Wouhou, a Cultivation Quest!
Let's see how it goes

>Name : Mortar
3 Aspects :
Orphan 15-year-old boy that learned to fend for himself in the wood, hunting and foraging for his food with his bow.
Aspects would be something like Asocial, Survival, Marksmanship?

>>6154714
Should I take an action? Or wait a bit for more participants?

>>6154717
Go for it, the way this goes it can be run fairly asynchronously

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>6154719
Then I'll take
>Action 1 : Explore Sword Chamber
Question : do we start with some kind of equipment?

>>6154721
Yeah actually, I'll say each person wakes up with things they can, and usually carry on their person (within reason, of course)

Mortar explores the chamber marked with the sword on a far wall. It's empty, hollow, and disconcerting. Each foot fall echoes out the spacious room. It is, however, also seemingly the only path forward.

He plucks a random book off a shelf and examines it. Nothing inside agree with his sensibilities, its passages lined with flowery words, unfamiliar concepts, and contradictory statements.

Yet in his heart of hearts, he knows there is something deeper between these worn out pages.

TITLE: I, The Favored Blade
FRAGMENTS:
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

You have found a book. Once a book is found, it is retrieved and can be used by anybody.

You can STUDY a book with an Action, rolling a d6 and freely assigning the amount rolled between the hidden FRAGMENTS.

Once the threshold is hit, the FRAGMENT is revealed and learned.

The person who initially finds a book gains one free STUDY on it.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6154725
Rollin"
Hoppin I can skill-transfer to bow

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6154725
Action 2 : study

So I'll fully unlock Fragment 2 and spend 1 GoodBoyPoint to Fragment 1

>>6154729
Mortar carries the book into a quiet spot and begins studying.

It's a story. An odd one at that. It describes the travels of an unnamed swordmaster and the opponents he fights along the way. He wins most, he loses some. He grows old and weak as time passes, yet he goes on. He begins to lose more. The story ends, finally, when his old, weathered blade breaks in a harsh clash of steel. The swordmaster kills his opponent with his bare hands, and passes himself soon after.

It's...not a very good story. The characters can barely be called characters at all, given how little they are characterized. Not much else happens but the battles, which itself goes into nearly pointless detail in bad prose.

Yet Mortar is moved by the tale in a way he can't quite describe. He sinks deeper into his studies and learns...

??? 1/4
"This steel I know for certain." 4/4

You have gained a FRAGMENT, portions and principles behind a greater whole. Rarely are they clear, and it is up for players to intuit the exacts behind them.

Two or more FRAGMENTS can be combined to become something more. FRAGMENTS belonging to the same book can be freely combined without any Action.

FRAGMENTS from separate sources will need Actions to be DEVELOPED. Declare which FRAGMENTS will be used, and a threshold of points will be provided that needs to be reached before the work can be completed.

Be warned, some FRAGMENTS work together better or worse compared to others, and may lead to varying quality of results.

As Mortar closes the book, he ruminate on his own experiences...

You can now also MEDITATE with an Action. Roll a d6 and assign it to one of your 3 Aspects. You may cash out all points in an Aspect to gain a FRAGMENT from it. Excepting rare circumstance, it is not advised this be the main component in a DEVELOPMENT, merely a guide.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6154734
Keeping playing the tutorial, I'll
>Meditate on Marksmanship
Mortar hunted small game, had to shot the occasional larger menace to his safety. Maybe some of the battle details can be related to past experience?

>>6154738
Yep, you gain 5 points into your Marksmanship Aspect. Naturally, the more points you cash out, the better the Fragment will be. Meditations can be guided into specific facets of your character, as you've done here. I'll do some of the flowery words on the cash out

I'll probably wait for a few more players before proceeding to Cycle 2

While we wait, I'll probably clarify a few more things.

Other people will need to Study and also reach the number of points before receiving a Fragment for themselves

Once combined, Fragments are used up, but can be Studied again, needing to reach the threshold again

And lemme hear what things Mortar does have on his person

And if you don't mind, thoughts on the system so far?

>>6154739
Makes sense.
A few questions :
>Is cashing-out a free action?
>how much point is considered a "good" fragment (like was the 4 points for the book because i rolled 4? Or is it just something from a random table of yours?)
>Is the game collaborative or adversorial?
>Are the points put toward a fragment usable by another player?
>What is your usual "active time range?"
As an Eurofag, it's mid-day here.

>And lemme hear what things Mortar does have on his person
His old and trustable Yew-wood self made bow, with a few strings made from deer tendons. A few arrows in a rabbit-skin quiver, with stone heads. Good old all-purpose steel knife. A few bone needles and thread - be it to patch cloth or own skin. His namesake Mortar, along with a poach of medicinal herbs. Clothes are made of leather.

>Thoughts on the system
For now, interresting. I feel we're in a phasis of "preparation" for a challenge to come - without knowing jack shit about said challenge. I'm orienting the character toward a range DPS with small heal abilities

I want to play some kind of Arcanic Archer able to mix some "elemental" effects [thinking about maybe Steel, thunder and wind] with his auto-attacks so I'll orient my choices like this. I hope for a collaborative game where we can cover each other weaknesses.

I already have an idea of the write-in for the development - but I'll base that on next turn.

>>6154741

>Is cashing-out a free action?
Yeah cashing out a Fragment from the points invested into an Aspect is free

>how much point is considered a "good" fragment (like was the 4 points for the book because i rolled 4? Or is it just something from a random table of yours?)
The book was 4 points beforehand yeah. It's hard to given an exact answer to the 'good fragment' question, since in true cultivation the numbers will only Continue to Go Up, but nothing is truly 'bad'
The book is good for it's cost, and something with a bigger or lower point number will be good for *their* cost
Excepting combinations that are just Very Bad Conceptually(TM)
In the specific case of Aspect Fragments, I recommend having it in the same ballpark as the other Fragments you're tossing it in with

>Are the points put toward a fragment usable by another player?
The points represent your personal comprehension of a Fragment, so it's tracked per player per fragment

>Is the game collaborative or adversorial?
you are collaborating with your other 4 players yeah

>What is your usual "active time range?"
GMT+8 but I wake up and stay up pretty late

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>6154742
Oooh a fellow Euro-fag
>>6154698
>Name Yìchén
Third son of a decently well off merchant family, who has the social skills to follow his father's footsteps but not the money sense.
Aspects: Spendthrift, amicable, nonjudgmental

I'll start by checking out the pond room

>>6154753
Yìchén explores the room with the symbol of a pond in the far end. This room, compared to the one with the Sword, is arranged with more grace.

Whereas the other room were rows and rows of shelves in spartan, pragmatic order, this one meanders a bit in a purposeful aesthetic design. Curved shelves are arranged in spirals and flourishes, all leading deeper inwards. It can almost be described as inviting.

He plucks a random book from a shelf and reads out the name:

Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4
---

Sword Chamber: 3 books
Pond Chamber: 3 books
Mirror Chamber: 4 books

Discovered Books:
- I, The Favored Blade (1/2)
- Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems (0/2)

Hmm. I may have made a miscalculation with user IDs and doing this on data
(I am not too familiar with posting on 4chan)

>>6154755
You should use a trip. this is done by using the "#" symbol followed by a passphrase

>>6154698
You know what, Why not.

>Name, Ji the Fool.
Now Ji, in this new and crazy place. . . Was quite happy, actually. No crazy neighbours in sight.
But uh, where was here? When in doubt, find water. Find food. Find something to complain about.
A man with an unfortunate predilection for being ill tempered, last Ji remembers was when his neighbours were running him out of town for his latest blow up. Which frankly, they overreacted, Some of those asshole rice paddy flunkies simply didn't understand that they had it easy when their crops all drowned in the recent rainstorm, Rice is meant to drown. And if he rightfully called them morons and buffoons and had faces like his treasured pigs ass, well they deserved it.

On reflection, maybe he can see why they overreacted.
>Fairly talented Animal farmer, Speaks well before he thinks, always finds an escape route

>first action, Inspect the rooms in the pond room.

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>6154757
Forgot.

I HAVE ARRIVED HOME. This is my final identity I hope

>>6154756
Aha, exactly what I needed. Thanks

>>6154757
This place shall be more welcoming of Ji's sensibilities. Surely.

He takes the path down to the same chamber as Yìchén did, though the room is not hurting for space. Where he went left, Ji went right, finding an entirely different wing of the Chamber.

He plucks a random book off the room and begins reading.

Ideals and Antiquities: The Origin Arts
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6154754
>?Action 2

Curious about the title Yìchén takes Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems and looks for a nice spot to read it

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6154760
Surely.

So taking the book up, and catching sight of some other weirdo. . . Well, best to warn him fair.

[To Yichrn] Hey! I KNOW where this place is, so don't you try and make trouble with me. So uhh, Do you know where we are? Cause I got a whole book about where we are.

>He then opens the book, trying to prove he has in fact read the book.

>>6154762
>A/N: he had not, in fact, read the book. But placed it in the first ???

>>6154761
Yìchén explores the winding paths of the room with book in hand for a bit longer, and his efforts are rewarded in the middle of one of the many spiraling arrangements, an arrangement of soft pillows in a pile present.

He takes a seat and begins studying...

It is a fable, or a myth, or perhaps a particularly nonsensical book of science, you genuinely cannot tell. It is odd, but then, you've all begun to realize perhaps all the books in this archive are odd.

It speaks of the creation of the world, how it began as simply a single drop of water in the void between the stars. It ventured forth, slaying colorful giants, courting beautiful phoenixes of constellations, and exploring parts of the universe unseen.

With each accomplishments, it grew bigger and deeper, spots of land beginning to dapple its surface. Trees and life sprang forth, as if in celebration for what it is becoming.

"I become what I do, and what I do becomes more." 4/4
??? 0/4

>>6154762
Jin, you open the book. Now, you aren't exactly a scholar, but this book is special. With one look...you know its nonsense. A special kind which transcends knowledge.

