It's more that a suitably epic quest/journey is needed for equally epic rewards. Going to the most dangerous dangerous place we know, a place so distant yet so close, to create a successor to our most fundamental Art seems like good cultivation. It's not necessary to go to the Wall specifically but it could be cool and creating our fist personal Art seems like it should be worth a good story. In addition it could let us interact with wilder, non-imperial spirits as a counterexamples to the imperial and Cai views on spirits, learn about Cloud Tribe culture to develop our soon to be enemies and Ling Qi's sense of empathy or disregard for them, and all manner of things so far away from home. We don't have to do it and as far as i know Yrsillar hasn't said anything on the subject, but something so integral as FVM+ deserves something interesting and we could spend an entire turn cultivating on the Wall without going out of content.
You're right that its a cool idea. It'd deff be a really interesting arc. However, I feel like it would be a ways off from now. We would have to wait until LQ and her spirit companions are much more powerful before finding that place beyond the wall. Also Idk if we should go alone or bring a friend with us. Might be good to have extra fire power but we also might attract more attention from barbs. 🤷♀️
You're right that its a cool idea. It'd deff be a really interesting arc. However, I feel like it would be a ways off from now. We would have to wait until LQ and her spirit companions are much more powerful before finding that place beyond the wall. Also Idk if we should go alone or bring a friend with us. Might be good to have extra fire power but we also might attract more attention from barbs. 🤷♀️
Creating a successor Art is a requirement for reaching Green 6 so we have to do it before then. Also the Could Tribes, while powerful, likely have far fewer cultivators than the empire on account of dangerous and less available cultivation methods in the form of their spirit bonds compared to our stones. The Wall is large and if we avoid areas with large amounts of Cloud Tribes, either by looking at scouts' maps of established territories or by doubling back when noticing heavy patrols we should be about as likely to be detected by a Cyan as we would be to happen upon a Indigo cultivator while wandering around the unremarkable forests of the Emerald Seas.
The biggest danger would be the spirits but if we're found by a powerful one we're uniquely capable of begging for mercy, especially if we've cultivated the Spirit Seeker Art. Any Ice or Death Spirits might even be mollified by us being a friend of Zeqing and our Moon patrons might give us advice on where it's to dangerous to risk. It would be dangerous and very much so but if Ling Qi is going to compose to the inspiration of Forgotten Vale Melody then finding a secluded mountain surrounded by cold winters mist, an old place of danger and great reward, then I think that piece would capture some personality of it's composer like any good music and Art should.
Ling Qi looked down at their destination, tucked away at the end of a winding river valley. Trees grew thickly at the riverside, and the branches hung heavy not with fruit, but with cocoons. The silken wrappings were a riot of colors and glittered like jewels under the morning sun. Some were tiny, barely the length of a finger, while others were large enough to hold a small child. In the dark shadows of thick canopy, she heard the susurrus of thousands of wings, and spied the movement of many fuzzy, insect bodies. Yet, even more than the cocoon forest, the building at the end of the valley consumed her attention. She could think of only one thing to say.
"...It's very bright," Ling Qi said faintly, with something between wonder and trepidation in her tone.
"Mother's apprentices are all somewhat eccentric," Cai Renxiang agreed, peering down at the sprawling, blazingly bright pagoda complex.
Ling Qi nodded faintly, she supposed she was being unfair. It wasn't the sort of eye searing monstrosity that Elder Jiao presented himself with. The pagoda was like a sunrise rendered into architecture, bands of vibrant color that seemed to shift every time she moved her eyes. Roof tiles shone like mirrors, and burning braziers hung from the eaves, crackling with pink-ish white and pale orange flames.
"The Dawn isn't the worst, as sun spirits go, but ugh, that's a lot of solar qi," Sixiang grumbled
"Mm, while it is not for me. There is nothing inherently wrong with brighter colors," Meizhen mused, standing beside them with her hands tucked into her sleeves. "The Coral Serpent families cultivate their towers and temples in a similar fashion."
Ling Qi glanced at Meizhen, trying to picture a Bai dressed in bright and gaudy colors. She failed. "Well we should head down, right? We have an appointment."
"Quite right," Cai Renxiang said briskly. "Sir Lin is quite busy, let us not be rude by making him wait."
