Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Zhen and Gui eternally arguing who gets to form the head
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
Nah, Gui is the shoulder mounted rocket launcher.
Pretty sure Zhen is the shoulder mounted rocket launcher. He is the one who likes to rest on our shoulder, and also the one who can spit burning venom.
Incorrect.
He's the shoulder-mounted Wave-Motion Cannon. Picture it:
Cai begins generating intense light.
"Go! Gui Napalm Justice Launcher!"
Gui's jaw unhinges, and an ominous sulfurous glow begins emanating from it
Zhen's eyes start flashing brightly
"Napalm Justice Ready!"
Cai nods, unsheathes her sword and points it at their collective foe, "Napalm Justice! Fire!"
And while all of this is going on, Ling Qi is suddenly wondering if she hasn't made a terrible mistake somewhere while her eyebrow begins twitching involuntarily.
Last edited:
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
I said it before and I'll say it again.
She wants a quirky miniboss squad so she can derp vicariously.
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
Nonon is tiny.
Sooner or later we won't be bound to our current flesh and will be able to form a shorter body out of moonlight or shadows or mist, then we can be Nonon.
- Location
- Staring into the void
@yrsillar This still isn't on the front page
Too flat for Mako.
Though she does like beefcake.
Ji Rong is a Ryuko though...
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
It's not Cai in particular, but it reminds of why I keep anime fandom at arms length sometimes:
Tastes Like Diabetes - TV Tropes
- Location
- UK
So if Cai is Satsuki, Ji Rong is Ryuko and we're part of the elite four, does that mean the Liling faction is Nudisto Beach?
What have we been missing....
What have we been missing....
- Location
- The Void
Well, Liling did try to take our dress...
And Ji Rong is a shameless exhibitionist.
Year 43, week 41, Part 1
[X] Plan Lunar Arts
-[X] Overflow to spiritual, vent drip to AS, EPC successes to SCS
-[X] Use 2 virtual and 2 regular YSS (20), 10 dice Moon pills (40), 5 dice Music pills (15), 5 dice Water pills (10), Heavy Rains Pill (15), (total 100 rss)
-[X] Cultivate in the White Room
--[X] Leg Meridian
--[X] With Xiulan
--[X] (attached minor) Perhaps Xiulan could use some help. Track down her training ground and see what she's been up too.
-[X] Train Music arts with Zeqing
--[X] FVM
-[X] Hire a Tutor (30 sect points)
--[X] EPC/occult
--[X] PLR/expression
-[X] Attempt to placate the Dragon of the Valley
-[X] Take a job
--[X] Tournament Preparations
-[X] (minor) Invite Meizhen out shopping, you could use some advice for what to look for in flying swords
-[X] (minor) You… should probably look into what Sixiang is actually doing. The spirit did follow you home.
-[X] (minor) Zhengui's efforts are coming along well, but Gu Tai mentioned that he might be able to help, take him up on it
Ling Qi, I trust that you do not speak in jest. I… have trouble accepting your words, even knowing this. Yet I cannot deny that recent events have shown that you are able to call on resources unimaginable to me.
When a an elderly gentleman arrived at my doorstep, wearing the uniform of an arbitrator, I felt some hope I admit. He was very kind and patient, reviewing my case with utmost care, yet still I worried that it would not be enough.
Then those loathsome men arrived, and upon a word from my elderly guest hurled themselves to the floor in kowtow. I… was somewhat nonplussed. While I do not profess to fully understand the conversation that transpired then, but I understood the title they referred to him by. What in the world did you do to bring the Senior Judge-Magistrate for the entire central region to the outermost district of Tonghou?
I feel that we need to speak to one another face to face, so I will accept the invitation. While I would never consider leaving the city in a normal situation… I have no further doubts about the safety of any transport.
It will be good to see you again. Ink and paper is well and good, but seeing my daughter's face once again will do my heart well, I think.
Ling Qingge
Ling Qi shut her eyes as she re-read the letter. She had half expected Cai's recommendation to cause something a little ridiculous, so she supposed she wasn't surprised that it had resulted in a man only a step or two down from the actual Minister of Law for the Emerald Seas province to show up in her mothers. At least it meant her mother was willing to make the trip.
...She could admit to herself that the idea made her nervous. She wanted to include her Mother in her life again, but would all those ugly feelings that had kept her in the street well back up once she actually spent time with the woman again? How much of her conviction to reconnect with her mother was rooted in reality instead of rationalization?
"What deep matters trouble you so, Junior Sister?" The smooth male voice, sounding right in her ear was nearly enough to make her leap from her seat like a startled cat. However, with the long practice and effort put into her composure since she had arrived here, she managed to resist the urge, only the tightening of her grip on the letter in her hands, showing her startlement. She had been expecting someone after all, before the letter arrived, fluttering through the twilight sky.
