As for "bypass" the illusion, that would mean to ignore all effects of the illusion that has already taken root, or that already exist. So that it doesn't affect you. If you bypass an illusion, then that illusion can't affect you.
That's my point though, to "bypass" the illusion you see through it. Perception arts are how you deal with illusions.
hmm....
If I'm reading you right you're arguing that the perception test of PLR has nothing to do with illusions, and should rather be interpreted as "accepting the illusion as true, can you pick Ling Qi out of the crowd of dancing spirits"? While AM's anti-illusion dice would only apply to the attempt to resist PLR being applied in the first place, or attempts to dispel it...
hmm, plausible. Though one could also argue that the ability to see through illusions easily should also be reflected in having an easier time to distinguish Ling Qi from the illusions.
That's my point though, to "bypass" the illusion you see through it. Perception arts are how you deal with illusions.
hmm....
If I'm reading you right you're arguing that the perception test of PLR has nothing to do with illusions, and should rather be interpreted as "accepting the illusion as true, can you pick Ling Qi out of the crowd of dancing spirits"? While AM's anti-illusion dice would only apply to the attempt to resist PLR being applied in the first place, or attempts to dispel it...
hmm, plausible. Though one could also argue that the ability to see through illusions easily should also be reflected in having an easier time to distinguish Ling Qi from the illusions.
Well, PLR doesn't behave as a normal illusion does it? The illusions are able to grapple you, teleport you to a different location and force you to pass a physical escape check before being able to do anything else.
Sure, you can argue that the resist and bypass illusions should apply to that grapple check, but I haven't seen anyone make that argument and I don't think that anyone should make that argument.
The illusions are not constructs for they can be dispelled (in contrast to the AE worms) but they are "real" illusions. They will obstruct lines of sight, they will seem solid and real, and they will mess up your day.
Furthermore, the ability to see through illusions only matter if you make the effort to see through the illusion. It would be nonsensical to say that in a hypothetical ultimate illusion where you can not break free or bypass the illusion that because you are better at bypassing illusions you have better preception in that illusion. Perception in an illusion and the ability to bypass that illusion are two different things.
So if we were targeted by PLR and we made a test to bypass the illusion then we can skip the whole perception test of PLR because we can see where the person is through the illusions. But we have to make that effort. PLR won't give it to us. PLR's test, on the other hand, is spotting Ling Qi in the crowd. Even if you succeed your aim would be off because of all the people in the way.
You know... looking at all the numbers people are quoting and people's complaints that the test is too easy to pass got me thinking. Those numbers don't seem quite right. I seem to be correct. The numbers aren't right. So here's my attempt at breaking down Ling Qi's perception and what my expectations are for what our peers will have in regards to perception.
First off, Perception tests are a combination of Wit and Composure, along with passives, actives, and talismans. Ling Qi has a passive from AE that grants +4 towards targets touching the ground. Everything else comes from AM. So lets look at AM.
So looking at it, AM provides another +3 to perception passively. This means that Ling Qi's perception, passively, is
Wit + Composure + AE + AM = ???
4 + 5 + 4 + 3 = 16.
Should we use Discerning Gaze, a technique in AM, then our perception is increased by another 4 making it
4 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 4 = 20.
So... where are people coming up with 25 or 27 dice? It seems that there is confusion regarding the first passive of AM and what Discerning Gaze actually does that leads to these numbers because if we got trapped in PLR, we would have 20 dice to work with at the moment, and no more.
I was going to say people are coming up with 23-25 dice because we are excluding AE perception dice under the reasoning that the illusions are not properly 'grounded', as they are illusions... but Ling Qi is still grounded, isn't she? and the test is to find Ling Qi amongst the illusions, so the +4 to perception against grounded target should apply.
So it should probably be Composure 5 + Wits 4 + Passives 10 (AE 4, AM, 3, AM 3) + Buff 8 (DG 4, DG4) + Activation 2 = 27/29, depending on whether DG was activated this turn. Obviously, this does mean having to use DG during combat so it's not free. Without it it would be 19.
That's my point though, to "bypass" the illusion you see through it. Perception arts are how you deal with illusions.
hmm....
If I'm reading you right you're arguing that the perception test of PLR has nothing to do with illusions, and should rather be interpreted as "accepting the illusion as true, can you pick Ling Qi out of the crowd of dancing spirits"? While AM's anti-illusion dice would only apply to the attempt to resist PLR being applied in the first place, or attempts to dispel it...
hmm, plausible. Though one could also argue that the ability to see through illusions easily should also be reflected in having an easier time to distinguish Ling Qi from the illusions.