Complex formulae sprawl entire pages, pointing to answers which cannot possibly be true. Angles that do not add up. Treaties on physics that, at your best estimations, would imply a world where a drop of water cuts through a diamond, and rice stored in wrought iron pots spontaneously generates a plague that infects ice to slowly entropy into lightning.

And yet it is beautiful. If such a world out there exists, then you would much rather live there than here.

Then you snap out of your trance, dazed and disoriented. How much of your opinions you keep...I'll leave to you.

??? 1/4
??? 0/4

>>6154765
Ji*, sorry

Rolled 3 (1d4)

>>6154765
Forgetting for a moment the weirdo, it must be true that this is special. . . And, it really does sound nice.
A world where nonsense I'd beautiful rather than grating, like the rest of these uptight jackasses. . .

Holding the weird book closely, Ji sits there for à minute more, and then wanders to the last room. If there's another special book then. . Well, maybe there can be a confirmation of this wackjob world.

>I think this I'd action 2, Inspect the mirror room for a good book. Since free action study for one you discover.

>>6154767
Ji wanders away to the last room, the one emblazoned with a mirror. The design on this one is strange. You are offered winding paths every other step, promising to get you lost, akin to a labyrinth. Though you swear a pattern must exist, but each time you feel like you've grasped it, you are proven wrong.

Miraculously, each wrong path eventually leads you back to the entrance. You escape with one book to your name, entitled:

Envisioned Moment
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>6154768
The stupid labyrinth, stupid patterns, stupid path. A wrong path huh?! Well maybe I wanted to go back to the nice room, huh! Maybe I didn't want to get stuck in a mirror room, Did you think about THAT ROOM OF MIRRORS?! MAYBE I DONT WANT TO EXPLORE YOU!? SO I WIN! I GOT BACK TO THE BETTER ROOM!

fuming and scowling, he inspects his prize, placing his insights into the second fragment, primarily. And curses the room again, in his head.

Rolled 1 (1d3)

>>6154698
>Name Xin
Xin is a man who never understood people well and so often choose to spend his time reading instead of socializing. He eventually developed an obsession with philosophy as he wanted to understand how the people around him thought.
Aspects Philosopher, Bibliophile, Introvert

The mirror room sounds like an interesting place to explore

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6154769
And just to speed things along, He will spend his last action trying to study the first fragments wisdom, since this book makes much more sense than the last one. Despite also being from the stinky room.

>>6154769
>>6154772
He opens the book and...
Oh, it appears to be a collection of paintings. And what elegant paintings they are, the most beautiful he's ever seen. Picturesque valleys and mountains, villages and its people hustling and bustling. The colors and brush strokes so lifelike and vibrant, its akin he was viewing it in person. No...like it was more than real life.

Then he flips to a page, and his heart sinks as he sees himself, somehow, as viewed from behind. His head snaps behind him, and sees nobody. With dread, he looks again at the picture, and...oh, oh no. Haha. It was merely a trick. A clever illusion! It was a painting of a person, but not of him. Somehow, whoever painted this managed to make it so it could have looked like...anybody at all, if looked at the right angle.

Profound. You sink more time.

"I stand at the bridge. I have been here before." 4/4
"I look ahead of myself. I am reminded of home." 4/4
You have a free 1 point to repeat put into either of the Fragment, in case you need to pick up a copy in the future.

>>6154770
Xin, you follow Ji into the mirror room. You see him turn left. There are no other paths, so you follow after him. When you turn the corner, he is no longer there. You continue alone, and eventually return out with a book in hand.

Enlightened Mnemonics
0/4 ???
0/4 ???

Brb for a hot sec. I shall, however, begin Cycle 2

Still waiting for our last player

Rolled 5, 1 = 6 (2d6)

>>6154774
Fascinating title. Sounds like just my kind of book I shall use my free study and 2nd action to also study

>>6154774
Sat there, considering, Ji admires the pictures more.

These beautiful things, they didn't look like a mad world. A beautiful world perhaps.
And yet. . Something bothered him it looked like his world, a normal, sensible world. But what he held in his hands, these pictures and strikes of colour, his own reflection and the reflection of everyone's head. . . they were impossible. Inhuman skill and knowledge or simply mesmerising magic. His voice raises to a shout.

[To all] Hey you weirdos, anyone think these books are weird?!

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6154762

>Yìchén is confused by the stranger accosting him and claiming to know where they are before asking him if he knows where they are.

"No, I don't know. In fact I suspect I know less than you do if you've read about this place. Are there any things I should look out for?"

>>6154765

>Action 3 meditate on spendthrift
After talking with the guy for a bit Yìchén reads his book and is surprised to find it talking about life, it wasn't what he expected from the title.

"I become what I do, and what I do becomes more. That was a strange book but that is one way to describe life after all all living creatures become more by reproducing. Just like how you have to spend money to make money.

>Aspect : Asocial
Noise comes and disturb the meditation of the teenage boy. He opens a eye, and relief washes over him : none of them stepped toward the sword room - no social interraction, no threat.
Indeed, the three men look no warrior. At the very least, each seems to have a redeeming quality.
First one, clad in rich attire, might be the less overall unreliable. Second one - by far looking the most unpleasant - at least looks like someone that worked outdoor. Last one have a low gaze, averting to cross eyes with Mortar and the two other, seems the most comfortable - maybe he's a servant of this home?

>[To all] Hey you weirdos, anyone think these books are weird?!
Of course, the unpleasant one talked first.
Not answering is tempting. But something is off. Mortar feels a looming threat growing - and it would be laughable to think it's because one of the weirdos.
>Aspect : Survival
Mortar have to adapt - not antagonize any of the to-be frontline fodder when the wolf herd will strike.
"Mine was poorly written, but had some kind of hidden merits"

>>6154776
You open the book and begin to read. It is fairly dry, but provides eminently useful insight. It goes over various exercises and advice to remember better, going beyond the norm. You begin to doubt if what is written is even possible, but you continue.

A memory is a house. Or perhaps a library. Or perhaps a forest. Or perhaps an aviary. So on and so forth. A house is built brick by brick, wood by wood. Books are read, and written about, and cited. A sapling dies as a shrub chokes it. Does the chicken or the egg come first? It does not matter. It is actually helpful we do not know.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. And now I know all." 4/4
??? 2/4

>>6154781
Yep, you meditate. You gain 2 points onto your Spendthrift Aspect.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15BO21VC3TNX-wnRBF3OGGn1wFIA5Qp031GDXPe0y4SM/edit?usp=sharing

Simple ass Google Sheets for tracking purposes. Will prolly pretty it up later as we go

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6154784
While seeming like nonsense there is a train of logic to the metaphor. A library is made of books. books are made from trees and birds live within trees. Library from a forest which is, in a way, an aviary. Perhaps the rest of this seemingly nonsense statements can provide further enlightenment. Spend my third action studying

>>6154791
66 is 33 plus 33. Or even 22 multiplied by 3. Or 132 divided by 2. Or if you take 1...66 times. It can even be seen as six twice.

A word is only a combination of letters. A sentence a combination of words. A ruby-throated hummingbird is merely a hummingbird, which is merely a bird, which is merely an animal.

You already know all of this. You know everything. We have simply forgotten. We need only be reminded.

Lay down the first brick, write the first book, birth the first egg.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. And now I know all." 4/4
"Pluck the bird from its flock, a sapling from its forest, a brick from its home." 4/4

You have 1 extra to assign to either Fragments, in the event you ever Study for a copy.

Small reminder it is now Cycle 2. Y'all got 3 more Actions

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>6154795
First action : looking for a book in Sword room

Hoping for something nice using Qi or something.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6154795
I shall seek more books in this mirror room

>>6154796
Mortar delves deeper into the Sword Chamber...

And comes across a desiccated corpse, sprawled up against a shelf, its skin ashen gray and its flesh shriveled in a grotesque image. *No*. It's not dead yet. Listening carefully...he can still hear its weak, ragged breath.

It doesn't seem to have noticed you yet. You pick up the nearest book.

Somatic Katas
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

>>6154795
BTW as you seem to be a new QM...
Try this out
[b]Bold[/b]
[i]italic[/i]
[red]color[/red]
[blue]words[/blue]
[green]text[/green]

Formating rights might be dependant of your ID so as you've switched it might not work though.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6154799
Free study

Also, creepy stuff. I'll walk to the other weirdos and usher
"Don't panic. There is some kind of monstrous being asleep against a bookshelf of sword room. Let's not awaken or disturb it."

Perhaps now is a good time to begin experimenting with Fragments?

>>6154800
[b]Testing[/b]

>>6154798
Clear Heart Mantra
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

Rolled 5 (1d6)

action 2 : unfree study
Will experiment with fragments AFTER seeing those gains

Rolled 1, 6 = 7 (2d6)

>>6154802
Curious title. My name does mean heart, so I suppose it is fitting that I found this. Let us see what secrets this book has to share.

>>6154801
>>6154803

You open the book and begin reading. Despite the promise of martial forms, it...

Oddly enough, seems to be a book about engineering and architecture? Reading a bit closer, perhaps even a single device, or building. It is unclear. Though it never explicitly states what it is, it vividly implies its make and how to use it.

Firmly plant a beam here, use it as a foundation for a fired brick consisting of this ratio of limestone and wood ash. Adjust the joint at this specific angle, then flip this switch. Ah, do not forget to ensure its filled with coal. So on and so forth.

He sinks deeper into his studies...

"At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 4/4
??? 2/4

>>6154805
You open the book, and...

It is a diary of sorts. And you deduce its owner must not be well. Some form of deluded mania. Any instance of where you'd guess a name must be written is scrawled out violently. You read more on what it is they have to say.

