Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
[x] Write in:
"...I'll remember you, promise."
"...I'll remember you, promise."
Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)
- Thread starter Winged Knight
- Start date
- Fantasy
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
Oh, that wasn't a roll to resist Taint. That'd be a flat Earth Ring roll instead of an Attribute one. No, what Sosuke rolled was Stamina to see how much damage was shaved off coming back to normal. It was a base of 40, so minus 15 means he suffered 25 Wounds.
Yeah, that whole ordeal hurt quite a bit.
Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
So what you're saying is "raise Stamina higher if you want to go Super Sosuke in the future", I don't suppose there are any skills that could help with this?
EtchedSteel
*mumble mumble*
- Location
- Lima. Peru
That will never change the fact Sosuke literally dies a bit more whenever he uses it.
I wouldn't count on that kind of power.
Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
We are not even sure what the trigger condition for Super Sousuke is, or even much about it other than it being Kami related in some manner. Chances are slim that we'd be able to call upon that power with any degree of reliability, even if it didn't cause a metric fuckton of damage to ourselves every time we use it.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
We'd better have a talk with Krillin Shirou.
Dirtnap
Kanmusu Affecionado
Slight problem there Gman.
Souske is a Hiruma.
I have erred.
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Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
We get bitchin sun powers from it though!
And Tsuado was a Toturi not a Hantei, I hardly see the issue. Plus we have some Hida from our grand Mother IIRC
Having gone check the events about the guy who was mentioned to have allied the shadowlands and saw it was even worse.
No, seriously, what the fuck was wrong with the Crab at that time. Formal alliance with the shadowlands to the point of marching a combined crab-shadowland army against the emperor? If he had already became Fu Leng I could understand, but seriously, at that time he was just kinda terrible emperor. I could have understood rebelling and fighting against him, but for fucks sake, getting help from the forces of jin-fucking-goku?!
No, seriously, what the fuck was wrong with the Crab at that time. Formal alliance with the shadowlands to the point of marching a combined crab-shadowland army against the emperor? If he had already became Fu Leng I could understand, but seriously, at that time he was just kinda terrible emperor. I could have understood rebelling and fighting against him, but for fucks sake, getting help from the forces of jin-fucking-goku?!
Kisada was a special kind of stupid crazy.
Doylist though is that it happened in the first card deck thing, and suffers from early installment weirdness because of that. As the lore fleshed out yes it became fucking crazy for Kisada to have done that even with his pal egging him on. However at the time, well it seemed alright because there was no lore.
Doylist though is that it happened in the first card deck thing, and suffers from early installment weirdness because of that. As the lore fleshed out yes it became fucking crazy for Kisada to have done that even with his pal egging him on. However at the time, well it seemed alright because there was no lore.
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2.139
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
[x] Call out to her and beg her to stop.
-[x] "Shasa, oni lie. The kansen lie. I do not know what was done to you or what you can hear, but if dark powers tell you to shed blood on a portal to their realms you should probably not do that, no matter what they claim it will or won't do!"
Courtier Roll: 5k3=34
This is insanity. Yes, that must be it. You must be dreaming, or have gone mad, because none of this makes sense. How could you have channeled such awesome powers to defeat an Oni in two blows? How could Shasa, your friend… perhaps even more than friend, be a Maho-tsukai? None of that makes any sense! This just can't be happening!
You try to struggle to your feet, but all you really manage is to slip and catch yourself before you fall over. Your limbs ache so badly… You've not felt this horrible since your first few days of training, and you could barely move after that. But you hardly think about that. No, your attention is completely focused on Shasa walking over to the pool of blood.
I have to stop this, you think desperately. I can't… No! She can't do this!
But Shasa is too far away now, even if you could rise. You think you could manage, given a few minutes. But in that time your friend will be dead. You've nothing left but your voice.
So you will do what you can with what you have.
"Shasa, oni lie," you shout. "The kansen lie. I do not know what was done to you or what you can hear, but if dark powers tell you to shed blood on a portal to their realms you should probably not do that, no matter what they claim it will or won't do!"
Shasa picks up Kohsa's fallen knife and holds it steady in her grasp. However, she does not use it immediately. Instead, she turns around to look at you, tears still in her eyes.
"My apologies, Sosuke-san," she says, so calm despite the sorrow in her gaze. "I was not clear. I do not know how to close this portal because the kansen are telling me how. I know what must be done because the kansen are telling me how to stabilize it. I am… I am not the best with blood magic, but by doing the opposite I will be able to destroy this foul thing."