Narratively, not only did we use AM and DG to navigate the revelry itself better, but like how AE help us find target on the ground better by sensing through the earth, AM help us bypass illusion effects better by seeing through the truth of the world. It should thus enhance our perception rolls that are effected by such illusions (so Hanyi hiding from us, Elegy: Despair of the lost being used on us, a safe being hidden behind a illusionary wall, etc).
IPF said:
This technique is an illusion effect, affecting all senses.
Cost: 4 Qi
Instant, response
Channeling qi into their senses the user greatly enhances their ability to discern the truth of the world, gaining four additional dice on all perception and empathy tests for the length of a scene, in addition if the user is under the effects of an illusion or other sense affecting technique, they receive an immediate attempt to break out of it, with a four die bonus.
Mechanically, IPF is flat out stated to be a illusion effect affecting the senses, and AM gives passives and increases DG explicitly for those (though I guess that could be argued to be a reroll with the latest +4, but that would be too strong).
Trying to argue that it should create its own, discrete tests, instead of additional dice in a pre-existing test, is the same as arguing for both needless complexity in the system (rolls that have no reason to be added) as well as weakening's AM's own speciality. There is no point at all to additional dice to bypass illusion effects when those dice are distributed in such a manner that they can't do anything.
Yeah, the element spread makes things really awkward. Not just when it comes to Qi reduction, but we actually get +7 to dispel clash with water/darkness. This would make PLR much stronger.
As is, you are right that it's going to take quite a few actions for it to maybe be worth using at all during the tournament (with a probable 'no'), which means we'll be gambling on throwing away something like 6 actions (7 if we count the one we just took, more if we count the Tower there, though getting the art at all is probably really great for inner sect) considering we need 3 meridians too.
Success wise, our current PLR cultivation speed is Talent 6 + YSS 35 + Friends 5 + Site 5 + EPC 10 + Pills 10 + Lung 10 = 81 dice + 5 autos (Moon 5), so it's an average of 49.995 successes.
Thinking a bit more about 'worth using', no matter what PLR is worth equipping by tournament, simply because the passives are just so good for 3 actions (meridians):
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
As for worth getting to PLR2, we are now at 5/150, and we get 49.995 successes/actions. It thus takes us 3 actions to get. I'd say that there is a significant chance that PLR2 would upgrade the techs enough that IPF would be worth using at the tournament (and tournament might not be 1vs1, and in that case it will be even better). As long as IPF is worth using, LW is almost certainly so. Obvioulsy, PLR2 should also increase the passives too.
This almost always happens. Most of our arts so far have had a decent chunk of the voter base wondering if the art was worth the time. It is an important part of the process, and it is best to just let it run its course and see what kind of end results everyone tearing at it provides.
Thinking a bit more about 'worth using', no matter what PLR is worth equipping by tournament, simply because the passives are just so good for 3 actions (meridians):
As for worth getting to PLR2, we are now at 5/150, and we get 49.995 successes/actions. It thus takes us 3 actions to get. I'd say that there is a significant chance that PLR2 would upgrade the techs enough that IPF would be worth using at the tournament (and tournament might not be 1vs1, and in that case it will be even better). As long as IPF is worth using, LW is almost certainly so. Obvioulsy, PLR2 should also increase the passives too.
I'm not actually sure what you're arguing here? If you're saying it's worth 3 actions to get meridians to equip for the passives I agree. If you're saying that it's worth 6 actions (3 meridians & 3 to increase the level) I'm much less convinced. It'd be more viable if we moved the EPC sux over to this but I think we prefer them where they are.
What are your training priorities? We have 10 weeks, or roughly 50 actions before the tournament. To my mind we need a meridian week (which should see us well off for qi for a while). I would like an Argent week soon, and we promised Su Ling another Argent Current lesson anyway (we should take advantage of the silverblood pills and move towards the 4th argent art, plus it keeps something going into spiritual and physical, even if it isn't going to get us there by the tournament).
SCS and FVM are obvious, then flying sword training and FSS, which has good passives for us and pretty good techniques. Actually FSS and PLR have some pretty decent synergy, if we could reduce PLR's Qi guzzling status. Then we have our neglected arts, like AE (which might be allright if we level it up more).
It comes back to the fact PLR would be really good if it fit better into our elements, or had a higher DC test to pass initially. As it is the only reason I'd equip it is for the passives.
I'm not actually sure what you're arguing here? If you're saying it's worth 3 actions to get meridians to equip for the passives I agree. If you're saying that it's worth 6 actions (3 meridians & 3 to increase the level) I'm much less convinced. It'd be more viable if we moved the EPC sux over to this but I think we prefer them where they are.