Oh, it is too much. Too many secrets, too many pain. Not my own, never my own. Why hide it? Where does the fear come from. I strain my ears, but it is not a matter of hearing. No, I must listen closer, deeper.

- "And so I bear my heart out to you, until it is finished." 4/4
- ?? 3/4

>>6154806
I'm cashing in the Meditation Fragment on the Marksmanship aspect.
I'll combine the 3 following fragments :
>Marksmanship
What I know is the way of the bow
>This steel I know for certain
I have to fend for myself
>At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth...
Of course the beam firmly planted is my rear leg. Ratio of limestone to wood ash is how much strength to the lower and upper body. Angle joint is arrow's trajectory.

>>6154808
Wait, it cutted a bit short.
The idea is to create a Marksmanship martial skill.
The "steel" is metaphorical for the strength of the weapon. The last fragment is a way to greatly empower the martial skill.

>>6154808
>>6154810

Fragments from 3 different sources. Lets say you'll need to collect 4 points of Development to bring it all together

Similar to studying, you're rolling d6 here

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6154807
Not quite what I hoped but the ravings of a madman are more unique than the thoughts of a scholar. I shall finish the book

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6154811

>>6154816
What happen to the extra point? Can I get a free point in one of the two used book?

>>6154812
"Ah, I see now why they cower in the shadow. Why they hide their wounds. There much bigger things to fear, but I will not be afraid. My heart is steady as it is cut down. If this is where we belong, then I will become a mother of all things that should not."

- "And so I bear my heart out to you, until it is finished." 4/4
- "Ah, what did they do to? Come to me. I understand." 4/4

>>6154818
Whoops, second one cut short

"Ah, what did they do to you? Come to me. I understand."

>>6154817
Honestly, yeah go ahead. That works

>>6154819
>"At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 0/4 (Still 4?)
>??? 3/4

>>6154808
>>6154816

You meditate on all your learnings. Each half step of understanding which doesn't quite make sense, but does. Individually nonsense.

Together something more.

It clicks.

Bow, arrow, target. An arrow knocked. A missile let loose. A life ended.

This weapon is you, and you are this weapon.

A specific form to carry out a specific task. Optimal. Calculated. Unforgiving.

???
You learn a specific set of motions. Draw your arrow. Hold it for 6 seconds. Then release. This is powerful enough to pierce steel.
Attempts to use this with any other weapons is impossible. Lesser bows will break.
You become fearful for your bow, as if your own body.

This is your own creation. Name it freely.

Congratulations, Mortar has taken his first step into the world of cultivators. This Technique is a superhuman one, transcending human limits.

Techniques can be used similarly like Fragments, as components for a bigger, better Technique.

>>6154822
Any other weapon as in, other bows aside the one Mortar currently has on his person

>>6154824
>>6154822
What other name than the
STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT
can I give?

>>6154826
And so Steelpiercing Powershot it shall be

Small addendum part 2 because I am a forgetful bastard who posts before he thinks:
These are 6 STATIONARY seconds. The kata breaks if you move

And the 'lesser bow would break' thing are separate clauses. Its impossible with other bows. If it just happens to be weak enough, it will break on top

General clarification:
If there is a problem in one of the other rooms, they can be interacted with freely without Action cost. Aka that weird monster thing in the Sword Room. The room cannot be explored further until its dealt with

>>6154842
So If the current bow break would I die?
Maybe I'll be able to research to attune to a future bow? Or if I turn the "I become what I do, and what I do becomes more." into a crafting skill?

I'd love to attempt to
>Fuck up the not-zombie
as a free action

>>6154844
You wouldn't but it would suck very badly for your mental state until you fix it, or even forever if its broken badly enough to be irreparable

'Impossible' is only a suggestion in the world of cultivation, though. There are many weird techniques to be found
So yeah all possible ideas for sure

>>6154844
Also sorry yes, hit me with your gameplan with the not-zombie here

getting a bit latemode and its fucking with me bigstyle

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>6154781
>what to look for.
[To Yichen] That mirror room mocks you, so it's stupid. Not worth three tael strings rubbed together.

Ji considers that Taels are valuable, and curses.

>>6154795
>Action 1, Meditate in animal farmer aspect.
>action 2, Attempting to Merge the Fragments of wisdom of the book with Animal farmer points.

Obviously I am talking about Home, when I refer to where I have been and where I shall go. But where is Home? Home is with Bully, my prized pig so keen he is basically a boar.
Stupider men wished to eat bully for the winter, but my Bully, knows just where the shoots hide, the shrooms grow.
I should quite like the technique to bring me back my Bully.

Med roll

>>6154854
Not bad eh.

Anyway, gameplay for the metaphysics of this technique is basically create a spirit companion out of his memories. The bridge being a mental construct to facilitate taking things from "home" to here.

>>6154854
8 points to develop. Doesn't seem like the Animal Farmer Fragment meshes too well with the Fragments from the book

You can freely pull back Fragments assigned to a Development, but any points already in it are lost. Which isn't a problem if you haven't invested any into it yet

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6154857
I'll roll to meditate/develop again then as action 3.
Do tell me if aspect and development points don't coexist.
I realise using escape route probably works better, but I choose this route.

>>6154858
Ah sorry may have been a bit unclear. So how it works is

You invest points into an Aspect. Then cash out any number of points in an Aspect into its Fragments

I assumed you were doing the 6 points into your Aspect, cashed it out immediately into a Fragment to be used

Development points are their own things, to track the progress you've made into doing the necessary work to make a Technique out of Fragments

They're tracked per set of Fragments currently intended to be combined

>>6154851
>Be me
>Go back to sword room
>Move silently toward UglyMcStinky
>Draw my bow.
>Mutter between my teeth "STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT" while I release the string

He gets what he fucking deserved.

>>6154856
I like that idea.

>>6154851
Goodnight QM

>>6154859
Ah.
So use 6 to cash out one fragment, 2 left in animal.
So the 4 to develop, so 4 left [when I can afford the second fragment]
Then the techniquenis made?

Or would you prefer the 4 goes to animal to make it 10, and cash out to develop later?

Sorry if I'm a bit slow here.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6154782
While Yìchén wouldn't put like that the kid has a point. He still doesn't know what the contents of Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiem really had to do with the title or even if it was meant to be a fable or a myth after all.
> "Mine was more confusing, I'm still not sure if it was just a story or if it was meant to be scientific."

>>6154795>>6154854

Action study I, the favored blade
Having gotten curious Yichén picks up I, The Favored Blade after the kid has gone deeper in to the Swords room and decides to read it. In case the kid wants back he looks for a spot that is not too far away but also keep the two of them out of each others personal space

>>6154866
Mortar quietly returns to where the desiccated 'corpse' is. It isn't hard to remain unseen, as it seems mostly insensate as it groans and breaths on the ground.

He draws his bow, its both ends bending impossibly further back than he's ever done before, or even believed possible with its make, letting out a low, dangerous creak.

Yet he believes with a cold, practiced certainty what it is capable of. Exactly six seconds pass, and a skin teeth's away from snapping in half, he finally releases, letting out a resounding TWANG as the arrow whips up a bout of wind in its wake and...

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>6154871
Dice roll epic fail, kms. If this next one fails can someone tell me what to put in the options field lol

>>6154868
No worries. I will admit perhaps my wording is a bit shit

So 'cashing out' is something specific to points invested into Aspects

Normally, Fragments gained from books have a hard number you want to reach
Then you gain the Fragment

Aspects I wanted to be something you could 'scale' far into the late game with you
So instead of a hard number, you can invest as much as you want into it and it never falls behind even once you run into higher point books

Right now you have
- Your books Fragments, which are 4 points each
- An Animal Farmer Fragment with points equal to how many points you decided to pull from it
- And 4/8 into your Development of your Techniques, due to the result of 4 you made on your d6 roll to Develop a Technique out of the 3 Fragments mentioned above

>>6154873
The arrow strikes true, nailing it between the eyes and absolutely obliterating its head. The arrow is thin, yet the force it exerted created a hole entire inches wider than the penetration point.

For a terrifying moment, it shambles and thrashes despite missing 70% of its head, but...it dies down, flopping down to its true final rest.

>>6154869
2 points to be assigned to a Fragment of your choice, yep yep

File: Screenshot 2024-12-10 023950.png (66 KB, 1214x389)

66 KB PNG

Decided to write down all the current rules down on the Google Sheet above

>>6154878
[To all]
"It's cool. I dealt with the ugly. I think there is a way forward after the sword room. Anything at the end of the puddle or the vertical glaze"

Rolled 3 (1d3)

>>6154878
I the favored blade has only has one fragment revealed so I'll put those two points in This steel I know for certain.
>Action 2 exploring mirror room for books.
Yichén wonders what to do next only to remember being told that the mirror room mocks people. Curious as to what can possibly mean he decides to check it out

>>6154899
There's only one book left in the Mirror Chamber actually, but yeah you pick up:

The Smile Pinned at Heaven
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

Finally, after the collective, exhaustive efforts of a few people, Yìchén is the one to find a path to the end of the confounding Mirror Chamber...only to be met with a large, locked door.

And he comes face to face with 5 mirrors, each one on a different, angled wall pointing back at himself. It reflects an image of himself, naturally, but...they seem off slightly, somehow.

Going to bed now guys, I shall do more stuff in the morning
Or whenever it is we're all around

>>6154906
>Action 3
While the book is tempting Yichén is currently more interested in the door. Not expecting to actually find anything he looks around for a key.

After a while he focuses on the walls the mirrors are on. Pushing against the glass he wonders if he can change the angle so that his reflections will look normal and if that will even accomplish anything

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6154878
Understanding all this, my final move will be to finish development, and with thst I need to roll 4 or higher on this development roll.

