I want to see more genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying villains who are carrying enormous amounts of sealing-quality paper that conspicuously cross paths with Hazou in a dark ally.
Note that Hazō is currently holding hundreds of sheets of seal-quality paper: the nonfunctional 'seals' that he spawned in with. If he dies then he will reset to the condition he was at when he first arrived, including have new instances of those papers, sans any seals he may have drawn on them.
Note that all the world shaking innovations we know about seem to be made by jounin statline ninja, if it was possible to protect your stuff as a chunin we would probably see some.
Orochimaru, chapter 702: "[W]henever a weak ninja invents something useful, a powerful ninja will take it from them and be remembered as the creator. And now you, barely a chūnin, unable to protect yourself against anything more challenging than a new Academy graduate, you have invented a new paradigm of chakra manipulation."
Note that this was before the buff-stack rules were added. It's no longer possible to pile up a dozen different small- and medium-sized bonuses in order for a chūnin to punch at S-rank levels.
Note that this was before the buff-stack rules were added. It's no longer possible to pile up a dozen different small- and medium-sized bonuses in order for a chūnin to punch at S-rank levels.
Buff rules rework, none of this applies anymore. Default is 1 buff, you can increase that to 2 with some XP investment (100 XP) and 3 with significant XP investment (500 XP). Purchased per buff so they don't apply to all stats either.
This has been kind of a major point of discussion, and I'm honestly surprised you missed it.
The quest isn't that narrativist. It's just slightly more, we went from 80% to 70% and you are assuming that we'll get stuff handed out if we die? I don't think that's a reasonable assumption. They are giving us respec and you are literally turning your nose up at it.
Now that the quest is more narrativist, Hazō's build doesn't need to be perfectly optimal. The threat of permanent death and ending the quest isn't looming over our heads anymore. So it's okay to have useless skill levels atm.
If we happen to run up against a threat Hazō's current build cannot handle, he will respawn instead of the quest ending permanently. It's not like Hazō's current build and stats are preventing him from interacting with the afterlife in a fun way either. He can still explore and adventure.
I don't think you understand pyramids, frankly. By adjusting our skill levels slightly (literally like by ~5%) we can go from having wait 2 IRL years for jounin statline to 1 IRL year. If we are going there in either case what is the point of taking 2 years to do it instead of 1? Hazou's skill levels will hardly change. Do you guys like stalling out?
Note that Hazō is currently holding hundreds of sheets of seal-quality paper: the nonfunctional 'seals' that he spawned in with. If he dies then he will reset to the condition he was at when he first arrived, including have new instances of those papers, sans any seals he may have drawn on them.
You may have missed this discussion on Discord, but if we are to get to combat infusible RRBs and Force Blades (a moderate desiderata) we need like 5000-10000 sheets of sealing quality paper.
Yes, it was suggested that we repeatedly kill ourselves to grind it. But I don't think we're that desperate yet. Maybe after we get killed for not having them...
Note that this was before the buff-stack rules were added. It's no longer possible to pile up a dozen different small- and medium-sized bonuses in order for a chūnin to punch at S-rank levels.
Buff rules rework, none of this applies anymore. Default is 1 buff, you can increase that to 2 with some XP investment (100 XP) and 3 with significant XP investment (500 XP). Purchased per buff so they don't apply to all stats either.
This has been kind of a major point of discussion, and I'm honestly surprised you missed it.
You may have missed this discussion on Discord, but if we are to get to combat infusible RRBs and Force Blades (a moderate desiderata) we need like 5000-10000 sheets of sealing quality paper.
Yes, it was suggested that we repeatedly kill ourselves to grind it. But I don't think we're that desperate yet. Maybe after we get killed for not having them...
Someone else with 200-300 sheets of sealing quality paper as one of their every day carry items? It would work but I think it might be even harder to find than someone selling paper
Someone else with 200-300 sheets of sealing quality paper as one of their every day carry items? It would work but I think it might be even harder to find than someone selling paper
You may have missed this discussion on Discord, but if we are to get to combat infusible RRBs and Force Blades (a moderate desiderata) we need like 5000-10000 sheets of sealing quality paper.
Yes, it was suggested that we repeatedly kill ourselves to grind it. But I don't think we're that desperate yet. Maybe after we get killed for not having them...