What are your training priorities? We have 10 weeks, or roughly 50 actions before the tournament. To my mind we need a meridian week (which should see us well off for qi for a while). I would like an Argent week soon, and we promised Su Ling another Argent Current lesson anyway (we should take advantage of the silverblood pills and move towards the 4th argent art, plus it keeps something going into spiritual and physical, even if it isn't going to get us there by the tournament).
SCS and FVM are obvious, then flying sword training and FSS, which has good passives for us and pretty good techniques. Actually FSS and PLR have some pretty decent synergy, if we could reduce PLR's Qi guzzling status. Then we have our neglected arts, like AE (which might be allright if we level it up more).
It comes back to the fact PLR would be really good if it fit better into our elements, or had a higher DC test to pass initially. As it is the only reason I'd equip it is for the passives.
Yes, I am saying I think PLR2 is worth it as it's only 3 actions to get it and it has a significant chance to make the techs usable as well as increase the passives. Given the passives of PLR, PLR2 has good odds of doing something like +1P.def/+1s.def/+1expression/+1speed, as well as a new type of passive, and that's plausibly worth 3 actions in itself. PLR's Qi guzzling status, in my dreams, might be reduced with EPC5.5.
My training priorities are FVM/FSS/SCS/TRF as highest priorities, then PLR/AE/Spirit buff art, then the rest.
In the end, though she wavered, Ling Qi chose to go with the Hidden Moon's quest. Not only was Xin the root of many of her successes and a person she liked besides, but… Ling Qi was more free now than she ever had been before. If she couldn't indulge herself in curiosity now, then when could she. Perhaps it would even help her curb her tendency toward tunnel vision and missing things on the periphery of her interests. These choices didn't have to be about who she was after all, but also about who she wanted to be.
With little else to do for the rest of the day, now that she had settled the issue of the wandering, too curious, moon spirit. Ling Qi headed down to the main to the main sect office once again. Her various other plans for the week wouldn't come into play until tomorrow, when she went to meet Gu Tai for his help in training Zhengui in the morning, after which she would head up the mountain to meet Zeqing. So now she would settle for making back the points she had spent purchasing her tutoring.
It helped that she would be able to scope out the location of the tournament at the same time. It was a good thing she had remembered the job too, as according to the Sect official handling jobs, the clean up was nearly complete. The journey out to the venue was uneventful, and not too long. The tournament grounds lay several kilometers to the east of the outer sect mountain, atop the flattened top of a high rocky hill. The main road which carved its way east from the Sect village split off a wide well paved path that wound its way to the top, where the tournament grounds lay.
The outer structures looked like a great horseshoe from above, Their lowest reaches were taken up by comfortably appointed, but still public spectator space, interrupted by private boxes, which increased in frequency and opulence the higher one rose. At the end of the horseshoe was a great peak roofed building, resembling the Sect's main office in the outer sect, roofed with gleaming silver shingles.
In its center though, lay the stages. Four huge rectangles of white stone with high stylized pillars that rose to pointed peaks a dozen meters up in each corner. Each stage was a good two hundred meters on a side, and a radiated a low but incredibly solid background of earth and mountain qi. She doubted she could so much as chip a single stone of it frankly.
She was supposed to meet the official in charge of the cleaning work at the large building but Ling Qi set down on the upper right stage to have a little look around first. The fighting stages were utterly alike and without feature, but the pillars proved a bit more interesting. Embedded in their sides were fist sized gemstones with hundreds of facets… diamonds if she had to guess, which flickered with faint multicolored light on close inspection. Of course, there was only a single visible character on each one; 'Light', 'Sound', 'Touch', 'Weight', 'Scent', and others still, she was fairly certain she was looking at a highly complex formations array. Something like what the Elders had used in Instructor Zhou's test perhaps?
Ling Qi didn't linger too much longer though. Whatever the array was, it was a far beyond her skill as Elder Jiao was, so all she could do was guess. Casting one last glance back at the massive gemstones, Ling Qi left the stages, and headed down the tiled path leading to the large building at the the far end of the complex.
She met the The Sect official in charge, a slightly graying man in the third stage of the third realm, just inside the building, in a wide lobby that looked as if it could hold at least two hundred people at once in reasonable comfort.
The man offered her a respectful bow in greeting as she entered, which she returned politely. "Sect Sister Ling, thank you for your acceptance of this duty."
"I am somewhat surprised that it remained available for this long," Ling Qi admitted straightening up from her bow. "The fighting stages seemed to be in perfect condition though, and I saw no flaw in the stands either."