They descended the stairs carved into the hillside, and found the path leading toward Lin Hai's workshop, paved with white stone, it stood out sharply in the darkness beneath the trees. Darkness, Ling Qi noted, that was quite artificial, given the dense dark qi infused into the leaves, causing them to cast wider and darker shadows. It was definitely for the benefit of the multitude of moths that flew and nested above their heads. Like the cocoons, they came in a myriad of colors, sizes and shapes.
In the end, she didn't pay them much mind, the spirit beasts were happy to mind their own business and she was happy enough to mind hers.
"Good thing too. What a lewd bunch they are. Wouldn't want your ears catching fire," Sixiang chuckled. "So this is the lovenest huh."
Ling Qi very carefully kept her eyebrow from twitching and ignored Sixiang as they left the shadow of the trees and stepped onto the stone path that wound through the colorful gardens that surrounded the main building. As her eyes roamed up the stairs which lead onto the wide veranda surrounding the main building, she almost startled as she met a pair of bright green eyes.
There, lounging on the railing was a beautiful woman with long golden hair and fair features, wearing a scandalous pale rose gown that left her shoulders bare and displayed a near indecent part of her generous chest. The hem of the gown barely fell past her knees, and rode almost halfway up her thigh thanks to the position she was seated in. Ling Qi barely had time to pause and take the sight of her in, along with the unsettling fact that she had not felt her presence at all, before the woman vanished in a flash of light, leaving a fox with pale golden fur and five tails to leap down from the railing then trotted off into the interior of the pagoda.
"It is just sir Lin's spirit companion," Cai Renxiang said from beside her, having not paused at all. "She is likely going ahead to announce us and rouse him from his labors."
"Of course," Ling Qi replied automatically, it was pretty obvious from a moment's thought.
"He really should teach his spirits to appear more appropriately in their human shapes," Meizhen said with a sniff.
Cai Renxiang hummed in agreement as they mounted the stairs. "Worry not, though Sir Lin has extravagant tastes in his personal appearance, he remains a master of more traditional fashions."
Ling Qi glanced down at her own dress, which was apparently the man's work. She supposed that he must be, though her concern for what was coming only grew.
"It's a good thing you don't remember most of the guests at grandmother's party very well," Sixiang chuckled.
Ling Qi kept silent as they entered the pagoda proper and came to a comfortably appointed waiting room, lined with lavish couches and hanging planters full of colorful flowers, a closed set of sliding doors awaited on the far side of the room. When she stepped through a pace behind the others, she glanced back to see the doors swinging silently shut behind them. Yet the room did not grow dark, the paper lantern hanging from the ceiling, painted with images of the dawn on all four sides managed to cast enough light that it still felt like they were standing outside.
Ling Qi had just turned back to look at Cai Renxiang, opening her mouth to ask if they should take seats, when the faint rattle of sliding doors opening cut off her words. Across the room, the doors slid apart, and dark purple mist billowed out, crawling along the floor and rising in churning strands of fog. Then lights, a beam of solar radiance that shot from the lantern overhead only to split into four smaller beams that carved a channel through the mist for the figure that emerged.
Tall and thin as a willow whip, the man that strutted from the mist had features far more fine and delicate than even most women. His long black hair was like silk, and faded to a dark purple color in the ringlets that reached his bare shoulders. He wore a billowing open chested violet, with a thick layer of feathery material around the low cut of the top, partially concealing his shoulders and chest. Ling Qi felt herself flush darkly as her gaze slipped down, and she immediately fixed her eyes on his face, rather than the skin hugging black silk pants he was wearing.
Even then, she couldn't help but notice further strange details, like the hint of color on his lips or the thickness of his eyelashes, if she had just looked at his face in isolation, she would have been almost sure that it was the face of a woman. As she contemplated that, the lights swung back in to illuminate him, then exploded into motes of light, scattering the purple mist and leaving only a few streamers curling around his sleek boots.
"Lady Ren!" Greeted Lin Hai, for who else could it be. The man stood with one hand on his hip and the other cupping his chin. A golden jeweled claw that encased his pointer finger rose to tap against his cheek. "How was the entrance? I believe I have improved since last time."
"It was very impressive," her liege replied. "A very controlled display."
