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Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)

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Iirc there was mention that he binded that 3rd realm Alpha Wolf from the Wolf Pack Sect Quest a while ago.
 
Any WoG, extra info, or thoughts on binding the dragon for the tournament (and maybe beyond) ?

What we know of his competitive/proud character and his mother's thoughts on his laziness make me think we have a decent chance of making it happen.
 
Ayashi said:
Iirc there was mention that he binded that 3rd realm Alpha Wolf from the Wolf Pack Sect Quest a while ago.
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Well, what we know is that back on week 23 KZ was allied with the wolves, then he got captured, then he got into closed door to break through and the Alpha broke through to third realm with a mission to kill him.

Then we tried to do said mission week 36 but got distracted by Meizhen, and on week 37 the mission disappeared and KZ had broken through.

So, it's just speculation, though likely one.
 
Kian said:
If love too but i doubt we have the cred withe Heizui make an offer like that.
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If we'd beaten him such that we were severely superior, i.e it finished a lot faster and/or intentionally tanked a blow unharmed from him, I'd be far more confident in swinging it. Otherwise I agree, I doubt we have the cred from him to do it. He'd make a nice spirit, and it'd do him rather a lot of good in my opinion to be bound by someone, but it being us is probably not in the cards with all of our other stuff to do.
 
BungieONI said:
If we'd beaten him such that we were severely superior, i.e it finished a lot faster and/or intentionally tanked a blow unharmed from him, I'd be far more confident in swinging it. Otherwise I agree, I doubt we have the cred from him to do it. He'd make a nice spirit, and it'd do him rather a lot of good in my opinion to be bound by someone, but it being us is probably not in the cards with all of our other stuff to do.
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I'm pretty sure his mom would object.
 
I'd start making some comments to Ice Mom about asking his mother how she feels about it, temporary or otherwise, as a motivating force. Some passive-aggressive bs to the dragon about his performance and capabilities in light of the tournament, some peer pressure/enticement, maybe some comment his mother made and the chance to prove himself etc
 
Klaus said:
It depends. Being bound to a human helps spirits grow stronger, so she might think it's just the thing for her lazy son. Our next spirit really should be an offensive damage-dealer since Zhengui has defense covered, and a dragon has excellent potential.
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Also its another spirit mount to ride into battle! :p
 
A/N said:
After that, we steal away Han Jian's kitty with promises of scritches on demand, and then start looking up and asking around about Phoenixes. Gotta catch 'em all and complete the set, naturally.
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I don't know if there would be a set-bonus for having all four directional beasts, but it would be worth major bragging rights in-universe.
 
I wonder, many spirits seem to be capable of taking human shape once certain levels of power.

So, if Zhengui made themselves a human shape, would they be one or two people?
 
w4terghost said:
I wonder, many spirits seem to be capable of taking human shape once certain levels of power.

So, if Zhengui made themselves a human shape, would they be one or two people?
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Should be one, since as much as he is written as being two personalities it is actually one whole person in there. We just get to see the disagreements his dual natures have externalized.
 
BungieONI said:
Should be one, since as much as he is written as being two personalities it is actually one whole person in there. We just get to see the disagreements his dual natures have externalized.
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On a vaguely related note, whenever I remember this I can't help but worry about the kid's self-loathing issues.
I'm probably overthinking it, but seeing him call himself stupid with such regularity and vitriol doesn't feel great.
 
Pipeman said:
On a vaguely related note, whenever I remember this I can't help but worry about the kid's self-loathing issues.
I'm probably overthinking it, but seeing him call himself stupid with such regularity and vitriol doesn't feel great.
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He's rebirth and destruction. Fire eats wood and wood eats ash. If he's not constantly breaking himself down and rebuilding himself then he's dead.

Spirits aren't healthy by our standards and that's because of a fundamental mismatch—humanity is impure in FoD's conception of the universe, but IRL we prefer to conceptualize ourselves as 'whole' adults. Cultivation is a pubertal metaphor where you cut away parts of yourself while the common metaphor for pre-adolescent humanity IRL is tabula rasa or germinal. Either you ignore this or you overthink it. The destination is the same pointless application of one set of rationales to another world with totally different laws of physics, let alone social or cultural trends.
 
