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Among the nearly uncountable glittering stars of the Jade Constellation, there stands a world. By most standards it is entirely ordinary, for who can say how many billions of planets exist within that heavenly body? If one were to count only from among the planets blessed with life? The Sovereign of Paths granted his gift to tens of millions still. In terms of civilization? It is neither the most prestigious nor meanest of the vassals of one of the myriad states that strive under all creation. Truly it is a place that never once affected the destiny of the cosmos since it was established and only the most lunatic of diviners would tell you that it could ever produce lofty figures capable of standing among the powers of the heavens. Of course, it is often very difficult for outside observers to distinguish a madman from a prophet.  This then is the Emerald Star. Home to the similarly and appropriately named Sect of Verdant Truth, founded millions of years ago by the esteemed elder patriarch Barkheart. A quiet place where cultivators can develop their skills in harmony with nature and in accordance with the spirits... Well, in theory anyway. When you're a martial arts sect in charge of an entire planet things tend to get messy once you go below the top few links in the chain of command. Wouldn't be surprised if you could learn ANYTHING here as long as you found the right mentor, or treasure, or y'know put some thought into things. Where were we again...?   Oh right. Today marks the once per 99 years introduction of a number of new generation of martial brothers and sisters to the Sect of Verdant Truth. Individuals of the highest caliber taken from across the numerous cultures of the planet to become Wuxia, or "martial heroes." Even normally this is one of the most exciting events for the sect as it marks the transmission of its teachings to future generations. How much more so today, when it happens to be the case that several of the individuals in this class will truly be worthy of the name hero? Okay that was a lot of high-falutin' nonsense, what's ACTUALLY going on here? This is a combination Sci-Fi, High Fantasy, Wuxia RPG where 3-5 players are going to be taking the role of students in this year's incoming class of apprentices. Hopefully you'll work your way through sect politics, learn some martial/scholarly arts, and become influential figures both in the school and beyond in the greater galaxy known as the Jade Constellation. Or just mess around - I have some plot ideas in mind that'll keep people together and give some goals, but if everyone wants to follow a particular angle of their own devising I can adapt. I realize that there's a lot of stuff to cover here that will probably require additional setting description. The simplest way to think about things for now is if you took Kill Six Billion Demons and made it a little bit less chaotic and dingy in nature, then countered that by adding laser guns. RPG Well, it's going to be a little bit of an experiment. A number of RPGs are good at making characters as fully fledged martial artists, but less so at developing the pathway there. So what i'm planning on doing is having everyone roll up characters from Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (Link here, at a "pay what you want" price - https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/191631/Wandering-Heroes-of-Ogre-Gate) absent the actual kung fu powers. You effectively have the points you'll need to make starting characters for free, but in the interests of emergent storytelling you'll have to convince the members of the sect to teach you any of the cool stuff beyond uniform basics represented by stuff like Combat Techniques and Skills. What I want from people is a sheet with the following: quote:Name: While the Sect of Verdant Truth is going to have more of a traditional Chinese theme, the various cultures of the Emerald Star are wide and varied from small tribes living in the forests to dwellers in huge futuristic megalopolises. So feel free to pick as makes sense. Final Comments I am new to running games on SA and this is somewhat messy. Therefore, do not hesitate to approach me with comments or questions. I can be contacted either in the thread or at discord here: https://discord.gg/gnXGaC9 Deadlines are a week from now (the 23rd) and I hope to get started on the following Sunday. Jossar fucked around with this message at 04:21 on May 18, 2018 |
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May 16, 2018 23:29
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Withdrawn, leaving this here for maybe later, but don't think I can commit at this time. Name: Chinua Diep Na Sect Name: Little Wolf Backstory: Chinua lived out on the complete edges of the world, away from civilization, which itself was on the edge of the Constellation entirely. An idyllic life running through the still untouched rural countryside, staining her fingernails and face with the dirt and calling out nonsense names in the wind was the life she knew most. When her parents disappeared, along with their modest dwelling, with the great flooding of a river, she became known as the "thunder child" raised by no one in the village, but known and beloved to all of them. There was pity, but never was there a moment that she seemed to feel grief, or truly have the need for such a thing. In truth, the phoenix soul within her had been extinguished through the great tragedy. She had been left without the heart for sorrow, living in a bliss that was unearned, unable to truly learn from hardship. That is the state that Devil-Faced Toad found her. Despite the sinister name his deeds had earned him, Toad was a disciple of great virtue, and recognized in this child something that few others recognized due to her cheerful demeanor: The capable of innocent evil, like a wolf simply doing what it is in its nature, and believed that the Verdant Sect would do much to teach her about her place in the Constellation. Despite her wild upbringing, she adjusted well to her surroundings, and though she was a poor study, she was an enthusiastic student. No set-back or rival could deter her, as she became enamored of the kung fu the disciple Devil-Faced Toad showed her. Her desire to master it is much more worldly, a desire to be strong enough that she can do whatever she might want. Perhaps secretly her heart would long to be strong enough to never be hurt, but it is hard to say. She sees strength as equal to virtue, and the attempted example of the stories of great wuxia fighting for their ideals only seem to confirm to her that it is only the strong that can believe in anything... And maybe, if she gets strong, she will find something to believe in! Skill Groups: Defenses, Physical Skills: Hardiness 3 Parry 3 Evade 2 Athletics 2 Speed 2 Muscle 2 Endurance 2 Leg Strike 1 Throw 1 Medium Melee 2 Heavy Melee 1 Divination 1 Meditation 1 Survival 2 (Forage/Shelter) Detect 3 (Smell) Institution: Verdant Sect 1 Creatures 1 Technique: Waijia 2 Technique: Neigong 1 Language: Pathish 3 Read Script: Verdant Sect 1 Reputation: To my friends, I am irrepressible. To my enemies, I am callous. Flaws: Missing Phoenix Soul (Sorrow) Martial Disciplines: Waijia 2, Qinggong 1, Neigong 1 Combat Technique: Press (Medium Melee) Goal:
Tricky Dick Nixon fucked around with this message at 10:22 on May 22, 2018 |
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May 16, 2018 23:33
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Super interested!
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May 17, 2018 01:18
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 Backstory -- Part 1 -- A Planetary Warzone -- "Aftermath" Before I can share my story with you, I need you to be able to relate to it. You will be tempted to focus on the things that make us different, and discount my experiences as unlike your own. First, you must understand that all worlds share in certain universal truths. One of those truths is their duty to the state. On a poor world, or a distant one, that duty is often paid in young men who will become soldiers. In essence, the tax paid by a poor world is counted in the lives of its own people. You would be forgiven for thinking that this is not a universal truth, and that worlds of economic or strategic importance do not share equally in this burden. However, let me ask you this: when an invading army constructs its strategy, do they plan to attack poor, distant worlds? No. They strike at those of economic or strategic importance. It is perhaps true that the tax is paid at different times, but all worlds pay their toll eventually. I have seen this firsthand: I was a physician's assistant in a prominent hospital when the first ships arrived in orbit. Though I did not learn of this until much later, I am told that our leader was presented with a choice: forsake Our Holy Emperor, and join the cause of the invaders ...or defy them, and die. He chose the latter. Warfare staged from orbit is a strange thing. The concept of a battlefront does not exist in the same way that it does with conventional warfare. The enemy can arrive anywhere, at any time. Within mere hours, every spare bed in the hospital was occupied by scores of soldiers and twice as many civilians caught in the crossfire. Within days, it was all we could do to keep up with the casualties. At the end of the first week, our morgue was full. Three weeks after that, the hospital had been reduced to rubble. It got worse from there. In the early days, we had assumed ...perhaps naively... that help would come. We did not know the full extent of the battle that was raging across the stars. We could not know that, in the grand scheme of things, we were one of many worlds, and that they could not all be saved. It was nearly six years before the fighting stopped. I don't know what you might call the role I played during those six years. I was not a physician's assistant, because - before too long, anyway - all of the physicians I had known were dead. I was not a combat medic, because I was not formally a member of the military on either side. I simply ...tried to alleviate suffering wherever I found it. More often than not, this meant finding my way to civilians that needed my help, and doing what I could for them. Occasionally, it meant helping the remaining defense forces and resistance members that were trying to reclaim my world. Once in a while, it meant rendering medical assistance to an enemy combatant. When I tell people that, they often give me a strange look. I can understand why. All I can tell you is that, in the moment, it felt as if it was the right thing to do. It was during this time that I met him. He called himself Pious Serpent. The war had been raging for nearly four years, and the city I had once called home was now little more than piles of rubble and smoldering ash. Life was hard, but it persevered, mostly in shattered tunnels and ruined basements. When I found him, he was unconscious, but alive. He had been left for dead in the subbasement of what used to be a government building, pinned between the cement floor and half a dozen concrete slabs of what seemed to be the three or four floors above him. It was almost as if someone had thrown him through those floors, given how the rubble was piled around him. Have you ever played Jenga with a human life as the stakes? I spent the next ten hours doing exactly that. Each move was carefully calculated, removing a piece of rubble only when I was certain it would not bring the rest of the building down upon us. In time, I was able to work my way to him ...only to find that he was pinned below the hip by debris I could not hope to move. One of his legs was mangled beyond recognition, and the other seemed to be well and truly crushed. He was not dead, but this place was sure to be his grave. I'll admit, he startled me when he awoke. No man should have been able to maintain consciousness in those conditions, as the pain should have been unbearable. And yet, he was conscious. In a raspy, ragged voice clearly starved for water, he asked me whether I was friend or foe. I told him that I did not know, but that I meant him no harm, and I gave him water to drink. His thirst quenched, he asked me what I meant. I told him that I had tried to free him, but that he was pinned between slabs of rock I could not hope to lift. I told him I wished to save his life, but that it seemed there was no way to do so. He asked me why I would do this, without knowing whether we were allies or enemies, which in turn meant my efforts could be rewarded with my own death. I explained to him that, as I saw it, he needed help and I was able to offer it. In the moment, the choices available to me were to try to help a man that I might be able to save, or to ignore his suffering. I told him that I did not have a choice. He was quiet for a long time. When the silence became awkward, he told me a story from his youth. I remember his words clearly: "When I was a boy, I fell into a hole in the ground. I was broken, and could not climb out. I might have died there, but a stranger came along and saved me. He said it was his obligation. That for help he had once received, he must in return help twelve others, each of whom would then help twelve others, so that good deeds would spread out like the ripples from a pebble thrown into a pond." He told me that he was one of this man's twelve. We both knew that there was nothing I could do to free him. It was plain to both of us that even if he could be freed, his injuries were too severe. He didn't ask it of me, but I stayed there with him for three days, until he died. During this time, we talked about the things I had seen during the war. We spoke of the people I had been able to help, and those that I had not. We talked of how beautiful the city had been, before all of this had happened. And we talked about how it might become beautiful again one day, when all of this was behind us. I did most of the talking, though this didn't seem particularly strange to me at the time, given his situation. When his death began to draw near, it seemed as if he could sense it. He told me that I owed him nothing, and had already done more than enough, but that he would be forever grateful if I could honor his last request. I told him that I would do what I could, if it were within my power. I don't know what I was expecting, but what he asked of me caught me by surprise in its simplicity. He asked me to return to his homeland, and find the man who had saved him when he was a boy. He asked me to deliver a medallion to this man, some sort of talisman he carried with him around his neck. He asked me to tell this man how he had lived, and how he had died. And he asked me to tell this man the things I had already told him, of the people I had saved, and the people I had not been able to save. Backstory -- Part 2 -- Imperial Transport -- "The Right Thing" It seemed an odd request, but I had no reason not to honor it. The hardest part, of course, was surviving the war. When the dust settled, quite literally, my homeland was essentially uninhabitable. It would take decades of rebuilding before a population could be sustained, and centuries before anything resembling the world I remembered could be rebuilt. If I am being honest, I was grateful for an excuse to leave, if even just for a little while. Having helped hundreds of people during the war, I had a good reputation as a medical practitioner. When the blockade was finally lifted, it was not difficult to trade my services as ship's doctor in exchange for passage offworld. A direct course wasn't available, but after bouncing around for a little over a year, I was finally able to secure passage to The Emerald Star. I would honor my promise to the Pious Serpent, and deliver news of his death to those he left behind, a group of people calling themselves the 'Verdant Truth'. pre:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: ??? Reputation (ally): Unorthodox
Sect Name: Iron Cobra Reputation (enemy): Calm
Race: Artificial Intelligence
Qi: 1 Wounds: 0 / 3
Goal (PC): A wise man accomplishes his goals without love of glory, without love of violence.
