Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
More seriously, it's not about fearing Xuilan or anything. It's that cultivating our relationship with Han Jian's group is arguably worth much more than 'being nice' to a random nobody of a girl that seems to be without much talent at first glance. Let's not pretend that anyone believe Xuilan is going to attack us in our sleep or something, it's not anymore likely than the other girl trying to do it. Likewise, 'given back the staff' is much more of an appeasement and bending over backward than 'keeping it'. I mean, we are a thief.
That, and the staff can be nice.
That, and the staff can be nice.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Xianxia society is not modern society. Xianxia morality is not modern morality. It is highly likely that the girl who used to have this staff will be one of the unimportant ones who never shows true talent. Her enmity is not enough reason to give up an advantage - and the stff *is* an advantage, even if a potentially barbed one.
On Xiulan's side... Xiulan is a cold, cold woman, and she sees potential in us. The staff was a gift, to empower us and bind us closer, and a test, to see what we'll do with it. As an answer, "just give it back" is not going to serve us well. "Let me have a copy of your scroll" isn't going to be particularly compelling either. In this place the staff is a relatively rare and valuable thing, and a technique scroll, while necessary, can be copied given time and access.
I'm also not saying to hang on to the staff. It's a large, obvious, valuable thing. It'll attract *attention*, and it's a kind of attention that we can't really handle yet. We're still lagging our peers - in many cases quite badly. It's reasonably likely, for example, that the guy who was with that girl could be convinced to come threaten us for the staff, and I'm pretty sure we can't take him.
Another way to look at it... it's highly unlikely that that girl will still have that staff in a year. She's weak enough that *someone* would have taken it from her, if we hadn't.
On Xiulan's side... Xiulan is a cold, cold woman, and she sees potential in us. The staff was a gift, to empower us and bind us closer, and a test, to see what we'll do with it. As an answer, "just give it back" is not going to serve us well. "Let me have a copy of your scroll" isn't going to be particularly compelling either. In this place the staff is a relatively rare and valuable thing, and a technique scroll, while necessary, can be copied given time and access.
I'm also not saying to hang on to the staff. It's a large, obvious, valuable thing. It'll attract *attention*, and it's a kind of attention that we can't really handle yet. We're still lagging our peers - in many cases quite badly. It's reasonably likely, for example, that the guy who was with that girl could be convinced to come threaten us for the staff, and I'm pretty sure we can't take him.
Another way to look at it... it's highly unlikely that that girl will still have that staff in a year. She's weak enough that *someone* would have taken it from her, if we hadn't.
Xiulan is actually showing a lot of depth. She's better at stealth than we are (either superlative dexterity or trained at it), good at social, has better cultivation, probably a lot more intelligent than her fiance, and is apparently fire-aligned which is translating into a veneer of control that cracks quickly whenever she's in combat.
I would not be surprised if she's one of those queen bee types who's making an investment in us because we're a nice pet project to have, but I would also not be surprised if she gave the staff to us because it's a) a hassle to keep (someone will want it back), b) not useful to her because wood-element and fire-element don't play particularly well together, or so I assume, c) empowers the weakest link in a current team-based test, d) makes us beholden to her, e) not particularly valuable to her.
When you think about it, there's no reason for her to keep it, and lots of reasons for her to give it away. She's not from a poor background like we are, a 'gift' like this probably means very little to her and she's leveraging it very well.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
Yeah, let's be honest there. Xiulan has shown herself to be well above average even for Han Jian's team or maybe the team we just beat. Here is a reminder:
Initiative
Gu Xiulan 8
Ling Qi 6
Gu Xiulan's dice pool is 8 +1 Auto success for higher cultivation
1, 4, 9, 6, 1, 2, 8, 9. 4 Successes
Ling Qi's dice pool is…
Dexterity+ Zephyr's Breath defense bonus. 4 dice
9, 5, 8, 5. 2 successes
Ling Qi's offensive pool is
Dexterity+Throwing Knife Mastery+Art Bonus. 5 dice
8, 10, 5, 8, 10. 4 successes
Gu Xiulan's defense pool is 6. +1 Auto Success for higher cultivation
6, 5, 5, 10, 3, 8. 3 successes.