"You don't know that!" you scream. "Shasa! Shasa, please! You don't have to do this!"
"But I do," Shasa says, looking at the knife. "You don't know what I saw, Sosuke-san. I was… I was a monster. I bathed in the blood of my family, lorded over the torture of our people. And you… what I did to you…"
"That doesn't matter," you answer. You have to keep her talking. The more she talks, the less she'll be thinking of what to do with that knife. "Shasa, it was a lie. It was a vision made to hurt us, nothing more!"
"No," Shasa responds, shaking her head. "It was that, and so much worse. I have lived my life deceiving myself, thinking my petty wants were justified and that Bushido was nothing but silly rules to hold me back." She looks back toward you. "But then you showed me what true honor is with your every action, the joy that could come from serving a cause larger than oneself. And I was… I was ashamed of myself."
"Please don't do this," you beg, your voice nothing more than a whisper. "Shasa, please! We can get you help. We can find another way to close the portal. Just… please…"
"I think…" Shasa says slowly. "I think you and I might have been good together, Sosuke-san. I think… I think I might love you. And that is why I cannot let you die to the horrors waiting to emerge." She smiles at you. "Goodbye."
Shasa cuts the palms of both her hands, and you scream as the blood pours out of her in a rush. She still smiles as her body begins to crumble away, disintegrating into a powder that falls into the spiraling pool. The portal quakes as the dust of Shasa's body mixes with it, the crimson liquid boiling away.
The hole in the world quivers and, finally, closes as the blood smashes back together. The pool bubbles violently, as if trying to hold together beneath a great heat, and then explodes into a red mist. When it clears, the pool is empty. The blood, and the portal, have both vanished.
All that remains of Shasa is her armor and swords…
Your vision blurs as tears flow down your cheeks. It is a shameful thing to do, displaying such great emotion like this. But you do not care. There is no one to see you now, no one to chastise you. Shasa is… Shasa is gone.
She is dead, and you could do nothing to stop her. A hollow feeling grows within your chest, like a gaping hole where your heart should be. This emptiness hurts like nothing you've ever felt before. You have seen friends die, but Shasa was… What? Was she more than a friend?
You do not know. And now, you never will. And that, above all else, is perhaps the greatest tragedy.
Laughter distracts you from your grief, and you look to see the body of the Oni shifting, ever so slowly, in your direction. The insectoid form is broken and scorched, obviously unable to do much more than this pitiful movement. Even still, though, it lives. The monster looks at you with its few remaining eyes, those children's faces expressing dark amusement.
"To think," the Oni says with its many voices. "I believed you small and helpless. Just a child… Oh, you can only imagine my surprise." It laughs again. "I opened that portal with blood and terror, and sealed it with a father's desperate love. I thought myself so clever. After all, love is such a powerful force!"
With struggling, shaking feet you stand and pick up your tetsubo. It feels so heavy in your hands... An almost unbearable weight, really. It is as heavy as the world itself. You've only just enough strength left in you, with those few moments of rest, to even walk. Each step is a monumental task as you make your way to the Oni.
"But then you and she come along, break my body and destroy my work using another kind of love," the Oni continues. "Such remarkable symmetry… Fate truly is a troublesome thing." The monster cackles. "That man who fancies himself Daigotsu's heir doesn't acknowledge it. He sees only this material world. But I, Kohsa no Oni, should have known better! I should have seen the signs… But I did not. Not until the end was already upon me. I must congratulate you, Samurai! I am well and truly defeated!"
You are standing over the Oni now. Most of its body has burned away, leaving only a portion of its front and a few of its faces. The humor in those expressions dies away, and the beast grows somber as it gazes up at you. You raise your tetsubo over your head.
"I see you for what you are now," Kohsa no Oni says. "Legends scatter with time, but some appear to return if the situation calls for it." It points at you weakly with a single, remaining claw. "But beware, Samurai, for darkness comes. And in its wake, not even the brightest of lights may burn." Those faces smile. "All you have done, as your kind ever does, is buy a few moments more. But in the end this realm will fall, and your world will be as our own!"
Then the Oni laughs once more, a horrible sound. You drown it out with your roars as you smash your weapon into the Oni's faces. You hit it again and again and again. You strike it with all the force you can bring to bear, and yet the monster still laughs! Its horrible, childlike glee resounds throughout the cave even as you finally break the Oni's remains into a shattered mush.
