Smelting: 4
Ling Qi took a calming breath as they began to make their way down the steep path that led to the distant rows of stone buildings. She knew now, with the Elders words that she was going to be in danger here. At least once the brief period of enforced nonviolence ended. She would need to make an effort to keep herself safe. One way to do that was gaining strength herself, which was strange to think of, as it had never really been an option before. A second method was finding, as her driver had put it 'someone to watch her back'. Han Jian… well, she hoped he would turn out to be genuine, even if he was only pitying her. He couldn't help her here though.
She really wasn't good at this sort of thing though. She had never joined any of the street gangs at home, if only because they were filled with the worst sort of men and boys. She had no illusions about what her 'role' in such a group would have been. If she wanted that she would have stayed with Mother and at least made a living of it. She didn't really have anything to offer at the moment though. Casting a surreptitious glance around at the various other girls, she found it doubtful that she would be able to involve herself in any of their cliques at the moment. There were a few others who seemed like they came from less wealthy backgrounds, including a strange girl with dirty smudges on her clothing and face, who wore some kind of odd fluffy belt of fur around her waist. They would have the same problem as her though, nothing to offer at the moment.
So her gaze went back to the two girls she had shared a lecture hall with. The white haired girl was a better choice to approach first she thought. A look around at the others showed that she was ostracized for some reason, whereas the distance kept by the others around the red headed girl seemed more… respectful? Fearful might be a better word. Another glance at the white haired girl solidified her resolve to approach. She had no real position, so any approach was a gamble. She may as well try for someone who clearly had some kind of power.
...And honestly she felt a little bad watching the girl trudge along with her head down, she could recognize the defensiveness in the set of her shoulders. Being alone wasn't the the greatest thing in the world. So Ling Qi began to drift closer to the girl, falling further back in the crowd and sidling through the gaps until she reached the empty space around the other girl. As she 'broke' the bubble she noticed several of the girls nearby go quiet and one or two look her way.
Ignoring the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach she pressed on, until the girl she was approaching noticed her presence and looked up. She got a better look at the other girls face then. She was unnaturally pale and had the sort fine features of a porcelain doll, framed by silky white hair that fell down to the middle of her back. However, her thin lips were unpainted and bloodless, barely standing out from the rest of her skin, nor did she appear to be wearing any other cosmetics.
Mostly though her eyes drew Ling Qi's attention, the slit pupils and wide golden irises are incredibly unnerving.
...But despite the thrill of animal terror that traveled up her spine, Ling Qi did not look away or retreat as the fear made her want to do. It helped that the top of the girl's head didn;t even reach Ling's Qi's shoulder. Instead she nodded to the other girl and fell in beside her a few polite steps away. "Hello, I am Ling Qi," her voice was stiffer than she would have liked. Several beats of awkward silence followed as the White haired girl stared at her expressionlessly, never even blinking. It was very off putting, after another few seconds had passed without response she added. "May I have your name?"
That finally seemed to prompt the other girl to blink thankfully, though her expression didn't change in the slightest. It made it difficult to read her, but she didn't think the other girl was wary of her so much as… nonplussed at her presence. "Bai Meizhen, of Thousand Lakes province Bai clan," the girl responded evenly, though it had feeling of a line memorized by rote. "Why did you not finish introducing yourself?"
Ling Qi glanced to the side awkwardly, all to aware that she and the other girl were being surreptitiously watched. "I did," she responded awkwardly. "I mean, I suppose I am from Emerald Sea province," she added hastily. "I don't have a clan though," it seemed like trying to maintain formal speech patterns really was a lost cause, and in any case she doubted she could deceive the girl for any length of time given her lack of knowledge about noble families. Was there a noble Ling clan? Probably, but she had no idea where they might reside or anything about them.
Her response ended in another painfully awkward silence, and Ling Qi shifted from foot to foot as the other girl stared at her seemingly having no problem walking the steep path without any attention to where she was going. She really wished the other girl would blink more often. Finally though Bai Meizhen spoke again, a hint of confusion coloring her mostly toneless voice. "I… see. What is it you require then? I am afraid I have not been granted enough allowance to hire a maidservant."
Ling QI could not help but grit her teeth angrily at the utter dismissal, and the soft titter she caught from on of the closer girls almost sent her over the edge… but she managed to calm herself, she had been insulted before and after initial wave of irritation, she could see that there was no malice in the other girl's words. It's more like she's just… completely lost on why else Ling Qi would be talking to her. So she pushed down her anger and put on a smile. She would just be blunt then. "I was actually thinking we could be friends. We're both cultivators, right?" That was supposed to supersede bloodline and such, even if it seemed that might not be how it worked in practice. "You seem like you could use a friend, and besides we have to pair off for housing anyway."
The odd girl is tilts her head to the side slightly, her pace slowing as she observed Ling Qi with an odd intensity. Then her eyes shifted to the side, away from Ling Qi. She then frowned, pursing her lips as if listening to something. No one is talking as far as Ling Qi could tell, at least not to them. "I suppose that is acceptable," Bai Meizhen responded after a moment longer, she doesn't seem particularly pleased or displeased at your assertion of friendship, but that may be the unsettling lack of emotional cues the girl gave. "I will warn you however. Do not approach me while I sleep, it is likely that you would die." The white haired girl delivers that line in the same cold, even tone as the rest of her speech.
Ling Qi stared at Bai Meizhen trying to work out if that was meant as a threat, a warning, both or something else entirely. After a moment's consideration she forces herself to laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. That would be pretty unfortunate wouldn't it."