Then I will have this memory spirit companion

I'm posting for myself a "End of turn status" that i'll also put on the Gsheet for tracking purposes

>Weapon skill : "STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT"
>Progress counter
Somatic Katas
"At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 0/4
>??? - 3/4
I, the Favorable Blade
>??? - 1/4
>"This steel I know for certain." 0/4

File: mirrorpuzzle.png (142 KB, 1920x1080)

142 KB PNG

Hello hello people, we're back in business

Lets kick things off by putting things to Cycle 4. That's 6 more Actions for all of you

Could y'all post your current held Fragments and ongoing progress on things?
And for ease of tracking, declare actions in this format:
>Cycle X: Action Y
>What you're doing

>>6154918
Small fix, I meant 6 mirrors here, not 5. My apologies, sleep deprivation struck last night yet again

Also it doesn't take an Action to interact with the mirrors. Go ahead and feel free to use it for something else

The door doesn't appear to have a lock or even a handle. Regardless, Yìchén takes a cursory look around the nearby area, but his search unfortunately yields no keys.

Finally, he slowly approaches one of the mirrors. But before he could reach the mirror, he hears a warped version of his voice, as if echoing from across an empty hallway.
"Careful, now." A reflection from one of the mirror says. "That mirror you approach is malevolent and a liar. Do not believe his words."

Your reflection in the mirror in question does not address his comment, instead making his own. "That mirror," it points, "Can be trusted."

Your reflections in the mirrors begin to fully break away from mimicking you, now. They move of their own will, crossing arms, impatiently tapping foots. As you look away, you're certain all eyes are on you.

>>6154947
Wasn't your previous Action already your Cycle 2 Action 3? Just to double check
Either way, I rolled over to the new Cycle. This can be your new set of Action, and yeah 6/8 until a completed Technique now

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155158
I have a proposition for the enigma but my character isn't there + I don't wanna spoil the fun so it's behind a spoiler tag
I'd say the top-middle and top right are malevolent?
>Cycle 3 : Action 1 : study Somatic Katas

>>6155164
Can I unveil the ??? before splitting the 2 remaining points?

>>6155165
Yeah absolutely

"At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 0/4
"And when completed, the work shall stand for an eternity more." 4/4

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6155166
Well both keyphrases seem really good, so i'll split 1 point into each.

Cycle 3 Action 2 :
>Study Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems
Specifically, I'll put what I roll into
>I become what I do, and what I do becomes more.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

Finally,
Cycle 3 Action 3 :
>Meditate on "Survival" aspect
I'll let the other guys play a bit before my Cycle 4

END OF CYCLE 3 progress counter :

>Weapon skill : "STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT"
>Progress counter
Somatic Katas
>At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 1/4
>And when completed, the work shall stand for an eternity more - 5/4
I, the Favorable Blade
>??? - 1/4
>"This steel I know for certain." 0/4
Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems
>I become what I do, and what I do becomes more. (5/4)
Survival Aspect : 5

You can guess where it is going :
How much for cashing out 4 points of Survival, merging it with the 2 fragments?
Here's the motive behind :
Mortar always make do with what he had. Be it skinning game, using stone, wood and bones as materials and tools, maintain his bow and cloth, recognizing medicinal herbs from poison...

>>6155170
Hmm, lets say 6 points of Development to complete the Technique

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6155174
CYCLE 4 ACTION 1
Develop the technique

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155175
ACTION 2

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6155174
and
ACTION 3

>>6155177
Absolute tragedy
You know what, since I have zero self control, fuck it. Lets roll up to Cycle 5

Small general reminder for any would be watchers, we still have a slot open if you want to be the last person to hop on

>>6155175
>>6155176
>>6155177
Incredible Cycle for the woodland boy.


>>6154873
Do we get any kind of bonus other than "allowed to progress" for combat? Like XP or something?

[Mortar Point of view : First Kill]
There it is. Something that might once have been human. Now a danger for me. Not that I can count on those guys to settle it.
Weight on my Left leg, bending the knee. Using the right leg, fully extend and feet orthogonal, as a supporting beam.
Breath in.
Draw the bow, hear a concerning cracking sound.
Hold the breath.
The man (夫) is the link between Heaven and Earth. And that technique Mortar created perfectly embodies it. Energy of the Heavens from the breath in diffuse in the body. Delve into the Earth from the bended leg. Rise back into the spine from the extended one. This Qi road is slow, taking six full seconds to come back in Mortar's right end, then the arrow.
Release. Breath out.
The shot flies, pierce the monster. Too big of a hole to be usable in a hunt.
And what if it wasn't enough? What if removing the atrocity's head was not lethal?
Next time, Mortar can't be so careless. He'll need some kind of first-line meatbag to hold the enemy inbetween two shots.
What if the bow breaks? The creaking sound was scary. Well, as long as the pieces are not all replaced at the same time, it's steel the same bow, right? Maybe the shelve's wood could make a good replacement for the branchs? The monster's tendon could be of some use to create another string?
Mortar will have to think about it...

>>6155180
I have self control and I don't want the other players to feel too intimidated by 9 actions to catch back.
It would be a great way to get only you and me remaining in the quest, thus you losing motivation and me suffering once again from this doomed concept of Arcanic Archer

>>6155158
The first idea that Yichén had was simply ask each of the reflections which mirror the malevolent one would point too if he asked to point to the safe ones. That way he could be sure each indicated mirror would be safe, but the rejected that idea. It might work with just two mirrors and the guarantee that one was always lying and the other telling the truth.

Instead he mentally went over what each said, trying to find any statements that clearly referred to the same mirror more than once but didn't find anything. He did learn that there were two mirrors that were said not to be malevolent and two that were said to be but none of the info could be taken at face value.

In the end Yichén simply guessed that the top middle and top right were the dangerous one but still didn't know what to do

>>6155164
Thanks for your help. I'm terrible with that kind of puzzles

>>6155184
Hmm. Yeah giving XP for clearing challenges probably isn't a bad idea. I'll give you 2 points to assign into whatever for it

Ah also, sorry to interrupt this wonderful piece of writing, but I will note this Technique makes no use of qi

I should probably give a bit more background to the setting. While none of you are super familiar with cultivators, some common rumors are passed down

Qi and other energies exists, but is not ubiquitous in paths to power. Some cultivators legit do just have Physics Shattering levels of Physical Strength and or Skill- without making use of stuff like that

Such as the case of your Powershot

Of course, there's no reason they shouldn't just do both, so its rare to find to find a strong one who doesn't utilize it in some way or form, but qi is not the imperative principle behind all manifestations of Superhumanity

I might have given the wrong impression with the creaking, too. The powershot is a superhuman kata, I wrote it to imply 'perfect control and mastery of your tool, riding the edge of what it can handle to maximize its power', but Mortar is basically never at risk of accidentally breaking his bow at this point

>>6155188
Real. You are my voice of reason

>>6155190
Once Yìchén decided which mirrors are malevolent, the bickering falls silent. All at once, they speak:
"Have you decided? Then come."

Perhaps it is time to approach one of the mirrors and examine it closer, as he originally planned before being interrupted?

>>6155190
In that kind of puzzle it's good to find "contradictions"
Top right and bottom left are direclty in opposition so one of the two is the lier. Then "simulate" what happens by coloring one in red for evil, one in blue, and then propagate colors until you find a contradiction/solve the puzzle

>>6155193

>Ah also, sorry to interrupt this wonderful piece of writing, but I will note this Technique makes no use of qi
Mortar doesn't know that and that's how he feels - despite how wrong it is. Maybe it's just his muscular control that circle around his body.

>>6155193
I'll conveniently take 1 point of development for finishing the Technique and stockpile the second one for later.

>>6155196
Ez

>>6155196
You fall back into a state of deep meditation, one you're beginning to become familiar with by now.

In a sense, a life fending for yourself in the woods is a more accomplished one, is it not?
To hunt and gather no longer mere actions, but a way of life. A respect for nature. And nature has come to respect you.

Accomplishment. Accruement.

Settling into an auspicious shape.

It clicks.

???
'Natural things' gathered by Mortar, and materials from a carcass hunted by Mortar himself becomes suffused with qi.
This qi serves to enhance the natural properties of said material. Pelts, bones, herbs, etc. are slightly tougher and more potent, so on and so forth.
The qi greatly fades in power when worked with tools of sufficiently advanced technology.

This is your own creation. Name it freely.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6155158
My last action [with the roll of 4] was action 3 if you needed a roll for Merging the Fragments [which is action 2, and would have the roll of 2.]
If merging and development are seperate actions, it is cycle 3 action one.

And speaking of that, fast because I am at work.
>FINISH DEVELOPMENT.
CYCLE 4 ACTION 2 OR 1: Develop!

>>6155200
Oh whoops, you're right. Sorry I missed one of your actions

For clarity, I started the day off going from Cycle 2 directly to Cycle 4

So I belieeeeeeeeve you should be done with your Technique by Cycle 2 Action 3
So you have Cycle 3 Action 1 open right now to begin doing other stuff with going forward

So, you begin to meditate, memories of home floating to the front of your mind. Of your dear pig Bully.

Stepping forth from what was.

Looking ahead to what will be.

But...what is present in the between?

You must it must exist, for it is where you are now. And continue to be, despite any efforts to move forward.

Then, are you trapped? Are you being followed? Are you being avoided?

No. Rather, it must mean you must already be there to begin with.

It clicks.

???
You can very vividly imagine your pig Bully. It is so lifelike, in fact, it is for all intents and purposes a proper clone of the pig in question, although existing only inside your mind.
By paying attention to your surroundings, you can construct a mental model of your surroundings for Bully to interact with. It has partial capacity to predict what will happen if Bully were to take certain actions, further limited by the accuracy of the facts you feed it.

This is your own creation. Name it freely.

