The elders are the exemple of a suzerain that let us do our thing. Cai very much isn't. It an important part of her character that she is a control/ordee freak.
The elders are the example of a suzerain that really doesn't give a thought to what we do because we're a measly Outer Sect Disciple.
Outer Sect Disciples literally do not get instruction unless they go through additional efforts to earn it.
While it's possible that staying in the Sect will be less restrictive than vassalage to a traditional noble, we have very little actual information on how much freedom Inner Sect Disciples, Core Disciples, apprentices to an Elder or actual Elders really have.
It seems however reasonable to assume that, as you cease to be one of a large number of gnats that they just toss some resources and the occasional instruction at to see who pulls through and as you become capable of actually contributing to something meaningful, they start having more expectations of you.
That aside, it's kinda besides the point, since the argument was likely directed towards the standard vassalage to a more standard noble in comparison to accepting CRX's offer.
Comparing to the sect option is vaguely pointless because there'd be so many assumptions involved until we ask people some questions, but CRX definitely has unique advantages to other noble options simply because (apart from maybe Liling...) you are just not going to find a year-mate or even someone of a similar realm to us who isn't also beholden to several layers of other people above them.
CRX has really unusual amounts of autonomy at her age and cultivation, because she's in the crazy position of being the only non-duke member of a ducal house. Once we'd leave the Sect literally the only one who can actually give her orders is her mother, who is a rather distant and busy figure for any concerns of ours.
Basically, if we can cope with CRX herself, we'd be pretty set.
Compare and contrast not just Meizhen who explicitly thinks we'd be a terrible fit for the exact reason that we'd be swearing to the Bai and not her, but even the mess Han Jian is currently in.
Sure, it'd be a headache and a half to deal with even if they had way more autonomy, but further complicating matters is that engagements and marriages between the group are literally above their pay grade to decide or alter.
I think assuming that CRX means us to be a spymaster is reaching. She might, or she might just be looking for potent new vassals.
Regardless, we know that CRX actually likes leaving people a long leash in how they do things currently. She is not yet her mom... and if anything, having friends around her will help her to never be her mom.
I figure it was both, in that she is looking for strong vassals, and that if we do join her, our skill set and preferences would end up with us becoming her intrigue advisor, to use CKII terms. Though we do need to work on our macro-spyness if we want to be an actual spymaster.
There are eight slots in the tournament for facepunchers, and only eleven strong candidates (That is, Cai, Bai, Sun, Chu, Guangly, Lu Feng, Ling Qi, Han Jian, Ji Rong, Xiulan, Kang Zihao)
I was going to dispute this and say there could be more than these eleven that we just haven't heard of yet, but then it occured to me that if we haven't heard of them yet, it's unlikely they'd be much of a threat.
Though considering Ling Qi's normal awareness of general goings on, if anyone's going to miss another strong candidate, it'll be her.
The elders are the example of a suzerain that really doesn't give a thought to what we do because we're a measly Outer Sect Disciple.
Outer Sect Disciples literally do not get instruction unless they go through additional efforts to earn it.
While it's possible that staying in the Sect will be less restrictive than vassalage to a traditional noble, we have very little actual information on how much freedom Inner Sect Disciples, Core Disciples, apprentices to an Elder or actual Elders really have.
It seems however reasonable to assume that, as you cease to be one of a large number of gnats that they just toss some resources and the occasional instruction at to see who pulls through and as you become capable of actually contributing to something meaningful, they start having more expectations of you.
That aside, it's kinda besides the point, since the argument was likely directed towards the standard vassalage to a more standard noble in comparison to accepting CRX's offer.
Comparing to the sect option is vaguely pointless because there'd be so many assumptions involved until we ask people some questions, but CRX definitely has unique advantages to other noble options simply because (apart from maybe Liling...) you are just not going to find a year-mate or even someone of a similar realm to us who isn't also beholden to several layers of other people above them.
CRX has really unusual amounts of autonomy at her age and cultivation, because she's in the crazy position of being the only non-duke member of a ducal house. Once we'd leave the Sect literally the only one who can actually give her orders is her mother, who is a rather distant and busy figure for any concerns of ours.
Basically, if we can cope with CRX herself, we'd be pretty set.
Compare and contrast not just Meizhen who explicitly thinks we'd be a terrible fit for the exact reason that we'd be swearing to the Bai and not her, but even the mess Han Jian is currently in.
Sure, it'd be a headache and a half to deal with even if they had way more autonomy, but further complicating matters is that engagements and marriages between the group are literally above their pay grade to decide or alter.
My thought is that the freedom over rank graph looks like a wave. When you're a mortal you can basically do whatever. When you're a Cultivator with no chances of nobility you have almost no freedom. When you're an outer sect tier cultivator you have a great deal of freedom. When you're a high level noble you have a great deal of freedom. I think the vassalage offer will allow us to skip the period of little freedom between outer sect and high noble.
Renxiang seems pretty okay to let us do our own thing. She seems quite happy with us taking independent action, and she let us keep some giant bits of loot rather than demanding tribute. She also respects that we are intensly loyal to people who aren't her, which would probably allow us to maintain our friendships.
Additionally, if we become a direct vassal to Renxiang, we can probably take vassals of our own, of which Li Suyin and Su Ling would be prospects.
