Well, I finally managed to axe my way through my giant workload, and I come back to see that this RP is... In it's death throes. Dang.
It's been nice trying to keep this alive while it lasted, I guess. With the current numbers, I'm not sure if I can keep this afloat for the moment.
Maybe in the future I'll try this again, with the lessons learned from what I failed on in here. Until then, though, I guess we're closing up shop here.
Haha holy crap that was a suffocating workload. But I'm alive now! And have a form. Yes.
Name: Chen Yang Age: 22 Gender: Male Appearance: "I shall not waver." Personality: Yang is a rather stubborn person, in part due to the way he has cultivated himself over the last few decades. While he may not be apt to jump straight into the heat of battle, there is nothing saying that he will not enter the fray regardless. In terms of more mundane relations, though, Yang often acts the straight man rather than the fool. While he does like the idea of slacking off and joking around every once in a while, the nature of a cultivator means that sort of thing isn't always within the realm of possibility. Even so, he is willing to lend his strength to those who he has grown close to, but seldom any other without reasonable benefit to himself in turn. Stage: Foundation Establishment Abilities:
Flowering Gale Style: The Flowering Gale Style is a unique way of handling the blade (swords in particular, though they do dabble in the usage of weapons such as daggers and the like) wherein qi is used to project and control other blades that derive their movement from the user's own independent of any physical contact. These new blades are themselves projections of the user's will and powered and maintained by their qi in turn, and their control is limited only by their finesse and precision. As he is right now, Yang is able to create a maximum of three qi blades that can be used to either deflect attacks at either him or his allies or attack in tandem with his own swings. The style itself functions off of a great deal of redirection and countering of enemy movements, as well as slipping in between holes in his opponent's defenses. It is, though, a style more suited towards combating multiple foes at once, and his dueling potential suffers as a result.
Frozen Embers Technique: Yang's cultivation technique is one that harnesses the extremes of nature, and the potential that is possesses in turn. As another style centered around balance, the control required to maintain both the yin (cold) and yang (heat) has thus required Yang to consume no small amount of time tempering his mind and body. Luckily, the peaks of the mountains and the fires stoked by the masters therein were the perfect places to do so. The technique does not openly manifest upon his body, though, as it requires a far higher level of proficiency to make use of it than Yang is currently capable of to be invoked in that manner. As it stands, it allows Yang to resist extreme heat (or lack thereof) and manipulate small amounts of fire or ice to his benefit.
Items:
Lotus Fang Sword: Yang's primary weapon, and also his blade of choice. Forged from the tooth of a great jade tiger, Yang's blade is uncannily sharp to the touch... Or, well, it would be if not for the essence infused within the weapon itself. As it stands, the blade is naturally dull, and can cut flesh less easily than a wooden sword might. However, if Yang feeds his qi into this sword, then its prior sharpness emerges once more (along with a small flurry of lotus flower petals). The weapon can hardly be damaged by ordinary means, but whether or not he wants to find out what those are is another story entirely.
Thread of Eternity: A long string of red silk, usually wound around Yang's wrist as a bracelet of sorts. Its main function is one of fashion, but the thread itself is unnaturally resilient to the point of never breaking even when placed under extreme stress.
History: Yang's life was not one of any particular note; his parents were simply average people who happened to be living in the temple where he began to train. They were not cultivators themselves, and were strange in that they seemed to have no ambition for the lifestlye (which was strange in his eyes). There was never any need or want within the temple grounds, but there was a distinct lack of things to do when many tasks had already been handled by those aspiring to become cultivators themselves. Seeing as how that was better than doing much of nothing at all, Yang joined them in turn. His parents, while concerned about the entire ordeal, seemed to have nothing to say for or against the matter, which once again confused the young child, and it would only become clear to him as to why they acted as such as he grew older. In time, the young Yang came to learn that his parents had not chosen their current lives, but instead had it forced onto them. An opponent of their had hired assassins to block their qi meridians with poison, and had come here to seek a cure (or, at the very least, ease the pain it induced upon them both). The news didn't deter him, but it gave him a new sense of understanding, and thus new resolve to continue down this path. It had not been laid out for him by his parents; no, he had chosen this for himself. But when faced with the possibility of what could have been, Yang cursed that sad fate that had befallen his predecessors. It was not a story of vengeance by any means, but instead one of pure possibility. Other: People annoy him on cold winter days or hot summer days just because of his cultivation, even is he has made clear multiple times that it doesn't necessarily do what they want it to do. Likes rice and fish, but fish is hard to come by in the mountains where he trains.