After a little time to evaluate his options, Hazō decided it would best suit his purposes to seize the chakra rabbit by the horns and go straight for the Hermit. Depending on the circumstances, the man might have to be bribed, tricked, or outmanoeuvred. An initial encounter would help him decide exactly what kind of information, resources, and/or assistance to seek from the rest of Jūjigai's population instead of being stuck following the generic information-gathering protocols he'd been trained in at the Academy and refined over the course of his missing-nin travels.
It would be easy to slip into the convenient assumption that he didn't have anything but time–afterlife memory drain seemed to be slower than he'd expected, or maybe he was losing trivial memories without realising it (a thought which terrified him now he'd had it, but then again, there was nothing to be done). But Akane and Jiraiya, somewhere out there, were on a timer that had started running much earlier, and he had no way of knowing how fast time was flowing on the Human Path either. Hazō couldn't afford to rush his progress–no student of the Kagome School would ever be that stupid–but he did need to be efficient in accomplishing his objectives.
The Hermit's camp was, unexpectedly, a camp–here in the middle of a city Hazō had just been told was replete with empty houses. Hazō's approach was barred by a basic palisade, again in the middle of a city, that would give pause to smaller chakra beasts and force larger ones to make noise as they smashed through it. There was no obvious gate, so Hazō politely knocked on the nearest palisade pillar and waited.
Almost immediately, a few palisade pillars to his left collapsed outwards with a violent thunk of wood on stone.
"What?!" the figure appearing in the gap demanded. "I told you people, I'm driving away visitors!"
The Hermit, if this was he, was a tall but hunched-over figure wearing a stained brown robe that might have been any colour once upon a time, with unkempt salt-and-pepper hair in wiry strands, narrowed dark eyes, and a hooked nose that might have been aristocratic on a man who took care of himself. He was also holding an alarmingly large quarterstaff.
"I don't intend to take up much of your time, sir," Hazō lied. "May I ask why you're driving visitors away?"
"Because I'm in a bad mood and not taking visitors," the Hermit explained impatiently, "but since I'm a hermit and don't take visitors anyway, I have to go above and beyond, or none of you ignoramuses will get the message. There's a reason I call myself the Hermit, you know, and it's not because I've forgotten my name. That would be ridiculous. Now get out of here before I have to hit you with my stick."
"Of course, sir," Hazō said unctuously. "But before I go, do I understand correctly that you have an eyeglasses problem? Because I might be able to help you with that."
The Hermit's eyes narrowed further.
"Oh, because you died cuddling a glassblower's kit, did you? Pfah! You think that's all it takes to get one over on me, do you? I thought you were just another ignorant peasant, but you're a trickster! A charlatan! A reeking mountebank! I knew your kind would come for my research sooner or later! I carved this stick for beating the willikins out of you people, I'll have you know!
"You get out of here right now," the Hermit spat. "If you don't, I'll clonk you right on the head, and since assault is a crime, that'll mean it must be self-defence, and that'll mean you must be a disruptive element threatening the peace, and that'll mean the mayor has to deal with you preemptively. Go on, git!"
Hazō waved his hands in front of him placatingly. "You misunderstand, sir. I know a ninjutsu that can manipulate earth, and I studied optics in life, and I just thought I might be able to combine the two to make you some new lenses. I've done it before, and you don't have anything to lose by letting me try. I won't even ask for a reward–I'm a researcher myself, and I wouldn't want to let mere material concerns get in the way of the advancement of human knowledge."
"Hmph," the Hermit snorted, but he did lower the stick. "Fine. Come on in, I guess. But don't touch anything."
The Hermit's camp held a large tent made with unusual grey leather, and a portable workplace not unlike the one Kagome-sensei used in the field, with a sturdy desk and several heavy corkboards with pages of notes and sketches pinned to them and connected by coloured strings. The whole thing would probably have been much harder to assemble without the aid of storage seals, and Hazō's respect for the Hermit went up even as his faith in the man's common sense went down.