Goal (player): I'm actually really interested in a game that combines martial arts and space opera elements.
I have no idea how to combine these two things in a way that it all fits, but I hope you pull it off.
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Martial Discipline Ranks (4 points)
Waijia -- weaponry 1 / 3
Qinggong -- dexterity 1 / 3
Neigong -- chi 1 / 3
Dianxue -- pressure point 1 / 3
Imbalance 1
Combat Technique: Deflect (light melee)
You know how to parry effectively against incoming blows.
You gain a +1 bonus to your Parry when you do not move.
Skill Disciplines:
Defense 12 points [Primary]
Combat 6 points [Secondary]
Physical 12 points [Primary]
Specialist 6 points [Secondary]
Mental 6 points [Secondary]
Knowledge 6 points [Secondary]
Flaw (1): Secretly Evil + 3 points
• You have a secret agenda of your own that is directly in conflict with the rest of the party.
This need not be truly evil but it must potentially put you at odds with the goal of the party.
Because the goals of the party may not be known initially, this flaw can be detailed and played
out in the first few sessions of the campaign.
Flaw (2): Talk of the Town + 1 points
• As an artificial life form, you are particularly uncommon in nearly all parts of the universe.
You are the frequent target of odd stares, curiosity, and fixation.
As a result of this, it is virtually impossible for you to keep a low profile for extended periods.
Flaw (Fated): Yes + 2 points
• Fate has singled you out for some purpose or reason.
The player should not know what his fate is. This is determined by the GM.
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DEFENSE (primary -- 12 points + 6 flaws)
Hardiness = 5 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 3 base value]
Parry = 5 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 3 base value]
Evade = 5 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 3 base value]
Stealth = 9 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 6 base value + 1 qi]
Wits = 9 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 6 base value + 1 racial]
Resolve = 8 [3 points -- Rank 2] [2 rank + 6 base value]
COMBAT (secondary -- 6 points)
Light melee + 3 [6 points -- Rank 3]
PHYSICAL (primary -- 12 points)
Athletics + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
Speed + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
Muscle + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
Endurance + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
SPECIALIST (secondary -- 6 points)
Medicine + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
Meditation + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
MENTAL (secondary -- 6 points)
Empathy + 2 [1 point -- Rank 1 + 1 racial]
Reasoning + 2 [1 point -- Rank 1 + 1 racial]
Detect + 2 [3 points -- Rank 2]
Expertise: Hearing [1 point]
KNOWLEDGE (secondary -- 6 points)
History + 1 [0.5 points -- Rank 1]
Creatures (humanity) + 3 [3.0 points -- Rank 1]
Expertise: Cybernetic augmentation [0.5 points]
Expertise: Education [0.5 points]
Institutions
(Imperial bureaucracy) + 1 [0.5 points -- Rank 1]
Language (Pathish) + 3 [Racial -- Rank 3]
Read script (Pathish) + 1 [0.5 points -- Rank 1]
Read script (sect) + 1 [Sect -- Rank 1]
Classics + 1 [0.5 points -- Rank 1]
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Racial Advantage -- +1 Empathy / Reason / Wits
Racial Penalties -- -1d10 to Command / Deception / Persuade against other races
Racial Gift -- Flexible Mind
• Because your mind is made up of multiple egos, each capable of thinking independently, you can perform up to
six mental tasks at a time.
• At character creation and for advancement during play, Knowledge Skills cost half the normal amount.
• This also affects any Skill roll that involves thinking alone. This pertains mostly to Mental Skills and Knowledge
Skills, allowing you to make a Reason Skill roll and an Empathy Skill roll as a single action.
Racial Curse -- Multi-Ego
• Each Ego has its own distinct personality and motivation.
Generally the egos function collectively and agree upon courses of action.
Sometimes one ego manages to dominate the others and runs amuck.
Whenever you experience great physical or emotional stress check to see if the egos become unbalanced by rolling
1d10 against the character’s Resolve (examples of such stress include taking 2 Wounds in a round, making an
Endurance roll, and so on). If the result equals or beats the Resolve score, then roll randomly to determine which
personality is dominant. The player should play that personality for the full day.
This could result in extreme and unusual behavior for the character. The personality must be played to the hilt, as
if freed from years of confinement. If the result of the Resolve roll is a 10, then the personality is desperate to
enact some sort of scheme or plot against the other egos. This is not self-destructive. The ego does not try to harm
the character but rather assert itself. The GM should determine what this is and explain it to the player. While in
this state of inner conflict, take 3 extra Imbalance Points for Cathartic use of Kung Fu Techniques.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Waador fucked around with this message at 06:02 on May 28, 2018 |
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May 17, 2018 01:20
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 Yue Lixue, the White Fox Lixue hails from the emerald farmlands that surround the bustling heart of the Emerald Star, a place of relative peace and plenty. There are the raids by the bandit clans, the occasional demon traipsing through the village, or the not-so-occasional freak weather systems, but life is largely good and fulfilling. Lixue's family is poor, even for a bunch of farmers, and despite her apparently slim frame she's put in just as much hard labor as her many — many — brothers. Part of it is a simple joy in a job well done, part is guilt over the trouble she's caused her family. When Lixue was born, her family's fortunes began to fall. Friends and nearby farms cut off contact, thinking that Lixue's pure, white hair indicated something malign. A curse or, worse yet, that she wasn't mortal at all. Foolish superstition, naturally, though Lixue's natural talents for violence and physical feats were astounding and surely caused those that witnessed her deeds to wonder. She didn't seek out fights, far from it, but she won every contest she was forced into. When the Black River Society tried to demand tribute from the land upon which her family farmed, it was her that sent them packing. When brigands tried to waylay the Yue family hovertruck, she blocked them at every turn. Yet, for all her latent talent, she never once thought that she'd be chosen as a disciple of the Sect of Verdant Truth. As it happens, she was simply making the last delivery of the season when some inscrutable portent drew the eye of Three-Lives Jade Phoenix. The disciple, rumored to have reincarnated twice before, was widely agreed to have an uncanny sense when it came to the workings of fate. Lixue didn't even have a chance to make an excuse about returning to help her family prepare for the winter ahead before she found herself within the sect's walls. quote:Name: Yue Lixue Tricky fucked around with this message at 06:13 on May 17, 2018 |
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May 17, 2018 03:51
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Name: Guo Songyang Sect Name: Laughing Magpie  Gate to Prosperity. One of the major spaceports on the planet. A large portion of the imports and exports, little as they are on a galactic scale, come through here. It is a hub of trade and commerce. A lot of people come there to try to find a future more than farmwork. Perhaps even dream of a ticket off world. Few ever make it, and so there are slums filled with the poor and desperate. The distracted attempts from the planetary government were woefully under equipped to do more than make sure trade wasn't threatened. It was here that Guo Songyang's father, Guo Fengxian had a dojo. He wasn't a famous master or anything, but skilled and dilligent, and tried to help people defend themselves. He was lawful, honest, filial and direct, and trained Guo Songyang to follow in his footsteps. Then came the Titanium Fist. Following a philosophy that the best way to bring peace and harmony, is to make a maximum bloody example by those who disrupted it, and aided by a doctor who gave many in the gangs cyberware that put them a step above normal thugs, they were brutal.. Rival gangs had their leaders being made example off, and their martial talents compared with their ability in causing terror, brought gang after gang low. Soon, they held control over drug trade, slave trade and many more illegal activities. Guo Fengxian spoke out against them. A confrontation was inevitable. And sadly, Songyang's father's courage was at least as great as his enemies, but his kung-fu was not. he was beaten, and in front of his child, murdered in a brutal fashion by their leader, Metal Titan, who was more machine than men. And Songyang learned, though not quite the lessons that were hoped. A man, Yuan Wei, who his father had once uncovered as a conman and a thief took pity on him, and raised him as his own, though that also meant having him as an accessory to all his scams. He learned to lie, to disguise, to hide, he learned the courage of the gambler and the thief, to risk the wrath of those mightier than you, and trust on wits and speed to be your shield. Yet Songyang saw how the Bloody Peacebringers held the people in an iron grip of fear, and he targeted them. When he was 18, Wei said that he needed to leave the city, because he was getting to known, and proposed Songyang to leave the place behind. Yet Songyang stayed. He started to become a flea in the Bloody Peacebringers pelt. They made a business of brutally crushing all who took a stand against them, but Guo Songyang never took a stand. He wore a hundred disguises, told a thousand lies, and again and again, Bloody Peacebringers were publicly humiliated. Money he stole was given to the desperate and the poor. Noone dared to laugh in the open, yet behind the scenes, they were laughed at. Songyang relished it, the thrill of the gamble, whether in games or on a caper, was more tempting to him than wine or women. And one day, there was an old woman dressed in rich clothing with a fat pouch walking through the slum. And Songyang felt that she could miss that pouch. Dressed as a wretched woman beggar, he got close, and when there were several actual beggars keeping her attention he managed to swipe her purse. Only to have the woman manage to immediately realize it. And keep up with his fast run, and recognized him even when he dumped his disguise and looked like a male peddler. And managed to spot him when he figured he'd gotten a real good hiding space. When he just about managed a desperate jump and she idly jumped after him, he realized he wasn't going to outrun her. He tossed her money off the roof, hoping she'd go after it, but she seemed indifferent There was a brief fight, where she mainly seemed to count coup, while he desperately tried to land a hit on her. In the end, she tapped him three times on his body, and he fell paralyzed to the roof. As he slowly recovered, she calmly told him that she was Infuriating Old Hag, that all of this had been a test. Of his skills, his courage and his morals. And he had passed. She offered him training. And he took her up on it. quote:Skill Groups: Defenses, Mental Shogeton fucked around with this message at 20:09 on May 27, 2018 |
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May 17, 2018 03:52
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For people making characters (or making sure you like your build) you may find it easier to use this as a template. I'd suggest just deleting the lines you don't end up using as otherwise it ends up ten times longer than it needs to be. I have tried to include notes on all the key things to consider though obviously you will have to read the book as well. pre:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: ??? Reputation (ally): ???