"Of course that is the part you would compliment," the man said with a chuckle. "Still, I was not wholly certain how much your companions would be able to handle." The strangely dressed man before her rippled then, space seeming to stretch and warp for a bare instant as she glimpsed his unrestrained qi, vast and placid. Sights and sounds and smells crawled along the edge of her senses, a decadent riot, an endless festival of sensation just out of reach. Then it was gone, and only the man remained.
"You are preparing to take the next step then?" Cai Renxiang asked. "Mother will be pleased."
"I will not boast until my first star has bloomed, and my Elder's seal received," the peak fifth realm cultivator replied easily. "But enough of myself. I see you have brought two of my children back to see me, and their owners too at that. My apologies young Ladies, but might I have your names?"
"I am Bai Meizhen," her friend greeted first, with a shallow bow, appropriate to greeting an unrelated senior. "Thank you for the work you have already provided."
Ling Qi bowed a little deeper, as one would to a clear superior. "Sir Lin, it is an honor to meet you. I am Ling Qi. Your work has been invaluable to me."
"It was a pleasure to do a favor for Lady Ren," Lin Hai said, abandoning his pose to stroll toward them. "And a wonderful challenge to create something appropriate with such limited materials. That it brought the Young Miss to my doorstep was a welcome bonus of course."
Ling Qi glanced toward Cai Renxiang, whose expression was a touch wooden by her judgement. "Your encouragement toward irresponsibility is noted, Sir Lin, and also dismissed, as always," she said.
"Ah, it seems I have earned a rebuke, though yours are not so sharp as Master's just yet, Lady Ren" the odd man chuckled, and for a moment, filtered through Sixiang's perceptions, she thought that she caught a fleeting hint of melancholy from him. It was gone before, hidden before her muse could so much as articulate the feeling, but it left Ling Qi to wonder at the history implied there.
Lin Hai clapped his hands then and any hint that he was less than boisterous and cheerful vanished. "So, let us inspect how my children have fared over the last year," he announced brightly, stepping up to Bai Meizhen, he looked up at him with a staid expression."
"You will find no fault with my maintenance, Sir Lin," her friend said evenly, managing to look up at the taller man without craning her neck, in that odd way she had.
"Of course not Miss Bai," he dismissed, inspecting her carefully. He flicked his golden clawed finger at the air above her shoulder, and shimmering spectral threads rose, dancing around the man's fingers. "At yet the impression of this child's experiences will allow me to determine the best way to improve upon the original weave."
"...Are our gown's alive already then?" Ling Qi asked tentatively, thinking back to what her gown had done in the dream, and a few other moments of odd reaction.
"That is a more difficult question than you might think young lady," he replied not looking up from the complex weave that had formed over her friends shoulder. "There are many degrees of life, you will find, but in the traditional sense no. I am not my Master, such craft is beyond me for the moment, but their potential lies closer to the surface than most." He flicked his fingers again and the spectral threads dissolved. "You are a redoubtable young woman indeed Miss Bai. It seems this child is a good match. I know just the materials to use for your improvements and custom pieces."
He turned then to Ling Qi and repeated the motion, with his fingers, however, the threads he drew from her shoulder sparks and snapped like oil from the pan as they wrapped around his fingers. Lin Hai's eyebrows climbed to his hairline. "...I see you have met my Master as well," he said mildly. "Lady Ren?"
"She is a direct retainer of Cai, Mother granted me certain dispensations," Cai Renxiang replied carefully. Bai Meizhen glanced at Ling Qi with pursed lips, but did not ask the obvious.
Ling Qi just remembered the thread of Liming she had accepted back then and looked down at her gown uncomfortably.
"Well, Master does as Master wills," Lin Hai said cheerfully, peering down with narrowed eyes at the incomprehensible pattern of sparking and snapping threads that curled around his fingers. "So I am afraid that I will not be able to improve on your gown directly Miss Ling. This girl has a seed of self , and I will not alter that. But my, what a jealous daughter, I will have to be careful in fixing your accessories so that she does not take offense."
"Why do you refer to my gown as a she if it is not alive yet?" Ling Qi asked, plucking at her sleeve, she sensed no spirit in the threads, but she wasn't going to say that the gowns maker was wrong.
