Zeroth

The Jade Stream

"Good morning, young master. I hope there were no complications with your injury?"

Dai Xin stood on the roof, balancing on one leg and appearing to be in a semi-meditating state. Like many martial artists, his internal clock was geared towards an early rise so that he could do his daily training in peace. His own wounds seemed to have healed as well, though Liu wouldn't be able to see that there was a small white scar on one of his forearms. His brighter red robe and black shirt, which had taken most of the damage yesterday, had been replaced with a much darker themed set of clothes.

"If the ladies and yourself intend to continue your search for the bandit master, be cautious." he advised. His words were stilted as he altered the rhythm of his breathing, a common exercise in Qigong."I must see to my duel with the Five Wheel Striking School. However, if it is not too presumptuous, this one would ask one thing of you." He opened one eye to make contact with Liu's own gaze.

"Look for any skill books that might be among the stolen goods. Treatises of martial arts, scrolls depicting forms, even something as simple as a painting which might have hidden meaning. The man I faced yesterday, called Xu Lao, used a technique that harmonized his Qi with the elements of nature. I have never seen such a thing from a human opponent before; it would be worthwhile for such knowledge to be examined."

The Jade Stream

Me too.

In Hunting Beasts and Monsters

I saw my name mentioned so I posted. At this point it really does feel like the first few minutes of an RPG where you run and talk to literally everyone at least twice before leaving the first town, ha.

In Hunting Beasts and Monsters

@Spriggs27"Okay pal, enjoy the taste of your judgement. Meanwhile I'll be over here being realistic." Kenji said simply to Sinthe. The musclebound moron really didn't have a good grasp of what was going on here. Even if they couldn't eat the beasts--and Kenji really didn't plan to, even if they hadn't been poisonous the idea just made him supremely uncomfortable--the fact that their remains could be used for something meant that they could turn an enemy into their own resources. And if the people of this town had things like leather and tools, as primitive as they might be, they would be better off than they were now.

Not to mention that, as the Bag-o-Bones had said, the beasts were how the Hunters made money. Money wouldn't still exist in this world if there wasn't a use for it. And if Kenji had to live here for who knew how long, he certainly didn't plan to live as a beggar.

@Savo"Well, how about you then?" Kenji said, looking at the other guy. After a short pause he walked over to one of the headless corpses and used his spear to roll it over so that he could get a better grip on its ratty old cloak. It would be a hassle to drag five of these things like this, but he damn sure wasn't going to throw it over his shoulder and get its blood all over him.

@KoL@TheWindelWhatever the other man decided, Kenji probably wouldn't be swayed from his path. In the end, he hauled the beast corpse to the door of a building that--from the leathery smell and a sign above the door--he assumed to be a tannery or workshop of some sort. He used the butt of his spear to rap sharply at the door.

"Hello in there! I'm a Hunter, willing to trade the hide of a beast! You open for business?"

The Jade Stream

No problems here.

How should Dai Xin's duel with the headmaster of Mingdu play out? Do you guys just wanna let him do that on his own so the other three can go back to capture the other bandits, or just do their own thing without him looming over them?

FT | The Sky And The Earth

@hatakekuroTravis clenched his teeth so hard he snapped the stick left from the corn dog he had been eating.

"Arrrgh!" He slammed both hands down on the table, causing his nachos to tremble for a moment, and stood up angrily. He raised one fist...then pointed at Hans in challenge.

"Alright already, quit harping on me! It's obvious by this point that you're just winging it!" He had done it. There was no going back now.

"If anybody in Golem's Hand heard those lame jokes, they'd be completely stone-faced! What's worse, most of them are just the same play on bones, you numbskull! You've got to diversify if you want to stand-up in the world of comedy!" What...what was this feeling, coursing through his veins? This...sickening giddiness? Was this what it was like to give in to the madness, and lose oneself in the insight of elder gods?

"I have to admit, some of those bad puns may have groan on me, but even for you they're too bare bones! And I can't believe you had the gala to involve our festival in it!" Now it was time for the finishing blow! Triumphantly, Travis brandished his last corn-dog, pointing the fried snack at Hans like a sword.

"Even my dawg here thinks you're too corny!"

My soul is forever damned.

FT | The Sky And The Earth

@hatakekuroAs if shielding himself from a blow Travis held his hands (still holding his food) out in front of him and turned his face away.

"No, no more, goddammit! The game's not actually rigged!" he broke down. "I just didn't want you to see that we made all the targets look like you guys!"

With a sorrowful sigh he placed his food on one of the cafe tables and hopped the fence. A magic battle he could take, but pun wars were not his style. As he sat down so he wouldn't have to worry about dropping anything, he continued to speak.

"The townsfolk have been uh, aiming at yours a lot. I mean, we all did the drawings on purpose, but after seeing how viciously people went after them I kinda feel bad about it." He took another bite of corn dog and leaned back in his seat. "But please, no more puns. At least not for the rest of the festival. It's just not..." His eyes suddenly widened. No! NO! But his brain couldn't act fast enough to stop himself! It was coming out before he realized it!

"Fair."

What have I done!?

FT | The Sky And The Earth

The bulk of arcs will be character stories and it's up to the player who they want involved.

I don't want them to have to band together right off the bat. That was a problem I had with the original version of this RP. Even before a major arc the guilds were forced to cohabitate and get along before the rivalry was really explored.

I'll also be honest, I haven't developed the overarching story yet, like I said I developed this as more of a sandbox character driven RP.

@Vongola_Hasayo

Maybe ask for PM submissions (to prevent spoilers) from the playerbase for character-arcs? I'm sure most folks have ideas for how they want their characters to develop, and with some prompting could probably come up with ideas that facilitate that. As long as someone doesn't make a super-antagonist that ends up taking over the whole storyline with their evil plots, and characters don't try to hog the spotlight.

The Jade Stream

"If we stop now, we leave this leader to gather more men and continue his crimes." Dai Xin pointed out. He hadn't reacted like the others had to the torture, but at the same time he knew that he certainly had not expected this from Liu. He hadn't thought the younger man could steel his heart so much.

"Young master, I know I am not what most would call moral," he said, turning and walking alongside Liu. "But if you felt he would not have divulged the information otherwise, you should have told me. I could have inflicted pain on him without crippling him--had it been decided that he would live to face trial--or at the very least, saved you the trouble. Things such as this can weigh on a man's mind." He folded his hands in his sleeves again, though he had to readjust somewhat because of the holes Xu Lao had cut in them. "But I do not want you to think I am scolding you. That man's own karma brought this upon him. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

In Hunting Beasts and Monsters

A dark fantasy world, but there are train tracks...hmm, interesting implications abound. Also, I'm assuming that Iredele is like, smack-dab center of the map, huh?