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Year 43, week 44, Part 1
  • Threadmarks
    • -[X] Overflow to Qi, vent drip to AC, Moon successes to SCS
    -[X] Buy/use stuff
    --[X] Use two YSS, two virtual YSS
    --[X] Heavy Rains Pill (15 RSS), 10 Dice Wood Pills (30 RSS), 5 Dice Water Pills (10 RSS), 5 Dice Darkness Pills (15 RSS)
    --[X] Total: 70 RSS, 2 YSS
    -[X] (MAJOR) Train Music arts with Zeqing
    --[X] FSS
    --[X] (attached minor) Zeqing wanted to speak with you about something aside from your lessons, indulge her?
    -[X] (MAJOR) Train with Gu Xiulan
    --[X] TRF
    -[X] (MAJOR) Take a job
    --[X] Haunted Mansion
    -[X] (MAJOR) Cultivate in the White Room
    --[X] Leg meridian
    --[X] With Xiulan
    -[X] (MAJOR) Visit the Archive
    --[X] Look into the items you found during your quest
    --[X] (attached minor) Meizhen has been withdrawing a bit again. See what you can do to talk her back out of her shell, and ask about what has been bothering her
    -[X] (minor) Playing music with Sixiang was fun, even if you didn't get to do as much fun composing as you might have liked. See if the muse has any suggestions.
    -[X] (minor) Zhengui did a good job, take him out on a hunting trip, and maybe start working on getting him ready to introduce to your family.
    -[X] (minor) It's time for testing! You should work for some prototypes. Suyin has invited you to join her in her mentors workshop to do some more experimentation


    A tremendous crash rang through the forest as Ling Qi sprang lightly through the branches. Behind her, a trunk crashed to the ground with a splintering boom as the beast chasing her bulled its way through the thick trees, like a ground level avalanche. Her cloud forged bow hung from her hands in a loose grip, residual sparks from the shot fired still crackling along the metallic string.

    Despite the noise and fury so close behind her, Ling Qi wore an amused smile as she floated from branch to branch, disturbing the narrow spans no more than a falling leaf as the breeze sent her elaborate gown, fluttering like a shadow on the breeze. Soon, the clearing ahead resolved itself, and she alit on the last branch hanging over the stone strewn field. Her next leap carried her across the field, to alight on the highest branches of an evergreen on the far side.

    Just in time too, as her pursuer smashed its way into the clearing with a bone shaking roar. Towering a full three meters tall at the shoulder and bristling with metallic black fur, the huge bear fixed its beady eyes on Ling Qi, standing so smugly in the open. The arrow shaft sticking out from its shoulder, surrounded by charred fur, quivered in the wind as claws as long as daggers dug through soil and roots, and the brute erupted into a loping charge.

    Ling Qi merely cocked an eyebrow and waited, standing at ease on a branch thinner than her wrist as the beast closed. As the Black Steel Bear's front paw found purchase on the jagged boulder in the center of the field, the ground beneath it erupted. Twisting, brown and green vines, some little more than pale creepers and others, the gnarled roots of centennial trees sprouted like worms, coiling about the beasts hind legs and yanking, even as the boulder it had trodden upon shifted and came to life itself.

    The beast faltered, it's momentum snapping several of the thinner roots even as its suddenly unsure footing ended its charge. As a black blur shot from the ground and smoking fangs dug into fur already scorched by lightning, the beasts confusion transformed swiftly from confusion to pain, it's roar rattling the stones in the clearing as smoke and the scent of burning flesh poured from the wound.

    The hulk of fur and muscle jerked back, a slap of its paw knocking the serpentine head away, tearing searing hot fangs from the bears flesh. The bear reared, rising on its hind legs as it let out another bellow, tearing its right leg free of the of the entangling roots. At the beasts feet though, green eyes blazed from under the dirt, and a vital light flooded across the stony shell and the sinuous length of the black serpents body, washing the dazed look from burning eyes.

