Hey QM, maybe change the Diplomacy in the Character Sheet to Diplomat? Or maybe it's just me, but the other tags seems to be job occupations and Diplomacy is the one out of place. @_@; Sorry if this is a bit of nitpicking. OTL
Nobility on the Golden Plains [A Clan Builder / Cultivation Quest]
- Thread starter Arcanestomper
- Start date
- Original Fantasy
-
- Tags
- original xianxia cultivation
I could have sworn I did list it as diplomat. Well changed now.
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
I saw someone say they picked depression as the other options were assholey. Having traded depression for anger issues and then back to depression, it would've been kinder to our poor character to have just been an asshole.
Better, we could take a page from "A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation" and weaponise our own depression. Experience a bunch of terrible shit, then invent a Cultivation Technique to turn those awful experiences into a poison we can use with our already-existing techniques!
- Pronouns
- They/He
Kinder, perhaps, but I enjoy a sprinkling of torment in my protagonists, I find it improves the flavor.
On a less glib note, I've been battling my own war on my inner melancholy myself.
I find it cathartic when a protagonist shares my struggles, helps me deal with my business better in general I think. I think a part of me wants to read a story where we guide the protag out of his own dark depths - maybe it would help me finding my own path, or perhaps it would just be inspiring. Questing is an interesting form of storytelling for just this sort of reason I feel!
I nearly lost a fight to a belt not long ago, if you catch my drift. If the two spoilers aren't enough of a tell, I'd really rather not talk about that in particular, especially not in a fun quest environment, but I'm doing significantly better - in headspace, if not in objective material condition; let's leave it there, please.
I find it cathartic when a protagonist shares my struggles, helps me deal with my business better in general I think. I think a part of me wants to read a story where we guide the protag out of his own dark depths - maybe it would help me finding my own path, or perhaps it would just be inspiring. Questing is an interesting form of storytelling for just this sort of reason I feel!
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
On the one hand I understand even if my own struggles are not the same, on the other my understanding necessarily doesn't come with agreement.
Perhaps in part because the quest has already dived so far into paths I find profoundly uninteresting, depressed crafters aren't exactly unique or novel nor have I ever found potions interesting enough to carry main-line interest. Perhaps in part because a number of my problems is rooted in things a quest could never represent, such as an inability to act and a lack of effect from actions taken.
I like the authors works enough that I want to stay and support their effort, but otherwise given the way things have developed I won't particularly get anything from reading this.
- Pronouns
- They/He
Oh, I understand completely! I've been excited to see new quests done by authors I like, only to drop it in the first few steps because character creation seemed to find the precise path to lose my interest the swiftest, it's pretty common.
I, aside from the other stuff, find alchemy fascinating - even if I have less knowledge about Eastern methods than the Western traditions. Honestly I wanted the Fire root into a Wood foundation, but Wood/Wood wasn't disagreeable to me.
As to not being necessarily unique, I don't really consider that a bad thing - the tropes exist for a reason, after all. In the end, it's what we, the audience, and Arcanestomper do together that will create the things that separate our Zhuge Liang from the rest of the characters that might share his baseline.
In any case, it'll likely be the Kindness that makes the character here, since it can react rather... explosively when combined with a tendency towards Sadness, as others have expressed.
I'm genuinely sorry the character has developed in a way you wouldn't gain anything from, but - such is the nature of collaborative storytelling. We are all each an island universe, and our internal laws don't always agree with each other's. I hope you gained something from what's happened so far, at the very least!
Sirrocco
Pedantic
So... let's build a picture of our older sister, and our relationship with her, from what we can see.
So, what we have broadly, here...?
- Mom has a habit of focusing on one kid until the next kid comes along, and then switching focus, thus making the relationship with the preceding child suddenly much less close. This is broadly understandable, and you can't really blame a kid for being born, but it does result in, perhaps, a degree of frustration and/or resentment. It's the sort of thing that can bother you.
- We are somewhat more talented than most. Zhuge Xin is an outright prodigy. She treats us disdainfully, and considers us inferior. She blames our lower cultivation speed on a lack of effort. Clearly it's not the genetics. This ties into the last - some part of her has to be asking "Who are you, to deserve to receive Mother's love and attention rather than me?" The clan showers her with resources and support, but there is this one extremely precious resource that was taken from her and given to us, that she could at best earn back in dribs and drabs with exceptional achievement, and all we had to do to receive it was to be born. If she had lost out to someone worthy, that would be different, but....