Gu Xiulan 8
Ling Qi 6
Gu Xiulan's dice pool is 8 +1 Auto success for higher cultivation
1, 4, 9, 6, 1, 2, 8, 9. 4 Successes
Ling Qi's dice pool is…
Dexterity+ Zephyr's Breath defense bonus. 4 dice
9, 5, 8, 5. 2 successes
Ling Qi's offensive pool is
Dexterity+Throwing Knife Mastery+Art Bonus. 5 dice
8, 10, 5, 8, 10. 4 successes
Gu Xiulan's defense pool is 6. +1 Auto Success for higher cultivation
6, 5, 5, 10, 3, 8. 3 successes.
Ling Qi
Dex+Stealth+1 Environment
6 dice
2, 6, 5, 10, 8, 7. 3 successes
Han Ji
4 dice
10, 5, 3, 9. 2 successes
Gu Xiulan
7 dice
4, 7, 2, 2, 10, 7, 10. 4 successes
Fan Yu
3 dice
8, 3, 2. 1 success
Han Fang
5 dice
6, 5, 9, 1, 9. 2 successes
Enemy perception
Male Disciple
4 dice
3, 7, 2, 2. 1 success
Female Disciple
4 dice
3, 7, 3, 5. 1 success
Dex+Stealth+1 Environment
6 dice
2, 6, 5, 10, 8, 7. 3 successes
Han Ji
4 dice
10, 5, 3, 9. 2 successes
Gu Xiulan
7 dice
4, 7, 2, 2, 10, 7, 10. 4 successes
Fan Yu
3 dice
8, 3, 2. 1 success
Han Fang
5 dice
6, 5, 9, 1, 9. 2 successes
Enemy perception
Male Disciple
4 dice
3, 7, 2, 2. 1 success
Female Disciple
4 dice
3, 7, 3, 5. 1 success
Ling Qi's dice pool
Dexterity+Throwing Knife Mastery+Art Bonus+Command Bonus+Guiding Zephyr
7 dice
9, 9, 9, 7, 2, 8, 4. 5 successes
Female Disciple's pool
Dexterity+Dodge Mastery-Deafened Penalty +1 Cultivation successes
3 dice
3, 5, 4. 0 successes +1 Automatic
Ling Qi deals 3 lethal damage to female disciple
Dexterity+Throwing Knife Mastery+Art Bonus+Command Bonus+Guiding Zephyr
7 dice
9, 9, 9, 7, 2, 8, 4. 5 successes
Female Disciple's pool
Dexterity+Dodge Mastery-Deafened Penalty +1 Cultivation successes
3 dice
3, 5, 4. 0 successes +1 Automatic
Ling Qi deals 3 lethal damage to female disciple
Attackers Dice: 8
10, 4, 9, 1, 9, 8, 10, 2. 5 successes
Ling Qi's dice
Dexterity+Dodge Mastery+Art Bonus+Command Bonus: 6 dice
1, 8, 4, 7, 3, 10. 3 Successes
2 lethal damage taken
10, 4, 9, 1, 9, 8, 10, 2. 5 successes
Ling Qi's dice
Dexterity+Dodge Mastery+Art Bonus+Command Bonus: 6 dice
1, 8, 4, 7, 3, 10. 3 Successes
2 lethal damage taken
It's also worth noting that our last opponent was mid red soul and still dangerous as heck.
At a glance Xiulan is much worse to antagonise than random wood girl, if only because she has constant contact to our only 'in-crowd' ally, and she isn't dumb about it.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
At this point, she *is* an 'in-crowd' ally. She taught us dodge, gave us a magical artifact, and is clearly cultivating us as a potential minion. What more do you want?
Xiulan: "Yes! I'm running around being awesome with my fire, being followed around by another cultivator whose only job (other than Not Dying) is to make me *even more awesome*. *This* is what life is supposed to be like."