The other girl just dips her head very slightly in acknowledgement. "It would be unpleasant to lose my first friend to something so avoidable," she responds agreeably.
Ling Qi narrowed her eyes at the other girl, trying to work out if the other girl is mocking her, but after a few moments she gave up. Turning her eyes ahead she saw that they were a bit over halfway down the path. "I was thinking we might talk someone else into joining us. Safety in numbers, you know? Would you have a problem with that?"
Bai Meizhen seemed to consider that for a moment, briefly glancing down at her left arm. "It would likely be difficult to convince another to share a space with me," she responds frankly. "I would not object in principle though, did you have someone in mind?"
You glance around at the other girls nearby, noting with a somewhat heavy heart the disdainful looks you receive in return. It looks like cozying up to Meizhen has earned you some residual dislike. So, keeping your voice low so as not to carry, you nod toward the front of the group. "That girl, the one with red hair, she's alone too."
For the first time you see something like actual emotion surface on Meizhen's face as her perfect eyebrows draw together in a look of bafflement. "You… wish to share a roof with her?" She asks, sounding somewhat incredulous. She looks back and forth between you and the red head and then something seems to occur to her and her consternation disappears. "That is the eldest granddaughter of Sun Shao, Sun Liling" she says patiently as if explaining something to a child.
Ling Qi bristled a bit at the condescension but she was fairly certain the other girl meant well… and she was hardly going to jeopardize things with Bai Meizhen at this juncture. "...Who?" She asked as politely as she could.
The other girl frowned at her, irritation flashing in her eyes. "The Butcher of the West," she responded, her frown only deepened at Ling Qi's lack of recognition. "The Scarlet General. King of the Western Territories."
Well, that wasn't ominous at all. She was at least aware of the Western Territories, it was a swathe of land on the western border conquered under the reign of the current Empress' grandfather. All she knew was that it was barely civilized and constantly under siege by barbarians. "What is someone like that doing here?" Ling Qi asked cautiously, sure Han Jian was from a far flung province as well, but he wasn't a direct relation of the province's ruler either.
...He wasn't right? She might have to start learning more about this kind of thing. She put that thought aside as her current companion answered her. "I do not know, her presence here is bizarre."
Ling Qi felt oddly gratified to know her first thought on the matter was not entirely off base. "Still, is there a particular reason not to approach her?" She asked. She would need to do so soon, they were nearing the entrance to the residential area.
Bai Meizhen shook her head. "I will not stop you, but given the bad blood between the west and the interior provinces I strongly doubt that she will be willing to share a space with me." The pale girl gave her a measuring look, and something she couldn't quite manage to read flashed through her eyes. "You may have a chance I suppose," she adds impassively before turning her attention back to the path ahead.
"Well I'm at least going to try," Ling Qi said stubbornly. She stole another look at her companion, but the girl just nodded, her expression blank again already. When she didn't respond after a few more moments, Ling Qi simply dipped her head to the other girl and then strode forward, picking up her pace to move through the crowd.
It was a bit harder than before as she found herself blocked by seemingly oblivious girls, or even jostled once or twice 'accidentally'. She refused to rise to such bait for the moment though. More uncomfortable was the way she could feel Bai Meizhen's unwavering gaze on her back. Still even with such distractions it didn't take more than a minute to get up to the front of the group, they weren't walking particularly fast. She soon broke through the crowd, and after a moment's hesitation she continued forward purposely toward the red haired girl in front of everyone.
"You can stop right there," Sun Liling's voice brought her up short several steps away. The tanned girl had a pronounced drawling accent, though thankfully it didn't make her words too difficult to understand. "Whaddaya want?" The other girl hadn't even looked at her yet.
Ling Qi observed the other girl carefully for a moment. Up close, she could see the corded muscle in the other girls bare arms, and the torn cloth where she had ripped off the sleeves of her uniform. She was taller than most, only a few inches shorter than Ling Qi. More importantly, she got a better look at the way the girl moved, and it reminded her all to much of the most dangerous people on the streets back home, the ones who knew how to fight… and kill. Sun Liling had a certain grace that even they lacked however. "I was going to ask if you had decided who you were pairing up with for housing," Ling QI responded tentatively.
Finally Sun Liling turned her head slightly, not lowering the arms held behind her head. The pose made it difficult to ignore the fabric strained to near breaking across across her chest. Ling Qi managed it with only a minor spike of irritation though, returning her attention to the other girl's face. It was somewhat disturbing to note that the other girl's eyes were the color of freshly spilt blood. The most attention grabbing feature was probably the three thin white lines that traced down across her nose and lips. It looked like something had raked it's claws down her face. "The snake blow you off then?" She asked abruptly jarring Ling Qi from her observations.
The other girl was making no effort to keep her voice down, and Ling Qi was all to aware of the silence from the girls closest to them. She managed not to squirm at the feeling of being in the spotlight though, if only just. "I… no," she still stumbled over the words though. "How did you…"
"I wanted to see what had the geese back their squawking," she drawled lazily. "I guess I gotta give you points for ambition if nothing else." She glanced at you again, this time for several seconds. Ling Qi felt more than a bit uncomfortable as the other girl seemed to study her from head to toe. "For the moment anyway," she seemed to decide on something. "You don't look completely soft. You might be worth something if you work for it."
Ling Qi frowned, feeling indignant at being dismissed again, and her next words slip out before she can think about it. "Don't say that as if it's praise," she snapped. "I was trying to be nice you arrogant…" Ling Qi cut herself off, her eyes flying open wide as she stopped in her tracks due to the scar nicked fist suddenly flying toward her nose.