    Rearing back, Zhen spat, a hissing, molten glob of superheated venom splashing across the rearing brutes eyes and muzzle. Ling Qi winced as the bear screamed, an ugly, pain filled sound far away from the roars it had emitted before. Still, she watched silently as the mountain of muscle crashed down on Zhengui's back, the bears massive paws pounding down onto his broad shell, cracking the ground for meters around from the raw force.

    Yet the emerald glow only grew greater, and the binding roots more numerous, digging into the bears hind legs as they coiled and grew. She watched as Zhen struck again and again, fangs digging into soft flesh and leaving behind burning, boiling wounds. The beast's blows and attempts at escape grew increasingly frantic until at last the the bear collapsed, its strength spent, one last rattling growl escaping its throat.

    "Did you see Big Sister! I didn't let it get away!" Gui's excited, childlike voice broke the atmosphere of the scene as he scrabbling out from beneath the fallen bear, stubby claws scratching at the dirt.

    "Hmph, obviously Big Sister was watching Zhen, who did all of the real work," his other half hissed haughtily, his poise somewhat ruined by being dragged along and forced to slither out from under the mass of burning fur and muscle.

    "You both did well," Ling Qi said as she leaped lightly down to ground level. "I knew you could do it," she added with a smile as she crouched in front of her spirit, offering the both of them affectionate rubs on the head.

    They both preened under her attention, though of course, Zhen was more obvious about it. "Can we eat now Big Sister?" Gui asked, looking up at her excitedly.

    "You'll have to wait until after I finish skinning it," Ling Qi replied firmly. While Gui did lean toward eating vegetation and Zhen toward meat, to be frank she was sure they could both eat almost anything, and would if given the chance. She made a mental note not to let them do so around Biyu or Mother, Gui was a messy eater, which could be a little disturbing when he wasn;t just tearing into fruit and vegetables.

    "Zhen can have the core, right Big Sister?" Zhen hissed, swaying eagerly back and forth. "He did the killing after all."

    "You will split it," She replied. "And Gui will not hog all of the meat, right?" She added warningly.

    "...Right," Gui replied reluctantly.

    Smiling, Ling Qi set out to take care of the messy work of cleaning her kill, and carving out Zhen sized chunks for his convenience. She was very careful with the measurements too, as funny as it was to see Zhen bloated from trying to swallow too much, they did have other things to do today. Eventually, all that was left as a piled fur and cracked bones. They had some value, but Gui like the marrow enough that she wasn't inclined to tell him no.

    "While we're resting," Ling Qi said from her seat on a flat stone, sending the skin into her ring, along with her portion of the meat, for a later meal. "Have you been working hard on being small?"

    Gui blinked slowly at her, his bright green eyes half lidded. He started to respond, but it was interrupted by a yawn, allowing Zhen to answer first. "Of course, Zhen would not waste Lady Cui's time," he replied haughtily.

    Lady Cui, huh? Ling Qi thought wryly, that was a new one. She supposed it wasn't exactly wrong though, since Cui really was Meizhen's cousin. "Oh, why don't you show me?" She asked. Zhenguo being able to become a less threatening size was pretty integral to her plans for introducing him to the rest of the family without causing undue alarm. He could control his body heat well enough already, enough to not burn anyone anyway, so really it was his size that remained an issue.

    "Can't we wait a little bit Big Sister?" Gui complained, though not too strenuously she noted.

    "We don't need to do much practice yet," she replied soothingly. "Can you just show me? Big Sister misses being able to carry you."

    That was enough to quell any remaining grumbling from the young spirit. The two of them both closed their eyes, and she could feel their intense concentration through their bond as the spirit gathered his qi and… twisted it, in a way that was hard to describe. His bulk shimmered before her eyes, wavering for a moment, before shrinking inward.

    "Ugh, it feels weird," Gui murmured. He was only the size of a big dog now, and it only lasted a moment before he returned to his normal size with a pop of displaced air.

    "Like crawling back into an old skin," Zhen added, shaking himself as they resumed their normal size.

    "Good job," Ling Qi repeated, reaching out to pat them both on the head. "I'm sure you'll get it with a little more work."