"Because she is a girl, of course," Lin Hai said in amusement. "Miss Bai's gown is not quite so far along just yet."
"I should certainly hope that my gown does not develop into a man," Bai Meizhen said, with a voice as dry as a desert.
"Unlikely as it is, I will not preclude the possibility," Lin Hai shot back, his painted lips curving slightly up. "It would not do to confuse the poor dear before they are even developed enough for there to be a difference. It is not my way, nor my Master's way to repeat the mistakes of nature in our work."
Ling Qi's eyebrows drew together in confusion, she wasn't really sure what to make of that statement. She glanced to Renxiang, who merely shook her head very slightly. Some kind of private matter then?
"...Very well," Bai Meizhen said after a moment, though her tone was dubious. "I suppose it is not an important matter for the moment."
"Indeed, proud as I am of my work, without Master's touch it will still be some decades yet," Lin Hai said agreeably, stepping away. Let us away to my boutique then, and we can begin laying out your options."
The three of them followed Lin Hai back through the doors from which he emerged, entering a long hallway. Many rooms opened off of it, some closed and some open. It reminded her somewhat of Zeqing's home, in the way things seemed to move when in the corner of her eye and the strangely stretched feeling of the space within. Several times in the side rooms where vast looms and collections of tailors tools spun and cut and stitched, she thought she spotted the fox woman again, doing various tasks. Or perhaps several similar looking spirits, it was difficult to tell.
"I can't tell ya, mature fox spirit's are some of the tricksiest out there, and I'm not up to seeing through a five tail's illusions," Sixiang murmured. The muse did not seem so much wary as deeply curious and a bit on edge. Ling Qi could understand, it felt uncomfortably warm in here, thanks to the solar qi suffusing the air. She supposed that was purely her however, neither Meizhen or Cai Renxiang showed any signs of discomfort.
Soon they came to a room filled with a riot of color, gowns and robes and cloaks hung like a glittering jungle from displays all around, shoes and slippers and boots of every make lined shelves around the show floor.
"And here we are, let us begin your consultations," Lin Hai said airily. The odd man snapped his fingers, and his outline wavered like the reflection in a disturbed lake. In the next moment there were three of him, one facing each of them.
Bai Meizhen glanced her way. "I would prefer to be able to give and receive some advice from my companions," she said neutrally.
"Of course young miss," Lin Hai said, speaking from three mouths. "I know how much fun it is for young ladies to critique and advise one another, however I need determine your indivudal tastes before I can present the best options.
"Hm, very well," Meizhen replied after a moment, and nodded to Cai renxiang and Ling Qi. "I will see you in a moment then."
"Indeed," Cai Renxiang said gravely, turning toward the section of display where the more metallically textured pieces hung.
"See you both," Ling Qi added, nerves causing her to slip in her diction a little. However, her concern was swiftly assuaged as one of the Lin Hai's lead her away. They were not leaving the room, both of her friends were still in sight, though the sounds of their conversations with their own images were muted to her ears.
"I am glad that Lady Ren's description of you was so exacting. Darker hues most definitely fit you," Lin Hai said idly as he lead her to into a forest of dark cloth and silk. "Now, I have heard of your troubles. What sort of image is it that you wish to present?"
"I had thought that you would be the one to tell me that," Ling Qi replied wryly. "I've been told that my taste is somewhat lacking."
"Nonsense, nonsense," the core disciple replied with a dismissive flick of his fingers. "Oh, I can certainly advise you on trends. Court fashion is trending toward lighter garb and away from the swimming in silk look popular under his honored Highness An, and that is in no small part thanks to my Master, but my role is ultimately to guide one to destination that my customers choose. Sometimes that means guiding my clients to whatever fashion will give them an advantage in the game of court, but…" He paused, meeting her eyes with a thin smile on his painted lips. "You do not seem like the sort for masks and self deception. The Argent Mirror is a little troublesome like that."
Ling Qi flicked her eyes away from his. Well, this was someone on the cusp of becoming an Elder in the Argent Sect. "...I am not really sure to be honest," she pondered how to speak her thoughts. "This gown… I love it," she admitted. "It's the nicest thing I have ever owned, and it reminds me that I am not weak anymore, that I don't have to be. I don't want to cause trouble for Lady Cai though, and wearing the same thing all the time apparently does that."