You fling your tetsubo, now showing cracks all across its battered form, away from you and fall to your knees. Your enemy is dead, but you experience no joy. You feel nothing, save for a coldness within your chest and a terrible ache in your limbs. A scream rips its way out of your throat, fists clenched before you as if trying to grasp something, anything to hold on against pain both physical and emotional.
And then, finally, you fall over. You have nothing left in you. You are spent.
It is a blessing when you close your eyes, and let unconsciousness take you away.
As with the last arc, there will be about a week's hiatus before we begin the next segment of this Quest. This is as much to let me fix my sleeping schedule for work as it is for you to play around with your Experience Points.
Speaking of…
Honor
Sosuke aligned himself with a creature that is, by all rights, an enemy to the Clan. He may not have done so in words, but his actions speak louder than any clever excuses. At his current honor rank, this is an incredible disappointment. However, he has also slain an Oni, a physical embodiment of the Realm of Evil itself. This accounts for his previous transgression and more. Overall, Sosuke has gained 3 points of Honor.
Glory
Sosuke has slain an Oni. Such are the tales legends are built from, spoken throughout generations. Word of this deed will spread, and will be acknowledged. As such, Sosuke has gained a full rank of Glory, equaling 10 points.
Experience
Sosuke has triumphed against a terrible foe, stronger than any he has ever faced. He has also experienced great loss, and even while he grieves he has grown as a person. As such, he has gained 10 Experience points.
Thank you all so much playing. I look forward to continuing this story with you all soon.
-[x] "Shasa, oni lie. The kansen lie. I do not know what was done to you or what you can hear, but if dark powers tell you to shed blood on a portal to their realms you should probably not do that, no matter what they claim it will or won't do!"
Courtier Roll: 5k3=34
This is insanity. Yes, that must be it. You must be dreaming, or have gone mad, because none of this makes sense. How could you have channeled such awesome powers to defeat an Oni in two blows? How could Shasa, your friend… perhaps even more than friend, be a Maho-tsukai? None of that makes any sense! This just can't be happening!
You try to struggle to your feet, but all you really manage is to slip and catch yourself before you fall over. Your limbs ache so badly… You've not felt this horrible since your first few days of training, and you could barely move after that. But you hardly think about that. No, your attention is completely focused on Shasa walking over to the pool of blood.
I have to stop this, you think desperately. I can't… No! She can't do this!
But Shasa is too far away now, even if you could rise. You think you could manage, given a few minutes. But in that time your friend will be dead. You've nothing left but your voice.
So you will do what you can with what you have.
"Shasa, oni lie," you shout. "The kansen lie. I do not know what was done to you or what you can hear, but if dark powers tell you to shed blood on a portal to their realms you should probably not do that, no matter what they claim it will or won't do!"
Shasa picks up Kohsa's fallen knife and holds it steady in her grasp. However, she does not use it immediately. Instead, she turns around to look at you, tears still in her eyes.
"My apologies, Sosuke-san," she says, so calm despite the sorrow in her gaze. "I was not clear. I do not know how to close this portal because the kansen are telling me how. I know what must be done because the kansen are telling me how to stabilize it. I am… I am not the best with blood magic, but by doing the opposite I will be able to destroy this foul thing."
"You don't know that!" you scream. "Shasa! Shasa, please! You don't have to do this!"
"But I do," Shasa says, looking at the knife. "You don't know what I saw, Sosuke-san. I was… I was a monster. I bathed in the blood of my family, lorded over the torture of our people. And you… what I did to you…"
"That doesn't matter," you answer. You have to keep her talking. The more she talks, the less she'll be thinking of what to do with that knife. "Shasa, it was a lie. It was a vision made to hurt us, nothing more!"
"No," Shasa responds, shaking her head. "It was that, and so much worse. I have lived my life deceiving myself, thinking my petty wants were justified and that Bushido was nothing but silly rules to hold me back." She looks back toward you. "But then you showed me what true honor is with your every action, the joy that could come from serving a cause larger than oneself. And I was… I was ashamed of myself."
"Please don't do this," you beg, your voice nothing more than a whisper. "Shasa, please! We can get you help. We can find another way to close the portal. Just… please…"
"I think…" Shasa says slowly. "I think you and I might have been good together, Sosuke-san. I think… I think I might love you. And that is why I cannot let you die to the horrors waiting to emerge." She smiles at you. "Goodbye."
Shasa cuts the palms of both her hands, and you scream as the blood pours out of her in a rush. She still smiles as her body begins to crumble away, disintegrating into a powder that falls into the spiraling pool. The portal quakes as the dust of Shasa's body mixes with it, the crimson liquid boiling away.