    Their little nature trip continued for another few hours, though nothing quite so exciting as their last encounter happened. Zhengui was pleased to get out and do something a little more exciting and Ling Qi was happy for the small break it represented too.

    It didn't stop her from using the enticement of another trip before Zhengui, if only he could further master the size changing technique. It really would make things much easier if he could manage to become a more reasonable size.

    Still, traipsing about in the woods and cleaning carcasses was dirty work, and Ling Qi was glad to see the shimmering inside of the White Room alongside Xiulan after she had settled Zhengui down for a nap in the garden.

    White Room 30 + YSS 35 + Lan Lan 5 + Pills 6 + Larceny 5 = 81 + 11 autos (Talent 6, Bronze 5)
    4 3 10 5 4 6 5 4 5 2 9 7 2 2 8 2 9 5 3 4 10 1 5 4 7 1 4 7 4 2 3 8 6 2 2 1 9 6 5 5 7 5 1 10 7 1 1 7 5 5 2 6 5 8 10 3 8 3 10 1 6 4 10 4 7 1 4 7 8 10 3 6 5 6 6 3 6 8 1 2 3. 48 successes

    Rerolling 9
    2 9 10 8 2 7 5 9 2. 4 successes. 11 auto. 63 successes

    63/33 New Leg Meridian Opened!
    30 to qi

    35/61

    Another befouled meridian yielded to the cleansing pressure of her qi in the aftermath, bringing her one step closer to being able to utilize all of her arts at once. She was thankful for the White Room in that regard, she was sure that she would be having difficulties otherwise. Gu Xiulan was prospering with her immersion in the room as well, though her scars hadn't faded, and glimpses beneath the wrap on her arm still showed the limb to be a ruin, her cultivation had surged up to the peak of second realm again.

    Ling Qi could feel the faint cracks of a breakthrough beginning to spread through her aura, and her friend was clearly feeling better for it, even if Ling Qi could still see the lingering traces of pain in her every movement.

    Still, they were both busy, so the two of them did not linger in each others company long after sharing a post Room meal. Xiulan returning to her training and Ling Qi heading off to the archive to do some research. While she intended to ask Meizhen for some advice on her treasures, she didn't want to head down to the lake empty handed either. The days when she was entirely clueless about such things had passed after all.

    So, with the time of her meeting in mind, Ling Qi went to the archive and settled in for some research, and then, when the sun began to near the horizon, she headed down to the lake, to join Meizhen in her meditative… fishing.

    She still wasn't sure how something so common counted as a noble hobby, but she didn't feel the need to question Meizhen on it either. She was a little disapointed at the other girls lack of reaction when she informed her of what she had found.

    "Oh, you've found more treasures then?" Meizhen asked calmly from her seat at the lakeside, her white gown somehow untouched by stains of dirt or grass. She glanced only briefly at Ling Qi as she sat down beside her friend, her own gown billowing around her legs in a faint breeze.

    "It's less fun when you don't react you know," Ling Qi replied with a huff.

    "I am no longer surprised by your fortune," Bai Meizhen replied. "And you did sound quite certain, when we left the market. As for the rest… I do not find it shocking that the Sect has access to a Weilu tomb, that clan left many ruins."

    "Weilu?" Ling Qi asked curiously, glancing at the still lure bobbing in the lake waters. "I came across that name a few times looking around, but the books never explained what that was."

    "The Weilu were the rulers of Emerald Seas during the time before the Sage," Meizhen replied. "The Horned Lords of the South. They were also the first of the founding families to fall."

    Ling QI frowned, feeling slightly alarmed. "Ah, is that so? I didn't mean to do anything so disrespectful, I assumed the corpse was a barbarian or a spirit..." she was surprised the Sect would so easily allow the defilement of the tomb of such an important figure

    "The overwhelming pride and isolationist nature of the Weilu was well known, few were sad to see them fall. I feel no offense, the Bai do not worship the dead the way others do," her friend replied, and Ling Qi boggled at how bad they must have been, for her Bai friend to comment on it. "I presume if the Sect allowed you entry, that there is no crime against propriety."