It stopped a hair's breadth from contact, the breeze from the blow enough to make Ling Qi's flyaway strands flutter from her face. The others behind them stopping dead in their tracks as well. She had never even seen Sun Liling move or change posture, but the girl was now facing her, legs bent arm extended upward to strike directly at your face. Her crimson eyes were hard and cold for a moment as tense seconds ticked by. Then she withdrew her fist and chuckled. "Made ya flinch," she said in a voice laced with amusement. "But seriously, if you survive the inevitable backstab from the snake, I'll still be around."
As the girl turns away and keeps walking Ling Qi glared at her back, hands balling into fists, hating the flush of embarrassment that she knew was rising on her face. This time she managed to control herself though. Her heart was still pounding in her ears from the fear she had felt in that bare second when she had thought the other girl was going to strike her. She wasn't an experienced fighter, but… she was quite certain she would be in no condition to walk anywhere if the girl had followed through.
So instead of shouting at the redhead as she wanted to do Ling Qi fell back through the crowd, ignoring the looks she was getting and returned to Bai Meizhen's side. There was a trace of… concern, maybe on the pale girl's face for a bare second. Ling Qi felt she might have imagined it though so quickly did it vanish. "Are you well?" The other girl asked evenly.
"I'm fine," Ling Qi responded tersely. With an effort of will she fought down the indignation and anger she felt and let out a long breath. There was no point in it right now. "So," she then began with false cheer. "What kind of residence do you want to take?"
Bai Meizhen stared at her unblinking for several seconds before dipping her head slightly, apparently acknowledging Ling Qi's desire not to talk about it. The two of them spent the rest of the short trip quietly chatting about what they were looking for in a home. Things got rather more hectic as they reached the bottom of the path and the group splintered, various groups rushing off to secure their claims. For the two girls part, Ling Qi's assumption had been correct. For all that the other girls seem to dislike Bai Meizhen, they also seemed reluctant to confront her directly.
So it was with some ease that the two of them managed to secure a fairly luxurious space for themselves. Bai Meizhen seemed to have no interest in the largest villas, but what they ended up with was still several degrees nicer than anywhere Ling Qi had stayed in her life. The squat stone building was only a single story, but in addition to a fairly spacious front room with a well kept hearth, there were also a pair of bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, and a third empty room laid out with thick mats.
It wasn't furnished with any particular luxury, simple pallets and roughly carven chests for their belongings being the only contents of the bedrooms. It did have a small yard in the back with a well appointed garden full of plants she did not recognize and a tiny pond full of colorful fish though.
It was later that night, after the two of them had put their things away, and Ling Qi had figured out that the large building in the center was the storehouse from which they could retrieve food and drink that she was sitting in front of the fire while Bai Meizhen quietly tended to the tea she was brewing in the clay pot they had found in one of the kitchen cubbies.
Ling Qi had the scroll for the Argent Soul technique open in her lap and was frowning down at the odd diagram and the text around it. To her eye it seemed like no more than a collection of breathing exercises interspersed with flowery philosophical nonsense. She was beginning to feel irritated, she knew she was missing something, but couldn't quite understand what.
She was pulled from her thoughts by the whistle that signified the water for the tea was beginning to boil. As much as she wanted to figure this out on her own… she should probably ask. Bai Meizhen had made no indication that she was willing to help her, but after spending most of the afternoon with the girl collecting necessities for their home, she felt she was beginning to get a feel for the taciturn girl. She would never offer help on her own, and probably wouldn't ask for it either. It seemed against her nature. "Bai Meizhen," that didn't mean that Ling Qi couldn't ask. "Do you know what this part means?" She asked, pointing to a block of characters next to a line pointing toward the navel of the human figure covered in lines and squiggles in the diagram.
The other girl took a moment to look up from the brewing tea, looking faintly surprised that you were speaking to her. She didn't really engage verbally unless prompted you were noticing. She did lean forward, narrowing her creepy golden eyes to study the scroll, which you helpfully turned to make easier for her. Several seconds of silence, less awkward now, passed before she looked up. "It is describing the state of mind one must reach to begin absorbing spiritual energy into one's dantian," she responded a bit condescendingly. "It is the first step in the simple exercises for the first stage of the technique, once you have mastered the first breathing method."
Ling Qi let out a breath, not letting the other girls tone bother her. She told herself again that the other girl didn't mean any harm, and that she was being helpful. "What is a dantian exactly?" Ling Qi asked keeping her tone even. She hated even more that she felt she earned the condescension with her ignorance.
Bai Meizhen frowned, pausing as she poured herself a cup of the newly brewed tea. "It is the seat of a cultivators power. The core from which you channel energies through the meridians in your body. Filling the dantian is required to awaken and begin production of your own Qi." She pauses a beat staring at you again. "Qi is the energy which allows us to do… everything beyond the ability of mortals."
"I know that much," Ling Qi responded defensively. "But how am I supposed to feel something inside of me like it says? It's not like I can sense any of my other organs."
The pale girl pursed her lips, seeming to consider something for a moment. "Give me your hand," she said brusquely after a moment, holding out her own left hand.
"Why," Ling Qi asked glancing at the girl's hand suspiciously. She could see the movement of the small snake she had glimpsed in the girls sleeve a few times by now.