Sect Name: ??? Reputation (enemy): ???
Race: ???
Qi: 1 Wounds: 0 / 3
Goal (PC): ???
Goal (player): ???
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Martial Discipline Ranks (4 points)
Waijia -- weaponry ? / 3
Qinggong -- dexterity ? / 3
Neigong -- chi ? / 3
Dianxue -- pressure point ? / 3
Imbalance ? [Highest Rank]
Combat Technique: ???
Skill Disciplines:
Defense ? points
Combat ? points
Physical ? points
Specialist ? points
Mental ? points
Knowledge ? points
Note: You may pick two primary disciplines (12 points) and 4 secondary disciplines (6 points).
You may also pick the scholar discipline (24 points in knowledge) and all other disciplines become secondary.
You may also 'gut' disciplines (0 points) to gain additional points in other disciplines (PHB page 30 for detail).
You may also take flaws (below) to gain additional points for skills.
Flaw (1): ??? + ? points
Flaw (2): ??? + ? points
Flaw (Fated): Yes / No + ? points
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Skills:
[1 point -- Rank 1]
[3 points - Rank 2]
[6 points - Rank 3]
DEFENSE
Hardiness ? [? points] [? rank + 3 base value + ? qi]
Parry ? [? points] [? rank + 3 base value + ? qi]
Evade ? [? points] [? rank + 3 base value + ? qi]
Stealth ? [? points] [? rank + 6 base value + ? qi]
Wits ? [? points] [? rank + 6 base value + ? qi]
Resolve ? [? points] [? rank + 6 base value + ? qi]
COMBAT
Arm strike + ? [? points]
Leg strike + ? [? points]
Grapple + ? [? points]
Throw + ? [? points]
Light melee + ? [? points]
Medium melee + ? [? points]
Heavy melee + ? [? points]
Small ranged + ? [? points]
Large ranged + ? [? points]
PHYSICAL
Athletics + ? [? points]
Swim + ? [? points]
Speed + ? [? points]
Muscle + ? [? points]
Endurance + ? [? points]
Ride/Drive (???) + ? [? points]
Sail/Pilot (???) + ? [? points]
SPECIALIST
Medicine + ? [? points]
Divination + ? [? points]
Meditation + ? [? points]
Talent (???) + ? [? points]
Trade (???) + ? [? points]
Survival (???) + ? [? points]
Ritual (???) --- [? points]
MENTAL
Command + ? [? points]
Persuade + ? [? points]
Deception + ? [? points]
Empathy + ? [? points]
Reasoning + ? [? points]
Detect + ? [? points]
KNOWLEDGE
History, the Era of the...
(Thundering March) + ? [? points]
(Great Emperor) + ? [? points]
(Compassionate Daughter) + ? [? points]
(Demon Emperor) + ? [? points]
(Five Kingdoms) + ? [? points]
(Two Kingdoms) + ? [? points]
(Eastward Bound Invaders) + ? [? points]
(Northern Horse Riders) + ? [? points]
(Dutiful State) + ? [? points]
(100 Pieces) + ? [? points]
(Righteous Emperor) + ? [? points]
(Glorious Emperor) + ? [? points]
Creatures
(animals) + ? [? points]
(demons) + ? [? points]
(humanity) + ? [? points]
(insects) + ? [? points]
(monsters) + ? [? points]
(ghosts and undead) + ? [? points]
Martial disciplines
(Waijia) + ? [? points]
(Qinggong) + ? [? points]
(Neigong) + ? [? points]
(Dianxue) + ? [? points]
Institutions
(criminal underworld) + ? [? points]
(Imperial bureaucracy) + ? [? points]
(military organizations) + ? [? points]
(religious organizations) + ? [? points]
(sects) + ? [? points]
(societies) + ? [? points]
Religion/Gods
(cult of Hen-Shi) + ? [? points]
(Dehua) + ? [? points]
(Gushan) + ? [? points]
(Qi Zhao) + ? [? points]
(the Majestic Lion Cult) + ? [? points]
(Yen-Li) + ? [? points]
Classics
(the 26 stratagems) + ? [? points]
(book of fortunes) + ? [? points]
(book of laws) + ? [? points]
(glorious histories) + ? [? points]
(rites of Wan Mei) + ? [? points]
(sayings of Kong Zhi) + ? [? points]
(scripture of Sun Mai) + ? [? points]
Places/Cultures (???) + ? [? points]
Language (racial) + 3 [Racial -- Rank 3]
Languages (???) + ? [? points]
Read script (???) + ? [? points]
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May 17, 2018 19:30
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 Aiman Batyr, the Clear Skies Thunderbolt "Once my friends, not long ago, we rode the steppes between stars. Fed our herds on bounty grown in the light of white dwarves, gathered the detritus of supernovae to cast our arrowheads. No, not in those great floating tents of yours- these "ships". At the moments The Way was opened, our steeds simply trotted where they needed to." "Speaking of, there's a huge sale on EVA suits at Spacy's right now. Wanna come with? We could get milk tea after!" Aiman hails from the great herding clans that have roamed the galaxy's grasslands for millennia. An odd choice of student for a school of cultivators, but she's here now and there's not much the Verdant Path has been able to do about it. It is, after all, hard to argue with an application shot directly into the fingers of Founder Barkheart's statue from at least a mile off. Even when the only parts of said application that weren't barely legible were clearly dictated to a panicked local scribe. Batyr was a chosen child, first found as a toddler running with a pack of fearsome hybrid wolf-deer. At just five years old she'd felled a marauding cactus boar in its fetid bio-lab lair. At ten she'd saved a giant landship-dwelling hermit crab from the AI that tried to possess it. Or...so it is said in her humble home-horde of Arakhan. They are proud to a fault of their prodigious daughter; Aiman's penchant for acts of strength and her endlessly positive attitude have made her quite the local heroine. Each of their tales has a grain of truth to it, but they are nothing that would reach the ears of your average arcology sorghum farmer. Not yet. Riding everywhere atop her stout space-capable steed Börte, she strikes a bizarre image to your average Emerald Star city slicker. Her conduct, too, seems just a little too guileless. Aiman's often found asking cyber-eyed gangsters for directions to the kinema, or blundering into the affairs of assassins and hit-droids with apologetic regularity. Surely, folks ask, a Verdant Truth candidate would only do that as act? It is not an act. Aiman is just optimistic to a fault, bold enough to roam into the dangers of the galaxy and strong enough to avoid being marked by them. The mind-bendingly complex world of the Asteroids and Nebulae is to her a chance for thrilling adventure and travel. Some have managed to perceive this truth; the Sunlight Sage Qing, for instance, believes Aiman to be an easily manipulated path to the secret arts of the nomadic clans. Those plotting against Qing and her co-conspirators in the Verdant Path are also keeping a close watch on things. But will any plans hatched around Aiman really go as advertised? pre:Skill Groups: Defenses, Physical
Defenses
Hardiness = 7 [Rank 3 + 1 Qi] [4 rank + 3 base value]
Parry = 5 [Rank 2] [2 rank + 3 base value]
Evade = 4 [Rank 1] [1 rank + 3 base value]
Stealth = 6 [Rank 0] [0 rank + 6 base value]
Wits = 7 [Rank 1] [1 rank + 6 base value]
Resolve = 7 [Rank 1] [1 rank + 6 base value]
Combat (2 flaw pt):
Heavy Melee (Expertise: Great Mace) 2
Small Ranged (Expertise: Composite Bow) 2
Physical (1 flaw point):
Athletics 1
Speed 1
Endurance 2
Muscle (Expertise: Lifting) 3
Riding (Mechquine) 1
Specialist:
Survival (Expertise: Forage/Shelter) 1
Medicine 1
Meditation 2
Mental:
Detect 2
Empathy 2
Knowledge:
Creatures 2
Culture (Grasslanders) 2
Technique:
Waijia 2
Neigong 2
Language:
Pathish 3
Flaws: Fated (2), Unintelligent (1)
Combat Technique: Bow Rider (Small Ranged)
Gear: Börte (Ox mount), Composite Bow(3d10 damage | +1d10 accuracy), Great Mace (Muscle + 4d10 damage | -1d10 accuracy)
Known Techniques:
-Rain of Arrows
-Intercepting Arrow
-Storm of Arrows
-Tai Lan's Staff Strike
-Iron Spirit Reversal
-Master Teaches Student
Reputation: To my allies, I am cheery. To my enemies, I am worryingly cheery.
Goal:
Aiman's goal is to go on a merry romp across the galaxy itself, meeting with strange creatures,
testing her might, and noshing upon delicious cuisine.
My goal is to have lots of fun misunderstandings driven by Aiman's bull-headedness, especially ones involving villains.
For better or worse, she should immerse herself in the galaxy around her and let it affect her with an open mind.
I'd prefer if her Fate, whatever it might be, were rather convoluted and hard to figure out instead of a clear prophecy.
Bendigeidfran fucked around with this message at 06:58 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 17, 2018 19:33
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Thanks to Waador for the sheet writeup. As discussed in the Discord, the various branches of Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Classics), and Knowledge (Religion) are going to be collapsed into singular skills because given the scope of the game trying to memorize a particular set would be impractical.