Additionally, I don't think that all our friendships will last beyond even the tournament, let alone graduation and military service. Han Jian and Gu Xiulan in particular, though we could easily grow apart from any of our friends. This is not a bad thing. Keep in mind that Ling Qi is 14. Few relationships last forever from that period, especially as people move away physically as well as emotionally and class-wise. It would be hard to remain friends from across the outer inner sect divide, let alone separate provinces. However, we will be able to make new friends as we progress, and simple action economy dictates that we don't spread ourselves thin.
My thought is that the freedom over rank graph looks like a wave. When you're a mortal you can basically do whatever. When you're a Cultivator with no chances of nobility you have almost no freedom. When you're an outer sect tier cultivator you have a great deal of freedom. When you're a high level noble you have a great deal of freedom.
I disagree with this, on all counts.
What makes you think non-noble cultivators have almost no freedom? I don't think we've seen any indication of this, at all.
What makes you think outer sect cultivators have a great deal of freedom? At the very least, 1st year cultivators are rather restricted, with no communication in the first 3 months and no leaving the mountain for a full year. More broadly, in what way do you imagine they are freer than non-noble cultivators?
What makes you think high-nobles are especially free? If anything, I expect that overall they are less free then their lower-level counterparts, because of how they are tied up in webs of obligation.
Counterpoints:
1. From a political standpoint, these social connections can be the whole point of going to a sect (just look at Meizhen and CRX). Even for someone like Ling Qi, maintaining friendly connections in the different provinces is far from useless.
2. I don't think friendship among cultivators of the same sect dissolve easily. As immortals they'll all live a long life, and you have cases like the Fan and Han families where Yu and Jian's dads are close friends from the same sect, and on that basis they act practically like family.
3. If you think Ling Qi (or in a more meta sense, the players here) will forget about the first real friends Ling Qi has made, you might want to check your assumptions.
4. Letters are a thing, and as cultivation rises there's probably more esoteric ways to keep in touch available.
I have wondered if maybe he wasn't just really, really overconfident in his own charms, and underestimated how willing we were to share the power of the vent with others. He might have thought we wouldn't talk about it so that we could do what he did, i.e. use the vent when the more powerful and scary person isn't present, while sharing it with as few people as possible.
I disagree with this, on all counts.
What makes you think non-noble cultivators have almost no freedom? I don't think we've seen any indication of this, at all.
What makes you think outer sect cultivators have a great deal of freedom? At the very least, 1st year cultivators are rather restricted, with no communication in the first 3 months and no leaving the mountain for a full year. More broadly, in what way do you imagine they are freer than non-noble cultivators?
What makes you think high-nobles are especially free? If anything, I expect that overall they are less free then their lower-level counterparts, because of how they are tied up in webs of obligation.
The typical non-noble cultivator is a guard or low-ranking soldier. Soldiers and guards are big on things like following orders, and down on things like up and leaving (they call it desertion).
Outer Sect members have very few rules they have to follow, and basically never have to take orders from anyone. There is literally one instance in which we've been ordered around in the Outer Sect after they layed out the ground rules in the first day, and that was a highly atypical situation (the cloud tribesman). They are freer in that they don't recieve orders outside of ground rules and unusual situations.
As for high nobles, the Sun patriarch was able to lead a massive desertion againt the Bai and have people support it. Additionally, when you're a high noble few people can give you orders, and you're more able to deny disliked orders. Additionally, the high nobles having a great deal of freedom lead to the Ministry of Integrity and Sects, which probably aren't fully working given Renxaing's view of the Sects.
Counterpoints:
1. From a political standpoint, these social connections can be the whole point of going to a sect (just look at Meizhen and CRX). Even for someone like Ling Qi, maintaining friendly connections in the different provinces is far from useless.
2. I don't think friendship among cultivators of the same sect dissolve easily. As immortals they'll all live a long life, and you have cases like the Fan and Han families where Yu and Jian's dads are close friends from the same sect, and on that basis they act practically like family.
3. If you think Ling Qi (or in a more meta sense, the players here) will forget about the first real friends Ling Qi has made, you might want to check your assumptions.
4. Letters are a thing, and as cultivation rises there's probably more esoteric ways to keep in touch available.
1. We're not good friends with Han Jian, Best Snek has family pressures, and the rest of Team Vent is far below us in Cultivation. Any one of these things could break our friendship. Also, we'll be making new connections in Inner Sect, requiring us to either spread ourselves super thin, grow apart from our old friends, or focus on people who are inferior in status. And several of our friends simply won't make good contacts as well.
2. I'd wager that their dads were both in Inner Sect, and weren't maintaining a tenuous, difficult connection between tiers. Otherwise they'd have been raised in a much more vassal-liege manner.
3. Ling Qi simply isn't capable of maintaining all those connections. We'll get more connections in Inner Sect, more after graduation, more after military service, and so on. I simply don't want to socially isolate Ling Qi while clinging to distant friends, instead allowing things to progress naturally. Also, obsessively clinging to every friend we've ever made just isn't healthy.
4. Letters require an action apiece based on what we've seen, and aren't as good as face-to-face. Even if we get a long-distance travel technique, we'd still have to spend actions like mad, actions that could be better spent by prioritizing and letting things come naturally.