What really captured Hazō's attention was the camp's open side, overlooking the pit that held the Holy Flame. An enormous ring of symbols, evocative of nothing so much as the magic circles designed to bind summoned asuras in fairy tales, surrounded a vast central well that could swallow the Hokage Tower and still have room for dessert. The furnace radiated an unnatural heat that somehow made Hazō's skin crawl, and he couldn't imagine how the Hermit could bear to live next to the thing without being driven mad.
Hmm.
"So," Hazō said casually, "I understand you're studying the Holy Flame. Would you believe I've seen one just like it before, back on the Human Path? I'd love to know how they're connected."
The Hermit, who'd been hobbling towards his tent muttering how this whole thing was probably a waste of time, spun around sharply and gestured menacingly with his staff.
"What do you mean, on the Human Path? You tell me everything you know, right now. And don't even think of lying–I can tell."
"It's something to do with the Sharingan," Hazō said. "I watched an Uchiha use his powers to set a forest on fire with an all-devouring black flame that wouldn't go out. I think he called it Amaterasu. Could this be another instance of the same thing?"
"Pfah!" the Hermit exclaimed. "Amaterasu, a Sharingan power. As if a mere human could ever attune to her spiritual frequency! And even if they somehow managed it, which ought to be a Bloodline Limit all of its own, not in a bargain bin mess like the Sharingan, why, they'd burn out their own body before they got anywhere. You ever heard of a Bloodline Limit that ruins its own user's ability to fight? No? Exactly!"
He threw up his hands, nearly clocking Hazō with the staff (thank the Sage for ninja reflexes, perhaps literally).
"Ignoramuses! I am surrounded by ignoramuses! I shouldn't even be here! Last time I take on a reeking apprentice, I can tell you that! Only idiots–idiots and untrustworthy ignoramuses–ever mess about with sealcrafting, you mark my words!"
The man gave a sudden alarming frown. "Say, what kind of researcher did you say you were again?"
"I suppose you could call me the multidisciplinary type," Hazō said carefully. "I've explored more different fields than the typical research ninja, always looking for synergies and unusual inspirations. That's how I thought of combining ninjutsu and optics, you see. Right now, I'm experimenting with original ninjutsu design, but my efforts have been hobbled by the lack of chakra here in the afterlife.
"But enough about me. You said you were an expert on Amaterasu?"
"Sure am," the Hermit said, seemingly pacified. "Not that that's saying much around here. A Bloodline Limit! That'd make my colleagues laugh–assuming I had colleagues.
"Amaterasu's the name of a goddess–that's a kami to you local ignoramuses. A former goddess, really, though that's dumbing it down for the masses. The discouraged lore of the Six hints that she used to be the sun goddess, if you'll believe it, top dog in the heavens. Then there was some fraternal scuffle–the details don't matter–and she was the kind of idiot who goes off and sulks when things don't go her way. And what happens when the sun goddess goes away?"
"Darkness?" Hazō guessed.
"Don't interrupt," the Hermit snapped, stamping his staff petulantly against the stone. "Darkness. That means no crops, and famine, and mass extinction, and the end of the world coming in faster than a traveller running from a chakra sheep. So what do you suppose the other gods did?"
Hazō waited patiently, but the Hermit just glowered at him.
Hazō thought back to his most recent encounter with the divine.
"They tried to appease her?"
"Pfah! You call yourself a ninja? They kicked her out and had her strongest rival take her place, obviously!"
Hazō nodded. It was his mistake for assuming the politics of holy beings would be any less cutthroat than the human kind.
"And what happened then?" Hazō asked when the Hermit failed to go on.
"Well, what do you do when you didn't think ahead, and now you've got a fallen goddess whose essence is the eternal flame of the black sun and who's got a grudge against all of existence in general and you in particular? You seal her away, of course!"
Hazō looked at the furnace with a new horror.
"You're not saying…"
"It's only a theory," the Hermit admitted. "But it's a good theory. I mean, look at this place. A four-fold seal in four dimensions, using the spiritual number of death in the domain of death to suppress the immortal goddess of life. Archetypal, true fire, only it brings darkness instead of light, and it burns everything, but it can't burn its own cage. This place wasn't built to toast sausages, that's for sure. I'm still figuring out what the runes around the edge do, but you can't tell me they don't look like they're meant to be keeping something in."
Hazō reflexively backed away from the edge, even though he was already a good twenty metres away because he wasn't an idiot.