"I will inject a spark of Qi into you," Bai Meizhen responded impatiently. "It will hurt, but it will allow you to feel your dantian until it fades. You will need to practice in the future to avoid the need for such crutches though."
"How much pain are we talking about?" Ling Qi asked warily, even as she raised her hand. She knew everything depended on her being able to gain enough strength to defend herself by the end of three months.
As her housemate took her hand, she answered. "It is painful, but my Aunt did this for me when I was eight. It should be no trouble for you."
Ling Qi was about to respond when she felt a sudden heat in her palm, followed by an explosion of pain in her gut. It felt as if a burning knife had stabbed into her and then violently twisted, and she couldn't help but double over clutching her stomach. A slight whimper escaped her lips as she felt her eyes beginning to water. She didn't know how long it was until the burning pain faded to a dull throb like a second heartbeat. She could feel a knot of throbbing heat buried behind her navel. Was this the 'dantian' thing the other girl had mentioned?
Speaking of Bai Meizhen, she was observing Ling Qi quizzically over the lip of her tea cup, and Ling Qi noted absently that a second cup had been placed before her. Letting out a shuddering breath Ling Qi sat up one hand still held over her stomach. "That… that was more than painful," she rasped, glaring at the other girl.
"Was it?" The pale girl asked, seeming genuinely surprised. She didn't know how much is you misreading her though. "My apologies, you can feel it now though, correct?"
"I can," Ling Qi admitted grudgingly.
"You should drink your tea, then meditate while it lasts," Bai Meizhen said evenly. "Otherwise it will have been for nothing."
Ling Qi slugged back the tea in her cup, and moved to stand loosely clutching the scroll in her hand. She was still irritated at the other girl and wary that she was being messed with. Sun Liling's words still echoed in her thoughts after all. Still for now she was determined to at least try and reach this 'awakening'
It had been strange. Ling Qi had never liked sitting still for too long before, but after she had shut the thick door to the meditation room and sat down to practice breathing as the scroll instructed, she found that her mind did not wander nearly as much as she expected it would. Rather, she seemed to fall into the pattern that the scroll described with ease, as if she had been doing it for years.
After a time, when she felt she had it down she removed one of the glimmering red stones from her pocket and held it in her hands, clasped in front of her stomach. She focused on the warmth of the stone and the throbbing pain in her abdomen, and cast away her thoughts, the heat was all that mattered. Her body, the cold stone room, none of it mattered. Just the pulse in her belly and the heat in her hands. She was still empty, painfully so, and she could feel it now. The heat of the stone was her only hope for filling the new void she could feel, and so she focused on her breathing and began to pull in time with her breath.
The energy in the stone began to move cresting and ebbing in time with her breath, until finally it began to flow inwards, trickling into the slowly fading knot of pain Bai Meizhen had left her replacing that unpleasant sensation with a comfortable warmth. It was frustrating though, she could feel herself losing energy. It felt as if something were blocking it from entering her body and much seemed to be lost, dispersing into the air instead of being absorbed.
Still, when she opened her eyes and found the room dark, the single candle she had brought in having burned down ages ago, she felt oddly refreshed, and the comfortable warmth that had replaced the pain did not feel like it was fading. She didn't think she had 'awakened' yet, but she could definitely feel the warm steady pulse of the spiritual energy now. The stone in her hand was gray and lifeless now though.
-1 Red Spirit Stone
She stood and stretched, quietly leaving the room, she felt better than she had in years, and despite some initial setbacks… she felt like she could do this.
So ends the prologue. Your initial position is set up, and you're ready to begin cultivating. Now that the normal game has begun, I'll describe the normal format of the quest. From now on, you will be voting on a plan for Ling Qi's actions over the course of a week. Later turns may be longer, but for now one week is what we are using. You will have a number of action slots determined by various factors and will fill them from a pool of provided actions and or write ins. Currently actions are fairly limited, but you will likely unlock more options as you learn more about your new home and fellow disciples. If it seems that you aren't accomplishing enough given the timespans involved, then keep in mind that cultivation requires quite a lot of not narratively interesting meditation off screen as well.
You may select FOUR actions for the following week.
[] Meet with Han Jian, he can help you, and you don't want to be rude.
[] Spend time with Bai Meizhen. You're living with the odd girl now, and it would be best to get to know her
[] Mingle with your fellow female disciples. Surely there must be some who aren't put off by Meizhen
[] Mingle with your fellow disciples in general
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Spiritual cultivation
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Physical cultivation
[] Explore the mountain. Surely there is more than one plaza and two residential areas
[] Cultivate on your own.
You may write in sub actions as well, if you wish to make certain options more specific. Actions will be counted individually, though certain actions might have synergy, something to keep in mind for the future.
She really wasn't good at this sort of thing though. She had never joined any of the street gangs at home, if only because they were filled with the worst sort of men and boys. She had no illusions about what her 'role' in such a group would have been. If she wanted that she would have stayed with Mother and at least made a living of it. She didn't really have anything to offer at the moment though. Casting a surreptitious glance around at the various other girls, she found it doubtful that she would be able to involve herself in any of their cliques at the moment. There were a few others who seemed like they came from less wealthy backgrounds, including a strange girl with dirty smudges on her clothing and face, who wore some kind of odd fluffy belt of fur around her waist. They would have the same problem as her though, nothing to offer at the moment.
So her gaze went back to the two girls she had shared a lecture hall with. The white haired girl was a better choice to approach first she thought. A look around at the others showed that she was ostracized for some reason, whereas the distance kept by the others around the red headed girl seemed more… respectful? Fearful might be a better word. Another glance at the white haired girl solidified her resolve to approach. She had no real position, so any approach was a gamble. She may as well try for someone who clearly had some kind of power.
