called back in a lackadaisical tone. "The Sect doesn't like ya speeding on the mountain, well for those of us stuck on the ground anyway."
Ling Qi blinked, was he implying that some would be arriving by flight? She had heard stories… but had thought that mostly the domain of the mountain barbarians. "Thank you. I'll just be a moment," it felt strange reverting to the speech Mother had taught rather than the more relaxed kind she had gotten used to in the last few years, but it felt like a good idea. If there was one thing Mother had been right about it was that first impressions mattered.
Shaking off such thoughts for the moment she reached down for the sandals, she would need to be ready.
When the carriage finally came to a stop Ling Qi felt she was prepared as much as she could be given that she didn't precisely know what was coming next. The driver hadn't said anything else, and neither had she occupied as she was with trying to focus and not allow the nervous thoughts that kept flitting through her head to show.
There was a thud from outside and the sound of footsteps walking around the carriage as she stood, smoothing the wrinkles in her new uniform self consciously. Shortly thereafter there was another click and then the door opened, revealing the driver. It was difficult to read his age, or anything really given how well covered he was. He wore a strange wide brimmed hat hung with paper slips covered in odd symbols, which served also to conceal his face along with the high collar of his deep blue robe. Still he somehow managed to give the impression that he was smiling. "Need a hand getting down?" He asked pleasantly, offering a hand, which you noticed was gloved.
"I'll be fine, thank you," Ling Qi responded with confidence she didn't quite feel, hesitating only a moment before picking up the now lightened satchel and stepping down, moving slowly to avoid tripping on the hem of her dress. As she reached the bottom of the steps she finally got a look at her surroundings. The two of them stood on a wide stone plaza built onto a cliff. She could see the steep road they had traveled to get her vanishing into the mist below past the ornate gate that broke the stone fence that marked the edge of the plaza.
There was only a single building here, a large two story structure with a high peaked roof that reminded her both of a temple and the scholars testing hall from her home. Other than that the plaza was dotted with small, tastefully arranged gardens centered around tall peach trees. There was a trickle of people still going into the building dressed familiar uniforms, as well as several other carriages similar to her own each with their own eclectically dressed driver.
"Hey, might not want to stand around staring too long," she startled as the drivers laconic voice jolted her from her thoughts. Ling Qi glanced over at him and then back to the central building. He was already facing away from her working to free the odd blue furred horses from their harness. "You're in the last group of arrivals, so one of the elders will be down soon to lay out the rules. You're assigned to hall four by the way," he patted one of the horses on the neck, drawing a snort from the beast as he turned back to face her.
Ling Qi still hadn't gotten a proper look at his face, but somehow the tilt of his head gave the impression that he was examining her, making her straighten her posture unconsciously. "Thank you," she responded after a second. "And… where is hall four?" She added after a moment. "And is there anything else I should know?"
"In the front door, just follow the signs," he responds dismissively, crossing his arms. The act tugs the long sleeves of his robe up, showing that his gloves extend at least to his elbows. He takes a second to say his next words, once again giving her the feeling of being appraised. "The Elders will lay out the rules, just be respectful," he adds in a lazy tone. "But… my advice, find some friends and be quick about it. Loners tend to have trouble, you can't watch your back all the time, you know?" His monstrosity of a hat tilts to the side, and you get the impression that he's smiling again. "Call it advice from a senior who was in a similar spot."
She… had never been particularly good at making friends, but she could take friendly advice with good grace. "Thank you again. I should be on way though," her voice was more hesitant than she would have liked. She turned to head toward the building but paused after a step or two. "Might I know your name?" She asked. It seemed silly to not at least introduce herself to someone who seemed at least marginally helpful.
"Dong Fu," He responded easily, turning back to his horses. "You're right though, get going, you don't want to be late, and I already got your name."
Ling Qi dipped her head in his direction and set off hurrying along as fast as she could manage in her new clothes. As it turns out her driver was correct, the signs are quite clear and there was no trouble navigating the spotlessly clean wooden interior of the building. It's unnatural really, the floor is so polished that it's practically reflective, and she couldn't see a single scuff or mark anywhere. She did not give it too much thought for the moment though.
Mostly because she found herself in the unenviable position of being one of the last ones in. The large room is built with a series of long desks placed on descending tiers, broken up by steps descending down to the pit where the lecturer's podium stands. The desks are almost completely full though, and Ling Qi felt more than one curious, dismissive, or assessing look from the crowd of chattering young people already present.
There are few seats remaining though. The first one to draw her eye was a whole section which lay empty, centered on a girl her age. She has snow white hair that falls freely down to the middle of her back, and is everything Ling Qi was not, petite and dainty, with almost supernaturally pale skin. She's also whispering into the sleeve of her uniform, which seems to have been personalized with a sort of scale pattern in the embroidery. She seems to be paying very little attention to her surroundings, yet she sits alone in an otherwise packed room.
The girl raised her head then, looking toward Ling Qi for a moment. She felt her blood run cold for a second as she saw the other girl's eyes, golden and slit pupiled. The moment ended the second the other girl broke eye contact and returned her attention to the contents of her sleeve.
What was that? She had felt like a mouse in front of a serpent, yet she hadn't noticed a even a trace of hostility from the girl. Ling Qi quickly turned her attention to the other possible seats. There was another girl who had a seat open next to her. She was rather strange as well, in that she was wearing a partial boys uniform, a pair of baggy pants rather than a dress and a silken sleeveless shirt that showed sun darkened skin over lean muscle. Ling Qi might have thought her a feminine boy if not for how… stretched the shirt she wore was. She also had bright red hair tied back in a single braid. Unlike the others in the room she sat with her feet propped on the desk with a bored expression on her face. Her gaze briefly flickered Ling Qi's way before the laid back girl seemed to dismiss her as unimportant.
Further down there was an open seat adjacent to the steps next to a tall boy, tall enough that she wouldn't be looking down at him if they stood face to face. He was… well a little handsome Ling Qi could admit, in the classical way, with noble features and well proportioned limbs. Not girlish, the way some nobles and wealthy sorts could get though. Mainly her attention was drawn by the gold furred tiger cub curled up on top of his head as if it was a bed. She stared for a moment, but no one else seemed to think it odd. When he noticed her look he gave her a friendly smile and a slight nod that made the cub on his head growl unhappily.
The last seat available was next to a short young man with with shaggy brown hair and a rather nasty burn scar across his right cheek which extended down his neck and under his shirt. It was quite ugly, and it took a moment to pull her eyes from the mark to look at the rest of him. He was short and compact in build, and just from a glance she would guess him to be one of the few others in this room to be of the same… social class as her. He certainly looked as out of place and uncomfortable as she felt. When he meets your eyes his gaze is measuring and wary.
She was beginning to draw attention just standing there though and she had a feeling she didn't want to still be standing when the elder got here. She would need to pick a seat.
[] The white haired girl. Courage is paramount.
[] The red haired girl. You refuse to be dismissed.
[] The boy with the tiger cub. You could use a friend.
[] The burned boy. People like you should stick together.
[] In the empty space left by the white haired girl. You do not need anyone.
So we've begun, and while nothing mechanical has come up just yet, the character sheet is up so a basic explanation is in order. As I said the quests system is based on storyteller with some things added and others removed for the purpose of making it quest friendly and fitting the setting.
Still the basics you need to know are as follows. All conflicts are resolved by rolling various numbers of d10's. Seven or higher on a roll is a 'success'.
Your character has skills and attributes which have a number of dots ranging from one to five 'dots'. Each dot represents one dice you get to roll in tests involving the relevant attribute or skill. Skill rolls typically add an attribute to the skill check to determine your total dice pool. Dots in stats can go past five in this once a certain cultivation level is reached.
Next, specialties are areas of a skill where your character is especially skilled, in tests involving your specialty you receive one additional dice.
Those familiar with storyteller may notice some things missing as well, in this case, willpower and defense are not used in this. Defense due to the way I'm handling combat(this is also the reason for the absence of the brawl and weaponry skills). Willpower's purpose has largely been folded into Qi which we'll get into later.
Your health track is used to determine how damaged you are. There are three types of damage. Bashing, which is essentially nonlethal damage, and heals quickly. Lethal, which is what it sounds like, and aggravated which is 'special' damage that is difficult to recover from. If you're entire track is full of lethal or aggravated damage, then your character is disabled. When your health is reduced to two or less clear tracks, you begin to receive stacking penalties to all actions as well.
We'll get into the new mechanics in the next couple of posts.
Loneliness is what it came down to in the end. If there was one thing Ling Qi's effort to remain unconstrained had failed to give her it was friends. Given Mother's occupation that pool had always been limited to begin with. Living off the street didn't exactly leave much time for dealing with people outside of fleecing them.
So despite the part of her that grumbled at ignoring the implied challenge of the white haired girl's presence, she began to walk down the stairs toward the friendly boy with the tiger cub at a sedate pace. That seemed to trigger most of those who had been looking at her askance to go back to their own conversations. Now that she really looked, Ling Qi could see that there seemed to be several cliques among those seated here. Groups of people who apparently already knew each other to some extent. She was certainly no social expert, but she could see that much now that her thoughts were less focused on her own issue.
As she came to a stop next to the desk where the boy was seated, she did her best to put her doubts and worries aside, but it was a difficult thing. "D'you mind if I sit here?" The words escaped her before she could really think about it and she internally cursed, keeping her outward reaction down to clenching her fists under her sleeves. She had been trying to remember to speak formally but it wasn't something that came naturally to her anymore. Now he was going to think she was…
"Sure thing," his words, delivered in a laid back tone cut off her internal panic. The boy shifted in his seat, moving another inch or so over to give her more room and gave her an easy smile that absolutely did not make her heartbeat speed up. "You were kinda cutting it close though weren't you?" He had a slight accent that she couldn't place, which combined with his laid back attitude seems to draw his words out oddly.
Ling Qi hastily seated herself before too much attention could be drawn to her embarrassed flush. Not that most were likely to care, her more reasonable side would point out. She glanced up to find him regarding her with something like amusement. The Tiger cub curled up atop his head seemed to be asleep, she briefly wondered how it hadn't fallen when he'd turned his head to look at her. "My carriage only just arrived," she responded more defensively than she would have liked. After a beat she remembered that she hadn't introduced herself yet. " I am Ling Qi by the way," she said quickly. "If.. ah, you were wondering, I…" she hated the way her voice trailed off into awkward uncertainty. Let her slip through a busy street dipping her hands into pockets, or stand up to fence trying to swindle her and she could be confident. Apparently friendly conversation could make it crumble in moments.
Worst of all her damn hair was working it's way loose again. She already had a few unruly strands drifting in front of her eyes. For his part the boy gave her an odd look out of the corner of his eye as she hunched her shoulders, feeling stupid. "Han Jian," he said after a moment. "Nice to meet you. Can't say I recognize the name though. If you're carriage just got here, you must be local though, so that makes sense. My tutors always complained about me not paying enough attention," He says the last with a self deprecating smile.
His easy acceptance eased the tension Ling Qi felt and allowed her to sit up straighter. Doing so made her notice something though. Aside from Han Jian… she just might be the tallest person in the room. So much for standing out less. Still the implied question made her feel awkward, is he only being polite because he thought she might be someone of presumably high birth like him? He seems almost too casual to be a noble though. "My family isn't very important," she decided to hedge. "Where are you from? I'm, I mean, I am not familiar with yours either," she stumbled over the words more than she would have liked but she felt that it was still a decent deflection.
He laughed, and Ling Qi felt the corners of her lips quirk up. It was hard to stay tense around him. "Guess we're both a couple of slackers then," he responded, sounding amused. "The Han family is from the Golden Fields province," he seems amused really amused for some reason but also… almost relieved?
Where is Golden Fields though? You seem to vaguely recall having heard of it…
Ling Qi is attempting to recall a poorly remembered factoid. This is an example of the use of the Academics skill. In this case the roll uses Intelligence+Academics, giving you a dice pool of 3. It's not a difficult test, so only 1 success is required.
The results of the rolls were
5, 7, 8.
7 or higher is a success, so you got two successes, more than enough to pass the test.
It comes to her then, Golden Fields is the easternmost province of the empire, and more importantly, "...Oh, the Grave of the Sun. I didn't think someone would come from so far away," She trailed off as she noticed that his smile had gone rather stiff. Did she say something rude? The story of Lu Guanxi and his final stand was famous, he was one of the empire's greatest heroes. She couldn't really think of a reason why mentioning it would offend him. Maybe his family sent him away and he didn;t like being reminded how far away he was?
He gave a slightly forced laugh. "Yeah, that's the one. I guess most people only really remember us for that old story these days."
Ling Qi looked away awkwardly, pursing her lips. What had she said? She cast around for a change of subject to hopefully end the uncomfortable silence. Eventually her eyes settled back on his pet, which she noticed had now opened it's eyes and was staring down at her with the sort of imperious disdain that only a feline could manage. "So… where did you get your pet? I've never seen one like that," truly she was a master of conversation and that wasn't stilted at all, why did it feel like the little tiger cub was glaring at her now?
He blinks, but seems to accept the subject change. "I was introduced to Heijin by my Grandmother a few years back when I managed to awaken my qi. He's not really a pet though, I guess you could call him something more like a little cousin."
