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Style of the Gods: A Xianxia Style's Celestial Bureaucrat

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BrainInAJar said:
But that's just how Nobilis works though? This is the second update we've checked on Asuka using Persona, even.
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This isn't a Nobilis quest!

Oh my god.

This is not Nobilis. We are not in a world dangling from the branches of an Ash tree inside a cup of blue flames. Reality is not knit together on a loom of Actuals. There are not armies of starry-eyed invaders coming to reap the remaining ages of the world and cast all down into primordial confusion. Or at the very least - there is no evidence that any of this is the case.

This is a quest in which Nobilis-y things happen. It is not a Nobilis quest.

Which means that when some part of the metaphysics is confirmed Nobilis-okay, I think it's a noteworthy thing, to be discussed and explored!

There was. no. reason. to assume that there was anything even remotely like the Mythic-Prosaic split, where stuff goes down in mythic reality and then prosaic reality just alters however it needs to to make that make sense, until we saw it happen.

So I thought it was a cool thought experiment to wonder how far we could push that - because we still don't know exactly how closely this Celestial-Mortal realms split mirrors Nobilis' Mythic-Prosaic reality split.

I do not and did not advocate for actually attempting to retroactively change society's stance on death: I got caught up in being a pedant; which, like, fine, okay, I shouldn't have done that. Valuing pursuing rhetorical points over communicating clearly is a failing on my part.

Adare Kaname very clearly does not actually have Persona - because it is trivial for a Noble to undertake a Lesser Sacrifice of The Grey Rat Style and stop being lazy or disreputable without affecting Grey Rat Style as a whole. Adare Kaname has something Persona-like, where the Properties of the Estate are inextricably woven into their being and bizarrely mutable.

The reason I want to push disreputable down is because it is a problem! Because our only practitioner has to cultivate in secret and in fear for her life. Because if we want to broker favorable deals with our peers in the Celestial Bureaucracy, it might help if our reputation weren't utter garbage.

Because, at the end of the day, I don't actually want to play a quest about how everyone loathes and despises the Grey Rat, who are a bunch of awful jerks, but are strong enough to browbeat all contenders into submission.

Maybe that means I don't understand the spirit of Xianxia. That's probably a fair criticism! Maybe I should just shut up and stop whining and let the thread get to the part about running around punching people in soft parts of their anatomy and reveling in being awful people!

Fuck this. I'm too angry right now to contribute constructively. I'm out. Thread, try not to kill and eat anyone unless the majority of you are actually down for that.
 
[X] Plan: Grey Rat Hones Its Foundations

Personally, I think our best interests would be in improving our reputation. As said before, it's hard to practice a style when everyone around you is afraid of it—and willing to kill you for using it.

I'm willing to bet that by lowering our Disreputable stat, Grey Rat will still have some level of infamy (after all, it does break taboos), but people will be more inclined to look at it favorably. "Such a powerful and useful style! It's a shame it uses human bones as charm materials."
 
[X] Plan Preparing For the Long Haul
-[X][Asuka] Focus on making more Charms from the dead criminal's bones. Atma check at DC50.
-[X][Style] Grey Rat Endures The Storm
-[X][Personal] Use your connection to Grey Rat style to begin practicing cultivation yourself.
 
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Adhoc vote count started by Deathbybunnies on Aug 23, 2020 at 4:51 PM, finished with 24 posts and 16 votes.
  • [X] Plan Preparing For the Long Haul
    -[X][Asuka] Focus on making more Charms from the dead criminal's bones. Atma check at DC50.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Endures The Storm
    -[X][Personal] Use your connection to Grey Rat style to begin practicing cultivation yourself.
    [X] Plan: Grey Rat Hones Its Foundations
    -[X][Asuka] Focus on making more Charms from the dead criminal's bones. Atma check at DC50.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Endures The Storm
    -[X] [Personal] Train to remove one of your personality faults and thereby improve the style you're responsible for. (Disreputable)
    [X] Plan Grey Rat Actually Promotes His Style, But More Hardcore
    -[X][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect. Auto-success at a Combat check against DC30.
    -[X][Style] Corrupt Grey Rat's Plague Fist
    -[X][Personal] Use your wealth and fame to acquire a minor Treasure for Asuka to use.
    [X] Plan Grey Rat Actually Promotes His Style
    -[X][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect. Auto-success at a Combat check against DC30.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Endures The Storm
    -[X][Personal] Use your influence over Grey Rat style to encourage its discovery by a larger group of practitioners.
    [X] Plan Balancing Act
    -[X][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Consumes The Sun
    -[X][Personal] Use your connection to Grey Rat style to begin practicing cultivation yourself.
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Thelxiope said:
This isn't a Nobilis quest!