She stood up from the stone bench she had been seated on, and turned to face the center of the hilltop, where a white marble table sat in the center of eight benches, and sure enough, there lounged an a young man, sitting on the edge of the central table, one leg dangling loosely down.
He was, to put it simply, strangely dressed. The loose dark red pants of the same kind Sun Liling often wore, and simple slippers were common enough, but the open, sleeveless black leather vest, in which dozens of matte black knives were holstered… not common wear. Or maybe it was in the Inner Sect? He might be trying to emulate Elder Zhou, going by his chiseled musculature.
Not that she stared, not at all.
He was wearing a weird mask though, a thing of silvery metal, sculpted to look like the uneven fangs of a mountain demon, it covered his face from the nose down, and the black fabric beneath it went all the way down his neck. He also had a tattoo, shockingly enough, a vibrant red crescent, marked with tiny formation characters along its inside edge, curled around his right eye.
The young man rested his masked chin on his hand as she regarded him. "Do I meet your expectations Junior Sister?" He asked lightly, raising an eyebrow.
Ling Qi quickly bowed her head, clasping her hands together as she went through the formal motions. "My apologies Senior Sect Brother, I was just startled. I could not feel your presence at all."
It didn't hurt to pay a compliment, especially if it was true. To her Qi senses, he might as well have been part of the table.
"Aha, you will have to excuse me, I have been performing missions for some time," The young man said easily, a breeze tugging at his shaggy black hair. "You are lucky that you posted your request when I, The sixth ranked disciple, Liao Zhu, was on mandatory leave, for no others could fulfill the request you have laid out, Junior Sister."
She was about to respond when his qi flooded over her like a blanket of cloying mist, tainted by the scent of copper. It made her skin prickle uncomfortably, but she maintained her composure. He was at the seventh stage of third realm after all. Despite the unsettling feel of his qi, he didn't seem like a bad sort. Prideful perhaps, but it looked like he had some right to be. "I thank you for using your time to instruct me, Senior brother Liao," she replied evenly. "I will not squander my good fortune."
"Hm, a dutiful response," Liao Zhu mused, looking her over. "Well, I suppose I give you credit for your composure. Maintaining dignity in the face of arrogance is an important skill."
Ling Qi slowly straightened up, meeting his eyes with a wary look. "I am sure your pride is well founded Senior Brother Liao," she wasn't falling for a trap.
"True enough," he agreed. "But my phrasing was deliberately grating. I had heard that the current crop of talents was a quarrelsome bunch, but it seems that may have been exaggerated. No matter," he made a sharp gesture, dismissing the subject. "I am Liao Zhu, practitioner of the Soaring Sanguine Crescent, the Twinned Star Discourse, and the Sable Moon's Veil. Introduce yourself."
Ling Qi straightened her shoulders unconsciously, the young man's words felt odd, they were commanding, but she couldn't manage to muster up any offense at the blatant demand. She supposed sharing the names of her arts was fine. He could hardly teach if he didn't know what she was cultivating. "I am Ling Qi, practitioner of the Sable Crescent Step, and the Forgotten Vale Melody," she replied, following his lead. "I would like to add Phantasmagoria of Lunar Revelery to my abilities," she then hesitated. "...My cultivation art is moon aligned as well, but…"
"Eight Phase Ceremony?" He replied, more a statement than a question.
"...I wasn't aware that it was so common," Ling Qi replied, feeling disgruntled, she had thought it a rare art, but…
"None of that now," her tutor chided. "The only soul on this mountain aside from the two of us with access to that art is Elder Jiao himself. I only recognize a fellow walker of the moonlit path."
That did take the sting out a bit. "Alright, I guess I should have expected that, since I asked for a tutor," she said, dipping her head in his direction.
"It might be the primary starting point for moon art practitioners, but it is a varied thing. I have no doubt that your ceremony diverges from my own," Liao Zhu said with a slight shrug. "You chose the Grinning Moon, I think, and you are on the verge of another choice."
Ling Qi nodded, listening closely to his words, he had the air of a teacher about to begin a lecture. "You chose the Bloody Moon?" She asked, glancing at the tattoo around his eye.
"I have always had an affinity for delivering final justice to the wicked, yes," he replied, a satisfied tinge to his tone, despite the morbid implication. "Do not be too frightened Junior Sister," he added, apparently picking up on her unease. "I chose the Reflective Moons next, that I might guide others before they fall from the path of virtue, or ease those who have already erred, but not yet committed any unforgivable acts."
"That's kind of you," Ling Qi said, doing her best to keep any judgement out of her voice.
