Inspired by martial arts cinema, shonen, Exalted, and One PieceAcross the Gemstone Seas, islands are strewn upon the waters like fallen leaves in autumn. They are nigh countless, but despite that, nations come from all over to conquer and control trade routes and raw resources. Pirates, kaiju, and the independent Gemfolk keep these empires at bay. But encroach they do, entering a cold war after breaking the Sea-Khans of the Golden Horde…But none of that really concerns you. At least not now. The seas beckon to you - the clarion call of freedom upon the waves. You’ve dreamed of it. Charting and exploring the unknown, finding ancient treasure, battling imperial or pirate ships… All of it. You want all of that and more.You were an insightful little tot. You knew you had to make yourself the best you can before finding a ship and a crew. The streets of Koulay were rough for anyone. Defending oneself was a requirement. Luckily, you were born and raised there, the mecca of martial arts. Koulay is an independent city state, and has the only open sea route between all the Gemstone Seas. A nexus. You trained under your shifu for years. Regal Ox was a harsh but caring mentor. You got to calling her “grandma” which she always hated. Unlocking your physical strength alongside the mystical powers of the Gnosis was her goal with you. You were a teenager when it happened, the mana wrapping around your fist. You could see it! You could feel it swelling and flowing within you! It was a triumphant moment. You finally felt like a full grown… >Choose your gender>Man>WomanCONT.
>Next, choose your Martial Art Style>Each describes the weapon(s) the style uses as well as the average practitioner. >1. Shining Sword Saints - Katana. Samurai, honorable. Runs a traditional Edoan dojo and hires out as guards for Koulay.>2. Grinning Devils - Dual wielding axes. Bloodthirsty, informal. Thuggish gangsters of the slums, plain and simple. >3. Weightless Monkey - Fists and kicks. Focuses on jumping and height advantage. Street performers, cheerful. Wandering entertainers, information collectors.>4. Ebony Tiger - Kunai, Katar, focuses on stealth. Spies and thieves. Usually in the employ of the Merchant Houses. Secretive and paranoid.>5. Judicious Dragon - Gun-tonfas. Boisterous, flashy. Retired pirates living out of their old ship. >6. Inevitable Pale Reaper - Scythes. Excels at fighting multiple opponents. Causes much destruction. Intimidating. Operates the necropolis outside of town. >7. Pleasant Courtesan - Either sex. Use of smoking pipes, incense, and scarves to knock out opponents. Seductive, mysterious. Runs the Redlight District’s best pleasure house.>8. Drumming Bells - A staff with weighted iron ends. The classic, taciturn monks. Tries to help the downtrodden. Base is a classic dojo. >9. Bloody Fingered Harpist - Plays a harp to send shockwaves through the air and manipulates steel wire to constrain opponents. Imperious and sadistic. Most members are of House Kirigasu. >10. Molding the Clay Automaton - Infusing malleable clay to create puppets with Gnosis. Industrious craftsmen and shipwrights, living in the dockyards.>11. Strident Peacock - Colorful war fans and Gnosis-made illusions disorient and leave opponents vulnerable. Most members are part of House Yaran.>12. Whirling Dervish of Pain - Part dance, users wield chakrams. Reverent and lively. Descends from the desert isle of Rentarah, and most members are immigrants from said isle.
>>6084280>Man, Weightless MonkeyI think it would be cool to be a spy disguised as a street performer, more like the typical Ebony Tiger student and not necessarily in service of merchnts, but with the weapons and disposition and backstory of Weightless Monkey (or my second choice, Whirling Dervish of Pain)
>>6084280>Man>10. Molding the Clay Automaton - Infusing malleable clay to create puppets with Gnosis. Industrious craftsmen and shipwrights, living in the dockyards.
>>6084280>Man>7. Pleasant Courtesan - Either sex. Use of smoking pipes, incense, and scarves to knock out opponents. Seductive, mysterious. Runs the Redlight District’s best pleasure house.
>>6084280>Woman, Pleasant Courtesan.Gotta get that bread somehow.
>>6084282>Man>Weightless Monkey
>>6084280>Woman>>6084282>9. Bloody Fingered Harpist - Plays a harp to send shockwaves through the air and manipulates steel wire to constrain opponents. Imperious and sadistic. Most members are of House Kirigasu.
>>6084282>Woman>7. Pleasant Courtesan - Either sex. Use of smoking pipes, incense, and scarves to knock out opponents. Seductive, mysterious. Runs the Redlight District’s best pleasure house
>>6084282I'll change to >Man >>Weightless Monkey.
>>6084280>Woman>12. Whirling Dervish of Pain - Part dance, users wield chakrams. Reverent and lively. Descends from the desert isle of Rentarah, and most members are immigrants from said isle.
>>6084282>Woman>>6084282>7. Pleasant Courtesan - Either sex. Use of smoking pipes, incense, and scarves to knock out opponents. Seductive, mysterious. Runs the Redlight District’s best pleasure house.