Oh my god.

This is not Nobilis. We are not in a world dangling from the branches of an Ash tree inside a cup of blue flames. Reality is not knit together on a loom of Actuals. There are not armies of starry-eyed invaders coming to reap the remaining ages of the world and cast all down into primordial confusion. Or at the very least - there is no evidence that any of this is the case.

This is a quest in which Nobilis-y things happen. It is not a Nobilis quest.

Which means that when some part of the metaphysics is confirmed Nobilis-okay, I think it's a noteworthy thing, to be discussed and explored!

There was. no. reason. to assume that there was anything even remotely like the Mythic-Prosaic split, where stuff goes down in mythic reality and then prosaic reality just alters however it needs to to make that make sense, until we saw it happen.

So I thought it was a cool thought experiment to wonder how far we could push that - because we still don't know exactly how closely this Celestial-Mortal realms split mirrors Nobilis' Mythic-Prosaic reality split.

I do not and did not advocate for actually attempting to retroactively change society's stance on death: I got caught up in being a pedant; which, like, fine, okay, I shouldn't have done that. Valuing pursuing rhetorical points over communicating clearly is a failing on my part.

Adare Kaname very clearly does not actually have Persona - because it is trivial for a Noble to undertake a Lesser Sacrifice of The Grey Rat Style and stop being lazy or disreputable without affecting Grey Rat Style as a whole. Adare Kaname has something Persona-like, where the Properties of the Estate are inextricably woven into their being and bizarrely mutable.

The reason I want to push disreputable down is because it is a problem! Because our only practitioner has to cultivate in secret and in fear for her life. Because if we want to broker favorable deals with our peers in the Celestial Bureaucracy, it might help if our reputation weren't utter garbage.

Because, at the end of the day, I don't actually want to play a quest about how everyone loathes and despises the Grey Rat, who are a bunch of awful jerks, but are strong enough to browbeat all contenders into submission.

Maybe that means I don't understand the spirit of Xianxia. That's probably a fair criticism! Maybe I should just shut up and stop whining and let the thread get to the part about running around punching people in soft parts of their anatomy and reveling in being awful people!

Fuck this. I'm too angry right now to contribute constructively. I'm out. Thread, try not to kill and eat anyone unless the majority of you are actually down for that.
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Huh. Was there something something in my tone that caused such a reaction? I apologize if so. I did not mean to offend, nor what was I said meant with any anger.

I understand that this is seems more Nobilis inspired than anything, I'm also not assuming anything about the setting in that regard either. But we have seen Kaname use his Persona equivalent, and we just got the confirmation about the nature of reality in the update itself. I think my points apply even without drawing into Nobilis knowledge; I do imagine we will eventually get rivals in the Bureaucracy, and we already have made commitments here, even if they seem more nominal in nature.

I actually don't get this current aversion to Disreputable since neither we or Asuka have even done anything evil or even that morally dubious. Reputation is just that; it's not the truth of what something is. If the nature of the Style is to be Disreputable, it doesn't make it any less good or bad in it of itself. I understand you have worries about what this might do to our disciples; being marginalized is hardly a good thing! But I think it's something better accomplished by trying to spread the Style to other adherents rather trying to pretty up what is ultimately an art of murder and violence. As long as we can build them support outside of what society thinks conventional, I think we will be okay.