"We all have our paths," Liao Zhu replied, seemingly completely unconcerned with her thoughts. "Regardless, let us begin. The first thing you must understand, is that all the moon aspects are one. They are mutable, and flow into one another, and so must your cultivation remain as flexible as possible, to do this, you should…"
Ling Qi listened closely as Liao Zhu began to lecture, committing his words to memory, and later, when he offered demonstration, the fluctuations of his qi as well. Even if he made her a little uncomfortable, it seemed that he truly was a gifted teacher.
Liao Zhu proved a very competent tutor, and soon Ling Qi mastered the parts of Eight Phase Ceremony that had escaped her, it seemed that she needed to take a firmer hand in molding the lunar qi she absorbed, as she had been allowing too much to escape in her gentleness. The moon was ever changing, but in the moment, it held definite form. She had been treating it too much like wind or water.
She found herself stymied though, part of the techniques potential once again locked away by a will beyond her own. Liao Zhu had thankfully showed her how to continue her cultivation of the technique in that incomplete state though, so her efforts were not wasted.
In the morning, with her tutoring over with, Ling Qi returned to the Sects main office on the outer mountain, to hash out the details of getting her mother moved here. It took a few hours, but eventually she had all the forms filed for transport and residency. The Sect covered all the costs… but Ling Qi felt uneasy about it anyway, it might have been pointless, but she took the option to pay in ten yellow stones for additional guards. It was pricey, but it would do her nerves well.
-10 Yellow Stones
All told, according to the junior sect advisor, the process should take a bit more than two weeks, three at the outside. So she would have a chance to talk with her mother before the tournament.
That was for the future though, as Ling Qi had a more pressing matter to deal with, as Sixiang had apparently been getting into some trouble in the boys side residences, traumatizing boys by popping in at bad times. Han Jian had given the her the tip in passing, though he hadn't specified what exactly she had done.
Tracking down the moon spirit wasn't too hard thankfully, if only because she didn't seem to be hiding her trail, which hung in the air like a strong perfume. Said trail eventually lead her out to the location of what had been the first of Yan Renshu's hideouts she had hit, the one from which she had stolen her pill furnace.
That put her on edge of course, so she approached carefully, eyeing the now revealed entrance warily. In the end though, it was for naught, as Sixiang materialized in the tree branches above her head, and waved with a cheerful expression.
"You've gotten things cleared up I see," the spirit chirped, crinkling her sparkling black eyes. "See, isn't communication great?"
"Are you sure your a dreaming moon spirit and not a twinned one?" Ling Qi shot back dryly, the misty blackness fading from her skin as she abandoned her attempt at stealth. "I still don't appreciate the set up."
"It's all a matter of expression in the end, I'd think you would understand that there aren't hard definitions by now," Sixiang replied playfully, sticking out her tongue. "Even if you're mad I don't regret it. I might not really understand all the ways humans divide up love and affection," she continued, wrinkling her nose as if she found what she was speaking of silly. "But you needed to straighten things out. It looks like you decided to make her and yourself sad though," she frowned as she spoke, peering intently at Ling Qi
Sixiang wasn't wrong, but it still irked her that she'd been prodded into doing it by someone else… though she couldn't really tell if she was mad at herself or the spirit for that. "She is my friend, but I couldn't return her feelings. Those are two different things entirely."
"Are they?" Sixiang asked, cocking her head to the side. "Humans sure do love their divisions. Isn't love just love?"
"Of course not," Ling Qi replied, incredulous. "There's no way you can not know that."
"I suppose," Sixiang allowed. "I don't really understand where the lines are though. Humans contradict themselves a lot, even in their dreams," she shrugged. "You'd think you humans could be honest in your own heads at least!"
"I… can't really disagree with that," Ling Qi sighed. "But are you really saying you think…" she cast around for an example. "What you feel for your parents is the same as what you feel for a friend or…" she grimaced. "A guy you like the look of?"
"Hmm," Sixiang responded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm part of all my Mothers and Grandmothers, so that's different, Even if I call them that though, I don't think I really have 'parents' in the way you humans think of it," she allowed. "I don't understand why a friend shouldn't also be a lover though, or why you wouldn't want them to be," she replied dubiously.
"...Not doing this right now," Ling Qi sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, please stop causing trouble in the Sect, you can stay and ask people things but… please don't invade anyone's home or surprise them in private."
"Well, if they didn't want company, why wouldn't they put up proper barriers?" Sixiang huffed, looking a little miffed. "There was no call for all that shouting and whatnot."
"I'm sure they overreacted," Ling Qi replied, lying through her teeth. "But please follow my request."
"Well, since its you, I guess," Sixiang sighed, leaning back. Ling Qi twitched as the spirit pitched off the back of the tree branch, catching herself with her knees and then contorted her back to remain looking at Ling Qi. She supposed spines were optional on spirits. "This is still very interesting."