>>6084280>>WomanHot >>Grinning DevilsBarbarian? Even hotter
>>6084402>>6084290It's better if you link the two posts when changing anything
>Gender: Woman>Style: Pleasant Courtesan You were a full grown woman. The Gnosis coursed through you. It felt like an unseeable haze had been lifted off your mind and body. You felt stronger, better, more confident. Regal Ox could feel the difference in you immediately.Your training in Pleasant Courtesan style continued. The lovely scarves around your neck were like whips and chains to anyone who raised a hand against you. Your lungs became like a cauldron - one smoke weed goes in, and another you’ve recently ingested goes out. Catching wanted men - and women - had become a side hustle to you. You’d walk the streets of Koulay, offering your companionship to those who paid. And sometimes those folk were worth something to the Kingdom of Edo, or the Sapphire League.Your charms and martial art were used all the same. Yes, there were parts of living in the House of Celestial Delights that didn’t sit well with you… But you had a roof over your head, a job, and an outlet to use your martial art for good. That was worth something, right? Right? The sea. It still called to you despite your cushy living. More pirates and ex-Khan men kept coming through, and the imperial powers less and less. The tension filled the air. Everyone wanted to lay claim to Koulay. But it was so massive to hold, and the others wouldn’t let that slide.The politics of the world, sadly, infiltrated your life.You entered Regal Ox’s office at her summons. She was old, no longer working like the other women in Celestial Delights. An opened scroll lay on her desk as she fanned herself, a turquoise peacock dancing upon it. “Master? What is it?”Ox gave you a smile. “I’ve tried to keep us as neutral as possible,” she began, flicking her fan closed. “But that seems there’s no longer a choice. Our hand is being forced.”You glance at the scroll… And see others besides. You recognize the symbols and letters for Edo, the Sapphire League, the Confederacy of the Braids… and fourth, crumpled, scroll. “We’ve been propositioned. By all of them.” Ox continues, sternly. “Give them information on the others, and we’ll be granted safety. If not, they have safe houses in the city… And are looking to recruit any of our girls as spies. Take them to their homelands for training. Of course they’d rather make us completely theirs… But most of the girls have children.” You raise an eyebrow. “But you don’t, my student.”You smirk. “What are you getting at, Grandma?” Regal Ox snorts at the name.CONT
>>6084523”If you were in my position, what would you do? Of what you know of the powers that be, who would you give information to?” She tapped her fan on her knuckles. “Some of the other dojos in the city are already working for them in proxy. Our rivalry with some of them will heat up. If we’re not their allies, they may assume we’re enemies. Both the Schools of the Weightless Monkey and Ebony Tiger trade in information… But I don’t know who they serve, if anyone.” She rubs her temple, wisps of gray hair moving with her fingers.”What say you…” Regal Ox speaks your name. >Name. >Striking Sakura>Eightfold Starlight>Violet Dawn>Devious Siren>Write-In (Can follow the above Adjective+noun, or just be a straight up Asian name)>Who would you sell information to? >Kingdom of Edo By divine right and military might, Edo sails fourth to bind the Gemstone Seas under their auspice. They are aggressive and expansionist, fighting piracy but making the people pay for such security.>Sapphire LeagueA group of northern states bound by similar religion, they are a defensive group. They took the brunt of the Golden Horde wars and are on the back foot. They ask citizens to offer their tithes and help in keeping their people protected.>Confederacy of the BraidsFounded by ex-Horde members and pirates, the Confederacy seeks to take what’s theirs and do as they please. They are organized terror upon the seas, but offer freedom. >Pick up the fourth, crumpled up scroll.
Allow me to also kinda elaborate on Pleasant Courtesan style. Yes you are a walking alchemy cauldron with smoke. When I envision using a scarf, I imagine Lisa Lisa, wherein she infuses the fabric with Gnosis. I say our MC can do the same with her smoking pipe, surging it with Gnosis upon the point of impact to do more damage.
>>6084525>Striking Sakura>Sapphire League
Coomers won. They always do.
>>6084525>Devious Siren>Pick up the fourth, crumpled up scroll
>>6084568Did the coomers think of Pic related? Probably, or something close. I think it was that smoke pipe that tipped it over the edge. Which is fair.
>>6084525>Violet Dawn>Pick up the fourth, crumpled up scroll.
>>6084568fuckin' DROPPED
>>6084525>Violet Dawn>Confederacy of the Braids
>>6084525>Violet Dawn>Kingdom of Edo
>>6084525>Eightfold Starlight>Confederacy of the Braids
>Name: Violet Dawn>Scroll: Sapphire LeagueYou picked up the scroll inscribed with a dolphin jumping over a glacier. If any of the powers were to keep their word, the Leaguesmen would. Although Edo has an honorable warrior class, they don’t seem to be steering the country right now.”I think the Leaguesmen would be our best bet,” you say, also swiping up the crumpled scroll. Regal Ox’s eyes widen at your action but she lets you read it. Pulling the scroll taut, you see a human skull with demon horns sticking from its head. You blink as you read. “Who are the Circle of Onyx?””Dread shapeshifters and devil summoners,” Ox said, sighing. “They’re relatively new. They come from the Onyx Sea, south of Edo. I hear they’re trying to recruit as many Gnosis users as possible.”Just then, a ruckus is heard from downstairs. You share a glance with Regal Ox before moving to the parlor. The cerulean drapes and striking scroll-art adorn the walls as you descend to the entry of the House of Celestial Delights.Three burly men stand at the bottom of the stairs, one grasping a worker by her long hair. “As of today, this is our territory! You harlots are ours to use for free! So say the Grinning Devils!” Sure enough they each had a pair of hatchets on them.”This isn’t Reek Street,” you refer to their home turf, standing a few steps above them. They turn, and the one holding your co-worker sneers up at you. “Nah, we’ve decided to move up in the world. We know how… Persuasive… You ladies and lads are.” He pulls the hostage up, she screams as a hatchet is put to her neck. “Now, swear yourselves to the School of the Grinning Devils!”You hear Regal Ox curse under her breath behind you. You scan the parlor. Some of the other workers grip their smoke pipes and scarves. Most of them haven’t finished their Pleasant Courtesan training. You have the numbers, but only you and Ox can control your Gnosis.>What do you do?>Write-In
>>6084826Pretend to comply to get their guard down and fight?
>>6084826>>6084841 +1
>>6084826Pretend to comply to get his guard down. Maybe seduce him into taking us somewhere alone to “revel in his spoils” so it’ll be easier to subdue him, if he’d buy it.
>>6084841>>6084911support