If your goal is to be more sociable and more accepted by society, I definitely think the voterbase seems to agree with on that front, so you don't need to worry about that. Most people aren't voting currently to expand the Style to other acolytes nor voting to build fame through dueling right now, but I imagine that will change, even if it's just because of the low-hanging fruit running out. I certainly don't think we will have doomed our adherents to a life of exile with the choices we have made thus far, and even if we have it's never too late to change that. So I don't think you should give up.

It would be a shame to not see you participate anymore, since I think you have contributed a ton of discussion already; It would be sad to see all that enthusiasm go to waste. I certainly didn't mean to drive you out of the quest when I posted that! I really wish to apologize for that if I can, even if you decide to leave for good; we read and participate on this forum to have fun, and it would be very bad if I ruined the enjoyment that someone else was having without even realizing.
 
[X] Plan Preparing For the Long Haul
-[X][Asuka] Focus on making more Charms from the dead criminal's bones. Atma check at DC50.
-[X][Style] Grey Rat Endures The Storm
-[X][Personal] Use your connection to Grey Rat style to begin practicing cultivation yourself.
 
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1403 - Year of the Rabbit
  • Threadmarks
    • After your pair of deals, you're tired of relying on your poor reputation to get things done. There is a simple solution, however repugnant: train. Develop the style yourself, as its Kami and Celestial Representative.

    So you go out and you sit in your ornamental garden, and you meditate on your Atma.

    As a Kami, your Atma is distributed through your whole being, not merely in your spirit; but you can still learn the simple methods used by such lesser creatures as humans.

    … alright, maybe your arrogance was a little misplaced. After months of meditation and shadowboxing, you still haven't formed a single working core. The style is too difficult. So you turn to your own bad habits, and take up the habit of being more polite to others, learning etiquette and tact. That breaks the barrier, and allows you to for the first time feel like you're in command of the style.

    Further work naturally develops a solid, grounded stance with plenty of range of motion, and from there you start to understand the roots of the style as you've made it. A mixture of Death and Yin energy, gathered at Atma nodes near the stomach… No wonder it can make you hungry for rotting things if you don't maintain enough Yin.

    You can already sense the edges of something greater, some deeper insight about the way bone shines in the moonlight, but you just can't grasp it. You'll have to train harder if you're to form a Core like Asuka.

    Asuka…


    Late at night, you open your sealed urn where you keep the bones and ashes of the criminal. Drawing out one of the humeri, you dust off the grave ash and lay it out on your desk. Tonight you're planning a very strong charm; a human-bone flute.

    The rough work of the flute is easy enough; a long hole drilled along the length of the bone, followed by eight evenly-spaced finger-holes and a carved mouthpiece. The inscription… The inscription is the hard part. Each of the eight touchholes must be inscribed with a sigil corresponding to a particular Atma. Yin, Yang, Death, Life, and four of the Five Elements. Air has the mouthpiece, of course.

    Raising your chisel, you start the work, gathering up Yin Atma and forcing it into the bone with every stroke of your chisel. Your capacity is poor, and you find yourself drawing on the Dead Hand heavily. Nonetheless, you finish the first sigil without much difficulty.

    A few weeks later, you have another quiet night. You unroll your tools in their soft leather, and go to work.

    The Yang Atma is harder. The style isn't suited to channeling so much of it, and you can feel hunger boiling up in your stomach as you handle the rigid bone and force the character's definition out of it. Again, your Dead Hand saves you; the extra capacity it offers is simply crucial.

    Having finished the Yang Atma, you move on to Death. This one comes easily, fed by the Atma of your Dead Hand without reservation. You complete it in an hour, and go on to Life.

    On Life, your Dead Hand stops being able to help you. The Life Atma is completely repelled by the Death Atma of the Hand. You force your way through anyway. You are strong, you can channel enough Atma for this. You open the Gates of Life and flood the piece with Life Atma.

    It shatters.

    "Shit!", you swear. A bone fragment sticks out of your bedpost, inches from your ear. You pry it out and put it back in the urn.

