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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
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Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
The Maiden in the Mansion

Bandits and rival pugilists were one thing, but could you defeat a ghost with your fists? You are unsure… but surely you have more guts than this? Drawing a deep breath and suppressing your trepidation, you summon all of your courage and knock on the door. The sound of splashing water stops. A voice calls out sharply: “Who’s there?” You are unsure how to answer. It sounds like a rather familiar voice, one you have heard recently. It also sounds nothing like how you think a ghost would sound, being full of warmth and life and very hostile suspicion.

“I beg my pardons for intruding on your bath, but-“

“I do not recall seeing any male attendants when I arrived. Who are you?” the voice repeats, more menacingly this time. Water splashes onto the floor of the room as the person inside gets up from their bath in a hurry. You can hear the ruffling of clothes. Well, it is only good manners to allow her to get dressed, you supposed. While waiting, you continue to explain yourself.

“I am but a humble traveller, lost in this storm. Could I-“

“I don’t think so!”

The door bursts open suddenly. There is a loud crack – the tail end of a whip wraps itself around your wrist. You would never have been caught this easily were you prepared, or had you been in top condition, but right now… With a sudden jerk you are brought down, falling painfully against the wooden floor. A foot lands on your neck before you can move an inch.

The girl calls out in an imperious voice. “You are an orthodox pugilist sent to pursue me, aren’t you? You… wait, you? From the tournament?”

You finally recognize that voice. Nameless. The Holy Maiden of the Fire Cult.

“Hello, princess,” you say, twisting around and trying to get a glimpse of her. Her foot presses down even harder on your neck, telling you that it is a bad idea. You give up for now and slump loosely on the floor like a downtrodden worm. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Don’t give me that, Man Tiger Pig. What are you doing here? Did you come to peek, like the lecherous, perverted pig that you are?”

“I swear, the thought never crossed my mind,” you say quickly. “I am a gentleman of the highest order.”

“Oh, of course I believe you,” laughs the Holy Maiden sarcastically as she grinds her heel on the back of your neck. “Answer my question. Why are you here? I did not think you were working with the orthodox sects.”

“It was just coincidence, that’s all,” you reply. “I had no idea you were here. I would have steered far away from this place if I knew. Your company is entirely unpleasant to me. Now, let me up or I’ll have to get serious. I’m not here to fight with you.” She is a tough opponent for you even at your best, but if she found out that you had been severely injured, any negotiations from now on would be severely lopsided in her favour. Besides, you aren’t lying: you would have to get serious. A quick grab at her sensitive spots should do it, though you might get an arm broken for your efforts. You feel the pressure on your neck lessen as she lifts her foot. Massaging your sore neck, you sit up, groaning all the while.

“I think that was a bit uncalled for,” you say, looking up at the beautiful girl standing warily in front of you. She shrugs. “You just have that sort of lecherous look that deserves a beating. Now, can you tell me why you are here?”

“I will, but I want to know why you are here after I finish,” you say. She nods once, keeping her eyes pinned on your hands even as she does so. It looks like she still doesn’t trust you.

“I’m here ghost-hunting.”

Her face pales visibly, but she keeps her self-assured tone. “Ha ha. A good joke, Man Tiger Pig. What do you mean, ghost-hunting? There aren’t any ghosts here. I was received by the lady of the mansion just yesterday, and treated kindly.”

“Are you blind? Look around you.” You gesture at the ominous strips of cloth, at the darkened hallways, and at the dusty floor. “No matter how you look at it, it’s clearly not normal.”

“Well,” she replies, a nervous tone creeping into her voice. “I don’t see anything out of the usual. Everything is norm… is… is…” Her eyes widen, as if seeing the place revealed in truth for the first time. “What is…” She is frozen, stock still for a moment. The lights in the room behind her flicker. For a brief instance you see two rooms overlaid upon each other – one bright and cosy, the other dark and creepy.

“Here’s my chance!” You whip out a talisman from your clothes and plant it right on the middle of her forehead, keeping it pressed there with your fingers. “Begone, evil spirit!” She stares back at you, having regained her composure. “What do you think you are doing?” she asks sweetly.

“Uh… exorcising a ghost?”