There is one good reason I can think of to give back the staff but it's super manipulative.
We are a thief. If we plan on being thiefy, we need to not look the part.
When something goes missing, who do you blame? The rich kids or the poor peasants? Let's be real, people are going to blame us. Giving the staff back with some veneer of quid pro quo (just enough so as not to embarass the other girl) will make us look honorable (especially if we justify it as a 'I know what it's like to have things taken away from you by force') so when things go missing we can claim that, woah, we might not be rich as the moon but we're not a thief.
Not sure if it's in-character though. It also strikes me as overly complicated from a lot of different angles.
But it's the sort of thing I can see Xiulan doing were she in our shoes.
We are a thief. If we plan on being thiefy, we need to not look the part.
When something goes missing, who do you blame? The rich kids or the poor peasants? Let's be real, people are going to blame us. Giving the staff back with some veneer of quid pro quo (just enough so as not to embarass the other girl) will make us look honorable (especially if we justify it as a 'I know what it's like to have things taken away from you by force') so when things go missing we can claim that, woah, we might not be rich as the moon but we're not a thief.
Not sure if it's in-character though. It also strikes me as overly complicated from a lot of different angles.
But it's the sort of thing I can see Xiulan doing were she in our shoes.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Indeed. We could just up our Bluff score instead.It also strikes me as overly complicated from a lot of different angles.
Well enjoying the speculation and discussion on Xiulan and her present, but just wanted to stop in and say that I've finally put together the tutorials post on the first page. It's just a compilation of the tutorials shown during the quest so far. The only addition is an explanation on damage and damage types in the combat section.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
You should probably edit that to indicate 'going from 4 (3+cultivation level) to 5', as that current explanation is why I misunderstood the whole 'base Qi' thing.
- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
While you're here, I've got a question on the Relationships section of the first page. What do those little "o" symbols mean? We have one next to every single person and group aside from Argent Peak Sect, so I guess it has to relate to whether or not they're even aware of our existence, but is there any more meaning to it?
Ah yeah, I'll fix that. The dots next to the relationships and reps indicate their intensity and strength of the bond.. You can have from one to five dots in a relationship. Higher dots means the relationship is more 'locked in' as it were and Ling Qi feels more strongly about them.
For example, she dislikes Sun Liling for dismissing and embarrassing her in front of everyone, but it's overall pretty minor and could be changed. Similarly she's friends with a few people, but she's only known them for a couple of weeks, so the bond isn't very strong yet.
For example, she dislikes Sun Liling for dismissing and embarrassing her in front of everyone, but it's overall pretty minor and could be changed. Similarly she's friends with a few people, but she's only known them for a couple of weeks, so the bond isn't very strong yet.
Last edited:
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
Well I floated the idea of approaching her again to try patching things up since it looks like she'd be able to do similar things for our physical cultivation that Bai Meizhen has done for our spiritual cultivation but it was ignored.Wait! She dislikes Sun 'made ya flinch' Liling? Gods, why!?
We are unworthy of Master Zhou's tutorship.
- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
I don't care about Lilang so much, though admittedly I'd have preferred her to snake lady. What's done is done there, though. I want a tracker for Fang, though, that guy's cool!
I'm liking Xiulan pretty well. I know some people aren't fond of how she messes with Qi so much, but our main character makes that pretty easy what with being so serious all the time. Despite that, she's really been helping us out with the dodge training, gift-giving and the like. It's a shame that Qi is a bit too jealous/paranoid to look and appreciate more of how she's been helping.
I'm liking Xiulan pretty well. I know some people aren't fond of how she messes with Qi so much, but our main character makes that pretty easy what with being so serious all the time. Despite that, she's really been helping us out with the dodge training, gift-giving and the like. It's a shame that Qi is a bit too jealous/paranoid to look and appreciate more of how she's been helping.
