I might as well ask @yrsillar about the drugs now.
@yrsillar, can Ling Qi use high drugs only for training art? Like, doing 4 AP worth of training EPC and using high drugs for that action while using medium drugs for the rest, or can we only use high drugs as all-or-nothing?
It seems to make sense to focus on using drugs only for certain arts, but on the other hand it may be too much bookkeeping to bother with.
I might as well ask @yrsillar about the drugs now.
@yrsillar, can Ling Qi use high drugs only for training art? Like, doing 4 AP worth of training EPC and using high drugs for that action while using medium drugs for the rest, or can we only use high drugs as all-or-nothing?
It seems to make sense to focus on using drugs only for certain arts, but on the other hand it may be too much bookkeeping to bother with.
Ling Qi grinned as talons of black diamond ruffled her hair with the winds of their passing, and faded back into the mist, eyes locked on her opponent.
Shen Hu doggedly followed her trail, eyes aglow with the colors of sunset, but quickly, he found himself lost again in the mist. It was interesting new trick he was working on, and the primary thing she was helping him hone. As Ling Qi circled him casually playing her melody, she once again felt the brush of his qi as another pulse washed over the field they sparred in. This time though, the half formed technique didn't slide off of her like the water from a ducks wings however, the warm placid qi stuck.
His faintly glowing eyes snapped to her in an instant, his right hand whipped up and the talons he had been striking at her with breaking away from his gauntlet with a sound like shattering glass, launching three gemstone daggers her way. Ling Qi twisted in response, smoothly avoiding the first two, while the third flew through her suddenly phantasmal shoulder, trailing black mist.
"Looks like you got it down," Ling Qi said, lowering her flute and straightening up.
"Seems like it," Shen Hu said with a satisfied grin, coming out of his combat stance.
"Uh huh, 'he's' got it," Sixiang replied amused. "It's definitely a spirit, that guy doesn't have a drop of lake qi in his own meridians."
'Be nice, he hasn't said anything about you brushing off his techniques either,' Ling Qi chided in her thoughts. If Shen Hu wanted to maintain the pretense that his second spirit didn't exist, she wasn't going to be rude and press the matter. Out loud, she said, "You're getting better at working the throws into your style too."
"Not good enough though," he grumbled scrubbing a hand through his hair as he gauntlets crumbled into sparkling dust. "The big attacks are too draining, but the little ones are still too slow and awkward."
"Or I'm just too fast," Ling Qi replied just a little cockily. Xiulan was a bad influence on her.
"Or your just too fast," he replied agreeably. "Your qi just never runs out does it? How did you cultivate so much?"
"You know I can't answer that," Ling Qi said wryly, waving away the last dissolving strands of mist, allowing the morning sun to once again shine down on the grassy field. The four stone pillars sitting at the corners slowly stopped humming the formations carved into their surface powering down as the qi of battle faded. She had to hand it to the Sect, training fields that blocked any outside observation from beneath the fourth realm were a great salve to her conscience.
"Hm, I guess so," Shen Hu mused. "Did you want to practice hitting me with something? I kinda feel like I'm taking advantage."
"Like I said, I'm working on defense, avoiding your attacks is enough." Ling Qi dismissed. While she was nearing mastery of another Step of her movement art, she also felt like her improvement was slowing down when it came to her mundane ability to avoid attacks. Perhaps because she had relied so much on Thousand Ring Fortress in the Tournament, or because she had pushed the knowledge on reading enemies and efficient movements from Elder Zhou's lessons as far as they could go.
"I'd say to look into Grandmothers art but… you're not there yet," Sixiang mused.
"Well, if you say so," Shen Hu replied, stretching his arms above his head before falling back into a combat stance. "So no mist this time?"
"No mist," Ling Qi agreed. Not quite looking at him. Xiulan really had infected her. Shen Hu could be distracting at times. "It'd defeat the point if you had to spend half of your time finding me."
Shen Hu nodded, and Ling Qi let her meridians flood with dark qi. She wouldn't let herself slow down now. Besides, sparring was more relaxing than most of her other responsibilities.
Cultivation: Green 2/Bronze 2
Health A5, Qi C25
Speed C5(B burrowing), Initiative C15
C. Perc. C10-B(?)
Phys Def
Avoid: C10, Armor B20
Spir Def
Avoid B25(?), Armor C
Phys Off
Hit C25, Pen B25
Spir Off.
Hit C20-B(?), Pen C25
Primary Elements: Earth, Water
Secondary Elements: Wood
?? Elements: Lake, ?
Between keeping up with her friends and now trying to make a new one, Ling Qi found that she had a very thin line to walk. She needed to reach Appraisal, the second stage of the green realm as quickly as possible. Not only would it safely allow her to use more green spirit stones, and improve her cultivation, it would allow her to finally master many of her arts and begin working on the foundation of her domain in earnest.
However, paradoxically, she found herself having to put off cultivation in order to improve it later. The reason was simple, the only thing she had truly lost upon entering the inner sect was the diversity of qi loci, cultivation sites, which she had discovered last year. Her mentors home was a powerful focus of course, and the argent vent was generally useful, but still she found herself slowed in several areas.
Which meant that she would have to make use of the map of the Sect she had gained last year, and get to work discovering new ones. She surprised herself a little when she ended up invited Shen Hu along to help her push through the wilds to investigate the locations on the map.
Ling Qi still remembered her trouble with something as simple as bringing Su Ling into Li Suyin and hers search for sites. She really had changed since those days, only a year ago, hadn't she?
AP 1
28, 16, 34.
131 red stones worth of cores and reagents
21, 81, 74
Minor site, major site, 35 red stones
Special Roll +20
88+20=108
Special encounter
Shen Hu went along with her pretty easily, not even asking to see the map. She supposed that made sense though. If he intended to explore randomly on his own, what would it hurt to follow her lead?
Their first foray turned into more of a hunting trip. The location she had chosen from the map was practically overrun with beasts. Well Ling Qi couldn't help but think that that was too strong a word. It had been a nesting ground for Hundred Year Cicadas, and after a few hours of swatting fist sized bugs with oversized jaws out of the air, she had gotten frustrated and just flooded the grove with mist. Her companion took care of the underground nests. Whatever site might have been there originally was gone, it's qi drained away by the insects, but the creatures cores and wings sold for a small sum, so it wasn't totally pointless.
...They probably would have gotten more if her mist phantasms hadn't shredded so many of them.
Their next foray was a lot more fun. Hunting a pair of Stonetusk Boars felt more like actual hunting, and it was actually a bit of a challenge, limiting themselves to art-less combat. More importantly, the location her map had guided her too still contained a couple of cultivation sites. The first was a convergence of several small streams, rich in water qi, which would serve as a nice meditation spot while she worked on her new art later. The second was quite a bit better, the stand of tall oak trees, planting in a complex pattern that from above, turned out to be a qi gathering formation, was of much higher quality.
Brook's Convergence: Multiply the successes of water art cultivation by 1.2
Grove of Thirty Three: Multiplies the successes of Wood Art cultivation by 1.2. In addition add 1/10 of the successes of arts containing physical attribute keywords to physical cultivation
+1 Str, Dex, Sta
+2 Survival
+2 Unarmed, +2 Fade
However, in the third foray, and the last one Ling Qi would be able to make this month, if she wanted to accomplish all of her other plans, they found something odd. This location had been marked by a rearing stag with a moon disc held in its antlers. It had also given her a feeling of danger...but there was no risk without reward, right?
"It smells like smoke," Shen Hu said from below her, rubbing irritably at his nose as he peered down into the valley that lay before them.
Ling Qi was perched in a crouch on a low tree branch to his side, giving her a better vantage point. It appeared like any other valley between the high hills. Lush and green, with a lazily winding ribbon of blue running through its center. Yet…
It still smelled like smoke, even with not a spark in sight.
"There's no fire qi in the air or the ground," Ling Qi said with a frown. "Can Lanhua feel anything?"
Shen Hu glanced down at the carpet of rippling mud under his feet, most of his spirits mass was merged with the earth, but she remained at least a little visible. "...Nothing," he said with a frown. "She can't feel anything bigger than mice and bugs."
Which was alarming in its own right, Ling Qi supposed, a fertile valley like this should be heavily populated by spirits and beasts. 'Sixiang?' she asked in her thoughts.
She felt the odd prickling sensation of the dream spirit pushing her presence out through all of her senses as the spirit gave a little hum. "You found something interesting…. There's an old, old memory here."
'An illusion? Do you think you or I could break it?' Ling Qi thought, narrowing her eyes at the seemingly peaceful valley.
Sixiang let out a task. "No silly, it's a memory, a dream that's still hanging over the place. You can't dispel it anymore than you could dispel me."
Ling Qi frowned in frustration. 'So we can't do anything then?' She thought irritably.
She felt like the muse was shrugging. "You could head in and experience it. There's power to be found in dreams after all," they drawled. "Also, your eye candy is giving you a weird look."
"Sorry I was just lost in thought," Ling Qi said quickly, shooting Shen Hu an apologetic look. It probably looked like she had just spaced out.
"It's fine," Shen Hu replied. "What do you think? I could head in with Lanhua. I doubt anything will take us out in one shot, if it's a trap."
"I don't think it's a trap exactly," Ling Qi began slowly as Sixiang fed her more information. "It's more like...this valley is part way into a dream?" she felt Sixiang's approving nod. "So we can't sense things inside from outside properly."
Shen Hu cupped his chin thoughtfully, but she saw a spark of excitement in his brown eyes. "Oh? I've never fought in a dream before," he paused furrowing his brow. "Well not that I remember anyway. Are you coming in?"
Ling Qi couldn't help but roll her eyes at his eagerness… this guy, he really would go in with nothing but his spirit beast and not a single scrap of information. Of course, she couldn't say she was any better. She hated wasting time. There was never really any question as to whether she would brave whatever was ahead. "Yes, I will. Bring Lanhua up. You'll need to be my cover."
He accepted that so easily, she mused, as great torrents of mud rose to engulf him until Lanhua's lumpy, marsh reed covered head rose to her level. The spirit looked at Ling Qi with her pit like eyes and let out a bubbling rumble.
"I'll cover you both, I promise," LIng Qi replied. Really the mud spirit was the more sensible out of the two of them.
Making a sound like a gathering mudslide, Lanhua began to tramp down the hill, and Ling Qi followed, fading into the shadows of the canopy as she hopped from branch to branch soundlessly, as they made their way down into the valley.
The moment that they entered the range of the memory would have been obvious even without Sixiang's prodding. One moment they were standing under a bright noonday sun, and the next they were under a night sky, and the forest was burning. Lurid light made the cool dark of night into a mockery of day and plumes of smoke rose into the sky, framing a sullen crimson crescent moon.
From all around, the sounds of combat rang out. The crack of shattering trees reached their ears and the earth shook underfoot from terrible blows… and yet those distant things could not draw her attention, for in front of Ling Qi's eyes a battle raged.
An earthshaking bellow rang in her ears as a titanic spirit struck the ground with it's branch like arms. It was as if one of the ancient trees of the deeper forest had uprooted itself and been reshaped into the vague outline of a man. It's burning canopy rose more than ten meters into the night sky, and below that was a visage like a caricature like an old man, with knothole eyes and a beard of moss and lichen, flickering with embers. It had an apeish gait, with too long arms and short legs.
At the spirits feet its foe darted in a blur. It was a man of a sort. Tall, taller than any human Ling Qi had seen save Cai Shenhua, he wore a flowing and resplendent emerald robe, marked by soot and blood. In his hands was a spear of polished bronze, and from his head there sprouted a pair of horns, parting his long brown hair. His red eyes burned with fury as his darting spear punctured the spirits hide of bark again and again, seemingly to little effect.
His eyes fell upon Shen Hu and Lanhua then, and hope lit in them. "Soldiers! This prince requires your aid. Aid in striking down this mad beast, that I might go to mine Father's side!" He shouted in an archaic diction, avoiding a thunderous blow that sent dozens of hungry grasping roots writhing up from the ground to grasp and tear at the hems of his robe.
Before Ling Qi or Shen Hu could respond, the tree spirit let out a furious booming howl that sent a shiver down her spine. "You dare Oathbreaker!" It's words were foreign, a slow, consonant heavy speech, and yet Ling Qi found she could understand it. "Begone children of river and hill! We have no quarrel!"
Ling Qi heard Sixiang say something in her thoughts, but it was muffled and unintelligible. Shen Hu was glancing back in her direction, his face protruding from Lanhua's chest, looked confused and searching for guidance.
The Horned Prince
Cultivation Green 2/Bronze 2
Health B20, Qi B35
Speed B, Initiative B25
C. Perc. C20
Phys Def
Avoid: A10, Armor B
Spir Def
Avoid A5, Armor C20
Phys Off
Hit A, Pen B
Spir Off.
Hit B10, Pen C25
Burning Tree Spirit
Cultivation: Green 2/Bronze 2
Health A35, Qi B
Speed C, Initiative D
C. Perc. B20
Phys Def
Avoid: C20, Armor A
Spir Def
Avoid B, Armor B30
Phys Off
Hit B10, Pen A
Spir Off.
Hit C, Pen C
Perc. Status: Unaware(Ling Qi)
Primary Elements: Wood, Fire
This didn't make sense, she had no context, no idea what was going on…. It really was like a bad dream, she mused. What should she do?
[] Aid the prince, it was better to err on the side of the human
[] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge
[] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
Okay, so I didn't pay attention to the voting for last round cause I kind of thought Xuan Shi had it in the bag lol. Gotta admit I'm pleasantly surprised about having a Shen Hu focus.
[] Aid neither, leave them too it and go elsewhere, to try and figure out what is going on in this dream.
this is what I'm thinking because it technically means we're not like, going against what the spirit says, though it may amount to the same thing for the human.
but......someone could probably argue otherwise, so I'm not gonna vote just yet.
Remember what Machiavelli said about neutrality. We better be sure about either the cultural aspects that would make neutrality acceptable or that we are powerful enough that their resentment is not going to be a problem.
[X] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge
The other option doesn't mention anything about having a bad feeling toward the spirit, their respective attitude also makes me want to side with it rather than the prince.
Kinda disappointed at the sites. One is for goddamn water (which remains a supporting element) and the other is either useful only for TRF or for TRF and maybe boosting SCS, PLR and maybe EPC for a bit. I'd prefer a good moon site.
EDIT: Maybe the wood site would be good for Zhengui though.
On the other hand, WEILU FIGHT! WEILU FIGHT! WEILU FIGHT!
If we try to be neutral, well the spirit won't mind because it's what he expects of us, but the prince will be more difficult to interact with in the future. There's a possibility us going neutral leads to us missing the battle altogether (which might be bad, depending on who wins), but it might still rage by the time we've figured out what's going on.
Important to note the map marker was a rearing stag, which might mean that the prince wins out without us intervening.
Biggest question here is, what is actually going on.
Sixiang tried to point something out to us, but was muffled out. Which suggests that this is something that Six would know about, but that we don't, and we're the ones being tested here.
Burning Tree Spirit
Cultivation: Green 2/Bronze 2
Health A35, Qi B
Speed C, Initiative D
C. Perc. B20
Phys Def
Avoid: C20, Armor A Spir Def
Avoid B, Armor B30
Phys Off
Hit B10, Pen A
Spir Off.
Hit C, Pen C
I'd give pretty decent odds to siding with the Weilu dude as being the more favorable bet. Honestly, looking at the statblock of said Weilu dude, chances are he's fully capable of bailing once the fight turns south against him.
The Horned Prince
Cultivation Green 2/Bronze 2
Health B20, Qi B35
Speed B, Initiative B25
C. Perc. C20
Phys Def
Avoid: A10, Armor B Spir Def
Avoid A5, Armor C20
Phys Off
Hit A, Pen B
Spir Off.
Hit B10, Pen C25
Whereas the Spirit seems to have its hands full against the Weilu dude alone, and trees aren't exactly known for their ability to bug out on a moment's notice. Between that, the context clues of this memory being specifically that of a Weilu dude (The stag and the moon 'n whatnot), and the fact that Moon Dudes Give Moon Goods then I'm gonna say that siding with very obvious Weilu scion is more likely to be immediately profitable for Ling Qi.
We might get a TRF successor or some other wood based insight or boost for Ling Qi if we side with the tree that is on literal fire in what strikes me as a burned-out Ent, but ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'd rather see what the Moon Stuff would potentially give us.
On the other hand, the Weilu were famously crazy and mercurial and those Red Eyes aren't help so do whatever you think is best.
[X] Aid the prince, it was better to err on the side of the human
Mmm, from a character standpoint, and in terms of what kind of behaviour we want to encourage, I don't want to side with either.
Most people would just go with the prince, but Ling Qi isn't really a human supremacist. Some of her best friends are spirits! However, siding with the spirit on so little also doesn't seem reasonable, and just going and attacking the guy like that seems a bit off.
I think that pulling back and trying to work out what's going on is perhaps the more Ling Qi option here?
Alternatively, I guess we could argue that it's just a dream and that it doesn't matter who we side with. The goal is to simply get the most out of it that we can, and the Weilu are all gone. Spirits seem more likely to offer us good opportunities in the here and now maybe in terms of their knowledge of the land and connections?
Mmm, from a character standpoint, and in terms of what kind of behaviour we want to encourage, I don't want to side with either.
Most people would just go with the prince, but Ling Qi isn't really a human supremacist. Some of her best friends are spirits! However, siding with the spirit on so little also doesn't seem reasonable, and just going and attacking the guy like that seems a bit off.
I think that pulling back and trying to work out what's going on is perhaps the more Ling Qi option here?
To be fair, this is a dream. The real fight probably happened hundreds of years ago, and these are just memories instead of real people so we can do whatever and it doesn't necessarily reflect on how we'd act if they were real.
The whole thing presumably resets after we leave, since it's a permanent feature included in the map.
I mean, I suppose we could try fighting both? If you feel doing something risky. Maybe try to halt the fight and ask everyone what the fuck's going on?
I'm not saying they aren't meaningful, I'm saying we don't have to feel guilty if we kill one because they are on a loop. Though we might not get to visit again and play through every route, to use a video game analogy, so we should still be careful.
Neutrality is out, it's the "Opt out of dangerous encounter, but likely get no reward for it."
I'm torn though. Basically, Ling Qi's reasoning for helping the Horned Prince is... Very weak--it's straight up "If you have to be wrong, at least be wrong in favor of your own kind". Her reasoning for helping the Burning Tree however is based on her instincts, something about the Horned Prince 'Setting her on edge.'
But the rewards for helping the Horned Prince might be better for us, as he can actually give us things we can likely use.
TBH, I'm legitimately torn here, and I hope our very smart people tear into this update and previous ones to try and put together a good choice.
Alright: Looks like this was an ambush of some kind, perhaps by the Weilu if the Tree Spirits cry of Oathbreaker means anything.
Perhaps a smaller fragment of a larger conflict. The Weilu Prince appears to be the son of another Weilu involved in the conflict. What makes me curious is the fact that the Tree Spirit is burning, not because someone set it on fire, but because it's part of it's nature. That seems rather interesting, as such a spirits seems unlikely to emerge for no reason.
My guess? The Weilu set this forest on fire, for whatever reason, and the Forest is fighting back.
[X] Aid the spirit, something about the prince set her on edge