The man nodded at the implied question. "The majority of the work is complete," he said evenly, straightening his own posture. "Only the basement floor of this building, where the waiting area for those who have failed and the medical facilities remain to be cleansed."
Ling Qi frowned, that shouldn't be too hard, yet she couldn't help but be curious. "How many participants are expected that a whole floor would be needed for the losing participants, Sect Brother?"
"Two hundred or so, I would expect," The official replied, raising a greying eyebrow. "Most will be eliminated in the qualifying round of course, but few would throw away their chance for glory before so many spectators."
That… was more than Ling Qi expected. That would be a really long tournament though, wouldn't it? "Sect Brother, before I begin my duties… might I ask how the tournament is actually structured? No one has actually said exactly how it will work…"
The older man furrowed his brows. "Well, it is not hidden knowledge," he replied slowly. "Disciples will be divided into eight roughly equal groups, four of which will engage in battle on the stages until two remain in each ring. Then the remaining groups will do the same. With sixteen disciples remaining, the following day the elimination duels will begin. Disciples who have lost are confined to the lower floor until the completion of the tournament. In order to prevent any unfortunate accidents."
Ling Qi nodded in understanding, even if she was surprised. She had half expected the entire thing to be a series of elimination duels, but it made sense she supposed. The sect was military too, and this gave those with less direct skillsets a chance to place too. It added a bit of uncertainty to things though. "I see, thank you explaining Sect Brother," she replied politely. "Would you explain then what is required of me?"
Her duty was simple, she just had to disperse the various low grade spirits which had formed down there, and activate the cleaning talismans she was provided with to do the more mundane work. The task was not a terribly dangerous one, at her level of cultivation… but it was quite time consuming and tedious.
It was also, she found, quite an uncomfortable one. The moment she descended the stairs to the first basement level, the temperature dropped noticeably, and the hairs on the back of her neck rose at the prickling feeling of being watched. Much like her time cleansing the forest, Ling Qi found half formed whispers tickling her ears, and the oily feeling of loss and despair clogging the air.
The cloying aura of this place clawed at her thoughts, cold and depressing, but Ling Qi merely gritted her teeth and circulated her qi, keeping Argent Mirror primed and active, allowing her to proceed with tranquility through the dim echoing hall were disciples who had lost were brought to wait for the ending ceremonies or medical attention.
Ling Qi descended into the shadowy basement in complete silence, little more than a drifting shadow as she lightly crossed the polished wooden floor.
The shadowy shapes which clung to the many pillars of the underground hall did not stir as she passed them by, though the aura of unrestrained self loathing and despair they exuded tingled across her thoughts, nipping at the edges of her qi. With her arts and cultivation the clinging emotional weight slid from her without harm though, and so Ling Qi proceeded deeper into the hall, mapping it out in her mind, noting where the highest concentrations of the spirits were.
They were twisted things, blurry half melted images of boys and girls her own age or a bit older, bleeding into one another and staring with empty black eyes as they whispered their mantras of failure again and again. Some seemed more solid than others, but none seemed more real than a particularly thick clump of fog.
When she had mapped everything out in her thoughts, Ling Qi let out a breath, and drew her knives. They hadn't seen much use since she had purchased them, but her archery was too loud for this, as was her flute, and so she fell back on her very first weapons.
...It definitely didn't have anything to do with the cool knife tricks she had caught her tutor doing out of the corner of her eye when she meditated.
The wraiths were not particularly resilient, dispersed easily by a single well placed blow, but they did have, to her senses anywhere from early to peak second realm cultivation and there were dozens of them. Luckily they seemed not to care for one another's presence, or their surroundings overmuch unless directly roused. While she could have cleared them out all at once it would have taken significantly more qi than the slower method, and she wanted to conserve her energy for Zeqings lessons.
...And to be honest, she wasn't sure what they could actually do, for all she knew if she whipped them up all at once they would fuse into some kind of giant angst titan. Best to avoid something like that. So over the course of the next few hours, she cleared away the clinging spirits. It was obnoxious work as they seemed to spawn back in behind her as she went along, but it was… rewarding, in its way.
Because every time she dispersed a wailing specter, she got a tiny snippet of memory, the feeling of holding a sword, the sight of spear's point whistling by her ear, the rocking gait of horse beneath her, and so many more. They were disjointed things, without context, but she could feel them drifting around in the back of her thoughts. If she cultivated after this… well it might be small but she thought she would see some improvements in a few areas.