    Ling Qi nodded readily enough, dismissing the subject for now, ancient history was just that. With a flick of her wrist, she expressed the black shard from within her ring. She held it gingerly, not wanting to cut her fingers on the edge as she had done before, when dredging it up. "Well, anyway, I wanted you to take a look at this. I think this will make a good material for my flying sword from what I've read."

    Finally, Meizhen looked her way fully, examining the length of black… material held across her open hands. "...I do not disagree, I suppose you were able to pick out the grade."

    "After some studying, yeah," Ling Qi grimaced, reading the auras of objects in such detail was hard. "It's a fourth grade material, right?"

    "Only just," Meizhen replied. "Yet it is still above the resources one would expect of a new baronial clan. It is likely you will not be able to fully access the power of a weapon crafted with it, as you are."

    "Like with your own sword," Ling Qi mused, she knew her friend was still teasing out abilities, but her sword came from the scale of a seventh ranked spirit beast, so that was to be expected. She dismissed the shard, frowning at the oily, clinging sensation it left in her hands, as if trying to drag her qi into the ring with it. "What about this?" She asked, expressing the pane of glass. She avoided looking down at the grinning skull it reflected back. "I couldn't really find anything in the archive."

    Her friends lips briefly curled in disgust. "Fourth Grade as well, but I would not suggest keeping it. Death qi is notoriously unwieldy and unpleasant," Meizhen looked away, and Ling Qi noticed unsettlingly that it did not reflect her friend as a worn skeleton, but as a pair of greedy golden eyes, staring up from a pit of abyssal dark. "Contact an auction and use the proceeds to fund your fief, but if you must use it, a ward against curses and spiritual assaults would be the best use."

    Ling Qi dismissed the mirror back into her ring. "What makes it worse than any other uncommon element?" Ling Qi asked

    Meizhen was silent for several seconds, and then shook her head. "Life and Death mark a cultivator more deeply than other elements, and with less investment. I will say no more on the matter," she replied with a note of finality.

    Ling Qi nodded, to be frank the mirror made her skin crawl, she wasn't sure if she would follow Meizhen's advice, but she didn't really know what to do with it either, the archives information on death qi was exceedingly sparse. She toyed with the idea of bringing out the pod as well, but they were merely second grade seeds with a yin wood nature, hardly worth troubling her friend over, though they did seem to be alive still, despite their situation, which implied a certain hardiness. Perhaps she could plant them later, when she had a proper home to work with.

    Falling silent for a time, she observed her friend out of the corner of her eye, noting the slight signs of tension and stress visible if one really knew how to look. There was another reason she had come here. "May I ask what has been troubling you lately?" She asked, leaning back to look up at the darkening sky. "You haven't even been having your tea in the mornings lately. I kind of miss you, you know?"

    Meizhen didn't visibly react to her words, and the silence between them stretched for several long seconds. "Familial concerns, there is nothing which you might help with."

    Ling Qi held back a grimace, glancing at her friend again. "Maybe not, but if it's nothing secret… I can still listen, you know?" She asked carefully. She didn't want to press too hard.

    She caught a faint sigh from the pale girl. "I have learned that my Aunt Suzhen will be coming to observe my performance," Meizhen replied quietly. "I do not wish to disappoint her when she is taking time from her important duties for such a frivolous thing," Meizhen paused a beat, her brows drawing together. "My father will be coming as well," she added, as if that were but an afterthought.

    "I'm not sure where the problem is," Ling Qi responded with a frown. Meizhen rarely spoke of her family, but when she did the Aunt she admired was the one who came up. "You aren't losing confidence in your ability to match Sun Liling are you?"

    "...Not as such," Bai Meizhen replied, not looking up to meet Ling Qi's eyes. "I worry, for what it means. Despite my childish wishes to be acknowledged by her, now the implications of it seem more dire."

    Ling Qi did her best to hold back an exasperated sigh. "You are going to have to explain that one to me."

    Meizhen shot her a disgruntled look, and Ling Qi felt a faint chill in the air, not born of any physical source. "Despite my dilute blood, I bear the colors of the Serpent Queen. I am expected to have the ability to lead," she said quietly. "Yet I would much prefer to simply cultivate in peace, rather than taking part in struggles for rank. Until now, I was largely able to do so, because of my circumstances."