As the bitter, life-hating heat of the Holy Flame made him begin to sweat, a horrific thought occurred to him.
"If what you're saying is that the fire down there is alive… is it really all right to be feeding people to it?"
The Hermit snorted. "Well, what do you think? You've got any better ideas for powering up a deity than regular human sacrifice?"
"And if she gets free?"
The Hermit shrugged. "The end of everything, probably, unless the other gods have come up with some really bright ideas since. You can see why I'd like to figure out these symbols sooner rather than later."
Hazō really needed to get cracking on those lenses.
But before he did…
"Sorry to change the subject," he said, "but I wonder if you might have seen something I'm looking for. It's a dragon's tooth, allegedly, a black triangle about this big, made of some kind of unknown metal. Does that ring any bells?"
"Oh, that," the Hermit said dismissively. "Pfah. As if a dead dragon would end up in the Pure Land. Even an ignoramus ought to think twice before believing that twaddle. By my reckoning, it's another divine artefact, probably one of those objects of untold power that keep making their way to this place for no good reason. That's what happens when a whole plane doesn't play by sensible rules. I chucked it in my forbidden artefact storehouse, over there by the washing lines–you know, where the locals dry their laundry with the heat from the all-devouring fire."
Yesss! The first stage of his quest, over so fast!
"Then if you don't have any use for it, sir…" Hazō began in his finest wheedling voice.
"Not so fast," the Hermit interrupted. "I put it on the back burner when I was studying Amaterasu's prison full-time. But I've lost my spectacles, and I've lost my notes, so there's nothing more I can do on that front. I reckon that artefact is just the thing for me now, for a good long while."
Obviously. How had Hazō not seen that coming?
"I can help with the spectacles," he pointed out. "But I didn't hear anything about your notes. What happened?"
The Hermit seemed to fold in on himself a little. He muttered something unintelligible.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't catch that."
The Hermit looked away.
"I lost my temper and chucked them in after the glasses," he muttered.
Into the all-consuming, possibly divine flame. Even Hazō wasn't getting them back out of there.
"Isn't there anything I can do?" Hazō asked. "There must be something around here that you want more than that triangle."
The Hermit considered.
"I do have an older version of my notes, from before the last time I died. They're not as complete, but I can remember the recent stuff well enough to update them."
"Then…" Hazō led hopefully.
"Obviously there's a catch," the Hermit snapped. "I don't have them anymore. I died with them in the Red Glow, and I'm never going back there, spectacles or no spectacles."
"Do you think they're still there?" Hazō asked.
"It hasn't been too long," the Hermit said speculatively. "I suppose they could be. But nobody's going to be dumb enough to go in there after them. The place's a deathtrap."
Hazō could see where this was going.
"If I recovered them for you, would you let me have the black triangle?"
The Hermit looked at him as if he was stupid. "You'd never make it. You may be a ninja, but you'd be pants-on-head crazy to even try."
Hazō smiled. "You'd be amazed how many people have called me crazy in my life, sir. Without exception, they're either converted, or dead, or they weren't worth my time to begin with."
-o-
You have spent 3 FP and received 1 FP for winning a conflict with meaningful consequences.
-o-
The Red Glow is the opposite of an afterlife settlement. People flock to those because consensus of memories makes them stable. However, nobody can agree what the Red Glow is. Some say it's a tower in the middle of a swamp. Others say it's a labyrinth hidden beneath the hills. Others still, a dungeon at the bottom of a lake (accessible only because the dead don't need to breathe). As a result, the place's true nature is unstable, different every time you visit. The only common feature by which it can even be located is a mysterious red glow coming from its heart, clearly visible once you get close enough. Unfortunately, everyone also agrees that it's a dangerous place, whether that's because of guardians, traps, or a hostile environment. The Hermit thinks there are probably other consistent rules it follows, but he's not going back there to investigate.
The Hermit claims that lore pertaining to the true nature and secrets of Jūjigai, and therefore presumably Amaterasu, can be found at the heart of the Red Glow. By his estimate, he made it close before a trap finally got him. His notes are in the format of an arcanum, a large crimson box full of sheets of paper.