Eventually, she figured out that if she cleared a small section and started up the cleansing talismans it prevented further wraiths from spawning in an area… which would have been nice to know, but she was used to the Sects sink or swim methods by this point. Within another hour, she had the place clean and cleansed, ready for to see a whole new batch of wash outs.
...She wouldn't be among them. Ling Qi might not fully understand the games of status everyone played, but she knew that losing would be a chain, limiting her ability to grow. She wouldn't lose.
She left soon after, collecting the cleansing talismans to return to the Sect official, who had retired to an office on the second floor to do paperwork. She collected the token that would signal the job was complete and headed back to the mountain at a light run, dipping into flight only when the road grew twisty. It was amazing how fast the world blurred by when she put on speed.
Ling Qi made it up to the black pool well before twilight.
It wasn't long after that she arrived, stepping lightly atop the dusting of snow on the rocks, that Zeqing emerged from the eternal snowstorm outside the ravine, Hanyi held in the crook of her arm. The younger ice spirit clung tightly to her mother's gown as they descended, but was grinning all the same.
"Flying is the best!" Hanyi said brightly as Zeqing descended into the ravine, hopping down from her perch to drop the last ten odd meters on her own. The little girl spirit's bare feet hit the ground with a solid thump.
"It is," Ling Qi agreed, rising from her seat on the stone 'bench' to bow to her teacher in greeting. "My apologies for failing to make it last week."
Zeqings blank white eyes studied her as the older spirit descended to hover only a few centimeters above the ground. "It seems you have made good use of your time, so no apologies are necessary," she said calmly. "Congratulations on completing your journey to the third realm."
"Thank you for your praise," Ling Qi replied, offering another polite bow. "Do you think we might be able to begin study on The Forgotten Vale Melody again?"
Zeqing nodded, glancing over to Hanyi, who had wandered over to the mirror like surface of the black pool to crouch at its edge. Ling QI blinked as the younger ice spirit poked at the black ice with her finger… and it rippled like unfrozen water. "Hanyi," she called, bringing the girl's attention back up. "You may play in the pool for one half hour, while I explain Ling Qi's lesson. Do not go too deep."
Hanyi's face brightened, and she clapped her hands excitedly. "Thank you Mama! I'll be careful, I promise!" Ling Qi could only stare as the other spirit leapt into the frozen pool with only a silent ripple to mark her passing.
"...How does that work?" she asked, after a brief moment of contemplation.
"Ice does not bar our passage any more than water bars yours," Zeqing replied simply. "The pool is safe enough for spirits like Hanyi and I, who match its nature," she continued as she floated closer, and seated herself lightly on the bench, her sleeves billowing as ice began to crystallize within them, forming her transparent hands. "Seat yourself."
Ling Qi did so, and drew out her flute as she settled in next to her teacher, the absolute chill that the spirit radiated no longer even uncomfortable. "So, can you explain now, why waiting to cultivate this will have helped me?"
"Yes," Zeqing said, a flute forming between her crystalline fingers. "Now that your domain can grow, untethered by your mortal body, you may learn to impress your arts upon it, and take aspects of it into yourself. Through this method, you will be able to refine and develop your domain further than you would by simply cultivating it's baseline."
Ling Qi frowned, tracing her fingers over the designs on her own flute. "How will that affect me though? Forgotten Vale Melody is…" it was a very useful art, but at the same time it wasn't exactly a happy one.
"Your domain is you, it is an expression of who you are. Though you might find yourself changing as you grow. You remain yourself. Art aspects taken in will be shaped by what is already there to reflect the individual that you are," Zeqing explained calmly. "Now, allow me to explain how you might cultivate your domain in tune with your melodies…"
Domain is a special attribute all cultivators of third realm or higher have. It operates under separate rules for advancement and function compared to mundane attributes, which will be described in the following section.
Firstly, the number of domain dots a cultivator may have is capped at one fourth of the cultivators highest cultivation level, rounded down. Ling Qi, whose level is 7, may thus have at most one dots in domain, until she raises one of her cultivation levels to 8.
Each dot of domain gives the cultivator three 'slots' in addition to a baseline of two which can be used to gain bonuses when completing certain arts in addition to improving or expanding abilities which are already locked in. Abilities chosen to fill these slots are PERMANENT, and cannot be changed without significant effort and certain rare resources, abilities which complement or stack with one another will be more potent than more scattered bonuses.
Not all arts grant domain abilities on mastery. No art which completes before the third realm will do so, and even among those that do, only ones which fit the user may grant bonuses. At the beginning, with a mostly 'blank' domain most third realm arts will offer these bonuses, but as you progress, choice will become narrower.