“I-I’m not a ghost!” she yells, striking out at you. You barely evade her attack in time, leaping back. The talisman flutters to the floor between the both of you. Either it is a useless fake, or she is not a ghost at all. You are not sure which is the correct answer. Suddenly, the flickering lights are blown out, leaving your candle as the only source of light in the darkened hallway. The Holy Maiden gives a short, girlish shriek, rooted to the spot. You hear a light, haunting laughter of a woman surrounding you, murmured words that you cannot make out.

“Talismans!” shouts the girl. “You have them, right? Use your talismans!” You draw out another talisman, waving it around in the air helplessly. How were you supposed to use one of these things? Suddenly, the talisman catches fire. You drop it before the flames reach your fingers. As it burns to ashes on the floor, the darkness seems to retreat. The lanterns come back to life with their steady glow, though the gloomy, dusty demeanour of your surroundings remain. You suppose those talismans do work after all.

The girl breathes heavily, having sunken to her knees in fright. “What, is the Holy Maiden scared of ghosts?” you say, though your heart is gripped by a small chill too. “Shouldn’t you have some sort of holy light to chase away spirits?” She stares at you angrily, but you wonder if she didn’t have some sort of innate protection – after all, things only started getting really strange after you mentioned ghosts to her, shaking her composure. Well, what’s done is done.

“So, you still haven’t told me why you are here,” you say cheerily, peering into the room she was bathing in; there is still a rusted tub inside, but the water is brackish. You probably shouldn’t tell her to look at the room again.

“The machinations of the so-called upstanding orthodox sects,” she says with a look of disgust. “Vahista insisted on stopping a while at Wufushan for you, thinking that there was a chance you might come. I have no idea why he would invite such a lout, but it turned out badly. More than a hundred orthodox swordsmen attacked us there, separating us. My handmaidens then acted as a decoy so that I could escape alone, while they led the enemy on a merry chase.”

“Alone? You mean you came here alone?”

“Yes. I was caught in a sudden storm and needed shelter.”

You vaguely recall seeing four horses out in the courtyard; it was likely that one of it was hers, but who did the other three horses belong to? You are certain they were not the Taoist’s.

“Anyway,” you sigh, moving forward. “What do you know about this mansion? You said that a lady invited you in.” She follows you, a reluctant look on her face. “That’s right. Lady Mi, who is living here with her maids. That is why I said I did not see any men around. You were acting suspiciously from the start – no, you have always been a suspicious fellow, so it was only natural that my keen senses picked up on your perverted desires.”

“I’m not, not at all. You are just a paranoid girl. Did you inhale too much smoke from worshipping that fire of yours?”

You dance away from the crack of her whip, keeping your candle steady. “Watch it!” you shout. “I wonder just who taught you to be so rude,” she says, an angry grin on her face. “You aren’t any less rude yourself,” you retort.

“Only to lowly, insolent dogs like you, who don’t deserve mercy.”

“Yes, yes, lowly insolent dogs like me who so happen to have the talismans that can chase away ghosts.” You flash a talisman at her, grinning as you step out of range of her whip. A look of fear passes over her face as she hurries to catch up to you. “R-right,” she says, “I suppose I can tolerate your presence for now. Not because of ghosts or anything like that, but because you would be too scared to proceed without my companionship. I will do you a favour, Man Tiger Pig.”

“Of course you will,” you sneer, glad at having gotten one over her this time. You should probably lord it over this arrogant girl while you can. “By the way, you have been here longer than I have, with those ghosts,” you say, enjoying the look of discomfort on her face. “Can you tell where we are?”

She looks around her. “This place seems a bit bigger than I remember, but the layout appears to not have changed too much. I suppose we are in the west wing. If that is the case…”

***

There are a few interesting rooms that you can reach quickly from here. You decide to visit:

A. The library chambers. There might be some things of interest that you can find in the library. Perhaps the scholar will be there, too.

B. The kitchen. You are feeling rather hungry. Sure, you might not be able to find any food here, but no harm looking. Besides, you have heard before that a kitchen is the least haunted of any place… you think.

C. The main foyer. You are heading straight for the main exit. Best to make sure you can escape first. It is too bad about Xiahou Yu and Zhong Hai, but you can come back for them after looking around outside.

***

“All right, that’s decided then,” you say. “Let’s head there.”

The two of you walk slowly and quietly along the hallways. The storm is still going strong outside, with frequent flashes of lightning illuminating your path harshly. The candle has melted down to about half of its original length – it probably will not last another hour, but at least the corridors are lit dimly by the lanterns. Suddenly, the girl behind you speaks up.

“Say… what is your name?”