She frowned, what was that supposed to mean? She had heard of people treating their animals like family, so maybe he was just a little strange. She was about to ask for clarification when a muffled boom cut through the buzz of conversation in the room.
Like the others in the room her attention was drawn to the source of the sound. It came from below, where a tall, thin man had appeared at the lecturer's podium. He was even now lowering his hands back to his side as if he had simply clapped for their attention. Ling Qi frowned as she studied the man, there was something about him which set her on edge. Perhaps it was his almost unnaturally bland and thin features, clean shaven down to the eyebrows, or the slightly gray tone of his skin. If she didn't know better she would think him ill.
...Or maybe it was the positively eye searing shades of pink and lilac he was garbed in. It was bizarre, seeing what looked like the robes of a high minister in such an undignified shade. How had someone wearing such loud colors gotten past her like that? There was no door down there, so he must have come through the same entrance she had. She glanced over at Han Jian, but he didn't seem particularly surprised. She forced herself to relax a bit, it was some form of magic obviously, and not something which anyone else seemed concerned about, though a few of the students had been startled out of their seats.
"Welcome to the Argent Peak children," the strange, bald man said as he finished lowering his hands. His expression was one of careful neutrality, but she thought she could see amusement twinkling in his grey… no, green, no… In his eyes, which seemed to rapidly change colors. "I am Sect Elder Sima Jiao, current head of the Talisman Department, and it seems that it is my turn to greet our new arrivals." So this man was in the one in charge of creating Talismans like the spirit repelling totems placed around villages and cities? He must be incredibly wealthy, no wonder he could get away with dressing so outlandishly.
Then she remembered the ridiculous hat that her driver had worn. Perhaps becoming Immortal just compelled one to dress strangely? While Ling Qi was pondering the fashion sense of cultivators Elder Jiao had clasped his hands behind his back and was giving her and the other students an assessing look. "I am terribly busy on the best of days, so I will not ramble on. To be honest, it is likely that the majority of you will never amount to anything beyond the outer sect where you stand now, and are thus not particularly worthy of my time."
His blithe dismissal draws a grumble from the gathered students, Ling Qi among them. Han Jian's serene expression didn't change though. Perhaps he was simply that confident. Seeing this, Ling Qi let out a breath, reigning in her irritation. "It is simply reality, nothing to be ashamed of," the Elder continued, not unkindly. "In any case, your first years here will serve the purpose of separating those with only minor potential from those with true talent. Which is why there will be no leaving this mountain for any of you during the first year, nor will any correspondence in or out be allowed in the first three months." That finally seems to surprise some of the other disciples, setting off a wave of whispers, though none dare openly question the elder.
It didn't bother Ling Qi though, what did she have outside this place? Perhaps when she would enjoy a stroll through her original home when she had made something of herself, but until then why bother? "Be silent," Elder Jiao said then pulling her attention back to him. "You will have time enough for mortal concerns later. Today and in the future you are disciples of the Argent Peak. The foundation you lay in the first steps of your path will inform the rest of your lives. There is no need for distractions from the outside world." His odd color shifting eyes sweep over the room, his stern expression softening back into the same easy amusement he showed at the beginning of his speech. "The only other rule is that you may not kill or permanently maim your fellow disciples, nor damage or steal sect property. In addition for you newcomers, there is to be absolutely no violence between you for three months. Conflict is important for your growth, but it would not do to allow potential to be cut off before it can even begin to bloom."
His words, delivered in a light tone still sent a chill down Ling Qi's spine. It seemed things wouldn't be so different from home after all. She found herself eyeing her fellows in a new light, as possible enemies and obstacles. She was brought up short though, when she saw Han Jian giving her a reassuring smile. She noticed then that her hands, resting on the desk in front of her had clenched nervously. She did her best to return her current companions smile, but she had a feeling the expression was a little wan.
It was unlikely that she could rely on someone whom she had only shared a brief conversation with after all. She managed to calm herself after another few moments though, worrying for her safety was nothing new. Besides, the Elder was speaking again, and she needed to pay attention. "Each of you will be granted an allowance of five red spirit stones per month, and access to the Argent Soul art to begin with," he continues, confusing her, as she had no idea what either of those things are. "For those of you not aware," he adds, and Ling Qi suddenly all to aware of the way his unsettling gaze rested on her for a moment before passing to a handful of other students in the room. "Spirit stones are the currency of Immortals, more valuable than gold or silver. Cultivation requires the consumption of the energy in said stones, at least until one masters certain other arts. I would suggest frugality. As for the Argent Soul Art, it is the cultivation art of our Sect, if the lowest form of it. It is exceptional for early growth, if somewhat less effective for mature cultivators."
The older man rolls his shoulders then and glances toward the door. "All your necessities will be provided in the sect, behind this building are two paths leading to the residential areas. You will be segregated by gender of course," he smiles as if amused by some private joke. "I would not suggest trespassing in the wrong zone. Rooming arrangements will be up to you, but expect to room with at least one other disciple. For the first three months, two Elders will be on the mountain to provide beginners training in the physical and spiritual aspects of our arts respectively. I suggest you seek them out, because you will need to earn such attention later. All else will be up to you, your skill and your talent." He unclasps his hands and brings them back up to rest on the podium, but they are no longer empty. Instead he holds a large jewelry box made of dark green jade. "Now, if you would, file up in an orderly fashion. I will be handing out your first month's allowance."
As she stood, preparing to join the forming line below, Han Jian spoke up quietly from beside her. He is now standing as well, and Ling Qi noted that she had been right, he was actually taller than her, it felt strange to look up at someone her own age. Heijin, his tiger cub has migrated from his head to his shoulder, clinging to the fabric with his(?) little kitten claws. The tiger cub is still giving the impression of glaring at her too. "Do you need a couple of pointers on getting started? I couldn't help but notice you aren't actually awakened yet," he asks, sounding a bit awkward. "You just seemed a little on edge, you know?" He followed her as Ling Qi stepped out into the aisle to join the line.
"Thank you," Ling Qi responded after a moment. He had seemed friendly enough, and it wasn't as if she had anything he could possibly want. It couldn't hurt much she supposed. "How would I contact you though?"
He hums thoughtfully as the line shuffled forward. "Hm, well, I'll wait out in the front plaza here around noon tomorrow, that sound good? I'd rather not end up with last pick of the housing today after all."
That was a good point for him, she supposed she wouldn't have much choice in the matter. She simply nodded her assent not really feeling like talking anymore. She soon received her allowance and a scroll case which contained her new 'cultivation art'. No one had come out and said it, but she thought it likely that it was necessary for 'awakening' since they were giving it out to everyone. She would have to read it later, and practice. Perhaps she could surprise Han Jian come tomorrow? The thought was oddly pleasing.
+5 Red Spirit Stones
Gained Argent Soul Art Scroll
The glittering red stones were almost entrancing to look at Ling Qi thought. Each one was the size of her thumb and had an odd warmth that was very pleasant. She still stowed them away almost immediately. Having what felt like such valuable precious stones on her person made her nervous. She really wished the gown she had been given had hidden pockets to it. Still for the moment the elder had forbidden all violence, and while that normally wouldn't be enough to make her relax, in this case she had a feeling that it would actually be enforced.
Her 'class' soon joined the disciples from the other three lecture halls, and moved on to the two mountain paths that lay behind the main hall. Each path was flanked by a pair of large stone pillars carven with many symbols, centered around a single large character. The right hand set the character for man, the left hand set the character for woman. The meaning was rather obvious, and it seemed that no one had a desire to test the elders words today.
Walking between the pillars gave Ling Qi an odd tingling sensation, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was unpleasantly like being watched, but thankfully faded as they moved further from the pillars. For now she walked silently somewhere in the middle of the crowd of quietly chattering girls, clutching the strap of her satchel tightly and feeling terribly out of place. There were more than fifty, but less than a hundred people in the group with her. She hadn't gotten an exact count, but that meant that she had quite a few people to compete with if the implications of Elder Jiao's statements were true. She recognized a handful of the girls from her own lecture hall, mostly the two she had considered sitting with. The red haired girl strolled along at the head of the group, hands behind her head, looking for all the world like she was leading them despite simply walking in the same direction. The white haired girl was noticeable simply because of the 'bubble of clear space around her as she walked with her head down toward the rear of the group. Many of the other girls are part of little chattering cliques already.
As they crested the hill and saw the neat rows of stone dwellings stretched out below, Ling Qi turned her thoughts to the necessity of securing a place to sleep. Given Elder Jiao's words she would end up rooming with someone, which likely meant there simply weren't enough free homes to allow otherwise. The homes are also separated by their quality. Some are little more than tiny hovels, while a few are almost lavish, with large yards and gardens. She would have to decide how to approach this.
[] Approach the red haired girl. She's confident and still alone, none of the other girls have worked up the courage to talk to her.
[] Approach the white haired girl. You can probably get whichever place you want with her driving people off… And she looks a bit lonely. There might be a reason for that though.
[] Don't draw attention to yourself, settle in one of the smallest homes and accept whoever else comes.
[] Assert yourself and claim one of the nicer homes, you can work with whoever else gets there first.
[] Hang back and wait, pick out a place after everyone else is done. You don't want to make any enemies yet.
AN: Alright folks, one more vote before we enter the quest proper and we get down to the business of cultivation.
Ling Qi took a calming breath as they began to make their way down the steep path that led to the distant rows of stone buildings. She knew now, with the Elders words that she was going to be in danger here. At least once the brief period of enforced nonviolence ended. She would need to make an effort to keep herself safe. One way to do that was gaining strength herself, which was strange to think of, as it had never really been an option before. A second method was finding, as her driver had put it 'someone to watch her back'. Han Jian… well, she hoped he would turn out to be genuine, even if he was only pitying her. He couldn't help her here though.
She really wasn't good at this sort of thing though. She had never joined any of the street gangs at home, if only because they were filled with the worst sort of men and boys. She had no illusions about what her 'role' in such a group would have been. If she wanted that she would have stayed with Mother and at least made a living of it. She didn't really have anything to offer at the moment though. Casting a surreptitious glance around at the various other girls, she found it doubtful that she would be able to involve herself in any of their cliques at the moment. There were a few others who seemed like they came from less wealthy backgrounds, including a strange girl with dirty smudges on her clothing and face, who wore some kind of odd fluffy belt of fur around her waist. They would have the same problem as her though, nothing to offer at the moment.
So her gaze went back to the two girls she had shared a lecture hall with. The white haired girl was a better choice to approach first she thought. A look around at the others showed that she was ostracized for some reason, whereas the distance kept by the others around the red headed girl seemed more… respectful? Fearful might be a better word. Another glance at the white haired girl solidified her resolve to approach. She had no real position, so any approach was a gamble. She may as well try for someone who clearly had some kind of power.
...And honestly she felt a little bad watching the girl trudge along with her head down, she could recognize the defensiveness in the set of her shoulders. Being alone wasn't the the greatest thing in the world. So Ling Qi began to drift closer to the girl, falling further back in the crowd and sidling through the gaps until she reached the empty space around the other girl. As she 'broke' the bubble she noticed several of the girls nearby go quiet and one or two look her way.
Ignoring the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach she pressed on, until the girl she was approaching noticed her presence and looked up. She got a better look at the other girls face then. She was unnaturally pale and had the sort fine features of a porcelain doll, framed by silky white hair that fell down to the middle of her back. However, her thin lips were unpainted and bloodless, barely standing out from the rest of her skin, nor did she appear to be wearing any other cosmetics.
Mostly though her eyes drew Ling Qi's attention, the slit pupils and wide golden irises are incredibly unnerving.
1 Success required.
Rolled. 8, 8
...But despite the thrill of animal terror that traveled up her spine, Ling Qi did not look away or retreat as the fear made her want to do. It helped that the top of the girl's head didn;t even reach Ling's Qi's shoulder. Instead she nodded to the other girl and fell in beside her a few polite steps away. "Hello, I am Ling Qi," her voice was stiffer than she would have liked. Several beats of awkward silence followed as the White haired girl stared at her expressionlessly, never even blinking. It was very off putting, after another few seconds had passed without response she added. "May I have your name?"
That finally seemed to prompt the other girl to blink thankfully, though her expression didn't change in the slightest. It made it difficult to read her, but she didn't think the other girl was wary of her so much as… nonplussed at her presence. "Bai Meizhen, of Thousand Lakes province Bai clan," the girl responded evenly, though it had feeling of a line memorized by rote. "Why did you not finish introducing yourself?"
Ling Qi glanced to the side awkwardly, all to aware that she and the other girl were being surreptitiously watched. "I did," she responded awkwardly. "I mean, I suppose I am from Emerald Sea province," she added hastily. "I don't have a clan though," it seemed like trying to maintain formal speech patterns really was a lost cause, and in any case she doubted she could deceive the girl for any length of time given her lack of knowledge about noble families. Was there a noble Ling clan? Probably, but she had no idea where they might reside or anything about them.
Her response ended in another painfully awkward silence, and Ling Qi shifted from foot to foot as the other girl stared at her seemingly having no problem walking the steep path without any attention to where she was going. She really wished the other girl would blink more often. Finally though Bai Meizhen spoke again, a hint of confusion coloring her mostly toneless voice. "I… see. What is it you require then? I am afraid I have not been granted enough allowance to hire a maidservant."