    Ling Qi looked away as she began to understand. It was hard to remember that her friends clan wasn't just a family, not even a big one. Much like the other oldest clans, their members could fill several large cities on their own, if you included all the sub clans and branches. The Bai in particular had some kind of odd ranking system based on coloration and physical traits too, if she remembered the texts right. "So… you're worried about getting drawn into your families politics more, win or lose?"

    "It seems you are capable of listening," Meizhen replied with the smallest huff. "And so I am torn between pride and concern for the future."

    "I do pay attention when you speak… most of the time," Ling Qi shot back teasingly. "But all the same… you can only control your own actions, you know," Meizhen had not given her a positive impression of her peers in her own family, though she only spoke about such things obliquely. "Do you really think you would have escaped that sort of thing forever?"

    "No," her friend said, closing her eyes. "In the wake of this last year, it simply seems real, rather than a far off worry for the future. It is already too late for me to remain to the side of the struggles for position among my cousins, as it is."

    "Then you should be pleased that you'll be starting with an advantage," Ling Qi replied firmly. "Will any of them have defeated the granddaughter of your clans great enemy?

    "That assumes my victory," Meizhen pointed out dryly.

    "If you lose, it'll only be after you batter that top heavy, bloodthirsty bimbo to the edge of death," Ling Qi replied crassly. "Do you really think that won't count for anything?"

    Ling Qi felt a thread of satisfaction as Meizhen gaped at her, the fishing pole in her hands drooping as she clapped a hand over her face. "Ling Qi you cannot speak of a princess in that way. Were you not paying attention to a single thing I have taught you?" Which was a little rich considering that she called Liling 'Barbarian', but Ling Qi supposed her friend was the one with higher status.

    "I did, I just know how to ignore it when I need to break my friend out of a rut," Ling Qi replied, sticking out her tongue childishly. "Seriously Meizhen, do you have any reason to step off your path at this point?"

    "I never stated that my worries were a matter of logic," Meizhen replied a bit waspishly, adjusting her grip on the slumping fishing pole.

    "Sorry," Ling Qi replied. "But I don't think I'm wrong, you know."

    "Of course you don't," her friend said with a faint shake of her head. "Still, even if I feel you underestimate the stakes involved… thank you for your efforts."

    "I would be a poor friend if I didn't at least try to cheer you up," Ling Qi replied, before allowing silence to lapse for a time. "...On that note, do you think Cui has forgiven me yet?"

    "I would not pin too many hopes on that, "Meizhen replied dryly. "Perhaps in another year or two."

    Well, that was unfortunate, at least Meizhen's cousin didn't seem to extend the grudge to Zhengui.

    She stayed with Meizhen for the rest of the evening, quietly mediating. She departed the lakeside only when Meizhen did, to spend the rest of the night intermittently cycling her qi and musing on new melodies. In the morning, when the light of dawn began to touch the horizon, she set off to meet Li Suyin, who had renewed her invitation to join her at Bao Qingling's workshop for a little more practical testing of their formation work.

    The journey to the older girls workshop took her off of the outer sect mountain and deeper into the range, not far enough to intrude on the Inner Sect, but still about as far in as the Dragon's Vale, which did remind her that she would need to stop by to play a few songs and gather the potent wood qi for her continued cultivation of Thousand Ring Fortress.

    For now though, she merely landed at the top of the bulbous structure which clung to the wall of the canyon below. It was shaped vaguely like a gourd, with a smaller bulb stacked atop a larger one. Chimneys of metal and stone poked out of the structure at odd angles, billowing colorful and aromatic medicinal smoke. Most of the structure however, was composed entirely of thick white webbing. Somewhat disturbingly, Ling Qi could see disturbances in the air where spirits of wind had been captured in the webbing, and even as she watched, arachnid legs as long as her arm poked out to drag a struggling spirit inside.