It says a lot about Ling Qi that learning a new language/deciphering new arrays is seen to her as a relaxing activity instead of, yanno, work. There's having a work ethic and being a work ethic, and Ling Qi's heading straight into 'I was deliriously self-indulgent when I went shopping for food earlier this week and bought some porcinis' territory.
Ling Qi background play a heavy part in this.
When every day you need to fight to find food, shelter, clothes, guard against mostly everyone around you, from the baker you stole bread this morning to your urchin "friends" that didn't get to eat this morning, i can understand how anything other that essentially fighting for your life ends up being relaxing.
And that you get more than a little obsessed with gathering personal power and any skills that could potentially be useful.
Also i don't really think she's cut out to be a spymaster. Sure she got the stealth and stealing part, but the master ?No. I doubt very much she can, currently, build, maintain and lead a spy network.
When yrsllar said that's the closest she can get to a friendship offer, it can be taken in two very different ways. Either, as you assume, she's socially broken and can't do the friendship thing. OOooor she's very aware of the social status difference between a ducal heir and street uchin thief, which prevents her from doing so on pain of losing her other social links among nobility (...except meihzen).
Heee... assuming she survives her failure, i think the best result would be for Fallen!CRX to become a vassal to Ling Qi. Friendship nonwistanding, CRX seems to need the strict professional frame. Without it i doubt she would know how to function, all the more so if she's in a deep depression.
Is CRX planning to replicate her Outer Sect government in the Inner Sect? I think we need to know what CRX's short-term and long-term plans are before we swear or don't swear vassalage. I think that's going to be more of a sticking point than how likable or not CRX is.
Was it a coincidence that Li Suyin's mood improved after her cultivation evened out a bit? I mean sure, there was the pale manual, but she was really chipper this week. So, probably not a coincidence.
I don't think that's really an issue. The first few chaps made physical and spiritual cultivation volontary. If people were at risk of mental breakdown because of a difference between the two it would have been enforced. At very least on the clueless cultivators.And noone would specialize in one over the other.
Besides, there are quite a few people with differences in levels around.
It's interesting to me that Li Suyin will be getting a spirit beast before Su Ling. Prior to it happening, I was almost certain Su Ling would get one first. Since she offered to help Li Suyin get anything besides a spider, I'm sure she knows how. Is it a limitation that's personal to her, or does she not have the time/resources to invest in a spirit beast right now? Or are people descended from spirit beasts less able to bind spirit beasts that aren't of the same type?
I kinda wish she'd get a link with a human instead. Preferably non-Romantic. 1) she wants to be the opposite of everything her mother stood for, 2)it'd probably help her, eventually, accepting the spirit half of herself. It'd be fun seeing her freak out i the mean-time.
An other issue is that apparently the Sect doesn't give a damn about indirect rule breaking. Using puppets to go in the other-sex area hasn't been punished, it makes one wonder what one could get away with indirect-ness.
Kill someone with a trap ? "Not my fault, he's the one that couldn't dodge the obvious poison tipped arrows!"
As far as we know it's actually the opposite. they where sent to the Sect because it's an Imperial order that every Family sends some of their youngsters. Meizhen was sent because she's relatively untalented and CRX because she got no choice.
3. Ling Qi simply isn't capable of maintaining all those connections. We'll get more connections in Inner Sect, more after graduation, more after military service, and so on. I simply don't want to socially isolate Ling Qi while clinging to distant friends, instead allowing things to progress naturally. Also, obsessively clinging to every friend we've ever made just isn't healthy.
True...
On the other tentacle higher cultivation means more actions per week.
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if there's sweet clone techniques out there at, say, Cyan+ ?
"You know," Ling Qi began as she raised her hand to shield her face from the hard, biting wind. "Something you said awhile ago confused me," she continued while the snow and ice littering the path crunched under her feet.
"Hm, what might it have been?" Zeqing replied absently. Unlike Ling Qi, the spirit floated easily ahead of her, drifting like a leaf on the wind as Ling Qi herself carefully made her way up the nearly vertical ice slick path. "You have not been having any trouble with the melody."
"No, it's just," Ling Qi paused, feeling a little wary of bringing the subject up. She didn't want to find out what skidding down the mountain on her rear would feel like. "You mentioned that Hanyi was spending time with her father, right? So… I mean," she paused, considering how to pose the question. "Did you remarry or something?"
The ice spirits blood red lips turned down in a slight frown, and a few flakes of snow fell, penetrating the cocoon of clear weather that surrounded them. "Ah, understandable, that must have seemed strange to a young mortal," she admitted. "Sadly, I have not found another appropriate suitor," she sighed, gazing wistfully off into the blizzard that surrounded them.
"Then how,...?" Ling Qi trailed off questionably, hauling herself up over a ledge carefully while the spirit floated on unimpeded.
"Well, it was brought to my attention by a friend that a child does best with both parents," the wraith like spirit explained, turning her blank white gaze back to Ling Qi's face. "So I expressed the remaining fragments of his spirit into an ice revenant. It is a bit tiring, but she seems to enjoy playing with it."
"Is that… safe?" Ling Qi asked uncertainly. That didn't sound safe or healthy at all.
"I hardly kept the more objectionable pieces of him undigested," she replied archly before drifting higher, toward the top of the rise they were climbing. "I believe we have arrived."