The hole in the world quivers and, finally, closes as the blood smashes back together. The pool bubbles violently, as if trying to hold together beneath a great heat, and then explodes into a red mist. When it clears, the pool is empty. The blood, and the portal, have both vanished.
All that remains of Shasa is her armor and swords…
Your vision blurs as tears flow down your cheeks. It is a shameful thing to do, displaying such great emotion like this. But you do not care. There is no one to see you now, no one to chastise you. Shasa is… Shasa is gone.
She is dead, and you could do nothing to stop her. A hollow feeling grows within your chest, like a gaping hole where your heart should be. This emptiness hurts like nothing you've ever felt before. You have seen friends die, but Shasa was… What? Was she more than a friend?
You do not know. And now, you never will. And that, above all else, is perhaps the greatest tragedy.
Laughter distracts you from your grief, and you look to see the body of the Oni shifting, ever so slowly, in your direction. The insectoid form is broken and scorched, obviously unable to do much more than this pitiful movement. Even still, though, it lives. The monster looks at you with its few remaining eyes, those children's faces expressing dark amusement.
"To think," the Oni says with its many voices. "I believed you small and helpless. Just a child… Oh, you can only imagine my surprise." It laughs again. "I opened that portal with blood and terror, and sealed it with a father's desperate love. I thought myself so clever. After all, love is such a powerful force!"
With struggling, shaking feet you stand and pick up your tetsubo. It feels so heavy in your hands... An almost unbearable weight, really. It is as heavy as the world itself. You've only just enough strength left in you, with those few moments of rest, to even walk. Each step is a monumental task as you make your way to the Oni.
"But then you and she come along, break my body and destroy my work using another kind of love," the Oni continues. "Such remarkable symmetry… Fate truly is a troublesome thing." The monster cackles. "That man who fancies himself Daigotsu's heir doesn't acknowledge it. He sees only this material world. But I, Kohsa no Oni, should have known better! I should have seen the signs… But I did not. Not until the end was already upon me. I must congratulate you, Samurai! I am well and truly defeated!"
You are standing over the Oni now. Most of its body has burned away, leaving only a portion of its front and a few of its faces. The humor in those expressions dies away, and the beast grows somber as it gazes up at you. You raise your tetsubo over your head.
"I see you for what you are now," Kohsa no Oni says. "Legends scatter with time, but some appear to return if the situation calls for it." It points at you weakly with a single, remaining claw. "But beware, Samurai, for darkness comes. And in its wake, not even the brightest of lights may burn." Those faces smile. "All you have done, as your kind ever does, is buy a few moments more. But in the end this realm will fall, and your world will be as our own!"
Then the Oni laughs once more, a horrible sound. You drown it out with your roars as you smash your weapon into the Oni's faces. You hit it again and again and again. You strike it with all the force you can bring to bear, and yet the monster still laughs! Its horrible, childlike glee resounds throughout the cave even as you finally break the Oni's remains into a shattered mush.
You fling your tetsubo, now showing cracks all across its battered form, away from you and fall to your knees. Your enemy is dead, but you experience no joy. You feel nothing, save for a coldness within your chest and a terrible ache in your limbs. A scream rips its way out of your throat, fists clenched before you as if trying to grasp something, anything to hold on against pain both physical and emotional.
And then, finally, you fall over. You have nothing left in you. You are spent.
It is a blessing when you close your eyes, and let unconsciousness take you away.
*****
Thus ends the second arc. Wow, but this was a long one. I must apologize for the various delays in updates. My workload at my job has shifted around these last few weeks, and I've also recently gone from part time to full time employment. As such, I've been a fair bit more tired recently. Hopefully I'll get used to it soon, though, and things will mostly be back on track.
As with the last arc, there will be about a week's hiatus before we begin the next segment of this Quest. This is as much to let me fix my sleeping schedule for work as it is for you to play around with your Experience Points.
Speaking of…
Honor
Sosuke aligned himself with a creature that is, by all rights, an enemy to the Clan. He may not have done so in words, but his actions speak louder than any clever excuses. At his current honor rank, this is an incredible disappointment. However, he has also slain an Oni, a physical embodiment of the Realm of Evil itself. This accounts for his previous transgression and more. Overall, Sosuke has gained 3 points of Honor.
Glory
Sosuke has slain an Oni. Such are the tales legends are built from, spoken throughout generations. Word of this deed will spread, and will be acknowledged. As such, Sosuke has gained a full rank of Glory, equaling 10 points.