    Happily, she didn't have too long to contemplate this before she felt the approach of Suyin's qi, and an entrance opened in the top of the structure, webs parting smoothly to reveal a ladder leading down, and of course, her friend Suyin poking her head out of the top, a bright expression on her scarred face. "Ling Qi! You made it, I'm so glad! I've made much progress on the scout formations, and I think the advanced form may have application in the guarding formation, but I need to review some portions of the manual before I can begin applying the transformative and fusion characters to the third layer of the power array, and..." her friends words came in a continuous stream, speaking of modifications more quickly than Ling Qi could easily keep track.

    "Hold on Suyin," Ling Qi said, raising a hand to cut her off. "I get that you're excited, but maybe we should head inside first?"

    Suyin blinked, and then looked sheepish. "...My apologies. It's just I've been very excited with my progress. Would you please come in?"

    Ling Qi nodded, offering her friend a smile to show that she wasn't offended. The tunnel leading down into the workshop was kind of claustrophobic, and the feel of so many skittering spirit spiders all around them gave her a case of goosebumps, but otherwise their entry went by in comfortable silence. A quick walk down the rightmost tunnel at the three way intersection at the bottom of the ladder brought them to a room a bit bigger than Suyin's workshop at home, furnished with tabletops other worksurfaces glued to the walls, often at heights and angles left them impossible to reach from the floor. It was also positively saturated with the skeletons of birds, ranging from the tiny to the huge.

    It was also occupied, Li Suyin's mentor, Bao Qingling, looked much like she had the first time Ling Qi had met her at the medicine hall. An unhealthily pale girl with dark circles under her eyes, with black hair gathered into a thick braid wrapped twice around her neck. Rather than a gown, she wore a set of dark brown, bulky leathers, including boots and gloves that left her looking a bit shapeless, especially with the thick work smock she wore, stained and scorched in many places.

    Unlike before though, Ling Qi could feel her qi more clearly, she was at the fourth level of the third realm, and her aura felt… jagged and murky. Like a deep pit full of sharp stone, concealed by thick clinging mist and webs.

    "Senior Sister Bao," Li Suyin greeted as she caught sight of the older girl. "Thank you for allowing me to bring my friend here today."

    "Thank you for having me Senior Sister," Ling Qi added politely, offering a bow of her own.

    The Inner disciple studied her for a moment, then nodded once crisply. "You are welcome. In this room at least. I ask that you remain in this room however," she said, her words uncolored by anything but polite disinterest. "It would be unfortunate if excessive curiosity were to cause us friction," she added bluntly. Ling Qi supposed she could understand, the story of what she had done to Yan Renshu was probably open knowledge at this point.

    "I will of course respect Senior Sister Bao's privacy, it would be very rude for me to repay your kindness to my friend and hospitality with treachery," Ling Qi replied politely.

    "Quite," Bao Qingling replied without humor, before nodding to Li Suyin. "Do not forget to your schedule, Junior Sister Suyin," she said simply. "Junior Sister Ling… give my regards to Lady Cai, if you would," she added, before stamping her foot once on the floor. A split second later, the webbing under her feet parted with an odd stretching sound, and the older girl vanished into the resulting hole. Ling Qi caught a glimpse of chitinous legs and gleaming eyes, as well as a pair of oddly human hands, composed of gleaming black chitin, in the moment before it closed again.

    "Huh, I wonder what that was about," Ling Qi mused, eyeing the floor a bit more warily now.

    "Ah, the Bao family is a count clan which administers the southwest under the Cai family directly," Li Suyin responded cheerfully. "Senior Sister was just offering her respects I'm sure."

    "I really do have to do some more research," Ling Qi sighed. Perhaps she could speak to Cai about that, learning from her would probably be more fruitful than poking through books on the matter, and she could pick up what the heiress thought of the various players. "Well, why don't you show me what you've been working on."

    "Yes! I've discovered how to activate the fusion formations in the advanced scouts without… untoward amounts of blood," Li Suyin began excitedly, leading her over to a wide surface scattered with a score of tiny bird skeletons and strewn with papers packed with notes and calculations. "As you can see here, it was simply a matter of…" She began to explain, going through her proofs as Ling Qi leaned over her shoulder.