- We are a Sad Boi. We go all melancholy and weeping sometimes. We write bad poetry about how hard life is. We did not truly appreciate this treasure that we were given. Having her little brother get all weepy about how hard his life was while sucking up the maternal attention that Zhuge Yahui had to do without must have gnawed at her... and the melancholy almost certainly wasn't doing us any favors as far as cultivation speed. She probably finds our tendencies in that direction incredibly aggravating.
Now, of course, time does move on. It's not like she's spent the last multiple decades fixated on how her mom isn't spending as much time with her, and now it looks like we have been usurped in turn by siblings who are quite possibly even *more* useless. Her feelings of disdain will likely have alchemized a bit into feeling like we reflect badly on her, while using us as a mental benchmark of everything she is *not* - someone to measure relative superiority from, and demonstrate superiority on. I suspect that her besetting sin is pride... and that getting upset with and dunking on us for being inadequate is one of her easy ways to blow off some of that stress.
There's a decent chance that she's become colder with the common folk directly because we are kind. We are unusually kind, we are weak by definition, therefore kindness is a source of weakness. She is not weak by definition, therefore she clearly is not kind.
At least, that's some of the vague sketches of what i might expect.
So, what we have broadly, here...?
- Mom has a habit of focusing on one kid until the next kid comes along, and then switching focus, thus making the relationship with the preceding child suddenly much less close. This is broadly understandable, and you can't really blame a kid for being born, but it does result in, perhaps, a degree of frustration and/or resentment. It's the sort of thing that can bother you.
- We are somewhat more talented than most. Zhuge Xin is an outright prodigy. She treats us disdainfully, and considers us inferior. She blames our lower cultivation speed on a lack of effort. Clearly it's not the genetics. This ties into the last - some part of her has to be asking "Who are you, to deserve to receive Mother's love and attention rather than me?" The clan showers her with resources and support, but there is this one extremely precious resource that was taken from her and given to us, that she could at best earn back in dribs and drabs with exceptional achievement, and all we had to do to receive it was to be born. If she had lost out to someone worthy, that would be different, but....
- We are a Sad Boi. We go all melancholy and weeping sometimes. We write bad poetry about how hard life is. We did not truly appreciate this treasure that we were given. Having her little brother get all weepy about how hard his life was while sucking up the maternal attention that Zhuge Yahui had to do without must have gnawed at her... and the melancholy almost certainly wasn't doing us any favors as far as cultivation speed. She probably finds our tendencies in that direction incredibly aggravating.
Now, of course, time does move on. It's not like she's spent the last multiple decades fixated on how her mom isn't spending as much time with her, and now it looks like we have been usurped in turn by siblings who are quite possibly even *more* useless. Her feelings of disdain will likely have alchemized a bit into feeling like we reflect badly on her, while using us as a mental benchmark of everything she is *not* - someone to measure relative superiority from, and demonstrate superiority on. I suspect that her besetting sin is pride... and that getting upset with and dunking on us for being inadequate is one of her easy ways to blow off some of that stress.
There's a decent chance that she's become colder with the common folk directly because we are kind. We are unusually kind, we are weak by definition, therefore kindness is a source of weakness. She is not weak by definition, therefore she clearly is not kind.
At least, that's some of the vague sketches of what i might expect.
[X] Bundle of Stinky Herbs (Gold)
[X] Enjoy the Day
[X] Take a Spirit Flower
[X] The Distant Heir, Zhuge Jiang
[X] Enjoy the Day
[X] Take a Spirit Flower
[X] The Distant Heir, Zhuge Jiang
Nice, I am definitely using some of this for her characterization.
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
Unfortunately so, though not really a negative thing just a negative thing to me at the moment. Is what it is, such is life.
My knowledge of alchemy leans philosophical, which I do find interesting, meanwhile potions themselves are generally too close to chemistry for my liking rather than the philosophy. Some say chemistry is math, I say that's bullshit because math is honestly relatively fun and simple. Trigonometry, geometry, algebra, I all liked. The human brains innate abilities for ballistics is amazing and almost beautiful when you take the unconscious math involved! Chemistry? Never sparked the same feels and never made sense.