Anyways... Let's see what else I can't get in the next few days. I'll kick things off then.
Within the Yunzhou mountain range of the Sleeping Maw continent, where the land towers above all who dare approach, there lies a small monastery—nay, a temple, whose existence remains unknown to the world. While cultivators-to-be travel far and wide, seeking fortune and glory at famous clan sects, this hidden corner of the world has caught almost no attention. Though those cultivating here may wish for strength or power, their residence here shows that their desire for strength only goes so far. After all, how could they compare to things like the Raging Phoenix sect, whose blows part the skies in a flurry of fiery rage whenever they meet another in combat? Or what of the Shining Fangs clan, whose influence reaches across the vastest oceans and the deepest reaches of the Stormrock continent? No, rather, within the wisps of fog and cloud that seems to remain around these lands and hides them from any who would attempt to invade, the cultivators here bide their time and train. Thus, this clan—the Eightfold Lotus—seeks to raise their strength out of sight. While others may seek strength in numbers, what does that matter before the strength of the few, the hidden, and the dominant?
But not all roads to strength are clear-cut, and not all paths tread are the same. The daily lives of those who reside here, at this hidden alcove in the world, may not remain as stagnant as it has always been.
The strength of their souls ever growing, their desire for strength ever rising—will they reach their peak among the immortals whose names are etched within history, or shall they fall nameless, as cultivators shall time and time again? Heyo, people who are looking at this right now because reasons! As the title suggests, this is a wuxia RP (with a few xianxia elements here and there), so I'm gonna be borrowing elements from a lot of other works of the genre. For the most part, the RP will be high fantasy with VERY heavy Asian influences (mainly Chinese), so plan accordingly.
I'm kinda borrowing the cultivation system from I Shall Seal the Heavens, so if you know what that is, great! If you don't, well... No need to worry, because a general idea of the system I plan on using in the RP is coming... Now!
Body Reinforcing: Stage 1; training the body, starting from the skin and working your way inside. This is nothing too notable in the grander scheme of things, all things considered. It's the starter stage, after all. Effects include a tougher body... And that's about where it stops. Qi Condensation: Stage 2; gathering qi within the body, though still not able to meaningfully manipulate it. It's still kinda limited around here, but it creates a basis from which the later stages build off of... For the most part. Foundation Establishment: Stage 3; things start to kick off around here, as it's around now where hovering becomes a possibility. Manipulation of qi is more liberal now, and energy reserves go up tenfold because the body's able to abuse that qi to rejuvenate the self if need be. Oh, and this also means messing with qi to pull off some more magical fighting techniques (though nothing too outlandish, of course). Core Formation: Stage 4; tl;dr flight and aura shenanigans. Also stronger qi techniques. Woo. Nascent Soul: Stage 5; At this point, we start reaching into some DBZ-level shenanigans. Like... Clearing giant stretches of land in a single attack. Of course, raw power doesn't mean anything without the control to use it, but still! Immortal Ascension: Stage 6; I mean... At this point, you can probably punch out gods without breaking a sweat. I don't really need to say more than "near-omnipotent".
Now for some of the more... Generic stuff to note.
Medicines and pills will be important, as is expected. Of course, things targeted towards cultivation aren't the same as regular medicines, so not everyone can make these.