    Ossuary Scout: oo(0/6)
    Non-Combat
    Cost 8 Red Spirit stones
    Duration: two weeks
    By carefully inscribing the bones of a small animal such as a mouse or frog or bird. You may imbue it with animating qi. The scout has a single health box, and no ability to attack, and moves at a speed of 12, or 15 in flight. The scouts stealth and perception are equivalent to the creators without any auto successes granted by cultivation or arts. While the scout does not share senses with the user, upon touching the scout and speaking a set activation word, they will receive a vision of what the scout saw and heard in the eight hours. For the purposes of opposed rolls, scouts count as two levels below their creators cultivation.

    Ossuary Horror: ooo (Unlearned 4/9)
    Combat
    Cost: Requires multiple ossuary scouts, see below. 10 Qi

    The tiny scouts created by the Ossuary Scout Formation are but a small part of the whole, when the time for observation has passed, they can be gathered to fight on their masters behalf. The construct created by the activation of this formation has a cultivation level equivalent to the number of scouts used to create it divided by three. Eg. A Horror created from 15 scouts would have a cultivation level of 5. The constructs cultivation level cannot exceed it's creators.

    The horror has a movement of 21 and an initiative of 15. It's base combat statistics are as follows.

    Offensive Clashes: 15 dice, plus 3 for every cultivation level above 4
    Defensive Clashes: 12 dice, plus 3 for every cultivation level above 4
    Armor 2 Durability 5(increases to 3 and 8 at cultivation 7)
    DV 4 Armor Piercing 2
    Health 4+1 for every cultivation level above 4

    No more than one horror may be commanded at a time, on creation, the horror may be assigned one arm based and one spine or leg based technique from the users roster, each of which it may use up to three times. Techniques must be two dots or below.

    Li Silk Guard 5/9

    By the time Li Suyin and she had finished working through her improvements, and Li Suyin had demonstrated her new formation, merging a great swarm of little sparrow skeletons into a bony horror in the vague shape of a large eagle, there was really only one thing to say.

    "You really are great at this kind of thing Li Suyin," Ling Qi laughed peering into the empty 'eye' socket of the 'eagle' now perched on Suyin's work surface. It's head was made of a dozen tiny skulls, partially merged together, it was a fairly creepy effect. "Are you sure you really want to just show me all of this? You had to practically rebuild the formation from scratch."

    "I don't mind at all," Li Suyin replied, shaking her head. "It is your treasure that allowed this anyway, and… I do not feel as if there needs to be transactions between us."

    She eyed her friend for a moment, sensing no insincerity from the other girl. Well, there was hesitation, Li Suyin likely still felt like she owed her too a degree, but she wasn't going to push the matter. "Well, I won't complain then," Ling Qi said lightly. "But next time you have some free time, I'm taking you out for some exercise, you've been neglecting your physical cultivation again," she scolded teasingly.

    "Eh? But I have so much to do," Li Suyin protested, waving her hands. "Surely such things can wait until next year."

    "Nope, not going to let my friend develop bad habits," Ling Qi replied, crossing her arms playfully. "You're at least going to start coming out for some evening exercise with me. I don't want you getting pale and squishy on me."

    "S-squishy?!" Li Suyin replied, looking a little affronted as the skeletal birds on her shoulders took flight at her sudden motion of her head as she looked down at herself. "...Um, I haven't really gotten so bad… have I?"

    "Nope, which is why we're going to start," Ling Qi said lightly. "But… later, you have to attend your Senior Sister, right?"

    "Yes," Li Suyin replied, still looking a little distracted. "Let me show you out."

    AN: So looks like circumstances conspired to make me a liar, sorry about that doods.

    In any case, I saw the discussion going on in the gap here and it does have some merit. The pacing is dragging a fair bit, so I'm going to put it up to vote on whether we accelerate the turns a little in the home stretch.

    If folks vote for acceleration, you will get to vote for training plans, and I will choose minors myself to move along the remaining plot threads we still have at this point to write between the dice rolls and such. I will still give you guys input on which characters get the screentime though. You may also vote for your talisman as you can during all voting periods.

    [] Accelerate
    [] Status Quo
     
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