"What are you doing anyway, bugging people at random," Ling Qi asked, trying not to pay attention to the angle the gender fluid spirits neck was bent at.
"Well, I've never talked to humans who were awake before," Sixiang replied. "I am a… muse? I think you call it? I enter into dreams to grant inspiration. Grandmother gave me a body for the party, along with all of my sisters, but I only got to keep it because you spent all night chatting me up, so now I have a few months to have some fun," she said with a grin, releasing her grasp on the tree, twisting in midair to land on her feet, in blatant defiance of gravity.
Ling Qi frowned, she knew she shouldn't judge spirits as if they were human, but…
"Don't you start feeling all responsible," the spirit said chidingly. "I'm having fun, and there's nothing wrong with living in dreams. You shouldn't get so bogged down worrying about the future. Isn't it the moments that matter?"
"That's a really careless way of thinking," Ling Qi replied with a huff, shooting the spirit an unimpressed look. "You have to worry about the future so the moments to come will be better."
"Ugh, logic," the androgynous girl said, making a face. "Don't be like that."
"...You really are carefree, aren't you," Ling Qi replied, voice dry as she crossed her arms.
Sixiang nodded agreeably. "Yup! I was going to name myself 'impulse' you know? But I didn't like the way the word sounded," she explained with a grin.
"...Just stick to the public areas please," Ling Qi said
"Sure, sure, I'll be good," Sixiang said airily, not reassuring her at all. "...Public areas just means outside, right?" She then asked, sounding a bit uncertain.
"Yes, though if someone invites you in," Ling Qi replied emphasizing the word invite. "You can go inside."
She was pretty sure the spirit understood, she would have to hope that she kept her word.
Ling Qi spent much of the rest of the day putting Liao Zhu's advice into practice in regards to her new art, and she quickly found herself mastering both the physical steps and movements as well as the flows of qi. It was still nearly sundown before she got the last of the kinks worked out though.
Which merely left her to meditate, and once more bring herself to that nowhere place, sitting in the center of eight silvery reflections. This time, three of them called to her. The first, the dreaming rippled with color, and she saw herself standing before all of her friends and many others, her flute at her lips, and then she saw herself moving among them, smoothing over disagreements and keeping the atmosphere of the party light.
Second pool, the darkest one, the hidden depths of the new moon called, there were no faces here, only a flash of the map Xin had gifted her and a single spot of darkness yawning like a pit in the face of one of the carved mountains. It swallowed her up, and Ling Qi found herself deep underground before a pool of liquid darkness, within which something gleamed.
The last, surprisingly, was a gentle bright light, within which she saw Zhengui, as he was when he had been playing with Hanyi in the snow. The image subtly shifted, and she saw her little spirit happy and content, with hanyi perched on his back and indistinct but somehow childlike figures all around.
[] Dreaming Moon
[] Hidden Moon
[] Mother Moon
-[X] Overflow to spiritual, vent drip to AS, EPC successes to SCS
-[X] Use 2 virtual and 2 regular YSS (20), 10 dice Moon pills (40), 5 dice Music pills (15), 5 dice Water pills (10), Heavy Rains Pill (15), (total 100 rss)
-[X] Cultivate in the White Room
--[X] Leg Meridian
--[X] With Xiulan
--[X] (attached minor) Perhaps Xiulan could use some help. Track down her training ground and see what she's been up too.
-[X] Train Music arts with Zeqing
--[X] FVM
-[X] Hire a Tutor (30 sect points)
--[X] EPC/occult
--[X] PLR/expression
-[X] Attempt to placate the Dragon of the Valley
-[X] Take a job
--[X] Tournament Preparations
-[X] (minor) Invite Meizhen out shopping, you could use some advice for what to look for in flying swords
-[X] (minor) You… should probably look into what Sixiang is actually doing. The spirit did follow you home.
-[X] (minor) Zhengui's efforts are coming along well, but Gu Tai mentioned that he might be able to help, take him up on it
Ling Qi, I trust that you do not speak in jest. I… have trouble accepting your words, even knowing this. Yet I cannot deny that recent events have shown that you are able to call on resources unimaginable to me.
When a an elderly gentleman arrived at my doorstep, wearing the uniform of an arbitrator, I felt some hope I admit. He was very kind and patient, reviewing my case with utmost care, yet still I worried that it would not be enough.
Then those loathsome men arrived, and upon a word from my elderly guest hurled themselves to the floor in kowtow. I… was somewhat nonplussed. While I do not profess to fully understand the conversation that transpired then, but I understood the title they referred to him by. What in the world did you do to bring the Senior Judge-Magistrate for the entire central region to the outermost district of Tonghou?