1 Success required.
Rolled 7, 5. 1 Success
Ling QI could not help but grit her teeth angrily at the utter dismissal, and the soft titter she caught from on of the closer girls almost sent her over the edge… but she managed to calm herself, she had been insulted before and after initial wave of irritation, she could see that there was no malice in the other girl's words. It's more like she's just… completely lost on why else Ling Qi would be talking to her. So she pushed down her anger and put on a smile. She would just be blunt then. "I was actually thinking we could be friends. We're both cultivators, right?" That was supposed to supersede bloodline and such, even if it seemed that might not be how it worked in practice. "You seem like you could use a friend, and besides we have to pair off for housing anyway."
The odd girl is tilts her head to the side slightly, her pace slowing as she observed Ling Qi with an odd intensity. Then her eyes shifted to the side, away from Ling Qi. She then frowned, pursing her lips as if listening to something. No one is talking as far as Ling Qi could tell, at least not to them. "I suppose that is acceptable," Bai Meizhen responded after a moment longer, she doesn't seem particularly pleased or displeased at your assertion of friendship, but that may be the unsettling lack of emotional cues the girl gave. "I will warn you however. Do not approach me while I sleep, it is likely that you would die." The white haired girl delivers that line in the same cold, even tone as the rest of her speech.
Ling Qi stared at Bai Meizhen trying to work out if that was meant as a threat, a warning, both or something else entirely. After a moment's consideration she forces herself to laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. That would be pretty unfortunate wouldn't it."
The other girl just dips her head very slightly in acknowledgement. "It would be unpleasant to lose my first friend to something so avoidable," she responds agreeably.
Ling Qi narrowed her eyes at the other girl, trying to work out if the other girl is mocking her, but after a few moments she gave up. Turning her eyes ahead she saw that they were a bit over halfway down the path. "I was thinking we might talk someone else into joining us. Safety in numbers, you know? Would you have a problem with that?"
Bai Meizhen seemed to consider that for a moment, briefly glancing down at her left arm. "It would likely be difficult to convince another to share a space with me," she responds frankly. "I would not object in principle though, did you have someone in mind?"
You glance around at the other girls nearby, noting with a somewhat heavy heart the disdainful looks you receive in return. It looks like cozying up to Meizhen has earned you some residual dislike. So, keeping your voice low so as not to carry, you nod toward the front of the group. "That girl, the one with red hair, she's alone too."
For the first time you see something like actual emotion surface on Meizhen's face as her perfect eyebrows draw together in a look of bafflement. "You… wish to share a roof with her?" She asks, sounding somewhat incredulous. She looks back and forth between you and the red head and then something seems to occur to her and her consternation disappears. "That is the eldest granddaughter of Sun Shao, Sun Liling" she says patiently as if explaining something to a child.
1 success required
Rolled 3, 5. No Success
Ling Qi bristled a bit at the condescension but she was fairly certain the other girl meant well… and she was hardly going to jeopardize things with Bai Meizhen at this juncture. "...Who?" She asked as politely as she could.
The other girl frowned at her, irritation flashing in her eyes. "The Butcher of the West," she responded, her frown only deepened at Ling Qi's lack of recognition. "The Scarlet General. King of the Western Territories."
Well, that wasn't ominous at all. She was at least aware of the Western Territories, it was a swathe of land on the western border conquered under the reign of the current Empress' grandfather. All she knew was that it was barely civilized and constantly under siege by barbarians. "What is someone like that doing here?" Ling Qi asked cautiously, sure Han Jian was from a far flung province as well, but he wasn't a direct relation of the province's ruler either.
...He wasn't right? She might have to start learning more about this kind of thing. She put that thought aside as her current companion answered her. "I do not know, her presence here is bizarre."
Ling Qi felt oddly gratified to know her first thought on the matter was not entirely off base. "Still, is there a particular reason not to approach her?" She asked. She would need to do so soon, they were nearing the entrance to the residential area.
Bai Meizhen shook her head. "I will not stop you, but given the bad blood between the west and the interior provinces I strongly doubt that she will be willing to share a space with me." The pale girl gave her a measuring look, and something she couldn't quite manage to read flashed through her eyes. "You may have a chance I suppose," she adds impassively before turning her attention back to the path ahead.
"Well I'm at least going to try," Ling Qi said stubbornly. She stole another look at her companion, but the girl just nodded, her expression blank again already. When she didn't respond after a few more moments, Ling Qi simply dipped her head to the other girl and then strode forward, picking up her pace to move through the crowd.
It was a bit harder than before as she found herself blocked by seemingly oblivious girls, or even jostled once or twice 'accidentally'. She refused to rise to such bait for the moment though. More uncomfortable was the way she could feel Bai Meizhen's unwavering gaze on her back. Still even with such distractions it didn't take more than a minute to get up to the front of the group, they weren't walking particularly fast. She soon broke through the crowd, and after a moment's hesitation she continued forward purposely toward the red haired girl in front of everyone.
"You can stop right there," Sun Liling's voice brought her up short several steps away. The tanned girl had a pronounced drawling accent, though thankfully it didn't make her words too difficult to understand. "Whaddaya want?" The other girl hadn't even looked at her yet.
Ling Qi observed the other girl carefully for a moment. Up close, she could see the corded muscle in the other girls bare arms, and the torn cloth where she had ripped off the sleeves of her uniform. She was taller than most, only a few inches shorter than Ling Qi. More importantly, she got a better look at the way the girl moved, and it reminded her all to much of the most dangerous people on the streets back home, the ones who knew how to fight… and kill. Sun Liling had a certain grace that even they lacked however. "I was going to ask if you had decided who you were pairing up with for housing," Ling QI responded tentatively.
Finally Sun Liling turned her head slightly, not lowering the arms held behind her head. The pose made it difficult to ignore the fabric strained to near breaking across across her chest. Ling Qi managed it with only a minor spike of irritation though, returning her attention to the other girl's face. It was somewhat disturbing to note that the other girl's eyes were the color of freshly spilt blood. The most attention grabbing feature was probably the three thin white lines that traced down across her nose and lips. It looked like something had raked it's claws down her face. "The snake blow you off then?" She asked abruptly jarring Ling Qi from her observations.
The other girl was making no effort to keep her voice down, and Ling Qi was all to aware of the silence from the girls closest to them. She managed not to squirm at the feeling of being in the spotlight though, if only just. "I… no," she still stumbled over the words though. "How did you…"
"I wanted to see what had the geese back their squawking," she drawled lazily. "I guess I gotta give you points for ambition if nothing else." She glanced at you again, this time for several seconds. Ling Qi felt more than a bit uncomfortable as the other girl seemed to study her from head to toe. "For the moment anyway," she seemed to decide on something. "You don't look completely soft. You might be worth something if you work for it."
1 success needed
6,2. No success
Ling Qi frowned, feeling indignant at being dismissed again, and her next words slip out before she can think about it. "Don't say that as if it's praise," she snapped. "I was trying to be nice you arrogant…" Ling Qi cut herself off, her eyes flying open wide as she stopped in her tracks due to the scar nicked fist suddenly flying toward her nose.
It stopped a hair's breadth from contact, the breeze from the blow enough to make Ling Qi's flyaway strands flutter from her face. The others behind them stopping dead in their tracks as well. She had never even seen Sun Liling move or change posture, but the girl was now facing her, legs bent arm extended upward to strike directly at your face. Her crimson eyes were hard and cold for a moment as tense seconds ticked by. Then she withdrew her fist and chuckled. "Made ya flinch," she said in a voice laced with amusement. "But seriously, if you survive the inevitable backstab from the snake, I'll still be around."
As the girl turns away and keeps walking Ling Qi glared at her back, hands balling into fists, hating the flush of embarrassment that she knew was rising on her face. This time she managed to control herself though. Her heart was still pounding in her ears from the fear she had felt in that bare second when she had thought the other girl was going to strike her. She wasn't an experienced fighter, but… she was quite certain she would be in no condition to walk anywhere if the girl had followed through.
So instead of shouting at the redhead as she wanted to do Ling Qi fell back through the crowd, ignoring the looks she was getting and returned to Bai Meizhen's side. There was a trace of… concern, maybe on the pale girl's face for a bare second. Ling Qi felt she might have imagined it though so quickly did it vanish. "Are you well?" The other girl asked evenly.
"I'm fine," Ling Qi responded tersely. With an effort of will she fought down the indignation and anger she felt and let out a long breath. There was no point in it right now. "So," she then began with false cheer. "What kind of residence do you want to take?"
Bai Meizhen stared at her unblinking for several seconds before dipping her head slightly, apparently acknowledging Ling Qi's desire not to talk about it. The two of them spent the rest of the short trip quietly chatting about what they were looking for in a home. Things got rather more hectic as they reached the bottom of the path and the group splintered, various groups rushing off to secure their claims. For the two girls part, Ling Qi's assumption had been correct. For all that the other girls seem to dislike Bai Meizhen, they also seemed reluctant to confront her directly.
So it was with some ease that the two of them managed to secure a fairly luxurious space for themselves. Bai Meizhen seemed to have no interest in the largest villas, but what they ended up with was still several degrees nicer than anywhere Ling Qi had stayed in her life. The squat stone building was only a single story, but in addition to a fairly spacious front room with a well kept hearth, there were also a pair of bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, and a third empty room laid out with thick mats.
It wasn't furnished with any particular luxury, simple pallets and roughly carven chests for their belongings being the only contents of the bedrooms. It did have a small yard in the back with a well appointed garden full of plants she did not recognize and a tiny pond full of colorful fish though.
It was later that night, after the two of them had put their things away, and Ling Qi had figured out that the large building in the center was the storehouse from which they could retrieve food and drink that she was sitting in front of the fire while Bai Meizhen quietly tended to the tea she was brewing in the clay pot they had found in one of the kitchen cubbies.
Ling Qi had the scroll for the Argent Soul technique open in her lap and was frowning down at the odd diagram and the text around it. To her eye it seemed like no more than a collection of breathing exercises interspersed with flowery philosophical nonsense. She was beginning to feel irritated, she knew she was missing something, but couldn't quite understand what.
She was pulled from her thoughts by the whistle that signified the water for the tea was beginning to boil. As much as she wanted to figure this out on her own… she should probably ask. Bai Meizhen had made no indication that she was willing to help her, but after spending most of the afternoon with the girl collecting necessities for their home, she felt she was beginning to get a feel for the taciturn girl. She would never offer help on her own, and probably wouldn't ask for it either. It seemed against her nature. "Bai Meizhen," that didn't mean that Ling Qi couldn't ask. "Do you know what this part means?" She asked, pointing to a block of characters next to a line pointing toward the navel of the human figure covered in lines and squiggles in the diagram.
The other girl took a moment to look up from the brewing tea, looking faintly surprised that you were speaking to her. She didn't really engage verbally unless prompted you were noticing. She did lean forward, narrowing her creepy golden eyes to study the scroll, which you helpfully turned to make easier for her. Several seconds of silence, less awkward now, passed before she looked up. "It is describing the state of mind one must reach to begin absorbing spiritual energy into one's dantian," she responded a bit condescendingly. "It is the first step in the simple exercises for the first stage of the technique, once you have mastered the first breathing method."
Ling Qi let out a breath, not letting the other girls tone bother her. She told herself again that the other girl didn't mean any harm, and that she was being helpful. "What is a dantian exactly?" Ling Qi asked keeping her tone even. She hated even more that she felt she earned the condescension with her ignorance.
Bai Meizhen frowned, pausing as she poured herself a cup of the newly brewed tea. "It is the seat of a cultivators power. The core from which you channel energies through the meridians in your body. Filling the dantian is required to awaken and begin production of your own Qi." She pauses a beat staring at you again. "Qi is the energy which allows us to do… everything beyond the ability of mortals."
"I know that much," Ling Qi responded defensively. "But how am I supposed to feel something inside of me like it says? It's not like I can sense any of my other organs."
The pale girl pursed her lips, seeming to consider something for a moment. "Give me your hand," she said brusquely after a moment, holding out her own left hand.
"Why," Ling Qi asked glancing at the girl's hand suspiciously. She could see the movement of the small snake she had glimpsed in the girls sleeve a few times by now.
"I will inject a spark of Qi into you," Bai Meizhen responded impatiently. "It will hurt, but it will allow you to feel your dantian until it fades. You will need to practice in the future to avoid the need for such crutches though."
"How much pain are we talking about?" Ling Qi asked warily, even as she raised her hand. She knew everything depended on her being able to gain enough strength to defend herself by the end of three months.
As her housemate took her hand, she answered. "It is painful, but my Aunt did this for me when I was eight. It should be no trouble for you."
Ling Qi was about to respond when she felt a sudden heat in her palm, followed by an explosion of pain in her gut. It felt as if a burning knife had stabbed into her and then violently twisted, and she couldn't help but double over clutching her stomach. A slight whimper escaped her lips as she felt her eyes beginning to water. She didn't know how long it was until the burning pain faded to a dull throb like a second heartbeat. She could feel a knot of throbbing heat buried behind her navel. Was this the 'dantian' thing the other girl had mentioned?
Speaking of Bai Meizhen, she was observing Ling Qi quizzically over the lip of her tea cup, and Ling Qi noted absently that a second cup had been placed before her. Letting out a shuddering breath Ling Qi sat up one hand still held over her stomach. "That… that was more than painful," she rasped, glaring at the other girl.