Magical creatures exist within the world. These can take many forms, mythical or chimeric or what have you, but they're all relatively dangerous. Of course, normal ones exist too, but that's another matter. These creatures will tend to have traits or what have you imbued within their qi, and yes, that can be absorbed by the players. ... Provided it's handled correctly.
Dark qi also exists. It has a variety of effects, but it's not always bad. Just very, very prone to going haywire if not controlled. It can also end up like the good ol' soul-scarring wave of death and destruction if allowed to go crazy, so... Careful around the stuff.
Wuxia leaning xianxia means we can go pretty fantastical with abilities, but not too high fantasy in style with it. Keep things from getting to crazy from right off the bat. I expect most RPers to start at around stage 3-4 and not go anywhere near 5 for a while, though, so.
Questions can be thrown at me in the OoC here, so yeah. I'd like to think I'm fairly reasonable when it comes to discussing issues that may pop up, so feel free to ask if you've got anything TO ask.
@KoL: Oi, don't just call things like that. I still have faith. =3=;;
Though... I think it may be a matter of injecting new life, then? If you're saying that it's a matter of 'feeling empty', then the only thing that I can contemplate in terms of fixing that is adding more people.
But yeah, I'm not gonna let this die just like that. Happened once and we lived through that, so I think it can survive again. Hope so, at least.
Ah, right. Guess I should've explained that a bit better, huh?
So, tl;dr: Strength in wuxia/xianxia works is often based on the level of cultivation that the person has achieved; that's what I mean by 'stage' here. I'm basing the system in the RP loosely off of that in I Shall Seal the Heavens, so it ended up as follows:
Body Reinforcing: Stage 1; training the body, starting from the skin and working your way inside. This is nothing too notable in the grander scheme of things, all things considered. It's the starter stage, after all. Qi Condensation: Stage 2; gathering qi within the body, though still not able to meaningfully manipulate it. It's still kinda limited around here, but it creates a basis from which the later stages build off of... For the most part. Foundation Establishment: Stage 3; things start to kick off around here, as it's around now where hovering becomes a possibility. Manipulation of qi is more liberal now, and energy reserves go up tenfold because the body's able to abuse that qi to rejuvenate the self if need be. Oh, and this also means messing with qi to pull off some more magical fighting techniques (though nothing too outlandish, of course). Core Formation: Stage 4; tl;dr flight and aura shenanigans. Also stronger qi techniques. Woo. Nascent Soul: Stage 5; At this point, we start reaching into some DBZ-level shenanigans. Like... Clearing giant stretches of land in a single attack. Of course, raw power doesn't mean anything without the control to use it, but still! Immortal Ascension: Stage 6; I mean... At this point, you can probably punch out gods without breaking a sweat. I don't really need to say more than "near-omnipotent".
Obviously, nobody's going to be anywhere near 5/6, since the scaling on those is just so absurd that it's nearly unreasonable lol.
Within the Yunzhou mountain range of the Sleeping Maw continent, there lies a small monastery—nay, a temple, whose existence remains unknown to the world. While cultivators-to-be travel far and wide, seeking fortune and glory at famous clan sects, this hidden corner of the world has caught almost no attention. Though those cultivating here may wish for strength or power, their residence here shows that their desire for strength only goes so far. Or does it? The strength of their souls ever growing, their desire for strength ever rising—will they reach their peak among the immortals whose names are etched within history, or shall they fall nameless, as cultivators shall time and time again? So... Yeah, another try at an RP like this, I guess. The blurb is (admittedly) pretty small, but I have a decent amount of stuff written up on how I want the world to work and all that (and will probably elaborate on that in the future aka the actual IC), so right now I'm just seeing what interest I get for starters before really committing.
Questions/concerns can be thrown be me if you have any, too, I guess.
I guess I'll throw up a form too for those who want to get that done early, then.
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