END OF CYCLE 4 progress counter :

>Weapon skill : "STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT"
>Crafting skill : Intent of the Gatherer
Would "anything made by Mortar" count as high-qi worthy? Primitive Technology style?
==================
>Progress counter
Somatic Katas
>At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 1/4
>And when completed, the work shall stand for an eternity more - 1/4
I, the Favorable Blade
>??? - 1/4
>"This steel I know for certain." 0/4
Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems
>I become what I do, and what I do becomes more. (1/4)
Survival Aspect : 1

One dangling FreeXP

Does harvesting the dead ugly count as one action?

Theorycraft time :
I think my next technique attempt will be something that QM planned - maybe to improve our dice on fragment study or something, bettering our action economy?
There don't seem to be any kind of pressure or timer for now...

Rolled 2, 2, 4 = 8 (3d6)

>>6155203
Start of Cycle 3.

Ji the Fool.
Speaks before he thinks, Skilled animal farmer [6 points], always finds an escape.

Bully's Intuitive Guidence

>Envisioned Moment

"I stand at the bridge. I have been here before." 4/4
"I look ahead of myself. I am reminded of home." 4/4
You have a free 1 point to repeat put into either of the Fragment, in case you need to pick up a copy in the future.

>Ideas and antiquities: Origin arts.
??? 1/4
???

>cycle 3 act 1, study the origin arts
>cycle 3 act 2, Study Origin arts.
>cycle 3 act 3, Meditate on escape.

Just want to clear out cycle 3 to get to cycle 4, then I will theorise on the gains to be made.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155213
Hmm. All that in the second fragment, and now I have 4 points in escape aspect.

>Cycle 4, act 1, study origin fragment

>>6155215
Perfect, book unlocked.
>Cycle 4, Act 2, Fuse Origin arts technique together.
>>6155210
[To Mortar, the weirdo] Hey weirdo? Since we all seem to be stuck in here, ya got any idea on why? Cause you all look real different from eachother, and I can see none of you can handle a hog without getting covered in shit so ya ain't like me.

But you know what I also don't see? Much way that there is a lot of food in here.
So who and why are they putting us in a big library with no obvious door out, eh?

>>6155216
[To Ji]
"Well I don't feel too sullied after talking with you.
How long have we been there? I agree with the lack of food - and most importantly Water - but I don't feel hungry or thirsty for now.
Do you recall what you was doing before getting in there? Cause I don't. And if we were dragged in that mean there is a way out, right?"

>>6155218
[To Mortar, the oblivious Weirdo] course you ain't sullied, Ya haven't even so much as looked at Bully.

Ji, the ever wise man he is, pets thin air, enjoying the brief feeling of companionship it offers. Really, they should at least compliment bully, last time he got insulted he earned his name.

[Speech resumes] Well for water they got that Pond room, gotta be some water in there.
And seeing how that stinky room got a new wall, and this sword room got a critter in it when before it was empty, shits gonna get worse as we keep poking it.
As for what I was doing?

-a brief flashback to frantic running through a forest, angry idiots on his heels like the mangy curs they resembled.-

In the forest.

>>6155206
Nah you're free to harvest the ugly. Though even with your new Technique's effect, the quality is kind of dogshit. It's kind of a miracle at all it isn't ashes to the wind.

>>6155213
>>6155215
>>6155216

"Ye of closed eyes and little faith. You doubt my Truth, yet refuse to see it for yourself? Even once, have you sought one of my principles to its conclusion?"

"A hundred more times should lightning strike, a hundred more of my lives I shall keep. I know exactly where it will land- and I will go to where it is."

- "Its presence is everywhere, for it is but an idea. Take one step back, to the left. Rotate 47.31 degrees. Then look again." 4/4
- "Coax the light from a sun, and the shadows from its hiding places." 4/4

You meditate, deeper and deeper into the odd math and sciences of the book. You've fallen into a trance once before already. It comes easier when you embrace it.

You doubt its contents, of course. How could you not? A whole life hearing, *living* reality as you've experienced it. Reading this is but a flightful bit of fancy.

At first.

But then you begin to understand. You begin to see patterns that, if you do presume a few things about reality, you suppose would make sense. Then if you presume that's true, then a few other things are, too. More and more these principles cascade down, until...

"Planes tapering down to a thin point concentrates force into a single area."

But...that's how it really does work, doesn't it?

Then it clicks.

Trace of a Notion
You become aware of the 'presences' of concepts. Naturally, such concepts inhabit where they are most strongly invoked. Sharpness along a knife, love within a smitten human, and life within a mighty oak, so on and so forth.
You learn how to 'Trace' concepts, so to speak, slightly bolstering its presence where it already exists. This requires a sympathetic vector. Sharpness is a physical concept, and so you must hold the knife. Love is an emotional one, and so should be fed with words. So on and so forth.

>>6155193
Hoping he was right about the malevolent mirrors Yichén decided to examine the one on the top closer.

>>6155229
To double check, you're approaching one of the ones you guessed is Malevolent?

>>6155229
Sorry I meant to say top left which is one I guessed to be safe

>>6155235
Yìchén approaches one of the mirrors he deemed safe, and as he draws closer, the rest of the mirrors fade away. By the time he comes face to face with the mirror, it seems to reflect him normally.

He reaches forward to touch its glassy surface...and finds it to not be solid at all. His hand passes through, letting out a ripple on the surface akin to a still body of water being disturbed, before being sucked in entirely.

He tumbles through the mirror's surface, appearing out an identical room- save for the rest of the mirrors being missing except the one he came through, and the giant door being opened. It leads to two deeper chambers.

You have unlocked 2 new Chambers. These are now available to all players:
- Fog Chamber: 4 books.
- Eye Chamber: 4 books.

Yìchén receives 2 points he can put wherever

Rolled 4 (1d4)

>>6155239
>Cycle 4, act 3, Check the eye room

Oil weirdo, great work. And I think I figured something out, these books all got secrets in em, like this one is pretty good.
You want to try and learn it from me?

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6155242
Heh.
Free study of the book from eye room.

>>6155243
First fragment

Rolled 5, 2 = 7 (2d6)

>>6155158
since Yichen never read the smile pinned at heaven I'll spend 2 actions studying that

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>6155248
and an action to finish

>>6155242
>>6155243
Ji enters the Eye Chamber, and...

Its full of marble statues raised on dais. Each one depicts different people of all kind in various poses, though the most common one is legs crossed, head forward. Many of them seemingly face the entrance of the room.

He moves on, finding a good book to retrieve from the room. And when he looks back, he can't be entirely sure, but...

He could have sworn less statues were facing in his direction when he first entered the room.

Regardless, he quickly exits the room.

DUET WITH NOBODY, VOL. II
- ??? 0/12
- ??? 0/6
- ??? 0/6

If you change your mind, feel free to assign the numbers somewhere else

>>6155248
>>6155249

You open the book, and...

It appears to be some kind of disconcerting storybook for children. The subject matter isn't too bad at first glance, but the tone can be a bit...off at times. Despite this, the tale goes on and played straight, as if nothing is amiss and this was just another tale for children.

"Oh, oh, for I have not seen big brother Li smile in a forthnight. I have not seen big brother Li do much of anything at all! Whatever shall we do?"
"If he cannot find it in himself to lift his head, we shall take it for him. And if he cannot find it in himself to feel joy, we shall find it for him."
"I as well, I shall take this needle and embroider for him a scene of heaven for him alone."

- "What a mighty sleepiness it is! Why, I fear he might continue to sleep forevermore!" 4/4
- "If the heaven and earth are blind to us, I shall weave one right here at our very home!" 4/4
You know the drill, assign the extras to either ones for possible future copies

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>6155239
I'm using the two point to raise "This steel I know for certain." to 4/4

>Action 1 read The Smile Pinned at Heaven

While curious about the new rooms Yichén is already has one book waiting for him and figures he might well take care of that first before finding any new ones,

He heads back to the main room and seeing Xin read waits for him to finish so he can read the book as well

>>6155251
I did change my mind. Second fragment please.

[To all]

Hey, weirdos? I think we are gonna have a statue problem.

Rolled 1 (1d4)

>>6155261
Xin passes the book to Yichén. "Seems to be a nice little children's book" before heading to the fog chamber

>>6155261
>>6155264
Let me know when you two finish Cycle 4

>>6155263
"Is violence an advisable solution?"

On a really meta Point of View, the Trace of Concept seems a great basis for future techniques. I'm curious about possible book autocombinations that can rise our numbers.

QM, is food and water an issue for our characters?

>>6155261
Yep, note the points down

>>6155263
Ji reads the book, and it appears to be an annotated, unpublished draft of a sequel of a famous stage play. Uniquely, it appears to be a different author from the first.

It is neurotic and obsessive. The first and second scene are route and serviceable, if uninspired. But the weirdness begins at the third one, where a sole actor in the stage addresses the audience with a emotional speech. The full length, very thick manuscript does not go past this scene.

It is...hard to read. Both in making sense of it, and emotionally. Each iterated version is present, but ultimately scrapped and remade. Then the next. Then the next. Each one becomes more desperate, channeled and captured quite beautifully in the dialogue. At some point, it starts actually becoming a captivating scene.

Though it is never enough. The lines go completely off script, as if the writer giving up entirely and merely venting to a diary, or the audience still, or whoever might one day read this. Screaming into the void, desperate to be heard.

- ??? 0/12
- ??? 5/6
- ??? 0/6

>>6155264
Unsurprisingly, the Chamber is foggy. As Xin forges a path forward, he cannot see more than a feet ahead of himself. Uniquely, what little of the environment he can make out, it does not appear to be a library anymore. The walls are smooth, gray, stone and uneven, winding here and there. Patches and shrubbery crop up the gravelly ground, as if he was at the bottom of a valley.

He comes away with a stone tablet for his troubles.