    There are a lot of little bone pieces to put back in the urn.

    Still, you won't make the same mistake again. The bone flute was far too ambitious a project for someone unskilled in Atma-binding like you.

    You sigh. Back to the ancient texts.


    Adare Kaname, Bureaucrat of Grey Rat Style
    Fisher King:     You take on the properties of the Style you're responsible for reflexively. Your personality feeds the style, and vice versa.
    Cultivator 1
    Legendary 2
    Lunar 1
    Rich 1
    Worldly 1
    Prepared 3
    Alert 1
    Disreputable 2
    Cowardly 2
    Vicious 1
    Ghoulish 1

    Style: Grey Rat Cheats The Heavens
    Rigorous 1
    Style of Legend 2
    Yin Style 1
    Varied Techniques 1
    Strong Fundamentals 1
    Survivalist 3
    Rapid 1
    Disreputable 2
    Evasive 2
    Dangerous 1
    Taboo-Breaking 1

    Techniques:
    Consuming Cultivation Focus
    Grey Rat Persists On Corruption
    10,000 Grey Rats Gather In Moonlight
    Grey Rat Flees The Hawk
    Grey Rat Endures The Storm
    Grey Rat Striking Method
    Grey Rat Kicking Method

    Hero: Asuka Veran
    Grey Rat Cheats The Heavens 3
    Good Seed: +20 to Cultivation rolls.
    Protagonist: +20 to Cultivation rolls.
    Dead Hand: +10 to Atma rolls.

    [ ][Asuka] Continue to train in Grey Rat Cheats The Heavens and develop another Core. Autosuccess on a Cultivation Check against DC 40.
    [ ][Asuka] Work on developing Grey Rat Style. Cultivation check at DC 60, success gains an additional technique for the Style. Failure = injury.
    [ ][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect. Auto-success at a Combat check against DC30.
    [ ][Asuka] Focus on making more Charms from the dead criminal's bones. Atma check at DC50.
    [ ][Asuka] Try to focus on making less complex Charms. Atma check at DC30.
    [ ][Asuka] Try to overcome your Master's hatred for the style. DC?? Cultivation check. Failure = thrown out of the Sect.

    [-][Domain] You have no domain, so there's nothing to do with it.

    [ ][Style] Swarming Grey Rats Pull Down Heaven
    Develop the style's teamwork ability, aiming to defeat the inverse ninja effect. Build path: Hero-Killer
    [ ][Style] Nimble Grey Rat Dances In Moonlight
    Develop the style's speed and diversity, making it difficult to counter or see coming. Build Path: Assassin
    [ ][Style] Grey Rat Eats Behemoth's Corpses
    Develop the style towards the hunting and harrying of Demon Beasts, exhausting them with hit-and-run tactics. Build Path: Beast-Killer
    [ ][Style] Grey Rat Huddles In Darkness
    Develop the style towards having solid defenses against incoming attack. Build Path: Fundamentals

    [ ][Personal] Try to renegotiate your deal with King Death for gentler terms.
    [ ][Personal] Train to remove one of your personality faults and thereby improve the style you're responsible for. (Write in a fault.)
    [ ][Personal] Use your wealth and fame to acquire a minor Treasure for Asuka to use.
    [ ][Personal] Use your influence over Grey Rat style to encourage its discovery by a larger group of practitioners.
    [ ][Personal] Continue cultivating and attempt to form a Core. Cultivation DC20.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan Enduring Development
    - [X] [Asuka] Continue to train in Grey Rat Cheats The Heavens and develop another Core. Autosuccess on a Cultivation Check against DC 40.
    - [X] [Style] Grey Rat Eats Behemoth's Corpses
    - [X] [Personal] Continue cultivating and attempt to form a Core. Cultivation DC20.
     
    [X] Plan Grey Rat Promotes His Charge
    -[X][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect. Auto-success at a Combat check against DC30.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Eats Behemoth's Corpses
    -[X][Personal] Use your wealth and fame to acquire a minor Treasure for Asuka to use.