I feel that we need to speak to one another face to face, so I will accept the invitation. While I would never consider leaving the city in a normal situation… I have no further doubts about the safety of any transport.
It will be good to see you again. Ink and paper is well and good, but seeing my daughter's face once again will do my heart well, I think.
Ling Qingge
Ling Qi shut her eyes as she re-read the letter. She had half expected Cai's recommendation to cause something a little ridiculous, so she supposed she wasn't surprised that it had resulted in a man only a step or two down from the actual Minister of Law for the Emerald Seas province to show up in her mothers. At least it meant her mother was willing to make the trip.
...She could admit to herself that the idea made her nervous. She wanted to include her Mother in her life again, but would all those ugly feelings that had kept her in the street well back up once she actually spent time with the woman again? How much of her conviction to reconnect with her mother was rooted in reality instead of rationalization?
"What deep matters trouble you so, Junior Sister?" The smooth male voice, sounding right in her ear was nearly enough to make her leap from her seat like a startled cat. However, with the long practice and effort put into her composure since she had arrived here, she managed to resist the urge, only the tightening of her grip on the letter in her hands, showing her startlement. She had been expecting someone after all, before the letter arrived, fluttering through the twilight sky.
She stood up from the stone bench she had been seated on, and turned to face the center of the hilltop, where a white marble table sat in the center of eight benches, and sure enough, there lounged an a young man, sitting on the edge of the central table, one leg dangling loosely down.
He was, to put it simply, strangely dressed. The loose dark red pants of the same kind Sun Liling often wore, and simple slippers were common enough, but the open, sleeveless black leather vest, in which dozens of matte black knives were holstered… not common wear. Or maybe it was in the Inner Sect? He might be trying to emulate Elder Zhou, going by his chiseled musculature.
Not that she stared, not at all.
He was wearing a weird mask though, a thing of silvery metal, sculpted to look like the uneven fangs of a mountain demon, it covered his face from the nose down, and the black fabric beneath it went all the way down his neck. He also had a tattoo, shockingly enough, a vibrant red crescent, marked with tiny formation characters along its inside edge, curled around his right eye.
The young man rested his masked chin on his hand as she regarded him. "Do I meet your expectations Junior Sister?" He asked lightly, raising an eyebrow.
Ling Qi quickly bowed her head, clasping her hands together as she went through the formal motions. "My apologies Senior Sect Brother, I was just startled. I could not feel your presence at all."
It didn't hurt to pay a compliment, especially if it was true. To her Qi senses, he might as well have been part of the table.
"Aha, you will have to excuse me, I have been performing missions for some time," The young man said easily, a breeze tugging at his shaggy black hair. "You are lucky that you posted your request when I, The sixth ranked disciple, Liao Zhu, was on mandatory leave, for no others could fulfill the request you have laid out, Junior Sister."
She was about to respond when his qi flooded over her like a blanket of cloying mist, tainted by the scent of copper. It made her skin prickle uncomfortably, but she maintained her composure. He was at the seventh stage of third realm after all. Despite the unsettling feel of his qi, he didn't seem like a bad sort. Prideful perhaps, but it looked like he had some right to be. "I thank you for using your time to instruct me, Senior brother Liao," she replied evenly. "I will not squander my good fortune."
"Hm, a dutiful response," Liao Zhu mused, looking her over. "Well, I suppose I give you credit for your composure. Maintaining dignity in the face of arrogance is an important skill."
Ling Qi slowly straightened up, meeting his eyes with a wary look. "I am sure your pride is well founded Senior Brother Liao," she wasn't falling for a trap.
"True enough," he agreed. "But my phrasing was deliberately grating. I had heard that the current crop of talents was a quarrelsome bunch, but it seems that may have been exaggerated. No matter," he made a sharp gesture, dismissing the subject. "I am Liao Zhu, practitioner of the Soaring Sanguine Crescent, the Twinned Star Discourse, and the Sable Moon's Veil. Introduce yourself."
Ling Qi straightened her shoulders unconsciously, the young man's words felt odd, they were commanding, but she couldn't manage to muster up any offense at the blatant demand. She supposed sharing the names of her arts was fine. He could hardly teach if he didn't know what she was cultivating. "I am Ling Qi, practitioner of the Sable Crescent Step, and the Forgotten Vale Melody," she replied, following his lead. "I would like to add Phantasmagoria of Lunar Revelery to my abilities," she then hesitated. "...My cultivation art is moon aligned as well, but…"
"Eight Phase Ceremony?" He replied, more a statement than a question.
"...I wasn't aware that it was so common," Ling Qi replied, feeling disgruntled, she had thought it a rare art, but…
"None of that now," her tutor chided. "The only soul on this mountain aside from the two of us with access to that art is Elder Jiao himself. I only recognize a fellow walker of the moonlit path."