Lin Hai gave a wry chuckle. "Well, I cannot say that I am displeased to see a child of mine so cherished. However, yes society does not much smile on wearing the same clothes every day," he let out a curious hum and reached over, plucking at the hem of her cloak. Ling Qi felt it waver and shift. The heavy mantle changed, transforming from a heavy mantle to a light half cloak of deep violet, and then again, silk writhed like a serpent, transforming into a sky blue ribbon of silk that wound around her shoulders, floating softly in the air.
Her eyes widened. "...I didn't know it could do that." She knew she could make the mantle appear and disappear at will, but she didn't know it could change like that.
"She darling," Lin Hai said absently, brushing the tip of his golden claw across the silk, the pattern changed, transforming from plain blue to complex pattern that looked like moving, falling snowflakes. "The mantle was always made to change, but Master's enhancement gave far more versatility. Hm, yes. I think what you need are merely options. Alternate panels and layers, a few more pairs of shoes, perhaps some lace inserts for your sleeves. Your hair would complement gemstones well, so perhaps something could be done with that."
Ling Qi remained silent as the craftsmen spoke to himself. "I do not think I should like anything too bright," she said carefully, avoiding the use of the word gaudy. Across the room, she saw Meizhen inspecting a long and winding cloth, similar to the one her mantle had currently become.
"Of course not, silver is your color, perhaps with ground onyx or jet, perhaps some dark amethyst, or perhaps some paler blues if we wanted a bit of brightness," Lin Hai hummed. "Before I think further on the matter, what sort of talisman do you think you are looking for today."
Ling Qi was glad to return to something she had a little more confidence in. She had discussed the matter with Meizhen after the embroidery session and the girl had sold her on the idea of hand jewelry, the little arrangement's of bracelets and rings connected by chains or charms that she had seen some people wearing now and then. It was something that originated in the Thousand Lakes apparently, popular among the more daring sort of Bai ladies. She glanced at Lin Hai's own golden claw, she didn't want something that ostentatious though. "I was thinking of some kind of hand jewelry, with moon imagery maybe? I use many sustained constructs and techniques in battle, so I need something that will help defend me from an enemies efforts to dispel them."
"Been sparring with the Young Miss quite a bit I see," Lin Hai chuckled.
"...Yes," Ling Qi admitted.
"Hmm, I believe it should not be difficult to whip up something of the sort," he mused, gesturing idly toward a display case which held a plethora of gleaming jewelry, rings and bracelets and charms rose into the air like a glittering school of fish and swam through the air toward them. "Though that does bring me to the other matter. What do you think of Lady Ren, miss Ling."
Ling Qi blinked, then blinked again, glancing across the room, to where Cai Renxiang stood stiffly, discussing something with another Lin Hai, as she watched, the copy struck another pose as a winding belt of thick gold links slithered off of a display shelf to circle around him. "I… am not sure what you mean, Sir Lin," she replied carefully.
"I mean what I said. Lady Ren is dear to me, but I cannot say that the feeling is mutual," he said with a sad smile. "I am glad to see that she has finally made a true friend in your other companion, but in the end, you are the one who will be standing at her side."
Ling Qi restrained herself from looking around nervously. She was reminded that this man was an apprentice of Cai Shenhua, was this some kind of test. "I am glad to serve Lady Cai, she has been very generous to me."
"Not precisely what I mean," Lin Hai struck a thoughtful pose, cupping his chin with his clawed hand. "Hm, let me share a secret then, so that you might share yours," he leaned in lowering his voice conspiratorial. "It was I who was charged with Lady Ren's safety as an infant, and fended off those who sought to extinguish the Cai in the crib. I watched her first steps and her first words, and I watched as my Master, great though she is, erred terribly in introducing that bright girl into her presence for the first time at such a young age, when she could not hope to withstand her mother's attention and inspection."
The man's cheerful and irreverent tone had faded with very quickly, becoming quite grim by the end. Ling Qi only felt her nerves grow though, she remembered the terrible radiance of the duchess' gaze and the weight of her presence. Something like that wasn't something she wanted to know.