"Where are going anyway?" LIng Qi asked, setting aside the somewhat disturbing conversation for now. She blinked as she reached the top as well, and found herself looking out at a wide field of untouched white snow curving away into the distance, hugging the sheer cliffs that lead closer to the peak. They were very high up at this point, the clouds seeming barely out of reach.
All told, it was a beautiful sight, and in that moment Ling Qi felt a thrill of happiness that she now had the strength to see such a place with her own eyes. The sting of frigid cold at her extremities was a minor cost to pay for such a sight.
"You near mastery of that man's melody," Zeqing replied, her silver hair rippling in the wind as Ling Qi passed her, peering into the distance, where falling snow rendered the horizon an opaque white. "But you are still held back. I had thought a change of venue might push your understanding forward."
Ling Qi took a deep breath of frozen air, feeling the way the wind qi played against her extended senses, it was a powerful thing, and the qi of water and mountain was strong as well, but it hardly seemed better than the black pool. "Is there something special I'm missing?" Ling Qi asked turning back to face the ice spirit.
The wind kicked up sending the spirits empty gown and hair fluttering with increasing intensity. "Ah, you misunderstand," the spirit explained gently, if not kindly, as snow began to fall, her power no longer holding back the blizzard that raged around them. "You have mastered the notes and the melody, but the truth of it, the feeling yet escapes you."
Ling Qi felt a thrill of dread as the snowfall grew greater, and her teachers form began to fade into the blizzard. She remember in that moment, that she was alone with a fourth grade spirit that with few if any compunctions against murder. "Lady Zeqing?" She asked, reverting to more polite form of address. "Please tell me what you are doing?!" Her flute materialized in one hand and a knife fell into her other. She might not have a chance of fighting, but she could escape if things went bad, surely.
A shrieking gale blasted her, shredding her paltry attempt at control and sending her tumbling end over end into the snow. The dizzying spinning as she was carried through the air destroying any sense of place or direction. Her knife was torn from her hands, tumbling off to vanish into the storm. "Music is an exquisite art, it is the spirit, expressed through sound," Zeqing's voice reached her, seeming to come from every direction. "Such pitiful mortal understanding is only the beginning of mastery. Sound is wind, sound is thunder, such things cannot truly bare the weight of a soul's expression."
"What does any of that have to do with this!" Ling Qi screamed into the blinding blizzard, snow already crusting her hair and gown. It stung her eyes and burned on her skin, far colder than before.
"It is the only weapon available to you," Zeqing replied, not unkindly, her voice echoing on the screaming of the wind. "And your only salvation. I shall await you at the exit."
She grit her teeth, tears stinging in her eyes as she tried to look for any sign of where she was. No matter where she looked though, there was only snow, even with her enhanced senses, she could not see more than a few centimeters in front of her face, nor feel anything beyond an overwhelming torrent of wind and water, mixed with something else, a light qi that mixed and merged with the rest, barely detectable. Of course it was a test. Every single Elder and Spirit seemed to just love their tests!
She began to stir the qi to activate Crescent's Grace, to allow her to more easily move through the driving winds, but… nothing happened. The qi flowing through her channels seemed frozen and unresponsive, refusing to move at her command. True alarm bloomed deep in her thoughts.
In that moment she felt something slice across her cheek and flinched as she felt the skin part, warm blood flowing down her face. Her skin prickled as the snow driven against it took on a harder cast, like needles of ice.
She tried Thousand Ring Fortress next, and that too failed, the lively qi of wood just as frozen and dead as the other channels. Another sharp needle of ice stung, this time drawing a pinprick of blood on her hand. She could only assume Zeqing was being serious, even if she had no idea how the spirit had sealed her other arts. She raised her flute to her frozen lips and began to play.
The mist she called was immediately torn away, the flow from her flute far outstripped by the driving wind, but it was all she could do. She began to trudge forward, playing the familiar melody even as the sound was drowned out by the storm.
She didn't know how long she trudged onward, seeking any sort of landmark or indication of where she was. All she knew was that she could certainly feel the cold now, feel it creeping into her bones, numbing her fingers and stinging her eyes. She did her best not to falter, not to let herself stop playing, no matter how futile it seemed, even as she wracked her mind for some part of the melody she had misunderstood. Something that would let her counteract the cold. Something to keep her stiffening limbs moving.
She lost count of the tiny cuts that sliced her exposed skin, and the way her braid tore loose, leaving her long hair to flap in the wind, one more thing dragging her back. She remembered her first winter after running away, shivering alone in an alley. She had come the closest to breaking then, to running back to her mother in tears, ready to sacrifice her freedom for a warm hearth and the safety of her mother's arms.
She remembered the kind old man whose blankets she had stolen, and in turn the beating she had received when an older, stronger boy had taken them from her weeks later. She remembered sobbing alone as she clutched her broken arm while uncaring passerby ignored the huddled lump on the street corner.
Loneliness and abandonment, the cruelty of the uncaring wilderness, unchanged by its urban nature. The mist flowing from her flute thickened, resisting the wind as it flowed down like water, engulfing her feet and legs. It wasn't warm, it wasn't comforting, but it was hers, and it rejected the external cold and driving shards of ice.
It wasn't enough though, even as she struggled to shield herself the notes were torn away the moment they left her flute, lost to the howling of the blizzard. Even as she felt her understanding of the mist growing, as it expanded, engulfing her figure and granting her a tiny, precious meter of sight, she was still barely making progress. The power of the storm was simply too great to contest.