“Well, that is rather sudden,” you say, not looking back. “Don’t you just call me by Man Tiger Pig? Why do you need to know my name?”

“I was just wondering,” she says, “since there was this… boy that I once knew. You remind me of him.”

“Oh? A childhood sweetheart?” you laugh.

“Of course not,” she snaps. “He was just as vile and crude as you are. I swore that if I ever saw him again I would cut him into eighteen pieces and feed him to the wolves.”

“Well, that gives me no incentive to admit that I was the boy even if I actually were him. What are you, stupid?”

You prepare to duck a blow from the violent girl, but she doesn’t respond to your taunt.

***

A. You give her your name.

B. You don’t give her your name.
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
:hmmm:

Yunzi is fine, too, I suppose. Still regret not peeking, but we'll get there, eventually, so nothing was lost irreversibly.

I am not fancying eating food from a ghost realm, and how can you possibly choose the foyer? 'Too bad about your friends'? We are better than that! No man or horse will be left behind.

I'd rather save our name for a more dramatically appropriate moment. It would make for a more grandiose trolling that way.

Making our name known to her will not help the situation any. And on the off chance it isn't Yunzi, but another one of the ghost's trickeries, I am hesitant to reveal it.

So, AB.
 

Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
The last few pages are hilarious in hindsight.
Don't be too hasty. Our memory is still fuzzy, and this might not be the real Yunzi.

It was the ghost that had led us to her. Why would it do that?

Only young men have been kidnapped so far. Why would a young girl be here? Would Zoroastrians really let their Holy Maiden to escape alone, without a bodyguard? Are a mere hundred of orthodox pugilists even a challenge to the man who was said to be Zhang's equal? Why would the pugilists attack them without a warning, just like that?

Her story, while it may still be legitimate, does not hold up all that well.

It may be an apparition that is playing with our memories. The song that is familiar (we have never heard Yunzi sing, did we? And we don't know Ashina folk songs), the girl that had left a deep impression on us, a hundred of unreasonable orthodox pugilists screaming for blood. These are all something that we have experienced lately.

Though if so, why does it even need our name?
 
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Nevill

Arcane
Joined
Jun 6, 2009
Messages
11,211
Shadorwun: Hong Kong
This is more ridiculous than "DRAGON!" "NO, GOAT!" "TSUNDRABBIT 4 LYFE!"
Demons, punishments, ghosts that want you to watch them bathe? WIBs? Let me guess, the Imperial palace is also involved, right? Or is that Yunzi inside?
Now, if only we could gauge how the Imperial Palace fits in all of this...

Speaking of the Palace, I've just remembered that Huluzi's grandmother was a minor Tang princess. So it is possible for Yunzi to know a song that would be familiar to us, after all.
 
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asxetos

Augur
Joined
Feb 11, 2009
Messages
820
Location
Greece
“Don’t give me that, Man Tiger Pig. What are you doing here? Did you come to peek, like the lecherous, perverted pig that you are?”

“I swear, the thought never crossed my mind,” you say quickly. “I am a gentleman of the highest order.”

Oh man, if only she could read these past few pages on the forum...


AA. Full gentleman-scholar mode.
 

Rex Feral

Prophet
Joined
Jan 29, 2013
Messages
1,300
AA - first choice B is just asking for it. "Besides, you have heard before that a kitchen is the least haunted of any place… you think." Really ? And going straight for the exit always goes bad in the movies. Besides we ain't leaving scholarbro here with the poltergeists

Although second choice B is recommended if this is an apparition, I find it hard to believe that the ghost knows our arena nickname,
several personality traits we displayed during the tournament, our past relationship with Yunzi and still doesn't know our name. Except for the tournament, we never made it a secret. And how would knowing our name help it ? Is it the trust we are offering that would let it posses us ?

Anyway something is definitely fishy. Though I'd bet on that exorcist.
 
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Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
Turned out better than I thought it would...For now. Didn't Holy maiden heard our name during our public announcement during tournament? I don't remember, if we announced our name.

This is strange situation. Talismans seems to work and it didn't do anything to Holy maiden, unless ghost is more cunning than I believe it's. I am still having trouble connecting dots on all female mansion, murders and young men being kidnapped. I mean just what the hell happened here?