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May 17, 2018 20:39
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 Sheh Li was born in the hinterlands of the Gulong Hills, far from any of the civilised regions of the Emerald Star. The land is dominated by competing clans, eking out a meagre subsistence from farming, herding and banditry, sheltering in their distinctive tulou forts from reprisals and raids from their neighbours. Li had little interest in managing his portion of the Sheh clan's lands, but he was a fierce fighter, whether in defense of his home, or when raiding someone else's. Despite the neglect he showed his lands, and his comparative youth, his achievements on the battlefield made him wealthy, and respected in his clan. All this was cut short when, in the middle of a raid on a neighbouring clan, a moment of careless arrogance left Sheh Li's arm sliced to the bone. In the great cities of the Emerald Star, an injury like this could be healed in a matter of months, but in the Gulong Hills, it was potentially life-threatening. He survived, eventually, but at the cost of much of his arm. Once he had recovered, he found that he had lost much. His status and his wealth had both come from his sword arm; with that gone, the rest had followed. At this point, a more sensible person might have resolved to do the best they could with what they had, and settle down to life as a farmer; Sheh Li, on the other hand, continued training, trying to adjust his swordplay for use with one arm, and took to obsessively challenging the clan’s warriors to sparring matches - fights which he rarely won. Meanwhile, his lands and herds fell into even worse neglect, and he was reduced to living on the grudging charity of his clan. His persistence, if not his success, drew the eye of Wind Rider, one of the disciples of the Sect of the Verdant Path, who saw that Sheh Li had few prospects left in the Gulong Valley. If he took to discipleship with the same dedication he gave to his swordplay, however, then he might just have a future within the Verdant Path. pre:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Sheh Li Reputation (ally): Too Reckless
Sect Name: One-Fanged Cat Reputation (enemy): Brave
Race: Human
Qi: 1 Wounds: 0 / 3
Goal (PC): To regain the status and pride he once had as a warrior.
Goal (player): Right now, he's mostly concerned with his status in other people's eyes. I'd like to play out an arc where he starts caring more about his own evaluation of himself.
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Martial Discipline Ranks (4 points)
Waijia -- weaponry 2 / 3
Qinggong -- dexterity 1 / 3
Neigong -- chi 1 / 3
Dianxue -- pressure point 0 / 3
Imbalance 2
Combat Technique: One-armed Swordsman
Skill Disciplines:
Defense 12 points
Combat 12 points
Physical 6 points
Specialist 6 points
Mental 6 points
Knowledge 6 points
Flaw: Missing Arm + 2 points
-2 to Parry (-1 with One-Armed Swordsman combat technique), -1d10 to Arm Strike, Grapple, Throw, Athletics and Swim.
Cannot use 2-handed weapons, and may take additional penalties as appropriate.
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Skills:
DEFENSE [13 points]
Hardiness 5 [3 points] [2 rank + 3 base value]
Parry 6 [6 points] [3 rank + 3 base value + 1 qi -1 flaw]
Evade 5 [3 points] [2 rank + 3 base value ]
Stealth 6 [0 points] [0 rank + 6 base value]
Wits 6 [0 points] [0 rank + 6 base value]
Resolve 7 [1 points] [1 rank + 6 base value]
COMBAT [12 points]
Grapple + 2 [3 points]
Medium melee + 3 [6 points]
Expertise: Jian [1 point]
Heavy melee + 1 [1 points]
Small ranged + 1 [1 points]
PHYSICAL [7 points]
Athletics + 1 [1 points]
Speed + 1 [1 points]
Muscle + 2 [3 points]
Endurance + 1 [1 points]
Ride/Drive (Horse) + 1 [1 points]
SPECIALIST [6 points]
Medicine + 1 [1 points]
Meditation + 2 [3 points]
Survival (Mountain/Hill) + 1 [1 points]
Expertise: Harvest [1 point]
MENTAL [6 points]
Command + 2 [3 points]
Persuade + 1 [1 points]
Empathy + 1 [1 points]
Reasoning + 1 [1 points]
KNOWLEDGE [6 points]
History + 1 [1 points]
Creatures (animals) + 1 [1 points]
Religion/Gods + 1 [1 points]
Classics + 1 [1 points]
Places/Cultures (Gulong Hills)+ 1 [1 points]
Language (Pathish) + 3 [Racial]
Read script (Pathish) + 1 [1 points]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jo Joestar fucked around with this message at 03:12 on May 24, 2018 |
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May 20, 2018 04:10
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 Zhen Zijing Still working on a decent sect name The pouring rain mixed with her tears. The bones of her arm made an audible creak as they were twisted in the man’s iron grasp. She cried out in agony, forced to her knees, settling in the pool forming at the base of the alleyway. But she still refused to let go of the knife in her hand. The man’s voice was deep, full of an irritatingly smug mirth and an accent she did not know. “You are a very angry little girl.” “Let me go! I’ll kill you.” She spit and snarled, crying out in anguish when her efforts pulled at her strained arm. Eventually, her shoe found purchase on his ankle and she managed just enough give to wriggle away until the man’s fast hands grabbed her by the hair on her head, then her shoulder. “But it is not me you want to kill. You want to kill him.” The man motions across the passage to the neon-lit street-side noodle bar, where a young scarred man and his tattooed friends in cheap suits swap drinks. “You might even do it, but what then? That man is worth nothing - certainly not the life of a little girl. Who is he?” “You don’t know anything! Let me go!” He swats at her wrist, once, twice, then a third time until the knife slips from her grasp into the gutter. The flame of her fury starts to sputter and she just sobs, “New Shoes Lu. He takes everything! Every week! M--m-my mother… We can’t...” Her cheeks flush with anger again and she makes another bid for freedom. The man’s brows lift, and for once, she actually looks at her captor - he hardly seemed real. A lean pillar of muscle, hewn from basalt, head shaved bald, with a clipped-short ashen beard. She couldn’t fathom any age at all, merely ‘not young.’ He hoisted her up by the collar of her shirt, raising her to eye level. “Lu? That red suit, those men serve Hexed-hand Lee. You know this, girl?” She scowls, trying to avoid eye contact - something about this man’s black eyes felt like everything would be laid bare if she held his gaze too long. He goes on, “Hexed-hand Lee serves Broken Jaw Lin. These men are Tong Lung Gwan.” She spit in the puddle beneath them even as he sets her down, “So.” He laughed uproariously, the peel of laughter echoing off walls of the tight-packed domicile blocks around them. Across the street, New Shoes Lu casted a look toward the dark alley then returns to his noodles and cohorts. “Bold. Very bold. You broke my root, girl - my footing.” He lifted his foot for emphasis, “Be proud, few can claim that. How old are you?” She wiped at her eyes, “Twelve.” “And so tall already. What is your name?” “Zhen. Zi, I mean...” “Where do you live?” She points to the second story of one of the nearby habitation units, a tiny dilapidated coffin. Placing a heavy hand on her shoulder, he led her around the corner back to her home, “I am called Shi Laoshi now, but I will tell you a secret - when I grew up here, in this place, I was called Cliff Face Fei. Little Zi, I would very much like to speak to your mother.” ~ Zhen Zijing was born in the lower reaches of a tenement hive called Prosperous Garden, clustered around the planet’s largest spaceport, Gate of Prosperity, simply too deep in the snarl for magistrate’s attentions to reach, left to the mercy of criminal brotherhoods and thugs like, well, her father. She was first-hand witness to their predations - her father killed in some pointless many-layered gangster plot, her mother tapped for rent on top of rent, protection fees and other abuses. Only a fated encounter on a desperate night with Shi Laoshi, the Stone-body Teacher, set her on a path any different from another lost soul in the Garden. He took on little Zi (though ‘little’ only relative to him) as a student and assistant, giving work to her idle hands, fruit for her yearning mind. He recognized in his pupil a good potential, and a poisonous anger; a great heart, and a terrible wrath. He would temper that with the steadiness, discipline and wisdom. She sought revenge against the men who tormented her and her mother - he counseled her to rise above the notion of revenge, and to master herself then seek remedies from a place of knowledge and wisdom. It is a difficult lesson, and one she still wrestles with. Shi Laoshi would instruct her for two years - then leave for two years before returning to teach her again. In this, she had two instructors - her sifu and the Garden, and while she was proud to claim the former, the latter shaped her just as much. Seven years into her training, she crushed New Shoes Zi’s ankles and agitated a community revolt against the Tong Lung Gwan Red Pole Broken Jaw Lin. Eight years on, Broken Jaw Lin’s weakness was seized upon by Five Eyes Wu who took control of the Garden and immediately rained retribution on the unruly residents to bring them in line. Zi survived the reprisal. Her mother did not. In her ninth year, her sifu returned to a pupil humbled and ashamed by her failures, more ready than ever to heed his lessons, chastened by her loss and suffering - but also harboring that much more conflict inside her. And at the end of the tenth year, Shi Laoshi, seeking to show his pupil that the Prosperous Garden is but a small dot on this planet, itself a small dot in the Jade Constellation, brought his student with him when he left to return to consult with the Sect of the Verdant Truth. pre:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Zhen Zijing Reputation (ally): Righteous
Sect Name: None For Now Reputation (enemy): Ferocious
Race: Human
Qi: 1 Wounds: 0 / 3
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Martial Discipline Ranks
Waijia 1 / 3
Qinggong 1 / 3
Neigong 2 / 3
Dianxue 0 / 3
Imbalance 2
Combat Technique: Fists of Iron
Skill Disciplines:
Defense 12 points
Combat 9 points
Physical 13 points
Specialist 6 points
Mental 6 points
Knowledge 6 points
Flaw (1): Foul-Temper + 1 points
Flaw (Fated): Yes + 2 points
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Skills:
DEFENSE
Hardiness 3 [6 points] [3 rank + 3 base value + 0 qi]
Parry 2 [3 points] [2 rank + 3 base value + 0 qi]
Evade 1 [1 points] [1 rank + 3 base value + 0 qi]
Stealth 0 [0 points] [1 rank + 6 base value + 0 qi]
Wits 1 [1 points] [1 rank + 6 base value + 0 qi]
Resolve 1 [1 points] [1 rank + 6 base value + 1 qi]
COMBAT
Arm strike + 2 [3 points]
Leg strike + 2 [3 points]
Grapple + 2 [3 points]
PHYSICAL
Athletics + 1 [1 points]
Swim + 1 [1 points]
Speed + 1 [1 points]
Muscle + 3 [6 points]
Endurance + 2 [2 points]
SPECIALIST
Medicine + 1 [1 points]
Meditation + 2 [3 points]
Talent (Dance) + 1 [1 points]
Survival (Cities) + 1 [1 points]
MENTAL
Command + 2 [3 points]
Persuade + 1 [1 points]
Reasoning + 1 [1 points]
Detect + 1 [1 points]
KNOWLEDGE
Institutions
(Criminal Underworld) + 2 [3 points]
History (Emerald Star Politics) + 1 [1 points]
Places (Prosperity) + 1 [1 points]
Language (racial) + 3 [Racial -- Rank 3]
Read Script (Pathish) + 1 [1 points]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Goal (PC): Zhen hopes to master herself & her temper - to grow beyond being an angry, hurt little girl to a wise master like her sifu, but one who actually effects change. She wants to be A Hero! Goal (player): Zhen is on a journey from being a thuggish kid with a good heart, but kind of want to see if she turns out to be a level-headed protector, or a heavy-handed punisher. Might cool to grow beyond just hitting people into like, space politics or more abstract realms! It’d be neat to try to apply her Thoughts About Justice or Righteousness to larger scale things - she's very much opposed to the idea of seclusion and cloistering. Zhen the Conqueror! Also, her experience is fairly limited to one hyper-specific corner of the universe (her hellish slum) so it will be fun to put her in weird or fancy or otherwise very distant situations from that. Ambivalent fucked around with this message at 11:49 on May 28, 2018 |
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May 22, 2018 10:11
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Applications are closed! Since we ended up with 6 applicants, I have decided that for the scale intended, I might as well take everyone. Just let me get a few days to organize my thoughts and then i'll make a starting post.