- Location
- Fabulously Rainbow Ireland
Not really given it's only one dot and if she really is the physical training booster equivalent to Meizhen then we need to befriend her ASAP to stack all those delicious advantages like a proper Xianxia protagonist.
Plus she's a high ranking noble and practically royalty. We'd get serious social cred with a friendship with her.
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- Location
- Vicksburg, MS
It's true that we could make a dedicated effort to turning things around, but that approach suffers from that our character is something of a paranoid and shady person with minimal social skills and a quick temper. We don't get many bonuses for success in social interactions, which is why we failed the one with her in the first place. Before thinking of befriending her, we'd first need to get to the sort of neutrality we had at square one, and the trip there could take a while or else we could end up making it worse if her personality poorly meshes with Qi again.
This is all very surmountable with time and some effort, but those are precious resources at the moment. It's nothing to say, "I'd like to be bros with Sun Lilang," but who are you going to cut back on so as to justify spending the time with her? What training will we have to sacrifice? I don't want to throw away a bird in the hand for one in the bush.
I mean, yeah, if it was someone I cared more about from the cool factor or something then I guess I could justify it (as I guess is my opinion with Gu Xiulan though we've already had some returns there), but her character's not very interesting to me. Practically all of these nobles are total freaks, we need to move up the timetable on the republican era.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Also, we have a couple of strikes against us already wrt Liling. Basically, it's hard to get/keep a relationship with Liling if you have a relationship with Meizhen. If we were a social monster, we could probably manage it (and the dividends would be one of the significant benefits to that level of investment in social) but we're not. We need to leverage our own strengths, not just assume that we have everyone's strengths.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
That is another advantage that is not currently ours to leverage.
Tally ho!
Vote Tally : Original - Fantasy - Forge of Destiny(Xianxia Quest) | Page 24 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.5
[X] The left path
No. of Votes: 18
[X] The right path
No. of Votes: 4
[X] The center path
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 23
##### NetTally 1.7.5
[X] The left path
No. of Votes: 18
No. of Votes: 4
[X] The center path
No. of Votes: 1
Total No. of Voters: 23
Second Test, Part 1
Spirits are simultaneously one of the greatest troubles facing the empire and one of its greatest assets. Spirits serve as powerful companions and multipliers of a cultivators power, and in many cases, serve as a final and terrible warning against infighting amongst ourselves, lest the losing parties ancestors, Sublime or otherwise, decide that there is no longer anything left to lose.
However, these civilized spirits, are sadly far in the minority among their kind. Spirit beasts stalk the wilds between our carefully warded cities and roads in great number, even the weakest of their kind a dire threat to any mortal who catches their attention. Lesser Spirits, creatures of raw element, emotion and concept are born and die with great frequency, their motivations largely incomprehensible to humans unless they are bound. It is these creatures that the peasant whispers of, warning his children against the whispers in the dark, for these creatures are all too eager to possess humans in a twisted mockery of a cultivators bond.
Yet those are only the most common of their kind, hundred year spirits, the slumbering intelligences of a mountains and rivers, battlefields and forests are also among their number. The worthiest among them are of course the Great Spirits, the most powerful of their kind who bless our empire, and are blessed in turn by our reverence.
The focus of this treatise though, are those first two types which were mentioned. They remain the greatest internal obstacle and threat to the safety of our citizens, as well as the most likely source for companions among our cultivators. In this book the categories, habits and natures of many common spirits and spirit beasts will be discussed, as well as weaknesses and the most effective formations for curtailing their activities.
-Excerpt from, A Novice's Primer on the World of Spirits
In the end the choice is hardly one Ling Qi agonized over. Despite her recent 'adventure' with Li Suyin and her housemate into the wilderness, she was a city girl, and she would much rather navigate the streets than a mountain path or a lake. After checking her makeshift bandages one more time, Ling Qi straightened her shoulders and began to walk toward the city. As she did, the brief wind that had dispelled the mist for a moment faded, and her vision once again shrunk down to a few dozen meters.