In addition to this function, Domain dots are used to determine the number of dice a cultivator has in the clash pool of Domain Weapon or Flying Sword as it is more colloquially called. Rather than being additive, Each dot of domain is multiplicative. 0 dots multiplies the base pool by 1, 1 dot multiples by 2 and so forth. The details of this will be elaborated on in the next tutorial
Domain is cultivated by cultivating arts which are eligible for bonuses, and receives advancement equal to one tenth of the successes received in said cultivation. It does not advance when learning a new art, but only when advancing an already known one.
Zeqing's careful instruction allowed Ling Qi to quickly master the first parts of her Melodies more advanced techniques, refining her ability to call up the mists and shroud the ravine in solitude. If she could keep going at this rate, she might be able to complete the next part by the end of the month.
Hanyi joined them for the lessons partway through, hopping onto the bench to sit between Ling Qi and her Mother. Ling Qi continued her own cultivation while keeping half an ear out for Zeqing's soft instruction to her daughter. Hanyi was about as wiggly and hard to keep focused as any girl her apparent age, but Zeqing made good use of Ling Qi as an example, and Ling Qi made sure to follow her lead. Playing up how easy her achievements with the musical arts were and how simple it was, and Zeqing made sure to slip in low key but constant praise for her efforts.
The end result was a jealous snow girl diligently practicing her cultivation under her mother's guiding gaze. Working hard to earn some praise herself. It seemed children were simple, even when they were spirits.
Eventually though, night fell and Ling Qi descended to mountain to join her tutor in another round of exhaustive meditation and dancing through endless streams of knives as she worked to master the steps of the Lunar revelry.
In the wake of her training, Ling Qi elected to take her first nap in two weeks, sleeping away a few quiet hours before dawn. Once she awoke, she headed to the garden to gather up Zhengui, who had spent the last day or so napping, as his cultivation grew. She knew from her reading that Xuan Wu were prone to lengthy sleeps, so it didn't worry her, she would have to see if there was a way to give him a bit more energy in the future though.
Once he had been roused from the flower garden, they headed down to mountain to meet Gu Tai at the edge of the village.
When she arrived, she found the young man seated cross legged atop the stone totem that marked the boundary of safety which surrounded the village. This time though, he was not alone. Perched on his shoulder was a large raven, with bright red eyes and streaks of lighter gray among its inky black feathers, thin curls of smoke rose from its body, wafting lazily into the air above their heads.
"A good morning to you, Miss Ling," Gu Tai said in greeting, hopping down from the totem as she approached. His companion fluttered its… no, her wings by the feel of her qi, but otherwise remained unperturbed by the motion.
"Good morning," Ling Qi replied with a polite dip of her head. "Thank you for agreeing to help me with this."
"It is no trouble," he said dismissively, before gesturing to the raven on his shoulder, who was examining her critically. "This is Yuzhao, my friend and companion. She will be helping us today."
"Charmed," the raven's beak clacked as a dry feminine voice emerged from it, confirming Ling Qi's guess.
"Ah, likewise?" Ling Qi responded tentatively, as the bird turned to preening her feathers, it was a bit of odd name. "I suppose I should introduce you to the one we'll be training today," she continued, recovering. She sent a silent nudge to Zhengui, and he emerged from her dantian, materializing a step behind her. "This is Zhengui," she said brightly, gesturing to her spirit. Gui examined the two of them guilelessly, blinking his bright green eyes, but she noticed that Zhen regarded Gu Tai with ill concealed suspicion as he peered over her shoulder. Hopefully she wouldn't have to have a word with him
"...The naming sense matches, if nothing else," Yuzhao, the raven said dryly, not looking up from her wing.
"Hush, you," Gu Tai chided, lowering himself to a crouch to more easily meet Gui's gaze. "Hello there young one, are you ready to learn a few little tricks?"
"What kind of tricks," Zhen asked, slipping a few centimeters forward, his warm body resting on her shoulder, his suspicion colored his voice, but he sounded interested as well.
"Gui wants to learn, because Big Sister will be happy if Gui is strong," his other half said, scuffing at the ground with his blunt claws.
"What a dedicated spirit you have," Tai mused, glancing up at the serpent peeking over her shoulder. "Unlike some."
"I am as dedicated as you deserve," the bird on his shoulder huffed. "Are we going to begin?"
"Once we get ourselves off the road," Gu Tai replied dryly, before addressing Ling Qi once again. "I doubt it is in Miss Ling's interests to break up the eastern road."
"Probably not," she said with a shrug. "If you'll follow me, there's a good clearing nearby," this was fine, no mentions of marriage or the future, just a little training between friendly acquaintances, much more comfortable.