(When asked why he didn't just kill himself to get the notes back, he called you a reeking ignoramus and demanded if you could even imagine how long he'd spent wandering from his starting point before he came across Jūjigai, and did you want him to pass on before he solved anything?)
I guess if we want to befriend him further we can tell him that Orochimaru, a big ass biosealing freak and missing-nin, thinks that it's some form of enhanced ability that does seem to harm Itachi.
And that a Mori can overload themselves until they are catatonic. That's not even a full secret, also who cares about the Mori, he might drop The Five funny Lore.
In general the Five suffer from conditions that make them harder to engange in many things, granted to his point not automatically fighting, but Hazou also knows that an IN user can be killed by forcing a seizure.
"Oh, that," the Hermit said dismissively. "Pfah. As if a dead dragon would end up in the Pure Land. Even an ignoramus ought to think twice before believing that twaddle. By my reckoning, it's another divine artefact, probably one of those objects of untold power that keep making their way to this place for no good reason. That's what happens when a whole plane doesn't play by sensible rules. I chucked it in my forbidden artefact storehouse, over there by the washing lines–you know, where the locals dry their laundry with the heat from the all-devouring fire."
[X] Action Plan: Preparations For Conflict
Word Count: <300
Hermit
Earthshape eyeglasses for the Hermit, confirm that using ninjutsu near the furnace is safe, make sure he's satisfied with them before continuing. Offer to make him a few spare pairs if he'll give us a tour of his forbidden artifact storage and some pocket money to prepare for the journey.
Ask him about the lore of Six. Hazou hasn't run into that term before. He's heard of the Five, and the Nine, of course.
The Hermit mentioned that invoking Amaterasu would burn out the user's body. In fact, we know that the Uchiha in question did do that. He had modified his bloodline in some unknown way and gained the power to apparently invoke Amaterasu. And perhaps another god or goddess, has the Hermit heard of Tsukuyomi?
Examine the runes and seals on the perimeter of the furnace. Be alert for the sensation of a seal downloading. Commune with the black flames for a few minutes.
Drop by the market we visited earlier
Go see Genta and Hiromoto, chat them up. Bemoan the lack of decent paper in the afterlife. Ask if they have any idea where we can get a large supply. See if they'd be willing to sell or make a high quality calligraphy brush.
Keep an eye out for any brass on sale, backup trinkets are always useful.
Pay a visit to Mother Kiriko
Bring her a gift from the market out of politeness.
Ask about the surrounding area, geopolitics, monsters, Wilds. We're new to the area and want to get a good grasp of the nearby threats and power players.
Earthshape eyeglasses for the Hermit, make sure he's satisfied with them before continuing. Offer to make him a few spare pairs if he'll give us a tour of his forbidden artifact storage and some pocket money to prepare for the journey.
Amazing to see us actually pass a social roll. Who is this person and how did he reach that age without being able to trivially beat our Deceive like everyone else ?!?
Amazing to see us actually pass a social roll. Who is this person and how did he reach that age without being able to trivially beat our Deceive like everyone else ?!?
Someone who, like Kagome, allowed his social skills to stagnate by playing the part of the hermit for however many years. The loss of memories probably didn't help, either.
Someone who, like Kagome, allowed his social skills to stagnate by playing the part of the hermit for however many years. The loss of memories probably didn't help, either.
"You get out of here right now," the Hermit spat. "If you don't, I'll clonk you right on the head, and since assault is a crime, that'll mean it must be self-defence, and that'll mean you must be a disruptive element threatening the peace, and that'll mean the mayor has to deal with you preemptively. Go on, git!"
Someone who, like Kagome, allowed his social skills to stagnate by playing the part of the hermit for however many years. The loss of memories probably didn't help, either.
Someone who, like Kagome, allowed his social skills to stagnate by playing the part of the hermit for however many years. The loss of memories probably didn't help, either.
I think he's just an idiot, to be honest. He probably decided social skills had no value and decided to max out his Lore and Research skills instead.
What a poor decision ! Who would possibly do that !?!
The Hermit mentioned that invoking Ameterasu would burn out the user's body. In fact, we know that the Uchiha in question did do that. He had modified his bloodline in some unknown way and gained the power to apparently invoke Ameterasu. And perhaps another god or goddess, has the Hermit heard of Tyskuyomi?