That did take the sting out a bit. "Alright, I guess I should have expected that, since I asked for a tutor," she said, dipping her head in his direction.
"It might be the primary starting point for moon art practitioners, but it is a varied thing. I have no doubt that your ceremony diverges from my own," Liao Zhu said with a slight shrug. "You chose the Grinning Moon, I think, and you are on the verge of another choice."
Ling Qi nodded, listening closely to his words, he had the air of a teacher about to begin a lecture. "You chose the Bloody Moon?" She asked, glancing at the tattoo around his eye.
"I have always had an affinity for delivering final justice to the wicked, yes," he replied, a satisfied tinge to his tone, despite the morbid implication. "Do not be too frightened Junior Sister," he added, apparently picking up on her unease. "I chose the Reflective Moons next, that I might guide others before they fall from the path of virtue, or ease those who have already erred, but not yet committed any unforgivable acts."
"That's kind of you," Ling Qi said, doing her best to keep any judgement out of her voice.
"We all have our paths," Liao Zhu replied, seemingly completely unconcerned with her thoughts. "Regardless, let us begin. The first thing you must understand, is that all the moon aspects are one. They are mutable, and flow into one another, and so must your cultivation remain as flexible as possible, to do this, you should…"
Ling Qi listened closely as Liao Zhu began to lecture, committing his words to memory, and later, when he offered demonstration, the fluctuations of his qi as well. Even if he made her a little uncomfortable, it seemed that he truly was a gifted teacher.
EPC
Talent 6 + YSS 35 + Tutor 15 + Starlit Meadow 5 + EPC 12 + Pills 10 = 83 dice + 5 autos (Moon 5).
8 4 8 2 6 4 6 7 1 6 5 1 2 2 2 5 5 3 3 3 6 8 9 7 10 9 8 5 3 1 8 2 6 7 6 1 10 3 9 3 9 6 5 10 9 7 5 4 9 9 8 4 8 9 2 7 7 9 4 1 2 1 5 7 7 2 10 9 4 10 3 2 5 7 4 4 3 10 9 3 10 6 7. 40 successes
Rerolling 6
2 8 5 10 5 6. 3 successes. 5 auto. 48 total
244/200 Fifth Phase reached
44/500 for Sixth Phase
1/5th to Qi
63/59
+1 qi
4/60
Phantasmagoria
Talent 6 + YSS 35 + Tutor 15 + Starlit Meadow 5 + Pills 10 + Lung 10 = 81 dice + 5 autos (Moon 5).
10 2 1 10 3 1 9 2 7 8 4 6 10 1 1 8 4 10 5 7 3 9 10 4 1 4 7 3 2 5 4 1 6 6 10 9 9 1 2 5 10 6 2 2 6 2 9 1 3 3 9 5 4 8 1 4 3 9 6 6 3 1 7 8 6 8 8 4 8 10 10 10 5 1 1 2 4 9 2 6 4. 43 successes
Rerolling 12
2 5 3 10 8 10 7 1 3 6 2 7. 6 successes
Rerolling 1
55/50 First Revel acquired
5/150 for Second Revel
1/5th to Qi
15/60
Talent 6 + YSS 35 + Tutor 15 + Starlit Meadow 5 + EPC 12 + Pills 10 = 83 dice + 5 autos (Moon 5).
8 4 8 2 6 4 6 7 1 6 5 1 2 2 2 5 5 3 3 3 6 8 9 7 10 9 8 5 3 1 8 2 6 7 6 1 10 3 9 3 9 6 5 10 9 7 5 4 9 9 8 4 8 9 2 7 7 9 4 1 2 1 5 7 7 2 10 9 4 10 3 2 5 7 4 4 3 10 9 3 10 6 7. 40 successes
Rerolling 6
2 8 5 10 5 6. 3 successes. 5 auto. 48 total
244/200 Fifth Phase reached
44/500 for Sixth Phase
1/5th to Qi
63/59
+1 qi
4/60
Phantasmagoria
Talent 6 + YSS 35 + Tutor 15 + Starlit Meadow 5 + Pills 10 + Lung 10 = 81 dice + 5 autos (Moon 5).
10 2 1 10 3 1 9 2 7 8 4 6 10 1 1 8 4 10 5 7 3 9 10 4 1 4 7 3 2 5 4 1 6 6 10 9 9 1 2 5 10 6 2 2 6 2 9 1 3 3 9 5 4 8 1 4 3 9 6 6 3 1 7 8 6 8 8 4 8 10 10 10 5 1 1 2 4 9 2 6 4. 43 successes
Rerolling 12
2 5 3 10 8 10 7 1 3 6 2 7. 6 successes
Rerolling 1
- 1 success. 5 auto. 55 successes
55/50 First Revel acquired
5/150 for Second Revel
1/5th to Qi
15/60
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.