"Was it?" The pale girl asked, seeming genuinely surprised. She didn't know how much is you misreading her though. "My apologies, you can feel it now though, correct?"
"I can," Ling Qi admitted grudgingly.
"You should drink your tea, then meditate while it lasts," Bai Meizhen said evenly. "Otherwise it will have been for nothing."
Ling Qi slugged back the tea in her cup, and moved to stand loosely clutching the scroll in her hand. She was still irritated at the other girl and wary that she was being messed with. Sun Liling's words still echoed in her thoughts after all. Still for now she was determined to at least try and reach this 'awakening'
And now I reveal the last of your stats. Talent.
Talent can range from 1-9, and serves as the target for you roll under while attempting to cultivate or learn Arts and techniques. For Ling Qi that number is six. Talent is mostly fixed, but there will be opportunities to increase it or unlock further potential as it were.
To reach a new cultivation level or learn an art you must fill the 'XP bar' for it. In the case of reaching stage one spiritual cultivation you need a total of ten 'points'. To determine how many points you get in a session you roll a number of dice equal to your talent modified by other factors such as teachers, environment, and tools.
In this case, Meizhen's little pick me up gives you two more dice, and the use of one of your Spirit Stones gives you one more. Each success is one 'point'
So Your first meditation session gets nine dice
You rolled 8, 1, 5, 4, 1, 8, 2, 10, 1.
That's six successes! Ling Qi managed to reach half way to awakening her Qi in a single night. Talk about talented. Successes in excess of what is needed carry over to the next level, so don't worry about wasting them.
It had been strange. Ling Qi had never liked sitting still for too long before, but after she had shut the thick door to the meditation room and sat down to practice breathing as the scroll instructed, she found that her mind did not wander nearly as much as she expected it would. Rather, she seemed to fall into the pattern that the scroll described with ease, as if she had been doing it for years.
After a time, when she felt she had it down she removed one of the glimmering red stones from her pocket and held it in her hands, clasped in front of her stomach. She focused on the warmth of the stone and the throbbing pain in her abdomen, and cast away her thoughts, the heat was all that mattered. Her body, the cold stone room, none of it mattered. Just the pulse in her belly and the heat in her hands. She was still empty, painfully so, and she could feel it now. The heat of the stone was her only hope for filling the new void she could feel, and so she focused on her breathing and began to pull in time with her breath.
The energy in the stone began to move cresting and ebbing in time with her breath, until finally it began to flow inwards, trickling into the slowly fading knot of pain Bai Meizhen had left her replacing that unpleasant sensation with a comfortable warmth. It was frustrating though, she could feel herself losing energy. It felt as if something were blocking it from entering her body and much seemed to be lost, dispersing into the air instead of being absorbed.
Still, when she opened her eyes and found the room dark, the single candle she had brought in having burned down ages ago, she felt oddly refreshed, and the comfortable warmth that had replaced the pain did not feel like it was fading. She didn't think she had 'awakened' yet, but she could definitely feel the warm steady pulse of the spiritual energy now. The stone in her hand was gray and lifeless now though.
-1 Red Spirit Stone
She stood and stretched, quietly leaving the room, she felt better than she had in years, and despite some initial setbacks… she felt like she could do this.
So ends the prologue. Your initial position is set up, and you're ready to begin cultivating. Now that the normal game has begun, I'll describe the normal format of the quest. From now on, you will be voting on a plan for Ling Qi's actions over the course of a week. Later turns may be longer, but for now one week is what we are using. You will have a number of action slots determined by various factors and will fill them from a pool of provided actions and or write ins. Currently actions are fairly limited, but you will likely unlock more options as you learn more about your new home and fellow disciples. If it seems that you aren't accomplishing enough given the timespans involved, then keep in mind that cultivation requires quite a lot of not narratively interesting meditation off screen as well.
You may select FOUR actions for the following week.
[] Meet with Han Jian, he can help you, and you don't want to be rude.
[] Spend time with Bai Meizhen. You're living with the odd girl now, and it would be best to get to know her
[] Mingle with your fellow female disciples. Surely there must be some who aren't put off by Meizhen
[] Mingle with your fellow disciples in general
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Spiritual cultivation
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Physical cultivation
[] Explore the mountain. Surely there is more than one plaza and two residential areas
[] Cultivate on your own.
You may write in sub actions as well, if you wish to make certain options more specific. Actions will be counted individually, though certain actions might have synergy, something to keep in mind for the future.
Ling Qi began her first morning as a disciple of the Sect blearily rummaging through the tiny kitchen for something simple to eat. She was quite happy that they had stocked up the previous night, she would hate to have to trudge out to the storehouse before she had a chance to properly wake up. She was a bit surprised to note that Meizhen's door was still firmly closed, and there was no sign of the other girl waking up yet.
She hadn't really read the girl as being the type to sleep in like this. A quick glance out the window as she sat down to eat her rather plain breakfast showed that it was a good hour past sunrise. Even after she had finished eating and gone back to her room to make a futile effort at taming her hair and cleaning up for the day ahead, her room mates door remained closed. Ling Qi considered knocking, or even cracking the door open to check on her, but the other girls warning still lingered in her mind.
Instead, she decided to spend her morning continuing to work on the exercises given for the Argent Soul technique until it was closer to noon. Sitting cross legged in the darkened meditation room simply breathing was oddly relaxing, once she had managed to mostly still her thoughts, and Ling Qi quickly found the lingering traces of her tiredness fading. Without using a spirit stone she didn't feel any increase to the fragile flicker of warmth that still lingered from last night's meditation, but it still felt good to sense it 'breathing' along with her. For the first time in recent memory, she felt like she was genuinely good at something. She knew it was probably just wishful thinking on her part, but she allowed the thought to linger anyway.
However, when she did emerge from the meditation room she found that Bai Meizhen had awakened at some point, as the girl was seated by the hearth, looking just as immaculate as she had when she retired the night before, while sipping from a cup of water. Ling Qi felt a twinge of jealousy at the seeming ease with which the other girl maintained her appearance, but it was a small thing. She had long since resigned herself to her own peculiarities. More importantly the pale girl was different in one major way, the snake she had seen hints of was now visible, looped loosely around Bai Meizhen's neck.
It was an eye catching thing, with bright green scales that reminded her of expensive jade. IT was also quite small, only being about as wide as two fingers held together. The both of them, snake and girl looked up with eerie synchronicity as Ling Qi merged, and she couldn't help but notice that the little snake's eyes were the exact same shade as Meizhen's. Before the silence could become awkward, Ling Qi looked back up to her room mates face. "Oh, you're up then. Good morning." She didn't feel he need to try and speak better around the other girl, she seemed to have no reaction to it either way.
"Good morning," Bai Meizhen responded evenly, not breaking eye contact… or blinking. Ling Qi really wished she would do that more often. "Did your cultivation go well?"
Ling Qi shrugged, feeling a bit self conscious. She liked to think so, but she had nothing to compare it too. "I think so. I mean… I don't think I managed to 'awaken' but I can feel something in my 'dantian' now I think?" Ling Qi stumbled over a few of the unfamiliar terms more than she would have liked.
The pale girl simply nodded slightly in response, setting down her now empty cup as she did. "That is expected. It would be highly unusual for you to have broken through to the Red Soul stage in a single night of cultivation without significantly greater resources," she reached up to idly stroke the tiny spade shaped head of her little serpent with one finger as she spoke and the little reptile seemed to press itself against her touch, clearly enjoying the contact. "I cannot imagine you will not have achieved it by the end of the week should you put the effort in," she added after a moment. Her tone was still as bland as ever, but you think she was going for encouraging, maybe. She also might be putting an ultimatum down, it's hard to tell.
Despite that, Ling Qi had an odd feeling that this girls views on natural progression speeds might be a bit skewed. "I know I'll manage it," she responded with more confidence than she actually felt. "I have to go out though, so I'll see you later." She'd like to ask more about some of the things the other girl touched on, but she had a feeling she'd be late if she did.
Bai Meizhen responded with a small nod as Ling Qi turned to go, turning her full attention back to the serpent around her neck. The last sight she had of them was the bright green snake raising it's head and hissing in Meizhen's ear, almost as if whispering to her.
It was a clear, bright day, though the chill in the air was quite strong. Ling Qi was quite relieved to find that her disciples uniform was quite warm, despite the fact that it was hardly winter wear. It really was the nicest set of clothing she had ever owned. She still wanted to modify it a bit though, if only because of the poor fit. Perhaps she could see if the storehouse stocked needles and thread at some point.
Such thoughts were kept to the back of her head though, as most of Ling Qi's focus was on ensuring that she didn't run across any trouble on the way to the plaza. She didn't know if her 'friendship' with Bai Meizhen would be enough to invite real reprisal, but she didn't feel the need to take chances. Particularly given the ugly expressions of some of the girls in the less luxurious parts of the residential area.
Still, with no one actively looking for her and the lack of real crowds, it wasn't difficult to simply take a circuitous route to the edge of the area and skirt along until she got back to the entrance to the path carved into the mountainside. She kept her head down, and slouched subtly to avoid appearing as tall as she was, and she made it out without recognition. It would likely get harder as time went on, but for now her little tricks for avoiding notice were sufficient. Luckily there were few people on the path to the plaza, and those that were traveling it were fairly scattered and occupied enough with their own thoughts that she didn't have any trouble.
The plaza itself was more populated if only just, and it was here that she saw for the first time older disciples, there were more of them than students her own age in fact. She wondered where they had come from? She stuck to the edge of the plaza for a time to observe, but eventually relaxed. None of the older disciples seemed to have any interest in those from your group. In fact, they seemed to be almost pointedly ignoring them as they went about their business. Most seemed to be going to the large lecture building, but others were simply standing around in groups chatting or heading off down the other…
Those hadn't been there yesterday. There were now four other gates, two on the eastern side and two on the western side. Each with a path winding either up or down the mountain. Ling Qi shook her head at the sight. More magic, she really was out of her league at the moment. The confidence she had felt last night and this morning were ebbing rather quickly. Still, she did eventually move out of the shade of the gates and begin searching for Han Jian.
She knew it was foolish, but between her embarrassment with Sun Liling and her room mates… taciturn nature. She really was looking forward to some simple, friendly interaction. She knew she shouldn't trust so easily, but she couldn't really bring herself to be suspicious of the handsome boy. Which was the only reason she just paused rather than stopping entirely when she caught sight of him already having a conversation with another disciple. It was another boy, shorter by a head than the two of them, but significantly broader at the shoulder and wider at the waist. If anything he seemed almost Han Jian's opposite, squat and brawny with fierce features spiky black hair.
She wasn't close enough to overhear them over the low murmur of sound from the rest of the plaza, but she did see that the shorter boy is doing most of the talking, gesturing wildly as he does so. He seems to have a rather bombastic personality at first glance. She also noticed that Han Jian's smile seemed pretty fixed, and a few other tiny tells that he wasn't exactly enjoying the company. The other boy was either oblivious or didn't care though. Han Jian met your eyes then, noticing her where she had stopped in shade of one of the scattered peach trees. For an instant, Ling Qi saw something like relief in his eyes. That was enough to get her moving again.
Once she had gotten closer, Han Jian raised a hand, interrupting the other boy as he did so. "Ling Qi! Over here! Glad you could make it." That's one way to excuse oneself from a conversation. She wasn't too pleased about the attention it drew to her though. For his part the shorter boy turned quickly in the direction of Han Jian's gaze, an eager expression on his face… only for it to fade a second or two after his eyes landed on her.
She held back on the frown that wanted to form at his reaction. Still she nodded politely to Han Jian in response and answered when she had closed the distance a bit more. "Good Morning Han Jian. I'm sorry if I was somewhat late." With him she felt like she should at least make the effort at politeness. Ling Qi then glanced at his companion, who was frowning unhappily at her, what exactly was his problem. "Who might your…"
"Really Jian?" He interrupted her giving the other boy an incredulous look. "When I heard a heartbreaker like you was coming out to meet a girl, I thought I would have a chance to meet a beauty, not a stick with pretensions!" His words are loud and coarse, even discounting their content. Ling Qi felt her pleasant expression freeze on her face even as Han Jian winced almost imperceptibly.
If she hadn't already noticed his discomfort with the other boy, she might have done or said something unfortunate, as it was she held back, but only just, by clenching her teeth. In the silence that followed Han Jian managed to rally. "...Yu, isn't that a little too much? There's no call to be rude to another practitioner. Besides, I told you that it wasn't anything like that."
"That was definitely more than a little much," Ling Qi interjected sourly, glaring at the shorter boy, and ignoring the unpleasant twinge that Han Jian's words brought for no reason that she would acknowledge.
'Yu' simply waved a dismissive hand at her words, making her temper flare further. He didn't even look at her. "She's just a commoner Jian, you can tell by looking. Are you really going to waste time on this?"
Ling Qi didn't bother saying anything this time, though her expression grew darker. She couldn't do anything about this now, but she would certainly remember the insult. Han Jian's expression was wary as he responded. "I'm not going to break a promise Yu," it was probably the least friendly thing she had ever heard him say.