Zeqing had said something, something about music being spirit and soul. That mere sound was insufficient to express it in full. That didn't make sense though, you couldn't have music without sound. It sounded like part of some stupid koan.
Ling Qi was not a mortal anymore though. It seemed strange that she had to keep reminding herself, but it was so easy to forget when she was always surrounded by cultivators. She felt normal, she could jump higher, hit harder, think more clearly, but it was all so gradual that it was hard to notice.
That wasn't all a cultivator was though, was it? She could flow through a space smaller than her own head as a ribbon of darkness and fly with a magical gown. She could summon mist to confound her foes and sap their will or fill her friends with the vitality and toughness of an ancient oak.
Why should her melody be unheard just because of the wind?
Something thrummed deep inside of her, like the plucked string of a guqin, and she felt her qi change, the rumbling thunder that had filled her as she further mastered her melody faded and became lighter, like the notes of a song drifting through the evening sky.
Her melody was no longer drowned out, instead it rang out through the storm, carried on pure qi, even if her ears could not hear it, she could feel the music with her spirit as clear as she could on a calm summer's day. In an instant her mist expanded, doubling and then quadrupling in volume, utterly unaffected by the wind.
Special Element, Music unlocked. Music based arts are no longer affected by sound based defences or deafness as long as at least one meridian is attuned to Music.
Specialty II Woodwind Instruments, unlocked. When using your specialty you are treated as being one cultivation level higher in clashes.
In that moment, as her mist roiled around her, the storm slackened, and ahead she saw Zeqing, hovering peacefully only a short distance away in the now gently falling snow. Ling Qi glared at her, even as she glanced back. She could see her own tracks going in a wide circle, she must of tramped through her own trail a dozen times or more and noticed at all. She lowered her flute slowly as trudged toward the spirit, feeling angry and hurt. "Why?" she snapped, stopping just out of arm's length. "Why the hell didn't you warn me first?"
Zeqing cocked her head to the side, something like earnest confusion on her pale face. "There was no need. You met my expectations admirably."
"And what if I hadn't?" Ling Qi asked flatly.
"You may have died," Zeqing admitted, looking bemused. "How could you expect a true understanding from anything less?"
Ling Qi took a deep breath. "It wouldn't bother you at all if I had died, would it?"
Zeqing frowned, her gown fluttering less as the wind died down. "It would have been a disappointment," she replied thoughtfully. "Do you truly think yourself so unskilled?"
"That's not... " Ling Qi began. "That's not the point. I don't like being thrown into that kind of situation against my will!"
"I see," the spirit replied, still seeming a bit lost in regards to Ling Qi's anger. "I will keep that in mind?" she added questioningly.
She closed her eyes for a moment. "Sure… I'm heading down the mountain for now. I need a break."
"Very well," Zeqing replied slowly. "I shall see you next time then?"
"Yeah," Ling Qi replied without feeling as she stalked past the spirit and her gown flared out, allowing her to begin the flight down, since she still couldn't feel her toes. She wasn't sure she would be coming back.
Rerolling 8
9 10 3 2 2 5 7 8. 4 successes. 2 auto. 33 total
33/22 Lung Meridian opened!
11 overflow to qi
24/48
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 two bonus die to all music based expression rolls
-Adds three bonus dice to all perception rolls
-User receives no penalties for acting in low light or darkness-Permanent
-User receives two 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.
-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: oo
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 can spread up to a thirty meter radius centered the user. An additional ten meters of radius may be added for two qi, up to a maximum radius of eighty meters. All single target techniques targeted at the user suffer a three dice penalty. The user gains a two die bonus at stealth attempts within the mist. The user may spend an additional one qi for each of up to three allies, and two each additional ally. 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. On activates, the user now clashes with all enemies within the mist. On success the targets perception rolls take a three die penalty, and attempts to leave the mist result in the target doubling back unless a 3 success perception test is passed. 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.
Dissonance in the Night: oo
Cost 4
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 claw and fang every turn. These attacks are DV 1. Those damaged by the attacks suffer a two die penalty to their physical defense dice pools. This penalty stacks up to three times. This effect activates immediately after the users turn.
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. Targets suffer a two die penalty on all clashes, and lose three qi per turn spent in the mist. Affected targets must make a two success resolve test in order to act on their first turn after being affected.
--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. On a successful clash, 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, although passive effects still reach them if in range.
Sixth Measure 0/- Locked until early green
Still feeling frustrated, Ling Qi threw herself further into training, determined to take full advantage of the mass of medicinal energy still burning in her meridians, taking breaks only to study with Suyin and to once more venture out with Han Jian and the others.
Passives
-User gains a two die bonus to spiritual defences
-The user regains one qi per combat turn as long as an enemy has been wounded that turn
-The user gains a three 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 5)
-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 twenty meters around the user, reducing lighting to low. The user clashes with all targets within range, on success, the target suffers a two die penalty to defenses for the turn and loses two qi. This effect repeats each turn for three turns after. In addition, all targets suffer one point of armor degradation per turn spent in the mist. The user may exclude a target from the mists effects for two additional qi per target.