The orthodox attack on the fire cult is strange too. We know that there are some shady elements in orthodox sect, but are they capable pulling such big force? Not to mention Fire cultist seems to be pretty damn good fighter from what we have seen. If the story is true then why only would swordsmen attack. The list of suspects is pretty short on major sect side, Wudang sect and Hueshan sect. Surprise attack from either sect doesn't seem their style, especially since the challenge was very public. We know that Hueshan has pricks in upper circles, but this seems to slap too much in face of their dashing honorable swordsmen style.

WIB have agenda to escalate conflict, but swords really doesn't seem to their focus and it was strange that Yunzi only mentioned swordsmen. It could either mean that she meant both women and men warriors or attacking force was just composed from men. There is still too many pieces left to arguing, before making decisions
 

Anabanana

Augur
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,061
This is more ridiculous than "DRAGON!" "NO, GOAT!" "TSUNDRABBIT 4 LYFE!"
Demons, punishments, ghosts that want you to watch them bathe? WIBs? Let me guess, the Imperial palace is also involved, right? Or is that Yunzi inside?
If there's anything I learned about CYOAs is that basing your vote on baseless speculation doesn't end well. Where is this coming from?
Or is that Yunzi inside?
If there's anything I learned about CYOAs is that basing your vote on baseless speculation doesn't end well. Where is this coming from?
Or is that Yunzi inside?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
Everybody who voted B, you guys are gigantic fags. Oh well, might as well milk it for all it's worth.
A- Because guess where Yu is.
A- This will either turn out sweetly tsundere or with her maiming/killing us right here and now. Still, I think not peeking on her gave us the benefit of the doubt.
 
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Anabanana

Augur
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,061
Why do you think the talisman worked?
You draw out another talisman, waving it around in the air helplessly. How were you supposed to use one of these things? Suddenly, the talisman catches fire. You drop it before the flames reach your fingers. As it burns to ashes on the floor, the darkness seems to retreat. The lanterns come back to life with their steady glow, though the gloomy, dusty demeanour of your surroundings remain. You suppose those talismans do work after all.

That combined with the flickering bright/creepy rooms confirms that something supernatural is going on here.

All right, let's go to the library (even if we don't manage to regroup with Yu, we might find something useful) and tell her our name. I don't see any reason for us to hide our identity, even if ghosts or other third parties are listening in. Still wonder who those other three horses belong to though. Perhaps that indicates that the lady of the mansion isn't a ghost.

EDIT:
BA
 
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Anabanana

Augur
Joined
Jul 31, 2012
Messages
1,061
The orthodox attack on the fire cult is strange too. We know that there are some shady elements in orthodox sect, but are they capable pulling such big force? Not to mention Fire cultist seems to be pretty damn good fighter from what we have seen. If the story is true then why only would swordsmen attack. The list of suspects is pretty short on major sect side, Wudang sect and Hueshan sect. Surprise attack from either sect doesn't seem their style, especially since the challenge was very public. We know that Hueshan has pricks in upper circles, but this seems to slap too much in face of their dashing honorable swordsmen style.

The orthodox sects tend to be more loose about their code of honour when it comes to targeting unorthodox sects. See how the Zhou Family Manor had no qualms about sneak attacking the pirates. Especially since the Fire Cult made such a flashy challenge to the central plains sects as a whole, I can see them finding such a surprise attack entirely justified. I mean, one of the sects has made seven people ganging up on a single opponent to be one of their signature moves FFS. Orthodox doesn't necessarily mean honorable, just saying.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
Why do you think the talisman worked?

“I-I’m not a ghost!” she yells, striking out at you. You barely evade her attack in time, leaping back. The talisman flutters to the floor between the both of you. Either it is a useless fake, or she is not a ghost at all. You are not sure which is the correct answer. Suddenly, the flickering lights are blown out, leaving your candle as the only source of light in the darkened hallway. The Holy Maiden gives a short, girlish shriek, rooted to the spot. You hear a light, haunting laughter of a woman surrounding you, murmured words that you cannot make out.