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May 24, 2018 05:12
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Here are some player icons to get us started. -- Yue Lixue,  -- Guo Songyang, the Laughing Magpie. -- Aiman Batyr, the Clear Skies Thunderbolt. -- Sheh Li, the One-Fanged Cat. -- Zhen Zijing, one still earning her code. -- ???, the Iron Cobra.The Party Journal is also available. Everything is coded in as it reads currently, a few things that need to be finalized (qi allocations, creature skill point allocation, martial discipline ranks) and inevitably a few tweaks before we start I imagine, but for the most part things look pretty solid. Technically the character creation section says we start "with a set of clothes, one weapon and another item, plus 2,000 spade coins." Should we worry about this (as I don't think most people have bothered with gear) or what circumstances are we going to kick things off in the first post?
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May 24, 2018 06:14
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Your gear (presumably at least some of which is metal) is standard. My original idea was to have you show up with nothing but the shirts on your back, but at least one character sort of needs the money for a mount so it seems unfair to have that be the case for one and not all.
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May 25, 2018 01:48
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What if we just have REALLY nice shirts on our backs
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May 25, 2018 02:46
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There is a problem that exists with the Inauguration Ceremony of a class of the Sect of Verdant Truth - the vast majority of the sect members are at least somewhat interested in the proceedings, barring those who have utterly shed all forms of worldly attachment after a long period of existence. But a large proportion of the sect does not reside on planet, either serving in the armies of the Qilin Hegemony, or adventuring through the stars in order to gain experience for themselves. A solution has been devised for this, albeit one that is rather clunky in terms of execution.  Hovering far above the proceedings is something that could be most accurately described as the Emerald Star's most demented teapot. It is truly a marvelous treasure, as any cultivator of the Sect of Verdant Truth who wishes to attend the ceremony from far off need only use a projection technique to cast their spirit from wherever it may be into the teapot. This is the function of the actual teapot, most of the various gizmos and gadgets attached to it allow for a secondary function, the projection of those spirits in the form of hard-light holograms to stand in the bleachers and observe the ceremony. In practice this is rather pointless as all of the individuals within the teapot can communicate with each other and through the teapot, with the local sect dwellers. Instead this serves the much less important, but still necessary goal of providing pomp and circumstance to the ceremony and impressing the hell out of the entering class as the sect members take their place in a manner more impressive than even the biggest light show on the rest of the planet. There nevertheless remain a number of individuals here in the flesh. The remaining members of the class above the entering one, as well as the full sect members in residence. Sadly this does not include the Sect Leader as he has quite literally rooted himself to his current spot somewhere on the mountain and very rarely moves except in the case of exceptional circumstances. Nevertheless, as the slightly over a hundred disciples sit in the field adjacent to the pavilion it is clear that this is probably among the biggest ceremonies they are ever going to see in their time here at the sect.  After the preemptory hubbub and settling down, a young woman, dressed in a bright yellow robe and with a sword seemingly made of solid gold at her side, walks out of the pavilion to address the various disciples. "Greetings, young disciples! I am Resplendent Jin and it is my honor to welcome you to the Sect of Verdant Truth. Know that you stand at the very height of the world, for not only is this ceremony conducted on its tallest mountain..." A brief moment of laughter can be heard from several of the disciples and the members of the previous class. If those older laugh at the joke or have found it to lose its humor... well, they are too far away to tell for certain. "But serves to mark your entry into its guardians and protectors. For that is the First and most important Law of the Sect of Verdant Truth - 'Those of the Sect shall place, as their highest priority, the protection of the Emerald Star.' For this reason, to ensure that the Emerald Star shall have protectors in perpetuity, we have and continue to take all kinds of exceptional individuals. Those with the capacity to become heroes, who in performing deeds of valor shall bring peace and honor to our home..." At this point you, yes YOU disciples, notice that the majority of the upperclassmen have stopped paying attention to the speech and have begun to talk among themselves. As it often turns out, the concept of the ceremony is supremely important but among wuxia, who are the freest and most spirited members of society, the actual execution is a bit more chaotic than one would expect from normal hierarchies. So to each of you, I ask the following questions in general as you respond to the ceremony: Is there anything in particular that you are looking to hear from this speech or would notice by its absence? Does anyone try to start up a conversation with you during the speech. If so, do you address them or ignore them? quote:Yue Lixue, the White Fox Given what you were doing before you came here, this sounds perfectly in accordance with your philosophy. Perhaps Three-Lives Jade Phoenix was right and this is fate after all? Or would you rather be at home helping your brothers with the harvest? quote:Guo Songyang, the Laughing Magpie Lofty sentiment indeed, but you know better. But the Titanium Fist, those Bloody Peacebringers, also had lofty sentiment and their deeds were harsh and cruel. You were brought here for your morals, but do you think the people here truly have any? quote:Aiman Batyr, the Clear Skies Thunderbolt By the standards of many you are bizarre, but the experiences here are equally so to your own eyes. What is the most amazing thing here to you? What is an otherwise mundane thing you'd like to see present on the mountain? quote:Sheh Li, the One-Armed Cat Your persistence has finally paid off and you have made it to a place where you can truly devote yourself to swordplay. But you find yourself in the company of many strong warriors. Let's not focus on the people who can explode boulders with their fists, though. How do you think you measure up to the other members of your class? quote:Zhen Zijing The spectacle is nice... but you came here to be a hero! Regardless of whether the sect believes its words or not, do you think this place is a good crucible for producing heroes? quote:the Iron Cobra You only meant to deliver a message, not get involved with the Sect of Verdant truth. Have you delivered the message already or were you whisked away to the ceremony before you could do so? If the latter, do you have a plan for approaching someone to inform the Sect of Pious Serpent's death? Do you have any plans for your future here, now that it appears to be set in stone?
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May 27, 2018 19:01
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'Iron Cobra' > 0 / 3 Wounds > 0 / 13 Imbalance Hardiness (5) / Parry (5) / Evade (5) / Stealth (9) / Wits (9) / Resolve (8) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Plot posted:...Inauguration Ceremony of a class of the Sect of Verdant Truth... The ceremony -- whatever it was -- had nearly started by the time he made his way along the trail to the plateau. With all the chaos that comes with a large gathering of people, he had been unable to find an official-looking person that might be able to direct him to the appropriate person to speak to, so he did the logical thing: he followed the crowd of people also queuing in line, and sat in their general vicinity, figuring he'd have a chance to speak with someone after the whole thing died down. He wasn't in a hurry, after all, so what could be the harm in waiting and observing whatever local ritual he'd gotten himself mistakenly involved in? His reservations began to grow, just a little bit, when they brought out the giant clockwork teapot. When the teapot began to fire off dozens of disco lasers that manifested into holographic projections of humans, who promptly took up residence in the nearby bleachers to observe the ceremony, that seed of reservation began to grow. Resplendent Jin posted:"Greetings, young disciples! I am Resplendent Jin and it is my honor to welcome you to the Sect of Verdant Truth. Know that you stand at the very height of the world, for not only is this ceremony conducted on its tallest mountain... but serves to mark your entry into its guardians and protectors. For that is the First and most important Law of the Sect of Verdant Truth - 'Those of the Sect shall place, as their highest priority, the protection of the Emerald Star.' For this reason, to ensure that the Emerald Star shall have protectors in perpetuity, we have and continue to take all kinds of exceptional individuals. Those with the capacity to become heroes, who in performing deeds of valor shall bring peace and honor to our home..." Either way, it didn't really matter, he supposed. If they were a cult of religious fanatics, he didn't really want to draw attention to the fact that he didn't belong, because he wasn't really in the mood to be burned at the stake for being a witch, or whatever their equivalent phobia might be. In the same vein, if they were a sect of martial fanatics, he didn't really want someone to punch him in the face as hard as they possibly could, whether it was to punish him for infiltrating the ceremony without an invitation, or to test his mettle, or to test his literal metal. Thankfully, at least so far, all eyes had been on the ceremony and the massive light show that accompanied it. Given that he had arrived late, he was towards the back of the crowd, and hadn't drawn much attention to himself just yet. He didn't really have the benefit of subconscious decision-making, but he did defensively tighten the drawstring on his hood, pulling it tighter around his face to hide the fact that he was a ...bit... of an outlier relative to the racial profile of the rest of the crowd, sticking his hands into his jacket pockets after doing so. He just needed to avoid drawing attention for a little bit, that seemed achievable, so long as everyone remained focused on the ceremony. Plot posted:At this point you, yes YOU disciples, notice that the majority of the upperclassmen have stopped paying attention to the speech and have begun to talk among themselves. As it often turns out, the concept of the ceremony is supremely important but among wuxia, who are the freest and most spirited members of society, the actual execution is a bit more chaotic than one would expect from normal hierarchies. Plot posted:Is there anything in particular that you are looking to hear from this speech or would notice by its absence? Plot posted:Does anyone try to start up a conversation with you during the speech. If so, do you address them or ignore them? Plot posted:Iron Cobra -- You only meant to deliver a message, not get involved with the Sect of Verdant truth. Have you delivered the message already or were you whisked away to the ceremony before you could do so? If the latter, do you have a plan for approaching someone to inform the Sect of Pious Serpent's death? Do you have any plans for your future here, now that it appears to be set in stone? He also found himself wrestling with a deeper question, being, what now? As far as he could tell, based on how this ceremony had gone, from a legal perspective he was 'in'. Politics were a strange thing, but he didn't expect that a response of 'oops, this has been a terrible misunderstanding' would be received well, particularly after witnessing what he assumed was considered to be a sacred ceremony. Bigger picture, he supposed, what did he really have to lose? Whether they were a religious cult or a martial one, he had nothing but time on his hands. His homeworld wasn't going to be rebuilt any time soon, and he wasn't exactly a construction worker, nor did he particularly enjoy the thought of becoming one. In this particular case, the path of least resistance appeared to be to roll the dice, join the cult, and see what comes of it. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Expertise (+4): Knowledge (humanity) -- [cybernetic augmentation] and [education] Skill (+3): Melee (light) / Knowledge (humanity) / Detect (hearing) Skill (+2): Athletics / Speed / Muscle / Endurance / Medicine / Meditation / Empathy / Reasoning / Detect Skill (+1): Knowledge (history) / (imperial bureaucracy) / (classics) / (read script) Inventory (ready): --- Inventory (stowed): Clothing / Dagger (plasma scalpel) / Yellow Phoenix Pills (x3) / Talisman of the Pious Serpent (plot item) 0xp / 2,000cr / Journal __________________________________________________________________________________________ Waador fucked around with this message at 08:16 on May 28, 2018 |
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May 28, 2018 08:09