Crawling Horror: ooo
Cost 10 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 five meters of the user and acts last in the turn. The worm has three health boxes and uses the user's attributes for defense and offense, with a five die bonus to both pools, and use the techniques dots in place of a mastery. It's attacks are DV 4, with one point of armor penetration. 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. Up to one additional worm may be summoned for 6 additional qi. Worms count as Early Yellow/Silver combatants and last three turns, or until destroyed.
Second Breath 0/80
Her effort proved fruitful, and though Meizhen found her new art a bit distasteful, she could argue with the efficacy of it. The girl was remarkably quick to annihilate the slimy constructs Ling Qi could now summon before they could touch her. Ling Qi considered taking the time to talk with her friend about Cai's offer, and her other troubles… but the girl was busy with her own cultivation. Besides, Ling Qi wanted to get her own thoughts in order before presenting them to her friend.
As the week wore on, Ling Qi continued to work hard, and still brimming with energy, she saw no reason to refuse a request from Gu Xiulan to help the girl with her own training. They hadn't exactly had time for heart to hearts while out with the others after all.
Ling Qi winced as she gazed at the wreckage of the training field, and the merrily burning bright blue fires scattered around the target area, which even now greedily devoured the grass and left behind patches of suspiciously shiny dirt. She watched Xiulan's spirit, happily frolicking in a steadily shrinking patch, streaks of blue traveling up its wispy limbs as it drank in the fire.
To her right was Zhengui, who she had let out to play while they trained, and well…
"Big Sis, look!" The little tortoise chirped from the nearest patch of fire as he puffed out his cheeks and breathed out a cloud of sparkling multicolored ash, apparently fueled by the unusual nature of the fires.
"How pretty," she complimented him with a slightly stiff expression. "Thank you for helping put out the fires Zhengui." She was answered with a happy chirp and a hiss as he went back to 'work'. That done, she turned back to Xiulan.
The other girl sat cross legged on a patch of dirt, her chest rising and falling with a careful breathing exercise. Her cloth of gold veil fluttered with each breath, concealing the scowl Ling Qi could tell she wore underneath due to her scrunched up brows and narrowed eyes. "It should not be this difficult to extinguish fires," her friend hissed, clearly frustrated. "It is a children's exercise!"
"A child can't make fires that do that," Ling Qi pointed out dryly, indicating a patch of literally melted sand in the target range, and the curls of flame burning in place without apparent fuel. "I think you can be excused for needing to work at it a little."
Gu Xiulan gave her a dirty look but didn't immediately reply, instead glaring at the nearest pile of burning kindling that was once a reinforced target. The flames flickered in time with her breathing, and dimmed, but a moment later they flared back to life, actinic sparks erupting as it did so. "It makes no sense," she growled. "They are extensions of my qi, they shouldn't have life of their own like this." This time, she closed her eyes and heat distortions appeared in the air around her. The flame she was focusing on collapsed this time crushed before it could spark further.
"See, you can still do it," Ling Qi encouraged, walking over to sit down beside her. "And you can't say that it isn't worth it. I can't really afford to even try and block your attacks as it is."
She huffed as she opened her eyes, focusing on the next fire. "As enjoyable as it is to revel in the power, I doubt the Sect will be pleased with having a training ground burnt down every other day."
"I doubt they'll care," she responded flippantly. "What's a little landscaping compared to a powerful disciple?"
That seemed to mollify her a bit. "I suppose," she replied, and Ling Qi saw her fingers clench on her knees as she glared at the fire, forcing it to shrink, bit by bit. "Hmph, you must think me lazy, to complain about work like this."
"The clean up is never the fun part," Ling Qi replied wryly. "My arts aren't the kind to leave a mess, but if they were, I doubt I'd have much fun with that step."
"Big Sis, I found a pretty!" She looked down to find a proud looking Zhengui trundling over, a clump of warped sand that glittered in the late afternoon light. He dropped it at her feet, his serpent head looking away even as his little green eyes gleamed up at her, excited for her approval.
"How lovely," Xiulan said, a touch of amusement entering her voice, despite her strained expression.
Ling Qi merely glanced at her before picking up the bead and examining it with a serious expression. It was pretty in a rough way, especially with the spark of azure fire that still glittered at its core. "Thank you Zhengui," she replied with dignity, patting the little reptile on the head. "It's very pretty, I love it."
Practically radiating pleasure he trundled off again, Zhen wagging behind him. "Such a devoted child," Gu Xiulan mused. "You should be proud."
Ling Qi huffed at the touch of sarcasm in her voice. "He is," she replied seriously. "There's nothing wrong with being a little childish."
"I suppose not," Xiulan mused. "You would not find many cultivators willing to spend so much time on a spirit without even beginning combat training though."
"We can worry about that when he hits reaches second realm," Ling Qi replied with a frown. There's nothing wrong with letting him play for now."
"What a strange attitude," Xiulan laughed, her stress seeming to ease as she leaned back. The last of the fires was under control now, being consumed by Linghuo. "I would have thought you would drive him as hard as you drive yourself."
"That's different," Ling Qi replied absently, watching Zhen bristle as her spirit confronted Xiulan's over the last sparks. "Anyway, what do you say, want to head to the market? I think we both deserve a treat for working hard, since our little gluttons have already had theirs."
"Of all the things you could learn from me, you pick up my sweet tooth," Xiulan laughed, moving to stand. "Fine, let's be off."