...And honestly she felt a little bad watching the girl trudge along with her head down, she could recognize the defensiveness in the set of her shoulders. Being alone wasn't the the greatest thing in the world. So Ling Qi began to drift closer to the girl, falling further back in the crowd and sidling through the gaps until she reached the empty space around the other girl. As she 'broke' the bubble she noticed several of the girls nearby go quiet and one or two look her way.
Ignoring the nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach she pressed on, until the girl she was approaching noticed her presence and looked up. She got a better look at the other girls face then. She was unnaturally pale and had the sort fine features of a porcelain doll, framed by silky white hair that fell down to the middle of her back. However, her thin lips were unpainted and bloodless, barely standing out from the rest of her skin, nor did she appear to be wearing any other cosmetics.
Mostly though her eyes drew Ling Qi's attention, the slit pupils and wide golden irises are incredibly unnerving.
1 Success required.
Rolled. 8, 8
Rolled. 8, 8
...But despite the thrill of animal terror that traveled up her spine, Ling Qi did not look away or retreat as the fear made her want to do. It helped that the top of the girl's head didn;t even reach Ling's Qi's shoulder. Instead she nodded to the other girl and fell in beside her a few polite steps away. "Hello, I am Ling Qi," her voice was stiffer than she would have liked. Several beats of awkward silence followed as the White haired girl stared at her expressionlessly, never even blinking. It was very off putting, after another few seconds had passed without response she added. "May I have your name?"
That finally seemed to prompt the other girl to blink thankfully, though her expression didn't change in the slightest. It made it difficult to read her, but she didn't think the other girl was wary of her so much as… nonplussed at her presence. "Bai Meizhen, of Thousand Lakes province Bai clan," the girl responded evenly, though it had feeling of a line memorized by rote. "Why did you not finish introducing yourself?"
Ling Qi glanced to the side awkwardly, all to aware that she and the other girl were being surreptitiously watched. "I did," she responded awkwardly. "I mean, I suppose I am from Emerald Sea province," she added hastily. "I don't have a clan though," it seemed like trying to maintain formal speech patterns really was a lost cause, and in any case she doubted she could deceive the girl for any length of time given her lack of knowledge about noble families. Was there a noble Ling clan? Probably, but she had no idea where they might reside or anything about them.
Her response ended in another painfully awkward silence, and Ling Qi shifted from foot to foot as the other girl stared at her seemingly having no problem walking the steep path without any attention to where she was going. She really wished the other girl would blink more often. Finally though Bai Meizhen spoke again, a hint of confusion coloring her mostly toneless voice. "I… see. What is it you require then? I am afraid I have not been granted enough allowance to hire a maidservant."
1 Success required.
Rolled 7, 5. 1 Success
Rolled 7, 5. 1 Success
Ling QI could not help but grit her teeth angrily at the utter dismissal, and the soft titter she caught from on of the closer girls almost sent her over the edge… but she managed to calm herself, she had been insulted before and after initial wave of irritation, she could see that there was no malice in the other girl's words. It's more like she's just… completely lost on why else Ling Qi would be talking to her. So she pushed down her anger and put on a smile. She would just be blunt then. "I was actually thinking we could be friends. We're both cultivators, right?" That was supposed to supersede bloodline and such, even if it seemed that might not be how it worked in practice. "You seem like you could use a friend, and besides we have to pair off for housing anyway."
The odd girl is tilts her head to the side slightly, her pace slowing as she observed Ling Qi with an odd intensity. Then her eyes shifted to the side, away from Ling Qi. She then frowned, pursing her lips as if listening to something. No one is talking as far as Ling Qi could tell, at least not to them. "I suppose that is acceptable," Bai Meizhen responded after a moment longer, she doesn't seem particularly pleased or displeased at your assertion of friendship, but that may be the unsettling lack of emotional cues the girl gave. "I will warn you however. Do not approach me while I sleep, it is likely that you would die." The white haired girl delivers that line in the same cold, even tone as the rest of her speech.
Ling Qi stared at Bai Meizhen trying to work out if that was meant as a threat, a warning, both or something else entirely. After a moment's consideration she forces herself to laugh. "I'll keep that in mind. That would be pretty unfortunate wouldn't it."
The other girl just dips her head very slightly in acknowledgement. "It would be unpleasant to lose my first friend to something so avoidable," she responds agreeably.
Ling Qi narrowed her eyes at the other girl, trying to work out if the other girl is mocking her, but after a few moments she gave up. Turning her eyes ahead she saw that they were a bit over halfway down the path. "I was thinking we might talk someone else into joining us. Safety in numbers, you know? Would you have a problem with that?"
Bai Meizhen seemed to consider that for a moment, briefly glancing down at her left arm. "It would likely be difficult to convince another to share a space with me," she responds frankly. "I would not object in principle though, did you have someone in mind?"
You glance around at the other girls nearby, noting with a somewhat heavy heart the disdainful looks you receive in return. It looks like cozying up to Meizhen has earned you some residual dislike. So, keeping your voice low so as not to carry, you nod toward the front of the group. "That girl, the one with red hair, she's alone too."
For the first time you see something like actual emotion surface on Meizhen's face as her perfect eyebrows draw together in a look of bafflement. "You… wish to share a roof with her?" She asks, sounding somewhat incredulous. She looks back and forth between you and the red head and then something seems to occur to her and her consternation disappears. "That is the eldest granddaughter of Sun Shao, Sun Liling" she says patiently as if explaining something to a child.