The shorter boy snorted in response. "Fine, I suppose I won't begrudge you your tastes Jian. Just try not to waste too much time. I won't stand for a brother of mine falling behind!" He stops off on his own at that point, leaving the two of you standing in awkward silence. Well, Han Jian seemed awkward, Ling Qi was seething internally. It was likely only her humiliation by Sun Liling yesterday that allowed her to hold her tongue as well as she did.
"So… brother?" she asked somewhat dully, fixing Han Jian with an unimpressed expression.
He winced, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. It was only then that you noticed the tiger cub was nowhere to be seen. "Not by blood, it's just…" he trailed off seemingly searching for words. "Have you ever had a peer that your parent's pretty much ordered you to make nice with? It's like that. I kinda have to stay on his good side."
Ling Qi hadn't ever had that experience, but she could understand what he meant. She had certainly 'made nice' with less pleasant people during her time living in the streets. She felt her temper cooling for the moment. It wasn't Han Jian's fault. "Heartbreaker?" She then asked, quirking an eyebrow.
Now the handsome boy just looked sheepish. "I… may have made a couple of the girl's my parents invited for marriage interviews cry. Rumor can get out of hand back home though, it's nothing like you're thinking."
Ling Qi thought he sounded sincere, but she couldn't help but be a bit more wary now. "So, what happens now?"
He sighs. "I give you a few tips on starting your cultivation, and if you would like help you practice a bit, like I said I would," he responds evenly, his expression sincere. "I'll be going to the classes the Elders are holding in the afternoon though."
"So will I," Ling Qi said, feeling a bit relieved. "Will this be a one time thing then?"
"I figure I can spare an hour or two every few days if you'd like," he offers reasonably. He really did seem almost too nice. His ass of a friend did have a point, she was just a commoner, so why was he willing to spend so much time on her? She would certainly like for the answer to be that he simply liked her and was being friendly, but she wasn't sure she could believe that.
"I would like that," Ling Qi responded after a moment. She considered just asking him, but she couldn't risk offending him and losing his aid. She needed every resource she could get right now. She felt a little sad that the encounter with the other boy had made her suspicious. It was probably for the best though.
Despite that damper on her spirits though, the next two hours were quite productive for filling her in on some of the basic details she had been missing. The dantian was at the core of all cultivation, the root of a cultivators power. It didn't exactly exist physically, if you cut someone open there would be nothing there. It was just the beginning though, even once she had awakened her Qi, she found that she would have to clear at least one of her meridians to use any sort of technique, as they were the channels which allowed Qi to flow through and outside the body.
There were a very large number of potential meridians in the human body, and even more 'gates' or exit points, and which ones she chose to open would effect which techniques she could learn. Much of it went over her head to an extent. She thought she understood the essential idea though. Han Jian had a pair of wind aligned meridians in his right and left legs open, as well as a fire aligned meridian near his heart. A practitioner essentially had a limited amount of space in each part of their body to use for differently aligned Qi. As a cultivator grew in power their body could withstand the opening of more meridians, and thus allow them a greater breadth of techniques.
It did mean that someone like her who was just started out would be quite limited at first though, which was troubling. If the classes turned up nothing on the matter she might have to ask Bai Meizhen for advice.
For all that she did enjoy the time she spent with Han Jian in the shade of one of the scattered trees in the plaza, it couldn't last forever. She felt like she had a slightly better handle on things now, and he had corrected some mistakes she was making with the Argent Soul exercises. So it was with somewhat restored confidence that she walked alongside him to the lecture hall to find where the beginners courses were being held.
Thankfully, in the entry hall of the building there was a large board with said information posted upon it. She had thought it simply part of the wall when she had passed it yesterday, but now the smooth polished wooden surface had many notices written on its surface. Even as Han Jian and her searched the board, some vanished while others seemed to write themselves. It was an impressive bit of magic.
As it was it seemed that the two Elders who had made themselves available had scheduled their lessons such that it was impossible to attend both on the same day. It was a bit frustrating to Ling Qi, but she supposed they must have a reason for it. For now she chose to head to the spiritual cultivation course, as Han Jian had mentioned during their chat that one could not begin physical cultivation properly until one had unlocked their qi anyway, which the spiritual lesson would presumably involve.
The lecture hall they had been directed too was less full than the one she had entered on her first day, with perhaps only thirty students. Another difference made itself apparent when a sharp female voice stopped her dead in the doorway. "Unawakened disciples on the left. Awakened on the right," it seemed the instructor was already here. The elder was a short, somewhat stocky woman with grey hair done up in a simple and utilitarian bun. She stood behind the lecturer's podium with her arms crossed over her chest, with a no nonsense expression on her severe features.
Her tone brooked no disagreement, so Ling Qi split from Han Jian there, withe the boy mouthing a silent 'good luck' to her as they did. She appreciated the sentiment as she found a seat with her back to the wall and no immediate neighbors. Once she was settled in she studied the instructor a bit more. Her appearance was a bit strange. She seemed like an old woman in demeanor, her barked orders and severe expression would fit right in with the elderly women from her home town. Despite her grey hair her face had an ageless quality to it, not unlined, but certainly not old either, nor did her full figured body give the impression of being withered with age.
Considering what stories she knew about immortals that would make sense she supposed. It was a bit exciting to see proof of the slowed aging that awaited her with success as a cultivator. A few more students trickled in over the next few minutes, each new entrant receiving the same order Ling Qi and Han Jian had, until at last, the matronly elder made a sharp gesture with her right hand and the door snapped shut.
"Consider this my first lesson. Lateness will not be tolerated," she said crisply, sweeping the room with an intimidating stare. "If you are late, you will not receive my instruction that day. There will be no exceptions." Without uncrossing her arms, she continued with barely a pause. "Nor will I allow interruptions. Any purposeful disruption of my lesson will result in your immediate expulsion from this room. You will not be allowed back." The few whispers and sounds from the students presented ended immediately at that pronouncement.
She waited a beat, as if to allow that warning to sink in before she pressed on. "Good, you can follow instruction," she said with a small amount of satisfaction. "I am Elder Hua Su. I am the head of our Medicinal department. You will refer to me as Elder Su, Physician Su, or Instructor, and nothing else." Another beat of silence follows. "You are here because you have had no instruction in the spiritual arts, for whatever reason," there is no judgement in the Elder's words, only a statement of fact. "Or because you desire expert advice in setting your foundation. In the latter case, I applaud your humility."
"All cultivation is rooted in the spiritual," Elder Su continues. "One cannot begin to improve the body with qi before that qi itself is unlocked, and the concepts necessary for all cultivation are by their nature, ephemeral." Ling Qi leaned forward slightly in her seat, not willing to miss a single word. "But before we begin, it would be best to split the class as I Intended."
Ling Qi blinked in confusion as the Elder flicks her hand, drawing forth a silver needle and pricks the thumb of her opposite hand. She didn't understand what the older woman was doing until the bright droplet of blood swelled and grew on it's way to the floor. It shifted through a kaleidoscope of colors as it did and seemed to pull the heat from the room going by the sudden chill. Within seconds a copy of the Elder stood at her side, looking completely identical.
"And now, to avoid distraction," it was odd hearing two identical people speak in perfect unison as both raised their left hands and gestured again, and the room filled with cloying mist which quickly congealed into a barrier right through the center of the room that blocked Ling Qi's sight of the other side. It also left them, once again with only one instructor. The original she thought, though she wasn't certain.
"Qi is the root of a cultivators power," Elder Su began without missing a beat, easily pulling Ling Qi's attention back to her without any trouble. "When you awaken it, you will begin the path to shucking mortal concerns. Food, drink, sleep, all of these can be replaced with qi, given sufficient cultivation," she said evenly, panning her gaze over those of you left in this half of the room. "And a good thing it is, as walking the path of cultivation does not afford us the time to spend on such things every day."
"That is not to say that mortal pleasures should be abandoned entirely," she continued. "That is a common misconception, and a foolish one. Your Qi is colored and shaped by your experiences and personality. Those who abandon everything in the pursuit of power will find their path to be narrow one indeed," her lip curls slightly, a display of contempt that seems out of place on the woman's stern face. "Of course, such narrowness does not mean a lack of power, and so I expect some of you will fall to the temptation."
She pauses then, and Ling Qi can see why. Near the front of the room a thin girl with light blue hair has raised a trembling hand. Ling Qi was a bit surprised at the girls boldness. Elder Su regarded to girl silently for a several seconds, but her hand did not lower. Then the Elder's stern expression cracked and she smiled. "Yes? What is your question?"
The girl lowers her hand, seeming almost startled to be addressed. Unfortunately Ling Qi could only see her back. "Ah… I just wondered if you could expand on what you meant? I never, I mean your instruction is just… different than what I have heard before."
The older woman seems to study her for a moment, "What is your name, girl?"
The girl shifts uncomfortably, but answers. "Li Suyin, Instructor."
"I see," Elder Su responds quietly. After a moment, she nods. "I had intended to expand on the point regardless, but as Miss Li has shown. I am willing to allow questions… should you not be disruptive in the asking," she pauses to let that sink in before continuing. "There are eight distinct elements to qi, and how easily one can channel a given type is largely dependant on the individual and their mindset. It is all too easy to say that a clear and emotionless mind is for the best, as it provides a fair baseline for them all, the fact remains that one loses something in this practice."
"Heaven, lake, fire, thunder, wind, water, mountain, and earth; these are but a few of the many aspects qi can conform to. Each one is associated with several concepts, emotions, and effects. Those who devote themselves to the well being of others find the qi of the earth flowing more easily. Forget joy or pleasure, and your lake qi will grow sluggish," she shakes her head slightly. "Such things are beyond the scope of this introductory lesson. Should you wish to learn more, I strongly suggest you continue coming to these lessons." Her expression here grows stern again. "More importantly, those who forget the mortal world entirely too often hole themselves up in caves doing no good to anyone. Hermits are hardly a boon to the empire," there is a touch of humor in her voice at this, but though Ling Qi laughs politely along with the others, she gets the feeling there is more to the older woman's words than the light explanation given.
"Now, more relevant to newcomers such as yourselves is the stages of cultivation. All of you are, in effect, still mortals, though I see that some of you have at least begun to awaken your qi," Ling Qi shifted a bit in her seat as the instructor's gaze rested on her for a moment. "The first stage of spiritual cultivation is the Red Soul stage. Each stage is then divided into early, middle, late and peak. The next two levels beyond are the Yellow and Green stages. For most cultivators, the Green stage is the limit of what they can achieve. Advancing beyond it requires a great deal of talent and dedication, as well as significant physical cultivation to survive the strain such large amounts of qi put on the body."
The lesson goes on after that, with the older woman helping greatly in expanding Ling Qi's understanding of just what she is doing when she is filling her dantian, and how to guide it for maximum efficiency. With her eyes closed concentrating on her internal energy she can actually almost feel what she thinks are her meridians. It's as if her dantian has dozens of veins flowing out from it, but every single one is blocked by… something. The weak energy within her can't even begin to shift it, whatever it is.
She still felt refreshed, her energy bolstered by the time the lesson let out. She felt thoughtful as well as she returned to the little stone home she shared with Meizhen as the sun set and settled in to cultivate for the evening.
Talent 6, Instruction Bonus 4(3 from lesson, 1 from Jian), 1 from Spirit Stone.
1, 8, 9, 2, 4, 6, 3, 7, 5, 2, 8. 7 Success.
Early Red Soul (1) reached. 3 Successes banked for next step.
Argent Soul Level 1/5 now learned and equipped.
Argent Soul(1): This technique for the cultivation of qi is among the easiest to understand. Rather than sheer power, versatility, or any other more practical use it is primarily focused on fortifying one's Qi and building a strong foundation for later cultivation.
Effect: Users gain one bonus dice to all cultivation attempts up until Late Red Soul Stage. User's gain a bonus success on all attempts to expand their Qi pool up to a maximum of ten. Users gain two additional Qi. Users may reroll a failed physical attribute check once per turn.
Level 2 Progress. 0/15
Ling Qi has officially become a cultivator, as such I will now provide the mechanics tutorial for Qi.
First, you have Qi equal to 3+Your cultivation level+Cultivation art bonus+ Expanded Qi reserves/misc bonuses.
So if you can math, you will see that Ling Qi begins with 6 qi. Qi is a replenishable resource which is used to perform techniques, arts and other superhuman feats.... Once you learn to do so.
At it's base, Qi can be expended in place of health to prevent lethal wounds at a 2:1 ratio. That is you may expend 2 qi to prevent one point of damage. If a wound would reduce Ling Qi to 0 health, this happens automatically.
Qi reserves may be expanded by focusing cultivation time on it. You require a number of successes equal to the amount of Qi you will be increasing to. That is going from 6->7 Qi requires seven successes. Cultivating in this way does not require a spirit stone.
In addition, Qi may be expended in place of various needs, thus granting you extra action slots. You do not yet have enough qi for this though, and overuse of this function can have side effects.
Finally, in regards to cultivation level. Your cultivation acts as a modifier for all relevant actions, providing a free success on any relevant role for each stage of your cultivation. Now most times when you are receiving such bonuses, you will be competing with other cultivators in some way. As you can see, against someone of equal level this bonus cancels out, essentially leaving things up to your skills and abilities. Against someone of higher or lower level it begins to make quite a difference.