Ling QI was glad her friend had worked out her tension for the moment. If offering her a time to relax herself was all she could do, she would do it gladly.
Such diversions could not last long though, and soon Ling Qi had to return to training. The last several days spent in Elder Jiao's company had been stressful, as she continued stubbornly cultivating Sable Crescent Step. Locked in a dream state, she found herself forced to solve more and more complex puzzles of three dimensional movement and manual dexterity, with ever harsher requirements of time and precision.
184/150 Fifth Step achieved. Sixth Step locked until Early Bronze/Green. Requires additional Leg meridian
34 overflow
Sufficient for Meridian Unlock
34/23. Spine Meridian Unlocked
Passive Effects
-Increases user's speed by 9
-Increases user's initiative by 3
-Add two 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 unaware targets. Does not stack with first strike bonus
-User gains a two die bonus to physical defense in darkness
-User cannot be tracked through mundane means, All other attempts suffer a three die penalty
Crescent's Grace: ooo
Cost 5 qi
Instant
The user adds six dice to their defensive pool and increases their speed by 5. While active, the user ignores terrain penalties to speed and slopes of less than ninety degrees. User may cross water or gaps freely as long as their movement ends on solid ground. Lasts four turns. When not activated in low light or darkness, this technique costs an additional two qi.
Formless Shade: ooo
Cost 8 qi
Instant
The user infuses their bodies with dark qi, and allows the edges of their existence to fray, blending with the night around them. Costs an additional three qi to use outside of low light or darkness. While active, 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. in addition the user may move through spaces which would otherwise be too small for them, so long as they have line of sight to the destination. In addition the user gains one point of perfect defense. lasts four turns
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 three die bonus to stealth in this form and may move from one shadow to another without interacting with any intervening terrain or obstacles. While in this form the user gains one point of perfect defense, 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. On success, the target suffers a two 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.
Sixth Step 0/- Locked until early Bronze/Green. Requires additional Leg Meridian
It was enough to push her understanding to the next level, and reach the state of being 'one with shadow' if only for a short time. Upon mastering it, she was able to further understand the Sable Crescent Step as it was. What she had was a fragment, or more precisely, it was only the beginning. One step lay beyond her still, but even that was only the completion of the first true stage of mastery.
It was with that thought in mind that she left the dream, trembling with mental exhaustion. As sensation returned to her real body, she found her head lying on something soft, rather than the floor, as was usual when awakening. Ling Qi dragged her eyes open, staring upward blearily and found a face swimming into focus above her own.
Xin was above her, silver painted lips curved up in an easy smile as she hummed to herself, and Ling Qi felt the spirits cold fingers brushing through her hair. She stiffened immediately, discomfort flooding her thoughts, made all the worse by Zeqing's actions earlier this week. If she had been helpless before a grade four spirit, how much weaker was she in the face of something assuredly greater.
"Awake already? How impressive," Xin said lightly, peering down at her. "Ah, I see," she added after a moment. "You've completed the lesson then?"
"I...uh… I have," Ling Qi replied nervously, her skin prickling at the feeling of the hands on her scalp. The inability to even feel Xin's qi was hardly a comfort. "Could you… Can I get up please?"
"Ah, of course," Xin replied, sounding a little disappointed as Ling Qi hurriedly sat up. "My apologies, I did not know it would bother you so."
"It's not your fault," Ling Qi replied quickly even as she hurried to arrange herself into a properly seated position across from her. A glance around the room revealed no sign of Elder Jiao.
Xin hummed, and for a moment, her eyes flickered silver, and Ling Qi felt as if Xin was looking through her rather than at her. "I see, you had been thinking of us as if we were humans."
Ling Qi recoiled, had the spirit just looked straight into her mind or something?! She forced herself to relax a moment later. "You act like it," she accused. "Then she goes and tosses me into a lethal blizzard, I thought…"
"She wasn't being deliberately cruel," Xin pointed out kindly, resting her hands in her lap. "Though [Winter's Muse, Songstress of Endings, ****^%^], has a cruel nature at heart," Ling Qi shuddered, though her eyes told her that Xin had only said Zeqing's name by the movement of her lips, what she heard and felt was different. It was meaning, impressed directly into her thoughts, though most of it remained incomprehensible. "To face the slow specter of death by cold, alone and without recourse is the greatest of inspirations in her eyes. How could she deny you the opportunity?"
"It… was," Ling Qi admitted. "If she had offered… I probably would have done it anyway" she found herself saying. It was foolish, but she knew herself well enough. "She should have asked."
"And that is your nature, that hatred for a lack of choices," Xin mused. "Well, I will not tell you what to do, but I think you should talk to her. That woman is a lonely one."
"I thought you said I shouldn't treat you like humans," Ling Qi replied sulkily, crossing her arms.
"I did not," Xin replied sternly. "You should simply understand where spirits differ. Beasts are easier, for they share your drives. Spirits…" She leaned back, an amused smile on her lips. "Until my Jiao shared his essence with me, I knew not hunger, touch, fear, happiness, or even true desire. I was a mere fragment of the moon, seeking secrets for their own sake. That woman had so much less time to take on human traits."
Ling Qi felt uncomfortable with the older woman's happy, nostalgic tone and ecstatic expression. "I…"
"There is no need to discuss such things with a mere disciple," Ling Qi startled as Jiao appeared behind his wife, frowning down at her, her hands hidden in his loud yellow sleeves.