Xiulan's cousin did, as it turned out, have a fair amount of advice to offer, or rather, his spirit did. Yuzhao was a creature of Sun and Death, unique to the eastern deserts and descended from the now extinct phoenixes that once resided there… or so she had bragged. The point was, she had a fair amount of insight to offer Zhengui on mixing his two conflicting natures of growth and destruction.
Cultivation
Mid Yellow(5)
Mid Silver(5)
Physical
Strength: oooo
Dexterity: oo
Stamina: ooooo o
Passives:
+5 dice to physical and spiritual defence
+4 to perception and survival rolls in plant life heavy regions
+3 on all Stamina and Resolve tests
1 qi per round regenerated when not moving
Ingraining Roots: oo
Cost 4 qi
Zhengui channels his qi through the roots of the plant life around him, allowing him to better sense his surroundings as well as drawing in further strength. While active, Zhengui's speed is reduced by half, but he gains a four die bonus to perception rolls, his armor increases by one and he gains a four die bonus on all defences. In addition Zhengui may spend two qi to regenerate his armors durability by one as a free action while active. Lasts four turns.
Eternal Vitality: ooo
Cost 6 Qi.
Instant
Zhengui's draws on the concept of regrowth and renewal to seal his wounds and break the power of enemies over him. This art allows Zhengui to heal one point of lethal or nonlethal damage, or reduce one point of aggravated damage to lethal damage. Alternatively, he may use this to dispel a negative effect on himself or Ling Qi on a successful clash, which receives a four die bonus.
Stone in the Soil: oo
Cost 4 qi
A technique granted by Zhengui's bond with Ling Qi. Allows Zhengui to rapidly bury himself in loose soil, temporarily appearing as little more than a large spiky boulder. Grants a three die bonus to stealth and a five die bonus to attack against unaware targets. Lasts until revealed.
Woodland Grasp: ooo
Cost 5 qi
A technique allowing Zhengui to create and manipulate roots beneath the ground to trap his enemies. On a successful clash, Zhengui grapples a single target with a DV 2 attack, immobilizing it and inflicting a three die penalty to their physical defense until they escape.The roots use Strength+Power to determine their dice pool.
Blazing Blood
Passives
4 additional armor against fire based attacks
+3 dice on physical attacks
Adds two armor piercing fire based attacks
Blood Boiling Venom: oo
Cost 4 Qi
Instant
Zhengui strikes with venomous fangs injecting a terrible, deadly heat into the target. Grants a five die bonus to Zhen's bite attack. In addition upon successfully dealing damage, the target is poisoned, taking two fire damage each turn for three turns unless dispelled. While poisoned targets suffer a two die penalty on defensive and offensive clashes.
Ashfall: ooo
Cost 6 Qi
Instant
Zhengui expels ash from both of his mouths, filling the sky with falling gray dust. The ash cloud extends for fifteen meters around him and persists for three turns in that space. While Zhengui and Ling Qi are immune to the effects, others within the ash suffer a DV 2 fire attack each turn with a three die bonus, and suffer a two die penalty to perception and offensive clashes against Ling Qi or Zhengui. Zhengui may use this art multiple times, to expand its area. Four stacks may be active at a time.
Boiling Shot: oo
Cost 4 qi
Zhen gathers his venom and spits, launching a ball of corrosive superheated venom up to thirty meters. This attack is DV 6 and fire based with a three die bonus to its clash, dealing one extra semi-perfect damage, and repeats on the following turn.
Boiling Spray: ooo
Cost 6 qi
Zhen gathers his venom, as he does with Boiling Shot, but instead discharges a spray of molten venom in a burning fan damaging up to three targets within ten meters.This attack is DV 4 and deals one extra semi perfect damage, which repeats the following turn.
Verdant Ash Duality
+4 dice on defensive clashes vs any single spiritual attack
Multi attacker penalties reduced by one.
Minds Apart: ooo
Cost 3 qi
Instant
This art, while active allows Zhengui to use one additional technique every other turn. This art lasts two turns, but may be renewed freely once active for the same activation cost.
Rebirth Inferno
Cost: Special
Instant
When reduced to three or fewer health. Zhengui may instantly discharge all of his remaining qi into a roaring inferno that consumes all save Ling Qi within fifteen meters. This effect expends all remaining qi and on a successful clash with a five die bonus inflicts a DV 10 fire attack dealing five semi perfect damage to all targets in range. In the aftermath Zhengui falls unconscious, but his armor durability is restored to maximum and his armor value increased by three for six turns.