"Young Lady, my Master knows my thoughts quite well, it is not as if I could keep them from her," Lin Hai chuckled. "My Master is merciless indeed, but it not dissent that she punishes. So understand, when I ask you what you think of Lady Ren, it is as a fond uncle whose niece no longer trusts him for his part in certain events."
Ling Qi calmed herself, forcing herself to forget the duchess for the moment. This was not the time for courtly prevarication. "...She is someone who I trust, and I believe in the path she wants to walk," she replied after a long pause. "I… don't know how to approach her any further though."
"Understandable," Lin Hai sighed, absently gesturing to the swarm of jewelry swarm over head, three silvery reflective discs darted out to circle around his fingers. "Still, I must ask you, please try, whatever she might say of herself, she remains a girl like any other. The damage is done, but it is not something which Master can fix."
Ling Qi remembered the fear she had sensed from her liege when her mother had announced that they would be spending the evening together. "...You make it sound like she wants to fix it," Ling Qi replied warily.
Lin Hai paused in his inspection of the discs. "Perhaps. Master does not know regret in the way that you or I might. She does not and cannot hold back, her nature does not allow it, and so a child has the full weight of her expectations carved into their bones, before they can even comprehend such concepts fully, but Master does recognize the need for support. Diao Linqin, Wang Jun, Jia Hong; without them, Master could not have accomplished her coup."
"...Then why the impossible tasks," Ling Qi asked in frustration, thinking of her own concerns over Sect rank, and Gan Guangli's seemingly untenable task.
"Because mediocrity cannot be abided," Lin Hai replied. "Master does not seek to hurt, but she will do so without hesitation if she judges it to be beneficial."
"...How do you speak so fondly of her then?" Ling Qi asked, troubled.
"There is no grand reason," he said self deprecatingly. "Only that without her, I would still be a sullen and mediocre lady of the court, amounting to nothing. It is quite a selfish reason, but as you said of Lady Ren… I believe in her."
Ling Qi wasn't sure of how to respond to any of that and so she lapsed into silence as his attention turned back to her talisman. She glanced back over to Renxiang, and lost herself in thought.
Three Moon's Chime: A Talisman made by Master Lin Hai, apprentice of Cai Shenhua. Consists of a silver ring and wristband, connected by fine chainlinks. Attached to the chains are three charms carved from colored jade representing the Dreaming, Hidden and Grinning Moons, tiny bells hang from the links between the moons, letting off a please chime when the wearer moves, if they do not desire silence. Images of butterflies and songbirds mark the wristband, etched into the silver with powdered ruby.
+15 to Resist
Activation: When targeted by a technique which would dispel an effect on or cast by the user, they may activate this talisman to absorb a hostile dispel up to three times per combat. The user may only absorb techniques of B rank or below as modified for potency. Absorbed techniques cause none of their effects. Each technique absorbed grants a charge increasing the Talisman's resist bonus by 5. Absorbed techniques do not persist outside of combat. Only techniques used by opponents of the same realm grant charges.
Dreaming +40 to Physical
Grinning +60 to Physical
Hidden +75 to Physical
+20 domain xp
XP Backlog
Luo Hunt & Bao Qian
+1 Vanishing
+1 Intensive Focus
+1 Government
+2 Survival
+2 Speech
+2 Empathy
Xiao Fen training +General Combat training
+2 Blades
+1 Woodwind
+1 Sable Grace
+1 Unarmed
Month Vote Time!
Funds
Income:
Sect: 2 Green Stones 40 yellow
Liege: 3 Green Stones
Expenses:
Household Expenses Increase! (Pills/Medicines)
Cost defrayed by Cai contacts
+4 Red Stones per month
Household: 10 red stones
Spirits: 2 Green Stone -Paid by Cai
206 Red Stones
397 Yellow Stones
26 Green Stones
172 Sect Points
35 Contribution Points
How many stones will you use?
4 Free Green stones automatically used due to cultivation arts and sites
[] Additional Stones
How much will you invest in pills and medicine this month?