"Oh?" Xin asked playfully, turning her head and resting her cheek in her hand. "You do not want the girl to know how you stained an innocent fairy with your essence, and wrought her into your ideal spouse?"
Ling Qi choked, shaking head violently to clear it of the image called into her thoughts. "Honored Elder, I have completed your lesson," she said hurriedly, cutting off anything else Xin could say.
Jiao's expression was flat and stony as he ignored his giggling wife. "...So you have. What will you do with your final few days of training then?"
"I was hoping," Ling Qi began, even as she glanced uncomfortably at Xin "I was hoping you could instruct me on the nature of spirits… and how to further my understanding of Eight Phase Ceremony."
Jiao sighed, even as Xin grinned. "Of course you do," the man grumbled. "Fine."
Rerolling 4
8 4 7 3. 2 successes. 24 total
31/54
+10 weekly to qi
41/54
These lessons were much less stressful thankfully, and overseen as often by Xin as by the Elder himself, granting her insights into the way spirits behaved even as she refined her ability to take in qi from the night sky. Soon enough though, they came to an end, and the prickly Elder bade her goodbye for the last time.
You have five major actions and three minor. However, I will allow up to two minor actions which are tied to major ones.
[] Spend time working with Zhengui to express his abilities
[] Train at the vent with Su Ling
-[] Any
[] Take a job
-[] Specify
[] Visit the Archive
-[] Search for a technique
-[] Study or improve formations
[] Train with Meizhen
-[] Select an Art
[] Train with the Golden Fields Group
-[] Select an Art
[] Scout out Sun Liling's base of operations
[] Cultivate on your own
-[] Physical
-[] Spiritual
-[] Qi
-[] Meridian (which one?)
-[] Art(Which one?)
[] Try to figure out the locking formations on the last bag
[] Go on a trip to the spiders nest with Li Suyin
[] Training is nice, but you'd like to get to be better friends with Su Ling, perhaps you could see if she has any interest in music?
[] Trade techniques with Han Jian, you can help each other work out the basics.
[] Find the time for a chat with Guangli, even if he is biased, he's probably the one who knows Cai best
[] Spend some time around Cai Renxiang, what does she actually do all day
[] Take a look at the books Xuan Shi was reading in the archive, see if there really is anything hidden
[] You need to speak with Meizhen, about Cai's offer and the future in general
[] Write a letter to mother
The typical non-noble cultivator is a guard or low-ranking soldier. Soldiers and guards are big on things like following orders, and down on things like up and leaving (they call it desertion).
We know most guards are low-level non-noble cultivators. We don't know that most low-level non-noble cultivators are guards. Furthermore, Guards absolutely can "up and leave"; they just have to resign first.
Obviously the situation is a bit worse with soldiers, but that is more a facet of the soldier profession then it is of lower-level cultivators in particular. Ling Qi is going to have to serve in the military at one point or another too, and she won't be able to up and leave either.
Outer Sect members have very few rules they have to follow, and basically never have to take orders from anyone. There is literally one instance in which we've been ordered around in the Outer Sect after they layed out the ground rules in the first day, and that was a highly atypical situation (the cloud tribesman). They are freer in that they don't recieve orders outside of ground rules and unusual situations.
We can't up and leave, which you listed as a criterion for freedom. We are stuck on the mountain.
Furthermore, from what we can tell most outer-sect members in general end up in a faction, and have to then take orders - much like Cai's enforcers do right now.
As for high nobles, the Sun patriarch was able to lead a massive desertion againt the Bai and have people support it. Additionally, when you're a high noble few people can give you orders, and you're more able to deny disliked orders. Additionally, the high nobles having a great deal of freedom lead to the Ministry of Integrity and Sects, which probably aren't fully working given Renxaing's view of the Sects.
Okay, so the dice gods didn't hate use this time.A few low but at least the important rolls were passed successfully.
Also Peak Yellow yay! Argent Rep increase !
@yrsillar - One With Shadow says that "being damaged ends the technique". What does "being damaged" constitute? If we get hit with the technique, but it doesn't get through the perfect defense, does that count? What if it doesn't get through armor? What if it gets through all that, but the damage is prevented/removed by TRF?
Highlighted exactly how inhuman spirits are, even the friendly ones. Children do better with both parents, and she loves her child, so she reanimated a fragment of her devoured lover for her child to play with. What else?
I hope we go back and explain our side of things, gotta make up with best mom.
Second Breath of AE should be 18/80 though, not 0/80, right?
Nah, mist doesn't need to compete with poison! We use them together! We set up FVM in 2 turns, and then use AE for the rest of the fight
It does compete with archery though, which is sad, but not that sad. We have a long ranged option, and when they close the distance we pounce on them with FVM and AE
This is weird, it's been half an hour since the new content was posted, and we're not flooded with replies? Is everyone on Discord or something? I tried to look for Discord on yrsillar's profile as someone said there was a permanent link there, but couldn't find it.
@yrsillar - One With Shadow says that "being damaged ends the technique". What does "being damaged" constitute? If we get hit with the technique, but it doesn't get through the perfect defense, does that count? What if it doesn't get through armor? What if it gets through all that, but the damage is prevented/removed by TRF?