A fight against someone three levels above you for example, gives them a rather large three success bonus over you before you even begin rolling dice. It is even worse when competing against someone a full stage(that is if they are Yellow and you are red for example) the number of bonus successes doubles. So a late red stage(4) versus and early Yellow stage(5) results in two bonus successes even though they are only one level apart.
-1 Red Spirit Stone
The moment she broke through would be one Ling Qi remembered for the rest of her life. Her breath was the wind, her bones were the earth, her blood was like fire, and she felt like her thoughts could expand to cover the heavens. She felt right, she felt complete for the very first time in her life. Her dantian burned with energy, and though those stubborn obstructions prevented her from drawing it out, the warmth and comfort she felt from simply having it were all too real.
Then the exhaustion hit, a bone deep tiredness that nearly made her black out where she sat as the qi in her body burned, drawing from her own body to fill her newly expanded dantian. She did, thankfully at least manage to make it to bed, if only just.
Linq Qi awoke the next morning feeling full of energy, despite her exhaustion the night before. She did find that she needed a change of clothing though, as she had fallen asleep in her uniform. The satchel she had been provided contained a few additional sets though, so she didn't have to worry about laundry just yet. She would have to find a place to bathe soon though.
...Was it strange to be concerned about something so mundane when she had just taken the first real step into the world of Immortals? Ling Qi thought so, but hadn't Elder Su said yesterday that neglecting mortal concerns entirely was a bad idea?
Ling Qi put those thoughts out of her mind as she finished getting dressed and left her room. She stopped as she opened the door though, surprised at the sight that awaited her. Bai Meizhen was awake this morning, and already seated cross legged by the hearth, sipping from a cup of water again. There was no sign of a breakfast tray though, or any other food. She hadn't actually seen the girl eat anything at all so far now that she thought about it. Perhaps she was using her qi to suppress her appetite? Ling Qi could feel instinctively that she could suppress her appetite with her newly awakened Qi, though she didn't think she could manage it for very long.
She didn't just want to stand there staring though, so she stepped out and nodded to the girl. "Good morning," she greeted cautiously.
Both Meizhen and her pet look up in response, and the pale girl dips her head in response. "Good morning, and congratulations on your awakening. I take it your lesson was fruitful?"
Ling Qi nodded and after a moment's thought seated herself across from the other girl as she had the first night. "It was. I guess you didn't need it though? I didn't see you there," Ling Qi responded, idly smoothing the fabric of her uniform as she got comfortable.
"I attended Instructor Zhou's lesson," she said calmly. "It was… intense, but I feel I benefited from it." The little snake coiled loosely around her neck twisted its head to look up at her, flicking it's tongue out several times. Bai Meizhen just glances at it with a slight frown though.
Zhou… that was the name of the instructor for physical cultivation, Ling Qi recalled. She supposed that would explain why she didn't see the other girl yesterday. "I don't know if it's rude to ask but… what stage are you at?" Ling Qi asked after a few moments of companionable silence. The question had occurred to her later in Elder Su's lesson, and it hadn;t quite left her mind.
"Mid Sin Shedding," she responded without pause. She must have noticed Ling Qi's confusion though, because an expression of chagrin crossed her face a moment later. "....Middle Yellow stage spirit cultivation," she amended a moment later. "I am not yet used to using the… standardized terms."
She was very far ahead then. It was a little discouraging to know she was so far behind. "Are most of the other disciples that advanced?" Ling Qi asked somewhat dreading the answer. "And what do you mean by standardized?" She added after a second.
"No, those in the Yellow stage can be counted on the fingers of one hand," the pale girl responded dismissively. "Most of our peers are no higher than the middle of the Red Soul Stage." She paused to take another sip of her water. "Old families such as mine have their traditions and terms for cultivation. The terms we are taught to use here are only a handful of centuries old. They were coined during the establishment of the current imperial dynasty."
Ling Qi nodded, feeling a bit relieved that she wasn't trailing quite as far as she had feared. Her roommate was simply… unusual. It feels strange that someone as strong as her would be ostracized though. She would think that everyone would want to be friends with the taciturn girl. She didn't want to press the other girl for information on something that might be personal though. "Is that why you came here with a spirit beast already?" Ling Qi asked, searching for a thread to keep the conversation going. She could sense the qi in the little snake now. "I've seen a couple others who have them too. Do your families give them out?"
Bai Meizhen frowns harshly at you, and the snakes head twitches toward you as well, leaving you subject to two baleful unblinking stares. Ling Qi shifted uncomfortably, what did she say? After a moment the other girl sighed, glanced at her pet and made a brief soft hissing sound, reaching up to stroke the serpents bright green scales. "I will forgive the insinuation since you are not aware. It is partially my fault as well, for now introducing her properly." Bai Meizhen fixes you with a serious look. "This is my cousin, Bai Cui. Please do not refer to her as if she were a pet."
Ling Qi stared blankly at her. This was the second time. Were nobles just… off in the head or something. "How does that even… it… she's a snake. How is she your cousin?" Ling Qi asked, incredulity coloring her tone.
Her companion merely frowned, but the snake… Cui, Ling Qi reminded herself hissed softly in what could almost be mistaken for laughter. "I know it is not an approved practice anymore, but really how can you not know such things," Bai Meizhen responded with an annoyed huff. "She is my cousin because our Sublime Ancestor is the White Serpent of Lake Hei. We are from two branches of the same family."
Ling Qi closed her eyes, trying very hard not to picture the… mechanics of such an arrangement. Did that mean that Han Jian too… she couldn't help but picture the tall boy with a pair of fuzzy cat ears atop his head. "I… right, sorry?" Ling Qi eventually managed. "You just don;t really hear about that kind of thing in the little town I came from," she finished a touch lamely.
Bai Meizhen simply nodded, not appearing to hold it against her, though maybe that was just her usual lack of expression. "I think," she began slowly. "I should attempt to educate you on a few things. If only to ensure you do not offend someone unintentionally in future."
Ling Qi blinked, surprised at the offer, even as she felt a hint of dread at having to learn a bunch of information not even related to her cultivation. Still, she had been intending to spend time with the other girl this week. "That could be useful," she hedged. "What did you have in mind?"
"Nothing complex," the other girl assured her. "Just a bit of history and some knowledge about the nobility. Enough to prevent you from making a fool of yourself." Ling Qi did not like the way Cui appeared to be doing the serpentine equivalent of laughing aloud.
"That sounds fine…" she still responded despite her better judgement. Really how bad could it be?
Quite bad, she thought gloomily as she trudged across the plaza on the way to her first lesson on physical cultivation. Bai Meizhen was not the best teacher, her diction was dry, and her dispassionate tone made it all to easy to nod off. Still she couldn't say the information was useless, not truthfully. In fact, despite her room mates lacking teaching style, she actually found herself remembering most of it, which was strange. She had never been particularly great at academic learning. Maybe it was a side effect of her awakened qi? Her thoughts had felt clearer since she had woken up, and it felt much easier to recall information.
She could ask Elder Su tomorrow she supposed, for now though she had a lesson to get too, and she had no intention of being late. She was walking alone again, as Meizhen had declined to come along citing the need to perform some kind of personal meditation. Ling Qi slipped through the crowds with practiced ease and soon found herself walking down a path she had not walked down before. It spiralled up the east side of the mountain, eventually ending on a smaller plateau where a number of wide fields divided by posts and rope barriers extended to the range of her vision. Each field was equipped with racks full of practice weapons, weights and other equipment as well. She saw various older disciples scattered about, performing exercises, running, and other slightly incomprehensible things. Was that boy balancing himself on the point of one finger? Why?
She shook her head and hurried past to the field at the end, where a fair sized crowd of disciples her age was waiting. She saw the boy with the burn scar she had noticed the first day, as well as that loathsome 'Yu' fellow, she didn't recognize any others though. She peered into the fog as she got closer, looking for the instructor. She thought she saw a taller figure standing beyond the crowd.
She stopped dead a moment later as she reached the rear of the crowd and got a good look at him. The first thought and indeed the only thought that came to Ling Qi for several long seconds was… muscles. The man standing with his arms clasped behind his back was shirtless, and looked like he had been carved from a block of solid bronze. His biceps were easily as thick as a man's thigh, and she had no idea that it was even possible to have that many clearly defined abdominal muscles.
Ling Qi flushed scarlet and averted her eyes when she noticed that she had been, staring in a rather indignified manner at her instructor. Luckily no one seemed to have noticed her losing her composure. She glanced up again this time at his face. He looked as she would expect, stern expression, a wide square jaw and short evenly cropped hair, tied back in a short top knot. Still feeling slightly ashamed… and tempted to lower her eyes, Ling Qi did her best to fade into the crowd and not draw attention to herself until the lesson could start.
She did not have to wait too long, a few other students filtered in joining the murmuring crowd standing before the utterly silent instructor. She might have thought the man a statue were it not for the rise and fall of his chest.
She wasn't staring. She wasn't.
When he spoke, the disciples quieted immediately. "Those who were here yesterday. Begin running." A good two thirds of the students immediately began to move away, toward the well beaten dirt track extending around the edge of the field. "Those of you who remain," he continued without once looking their way. "I expect your full effort for the length of every session. Any disciple giving less than their full effort in every task I assign will be expelled from the lesson. I will not provide second chances."
Ling Qi was feeling a bit of deja vu at the similarity to the other Elder's speech. "I will not mince words. I am only here at the direct request of Master Yuan, the Sect Head. Most of you will never serve in my unit on the border. Most of you do not have the resolve to be a part of the Empire's Bulwark. I train those who act as the wall which keeps the Cloud Tribes from our towns and cities. Where a single failure of attention can bring ruin to entire settlements. I am not in the habit of training those who will only be here long enough to gain some piddling strength to establish themselves in Court."
Several disciples shift on their feet, Ling Qi saw some angry and indignant expressions, as well as worry and other emotions. The Instructor pushed on though, as implacable as a glacier. "I am Zhou the Indomitable, and for some reason the Sect Head thinks you have the potential to be taught by me," he barked, voice carrying over the field. "I expect you will disappoint him."
One or two of the others were looking rather mutinous, but Ling Qi noticed that those who had been here the day before had their eyes firmly fixed ahead, not reacting to his words. She caught then, a mutter from one of the boys in front of her, one of a handful of young men standing in a loose group near that bastard Yu.
Of course if she heard it, she was not surprised that the Elder heard it as well. "Repeat what you just said, boy," the instructor commanded, pointing an accusing finger at the speaker. The boy immediately went pale, looking around for support only to find his companions conspicuously turning their faces away. He swallowed, but seemed to find his spine a moment later. "I said… I said that fighting nomads weren't so impressive," he looked rather miserable. "They're just… just barbarians, you know. Any decent city guard should be able to handle a few."
"Is that so," Zhou responded blandly. Pivoting on one foot he reached over to a nearby weapon rack and tossed one of the blunted practice spears on it at the boy. To his credit, the boy caught it with barely a fumble. "You have a late gold rank physique, correct?" At the boys nervous nod he continued. "As I understand it, that is roughly average for most interior cities guard officers, correct?" The boy nodded, now with a hint of pride. "Very well. Strike me."
The boy blinked, clutching the spear looking non plussed. "Sir…?"
"Did I stutter boy?" Zhou asked coldly, taking a step forward. "I said strike me. Strike as if you were trying to kill." Still the boy hesitated and Zhou took another step forward. "Strike. Now. Or I will have you expelled from the sect."
That seemed to finally break his hesitation and he set himself, stabbing forward toward the instructors throat. It appeared like a skilled strike to Ling Qi's inexperienced eye. Zhou made no effort to move though, instead only stepping forward to meet it. The blunt iron tip of the spear struck against his neck and bent in the instant before the pressure snapped the wood haft and the instructor's hand swept out in a blur.
The next thing she knew the boy was rolling across the field a half dozen feet away whimpering and clutching a rapidly swelling cheek. Zhou looked as impassive as ever, withdrawing his extended hand. "I did not use my qi in any active way," he explained clinically. "Nor did I touch him," he fixed a glare on each of you in turn as he continued. "I have met several nomad Khan's who could match me in combat. I have met more still who could at least put up a fight. When I say that allowing a single one into the interior is a disaster, I am not exaggerating in the slightest."
Ling Qi found herself nodding, along with the other disciples present. Not a single one hesitated when he commanded them to run and to not stop until he commanded it. What followed were the most miserable and grueling hours of exertion that Ling Qi could recall. Instructor Zhou was utterly without pity for any of them including her, but at the same time he seemed to have a preternatural sense for when they really couldn't be pushed any further.
Those that had reached their limits with more conventional exercise were set to meditating under his watch, while being instructed to… 'diffuse' their qi throughout their bodies. To allow it to soak into their flesh and bones rather than gathering in their dantian. They were allowed to practice these exercises until he had decided they recovered enough to resume their other exercises.
Unlike her earlier efforts at cultivation Ling Qi felt that her progress was quite slow. She could definitely feel something happening, but it was frustrating feeling most of the qi she attempted to diffuse simply wasting away into the air. Her mood wasn't exactly helped by the soreness of her muscles and the exhaustion she could feel by the time she was trudging back home for the evening.