Low-5 dice for 5 red stones per action
[] Medium- 10 dice for 15 red stones per action Provided freely from Cai Renxiang
[] High- 20 dice for 25 (40-15) red stones per action
[] Very High- 30 dice for 60(75-15) red stones per action
What would you like to cultivate this month? (Select 1 subvote per category)
[] Physical Cultivation
[] Spiritual Cultivation
[] Meridian
-[] Head, Heart, Spine, Arm, Lung, Leg
[] Argent Genesis
[]Sable Crescent Step
[] Argent Current
[] Argent Storm
[] Curious Diviner's Eye
[] Unlearned Art (replace with desired art
[] Take Sect Jobs(Earns Sect Points 11-20 per AP, provides penalized exploration roll)
[] Perform Sect Duties (Earns Contribution Points 1-4 per AP, provides a penalized exploration roll)
[] Exploration Via New Moon Sect Map (MAX 2 AP)
[] Research Arts in Sect archive (Max 1 AP)
[] Research Formations in the Archive(Max 1 AP)
[/] Xiao Fen Tutoring (1AP, Locked)
[/] Household Time (1AP, locked)
Oh hey, canonical transman representation. Nice to see how trans folks fit into heavily gendered metaphysics, though it's a little unclear whether Master Lin's physical transition was powered internally (by his own domain and Way) or by Shenhua's external intervention somehow -- I could read "without her, I would still be a sullen and mediocre lady of the court" as either "she did something because she's badass" or "by serving her I grew more powerful and was able to make the external world reflect my inner truths."
Also I love that his domain is basically "I am a New Wave British pop star." Fantastic.
It is time again for a cultivation plan vote. This turn we want to finish what we started last turn, cultivating our cultivation art. However, we also had the archive dive and got a whole bunch of shiny new arts from it and we want to train them of course.
The plan I would like to propose is this one:
[X] Plan: All the options
-[X] Medium Pills (free)
-[X] Resources: 12 GSS, 8 YSS (4 free GSS, 8 from cash, 8 free YSS) , EPC Drip on Spiritual Cultivation
-[X] Buy and hold a Ebon Spirit Elixir for 60 SP, for use on a future turn
-[X] Buy and hold a Trench Swimmer's Pill for 60 SP, for use on a future turn
-[X] Spiritual Cultivation (4 AP)
-[X] Physical Cultivation (4 AP)
-[X] Songseeker Ceremony (3 AP)
-[X] Argent Genesis (2 AP)
-[X] Meridian (2 AP; 4 Head Meridians)
-[X] CDE+ (1 AP)
-[X] Social 1 (1 AP) (Social 1 is the art with the most social votes)
-[X] Social 2 (1 AP) (Social 2 is the art with the second most social votes)
-[X] Xiao Fen (1 AP)
-[X] Family (1 AP)
-[X] Equip Three Moon's Chime, unequip Fleeting Moonlight Shawl
Vote for Social (approval voting, top 2 choices get trained this turn)
[][Social] Moon Sprite's Inquiry
[X][Social] Playful Muse's Rapport
[][Social] Moonless Saboteur's Smile
[X][Social] Melodies of the Spirit Seekers
Next an explanation: First, we are going back to medium pills, because high pills are too expensive, and we wouldn't really profit from it this turn. We want to keep cultivating both base cultivations with 4 AP each, which should allow us to reach Bronze 3 this turn (100% chance) and make good progress towards Green 4. Both Xiao Fen and the Family get an AP each (we don't really have a choice there).
This brings us now to the cultivatation arts:
First Argent Genesis can max out using 2 AP with a 98% chance. If someone thinks these odds are too little, here is the omake table for it:
+ 0 xp = 98%
+10 xp = 99 %
+20 xp =100 %
Since we finished EPC last turn, we can now start with the Songseeker Ceremony (SSC). Here, @Eternal_Observer has said that they intend to commit around 6 omake points to it, which means we decided to only use 3 AP on it. The omake table for reaching SSC 2 with 3 AP is:
+ 0 xp = 55 %
+10 xp = 64 %
+20 xp = 71 %
+30 xp = 78 %
+40 xp = 86 %
+50 xp = 90 %
+60 xp = 93 %
+70 xp = 96 %
+80 xp = 98 %
+90 xp = 99 %
+100 xp = 99 %
This leaves us 5 free AP. If we want to use our shiny new arts, then we need quite a few more Head meridians than we currently have, so we want to spend 2 AP on opening 4 of them. This leaves us still with 3 free AP. This means it is time for art votes. We intend to use 1 AP to get the first level of the CDE successor (100% chance for both options) and to start on 2 of the social arts that we got from the archive. To be blunt, we couldn't agree on which arts are better and usually this wouldn't be a big deal. This time however it would mean that each social art combo would need to be done twice (once with each CDE successor. Doing this the usual way could easily end up with 6+ plans that look mostly the same.