1 success required
Rolled 3, 5. No Success
Rolled 3, 5. No Success
Ling Qi bristled a bit at the condescension but she was fairly certain the other girl meant well… and she was hardly going to jeopardize things with Bai Meizhen at this juncture. "...Who?" She asked as politely as she could.
The other girl frowned at her, irritation flashing in her eyes. "The Butcher of the West," she responded, her frown only deepened at Ling Qi's lack of recognition. "The Scarlet General. King of the Western Territories."
Well, that wasn't ominous at all. She was at least aware of the Western Territories, it was a swathe of land on the western border conquered under the reign of the current Empress' grandfather. All she knew was that it was barely civilized and constantly under siege by barbarians. "What is someone like that doing here?" Ling Qi asked cautiously, sure Han Jian was from a far flung province as well, but he wasn't a direct relation of the province's ruler either.
...He wasn't right? She might have to start learning more about this kind of thing. She put that thought aside as her current companion answered her. "I do not know, her presence here is bizarre."
Ling Qi felt oddly gratified to know her first thought on the matter was not entirely off base. "Still, is there a particular reason not to approach her?" She asked. She would need to do so soon, they were nearing the entrance to the residential area.
Bai Meizhen shook her head. "I will not stop you, but given the bad blood between the west and the interior provinces I strongly doubt that she will be willing to share a space with me." The pale girl gave her a measuring look, and something she couldn't quite manage to read flashed through her eyes. "You may have a chance I suppose," she adds impassively before turning her attention back to the path ahead.
"Well I'm at least going to try," Ling Qi said stubbornly. She stole another look at her companion, but the girl just nodded, her expression blank again already. When she didn't respond after a few more moments, Ling Qi simply dipped her head to the other girl and then strode forward, picking up her pace to move through the crowd.
It was a bit harder than before as she found herself blocked by seemingly oblivious girls, or even jostled once or twice 'accidentally'. She refused to rise to such bait for the moment though. More uncomfortable was the way she could feel Bai Meizhen's unwavering gaze on her back. Still even with such distractions it didn't take more than a minute to get up to the front of the group, they weren't walking particularly fast. She soon broke through the crowd, and after a moment's hesitation she continued forward purposely toward the red haired girl in front of everyone.
"You can stop right there," Sun Liling's voice brought her up short several steps away. The tanned girl had a pronounced drawling accent, though thankfully it didn't make her words too difficult to understand. "Whaddaya want?" The other girl hadn't even looked at her yet.
Ling Qi observed the other girl carefully for a moment. Up close, she could see the corded muscle in the other girls bare arms, and the torn cloth where she had ripped off the sleeves of her uniform. She was taller than most, only a few inches shorter than Ling Qi. More importantly, she got a better look at the way the girl moved, and it reminded her all to much of the most dangerous people on the streets back home, the ones who knew how to fight… and kill. Sun Liling had a certain grace that even they lacked however. "I was going to ask if you had decided who you were pairing up with for housing," Ling QI responded tentatively.
Finally Sun Liling turned her head slightly, not lowering the arms held behind her head. The pose made it difficult to ignore the fabric strained to near breaking across across her chest. Ling Qi managed it with only a minor spike of irritation though, returning her attention to the other girl's face. It was somewhat disturbing to note that the other girl's eyes were the color of freshly spilt blood. The most attention grabbing feature was probably the three thin white lines that traced down across her nose and lips. It looked like something had raked it's claws down her face. "The snake blow you off then?" She asked abruptly jarring Ling Qi from her observations.
The other girl was making no effort to keep her voice down, and Ling Qi was all to aware of the silence from the girls closest to them. She managed not to squirm at the feeling of being in the spotlight though, if only just. "I… no," she still stumbled over the words though. "How did you…"
"I wanted to see what had the geese back their squawking," she drawled lazily. "I guess I gotta give you points for ambition if nothing else." She glanced at you again, this time for several seconds. Ling Qi felt more than a bit uncomfortable as the other girl seemed to study her from head to toe. "For the moment anyway," she seemed to decide on something. "You don't look completely soft. You might be worth something if you work for it."
1 success needed
6,2. No success
6,2. No success
Ling Qi frowned, feeling indignant at being dismissed again, and her next words slip out before she can think about it. "Don't say that as if it's praise," she snapped. "I was trying to be nice you arrogant…" Ling Qi cut herself off, her eyes flying open wide as she stopped in her tracks due to the scar nicked fist suddenly flying toward her nose.
It stopped a hair's breadth from contact, the breeze from the blow enough to make Ling Qi's flyaway strands flutter from her face. The others behind them stopping dead in their tracks as well. She had never even seen Sun Liling move or change posture, but the girl was now facing her, legs bent arm extended upward to strike directly at your face. Her crimson eyes were hard and cold for a moment as tense seconds ticked by. Then she withdrew her fist and chuckled. "Made ya flinch," she said in a voice laced with amusement. "But seriously, if you survive the inevitable backstab from the snake, I'll still be around."
As the girl turns away and keeps walking Ling Qi glared at her back, hands balling into fists, hating the flush of embarrassment that she knew was rising on her face. This time she managed to control herself though. Her heart was still pounding in her ears from the fear she had felt in that bare second when she had thought the other girl was going to strike her. She wasn't an experienced fighter, but… she was quite certain she would be in no condition to walk anywhere if the girl had followed through.