Wood as the elements I also saw as fine, it's relatively underappreciated and could use more showings. Personally, I would've preferred a Earth Root or Foundation (though maybe not both) as it would've gone a long way to providing a solid footing and a versatile, though not particularly directing, 'foundation' for future development.
For all my desire for novelty or things I've yet to see, I have no particular issue with tropes as a foundation for deeper depth, if anything I am actually rather fond of it as far as I'm aware.
It's more...I could already predict what choices would win the last update simply by reading through it and referencing how thread attitude was before.
With neither particularly active discussion nor any force outside voter control yet pushing voters to make unconventional choices, it's a uninteresting subject I've so far been able to predict to a T.
Possibly, and as said I do intend to watch as things develop despite the impression I'm sure the potentially incoherent ramble I have above has given. I see kindness as the most interesting positive trait to have taken, though likely not for the same reasons as others. Kindness is too complicated to be called a virtue in a world of cultivation. Cultivation is an inherently selfish art and encourages and reinforces both the best and worst in people. As an example, a rival spared out of kindness is more like to see it as an insult to them and their conviction.
If you're following the musical Epic, think of how not killing Polyphemus could be seen as an act of kindness yet lead directly to conflict. Yes the situation was more complicated than merely that, but most are.
Not particularly though that's more due to what I was searching for having been something unpredictably interesting or something enjoyable and that having not developed as of yet. Simply a matter of conflict of interest, no biggie.
- Pronouns
- They/He
Wow that's a lot of really good stuff, but this is the point that I like the most, because I disagree. Xianxia, as a genre, certainly makes it seem that way, but the thing that drags me back to the stories again and again is those times when cultivation leads to genuine selflessness. It's rare, to be sure, but not to the extent that I would say cultivation is inherently selfish - just that the world is usually constructed in such a way that the most ruthless and determined among Cultivators manages to win out more often than not.
Essentially, cultivator society is inherently capitalist, where capital in this case is directly linked to personal power. Also, my favored head canon for most xianxia worlds is that they self-select to be dominated by assholes, because those who achieve enlightenment peaceably aren't tested by the heavens half so harshly and ascend with relatively little fanfare with Daos that do not lend themselves to combat. This naturally leads to the impression that martial cultivation is the only true path, because they're just the loudest around.
That's almost certainly not the case here, but it's a fun idea to play with - it was that thought that got me so invested in Beware of Chicken years ago. Sorry if this doesn't come off terribly coherent, I'm still recovering from a fever.
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
I understand what you mean, no worries. I see cultivation as an inherently selfish art because, regardless of what is done with the power gained, inherently the thing cultivated is the self. The power and knowledge gained is wielded by the one and directed at their will. Of course the power can be used for good and no one can forget that the power can be used for ill, but in the end the art, the knowledge, and the power gained is rooted in the self. That's what makes the exceptions, such as the cultivation of the land from BOC, so interesting.
Despite the impression I may have given, I don't inherently see Selfishness or, to bring up the other side of the coin, Selflessness as inherently good or evil. Such things are more complicated than just that alone.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
I would suggest a distinction. Cultivation is an inherently self-centered art. It involves paying attention to yourself and thinking about yourself, and pouring lots of effort into yourself. Those who are self-centered are often also selfish, but it is not always the case.
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
An interesting distinction, though as of yet perhaps not one that makes a significant difference to my perspective. I expect it will have some effect, when I have had more time with it however. A similar event occurred when I came across the idea of Trusting Someone vs having Trust In Someone.
I think it's fun to note that this has been an incredibly interesting conversation and made looking in on this quest worthwhile on its own.
I am now feeling the pressure to make the actual quest live up to this level of discussion.
Lifeandlice
Practitioning side-character
- Location
- Usa
If it alleviates any weight on your shoulders know that I felt distinctly ridiculous when I realized this seemed almost like a conversation between cultivators of different view points. Maybe a few steps removed or less complicated but still, it was kinda funny kekekek.
- Pronouns
- They/He
You are writing a story about a Wood cultivator; therefore, it may aid you to be as Water.
"As the water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it, so a wise man adapts himself to circumstances." - Confucius
"The nature of water is to stay low, to not struggle, and to take on the shape of its container. Thus nothing is weaker. Yet despite such weakness it can bore through rocks." - Xuanzong
Calm yourself, trust in the Dao that nourishes the mind and flows like Water from your pen; meaning will come from it whether you will it or no.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Funny thing is that that might come more from the other side of our intro picks. In the previous version, "direct personal training from a higher-ranking cultivator" was one of the best cultivation cheats in the game, and Sage is the skill for training your juniors (...as well as being the general research skill).