We are doing it differently this time: we vote on it directly. There are placeholders in the plan, and you can vote on what art you think are the better option:
If you want to reread what these arts are: you can find them in turn 6: Arc 2-1
First, we need to choose the CDE successor, so you can vote between Roaming Moon's Eye and Casual Diviner's Poise.
Second, we have 2 AP left, so we can start the first level of two of the 4 social arts. Note, we are using approval voting so you can vote on however many options you like.
Oh and to prevent the vote from getting too salty: we still want to train a 3rd social art in the future, so if your favorite doesn't win, you can probably still get another chance for it
Below is an example for how a vote this turn can look like:
[] Plan: All the options
[][CDE+] Roaming Moon's Eye
[][Social] Playful Muse's Rapport
[][Social] Melodies of the Spirit Seekers
As always, if you find any errors I made or if I forgot something, feel free to let me know.
Oh, and the reason I post this one early is to give others the chance to write something about the options we have and what they. The 2 hours moratorium still exists.
Edit: i added the new darkness pill to the plan, since it is really good value for the planned darkness art cultivation turn
The quest has been block voting for almost the entire thing, and the structure of the vote itself was the effect as a subvote of the object it was attached to.
The quest has been block voting for almost the entire thing, and the structure of the vote itself was the effect as a subvote of the object it was attached to.
It really is, the first person in my mind when I was imagining his look was David Bowie. Ren has an amazing uncle and I hope we get to see more of him, because now I'm curious what his fox spirit is like.
That plan seems pretty good. I'm inclined to go for PMR and MSS for our social votes at any rate, the two are effectively comprehensive for social affairs, and fit Ling Qi's style like a glove.
MoSS won't be online in time for the upcoming scouting mission, so it's fairly safe to put it off for now.
Also, someone pointed it out earlier, but Lin Hai is technically a viable tutor for Core Tutoring until he breaks through to Violet and becomes an Elder. And he's shown the inclination to give a hand to Renxiang by proxy. It seems a cheat way to get effectively Lesser Elder training on a Core Disciple budget.
Oh hey, canonical transman representation. Nice to see how trans folks fit into heavily gendered metaphysics, though it's a little unclear whether Master Lin's physical transition was powered internally (by his own domain and Way) or by Shenhua's external intervention somehow -- I could read "without her, I would still be a sullen and mediocre lady of the court" as either "she did something because she's badass" or "by serving her I grew more powerful and was able to make the external world reflect my inner truths."
Also I love that his domain is basically "I am a New Wave British pop star." Fantastic.
I read it as meeting and interacting with Shenhua helped him to understand and realize himself
Like how Bao Qingling admires her for similar reasons, as a person who doesn't quite conform properly into society she seeks to follow the example of one who forces the world to conform to her instead
Also, someone pointed it out earlier, but Lin Hai is technically a viable tutor for Core Tutoring until he breaks through to Violet and becomes an Elder. And he's shown the inclination to give a hand to Renxiang by proxy. It seems a cheat way to get effectively Lesser Elder training on a Core Disciple budget.
I read it as meeting and interacting with Shenhua helped him to understand and realize himself
Like how Bai Qingling admires her for similar reasons, as a person who doesn't quite conform properly into society she seeks to follow the example of one who forces the world to conform to her instead
Uh, he's got a lot more skills than just tailoring and sun-lake stuff I'd point out. You don't get to the cusp of Violet as a one trick pony--by that point, you're turning as much of the world as possible into your 'One Trick'
Across the room, the doors slid apart, and dark purple mist billowed out, crawling along the floor and rising in churning strands of fog. Then lights, a beam of solar radiance that shot from the lantern overhead only to split into four smaller beams that carved a channel through the mist for the figure that emerged.
I read it as meeting and interacting with Shenhua helped him to understand and realize himself
Like how Bai Qingling admires her for similar reasons, as a person who doesn't quite conform properly into society she seeks to follow the example of one who forces the world to conform to her instead