-other bonuses locked until completion of mission-
44/500
-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.
-other bonuses locked until completion of mission-
44/500
Liao Zhu proved a very competent tutor, and soon Ling Qi mastered the parts of Eight Phase Ceremony that had escaped her, it seemed that she needed to take a firmer hand in molding the lunar qi she absorbed, as she had been allowing too much to escape in her gentleness. The moon was ever changing, but in the moment, it held definite form. She had been treating it too much like wind or water.
She found herself stymied though, part of the techniques potential once again locked away by a will beyond her own. Liao Zhu had thankfully showed her how to continue her cultivation of the technique in that incomplete state though, so her efforts were not wasted.
In the morning, with her tutoring over with, Ling Qi returned to the Sects main office on the outer mountain, to hash out the details of getting her mother moved here. It took a few hours, but eventually she had all the forms filed for transport and residency. The Sect covered all the costs… but Ling Qi felt uneasy about it anyway, it might have been pointless, but she took the option to pay in ten yellow stones for additional guards. It was pricey, but it would do her nerves well.
-10 Yellow Stones
All told, according to the junior sect advisor, the process should take a bit more than two weeks, three at the outside. So she would have a chance to talk with her mother before the tournament.
That was for the future though, as Ling Qi had a more pressing matter to deal with, as Sixiang had apparently been getting into some trouble in the boys side residences, traumatizing boys by popping in at bad times. Han Jian had given the her the tip in passing, though he hadn't specified what exactly she had done.
Tracking down the moon spirit wasn't too hard thankfully, if only because she didn't seem to be hiding her trail, which hung in the air like a strong perfume. Said trail eventually lead her out to the location of what had been the first of Yan Renshu's hideouts she had hit, the one from which she had stolen her pill furnace.
That put her on edge of course, so she approached carefully, eyeing the now revealed entrance warily. In the end though, it was for naught, as Sixiang materialized in the tree branches above her head, and waved with a cheerful expression.
"You've gotten things cleared up I see," the spirit chirped, crinkling her sparkling black eyes. "See, isn't communication great?"
"Are you sure your a dreaming moon spirit and not a twinned one?" Ling Qi shot back dryly, the misty blackness fading from her skin as she abandoned her attempt at stealth. "I still don't appreciate the set up."
"It's all a matter of expression in the end, I'd think you would understand that there aren't hard definitions by now," Sixiang replied playfully, sticking out her tongue. "Even if you're mad I don't regret it. I might not really understand all the ways humans divide up love and affection," she continued, wrinkling her nose as if she found what she was speaking of silly. "But you needed to straighten things out. It looks like you decided to make her and yourself sad though," she frowned as she spoke, peering intently at Ling Qi
Sixiang wasn't wrong, but it still irked her that she'd been prodded into doing it by someone else… though she couldn't really tell if she was mad at herself or the spirit for that. "She is my friend, but I couldn't return her feelings. Those are two different things entirely."
"Are they?" Sixiang asked, cocking her head to the side. "Humans sure do love their divisions. Isn't love just love?"
"Of course not," Ling Qi replied, incredulous. "There's no way you can not know that."
"I suppose," Sixiang allowed. "I don't really understand where the lines are though. Humans contradict themselves a lot, even in their dreams," she shrugged. "You'd think you humans could be honest in your own heads at least!"
"I… can't really disagree with that," Ling Qi sighed. "But are you really saying you think…" she cast around for an example. "What you feel for your parents is the same as what you feel for a friend or…" she grimaced. "A guy you like the look of?"
"Hmm," Sixiang responded thoughtfully. "Well, I'm part of all my Mothers and Grandmothers, so that's different, Even if I call them that though, I don't think I really have 'parents' in the way you humans think of it," she allowed. "I don't understand why a friend shouldn't also be a lover though, or why you wouldn't want them to be," she replied dubiously.
"...Not doing this right now," Ling Qi sighed, shaking her head. "Anyway, please stop causing trouble in the Sect, you can stay and ask people things but… please don't invade anyone's home or surprise them in private."
"Well, if they didn't want company, why wouldn't they put up proper barriers?" Sixiang huffed, looking a little miffed. "There was no call for all that shouting and whatnot."
"I'm sure they overreacted," Ling Qi replied, lying through her teeth. "But please follow my request."
"Well, since its you, I guess," Sixiang sighed, leaning back. Ling Qi twitched as the spirit pitched off the back of the tree branch, catching herself with her knees and then contorted her back to remain looking at Ling Qi. She supposed spines were optional on spirits. "This is still very interesting."