The path she found herself walking was a narrow and unpaved one, with tall trees looming on either side. It was unsettling frankly, on either side lay darkness and mist, twisting into unpleasant shapes, where every rustle and sound seemed greatly magnified. Ling Qi found herself tensing, clutching the wooden staff she still carried in her left hand tightly. She could hear the whispers again, like bugs crawling on her brain, murmuring unintelligible words and enticements directly into her thoughts.
She had always avoided the outskirts of town for exactly this reason. No one she had talked too when she was younger could hear the same sounds she could coming from the trees, the whispers of the lesser spirits, and even if she now knew that it was a result of her talent, it was still uncomfortable. She should be safe though, as long as she didn't leave the road. She had just passed a pair of the stone lanterns that served to ward the road against spirits after all. She just had to ignore them and press on.
She did wonder what it would be like though, to enter a place like this once she could understand them properly. Would it be better to know what was being said, or worse? Ling Qi shook off such ponderings for the moment though and focused on the path ahead of her, and keeping up a good jogging pace. It was so much easier to simply run without pause than it had been a month ago. Her strides ate up ground quickly, the shadowy, mist filled forest and the twisting faces and ghost lights under its boughs beginning to blur by as she really found her pace.
Still, every footfall jarred her wounded shoulder slightly, so Ling Qi was glad when she saw the high stone walls looming ahead in the mist.
...It was a little odd though, she hadn't thought the city was so close, it had looked much further away from the intersection. She had probably just misjudged the distance though, or even more likely had misjudged how quickly she could cover ground now. Ling Qi paused as she finally came close enough to see the walls properly. As was expected there were guards at the gate, looking just as imposing as she remembered in their heavy, banded armor and clutching the sturdy spears the ones set to guard the gates and walls usually used. It was strange to think that she was probably as strong or stronger than most of them now, according to what she had learned in her lessons.
It wouldn't do to start trouble or get cocky though. Even if she could match a city guard in cultivation they were probably better than her at actually fighting. So she slowed her pace as she approached and straightened her shoulders, despite the twinge of pain it caused, doing her best to look confident and unworried. After all, they had no reason to stop or impede her and she had nothing to hide. Not looking suspicious was half of the solution to not getting caught or questioned after all, she had learned that well enough over the years.
It was odd that there was no one else on the road though, or even just inside the gate. Even late in the afternoon there would usually be a little traffic. She passed the guards without a word, and though she felt their eyes following her, none of them moved to halt her, which was strange in and of itself, travelers usually had to pay a gate tax and give an accounting of their purpose, didn't they? She glanced back at the guards with a touch of nervousness, maybe they had been informed that disciples would be coming through today?
She frowned as she proceeded through the empty street just inside the gate, looking furtively at the lightless buildings on either side. There were a handful of people in the streets, but they walked quickly and with their heads down, not paying her any mind. Ling Qi had a disquieting feeling in her gut, the oddities that were beginning to stack up were getting her nerves up. She pushed the feeling down for the moment, though she remained on guard. She had to focus on her goal. Big temples were usually in the central district of the cities, along with the mansions of the ministers and lords. The Divine Dragon was one of the monikers for the great spirit that had accompanied the Celestial Emperor in his crusade to unite the empire, so it's temple would almost certainly be quite big indeed.
Normally she would worry about gaining passage into the inner sections of the city, but she was a Sect disciple now, she probably wouldn't be turned away like she would have a month ago. The number of people in the streets slowly increased as she moved away from the gate, but the city still felt oddly empty. It didn't help that everyone she passed seemed… slightly off, eyes sunken as if they hadn't slept in days, a certain listlessness to their movements that spoke of exhaustion. The only exception was the city guards who stood watch at at the street corners, sharp eyed and straight backed.
Ling Qi's shoulder twinged again, and the cut on her leg throbbed, reminding her of one of the reasons she had come to the city. She should consider looking for a doctor to clean and bind her wounds better. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to spend any more time here than was needed. She doubted it would be so easy, but going straight to the temple would be for the best if it was possible. To that end she considered doing something that she never would have thought of in her previous life.