“Talismans!” shouts the girl. “You have them, right? Use your talismans!” You draw out another talisman, waving it around in the air helplessly. How were you supposed to use one of these things? Suddenly, the talisman catches fire. You drop it before the flames reach your fingers. As it burns to ashes on the floor, the darkness seems to retreat. The lanterns come back to life with their steady glow, though the gloomy, dusty demeanour of your surroundings remain. You suppose those talismans do work after all

Either the talisman worked or it's more cunning that I think it's. We do not know how talismans work, perhaps belief alone makes them work and Yunzi was pretty sure they worked there. What we do know that ghost reacts to them somehow either by them actual working or it tricking us.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
And better she find out from us, than Yu's blabbering mouth! "Oh, Brother Xu Jing! So glad you found me-and who is this?"
Let's settle the 'what happened' questions now.
Honesty also builds trust and trust is integral. We can't build our relationship on lies.
Lies come later.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
The orthodox sects tend to be more loose about their code of honour when it comes to targeting unorthodox sects. See how the Zhou Family Manor had no qualms about sneak attacking the pirates. Especially since the Fire Cult made such a flashy challenge to the central plains sects as a whole, I can see them finding such a surprise attack entirely justified. I mean, one of the sects has made seven people ganging up on a single opponent to be one of their signature moves FFS. Orthodox doesn't necessarily mean honorable, just saying.

Orthodox sects were attacking pirates who were harrasing normal people, I think orthodox rules allows some tactical movement against pirates and bandits. Fire cult is different than your average bandits. They haven't attacked common folk and they did follow rules of very public tournament, if people learned that orthodox schools cowardly sneak attacked on people whose only fault that they dared challenge big eight after wiping floor of their students in tournament then it would be big stain in their honour. Attack of over 100 swordsmen is not something you can easily hide nor organize in secret.

EDIT: If you are referring songfeng disciplines challenging in Zhou manor, remember we were the big man in orthodox eyes and Songfeng students small fries. Besides it was suggested as "friendly" match. If you are referring the beach episode, we kind a challenged all of them in fight.
 
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treave

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
Messages
11,370
Codex 2012
Just to muddy the waters a bit: it is actually possible that you don't need to be a ghost to lie, so I wouldn't use an attempt to pick apart her story as the sole determiner of whether she is a ghost. Not that the story is necessarily false, of course. As usual, you can make of that what you will.
 

Baltika9

Arcane
Joined
Jun 27, 2012
Messages
9,611
The orthodox sects tend to be more loose about their code of honour when it comes to targeting unorthodox sects. See how the Zhou Family Manor had no qualms about sneak attacking the pirates. Especially since the Fire Cult made such a flashy challenge to the central plains sects as a whole, I can see them finding such a surprise attack entirely justified. I mean, one of the sects has made seven people ganging up on a single opponent to be one of their signature moves FFS. Orthodox doesn't necessarily mean honorable, just saying.

Orthodox sects were attacking pirates who were harrasing normal people, I think orthodox rules allows some tactical movement against pirates and bandits. Fire cult is different than your average bandits. They haven't attacked common folk and they did follow rules of very public tournament, if people learned that orthodox schools cowardly sneak attacked on people whose only fault that they dared challenge big eight after wiping floor of their students in tournament then it would be big stain in their honour. Attack of over 100 swordsmen is not something you can easily hide nor organize in secret.
But they would to push out "foreign devils," as we saw with the Minamoto, Chinese citizens have very little love of foreigners so the sects would get no "face" penalty for doing this.
 

Elfberserker

Liturgist
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
1,540
But they would to push out "foreign devils," as we saw with the Minamoto, Chinese citizens have very little love of foreigners so the sects would get no "face" penalty for doing this.

Minamoto robbed people, fire cult did not
Fire cult people beat them fairly thoroughly in tournament, Minamoto didn't fight any orthodox schools
Fire cult issued very public challenge toward major sect, Minamoto did not.

Sneak attacking foreign devils who just beat your crop of better students just screams weakness. Not to mention that Fire cult did play by their rules and it would humiliate orthodox schools, if foreigners forces them to outright break very rules that they themself set up. One could think that maybe Fire cult would be more honorable and stronger than major sects, even if they are foreigners. Surely major sects must have stronger students and masters than firecult despite the setback in tournament, sneak attack would shake very foundations of rules of duelings. It's true that there are some very shady people in orthodox schools, but we still don't have any clear idea which players basically. Heck even imperial swordsmen could just dress in hueshan colours and it could appear to fire cult that orthodox schools attacked. Or maybe hueshan did attack, because if there more schools there would be more variety in weaponry. However this is just pure speculation until we get clearer picture here.
 

TOME

Cuckmaster General
Joined
May 25, 2012
Messages
1,820
CA - let's find the exit and investigate what happened when we first entered. If we can figure out why we lost our memory and woke up in a barred room maybe we can get a clearer picture of what is happening here.
 

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