    To be honest, I'm kind of tired of having Asuka just train all day. If we're going to make this style worthy, we gotta have her do cool stuff with it! The duel is just the start. We likely won't be given good opportunities to gather fame without starting somwhere; we can't rely on greatness just coming to Asuka. So let's try to give her an accomplishment in the Style after all this time spent on it.
     
    [x] Plan Elegant Techniques
    -[x][Asuka] Work on developing Grey Rat Style. Cultivation check at DC 60, success gains an additional technique for the Style. Failure = injury.
    -[x][Style] Nimble Grey Rat Dances In Moonlight
    -[x][Personal] Continue cultivating and attempt to form a Core. Cultivation DC20.
     
    [X] Plan Enduring Development
    BrainInAJar said:
    [X] Plan Grey Rat Promotes His Charge
    -[X][Asuka] Challenge another student to a duel and demonstrate your new style before the whole sect. Auto-success at a Combat check against DC30.
    -[X][Style] Grey Rat Eats Behemoth's Corpses
    -[X][Personal] Use your wealth and fame to acquire a minor Treasure for Asuka to use.

    To be honest, I'm kind of tired of having Asuka just train all day. If we're going to make this style worthy, we gotta have her do cool stuff with it! The duel is just the start. We likely won't be given good opportunities to gather fame without starting somwhere; we can't rely on greatness just coming to Asuka. So let's try to give her an accomplishment in the Style after all this time spent on it.
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    Click to shrink...
    The thing is if she fights in front of the entire Sect, demonstrating Grey Rat Style, without first convincing her Master the Style is acceptable... she'll probably just be kicked out?

    If we want to do that, we need to remove the Disreputable traits and then have her try and convince her master that it's fine.
     
    Deathbybunnies said:
    The thing is if she fights in front of the entire Sect, demonstrating Grey Rat Style, without first convincing her Master the Style is acceptable... she'll probably just be kicked out?
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    Do we want our Style to be practiced in the dojos and training halls of civilized society, or by lone wanderers out on the fringe for all their obvious power?

    Because Asuka getting kicked out of the Sect isn't the end of the quest; if Grey Rat Cheats the Heavens gives her the tools needed to operate alone (hello Survivalist 3), it might even accelerate her training by allowing her to more obviously engage in taboo breaking.

    And if she's already beaten another student in the Sect when she gets kicked out, she might just set out to Show Them All.
     
    Candesce said:
    Do we want our Style to be practiced in the dojos and training halls of civilized society, or by lone wanderers out on the fringe for all their obvious power?

    Because Asuka getting kicked out of the Sect isn't the end of the quest; if Grey Rat Cheats the Heavens gives her the tools needed to operate alone (hello Survivalist 3), it might even accelerate her training by allowing her to more obviously engage in taboo breaking.

    And if she's already beaten another student in the Sect when she gets kicked out, she might just set out to Show Them All.
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    I see no reason why the answer can't be "both". Unless we get kicked out and maintain our disreputable stat - which just this update, was touted as a reason why we were having trouble cultivating - in which case we'd be stuck with only one of the two.
     
    Candesce said:
    Hmm?

    No, we were having trouble because of the Style's "difficult" trait, represented on Adare Kaname by the "impolite" trait.
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    I did read this:
    Evenstar said:
    So you turn to your own bad habits, and take up the habit of being more polite to others, learning etiquette and tact. That breaks the barrier, and allows you to for the first time feel like you're in command of the style.
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    As getting over our disreputability, but reading it again you're right about it being linked to Impolite/Difficult - I got confused because the trait is now, obviously, gone.

    Candesce said:
    "Disreputable" is linked to "ghoulish," and removing that is going to cause issues for our bargain with Death.
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    Disreputable is linked to Disreputable. Taboo-breaking is linked to Ghoulish.

    But, on a wider note, regarding people's aesthetic preferences... disreputable doesn't mean "more suited to the lower classes", it means that people capable of choosing otherwise will do so. Low-class people getting stuck with something unpleasant isn't a benefit.
     
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