So instead of shouting at the redhead as she wanted to do Ling Qi fell back through the crowd, ignoring the looks she was getting and returned to Bai Meizhen's side. There was a trace of… concern, maybe on the pale girl's face for a bare second. Ling Qi felt she might have imagined it though so quickly did it vanish. "Are you well?" The other girl asked evenly.
"I'm fine," Ling Qi responded tersely. With an effort of will she fought down the indignation and anger she felt and let out a long breath. There was no point in it right now. "So," she then began with false cheer. "What kind of residence do you want to take?"
Bai Meizhen stared at her unblinking for several seconds before dipping her head slightly, apparently acknowledging Ling Qi's desire not to talk about it. The two of them spent the rest of the short trip quietly chatting about what they were looking for in a home. Things got rather more hectic as they reached the bottom of the path and the group splintered, various groups rushing off to secure their claims. For the two girls part, Ling Qi's assumption had been correct. For all that the other girls seem to dislike Bai Meizhen, they also seemed reluctant to confront her directly.
So it was with some ease that the two of them managed to secure a fairly luxurious space for themselves. Bai Meizhen seemed to have no interest in the largest villas, but what they ended up with was still several degrees nicer than anywhere Ling Qi had stayed in her life. The squat stone building was only a single story, but in addition to a fairly spacious front room with a well kept hearth, there were also a pair of bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, and a third empty room laid out with thick mats.
It wasn't furnished with any particular luxury, simple pallets and roughly carven chests for their belongings being the only contents of the bedrooms. It did have a small yard in the back with a well appointed garden full of plants she did not recognize and a tiny pond full of colorful fish though.
It was later that night, after the two of them had put their things away, and Ling Qi had figured out that the large building in the center was the storehouse from which they could retrieve food and drink that she was sitting in front of the fire while Bai Meizhen quietly tended to the tea she was brewing in the clay pot they had found in one of the kitchen cubbies.
Ling Qi had the scroll for the Argent Soul technique open in her lap and was frowning down at the odd diagram and the text around it. To her eye it seemed like no more than a collection of breathing exercises interspersed with flowery philosophical nonsense. She was beginning to feel irritated, she knew she was missing something, but couldn't quite understand what.
She was pulled from her thoughts by the whistle that signified the water for the tea was beginning to boil. As much as she wanted to figure this out on her own… she should probably ask. Bai Meizhen had made no indication that she was willing to help her, but after spending most of the afternoon with the girl collecting necessities for their home, she felt she was beginning to get a feel for the taciturn girl. She would never offer help on her own, and probably wouldn't ask for it either. It seemed against her nature. "Bai Meizhen," that didn't mean that Ling Qi couldn't ask. "Do you know what this part means?" She asked, pointing to a block of characters next to a line pointing toward the navel of the human figure covered in lines and squiggles in the diagram.
The other girl took a moment to look up from the brewing tea, looking faintly surprised that you were speaking to her. She didn't really engage verbally unless prompted you were noticing. She did lean forward, narrowing her creepy golden eyes to study the scroll, which you helpfully turned to make easier for her. Several seconds of silence, less awkward now, passed before she looked up. "It is describing the state of mind one must reach to begin absorbing spiritual energy into one's dantian," she responded a bit condescendingly. "It is the first step in the simple exercises for the first stage of the technique, once you have mastered the first breathing method."
Ling Qi let out a breath, not letting the other girls tone bother her. She told herself again that the other girl didn't mean any harm, and that she was being helpful. "What is a dantian exactly?" Ling Qi asked keeping her tone even. She hated even more that she felt she earned the condescension with her ignorance.
Bai Meizhen frowned, pausing as she poured herself a cup of the newly brewed tea. "It is the seat of a cultivators power. The core from which you channel energies through the meridians in your body. Filling the dantian is required to awaken and begin production of your own Qi." She pauses a beat staring at you again. "Qi is the energy which allows us to do… everything beyond the ability of mortals."
"I know that much," Ling Qi responded defensively. "But how am I supposed to feel something inside of me like it says? It's not like I can sense any of my other organs."
The pale girl pursed her lips, seeming to consider something for a moment. "Give me your hand," she said brusquely after a moment, holding out her own left hand.
"Why," Ling Qi asked glancing at the girl's hand suspiciously. She could see the movement of the small snake she had glimpsed in the girls sleeve a few times by now.
"I will inject a spark of Qi into you," Bai Meizhen responded impatiently. "It will hurt, but it will allow you to feel your dantian until it fades. You will need to practice in the future to avoid the need for such crutches though."
"How much pain are we talking about?" Ling Qi asked warily, even as she raised her hand. She knew everything depended on her being able to gain enough strength to defend herself by the end of three months.
As her housemate took her hand, she answered. "It is painful, but my Aunt did this for me when I was eight. It should be no trouble for you."
Ling Qi was about to respond when she felt a sudden heat in her palm, followed by an explosion of pain in her gut. It felt as if a burning knife had stabbed into her and then violently twisted, and she couldn't help but double over clutching her stomach. A slight whimper escaped her lips as she felt her eyes beginning to water. She didn't know how long it was until the burning pain faded to a dull throb like a second heartbeat. She could feel a knot of throbbing heat buried behind her navel. Was this the 'dantian' thing the other girl had mentioned?
Speaking of Bai Meizhen, she was observing Ling Qi quizzically over the lip of her tea cup, and Ling Qi noted absently that a second cup had been placed before her. Letting out a shuddering breath Ling Qi sat up one hand still held over her stomach. "That… that was more than painful," she rasped, glaring at the other girl.