Clouded Path
- ??? 0/6
- ??? 0/6

>>6155268
Actually yeah, I should have mentioned. Kind of easy for the small details to slip through, apologies. But all of you oddly enough do not feel any hunger or thirst or even sleepiness

Given these facts and no view to the outside world, your sense of time has also been kinda fucked

>>6155268
"Well it ain't for me, on account of not being a fighting man, but I reckon them statues are looking at us when we go in.
And that is. . A thing."

Ji, perhaps obviously, is uncomfortable with the thought.

Aight guys, I'm thinking I have a few tools here. And a few bits ready to cook.
But now I ask the qm how it is to try and teach my fellow anons a technique or fragment.
And can we combine our understandings for techniques that require multiple participants?

Rolled 6, 1 = 7 (2d6)

>>6155279
using free study and an action to study

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155289
I'll use my last cycle 4 action to study more

QM, could you kindly "sort" the books by chamber + indicate the book autotech on the Gdoc?
>>6155261
If I counted right, you still have 2 actions for cycle 4, Aight?

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6155268
>What a mighty sleepiness it is! Why, I fear he might continue to sleep forevermore!" 3/4
>- "If the heaven and earth are blind to us, I shall weave one right here at our very home!" 3/4
Can they be combined without having the maximum amount of points? If so I'd like to do
>Action 2 meditate on nonjudgmental

>>6155293
Well now just one but I'll try to get it done quickly

>>6155283
Original Techniques can be taught yeah. This'll be represented by not needing to roll to Develop it anymore, though they'll need to spend the same Fragment set

Technique with Aspect Fragments will complicate things though for obvious reasons. They don't have the same background and history as you to gain the same insights

I will say however, if the 'Teacher' spends an Action, they can open a *specific* Aspect Fragment used in a Technique to be learned like a book Fragment by someone else, once

They'll have to spend an Action again to teach the Aspect Fragment to a second dude, for example

>>6155293
Did the sorting

>>6155295
Unfortunately not, you'll need the complete Fragments for them to be usable for combinations

One sec, shall write up new reads in a sec

>>6155301
Hey man. Is there still a spot open for a nee player to jump in?

>>6155289
>>6155290
You look at the tablet. Finally, thank god, a completely normal cultivation manual played straight. The other books convey the Techniques perfectly fine, and maybe even better given the immersive way they lay out what they're teaching, but there's something to be said about the 'seriousness' of it all. Doesn't really hit the same when you're learning superhuman techniques from a damned children's storybook

Anyway

The guy who wrote this is kind of batshit too regardless. They do not go over to who they are. They make it very clear you should not try and find this detail out. They state very clearly who this tablet was meant for (probably not you). But you continue anyway

Given the contents and reading between the lines, this guy is the leader of some kind of hidden, not-so-righteous sect. He is *very* paranoid. He goes over the method to hide your tracks. Each action, no matter how perfect, always leaves behind a trace. The heavenly Dao watches over all. This is possible because of the presence of qi, which all things posses, even if minutely. And qi comes from the spirit, which comes from consciousness...

- "If it can be answered by you, it will be, regardless of your words." 6/6
- ??? 5/6

>>6155308
Yeah absolutely hop in

>>6155308
Wouhou, new fren

>>6155310
Alright. Then here goes.

Iskandra (usually shortened to Iska)

22 years old. Third daughter of a nobleman, living close to a Savage Mountain range. Many cold days and nights spend training to try and satisfy her ambitious fathers expectations of her lead her to develop a strong sense of determination and drive to succeed, bordering on obsession.

When the time came for her to marry and improve her familys standing she fled, following a wish to be herself and not what her family wants her to be.

Even then she kept up with her Training, using the Shortsword and several daggers she stole from her familys armory to keep up her reflexes and the lesson hammered into her over countless hours.

Qualities: Determined, Free spirited and Short bladed weapons.

I hope this is okay

>>6155314
Works fine yeah. Go ahead and take your Actions, you've got a whole 15 to work with
But we can take it step by step so no rush

>>6155314
And if its still doable can i enter Sword Chamber?

>>6155318
Yep. Go ahead and roll the d2
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15BO21VC3TNX-wnRBF3OGGn1wFIA5Qp031GDXPe0y4SM/edit?gid=0#gid=0

Here's a Google doc where a lot of the details are updated btw

>>6155314
>First "functional" character based on aspects
Maybe us all picking a glaring defect (asocial, loudmouth, spendthrift, introvert) was not the brightest idea. I hope it will lead to the funniest techniques though.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6155319
Dice. Dont fail me now

>>6155321
I do plan on having her be a bit hotheaded and a bit of her own worst enemy.

>>6155319
Also apparently the dice didnt take the first time

[To Xin]
I'm curious about that memory method books of yours. Did you found out some secret insight from it?

>>6155321
Average cultivator, really

>>6155322
Iska wanders the monotonous halls of the Sword Chamber for a while, and plucks a curious book from a shelf:

A Hundred Years in Hell
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

>>6155290
Out of character, I'm really curious about the available techniques, especially Mnemotics and Somatic Katas. You should be like 2 points away from fusing that book's technique, so it would be a waste if I spent 3 actions on that.

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6155325
Alright. So action 2. Study whit book. Cant have been worse than back home.

So i roll a d6 to study? And could alter meditate on this as well?

Also. You can play with the determination bit. Its bordering obsession after all.

>>6155324
"I believe the fragments I've gather may be great for learning and perhaps disassembly"
>>6155327
Personally, I think now I know all and this steel I know sound like they would have great synergy

>>6155328
Yeah so, as you are the one who discovered this book, you gain a free Study on this, which is a d6 yes

You can continue to Study a book with more Actions

Wdym by alter meditate?

>>6155329
Indeed, it might be an interesting combination. However, the books are free-assemble...
Wait... What fragments do you own? Did you develop some into techniques yet? I'm a bit lost

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155330
i meant after. i could meditate on what i read after reading the book..

and third action will be another study then

"This cant be it. This is surely not just some story. There has to be some deeper meaning behind this. "

>>6155329
Basically I'm trying to "snipe" interesting technique books as If there is a way to improve our action efficiency, it's in them - and Mnemonic sounds like the perfect way to retain a fragment (or at least points) after a development, making it a must-have skill for all of us;

QM, if one of us learn a book skill can we help other study it ? Like free-action to give +1 to book fragments or something?

>>6155333
"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. And now I know all."
"Pluck the bird from its flock, a sapling from its forest, a brick from its home."

"And so I bear my heart out to you, until it is finished."
"Ah, what did they do to? Come to me. I understand."

"What a mighty sleepiness it is! Why, I fear he might continue to sleep forevermore!"
- "If the heaven and earth are blind to us, I shall weave one right here at our very home!"

- "If it can be answered by you, it will be, regardless of your words."
- ??? 5/6

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155308
Welcome

>>6155341
So the 3 first can be made into premade techniques "for free"
Aren't you curious? (cause I'm extremely)

>>6155334
Points into Fragments represent deeper insight, each and every one of you are basically constantly meditating on the deeper meanings of each book. So yeah for sure

Ah whoops, forgot to give the Flavor Text(TM) for what you read. So

Iska opens the book, and it appears to be some kind of diary. If its intended to be portrayed as fictitious or not is unclear.
It details the life of a slave in a strange, unfamiliar land with cruel, unfamiliar captors. Though the book doesn't provide much details on how the supposed writer arrived here to begin with, he is subject to cruel work and even crueler magics. Large amounts of time passes between each entry, a moment of reprieve to write seemingly few and far between.

Each passage is scrawled with hateful details of his captors and descriptions of how he might slaughter them- actual demons of ashen skin and horned heads. The writer admits them as mere fantasies in the beginning, though as decades pass, his writing becomes colder and his resolve becomes more solid.

"Their magics do not work as well on us as it had, decades prior." He details. "We do not call it hope, for there is nothing left for us past this. Should we prevail or fall, let us be free of this."

- "I observe the horrors around me. And I remain only as someone who suffers it." 4/4
- ??? 1/4

>>6155336
Unfortunately I'll have to say probably not for the sake of the game design vision I had in mind

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155347
"Ah interesting... so this could lead to.... yes. Very interesting"

Being so caught up reading an account even if fictional of what her own life felt like at some points, though with less evil sorcery Iska is near impossible to break out of her reading, continuing to study the book

action 4 is more study

>>6155349
- "I observe the horrors around me. And I remain only as someone who suffers it." 4/4
- "When I've more scars than flesh, and sensations fail me, what of me then?" 4/4

Rolled 1 (1d1)

>>6155351
"What of you then... indeed. Maybe. Maybe i can read something else that would be useful here."

search for new book in the Sword Chamber. There are still 2 books left over yeah? so its a d2

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>6155353
I am quite incompetent today. Am i not.

>>6155353
Last book actually, so no roll needed. Iska delves deeper into the Chamber, and eventually...it opens up into a wide arena.

The shelves encircle it by a wide berth. A circular area, its floor the design of the yin and yang symbol, a noticeable seam present where the two meet in the middle.

In the middle of that circle...is a dusty, half-smashed wooden automaton. Its crack reveal its interior, full of interlocking gears, far from pristine condition.

There doesn't appear to be any other way forward, and it doesn't seem to react, so you walk closer, and you spot two things.

A switch on its back.

And a dusty scroll in its hands.

Fundamental Exercises
- ??? 0/4
- ??? 0/4

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>6155361
"Who left you poor thing here... and this scrol... it reminds me.... no.... dont think about that." Study the book

>>6155362
Don't forget your free Study from discovering your book

You unfurl the scroll, and...

It appears to be some kind of daily schedule? The life it paints is one of a modest rice farmer, and yet...

Wake up.
Have breakfast with my family.
Tend to the rice.
Speak with an old friend.
Eat dinner with my family.
Sleep.

Wake up.
Eat breakfast with my family.
Tend to the rice.
Fix the cart.
Eat dinner with my family.
Sleep.

Wake up.
Eat breakfast with my family.
Farm rice.
Celebrate my son's birthday with the village.
Have dinner with my family.
Sleep.