Turn 1: Getting Settled (Year 1/Spring)
New
Turn 1: Getting Settled (Year 1/Spring)
Your sister, Zhuge Xin, is waiting for you in the outer courtyard. She is wearing her usual clothing green and yellow robes with snakes embroidered on them. Her sleeves are long and hide her hands. You know from experience that she keeps various weapons and poisons in them so that she can launch vicious attacks at any time. Poisoning you and seeing how long it takes you to notice is one of her favorite pastimes after all."Brother, I see you finally broke through. It took you long enough." Her voice is cold and you can sense her aura probing you.
You can't help but rise to her provocation, "Took me long enough! It was only fifteen years!"
"And I took eight," she scoffs. "You've always been slow. It makes me wonder if we're even related. Give me your hand."
You grit your teeth. Normal cultivators take nearly a century. Even your older brother took nearly thirty years to become a knight. You were not slow! But you know arguing won't get you anywhere. You extend your hand and your sister starts poking at your palm. You can sense her energy examining your own.
"A forest core. Not even a hint of water or fire. How like you brother. What are you going to do if you have to fight someone who is actually strong?"
"I have my blades and poison. I fought a grain horror just a few days ago."
"Did you kill it?" You take too long consider how to answer that without proving her point, and she scoffs. "You're weak brother. I'll prove it to you. Spar with me!"
"And let you beat me! What would that prove? A lord fighting a knight."
"I won't use any poison or weapons. I'll keep my Qi to the level of a Knight. And if you win I'll give you a Bountiful Lily Elixir."
You pause and consider your answer.
[ ] "Alright"
You suspect your sister is up to something. But a Bountiful Lily Elixir is an extremely potent cultivation aid. It could vastly improve your cultivation. Maybe even let you ascend a minor realm. You can't make them. As far as you know no one in the Barony can. But if anyone in the clan has access to high level elixirs it's your sister.
- Increased Face for accepting a match with a more powerful cultivator
- Potentially a Bountiful Lily Elixir
- Winning is unlikely
- Your sister is probably going to beat you up.
[ ] "No!"
There's no way you could win a regular spar. She's a genius and vastly more powerful than you. Even if she restricts herself to your level you know she's more skilled in martial techniques than you are. After all, the entire point of the spar is for her to prove you're weak. She probably intends to pummel you into the ground. And while you don't believe you're weak there's no denying that she's strong.
- You'll have more time to yourself
- You won't get pummeled.
- No chance at the elixir
- Your sister's disapproval
Once you've made your decision you make your way back to the Silver Grass Pavilion, your own personal quarters. You settle into your study surrounded by cases full of recipes and old cultivation manuals while An Lia catches you up on the latest gossip and news from the clan.
Apparently the bandits are causing more trouble than usual. Some self styled bandit king has taken over one of the main trade routes leading into the province to your west. It's ruled by the Azure Sky sect and you don't do much trade with them so the blockage is mostly a minor annoyance. Still someone should deal with the bandits eventually.
Gain Minor Trouble Clock: Mountain Bandits [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Far more worrisome is the trouble to your east. It's ruled by the Kasjan Clan, and they are significantly more powerful and wealthy than you. It seems that they have made up some pretext about merchant's from your clan selling inferior goods in their cities, and have sent an envoy to demand reparations.
Your mother has refused any such thing and is quite adamant that Zhuge merchants would never sell anything less than the best quality. But the Kasjan Clan is threatening to get Imperial arbiters involved. The arbiters take a dim view of being called in for insignificant matters so either the Zhuge merchants actually were corrupt or the Kasjan clan have fabricated some very convincing evidence.
Everyone seems to be in a tumult to figure out which one it is. If it's the first, then your clan will likely need to actually pay reparations and suffer a loss of prestige, but if it's the latter then potentially things could be turned around on the Kasjan clan. Unfortunately nothing comes to mind for how you could help with this situation personally.
Gain Major Trouble Clock: The Kasjan Dispute [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
More pertinently you have personal matters to take care of. Miss An Lia has informed you that the stocks of ingredients in the medicine pavilion are getting low. It seems that shipments are not arriving from the spirit herb gardens. Specifically your private gardens.