"What are you doing anyway, bugging people at random," Ling Qi asked, trying not to pay attention to the angle the gender fluid spirits neck was bent at.
"Well, I've never talked to humans who were awake before," Sixiang replied. "I am a… muse? I think you call it? I enter into dreams to grant inspiration. Grandmother gave me a body for the party, along with all of my sisters, but I only got to keep it because you spent all night chatting me up, so now I have a few months to have some fun," she said with a grin, releasing her grasp on the tree, twisting in midair to land on her feet, in blatant defiance of gravity.
Ling Qi frowned, she knew she shouldn't judge spirits as if they were human, but…
"Don't you start feeling all responsible," the spirit said chidingly. "I'm having fun, and there's nothing wrong with living in dreams. You shouldn't get so bogged down worrying about the future. Isn't it the moments that matter?"
"That's a really careless way of thinking," Ling Qi replied with a huff, shooting the spirit an unimpressed look. "You have to worry about the future so the moments to come will be better."
"Ugh, logic," the androgynous girl said, making a face. "Don't be like that."
"...You really are carefree, aren't you," Ling Qi replied, voice dry as she crossed her arms.
Sixiang nodded agreeably. "Yup! I was going to name myself 'impulse' you know? But I didn't like the way the word sounded," she explained with a grin.
"...Just stick to the public areas please," Ling Qi said
"Sure, sure, I'll be good," Sixiang said airily, not reassuring her at all. "...Public areas just means outside, right?" She then asked, sounding a bit uncertain.
"Yes, though if someone invites you in," Ling Qi replied emphasizing the word invite. "You can go inside."
She was pretty sure the spirit understood, she would have to hope that she kept her word.
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 three
-User gains a four die bonus on all physical defenses
-User gains a two die bonus on all spiritual defenses
-User gains a four die bonus on all rolls to escape grapple or confinement
-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 sixty 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 five success perception test. On success they suffer a two 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 three 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. 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 three qi each round in which they remain grappled. In addition, the target suffers a four die penalty on all attempts to escape. While grappled, targets may not activate any technique which requires the use of their hands
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 three
-User gains a four die bonus on all physical defenses
-User gains a two die bonus on all spiritual defenses
-User gains a four die bonus on all rolls to escape grapple or confinement
-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 sixty 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 five success perception test. On success they suffer a two 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 three 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. 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 three qi each round in which they remain grappled. In addition, the target suffers a four die penalty on all attempts to escape. While grappled, targets may not activate any technique which requires the use of their hands
Ling Qi spent much of the rest of the day putting Liao Zhu's advice into practice in regards to her new art, and she quickly found herself mastering both the physical steps and movements as well as the flows of qi. It was still nearly sundown before she got the last of the kinks worked out though.
Which merely left her to meditate, and once more bring herself to that nowhere place, sitting in the center of eight silvery reflections. This time, three of them called to her. The first, the dreaming rippled with color, and she saw herself standing before all of her friends and many others, her flute at her lips, and then she saw herself moving among them, smoothing over disagreements and keeping the atmosphere of the party light.
Second pool, the darkest one, the hidden depths of the new moon called, there were no faces here, only a flash of the map Xin had gifted her and a single spot of darkness yawning like a pit in the face of one of the carved mountains. It swallowed her up, and Ling Qi found herself deep underground before a pool of liquid darkness, within which something gleamed.
The last, surprisingly, was a gentle bright light, within which she saw Zhengui, as he was when he had been playing with Hanyi in the snow. The image subtly shifted, and she saw her little spirit happy and content, with hanyi perched on his back and indistinct but somehow childlike figures all around.
[] Dreaming Moon
[] Hidden Moon
[] Mother Moon
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Ok, so I feel mean pointing this out @yrsillar , but our wind breakthrough bonuses were kind of lame. The thing is that with art costs going up above 200, the reduction to them doesn't really matter much. -10 successes was a big deal when arts were like 60 to level. When they're 240 -15 is basically nothing. And it's only going to get worse from here. And then you combine this with our heaven bonus and it's just kind of weird. We only have 1 heaven meridian. If you're trying to represent our archery and wind talent and encourage us to pursue more wind, it would more sense for it to be a wind specialty, or something like +1 offensive dice to wind techs generally.
- Location
- scrabbling
Lost the Interest of the Bloody Moon, I suppose. Inevitable, really, with SV's squeamishness.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hahahahahaha. Oh, CRX. You are laying it on thick aren't you.
Hooray! Cannot wait for that conversation.
Just as planned. Maybe we'll even manage to find one.
Holy shit.
HOLY SHIT.
I don't know if I'm overestimating this, but this seems fantastic. Alright, full speed ahead on PLR.