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甄子菁 She is early - very early - what else did she have to do but arrive? She sought out Shi Laoshi, her old master, but none could say they’d seen him. He had told her, things would be different here - she would not have one master necessarily, but would learn from many. The opportunities would be myriad and she had but to provide the willing mind - it would be filled. The tall, wiry girl looks over the crowd that begins to assemble. She’s no stranger to crowds, but this is a far different sort than any that packed the Garden. Zi can’t help but feel a little bit self-conscious in her older, worn clothing - doubly so when the beauty and grace that is Resplendent Jin arrives and prepares to make her remarks. She hunches down and tries to disappear into the crowd reflexively. The whole display - the chamber, the crowd, the projections - is enough to make her gawk at first, but she chides herself quickly, trying not to look like a total rube. Jin’s words are all she wanted to hear - it sounds right, and she wants to believe it, but her heart is hard where the words of powerful people are concerned, so she still remains skeptical. Still, at least this does not sound like the cloistered monastery of monks gazing at their shoes that she’d feared - they traveled, they knew at least to say the right words, about putting philosophy into real world practice. That is what Zhen needed to hear. The days ahead would show the truth of them, she’s sure. 'Those of the Sect shall place, as their highest priority, the protection of the Emerald Star.' That leaves a lot to expound upon. As decorum breaks down, Zhen is still hanging on Jin’s words. Her thoughts are less - ‘is this a place that can make heroes?’ - it seems it can. And more, ‘is this a place that could have me?’ Her thoughts always drift back home, to the Garden, it’s slow desperation. Surely, in all of this crowd, there had to be someone like her. Or maybe an upperclassman. Her survival instincts tell her this - find those like you, or find someone who can explain things to you - but don't look too eager to find such a person. Zhen will talk to whoever comes to her, but more likely, she would seek someone out. Maybe someone like Laughing Magpie even! I will do my items a bit later, don’t have time at the moment. Ambivalent fucked around with this message at 12:53 on May 28, 2018 |
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May 28, 2018 12:23
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Guo Songyang My father always spoke about the Sect of Verdant Truth with the greatest respect. I like to think if he's up there somewhere watching me, he'd be really proud, even if he might not really appreciate the path I took to get here. He always felt the Sect was a thing to look up, something to emulate and respect. My old teacher Yuan Wei told me the Sect was a big fish in a small pond, and any benevolence was likely to hold their power, and you don't see someone's true nature till their power is threatened. I'm not sure what to think. They talk a good game about protection, but what are they protecting it from? Crime? Invaders? Yuan Wei always told me to be very mindful about what people aren't saying, and they're being pretty vague on that notion. I try not to let the big show and crowds intimidate me too much. Opulence or cruelty, when someone acts like he's got all the right stones, it usually means she's desperately hoping you'll cut your losses in a game. Of course, I'm not playing against the sect, but that doesn't mean they might not have secrets or weaknesses they don't want me to look for.Best thing to do is to keep an eye out. And to do that, best to start a conversation. I probably can figure out a lot about what they want to do by finding out what kind of folk they're recruiting, and who's 'worthy' of getting in here. He looks around, and notices one figure in particular. That's a tall woman right there, sticks out a hand above many others, and Songyang isn't a tall fellow, so she has about a head on him. "Hey there, fellow exceptional individual." I say with a wink. "Name's Guo Songyang."
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May 29, 2018 15:15
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Yue Lixue, the White Fox Yue Lixue, for her part, looks like a total rube as she gawks around, clearly excited by the pomp and circumstance. They have a teapot that spewed out laser ghosts! She's hardly ever seen one of the two, let alone both combined. There are so many talented warriors, too! The initial barrage of words in the entrance ceremony slips by almost before she can properly take heed of them all, but what she does hear is heartening. Surely this is a sign that the sect will live up to Three-Lives Jade Pheonix's promises. Surely, here, she'll finally find a place where her hair doesn't trouble those she cares about. Still, despite the positive feelings, she is most certainly keeping an ear out for any word of when they'll be able to leave the mountain to visit the outside world. Lixue wants to learn the ways of the wuxia, yes, and protect Emerald Star... but even so, she already feels the pangs of being separated from her family. The thought that she may well never see them again has not and, indeed, will not occur to her in the slightest. Her attentions are jostled from her thoughts by a figure slamming into her back. She spins, clothes fluttering as she does, and finds herself matching eyes with a well-dressed scholar carrying a gilded jian. Lixue shoots him a curious look, mildly annoyed, but the look soon devolves to a muted wariness as he sizes her up. The scholar scoffs, "Watch where you're standing! You've scuffed my, the great Shao Fang's, robes! I didn't think that the Sect of Verdant Truth was so desperate as to invite a demon into their midst. Hmph. I might as well exorcise you here and now." Lixue's teeth grind a bit at that, her hope of a more enlightened set of comrades almost immediately shot down, and she says, "I'd rather not cause trouble at the opening ceremony." A deep breath escapes her as she clenches a fist. Her arm visibly swells with power. "But if you'd care to trade pointers with me afterward, I'd be happy to remind you of what manners are."
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May 29, 2018 17:49
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Aiman Batyr "Great skies above, the stories were true!" Aiman positively revels at the celadon masterwork gleaming in front of her, at the mist-cloaked emerald waters that flow from it in a thousand brooks of unmatched purity. Only now does she understand the truth of the ordeal it took her and Börte to get here. The Golden Gondola was never really barred to animals exceeding the weight of 800 pounds. It was a test! Those great sages of the mountain are always giving tests. She thinks back to that acolyte with the narrowed eyes who pointed her towards the longest, steepest route up. She reminds herself to thank him later. The work in question is, well, it's a novelty hot tea dispenser. A profoundly tacky one, shaped like an elephant spraying water on itself. Some of the more fashionably bored students gather around it like preening storks. Making idle water heater conversation, holding impromptu eye-rolling contests at Resplendent Jin's remarks. Then a sweaty horse brushes past and starts slurping away at the same stuff they're drinking, and that spoils their fun just a bit. When the peculiarly-dressed barbarian leading said horse then cups her hands into said steaming-hot libation to take a draught, then ah- Some grimaces can kill. "Puh-hah, that's the ticket. You just can't get stuff this fine out in the plains." One might consider her tone a bit too friendly given the atmosphere. Her bursts of snorting laughter at the ongoing speech don't help either. "Pffft, 'don't worry, our Barkheart's worse than our bite?' This Jin lady's the tops." Finally one of the stunned bohemians musters a response. "...a word. Please." The face that makes this request is certainly a convincing one, even when obscured by fingers on her temples.
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May 30, 2018 05:04
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甄子菁 She snorts a little then grins at the wry quip, “Zhen Zijing.” She bows her head, a little lower for the man who is himself a little lower, then returns to taking in the crowd with him, “Good speech, no?” Zhen offers up, trying to get a read on how Guo had seen it, then rubs her shoulder self-consciously, “Nicest place I’ve been, maybe too nice - but nobody’s asked us to leave yet. You know, you look maybe famil-” Something else draws her attention. She stands up a little taller, trying to get a better look at some of the commotion in the crowd, “I guess that’s what all that training gets us - I think those two are going to fight. The one with the white hair and the fancy lad. Hah, and that one brought a… um, beast.” Zi doesn’t really know much about large animals. City girl, and all that. “At least it won’t boring, no?”
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May 30, 2018 12:39
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Guo Songyang "Huh... so she did." He looked, equally ignorant of matters outside urban centers. "Man, and here I was worried I was gonna be among a bunch of prissy, fancy kids who've been only eating rice and fish and focusing their whole lives on their martial arts." He snorted. "Oh man, the face on those guys being all 'wait, what just happened' there is worth the climb of the mountain alone." He laughed, taking in the sight, than peering to where some folks were looking to be very close to squaring of. One of them white haired. "Oooh, white hair. Yep, she's gonna have some trouble." Songyang's father had told him to judge a person by their deeds and personal reputation, and Wei Yan had taught him that the worst folks are the ones that can afford to buy good looks and good reputation." He pondered. "Hm... I wonder if I could get the fancy one to give her a break. Tell me, how dumb do you think he is, Zhen Zijing?"
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May 30, 2018 14:14
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Zhen Zijing She crosses her arms, reflecting, "In my neighborhood, there was a woman named Perfidious Su - and Perfidious Su never went wanting underestimating the guile of men in fancy clothing."
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May 31, 2018 00:32
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Guo Songyang "Ahw, and here I was hoping there might be a bet. I guess I'll just have to satisfy myself with the fancy one's facial expression. Time to showcase my skills." He gave the woman a wink and walked towards the two, completely ignoring the scholar, as his face went into an expression of delighted amazement. "Wait, so it is true! The celebrated fist of benevolence is here! Oh, to be double fortunate. Chosen to train here in this place is the highest honour one might hope for, but to think I can train at the sides of a beloved hero like you? I will need to make sure I father children some day, just so I might tell them what happened this day. Oh, delight upon delight to meet you. I am so sorry, I am likely interrupting the moment." He then 'noticed' the scholar for the first time. "Can you believe we will be in the same year as her? You do know who she is right?" Not sure if you wanna roll this, but going for the lying and the tricking, trying to embarrass the scholar, make him think he perhaps accidentally insulted someone of great reputation and made a fool out of himself, or at the very least forcing him to admit he doesn't know the first thing about the woman he was insulting. I got two dice at deception, so hoping mr. Scholar isn't too good at detecting lies.
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May 31, 2018 04:02
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Sheh Li Sheh Li nods his head in approval as he hears Resplendent Jin talk about the obligations of the Verdant Path Sect. In the Gulong hills, the Verdant Path was barely more than a myth; depending on the storyteller, they might equally well be gods, demons, ascetics or tyrants. But fighting to defend your home and your lands is something he could understand, and in the middle of all this new strangeness, the thought that this is ultimately a place for warriors is something to hold on to. As the mood lightens, he starts to walk around the grounds, trying to form an impression of his fellow arrivals. Looking at his fellow disciples only reinforces his impression of the sect. Some of them are warriors who might have come from his own homeland, hard-bitten men and women wearing dented armour, with well-worn swords hanging from their belts. Others are stranger, carrying clothing and weapons of designs Sheh Li has never seen before. Still others wear simple clothes, and carry nothing but their fists. Some - scholarly types wearing fine silks, or ascetics who already seem half-mummified - even look like they've never so much as seen a fight before. But what Sheh Li feels from all of them sets his teeth on edge. However they might look, he knows, in a way that goes past conscious thought, that everyone here is dangerous. If they weren't, they wouldn't be here, as Wind Rider made perfectly clear to him, and all of them could demand respect as opponents. He stops at the thought. Would it ever have occurred to him to think like that back home, worrying about people who he might never have to fight, who in a sense were his new brothers and sisters? Perhaps not, and look where that got him. But there is something comforting in there; whatever else, he was found just as worthy as any of the others. His hand scratching at the stump of his arm, Sheh Li returns to his walk.