Experience
Sosuke has triumphed against a terrible foe, stronger than any he has ever faced. He has also experienced great loss, and even while he grieves he has grown as a person. As such, he has gained 10 Experience points.
Thank you all so much playing. I look forward to continuing this story with you all soon.
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Da Boyz
The Cutest Apocalypse.
Say what you will about Kohsa no Oni, it at the very least had good taste.
o7 Shasa
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Shasa nooo.
Oni's dead. Portal's closed. That's good.
Let us always honor Sasha's memory by constantly mispelling her name.
No malicious intent here, just an attempt at humor.
Oni's dead. Portal's closed. That's good.
Let us always honor Sasha's memory by constantly mispelling her name.
No malicious intent here, just an attempt at humor.
Well, I don't think anyone needs to know the delusions that tumbled from Shasha's lips in the wake of the trauma of the oni's mental attack. Just that she died a hero, sacrificing herself to seal a portal to hell.
Still, if Sosuke can recover enough compose to tell this story and be believed, it should be a powerful motivator for the other clans to sort things out. Having an oni open a doorway to the nether world on land that they should have been responsible for and it being closed by a pair of Crab samurai, at the cost of one of their lives, is exceptionally embarrassing and involves a great loss of face.
Still, if Sosuke can recover enough compose to tell this story and be believed, it should be a powerful motivator for the other clans to sort things out. Having an oni open a doorway to the nether world on land that they should have been responsible for and it being closed by a pair of Crab samurai, at the cost of one of their lives, is exceptionally embarrassing and involves a great loss of face.
DarkLight140
Credit to Team
- Location
- Lost in my thoughts
I was really enjoying this update, and then-
Anyway. Sad that Shasa bit it, but we did our best. Even after allying with the ogre we still weren't able to beat the oni without ridiculous superpowers ex machina, so that was probably the right call- unless of course we'd have gotten even MORE superpowers to bail us out had we chosen to kill it, but there's no guarantee that would have worked.
The Glory and Honor changes made me check on how we did with our actual directives for this plotline...
Awkward. Hopefully Yasuki-sama will understand. Crab, fling ourselves suicidally into the teeth of evil with teeth gritted and tetsubo raised entirely on reflex, etc. etc. Killing a blood mage and an oni at this location and losing one of our own doing it is probably worth a fair bit of diplomatic cred, at least.
...might want to buy that up a tad. I'm definitely on board for covering for her past indiscretions, if they were even real- I would choose to have Sasuke believe that Shasa somehow gained any blood magic knowledge that she may have had from the oni's delusional vision, and was exaggerating any failings that she admitted to due to the mental trauma. Nothing good would come from speaking ill of a fallen friend.
I couldn't possibly take it seriously after that.
Anyway. Sad that Shasa bit it, but we did our best. Even after allying with the ogre we still weren't able to beat the oni without ridiculous superpowers ex machina, so that was probably the right call- unless of course we'd have gotten even MORE superpowers to bail us out had we chosen to kill it, but there's no guarantee that would have worked.
The Glory and Honor changes made me check on how we did with our actual directives for this plotline...
Given that we found that the ogre was not responsible for the disappearances, our mission defaulted to information-gathering and coming back alive. We appear to have completely abandoned our orders in order to kill the enemy, and actually outright failed them by letting Shasa die.
Awkward. Hopefully Yasuki-sama will understand. Crab, fling ourselves suicidally into the teeth of evil with teeth gritted and tetsubo raised entirely on reflex, etc. etc. Killing a blood mage and an oni at this location and losing one of our own doing it is probably worth a fair bit of diplomatic cred, at least.
We have the Sincerity skill for a reason. It's basically "tell the truth so selectively that you can lie with honor".
...might want to buy that up a tad. I'm definitely on board for covering for her past indiscretions, if they were even real- I would choose to have Sasuke believe that Shasa somehow gained any blood magic knowledge that she may have had from the oni's delusional vision, and was exaggerating any failings that she admitted to due to the mental trauma. Nothing good would come from speaking ill of a fallen friend.
Winged Knight
Still just a crazy man with a wolf on his head
- Location
- Texas
I'll admit I might have been more than a bit too obvious with those parts... Do you think they really detract from the overall impact of the update? If so, then I'm going to have to go back and edit that segment a little.
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Cannongerbil
I came here to nep at you
- Location
- Soviet Lunar Base
Farewell Shasa. You will be missed.
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