Gu Tai was more helpful to Zhen, given his experience with fire arts, and she was glad to see his aim and control of his venom improving significantly with a few little tweaks. Ling Qi was not exactly certain about how she felt about the power Zhengui unlocked with Yuzhaos help though. She hoped he was never in a position to need to use it in combat… but she was practical enough to be glad he had it, as a final resort.
Several hours of hard training was enough to leave Zhengui exhausted and asleep in her dantian though.
As they left the now much more heavily scorched clearing, Ling Qi walked beside a relaxed Gu Tai in companionable silence. She stole a glance at him as they walked, he was of good character, she was quite sure by now, but that really wasn't enough.
"Would you mind if I asked you for another piece of advice?" Ling Qi asked, breaking the silence between them.
"Go ahead," Gu Tai replied, casting a look her way as they walked, retreading their path to the forest's edge. Something unrelated to your spirit, I would guess?"
"Mostly," Ling Qi admitted, glancing up as the shadow of his own spirit passed over them. "It's just… well to put it bluntly, how would you go about negotiating with a dragon?"
To his credit, the question didn't give him pause. "What manner of dragon are we speaking of?"
"A young river dragon," Ling Qi replied. "He lives in a site I want to cultivate in, and I was hoping to gain access peacefully."
"Well, river dragons are not common in the east," Gu Tai mused. "But the principles remain the same. I suppose you've researched the basics?"
"Yes," Ling Qi agreed. "I'm going to gather gifts before I go… I was thinking I might offer a song or two as well?"
"Not a bad idea, though you will want to be careful," he replied with a laugh. "There are plenty of tales about lovely musicians and disappearing from riverbanks, you know?"
She was more worried about the younger dragons mother in that regard, Ling Qi thought irritably. Externally, she let out an amused huff. "Be serious, Gu Tai."
"Of course, my apologies," he said with a shake of his head, a light leap carrying him over a fallen log in their path. "Gifts with value beyond the material will sweeten the pot well, but I think there is a matter you should keep in mind."
"What would that be?" Ling Qi asked, following him over the obstruction, the wind sending her gown fluttering as she drifted lightly back to the ground on the other side.
"Dragons are prideful beasts," he replied, only to grin at the flat look she shot him. "It sounds obvious I know, but it is difficult to truly understand their demeanor merely from that statement," he added with haste. "You have, if you might forgive me for saying so, a rather blunt demeanor."
"...That's fair," Ling Qi replied. "I know how to be polite when needed though." Mostly.
"I'm sure," Gu Tai said, and she narrowed her eyes slightly as she detected a trace of humor in his tone. "You… have a certain pride though, which shows through regardless, and to a dragon, that will be a challenge."
She wasn't sure if she should be flattered by that kind of statement or not. "So what do I do?"
"Simply understand that to a dragon, there is no such thing as an equal. All things either stand above it or beneath it," he explained. "In older dragons, who spend much time with humans, this might be curbed, but with a young dragon… You must either behave with utter subservience, or be completely domineering. Anything else will confuse and irritate him, inciting a challenge to determine your relative positions," Gu Tai sounded rather sure of himself, it did sound like he was speaking from experience rather than reciting from a book.
"Sounds like a real pain," Ling Qi said, looking up at the sky. She would have to watch her every word when dealing with him from a subservient position, but she wasn't sure if she could take the other one. She didn't want to anger his mother by hurting him. "What would you do?"
"I am not a man who finds subordinating myself easy," He replied after a moment. "In the face of overwhelming power perhaps, but… as a Gu I do have my pride, foolish as it might be."
"Wouldn't doing that incite resentment from the dragon though?" Ling Qi asked.
"Not as much as you might think," Gu Tai replied with a slight shrug. "They are not human, and do not think as we do. A dragon so defeated might seek to challenge you again when it attains greater strength, but it will not resent the defeat as a human would."
"And if I am not allowed to hurt the dragon in question?" She asked, as they left the shadow of the trees and found themselves back on the road.
"...Tricky," he mused , giving her an assessing look. "But possible. Do you imagine yourself being able to exhaust an angry dragon without fighting back?"
Ling Qi grimaced, she was pretty difficult to pin down, but she couldn't say with confidence that she could, especially when she wasn't sure of the dragons exact strength. It would probably be better to go with her original plan, and simply watch her words and demeanor very carefully.
[] Approach in Strength
[] Approach in Supplication
AN: And the next part. In my defense, you guys voted for a real busy week here.
Gu Tai reads us pretty well. We have a pride that can't be concealed easily. And we have arts that are designed to exhaust an opponent even if we can't attack. At worst, we fail and retreat.