Unfortunately spirit herbs don't just grow anywhere. They need especially potent sources of natural Qi to grow properly. As such your private gardens are located about two hundred li north east of the capital in a particularly auspicious mountain valley. There hasn't been any word of problems from the guards or overseers there, but the fact remains that the spirit herbs have not been arriving.
Gain Medium Trouble Clock: Missing Shipments [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Virtue/Vice Pick Take Two
Since I kind of messed up the presentation in the last vote this time I'll give a more straightforward list this time. However if the winning options this time don't get at least 10 votes, then I'll just go with Kind/Sadness.
Virtue
[ ] +Kind
[ ] +Honorable
[ ] +Calm
[ ]+Happy
[ ] +Forgiving
Vice
[ ] +Selfish
[ ] +Deceitful
[ ] +Angry
[ ] +Sad
[ ] +Grudgeful
Special Actions
Alchemist Bonus--- [ ] Select a technique to boost with 3 TP. [Cultivation, School of the Jade Cauldron, School of the Iridescent Toxin]
Turn One Actions
You may personally lead 3 actions without penalty. Please put the actions in a plan vote. The other votes may be included or separate.Remember that you can also write omakes for other members of the clan to deal with issues you can't.
Cultivation (+6) [Cultivation]
[ ] Cultivate: +.2 TP for every point on the roll--- [ ] Select a trait, skill, or technique to boost with the XP gained.
------ [ ] Who benefits from this boost?
[ ] Study the Mystic Scrolls on the Knight realm
--- [ ] Who are you asking for the scrolls?
You don't actually know what is required to advance from the Knight realm to the Lord realm. You have a vague sense that it involves some kind of spiritual fruit, but the exact details are a closely held secret. It is in fact illegal for commoners to learn them at all. You're a noble of course, but the Imperial Bureaucracy takes the view that the less people that know a secret the better.
Still you are a Knight now. Which means you are entitled to learn the details. You simply need to request access. Either from your mother or your brother. Or technically your sister. As if she would help you.
Administration (+2) [Administration]
[ ] Organize Medicine Pavilion (Goal: 10) (Stress: 1)Now that you are Knight it is time to take stock of your current situation. Organize your underlings, see what recipes you have the ingredients on hand to make, and generally see what you can reasonably accomplish in the short term.
Unlocks more Alchemy and Learning actions
Alchemy (+8) [Leaf Cauldron + Core]
[ ] Brew Flowing Ivy Elixir (Goal: 5 Repeatable)It's always good to have some healing elixirs on hand. You already have the recipe so it shouldn't be too hard to brew a few elixirs. You will gain 1 elixir for each five points of progress.
[ ] Research a new Recipe (Goal: ??)
--[ ] What kind of elixir are you trying to make?
You can try to figure out the recipe for a new pill or elixir. You are quite talented in alchemy so you can try to make nearly anything, but more complex and potent recipes will be harder. They may also require more exotic ingredients.
Quest (+2) [School of the Iridescent Toxin]
[ ] Investigate your Herb Gardens (Goal ??) (Stress: 1)Take a band of warriors and go see what is causing the disruption in the herb shipments.
[ ] Hunt Mountain Bandits Beasts (Goal 5) (Stress: 1)
You doubt this bandit king is even a soldier. Take a few warriors and go wipe out the mountain bandits in their "stronghold".
Remove Mountain Bandits Clock.
[ ] Go on an Adventure (Goal: ??)
You probably shouldn't be heading out to explore ruins and look for treasures on your own, but you don't have anything else particularly pressing to do. Take some time off to go slay monsters, search ancient palaces, and roam the wild lands looking for fortunate encounters. (Depending on the roll you can find useful locations, harvest rare materials, loot treasures, tame spirit beasts, increase your cultivation, and possibly reduce stress.)
Quest Note: There are more categories, but since you don't have any pertinent actions available for them I decided not to show them yet.
Last edited:
Also if there is any setting information you all want clarified let me know. I love expounding on the setting.
[X] "Alright"
[X] +Kind
[X] +Sad
We can heal ourselves after the fight
[X] Plan: Set Up
[X] +Kind
[X] +Sad
We can heal ourselves after the fight
[X] Plan: Set Up
Last edited: