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Titles: Fellow of Luoying Manor
Champion of Young Tiger Martial Arts Tournament
Lord of the Fire Temple
Honorary Brother of Shaolin Temple
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Combat Skills:
Axe - 0/7
Bows - 0/6
Saber - 4/8
Spear - 0/6
Staff - 0/6
Sword - 6/10
Thrown Weapons - 0/6
Unarmed - 6/8
Active Skills:
Artistic Skill - 2/8
Herbalism - 6/8
Pressure Points - 5/4
Sleight-of-Hand - 3/8
Sneak - 8/8
Traps - 0/8
Passive Skills:
Drinking - 1/5
Scholarly Knowledge - 4/8
Speech - 6/7
Neigong (Inner Strength) - 8/10
Qinggong (Light Body Skill) - 6/10
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Techniques:
Basic Fist
Basic Swordplay
Reikan. (霊勘, Spiritual Instinct) A technique that involves the use of qi in such a way that it augments the five senses of the practitioner. It is analogous to multiple similar techniques known by martial arts practitioners in the Central Plains. It requires a calm inner state to be used effectively, with the greatest effects being seen during meditation. (+3 Perception)
Kagemi. (影身, Shadow Body). A method of silent moving that melds well with your Kuanglang Step – Kuanglang Step will increase to a higher level, allowing you to be undetectable to all but an elite few. (Additional +2 Stealth to Kuanglang Step).
Ruanhong Zhusuo. (Crimson Spider Silken Ropes, 軟紅蛛索) A technique that relies on the Wudu Cult’s specially treated spider silk, which is as tough as steel. The threads can be used to enhance offense or defense in equal measure when wrapped tightly, and are extremely effective at binding enemies when unravelled.
Jueshi Wugong Sword Song. (绝世無功劍曲, Supreme No-Effort Sword Song) Devised by the swordplay genius Shangguan Chuji, this technique is a method of learning swordsmanship quickly that allows even the laziest, most talentless martial artist the potential to become skilled at the blade. (+2 Sword skill cap)
Combat
Minamoto-ryuu Sword Style (源流劍術, Minamoto School Sword Style).
Level 8: Splashing Tail of the Black Tortoise – A rapid attack that involves the use of the scabbard as a defensive measure, drawing the sheathed sword in a simultaneous slash in a style that combines both defense and offense.
Leaf Dance of the Azure Dragon – A series of flowing, precise slashes linked together with graceful footwork so that it appears like a single move dancing around the opponent
Fiery Flight of the Vermillion Pheasant – a sequence of six powerful slashes executed in quick succession as the user leaps forward, aimed at overwhelming their defenses.
Golden Fangs of the White Tiger – a dangerous double-edged move that resheaths the sword mid-fight to expose the enemy’s weakness before counter-attacking at the last possible second with immense speed and power.
Wuying Leipo Kick (无影雷破脚, Shadowless Thunder-Breaking Kick).
Level 8:
Soaring Thunder Flash - A leaping move that allows you to travel far into the air at high speed: the basic foundation of the technique.
Air Shadow Dragon's Tail - A series of kicks that allow you to rebound off an opponent, attacking from multiple angles.
Earth Splitting Lightning Descent - A powerful downwards strike with your heel.
Returning Wind Spear - A reverse spinning kick that uses the momentum of an opponent's attack to increase its power.
Sand Storm Floating Lightning - A sweeping kick that knocks the target off their feet, followed immediately by a strong upwards kick that launches the target into the air.
Shadowless Thunder Breaker - A rapid assault of twelve consecutive kicks carried out at blinding speed, so fast that they are rumoured to cast no shadow in their movement.
Xianglong Eighteen Palms. (降龍十八掌, Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms).
Level 18:
The Arrogant Dragon Regrets - a weak palm strike that is humble and formless, allowing you to chain it smoothly into any form of movement for infinite variations.
The Soaring Dragon Descends - a leaping attack where you strike downwards with your palm from a high position.
The Hidden Dragon in the Fields - A tight, controlled attack with the flat of the palm that can be used in narrow quarters. Suitable for defensive postures.
The Graceful Dragon Uncoils - A deceptive, quiet attack that is launched to take the enemy by surprise. The Submerged Dragon Left Behind - An attack where the enemy is grabbed and pulled in with one hand, while the other hand executes a strike with the side of the palm.
The Fierce Dragon Crosses the Great Rivers - A defensive palm strike that exerts strong qi pressure to push the enemy away, preventing them from closing in.
The Fledgling Dragon’s Sudden Advent - The fastest palm attack in the technique; the speed of the strike is almost uncatchable.
The Abyssal Dragon Plummets - A tricky two-part move where a wrist strike is executed downwards as the practitioner drops to one knee, before slamming the palm upwards into the opponent’s abdomen from below. The Twin Dragons Drawing Water - The middle point of the Eighteen Palms: this move allows the practitioner to execute a different Xianglong Palm move with each hand simultaneously.
The Defeated Dragon Regains Confidence – A jumping uppercut performed with the heel of the palm from a position lower than that of the opponent.
The Cloud Dragon Sees No Rain – A feinting move that does not land, but draws the opponent in for a follow-up attack.
The Lone Dragon Battles in the Wilderness – A powerful single palm strike executed from a stable, standing stance, relying on qi projection to batter the opponent. The Six Dragons’ Heavenly Dance – A quick combination of six consecutive palm strikes aimed to confuse the enemy.
The Dragon Frolics In The Sea – A playful, defensive palm movement that can deflect and redirect attacks.
The Divine Dragon Swings Its Tail – An extremely powerful sweeping attack that is aimed at catching enemies behind the practitioner.
The Frost Dragon Pierces The Ice – A palm strike consecutively executed twice on the same spot, the first a yin-dominant soft attack, the second a yang-dominant hard attack. Useful in breaking past qi defenses. The Charging Dragon Shatters The Wall – A flying palm strike where the practitioner launches himself at the enemy in an explosive lunge.
The Dragon’s Flight Shakes The Earth – Summoning every ounce of qi in the practitioner’s body for a desperation attack, a double palm strike that exudes the most power in the technique.
Shouwang Mad Claws. (獸王狂爪, Mad Claws of the Beast King).
Level 10:
Style One - Golden Lion's Wild Beats - a mixture of swift overhead strikes and low sweeps, attacking with a circular movement.
Style Two - Bloody Diamond Horn - a powerful forward thrust, targeted at the opponent's chest.
Style Three - Diving Eagle Grip - a series of powerful grapples that emphasize on digging your fingers into the opponents tendons and locking their limbs in place.
Style Four - White Tortoiseshell Breaker - a style of forming claws strong and sharp enough to puncture the defences of the opponent, no matter their ability.
Style Five - Elusive Claws of the Hidden Tiger - deceptive claws that flow from the other styles to deliver a devastating counterattack.
Style Six - Raging Claws of the Mad Lion - qi-enhanced swipes with the potential to tear up the earth and bring down trees in a wide swathe of destruction.
Xiongshi Violent Roar (雄狮暴吼, Manly Lion’s Violent Roar).
Level 1: A qi-based technique that blows away the enemy with a loud roar. Gathering qi in the abdomen, the practitioner lets out a forceful shout that generates a powerful wave of pressure radiating outwards. The strength of the move depends on the level of neigong that you have.
Chuzhan Fist (除斬拳, Dividing Sundering Fist).
Level 2:
Style One - The Parched Earth Cracks - a series of rapid, forceful straight punches that aim to keep the opponent off balance.
Jiuying Zhiyu Sword (九影制獄劍, Nine Shadows Imprisonment Sword).
Level 1:
Reflective Blade's Shadow - A slow yin move allowing the sword to appear as if it is engulfed in darkness, disguising its movements.
Taiji Fist (太極拳, Supreme Pole Fist)
Level 4:
Style One - Fist of the Two Rites - From movement to tranquility, from tranquility to movement; a set of moves that flows between two states.
Style Two - Fist of the Supreme Ultimate - To use tranquility to counter movement, and movement to counter tranquility; a set of moves emphasizing the interaction within harmony.
Style Three - Fist of the Limitless Ultimate - A boundless state where suppleness and strength exists in equal measure; a set of moves that utilizes both the soft and the hard nature of martial arts.
Style Four - Fist of Harmony - A combination of all three previous styles to create the actual Taiji Fist, a martial art that moves like flowing water, meeting movement with tranquility and strength with suppleness to achieve a state of skillful deflection where a small strength can match a great force.
Taiji Sword (太極拳, Supreme Pole Sword)
Level 1: Combining the principles of the Taiji Fist with swordplay, the single stance of the Taiji Sword casts a great circle around the user, its size depending on the reach of the sword. This circle serves as a net, progressively tightening towards the center and drawing the opponent into the circular counter-attacks of the Taiji swordplay. The swordplay is light and flexible, infinitely variable, and focuses on intent over force, while at the same time being graceful, vivid and effortless.
Self-Taught Style.
Level 4:
Pine-Cutting Sword - A swift, direct lunge aimed at overwhelming the opponent with strength and speed. Modified from the first step of the Songfeng Swordplay.
Deceptive Fish Stab - A flexible and flashy three-step attack that involves luring the opponent into misjudging their distance, compounding their errors with an effective feint, and finishing them off with a quick stab. Works best with the Yuchang Sword.
Gentle Storm Dance - An extremely swift sword dance derived from Huashan's Kuangfeng Swift Sword and your own Leaf Dance of the Azure Dragon, focusing on speedy slashes and precision jabs.
Red Cloud Sword - A powerful sword move inspired by Huashan's Zixia Swordplay, channeling a strong, chaotic swirl of qi to enhance the strength and speed of the attacks.
Neigong
Luanshi Wuchangdao (亂世無常道, Impermanent Way of the Chaotic World)
Level 8: All flows from the Origin and returns to the Origin. Increases the power and speed of your attacks when activated, as well as heightening your durability and perception. You can birth order from chaos and form chaos from collapsing order, switching between the two states when necessary. The chaotic state is the default state of being, and easier to maintain, while the orderly state can be maintained near indefinitely as long as there is sufficient concentration. You are able to absorb the internal energy of others at a moderate rate when in physical contact when in a chaotic state. (+2 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Endurance (Chaos), +2 Perception (Order))
Wuxiang Qiankun Skill (無相乾坤功, Formless Universe Skill)
Level 3: A legendary neigong technique that births form from formlessness, allowing the user to imitate both the form and essence of another’s techniques even if it would normally require years of practice or decades of inner strength cultivation. You are able to mimic the techniques of other practitioners in an orderly state. You are now able to still and harmonize your breathing and your qi to almost unnoticeable levels, improving your control of your qinggong (+1 Sneak, +2 qinggong). Your meditation has also borne fruit by improving your mind, allowing you to think and reason more clearly than before (+1 Intelligence). Further advancements in the technique thanks to the Tang Emperor's notes have significantly enhanced the quality of your neigong, increasing your physical abilities across the board (+2 Strength, +2 Agility, +2 Endurance).
Qinggong
Kuanglang Step. (狂狼步 Mad Wolf Step).
Level 6: You can move quietly at running speed in normal surroundings and hold yourself still in shadows. You can also shrug off average grapplers, tumble, roll and dodge acrobatically, as well as run up high walls. (+2 Sneak, +2 Agility)
Recipes
Qi-Suppressing Pill
Enervation Potion
Three Poisons Powder
Three Poisons Antidote
Blood-Stemming Poultice
Yao's Protective Ointment
Herbal Remedy
Yao's Lucky Laxatives
Five Poisons Powder
Five Poisons Antidote
Items:
Wodao
Yuchang Blade
Fire Temple Pigeon
Spiritual Suppression Talismans
Wolf's Fang Amulet
Special Five Poisons Powder
Dagger
stump fetish detected. great, now I have to choose between munchkinism and harem-ism. BABA
edit: pretty sure we have dibs on the only hot spenta already, so the fire temple bros can stay there. no need to bring her to add to our already vicious waifu wars either.
Speaking of the Amesha Spenta; I know we all want to bring a few of them along with us, but remember that the more of them that are with us, the fewer of them there are to protect the Temple. If someone were to discover that a copy of the Wuxiang Qiankun manual resides there, or if someone like Nie Wuxing (or more likely, Madame Nie) are astute enough to notice that the place would be relatively unprotected while our lieutenants are with us, it could be bad.
I'm not saying that this will happen, just trying to stir some Codexian paranoia here so we can keep in mind that secrecy is still important to us. It is still to our benefit if Nie Wuxing believes that Ahura is alive - so long as they think that, they won't dare try anything.
ERYFKRAD xxxA
Tribute AxxA
Baltika9 BA A I IV A
Grimdravy AAXA
The Brasilian Slaughter AA A24 A
Elfberserker AB A23 A
Fangshi AB A I IV>III A
Smashing Axe Ax A13 B
Kashmir Slippers ABBA
Rex Feral AA A12 A
Ifeex AX A II IV x
Akkudakku AA A 3 4 A
Azira AB A I IV A
Kayerts AB A I II B
asxetos AA A I II A
Esquilax BB A I III B
Nevill BB A I IV>II A
Kipeci XA A I IV A
Kz3e0 AB A I IV B
Absinthe AXXA
Jester AB A I III A
ChumBucket BB A I III A
Random Word AB A I X A
TOME AA A I IV A
Lambchop19 BABA
1. A - 18 B - 5 X - 2
2. A - 9 B - 11 X - 5
3. A - 19 B - 2 X - 4 I - 14
II - 6
III - 6 IV - 9
4. A - 19 B - 4 X - 1
I seem to be missing one vote from the fourth option.
Well there is always possibility that someone attacks or sneaks in at the temple while we and our lietnants are away, so we might at least leave guardian of metal Varayi and Sensor Haurvati there in case.
I thought about whether I wanted to post it and risk looking like a sore loser, but now that we seem to be restoring our arm and the whole thing looks more like a warning shot to reign the YOLO in than an outright failure, I decided to chime in.
To put it bluntly, I don't think that we went MAXIMUM FUCK in this arc yet. Not willingly/knowingly so, at least.
It seems like not allowing Xuezi to handle the fight was the bigger mistake that have resulted in Shun's injury and our subsequent arm loss. I know that you seemed surprised that the notion of Xuezi disrupting Shun's 'master plan' came out of nowhere, but it really wasn't that hard to jump to that conclusion.
Did Shun have a 'master plan'? It seemed like he did, and his behavior also indicated that our intrusion did not ruin it, if it wasn't a part of it in the first place.
Did that plan involve getting away from the immortal? It didn't look that way, since he was the one pursuing her.
Did that plan involve Jing? Now, that was plausible, since it isn't unfathomable for him to assume that Jing would show up if he thought his friend was in danger.
Did that plan involve the Child Elder? To me, it appeared highly unlikely, because while she is a part of Jing's entourage and was prepared to engage the mysterious woman, she has no actual reason to care for the Emperor's agenda or well-being. She is not someone Shun would be able to count on to follow his lead.
Finally, his line about the ingenuity of man trumping the celestial mumbo-jumbo made it seem like he believed that the situation could be solved between the mortals alone (and he was right about that one, though he certainly did not foresee the exact consequences).
Seeing how the goal of the choice with Xuezi was to unleash her on the opponent while you 'retrieve' Shun, with him showing no desire to escape, and considering all the other points above, it was, in fact, easy to persuade ourselves that Jing should put his trust in Shun and take matters in his own hands while trying to guess what was on his mind, rather than allow Xuezi to do what she thought was best. Unsealing Xuezi seemed like a kneejerk reaction that would succeed in its stated goal, but would that the goal be compatible with the 'master plan', and would she care if it wasn't? That, we didn't know, and the fact that Xuezi, when not superpowered, was just a normal girl, and that she was already bleeding from the mouth before asking us to do further harm to her body, and that we didn't even know if an outright fight with the veiled lady was the right solution to the problem didn't help the choice any.
And from what I've read, it indeed wasn't the intended solution. My understanding is that Shun wanted to delay the immortal enough for Gao Ying to disrupt her domain, whereupon he would count on the edict of Heavens to protect his life. We actually succeeded in pulling his plan off without Xuezi's help, and he was quick to proclaim his victory right after.
It just turned out that his intended solution was wrong all along, and that the lady would choose not to care about technicalities and to try and murder him anyway.
This is actually why I have trouble accepting that Shun would have been okay if we didn't show up. It is not that I don't believe it, it's that I simply lack imagination to think a way out of the mess he would find himself in. He was acting on a false premise, and when he would have finally found that out, he would be looking at the pissed off immortal, armed to the teeth with overpowered techniques, with the only weapon that could banish her still held by the immortal because we wouldn't be there to knock it out of her hands. 'Gifted as fuck' you may be, but just how do you get out of that one?
Maybe the lady would not have taken the sword if we didn't show up in the first place, though... but didn't she flee here because she wanted to kill him with the very sword he sought? Otherwise she could have had this confrontation anywhere else.
If Shun didn't predict this, how could we?
In the end, for a lot of us the choice was between deciding whether the Emperor knows best when it comes to the supernatural stuff. Since he was right in his assumptions before, a lot of people thought his plans to be infallible and didn't want to introduce something that might have disrupted them. That also led to people crying 'retard' when it turned out he banked both of our lives on a lucky guess.
Why have I felt the need to type it all out? Because I don't think we've done something stupid this time. We didn't choose an insanely risky path just for the hell of it, we genuinely thought we were doing something right. If somebody built a time machine and then went back and told me the outcome, I would not have believed them, as I would have found the logic behind the assumptions more plausible than the actual answer.
Just offering a perspective from the other side.
*Naturally, I retain the right to be misguided, ignorant or oblivious to obvious hints.
Also, Xuezi has been shown to be an unreasonable person with a severe tendency to go on power trips. It was quite reasonable to believe that unsealing her would cause her to decide to go have her fun while she can and solve everything with brute force, messing up Shun's plans in the process. Unsealing Xuezi seemed to be the equivalent of loosing a bull in a china shop. This was a delicate situation.
Beyond that, there's been an unpleasant tendency so far for opaque decision-making. Sometimes it's reasonable, but here... Why didn't Shun just tell us his plan beforehand? In the end, there was no good reason for him not to tell us and good reason for us to know. Instead, shit got needlessly dangerous.
The even more funny thing? Knowing his plan would not have made a slightest difference. Why would we cause harm to Xuezi if all we needed was to stall for time until Gao Ying works his magic?
We did succeed in making his plan work without Xuezi. It's just the plan was faulty to begin with.
Knowing the plan would've at least let us know that unsealing Xuezi would not mess up the plan and that the veiled lady needed to be suppressed. Instead we assumed he had shit under control, somehow. He didn't.
Regarding Xuezi, this last update has reaffirmed that the choices we make often have both good and bad consequences. We shared WQS with Shun and declined the sword, so we got a WQS power-up.
Having spared Xuezi the chaotic qi unsealing, perhaps we will find that she can ragemode more easily in the future, and may be able to permanently unseal sooner to our advantage.
Or we may have banished her only lead to Jiuyin Divine Manual before she had a chance to interrogate the veiled lady, leaving her forever sealed and mortal. Who knows.
Tropic, all things told, this series of choices may end up for the best, with the unfortunate consequence that Shangguan Chuji is short an arm, but I'm okay with that, since the Sword Saint himself was pretty clear on his desire to retire from the jianghu, so taking himself out of the running would be the way to do it.
Nevill, Xuezi can unseal herself on her own. Even without our help she would've accomplished it eventually. With the text she read in Shaolin, she's already on the fast track to unseal herself.
Beyond that, there's been an unpleasant tendency so far for opaque decision-making. Sometimes it's reasonable, but here... Why didn't Shun just tell us his plan beforehand? In the end, there was no good reason for him not to tell us and good reason for us to know. Instead, shit got needlessly dangerous.
To be fair, we did have two chances to plan things together with Shun - once before the Conference, where we instead opted to give the Chixiao Sword to Song Lingshu, and the second when we decided to sleep instead of arranging a last minute meeting with Shun. It would make sense that we wouldn't really know what he was planning, since we hadn't really discussed it amongst each other.
That being said, I totally agree with Nevill that the reasoning behind trusting in Shun's ingenuity rather than unsealing Xuezi's powers was good, and I don't think that voting for it was done with any kind of foolish or misguided reasoning. We've made dumb choices before, but I don't think that was one of them. I didn't vote during that particular choice, but I probably would have gone with trusting in Shun given the information at hand.
It would had been delicious rage fest, if during conference we had chosen not to sleep and be too tired to act during the shitstorm.
Oh the butthurt would have spread in speed of light.
I think that the only point where we made a 'bad' decision was to not investigate the veiled lady when we could, for the rest I think that the only doubt about our fight with her was not choosing the swords.
For the rest Treave clearly doesn't like to disclose what different choices would have done so speculating about it is useless.