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May 31, 2018 14:01
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It is a well known joke, at least among the various members of the Sect of Verdant Truth, that despite the Commencement Ceremony being the highest profile event commonly participated in by all Sect Members it devolves into a social event after the first few speeches. An old sect legend goes so far as to claim that one of the students of the introductory class accidentally stepped on a garden rake, raising the handle directly into her face, and the ceremony had to be postponed for a day until everyone else stopped laughing. In this, all involved are meant to learn several things: the world of sophonts often demands rigid pomp and circumstance, but in nature majestic scenes arise organically and spontaneously, without effort. That learning comes in many forms, not just the strict transmission of knowledge from teacher to disciple, but wherever you can find it, including from your fellows. The speaker learns that they cannot rely on their prestige or the combined prestige of the sect to awe students but must earn it through having something interesting to say. The middle level members of the sect take it as an opportunity to catch up with those they have fallen out of touch with and be reminded that they too can be surprised. The duel turns out to be rather surprising. Usually unless there's some kind of pre-existing rivalry, most people have at least enough propriety or desire to enjoy themselves, or something that holds things back until after the ceremony. _____________________________________________________________________ quote:Iron Cobra You've gotten some strange looks so far, but in what appears to be an amazing stroke of luck you're not the center of attention. In fact quite the opposite - instead of the battle royale you were expecting things seem to have focused down to a single fight occurring roughly in the center of the disciples. It's clear that you've been thinking about how others see you - but you're not in the spotlight. What is left when the lights go dark? If you plan on finding that out, now is as good a time as any to figure it out or at least start thinking about it! quote:Sheh Li You've wandered and gotten a look at several of the people floating around here, is there a particular type that are your favorite or particularly noteworthy? Do you remain alone when watching the fight or have you joined others in observing? Do you observe from a safe distance or try to take a closer look? If everyone here deserves your respect as an opponent, what do you respect of the people at the center of the action? quote:Aiman Batyr The woman introduces herself as Ai of the Red Strand, and points out that while your curious displays have their own sort of "rustic charm", you will likely have a lot of work ahead of you in fitting in here on the mountain. After all, even a sect out in the middle of the wilderness still adheres to the norms of cultured civilization, whereas sadly... you are lacking in it. Of course, she and her friends are willing to help you get acclimated, so long as you are willing to accept their humble assistance. You think you catch a glimpse of one of the other bohemians snickering. Börte continues to drink from the teacup trough. Such things as social fencing are below her, and it is important to get good water while it is plentiful. The challenge breaks out and they offer to have you accompany them, so long as you stand back and refrain from acting. Do you want your future efforts to have such obvious foils or would you prefer to be surrounded by those equally as wild as yourself? _____________________________________________________________________ As Guo Songyang approaches to disarm the situation, his comments only bring an angry shade of red to the scholar's face as he perceives himself being made a fool of. He blurts out: "I, the great Shao Fang, know exactly what she is!" and then attempts to somewhat lamely shove Songyang away before turning back towards Lixue. He raises his golden jian and brashly poses while addressing her. "It seems that your carelessness has already escalated this to the point of causing trouble. As the elders have not minded so far, perhaps they would be entertained if this was settled here and now!" quote:Guo Songyang Well, that didn't work: it turns out that some people are too dumb to fool. Do you think Shao Fang is going to remember that you butted in on his glorious moment here or are you just a minor stumbling block on his path to success? Do you double down your support for the white haired maiden, even now that the con has come to an unsatisfying close? (Since you said you were rolling Deception, I rolled on your behalf and Songyang got an awful, awful roll of 2,1. Not even close enough to hit the basic Wits score.) quote:Zhen Zijing Well you suppose that Perfidious Su was right, in the most unfortunate way possible. So far you've been taking a backseat to the proceedings which means... hmm, you've actually been paying attention to more than thing unlike many of these rubes. Do you want to stay here where the action is hottest or does it better suit your information gathering purposes to try and interact with the barbarian and/or the coterie adjacent to her? quote:Yue Lixue Well this is it, the worst possible outcome - the idiot didn't back down and now everyone's staring at you. Though at least a few are doing so with pity or the barely concealed hopes that you'll take this conceited brat down a peg or two. Do you accept his challenge here and now? If so, are you fighting fair or are you fighting dirty? Is the crowd a source of strength or an unwelcome distraction. Oh and for EVERYONE: An intrusive thought penetrates the confines of your minds - Intentional killing or the intentional infliction of permanent mental trauma absent the prevention of a catastrophic threat to the Sect is forbidden on the mountain. Anyone who does so will meet with an unfortunate demise.
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Jun 2, 2018 04:14
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'Iron Cobra' > 0 / 3 Wounds > 0 / 13 Imbalance Hardiness (5) / Parry (5) / Evade (5) / Stealth (9) / Wits (9) / Resolve (8) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Plot posted:You've gotten some strange looks so far, but in what appears to be an amazing stroke of luck you're not the center of attention. In fact quite the opposite - instead of the battle royale you were expecting things seem to have focused down to a single fight occurring roughly in the center of the disciples. It's clear that you've been thinking about how others see you - but you're not in the spotlight. What is left when the lights go dark? If you plan on finding that out, now is as good a time as any to figure it out or at least start thinking about it! Tightening his hood a bit further, and relaxing his pose, he begins to circle around the crowd. A casual observer would no doubt read his body language as someone on the outskirts of the crowd who is trying to get a good look at the scene occurring at its center. An astute observer might note that it would be hard to get a good look with one's cowl pulled so tight. pre:Stealth (passive) to maneuver myself in a circle around the crowd. Not trying to 'disappear', just not drawing any attention to myself. pre:The 'flexible mind' trait lets me perform "up to six mental tasks at a time." In combat this seems to be limited to two rolls as one action, but in a passive scene like this I will likely hit the limit quickly. Detect (hearing) for the first roll is 9 and 9. In this case I am going to circle around the crowd, and eavesdrop on conversations. This might be a good way to pick up on a party member or two, as well as anything else going on that might be interesting. Expertise (+4): Knowledge (humanity) -- [cybernetic augmentation] and [education] Skill (+3): Melee (light) / Knowledge (humanity) / Detect (hearing) Skill (+2): Athletics / Speed / Muscle / Endurance / Medicine / Meditation / Empathy / Reasoning / Detect Skill (+1): Knowledge (history) / (imperial bureaucracy) / (classics) / (read script) Inventory (ready): --- Inventory (stowed): Clothing / Dagger (plasma scalpel) / Yellow Phoenix Pills (x3) / Talisman of the Pious Serpent (plot item) 0xp / 2,000cr / Journal __________________________________________________________________________________________
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Jun 2, 2018 05:09
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Yue Lixue, the White Fox Yue Lixue clasps her fist and inclines her head at the man who's well-meaning, or at least she assumes, ploy did not save from the attentions of this... person. Turning back to her challenger, the so-called Shao Fang, she takes a stance saying, "Reason did not sway you, but perhaps a reminder of where we are will." She blurs into motion, ducking down to minimize her profile and attempting to tackle him to the ground. quote:SidekickBOT - Today at 9:23 PM Despite the man's pompous affect, though, he does possess some measure of skill as he manages to keep his footing.
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Jun 2, 2018 05:44
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Waador posted:
You manage to pick up quite a lot from the various conversations! Running the collected data through a simple representativeness heuristic (well you picked up a lot of data relative to your circumstances, not in an objective sense), you come to the following conclusions about the local population. Probably needs to be tested more rigorously but serves as a good enough start. Approximately 90% of the disciples are unorganized. Out of a class of 145, 130 do not appear to have found any stable long term communicative partnerships. Of the remaining 15 - those individuals possessing self confidence, brutality, or social skills, such as Ai of the Red Strand, Shao Fang (also known as "Starlight Fang"), and "Mount" Tai (appearing to be some kind of rock creature approximately one and a half times the size of the average humanoid here and of a particularly 'punkish', 'delinquent', or 'gang-like' character) have each managed to obtain two followers a piece. Followers being individuals who will tend to move in their social orbit and make decisions in accordance with the preference of the more charismatic individuals. One pair appears to Shou Bai and Wan Cheng, two similarly armored humans males - probably as a result of them coming from the same village, who have bonded over the shared home town. The other two pairs are more odd couples - though you cannot tell whether they have aligned as a result of similar interests or just fortuitous coincidences. As mentioned, the calculations are on the basis of sustainable partnerships. A number of individuals also appear to be gravitating towards a couple of 'freaks' - individuals who are for some reason perceived as being extremely powerful or talented. But it's clear that they do not relish the attention or will effectively be leaving those individuals to fend for themselves soon enough. How powerful these 8 or so are is unknown to you, but it was certainly hyped up a lot:  Platinum Planet  Astral Cyborg  Yang Chao  Hundredlotus Li  Angry Revenant  Floating Machine Zhen  Kordun  Wu Hua Of course, other names are mentioned as potential nodes around which things could spring. The girl who Starlight Fang challenged, Yue Lixue, will probably become memorable if she wins or at least manages to put up a good fight. The barbarian girl Aiman Batyr promises to bring a great deal of chaos, as does the inventor Shang Redshift. And this is not event counting those individuals who have yet to make a splash! Jossar fucked around with this message at 19:44 on Jun 2, 2018 |
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Jun 2, 2018 07:19
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Yue Lixue, the White Fox The duel continues, with Shao Fang capitalizing on Lixue's failed attempt to take him to the floor with a mighty slash of his jian that cuts a ragged red line across her traveling clothes. Lixue hisses with pain, but simply narrows her eyes as she skips backward and the fop's follow-up blow misses wide. She's starting to realize that he's simply better armed than her and, unfortunately, somewhat more skilled than his attitude and conduct would suggest. Perhaps a true expert would be able to stand fist-to-sword with utmost confidence, but she could not yet claim that. It seems clear to her that there is but one winning option: she needs to remove his advantages entirely. Once more, Lixue takes a low stance with her arms spread wide. She tries to ignore the pain in her side, imagining for a moment that she's simply wrestling bulls back on her family's farm. All it took was a bit of leverage, and... She dashes toward Shao Fang, dodging out of the way of another slash before slamming into him shoulder-first. It's hardly the most dignified attack, but it serves its purpose. She maneuvers him into a hold, slamming his head against the ground a few times to make sure the message sticks, and tries to talk him down, "Stop this! You've caused more than enough trouble today." Her attempts to talk him down seem only to stoke the fires of his anger, as he erupts from her grip and brandishes his sword once more. A trickle of blood dribbles down from his nose, which took the brunt of the earlier slamming. Lixue sighs, feeling quite put upon, then assumes her stance. This time she waits for him to come to her. Wild swing after wild swing connect with nothing but air as she nimbly dances out of the way. After a particularly vicious chop, one liable to split her head had she not dodged, she sees her opportunity: he's winded, off-balance, and over-extended. Lixue flips up and over Shao Fang, smoothly transitioning into a sleeper hold as she rides him down to the ground. She says, "Do you yield?"