"Excuse me, but do you know where the Divine Dragon temple is?" She asked politely as she stopped in front of the next guard she came across. She was all too aware suddenly of her missing sleeve and bare arm, not to mention the hanging flap caused by the cut in the lower part of her gown. She did her best to sound polite and confident though, trying to play up her status.
The stern faced man glanced over her with practiced disinterest. "It is in the center of the city. The tallest building. You can see the roof from here," he responded with slow measured words, eyes flicking away from her to watch the street.
That was… simpler than she had thought. "Oh, thank you," she belatedly remembered to say. "I'm not really from around here, so I wasn't sure."
As she was about to walk away, the man spoke up in the same unhurried tone. "You will not be able to enter as you are. Only those bearing tokens of the Sun, Moon, and Stars are to be allowed into the central city tonight."
Ling Qi stopped, turning her head to look back at the man. "Wait, there are three tokens? I… of course there are," she began loudly and ended in a frustrated mutter. "I don't suppose you know where I can acquire the other tokens do you?" She asked, losing a bit of her polite veneer. She really wasn't good at this.
"The Sun and Moon are held by your fellow disciples. The five stars are hidden in the city, guarded by spirit and marked by light," the man's calm and toneless voice was beginning to irritate her. The implications worried her though. This meant for certain that the she would be targeted by the other disciples, and that she would need to target them in turn. She gave the man a curt nod when it was clear that he was finished speaking and left, turning her thoughts to how she would handle this.
She would have to keep an eye out for her fellow disciples of course, but she would have to keep an eye out for the locations of the Star tokens as well. At least 'marked by light' sounded fairly obvious. Guarded by Spirit sounded more troubling though, the only spirit she had ever faced was Bai Cui, and she had a feeling that whatever guarded the tokens wouldn't be be a lazy little serpent.
Of course… was it possible that the whole thing was a trick? It didn't seem like the kind of thing Zhou would do, but neither did this test. Her instincts told her the guard had been holding something back. She had no doubt she wouldn't be able to walk right up to the temple without the three tokens, but if she could arrive without them, would she be turned away? The message at the beginning had only said she would need her moon token.
Still, she needed to decide the order of her search and what to focus on, time was wasting and the more time she spent thinking the more disciples she would have to deal with. There was also the issue of her wounds to consider, was it worth using some of her time to find a doctor to better tend them, or should she just grit her teeth and bear with it?
[] Find a doctor
[] Ignore your wounds for the moment
Then she would need to decide where to begin with her goals
[] Lurk near the gates, to tail incoming disciples and eventually acquire their token
[] Gather information in the red light district, she was unfortunately familiar with such places, surely one of the thieves and informants that always infest them will have seen something regarding the Star tokens
[] Find the cities market, to gather information, and watch for disciples, it will be easier to hide in the crowd
[] Head to the inner city to scout out the territory and set an ambush for approaching disciples. Why search yourself when you can simply take the tokens from a hopefully exhausted disciple?
[] Search for a way to bypass whatever guards the path and simply enter the temple without the other tokens.
[] Write In
AN: Ugh, hate to do such a short one after such a long wait, but thems the breaks. Next one will be out quicker
However, these civilized spirits, are sadly far in the minority among their kind. Spirit beasts stalk the wilds between our carefully warded cities and roads in great number, even the weakest of their kind a dire threat to any mortal who catches their attention. Lesser Spirits, creatures of raw element, emotion and concept are born and die with great frequency, their motivations largely incomprehensible to humans unless they are bound. It is these creatures that the peasant whispers of, warning his children against the whispers in the dark, for these creatures are all too eager to possess humans in a twisted mockery of a cultivators bond.
Yet those are only the most common of their kind, hundred year spirits, the slumbering intelligences of a mountains and rivers, battlefields and forests are also among their number. The worthiest among them are of course the Great Spirits, the most powerful of their kind who bless our empire, and are blessed in turn by our reverence.