- "Who shall stop me? When your mouth grows hungry, from whence does your food flow?" 4/4
- ??? 2/4

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6155365
Then the free study

>>6155366
Yep. Mark it down
Don't wait on my account if its just numbers crunching
I'll pop in when a room is explored, new Fragments are uncovered, etc.

How is the response to >>6155336 coming or did I mis it somehow?

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155362
>>6155365
>>6155366

"This... This cant be it? What in the nine hells is this junk? What am i supposed to learn from this" She shouts frustrated after a short first glance, before being drawn in by the writing, the simplistic repetition being almost hypnotic and soothing her mind, drawing her back to memories not exactly solely her own.

Action 6 is reflection, trying to collect what she found together and combine the pieces in her mind.
working on aspect Determined.

just to clarify. i have three fragments now? and i could combine any two for an action to learn a technique. or the latter two as a free action following the diary?
"Who shall stop me? When your mouth grows hungry, from whence does your food flow?"
"I observe the horrors around me. And I remain only as someone who suffers it."
"When I've more scars than flesh, and sensations fail me, what of me then?"

>>6155376
The question directed at me? My thoughts at the bottom here >>6155347

>>6155377
Yep, you have the 3 Fragments you mentioned
You can try and combine 2 or more Fragments into a Technique

Free if all Fragments are from the same source
If not, you'll have to spend Actions to roll to Develop a new Technique

>>6155383

I linked to the totally wrong post sorry I meant to ask about >>6155295 so I can do my final action for the cycle . I think you missed the part at the end where I had Yichén meditate since the attempted combining was a free action, both fragments being from the same book and all

>>6155405
Ahh, no worries. I responded here: >>6155301

Fragments are not gained until the point Threshold is reached, so 3/4 unfortunately doesn't quite cut it yet
Yìchén is at the cusp of understanding actionable portions of the book's wisdoms, but he'll need to spend some time Studying that last, small stretch

Unless I'm misunderstanding the question somewhere

Also, so long as you keep track of the Meditations on each of your Aspects, there's not much need for me to post about it, so you're good on the whole Nonjudgemental thing

I am once more entering sleepo mode for the night

great goon sesh guys

before i go, wanted to hear feedback. how's the pace feeling? too slow? something else? anything you guys feel like i'm doing weird?

Also, by the way, if any of you feel like I may have skipped over a post or message (very possible), don't be afraid to poke me about it

See you gamers tomorrow

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155418
O okay I thought you saying writing up new reads meant you were gonna write something about that and I was waiting until you were done before posting my last action for the cycle. My bad.

>Action 3
Feeling there was something he missed about The Smile Pinned at Heaven Yinchén decided to reread the book in an attempt to find whatever hidden meaning had eluded him

Attempting to get both What a mighty sleepiness it is! Why, I fear he might continue to sleep forevermore!" and "If the heaven and earth are blind to us, I shall weave one right here at our very home!" to 4/4

>>6155383
okay. then i would like to combine

"I observe the horrors around me. And I remain only as someone who suffers it."
"When I've more scars than flesh, and sensations fail me, what of me then?"

This is free since its from the same book. so as Action 7 i would like to go to continue reading my previous book Fundamental Exercises. which i will finish since i only need one more charge. and i think i cant go over the 4 charges i need for a Fragment

>>6155430
>>6155343
>>6155341
and i will try to roleplay with you guys once i get to your cycle. up till then you see this young woman running here and there just devouring books and occaisionally cursing and yelling about something or other when not meditating.

>>6155448
[Toward Iska]
By sheer luck, the boy crossed path with the tornado-made woman. Weapons by her side, full of energy.
This makes a favorable impression to Mortar - finally, a frontliner. Now, he just have to make her confident enough to engage a foe while shooting from the back.

Out of RP :
When you have a weapon skill, I'll eagerly team up on battling the dummy with you.

>>6155451
i will try. probably after finishing this current book i will meditate and work on my Short Weapon skill. Should be pretty nimble.

hopefully enough to dodge Arrows ^^°

>>6155424
>how's the pace feeling? too slow?
By the board's standard, brecknecking fast.

>something else?
I'd appreciate some threats or events coming by specific Cycle number - Hunger or thirst or sleepiness strike, invasion of ennemy squad, scholarly ghost to debate... It would break the monotony and knowing of those deadline would force us to strategize a bit more than "just" being in the library sandbox,
I'd also love to interract more with the room themselves, but I guess this will have to wait something like opening the Forrest room or something.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

Cycle 5 Action 1 : Study Somatic Katas

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>6155459
Let's do it again

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155461
Cycle 5 Action 3

END OF CYCLE 4 progress counter :

>Weapon skill : "STEELPIERCING POWERSHOT"
>Crafting skill : Intent of the Gatherer
Pending question : Would "anything made by Mortar" count as high-qi worthy? Primitive Technology style?
==================
>Progress counter
Somatic Katas
>At least this wide to defy heaven, at least this heavy to conquer earth..." 4/4
>And when completed, the work shall stand for an eternity more - 4/4
I, the Favorable Blade
>??? - 1/4
>"This steel I know for certain." 0/4
Oceans, Swansongs, and Requiems
>I become what I do, and what I do becomes more. (1/4)
Survival Aspect : 1

One dangling FreeXP

QM, when you wake up I'd love to get the free skill of Somatic Katas

>>6155290
Starting Cycle 5, I have

Ji the Fool.
Speaks before he thinks, Skilled animal farmer [6 points], always finds an escape.

Bully's Intuitive Guidence
Trace of a notion

>Envisioned Moment

"I stand at the bridge. I have been here before." 4/4
"I look ahead of myself. I am reminded of home." 4/4
You have a free 1 point to repeat put into either of the Fragment, in case you need to pick up a copy in the future.

>Ideas and antiquities: Origin arts.
"Its presence is everywhere, for it is but an idea. Take one step back, to the left. Rotate 47.31 degrees. Then look again." 4/4
- "Coax the light from a sun, and the shadows from its hiding places." 4/4

>Duet with nobody v2
??? 0/12
??? 5/6
??? 0/6

Interesting how the advance of the chambers seems to correlate to an increase of potency.

>>6155555
And 4 points in escape, sorry

>>6155430
Oh whoops, no the 'writing up new reads' bit was a general comment. Sorry

>>6155458
Oh yeah, post rate for sure we're going fast. I meant more so the pace of the gameplay loop and in terms of things to do, yeah

Comment noted

>>6155467
Woops sorry, missed it. Qi suffuses what you harvest, not what you craft. But if the intent is 'making magical items', it should be a minor difference. Things made out of items affected by your Technique are definitely stronger

Unless I'm misunderstanding the question somewhere

>>6155555
By the way, once you combine Fragments, you lose them btw. You'll have to Study to regain them, hence the repeat points

General:
Will write up created Techniques in a second

>>6155467
>>6155677
Re: Mortar's crafting
The amount of qi you suffuse into items is relatively low, but a lot of the utility comes from how reusable and applicable it is

Though in True Cultivation Fashion(TM), it's all relative, and numbers will continue to go up. I consider things by point investment. Everything is 'as powerful' as its Tier, it's just that where those points manifest are different

Intent of the Gatherer is a perfectly good 12 point 'reusable material boosting technique'

>>6155677
I know that i will lose them. Or could i invest the fragments somewhere else and use them that way to restudy the books again later?

>>6155720
Oh I was responding to someone else for that specific bit, you're good

Though, wdym by 'invest the fragments somewhere else and use them that way to restudy the books again later'?

Typically how it works is basically players will have to restudy specific Fragments to regain them for use

General:
Small delays in writing the Techniques, I in fact do not have that dog in me so I'll probably wait to get home before I continue this

See you guys in 2ish hours

>>6155725
i was thinking to maybe use a fragment to help with understanding ones own aspects and generate Skills like that. though i might have misunderstood how that works.

>>6155727
Ahhh, you've got it in reverse. You generate Fragments FROM Aspects, which you can combine into Techniques

You invest points into an Aspect, and you can 'cash out' any number of points from an Aspect into a Fragment

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you mean

>>6155732
okay. and i can just say i am doing that by rolling a D6 while studying my own aspects?

>>6155733
Yeah. Just keep in mind it's an Action to do

Speaking of which, lets kick off Cycle 6
---

You've all been here for a few days now, encountering dangers you never would have faced in your lives otherwise. Strange, inscrutable places and opponents.

But you've begun to learn strange, inscrutable things yourselves. Wielding the hidden powers and secrets of the world.

One thing is for certain- this place is dangerous. But promises gains beyond imagining. One way or another, you're all changing. You feel as if you've begun to take well to the strange, arcane logics so common in these books.

Insight deepens.

Study, Meditation, and Develop Actions performed from Cycle 6 onwards are now rolled at 1d6+2.

On my way home. We pop off soon

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>6155748
Okay I'm combing "What a mighty sleepiness it is! Why, I fear he might continue to sleep forevermore!" and "If the heaven and earth are blind to us, I shall weave one right here at our very home!" which are from the same book, meaning it's free


Having reread the book Yichén fels like he now understands it fully and wonders if he can use the insights somehow to improve himself or learn something new

>>6155753
You meditate...

The inciting tragedy was unfortunate, but it wasn't a matter the characters had any say in. But the decision they *could* make...

If blood was what it took for some semblance of peace, the choice is obvious, wasn't it?

Eyes inside walls, painted over. And what a beautiful mural it is.

This is a happy ending. Heaven has come our home. From it, a smile overlooks all of earth.