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Jun 2, 2018 07:43
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Shao Fang is many things, and among them is that he is extremely proud. He refuses to comment on this defeat and yield, even as it brings him to the limits of consciousness.
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Jun 2, 2018 07:48
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Zhen Zijing Zijing grimaces as she watches the fight. The man is a pompous rear end, and he comes at the white-haired girl armed. “Tch. Enough.” She stands so her shadow casts over the shorter girl’s head, leaning in quietly, “He’s shown everyone his quality - now show them yours. It’s our first day, hopefully we are all less wise now than we will become in time, right?” The man seems a fool, and Zijing can’t help but feel sorry for stubborn, pig-headed fools - being one herself, most often. “With a little luck, maybe he will grow out of this.” This seems a wise thing to say - like something her master would say. Zi is proud of herself for this, maybe a little. Zi turns to one of the adherents Shao Fang had attracted, bows her head politely, “We have all had a very long day, don’t you think?” Her smile is betrayed by her hard eyes. The underlying message is clear: ‘save him from embarrassing himself when he wakes up by taking him somewhere else.’
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Jun 2, 2018 08:14
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Guo Songyang Songyang watched, gazing around to make sure noone else was going to get involved. Last thing they needed was this to turn into a brawl. The little warning was noted. "Yeah, for his own good too, in case he forgets that little warning we just got, or decides you are 'a catastrophic threat to the sect'" He would grab the man's jian, if he'd released it in the meantime. "You gonna be alright? Maybe we should find someone to take a look at that cut."
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Jun 4, 2018 00:40
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Aiman Batyr The sound of blows and metal speeding through air was attracting Aiman's attention anyways, and with customary blitheness she sees only goodwill in the Red Strand's offer. "Why, I'd appreciate nothing more, Ai!" She whistles to Börte. "Come on, girl, there's a fight a-brewing. And if I know anything about anything, we ought to keep an eye on who's trouncing who around these parts." While the grasslander saunters over in the general vicinity of the bohemian crew, she often finds her steps drawn towards some of the other sights in the hall. A flash of red horn, a fan thrown into the distance only to boomerang back perfectly, a- uh, are guns allowed in here? Aiman cocks her head in wonder and leans a bit to whisper towards Ai. "I guess if it works, it's a martial art, huh?" Alas, the fight is well and truly over when she arrives. Zhen's quip strikes her as quite wise, however. "Mhm, I think you ought to listen well to that, Mr. Shao." She pronounces it somewhere between how you would burned and less. "Train up-maybe a few hours a day o' mace training'll help that endurance of yours? Works wonders for me." She means well.
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Jun 4, 2018 19:33
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Sheh Li When Sheh Li first met Wind Rider, they came to blows almost immediately. Sheh Li had grown more accustomed to losing fights, but the way Wind Rider fended off his best efforts - like a grown man play-fighting with a toddler - had left a lasting impression. Looking around, a few people in the crowd give Sheh Li the feeling of Wind Rider - the same quiet but terrifying threat. In particular, he notes a four-eyed, four armed monster that looked like a creature from a children's story , and a strange woman whose skin, crackling with light, did not seem to bend in quite the right way - like it was something harder, only painted to resemble skin. More generally, Sheh Li stays out of the way of the otherworldly-looking disciples; he might win or lose a duel against a fellow swordsman, but at least he knows what to expect from them and how to fight them. Against a man whose body seems to have turned to metal, or someone whose spear floats in the air besides them, he can't say the same. The sound of gasps and steel cutting through cloth draws Sheh Li's attention to the bout between a swordsman and a silver-haired brawler. As far as Sheh Li can see from his vantage point, the two seem closely matched, despite the fact that first blood had gone to the swordsman. Between the two, he had to admit he had a better impression of the brawler than the swordsman; holding your own bare-handed against an armed opponent is something worth boasting about. The reverse, while not necessarily shameful, was never something to be proud of. But what, in a place like this, could they be fighting for? Wealth or food seemed unlikely, given the awe-inspiring scale of the sect, and they were all theoretically brothers and sisters in their new home. Pride or a long-held grudge, which came to much the same thing, was the only answer he could think of. Right as that thought crosses his mind, the brawler knocks the swordsman off-balance with a shoulder charge, and sends him toppling to the ground. As Sheh Li shoves forward into the crowd to get a better viewing angle, the the swordsman escapes being pinned, and scrambles to his feet. By the time Sheh Li has arrived at the front row of spectators, however, the battle is all but over; the swordsman is inescapably pinned, and only his stubbornness is keeping him from admitting defeat. Now that the fight is all but over, Sheh Li approaches the silver-haired fighter, and offers a bow. "I wish you joy of your victory! That was well-fought - I can't remember the last time I saw someone take down a swordsman barehanded so quickly. ." Jo Joestar fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jun 6, 2018 |
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Jun 5, 2018 01:29
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Aiman Batyr There's a regular crowd gathering around Shao Fang's slumped form. Time for some introductions! "Now where are my manners? Aiman Batyr, of Arakhan. And this girl over here is Börte." She proffers an exceptionally firm handshake to anyone who'll reciprocate, making sure to offer the correct hand to the one-armed fellow present. She'd made that mistake with Uncle Burkit once before; not again. "So do y'all have a style, or a school, a master or something like that? I'm a bit new to all this." She scratches her head. "Got a recommendation from a nice lady who called herself the Sunlight Sage myself, but I couldn't really make out why past all of her uh, drunken slurring." Her eagle eyes also make out a hooded figure circling the group, not talking to anyone. Aw, they must be shy. She makes sure to smile their way during what she thinks is a brief moment of eye contact. Bendigeidfran fucked around with this message at 02:51 on Jun 7, 2018 |
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Jun 7, 2018 02:41
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Yue Lixue, the White Fox Lixue maintains the hold a moment longer, but at Zi's prodding releases him. She stands up, clapping the dust off her rugged garb, and turns to those that have gathered around. She says, "Many apologies, friends, I'd hoped not to interrupt the ceremony but this one... was most insistent." She dabs at the cut, the thin red line the jian had left across her chest, but it didn't seem to be terribly deep. More a mark of how much remained for her to learn, really, than anything life-threatening. "I'm quite fine, really, though I appreciate the concern." To Aiman's question, she shakes her head, "I've not had a formal education in fighting. Just a few tricks I picked up on the farm. I guess if you had to give my style a name, it'd be something like the Bull Tossing Fist." She laughs. "Not much compared to a proper wuxia, I'm afraid. Still... Three-Lives Jade Phoenix saw something in me, and here I am." To Sheh Li, Lixue returns his bow and says, "I'm honored by your words, though I fear my success had more to do with his lack of judgement than any particular skill on my part."
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Jun 8, 2018 01:44
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'Iron Cobra' > 0 / 3 Wounds > 0 / 13 Imbalance Hardiness (5) / Parry (5) / Evade (5) / Stealth (9) / Wits (9) / Resolve (8) __________________________________________________________________________________________ He had to admit, the situation in which he found himself was a rare opportunity. He had only intended to deliver a message to the family of a fallen friend, yet it seemed through a series of misunderstandings and blind luck that he was well on his way towards being inducted into a martial cult. He had spent much of his life studying the many facets of humanity, but the world of martial religions was notoriously secretive and often carefully guarded. With the exception of government propaganda on the topic of military heroes, and the very real and devastating aftermath caused by some of the less ...careful... members of the caste of nigh-invincible warriors, very little reliable information was available to the public. As he considered the matter, a debate began to run its course within the six cores that formed his personality. The Researcher was in favor of proceeding, believing this to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to study a carefully guarded aspect of human society. The Mad Scientist wanted to better understand their arcane practices, in order to find a way to reformat them for his own purposes. The Healer believed that the secret knowledge of these orders could be used to save countless lives, and was hesitant to ignore a chance to learn. The Observer did not care to vote on the matter, though it did note that the others were merely collecting rare cards for their respective decks, and seemed to be seeking out ways to justify a course of action that would obviously violate certain ethical boundaries. The Survivor held a different view, arguing that this was not a decision to be taken lightly, as it was a course that could not be reversed. Calamitous danger tended to follow those who accrued the great power that comes with secret knowledge, and once the accrual process began, it would need to be continued to defend against those who wished to take the knowledge for their own. The Victor voted in favor in utter silence, unwilling to share its reasoning with the others, though this was not unusual. Consensus had been reached, then. Four votes in favor, one abstained, and one vote for caution, which was not a veto. This opportunity would not be wasted, but embraced. What next, then? Plot posted:You manage to pick up quite a lot from the various conversations! Running the collected data through a simple representativeness heuristic... Plot posted:...individuals also appear to be gravitating towards a couple of 'freaks'... perceived as being extremely powerful or talented... ...they do not relish the attention or will effectively be leaving those individuals to fend for themselves soon enough... Plot posted:...other names are mentioned as potential nodes around which things could spring... Aiman Batyr posted:Her eagle eyes also make out a hooded figure circling the group, not talking to anyone. Aw, they must be shy. She makes sure to smile their way during what she thinks is a brief moment of eye contact. __________________________________________________________________________________________ Expertise (+4): Knowledge (humanity) -- [cybernetic augmentation] and [education] Skill (+3): Melee (light) / Knowledge (humanity) / Detect (hearing) Skill (+2): Athletics / Speed / Muscle / Endurance / Medicine / Meditation / Empathy / Reasoning / Detect Skill (+1): Knowledge (history) / (imperial bureaucracy) / (classics) / (read script) Inventory (ready): --- Inventory (stowed): Clothing / Dagger (plasma scalpel) / Yellow Phoenix Pills (x3) / Talisman of the Pious Serpent (plot item) 0xp / 2,000cr / Journal __________________________________________________________________________________________ Waador fucked around with this message at 11:50 on Jun 8, 2018 |
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Jun 8, 2018 11:46
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:45 |
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Guo Songyang "If you say so," He said cheerfully. "Hope you didn't mind my little intervention. I was hoping that either he'd buy my bluff, and decide that clearly you were indeed a famous hero he didn't recognize,, which would be hilarious, or call bluff, and have to admit he had no idea who you were, which would maybe get through his head how dumb he was being." He smiled wryly. "Didn't expect him to flip the table." He gave a bow with a playful flourish, then took Aiman's hand. . "The name's Guo Songyang, my teacher who brought me here nicknamed me Laughing Magpie though." I was brought here by a woman called Infuriating Old Hag, she called herself that, not me. I studied eh... well, the basis of Zephyr's Fist , and after that it all got a little bit less official like."
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Jun 11, 2018 21:42
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