The focus of this treatise though, are those first two types which were mentioned. They remain the greatest internal obstacle and threat to the safety of our citizens, as well as the most likely source for companions among our cultivators. In this book the categories, habits and natures of many common spirits and spirit beasts will be discussed, as well as weaknesses and the most effective formations for curtailing their activities.
-Excerpt from, A Novice's Primer on the World of Spirits
In the end the choice is hardly one Ling Qi agonized over. Despite her recent 'adventure' with Li Suyin and her housemate into the wilderness, she was a city girl, and she would much rather navigate the streets than a mountain path or a lake. After checking her makeshift bandages one more time, Ling Qi straightened her shoulders and began to walk toward the city. As she did, the brief wind that had dispelled the mist for a moment faded, and her vision once again shrunk down to a few dozen meters.
The path she found herself walking was a narrow and unpaved one, with tall trees looming on either side. It was unsettling frankly, on either side lay darkness and mist, twisting into unpleasant shapes, where every rustle and sound seemed greatly magnified. Ling Qi found herself tensing, clutching the wooden staff she still carried in her left hand tightly. She could hear the whispers again, like bugs crawling on her brain, murmuring unintelligible words and enticements directly into her thoughts.
She had always avoided the outskirts of town for exactly this reason. No one she had talked too when she was younger could hear the same sounds she could coming from the trees, the whispers of the lesser spirits, and even if she now knew that it was a result of her talent, it was still uncomfortable. She should be safe though, as long as she didn't leave the road. She had just passed a pair of the stone lanterns that served to ward the road against spirits after all. She just had to ignore them and press on.
She did wonder what it would be like though, to enter a place like this once she could understand them properly. Would it be better to know what was being said, or worse? Ling Qi shook off such ponderings for the moment though and focused on the path ahead of her, and keeping up a good jogging pace. It was so much easier to simply run without pause than it had been a month ago. Her strides ate up ground quickly, the shadowy, mist filled forest and the twisting faces and ghost lights under its boughs beginning to blur by as she really found her pace.
Still, every footfall jarred her wounded shoulder slightly, so Ling Qi was glad when she saw the high stone walls looming ahead in the mist.
...It was a little odd though, she hadn't thought the city was so close, it had looked much further away from the intersection. She had probably just misjudged the distance though, or even more likely had misjudged how quickly she could cover ground now. Ling Qi paused as she finally came close enough to see the walls properly. As was expected there were guards at the gate, looking just as imposing as she remembered in their heavy, banded armor and clutching the sturdy spears the ones set to guard the gates and walls usually used. It was strange to think that she was probably as strong or stronger than most of them now, according to what she had learned in her lessons.
It wouldn't do to start trouble or get cocky though. Even if she could match a city guard in cultivation they were probably better than her at actually fighting. So she slowed her pace as she approached and straightened her shoulders, despite the twinge of pain it caused, doing her best to look confident and unworried. After all, they had no reason to stop or impede her and she had nothing to hide. Not looking suspicious was half of the solution to not getting caught or questioned after all, she had learned that well enough over the years.
It was odd that there was no one else on the road though, or even just inside the gate. Even late in the afternoon there would usually be a little traffic. She passed the guards without a word, and though she felt their eyes following her, none of them moved to halt her, which was strange in and of itself, travelers usually had to pay a gate tax and give an accounting of their purpose, didn't they? She glanced back at the guards with a touch of nervousness, maybe they had been informed that disciples would be coming through today?
She frowned as she proceeded through the empty street just inside the gate, looking furtively at the lightless buildings on either side. There were a handful of people in the streets, but they walked quickly and with their heads down, not paying her any mind. Ling Qi had a disquieting feeling in her gut, the oddities that were beginning to stack up were getting her nerves up. She pushed the feeling down for the moment, though she remained on guard. She had to focus on her goal. Big temples were usually in the central district of the cities, along with the mansions of the ministers and lords. The Divine Dragon was one of the monikers for the great spirit that had accompanied the Celestial Emperor in his crusade to unite the empire, so it's temple would almost certainly be quite big indeed.