The rest of the week proceeded much the same, a blur of training, cultivation, and conversations with what were thus far her only two contacts in this place. She was rather pleased to see Elder Su's brief surprise when she returned to her lesson newly awakened. The Elder had actually smiled when she had informed her that she had only begun cultivation on her arrival!
She was able to join the other half of the class then, which instead of being focused on awakening was instead focused on achieving the opening of new meridians. Which left Ling Qi with a choice. She would need to decide what to work on first. According to the lessons she could choose either one of her limbs, her spine, or her heart to begin with. Meridians in the legs were primarily used for movement techniques. The arms were best for offensive techniques and energy projection. Spinal meridians were best used for techniques which enhanced or modified the self, and the heart meridians were best used for techniques which created various effects in a field around the user.
Which Meridian will Ling Qi begin unblocking.
[] Arm
[] Leg
[] Spine
[] Heart
She knew she needed think hard on what she wanted to do, as each successive meridian would be harder to open. More than that though, she would need to consider what she would be doing in the coming week.
Choose FOUR actions for the following week
[] Continue meeting up with Han Jian. He may be able to help with unlocking your meridians.
[] Keep spending time with Meizhen, she's full of useful information.
[] Continue attending Elder Su's lessons
[] Continue Attending Instructor Zhou's lessons
[] Mingle with your fellow female disciples. Surely some of them can;t have been put off by Meizhen
[] See if any of the other boys are worth talking too
[] Explore the Mountain
[] See about modifying your uniforms.
[] Cultivate on your own
-[] Spiritually
-[] Physically
-[] Unlocking a Meridian
-[] Increasing qi
Stamina 1/15- Zhou's Training
Intelligence 4/15-All actions
Composure 1/15- Meeting Han Jian
Academics 3/6- Han Jian, both lessons
Athletics 1/9-Zhou's training
Occult 1/3- Meizhen
Politics 1/3-Meizhen
AN: Well that one got away from me a bit. Ended up rushing the end a tad I feel, but here your first turn.
Oh, hey, art of our protagg. Tried to mix the description we had and some personal ideas, so I didn't draw her ugly necessarily, but plainer, and gets worse off in comparison to classical Chinese beauty standards and also xianxia beauties.
Also, I vote we grow our hair out, hair tends to be more manageable when you have a decent length to tie up. And also also also, I want her hair in a bun.
It was very easy to fall into a routine, Ling Qi found. Wake up, cultivate, share a few words with Meizhen, who she had still never seen eat, attend lessons, and spend time with Han Jian here and there. Her newfound ability to retain information really was a boon. She could never imagine actually remembering most of the minutiae Bai Meizhen discussed with her or even the dense lectures of Elder Su, without the strange increase in her ability to concentrate. It was probably just a side effect of having awakened her qi, Immortals were supposed to be superior in every way after all.
She couldn't really claim that title though, even with her quick advancement she was still among the weakest people on the mountain. She had never really been strong, but in her home town that hadn't mattered much. There were enough people that she could always slip away and vanish into a crowd and very few people really cared if a few loaves of bread or a bag of rice went missing, aside from the owner. Here, even including the older disciples, she didn't think there were more than a thousand people on the entire mountain.
Here there was only one resource that mattered, the spirit stones they were given as allowance. She herself was beginning to feel the pinch of their limited supply. True, if she didn't foolishly glut on the energy held within like she had the first night, a single stone could provide for a week of cultivation… but she knew instinctively that she could advance faster with a greater supply. More than once had found herself eyeing her fellow disciples, noting their relative inattentiveness and wondered if she could get away with stealing their stones.
She wouldn't even consider doing that to Meizhen of course, despite the taciturn girls 'friendliness' toward her, there was always a feeling of danger around the other girl. No, she wouldn't even consider placing herself within Meizhen's personal space without a direct invitation. Some of the other girls she passed on her circuitous route out of the residential area on the other hand... They were sloppy, inattentive in the same way that the wealthier inhabitants of her home town could be. She was fairly certain she could filch from them without being noticed.
It wasn't a step she wanted to take without thought though. If she did get caught the consequences would probably be pretty unpleasant. Her standing wasn't exactly very high to begin with. Which brought her to the thoughts that had been plaguing her all day during her latest meeting with Han Jian.
They had been spending their time working on stabilizing her cultivation as her rapid growth had resulted in a few imbalances in her energy, but she had been trying to decide whether she should ask him for advice on clearing a meridian. As the two of them meditated under the eaves of one of the scattered trees in the entry plaza, the thought had struck her and would not go away. Why was he doing this? She couldn't really offer him anything, and yet he was helping her anyway… it was suspicious. He hadn't even really alluded to her owing him, not really, which made her all the warier.
She glanced over at him, where he sat cross legged in the grass, hands clasped on his knees and eyes closed. The tiger cub, Heijin was with him today, though the lazy feline was merely asleep in his lap, as he was most times that they did this. "Why are you still meeting me?" She asked, breaking the tranquil silence. She wasn't good at subtlety when it came to this kind of thing. "I appreciate the help, but it just doesn't make sense."
Her words pulled him out of his mediation, and he cracked open an eye to regard her curiously. "What brought this on?"
"I've seen you around you know," Ling Qi responded doing her best to avoid sounding accusatory. "You never lack someone to talk too or to partner with in exercises. You have higher cultivation than me as well, so why?" She didn't exactly stalk him, but she had… hung around after their meetings a few times, and kept a surreptitious eye on him during lessons. It seemed Han Jian knew many people, and most of them were, if not friendly at least accepting of his presence.
He relaxes from his stiff mediation stance and leans back against the trunk of the tree behind him. "Do I need a reason?" He asked lightly, reaching down to scratch Heijin behind the ears. "You aren't totally unpleasant to be around, you know?" He added with a hint of tease in his tone.
Ling Qi frowned, still watching him out of the corner of his eye, there was something slightly off about his expression. "No one does something without a reason," she replied stubbornly. "I know I am not… popular, and I lack the power to make up for that, spending time with me must be degrading your own reputation too."
1 success needed
4, 8, 1, 2. 1 success
For just a second Ling Qi saw a flicker of something angry in Han Jian's expression, a crack in his friendly demeanor, it went by too fast for to really be sure she had even seen it. "Well, I think you're underestimating yourself a little. You broke through to the first stage in less than a week, that earned you some positive attention you know," he says, Ling Qi didn't miss the deflection in his words. "Besides, everyone can use a little down time, you know?"
She considered his words for a few moments. "So, that is what I am then? An excuse to get away from others?" She might not be the best at getting what she wanted out of social interactions, but she liked to think she was reasonably perceptive, and that was what his words said to her, it felt a bit bitter.
He sighed, glancing up at the sky. "Don't read into things too much, Ling Qi," he responded tiredly. "It doesn't do any good to get hung up on little stuff."
He was right on that much, and she was better than this. She hadn't lived as long as she had by moping about silly things. Even if she wished at least a little that he had said something else in response. "You are right," she said after a moment, not quite agreeing but being willing to argue with him over it. "Ah, I had almost forgotten, there was something I wanted to ask you that Instructor Zhou seemed to leave out of his lectures."
Han Jian smiled, relaxing a bit now that she had changed the subject. "What's that? He's pretty thorough."
"He never explained what the levels of physical cultivation are," Ling Qi responded with a frown. "There was some mention of a Gold rank," she left out exactly how it had been mentioned. "But I don't know what that means."
"Ah, I suppose that makes sense, he probably mentioned it the first day and simply didn't bother repeating it the second," Han Jian responded reasonably, eyeing Heijin as the tiger cub bounded off of his lap to chase after a passing butterfly. "The progression is Gold, Silver, then Bronze. There's levels after but like the spiritual stages after Green we don't really need to worry about that for awhile."
Ling Qi frowned in confusion. "Isn't that backward? Why is gold the lowest rank?"
"Hm, let me see if I can remember how my tutor put it," Han Jian said, humming thoughtfully to himself. "Gold is a malleable metal, easily shaped, just like a young cultivator. Yet it is also soft and easily damaged," He put on a slightly mocking 'serious' voice as he repeated the words, causing Ling Qi to smile slightly. Returning to his normal voice, he added, "it's also the least valuable metal for Immortals, it isn't particularly good for talismans, and accumulating a mortal fortune is pretty trivial for anyone with decent skills. It just isn't important to us in the same way as it is for mortals."
Ling Qi nodded thoughtfully, her smile fading. It made sense in a way she supposed. She still couldn't see herself turning down a pile of gold coins though. She had other things she needed to ask though, and she was a bit less confident that he would answer it. "Thank you, would you mind if I asked you for advice on clearing a heart meridian as well? Now that I've reached the first stage, I want to be able to actually use my qi."
He raised an eyebrow, looking a bit surprised. "You're going for heart first? Most people go for an arm or the spine for the first one."
Ling Qi gave him an unsure look. "Is there something wrong with opening the heart first? You have a heart meridian open after all."
"Well yeah, but I'm expected to lead," he responds easily, wincing as Heijin awakens and nips at his fingers. He glares down at the kitten for a moment before continuing. "I didn't take you for the leader type."
She hunched her shoulders a bit uncomfortably, she didn't really feel like she was a leader either, but she felt that making herself more valuable as a companion would make it easier to keep Meizhen's interest, or some other group's if it came down to it. "I have my reasons," she responded stubbornly.
Han Jian regarded her quietly for a moment, but then shrugged slightly. "Well, alright, first thing to keep in mind is that you need to time the qi pulses to your heart beat, because otherwise you'll risk making your heart sieze up. The more precise the timing is the better off you'll be…"
Ling Qi leaned forward, a determined expression on her face. She would do this, and she wouldn't fail.
Over the course of her conversations with Han Jian and the lessons with Elder Su Ling Qi came to understand what exactly meridians were and how they related to cultivation. If the dantian was her spiritual heart, then meridians were her veins. Human's however were born without any open meridians, the spiritual channels clogged with the detritus of mortality. Some people were born with a few open, generally people with… unusual bloodlines like Meizhen.
One could not use Immortal arts and techniques without open meridians, because it wasn't possible to channel qi outside the body without having veins for it to flow through. The locations which could contain meridians were the limbs, the the spine, the heart, the lungs, and the head. The last two were too difficult for beginning cultivators though. It was possible to open meridians threaded through other major organs, but techniques using them were rare, and so most didn't consider it until later in their lives.
Making things more complex meridians also had to be attuned to various elements or aspects in order to use them for techniques. Essentially each technique required a certain number of properly aligned meridians to use. It was possible to realign meridians, but a cultivator would then be unable to use any techniques that relied upon the original alignment. In this way meridians put a hard limit on the number of arts that a cultivator could use at any given time, even if it was theoretically possible to open dozens of meridians in each part of the body.
There was quite a bit more too it, complexities that Ling Qi struggled with, but for the moment, she understood the basics and so she practiced.
Unlocking Meridians requires a cultivation roll, and takes the place of cultivation for the turn unless a second cultivation action is taken.
Talent 6, Lesson 2, Han Jian 1, Red Spirit Stone 1, Argent Soul 1
4, 6, 7, 3, 2, 9, 8, 7, 3, 1, 8, 9. 5 Successes.
The first Meridian is relatively easy to open, and only requires five successes, so Ling Qi has succeeded in a very short time once again due to her high talent. The number of successes needed increments upward by one for each meridian opens. So the next one will require 6, then 7 and so forth.
To SUmmarize the above in a non-narrative fashion. Meridians function as your 'equipment slots' when determining which and how many arts you can have active at once. Earning more meridians allows you to use more advanced arts as well as allowing you to equip more arts in general.
It took a few days of exhausting meditation and several frightening brushes with mortality when her control of her energy slipped and sent her heart beating erratically in her chest as she painstakingly forced aside the spiritual detritus clogging the channel. Time spent in lessons and in private cultivation blurring together as she focused on her goal.
Her breakthrough finally came during one of Elder Su's lessons, toward the end of the week. The lecture portion of the lesson had finished and the class had set about their cultivation under the Elder's watchful eye. Ling Qi once again calmed herself, slowed her breathing and focused and continuing to push her qi up through the slowly opening channel. At first, things had proceeded as normal, her qi pulsing in time with her heartbeat. Suddenly though, her breathing hitched as her qi pulsed outward… and broke through. She felt the energy gush outward, like floodwater breaking through a dike, and was vaguely aware of startled gasps and the sound of rushing wind from around her.
Ling Qi opened her eyes, blinking in befuddlement at the strange sensation, she suddenly felt so… aware the feeling of the smooth cloth of her uniform on her skin, the tiny motions of the air around her, the sound of rustling cloth as the person on her right side shifted away from her in startlement and her own clothing flapping in an invisible breeze.
"Please settle yourself Disciple Qi," she was startled from her contemplation by the sudden presence of Elder Su seeming to simply appear in the aisle behind and to her left. Even with her new awareness she hadn't been able to feel the elder approaching. Her cheeks colored slightly at the older woman's light chiding and she did her best to do as Elder Su asked, reigning in the flow of her qi. The phantom breeze died down slowly as she regained control of her breathing.
The Elder had continued down the steps of the aisle as she did so, stopping as she came to stand beside Ling Qi's seat. "It seems your natural qi has a tinge of wind to it," the older woman said quietly. In the silence of the room her words rang out clearly though. "May I ask which of your meridians you chose to open?"