"Was it?" The pale girl asked, seeming genuinely surprised. She didn't know how much is you misreading her though. "My apologies, you can feel it now though, correct?"
"I can," Ling Qi admitted grudgingly.
"You should drink your tea, then meditate while it lasts," Bai Meizhen said evenly. "Otherwise it will have been for nothing."
Ling Qi slugged back the tea in her cup, and moved to stand loosely clutching the scroll in her hand. She was still irritated at the other girl and wary that she was being messed with. Sun Liling's words still echoed in her thoughts after all. Still for now she was determined to at least try and reach this 'awakening'
And now I reveal the last of your stats. Talent.
Talent can range from 1-9, and serves as the target for you roll under while attempting to cultivate or learn Arts and techniques. For Ling Qi that number is six. Talent is mostly fixed, but there will be opportunities to increase it or unlock further potential as it were.
To reach a new cultivation level or learn an art you must fill the 'XP bar' for it. In the case of reaching stage one spiritual cultivation you need a total of ten 'points'. To determine how many points you get in a session you roll a number of dice equal to your talent modified by other factors such as teachers, environment, and tools.
In this case, Meizhen's little pick me up gives you two more dice, and the use of one of your Spirit Stones gives you one more. Each success is one 'point'
So Your first meditation session gets nine dice
You rolled 8, 1, 5, 4, 1, 8, 2, 10, 1.
That's six successes! Ling Qi managed to reach half way to awakening her Qi in a single night. Talk about talented. Successes in excess of what is needed carry over to the next level, so don't worry about wasting them.
Talent can range from 1-9, and serves as the target for you roll under while attempting to cultivate or learn Arts and techniques. For Ling Qi that number is six. Talent is mostly fixed, but there will be opportunities to increase it or unlock further potential as it were.
To reach a new cultivation level or learn an art you must fill the 'XP bar' for it. In the case of reaching stage one spiritual cultivation you need a total of ten 'points'. To determine how many points you get in a session you roll a number of dice equal to your talent modified by other factors such as teachers, environment, and tools.
In this case, Meizhen's little pick me up gives you two more dice, and the use of one of your Spirit Stones gives you one more. Each success is one 'point'
So Your first meditation session gets nine dice
You rolled 8, 1, 5, 4, 1, 8, 2, 10, 1.
That's six successes! Ling Qi managed to reach half way to awakening her Qi in a single night. Talk about talented. Successes in excess of what is needed carry over to the next level, so don't worry about wasting them.
It had been strange. Ling Qi had never liked sitting still for too long before, but after she had shut the thick door to the meditation room and sat down to practice breathing as the scroll instructed, she found that her mind did not wander nearly as much as she expected it would. Rather, she seemed to fall into the pattern that the scroll described with ease, as if she had been doing it for years.
After a time, when she felt she had it down she removed one of the glimmering red stones from her pocket and held it in her hands, clasped in front of her stomach. She focused on the warmth of the stone and the throbbing pain in her abdomen, and cast away her thoughts, the heat was all that mattered. Her body, the cold stone room, none of it mattered. Just the pulse in her belly and the heat in her hands. She was still empty, painfully so, and she could feel it now. The heat of the stone was her only hope for filling the new void she could feel, and so she focused on her breathing and began to pull in time with her breath.
The energy in the stone began to move cresting and ebbing in time with her breath, until finally it began to flow inwards, trickling into the slowly fading knot of pain Bai Meizhen had left her replacing that unpleasant sensation with a comfortable warmth. It was frustrating though, she could feel herself losing energy. It felt as if something were blocking it from entering her body and much seemed to be lost, dispersing into the air instead of being absorbed.
Still, when she opened her eyes and found the room dark, the single candle she had brought in having burned down ages ago, she felt oddly refreshed, and the comfortable warmth that had replaced the pain did not feel like it was fading. She didn't think she had 'awakened' yet, but she could definitely feel the warm steady pulse of the spiritual energy now. The stone in her hand was gray and lifeless now though.
-1 Red Spirit Stone
She stood and stretched, quietly leaving the room, she felt better than she had in years, and despite some initial setbacks… she felt like she could do this.
So ends the prologue. Your initial position is set up, and you're ready to begin cultivating. Now that the normal game has begun, I'll describe the normal format of the quest. From now on, you will be voting on a plan for Ling Qi's actions over the course of a week. Later turns may be longer, but for now one week is what we are using. You will have a number of action slots determined by various factors and will fill them from a pool of provided actions and or write ins. Currently actions are fairly limited, but you will likely unlock more options as you learn more about your new home and fellow disciples. If it seems that you aren't accomplishing enough given the timespans involved, then keep in mind that cultivation requires quite a lot of not narratively interesting meditation off screen as well.
You may select FOUR actions for the following week.
[] Meet with Han Jian, he can help you, and you don't want to be rude.
[] Spend time with Bai Meizhen. You're living with the odd girl now, and it would be best to get to know her
[] Mingle with your fellow female disciples. Surely there must be some who aren't put off by Meizhen
[] Mingle with your fellow disciples in general
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Spiritual cultivation
[] Attend the training with the Elder focused on Physical cultivation
[] Explore the mountain. Surely there is more than one plaza and two residential areas
[] Cultivate on your own.
You may write in sub actions as well, if you wish to make certain options more specific. Actions will be counted individually, though certain actions might have synergy, something to keep in mind for the future.
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