Normally she would worry about gaining passage into the inner sections of the city, but she was a Sect disciple now, she probably wouldn't be turned away like she would have a month ago. The number of people in the streets slowly increased as she moved away from the gate, but the city still felt oddly empty. It didn't help that everyone she passed seemed… slightly off, eyes sunken as if they hadn't slept in days, a certain listlessness to their movements that spoke of exhaustion. The only exception was the city guards who stood watch at at the street corners, sharp eyed and straight backed.
Ling Qi's shoulder twinged again, and the cut on her leg throbbed, reminding her of one of the reasons she had come to the city. She should consider looking for a doctor to clean and bind her wounds better. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to spend any more time here than was needed. She doubted it would be so easy, but going straight to the temple would be for the best if it was possible. To that end she considered doing something that she never would have thought of in her previous life.
"Excuse me, but do you know where the Divine Dragon temple is?" She asked politely as she stopped in front of the next guard she came across. She was all too aware suddenly of her missing sleeve and bare arm, not to mention the hanging flap caused by the cut in the lower part of her gown. She did her best to sound polite and confident though, trying to play up her status.
The stern faced man glanced over her with practiced disinterest. "It is in the center of the city. The tallest building. You can see the roof from here," he responded with slow measured words, eyes flicking away from her to watch the street.
That was… simpler than she had thought. "Oh, thank you," she belatedly remembered to say. "I'm not really from around here, so I wasn't sure."
As she was about to walk away, the man spoke up in the same unhurried tone. "You will not be able to enter as you are. Only those bearing tokens of the Sun, Moon, and Stars are to be allowed into the central city tonight."
Ling Qi stopped, turning her head to look back at the man. "Wait, there are three tokens? I… of course there are," she began loudly and ended in a frustrated mutter. "I don't suppose you know where I can acquire the other tokens do you?" She asked, losing a bit of her polite veneer. She really wasn't good at this.
"The Sun and Moon are held by your fellow disciples. The five stars are hidden in the city, guarded by spirit and marked by light," the man's calm and toneless voice was beginning to irritate her. The implications worried her though. This meant for certain that the she would be targeted by the other disciples, and that she would need to target them in turn. She gave the man a curt nod when it was clear that he was finished speaking and left, turning her thoughts to how she would handle this.
She would have to keep an eye out for her fellow disciples of course, but she would have to keep an eye out for the locations of the Star tokens as well. At least 'marked by light' sounded fairly obvious. Guarded by Spirit sounded more troubling though, the only spirit she had ever faced was Bai Cui, and she had a feeling that whatever guarded the tokens wouldn't be be a lazy little serpent.
Of course… was it possible that the whole thing was a trick? It didn't seem like the kind of thing Zhou would do, but neither did this test. Her instincts told her the guard had been holding something back. She had no doubt she wouldn't be able to walk right up to the temple without the three tokens, but if she could arrive without them, would she be turned away? The message at the beginning had only said she would need her moon token.
Still, she needed to decide the order of her search and what to focus on, time was wasting and the more time she spent thinking the more disciples she would have to deal with. There was also the issue of her wounds to consider, was it worth using some of her time to find a doctor to better tend them, or should she just grit her teeth and bear with it?
[] Find a doctor
[] Ignore your wounds for the moment
Then she would need to decide where to begin with her goals
[] Lurk near the gates, to tail incoming disciples and eventually acquire their token
[] Gather information in the red light district, she was unfortunately familiar with such places, surely one of the thieves and informants that always infest them will have seen something regarding the Star tokens
[] Find the cities market, to gather information, and watch for disciples, it will be easier to hide in the crowd
[] Head to the inner city to scout out the territory and set an ambush for approaching disciples. Why search yourself when you can simply take the tokens from a hopefully exhausted disciple?
[] Search for a way to bypass whatever guards the path and simply enter the temple without the other tokens.
[] Write In
AN: Ugh, hate to do such a short one after such a long wait, but thems the breaks. Next one will be out quicker