Ling Qi felt uncomfortable as she felt the attention of the other disciples settle on her. At the same time she felt a surge of pride from the fact that Elder Su was addressing her directly, and unprompted at that. She took a moment to compose herself then answered, "my heart meridian Elder."
The matronly woman nodded very slightly in acknowledgement, studying Ling Qi passively as she did so. "I see. You have been doing quite well so far," her words are casual and kind, but it was hard to describe the feeling Ling Qi had at being acknowledged by the strict instructor. Then the older woman flicked her sleeve, and Ling Qi blinked as an odd jade stick appeared on the desk in front of her. "Take this to the archive and show it to the supervising elder, they will allow you to take a copy of one of the arts from the first floor."
Archive? She had no idea where that was. She had no idea there even was an archive, and Elder Su was already moving away. She didn't want to make herself appear foolish by having to ask either, not with the attention on her at the moment. As pleased she was to be given this, she was well aware that any chance she had of muddling along beneath notice had certainly just vanished. "Thank you Elder," she still managed to say, lowering her head in respect, even as she carefully gathered up the jade stick she had been given. It looked mundane, but she wasn't about to risk losing it.
The lesson proceeded normally after that, until finally letting out in the evening as was usual. As Ling Qi was hurrying to disappear into the stream of disciples heading away from the building, she heard a slightly out of breath female voice call from behind her, "Ah… Miss Ling! Miss Ling, can you please wait a moment!"
Ling Qi glanced behind herself warily and slowed down. She had made it out to the plaza and there were many people around, including older disciples, so it was unlikely that someone was going to try something. What she saw when she turned her head was a girl she recognized from her lessons with Elder Su. Li Suyin if she recalled, this was her first time really paying attention to the girl.
She had long, light blue hair and the sort of slim, petite figure that most of her female peers did. She was rather plain compared to the other disciples in their group much like Ling Qi herself. The girl lacked the obvious cosmetics or accessories that most of the wealthier girls used to show off as well. She was still too pale and unblemished to be a commoner though. All that aside the girl was a bit red faced from exertion. It looked like she had run to catch up with Ling Qi, she doesn't seem very fit physically. "What did you need?" She decided to ask, slowing to a stop. The other girl had never been rude to her or jostled her in the halls, so she could afford to be polite.
The other girl seemed relieved that she had stopped. "I am glad I caught you today, you always disappear so quickly after lessons," Li Suyin murmured as she straightened up smoothing her gown nervously with her hands. "I… well. I was hoping to you might consider helping me?"
Ling Qi simply stared at her, what could she want help with. The other girl had awakened earlier this week, she wasn't exactly far ahead of her. "I don't see how I could help," she said after a moment.
Li Suyin fidgeted slightly under her gaze. "W-well. You have advanced so quickly, it took me a few months to reach this point. I was hoping maybe we could discuss the differences in our methods, and I could maybe observe your cultivation in private, without distractions," her voice seems to get smaller and smaller as she goes on until it is little more than a mumble. By the end she isn't even looking you in the eye any more. "...I'm sorry, I'm aware that that is a very rude request."
Ling Qi felt somewhat awkward about being the one asked for help. She was also more than a little suspicious. She couldn't imagine that she would actually be much help to the other girl. "I'll think about it," she said after a moment. "Give me a few days to consider."
"Of course," the other girl said hurriedly. "Um, well, if you want too, we can obviously meet after lessons," she glanced back up at your face for a moment and her shoulders slumped a little. "I will… stop bothering you for the moment though. It's obvious that you are very busy."
She hurried off after that, leaving Ling Qi to wonder just how much of the girls nervousness was genuine and whether she should consider taking the other girl up on the offer. It didn't seem like it would benefit her, but… it took her thoughts back to Han Jian, where the situation was reversed. Maybe she could afford to give the girl a bit of her time?
Ling Qi's time at 'home' fell into a pattern much like her training did. It was a rather irregular one though. Meizhen kept erratic hours, she would sometimes spend the entire morning in her room, and sometimes she would be awake and drinking water or tea before Ling Qi ever awoke. Sometimes, Ling Qi would never see her arrive at that shared home in the evening. The only thing that remained consistent was that Meizhen never seemed to eat and declined any offers for food.
...She had seen the other girl with a trickle of blood on her chin on one of her late mornings, but she had wiped it away quickly the moment she noticed Ling Qi's stare, and she had not felt brave enough to ask about it given the other girl's frosty expression when she had continued to stare.
Still, oddities aside, Bai Meizhen was… helpful, in her taciturn and condescending way. It helped that their chats on the unpleasant minutiae of etiquette didn't last long and segued easily into discussion of the more fantastical elements of noble culture, such as the discussion they were having now as the last of the sun's rays were vanishing over the horizon.
"I'm still not really sure I understand, but… are you saying all noble families have a 'Sublime Ancestor' Is that some kind of tradition? That someone has to… marry a spirit to make their line noble?" Ling Qi's expression was strange as she tried to parse Bai Meizhen's explanation on how ranking and position among noble clans worked.
"All of the truly old families have or had such an ancestor, yes," the pale girl explained with a hint of impatience. "I do not understand why you have such trouble with the idea," she added a bit irritably. "Many Sublime Ancestors have died over time, but all the truly important families have spirit lineage. The relationship between a powerful cultivator and their bound spirits has always been a close one."
"You've mentioned that again, what do you mean by bound spirits?" Ling Qi asked eyeing the green scales visible just under the neckline of Bai Meizhen's gown. "Is that why Cui seems like she has your qi?" She still wasn't very good at feeling other people's energy but she was around the two of them often enough to feel the oddity.
Meizhen nodded slightly, taking a sip of her drink. "When a cultivator reaches the second stratum… the yellow stage, that is, it becomes possible to bond with a spirit, whether beast, elemental or pure. This serves to strengthen both parties, by allowing them to cultivate together and share abilities to an extent. It also serves to humanize the spirit, making it easier for it to interact with and understand us."
Ling Qi nodded thoughtfully, reaching out to warm her hands at the hearth as she did so. It was beginning to get quite cold in the evenings. She didn't exactly follow everything Bai Meizhen had just said, but the gist seemed fairly simple. "Oh, so does that mean he's at that point…" she murmured to herself, thinking about Han Jian, she hadn't thought he was that advanced.
"That boy is not yet bonded with his familial partner," Bai Meizhen shook her out of her contemplation. "He yet remains at the peak of the Red stage."
Ling Qi blinked, turning her gaze back to Meizhen. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
The other girls unsettling gaze slipped to the side for a moment and did not answer at first. The silence quickly became awkward. "...I have observed you with him once. It seemed obvious who you were thinking of."
She wasn't sure if that was disturbing or not honestly. As the atmosphere once again descended into awkwardness, Ling Qi cast her thoughts back to what they had been talking about before and coughed into her hand. "Right, well… Anyway, you were telling me about how noble families rank against each other? Is it just who has the strongest ancestors or is it determined by Heavenly Mandate like the Imperial seat?" She might be an uneducated peasant but even she was aware of some things.
Bai Meizhen's lips curled in an expression of disdain for a moment. "I forget sometimes the prevalence of imperial propaganda," she muttered more to herself than Ling Qi. "The clan holding the imperial seat is chosen by who can hold it, and nothing else. The current dynasty's hold is maintained by their control of the supply of spirit stones through the great mines in Mount Tai."
Ling Qi's eyes widened at the casual and disdainful description, it was more than a bit uncomfortable to hear someone speak of the Imperial throne that way. It just… wasn't done. "But… doesn't the dragon throne incinerate false claimants?" She asked, there were all sorts of stories of wicked and scheming nobles destroyed for daring to touch the throne.
"Certainly," Bai Meizhen responded, her irritation showing in the slight hiss that colored her words. "However, the first emperor, and the forger of the throne was a very prolific man. Most every noble family is descended from him at this point."
Feeling rather uncomfortable with the subject matter, Ling Qi soon changed it, but she now felt she had an inkling of why Meizhen might be isolated. Was her family out of favor with the Imperial court?
Over the course of the week Instructor Zhou's lessons were probably her least favorite times. The man was a merciless taskmaster and every time she attended she went home exhausted, sore and filthy with sweat and dirt. She was certainly wasn't afraid of getting dirty, but Ling Qi had never even imagined she could be this tired.
She felt a hint of pride in the fact that she was one of only a score or so of the girls who regularly showed up. She saw Meizhen once or twice, as well as Sun Liling, which was irritating in different ways for each of them. Meizhen because the snow white girl never seemed to tire properly and never sweated at all, no matter how hard she worked.
Sun Liling was annoying because whenever she showed up, she got the instructor's personal attention. He would wave the cocky girl off to an isolated corner of the field, and she would sit down to meditate. Instructor Zhou would then gesture at her and cause the grass around her to flatten strangely in a perfect circle. She could feel the pulse of qi when he did it, but she had no idea what was happening.
There were no more incidents like the first day, no students spoke back or interrupted Instructor Zhou again that she saw, even the boy still nursing a bruise from last week. Zhou's lecturers were oddly mundane, in that he spoke little of cultivation matters but more on simple fitness and what was needed to maintain it. Actual exercise was needed alongside meditation to allow qi to properly seep into one's muscles and bones, and he constantly reminded them that a keeping their bodies in the peak of mundane health was necessary to advancing on the path of physical cultivation.
It would grow easier to maintain with time and strength, as a cultivators body degraded slower than a mortal's, much slower as they grew stronger, but at their level they could not afford to slack at all.
Not that she intended too, Ling Qi was all to aware of how much she would benefit from having an Immortal's body, sickness, disease, starvation, all the ugly things she had spent her life worrying about could be cast aside and forgotten if she just worked hard enough. How could she not put her full effort into it.
Talent 6, Instructor Zhou 2, Han Jian 1, Red Spirit Stone 1, Argent Soul 1
6, 3, 1, 2, 2, 6, 2, 7, 1, 1, 8. 7 successes.
So, despite her original difficulties, Ling Qi stubbornly pushed on with her cultivation, doing her utmost to focus her qi into her exhausted muscles during her periods of meditation, and toward the end of the week… it paid off.
She felt the moment it happened, it was as if she had been straining against a rope and suddenly snapped it, a strange feeling of freedom and forward momentum as her exhaustion fled her body in a rush and new energy filled her to the brim.
"Good, get up and join the third group," Ling Qi startled, her eyes snapping open as she found herself staring up at the veritable mountain of muscle that was instructor Zhou. How did Elders do that?
She hastily nodded, not trusting herself to respond without stuttering in an embarrassed fashion given her proximity to the man. No matter how harsh he was, the older man was very… distracting up close. As she stood and began moving toward the group of students who had reached this stage of cultivation he spoke again over his shoulder, already heading off to review another student. "Do not slow down. You are still far behind your peers."
It stung a bit, but she knew it was true. Gritting her teeth in determination, Ling Qi set herself to driving her body to exhaustion once again.
Ling Qi felt she ended the week on quite a positive note, given her accomplishments, including, on the last day of the week, finding the location of the archive. It was tucked away on a narrow cliffside at the top of a near vertical path, but her new endurance and physical ability allowed her to reach it without too much trouble. Her token was accepted by the door guard and she was allowed in and guided to the section of arts which she could begin learning with the meridian she had open.
She could only choose one though, despite several appealing to her, though she couldn't say she really understood more than the introductory portions of each. In the end she chose…
[] Zephyr's Breath Art: A wind aligned physical art that focuses on controlling air currents around the user. Focuses on projectiles offensively, and providing speed increases to allies.
[] Earthroot Art: A mountain aligned spiritual art, which projects the solidity and weight of a mountain around the user. Primarily defensive, providing defensive boosts to the self and allies while slowing enemies.
[] Crimson Flowing Art: A water aligned spiritual art that allows the user to influence and sense those around them through the medium of blood. Primarily support, mitigates wounds and provides bonuses and penalties to allies and enemies alike
[] Burning Heart Art: A fire aligned physical art, that allows the user to fill themselves and allies with blazing heat and energy. Primarily offensive, boosting attacks of self and allies in the area and preventing exhaustion from wounds.
As she left the archive that night, Ling Qi turned her thoughts to what she would be doing in the next week…
-1 Red Spirit Stone
Stamina 2/15 Zhou's lesson
Intelligence 6/15 Lessons
Composure 2/15 Han Jian
Academics 6/6. All. New Dot achieved!
Occult ⅔ Meizhen
Politics ⅔ Meizhen
Athletics 2/9 Zhou
Empathy 1/9 Han Jian
Han Jian, changed from Acquaintance to Friend
Argent Peak Outer Disciples, changed from Disdain to Interest
[] Spend Time with Han Jian, perhaps he could… spar with you to help you with your new art?
[] Continue spending time with Meizhen. It's important to get at least a basic understanding of the people you are now surrounded by
[] Agree to meet with Li Suyin, it can't hurt to be owed a favor
[] Attend Elder Su's lessons
[] Attend Instructor Zhou's lessons
[] Work to learn your new art
[] Mingle with your fellow female disciples. Surely some of them can't have been put off by Meizhen
[] See if any of the other boys are worth talking too
[] Explore the Mountain
[] Cultivate on your own
-[] Spiritually
-[] Physically
-[] Unlocking a Meridian(specify)
-[] Increasing qi