Bloody Grin
Practice: Induce a powerful delusion upon yourself, warping your mental state closer to what suits your need. This delusion requires an aspect of whimsy and glee.
---

Some Techniques can be Practiced with an Action. This represents extended exercises with repeatable benefits.
When a Player first learns a Technique with Practice, they gain one free Practice on it.
---

>>6155448
You can go over the maximum, so go ahead and roll it. Just means you're starting on a second copy of the Fragment anew

- "Who shall stop me? When your mouth grows hungry, from whence does your food flow?" 4/4
- "And in the mornings when I drive my hoe into the soil, the earth rouses and the birds sing." 4/4

You sink into a deep meditation as you combine your 'Hundred Years in Hell' Fragments...

The book ends abruptly with the ominous comment from the writer. Though it should be clear what it is he left to do.

There is no need to know what becomes of him after. You already know what became of him now. Anything else matters little.

A becoming, regardless of how harsh it is. And how cold and hard it is he's become.

It clicks.

Marrow Memory
What is shattered cannot be broken, and what does not live cannot be killed.
You acclimate to physical harm you suffer. This is divided into three categories:
- Slash
- Blunt
- Pierce
When you suffer a grievous wound of a certain type and survive, you become more resistant to it by one degree. Each category has 3 degrees of resistance.
This does not apply to your eyes and the inside of your mouth.
Acclimating to damage this way produces heavy and ugly scarring on your flesh.
Practice: Take the time to purposefully mangle and harm yourself. Choose a category and raise your resistance to it by one degree.

>>6155467
You sink into deep meditation...

If you are to build a home to live. Should it not be the greatest it could be? Should it not outlive you, and be passed on to your children?

When the rains and the storms come, should it not be able to hold fast against its winds?

It is what we put here, and here it will stand forevermore.

Tower Katas
You learn a specific set of martial forms. They can be adapted to a variety of poses, but must adhere to the following:
Both feet on the ground, legs in a slight squat. Arms raised forward. Hold your form for 3 seconds.
After the form is held for 3 seconds, you become incredibly stable, nigh impossible to move from your spot. Your arms become highly durable to damage, while your legs and torso becomes moderately so.

>>6155768
Re: Tower Kata
Only lasts for as long as you maintain the stance

Rolled 4, 2 = 6 (2d6)

>>6155768
Alright then i will roll it. It will be the first die. Second die is for action 8. Or action 2 in cycle 3. Which will be meditating about Determination.

I think combining determination and thr Hundr3d Years in hell could be useful to push myself beyond my limits.

And if I get to choose one resitance type already then i think i will choose pierce. For those. Accidental backshots

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

Cycle 6 turn 1 : MnemonicsMaxxing

Question : are the tower Katas and steel piercing auto-combinable? They seem to fit the same requirements stemming from the same keyword

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>6155785
Turn 2 : more mnemomax; autofuse

Rolled 5, 3 + 2 = 10 (2d6 + 2)

>>6155555
Intriguing.
Most intriguing.

I think, given everything, I have two paths to go. I am going to try and finish out this Duet with nobody, Then max my talk before thought aspect.

Because I have a notion. A notion that if Duet is combined with trace of notion, I could become a bard buff type.
And that helping the fighters. . . Hmm.


[To all] Right, so officially to you Weirdos, I doubt your all clever enough to put this together, so I guess I can trust you a little.
This hook here, the origin arts one? It's got this nifty trick in it, Like. . Make some stuff more, I can make you even more annoying or a bit more unobservant, enhancing what's already there. . So if you guys want to read it, might help. Especially you bow man.

Cycle 6, Act 1, Study of Duet with nobody.
Cycle 6, Act 2, Study of Duet.

Rolled 4 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>6155789
Might as well Duet max.
5 shards plus 12 is 17, needing 24 total. This next roll could finish out the book. Perhaps.
But the previous rolls assigned to fragments 2 and 3.

>>6155790
And the last action was 1 shy. Alas.

Still, even if the book technique is not related to buffing, I can make it so, I reckon.

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>6155770
Might as well continue introspektion and reflection for Determination with Action 3 of Cycle 3

>>6155785
As in, combined into a new Technique? No, but its Development cost is pretty low. I'll say 0/4
If anybody has Fragments combinations they're curious about, I can preview the cost for Development for it

>>6155786
You sink into a deep meditation...

One. Two. Three. Four.

Yes, yes. You've seen it all before. Two becomes one.

Crow. Sparrow. Pigeon. Hummingbird.

And one becomes infinitely more.

It clicks.

L.I.B.R.A.R.Y.
Doesn't necessarily have to be a library. It is a partition of your mental processes manifested as a place within your imagination. This imaginary place can holds imaginary things, which correspond to specific memories.
Practice: Take 4 specific memories or details and shape them into an object, conjuring them into the imaginary space. These can no longer be forgotten, its information readily accessible in perfect clarity by going up to them in the imaginary space and examining them.
Once per Cycle, you may roll a 1d6 and add it as Study points into a single Fragment you set as a consolidated memory.

>>6155789
>>6155790
You read more. Something changes. He begins having...a conversation. He begins answering questions you don't know, and asking some himself. But with who? Himself? Has he gone mad?

No. Something is there.

- ??? 11/12
- "Hello, anybody? Anyone? I'll take anyone at all! Even if its you!" 6/6
- "My only company are my echoes, and somehow, what fine company they are." 6/6

>>6155807
So is the practice a free 1d6/cycle?
If so, this one is the most valuable technique we should all get.

>>6155807
If I'm right : how much for developing into "any fragment or aspect"?

>>6155808
Yeah basically

>>6155809
Like, to make it so you can assign the points from the 1d6 to any Fragment or Aspect? You'll have to find the right mix of Fragments or Techniques to produce the results you want

>>6155810
So nothing for >>6155803
And >>6155770


>>6155808
I am just two cycles behind you now. So that means i would very luch like to take on the Automata sometime soon

>>6155812
Ah sorry. So. You do have the points into Determination but they don't really do anything until you 'cash them out' into a Fragment

I wasn't saying anything because you don't super discover anything new
you're just gathering established materials, basically

Unless you were doing something with your Fragments that I missed?

>>6155813
Nah. Its alright. Then for cycle 4 i would like to cash out in determination to gain a fragment. The amount of points i cash out correlate to potency. Any specific thresholds i should be aware off?

I have 4 points in determination at the moment. Same as any of the book ones i have access tom

>>6155814
No Thresholds, but the established recommendation is around the same number of points as other Fragments you're mixing it with

[To all]
Why didn't any of you told me about this book doubling the gains for half the effort? Any other secret you're keeping?

Ooc :
That book mean one free roll per turn. It's brokenly good. Please get it; we'll see how it can be furthered improved

Iska : I'm safekeeping my last cycle 6 action for the fight

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155815
I would like to try and combine
"Who shall stop me? When your mouth grows hungry, from whence does your food flow?"

And the determination fragment. Both have a rating of 4 in them. I am joping gor something making me more relentless and maybe even more attention grabbing. I would be a poor tank if an enemy could just ignore me

Action 1 of cycle 4

>>6155820
I'll say this is a Development of 0/6 to complete the Technique

Can you write a bit more about what Iska's Determination means to her as a character? Any specific event, facet, or part of her life she draws inspiration from?

>>6155821
Then action 2 of cycle 4 will hopefully help finish that technique. I guess its cumulative points? Or all or nothing for development.

Determination. The relentless hunger to accomplish whatever goal she has set for herself. She remembers the cold nights in the small family fortress when her arms were burning from training with the blade all day, her lungs from the ice cold air she takes in with each shallow breath.

At first she had pushed herself out of fear. Of her father, of punishment. Of disappointing the strongest man she had known in her short life so far. But with time this had changed. She felt the disappointment in her soul, the very core of her being. And despised it. Despised that she had been weaker than most of her siblings, not gifted with her fathers stature unlike them.
Determination could lead her to a goal most would consider out of reach but for her nothing will be. This she swore to herself on that cold and lonely night. And they all would see her for what she was and would be.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>6155825
Got too caught up writing

>>6155825
>>6155826
Cumulative, yes. You have 2 over what you need, so feel free to assign it to any of the Books or Aspects you sourced the Fragments from
So in this case, Fundamental Exercises and your Determination Aspect

So you fall into a deep meditation...

Who is to say what you can and cannot achieve? Shall words and expectations stop you?

How could such ephemeral things hope to convince you, when you've already convinced yourself with something so much more?

A promise made, and a promise acknowledge. It carries you forward, and the world parts.

???
Practice: Concentrate on a specific goal and crystalize your will. While following a goal established with this Technique, reality bends slightly: Minor setbacks do not affect you as strongly for seemingly no discernible reason, and once per goal, after you roll a d20 but before you see the result, you may choose to push yourself and add a +4 to your roll.

This is your creation. Name it freely.

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>Free memory roll
previously unlocked Fragment - I become what I do, and what I do becomes more.

>>6155817
[To Mort, suddenly interested] eh?! What book are you babbling on about you brook mouthed brute? We're in the worlds weirdest library to make a scholar cry. WHICH BOOK?!

>>6155846
The one I'm holding you crude fucktard! It was obvious : improving our memory would stop us reading the same few pages again and again and again

Rolled 2 + 2 (1d6 + 2)

>>6155748
I finish studying the clouded path

QM, could you open the drive to us? I'd like to track Mortar infos on an online Player Sheet

>>6155858
This is probably a good idea. Opened the Sheets for edit to anybody
If this becomes a problem in the future I shall deal with it thenksrv08

Sorry, may have to dip early today. Irl stuff came up

Might come back later if I still have time but no promises

Popping in real quick to make an addendum to LIBRARY
Wrote something a bit wrong

When it says take 4 memories, it becomes 4 separate items that populate your imaginary space

Not that you generalize all memories into one object

Whoopsie

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>6155833
i shall name it "Path to the Heavens"

When Iska crystalizes her will in her mind she creates a path she needs to follow to reach it.

i take it its another 1d6 to set my goal?

Then my next goal shall be to reach a Deeper chamber through my own strength. or is that too short term of a goal?