It has been a day since the incident that made you lose your beloved father. The house you've lived in all your life was ruined and all the precious memories you have made there - all gone, turned to charred either dust and rubble after its ransacking and looting. For now you only managed to bury your father and salvage your Deboning Vegetable Cleaver and a Native Iron Pot.

Considering the large size of your erstwhile residence, it would perhaps take a few days to look through all the crumbled remains for anything left over - and perhaps a clue as to who ther perpetrators of this vile crime are.

For now, you have returned to your secret hideout some distance from where your home was. Who would have thought that the cave which you hid your childhood trinkets would ultimately be your temporary home...?

Fortunately it has the barest of necessities - some dried nuts that would probably last a week, a small blue bamboo fibre sheet to sleep on, and a few candles to light up the otherwise dark cave.

As much as your mind might be in disarray due to the tragedy you have encountered, you find within yourself the pressing need to do what you can to continue living in peace.
You shiver slightly as a chilling wind from the north blows into your cave. You are already starting to miss the warm flames of the hearth in your old home...

It would be incredibly...  Incorrect to claim that everything was fine, and she had had worse.

Because Wei Jing--almost by definition--could not possibly be having it worse right now!  Her peaceful life was shattered, her only family slaughtered by parties unknown--and when it came to surviving.  She was...

Her stomach grumbled, and Wei Jing shifted sheepishly in her hideout.  She was hungry, and felt it would be premature to set a fire, so she couldn't even cook anything even if she could hunt something down and get it ready!  Oh sure she could try to eat it raw, but Papa always said that such savagery was fit only for beasts--she should be above such measures.

So, it was some nuts and berries, and it would remain nuts and berries for the forseeable future.  It would probably keep her up and alive and moving but...

Well, it wasn't sustainable!

She needed a Plan--chasing after the perpetrators right now...  It would maybe help her feel satisfied right now, but unless she had the power to fly...

Wei Jing squinted off into the roof of the cave, and willed herself up in the air.

Unfortunately, all that this did was trigger another grumble from her stomach.  Nope, she couldn't fly mysteriously.

So that meant that she'd be chasing after things capable of flying through the sky at great speed.  Even if that was all they could do, that was suicide.  Papa raised her better than to do such a silly thing, even to avenge him!

So, she needed some way of deciding how to move forward.  Going North was the logical move...  But that's also where the attackers came from, and walking blind into what may be enemy territory would be dangerous.

South though...  South is where the humans lived--and while Ye Fengyu was nice enough, she had to get to him first, assuming she could find him--and that walking around down in human territory didn't get her kidnapped first.

At that thought, Wei Jing brought a hand up, rubbing one of her horns.  Not really any good way of hiding those either...

So, what was she supposed to do?  Go north and hope for the best?  Go south with vague direction and hope for the best?

She Could go to Su Ren's village--in fact, that might be the best move to make in the immediate future.  But there was a chance he was attacked too--it wasn't that far away and if these were just very powerful bandits...

Wei Jing looked to the cleaver, old and beaten, sitting before her.  Chopping things down wasn't that hard...  But if she ran into something that could take a hit or two, that would be the end of it.

She needed an edge.

Fortunately.  Papa had taught her well--and taught her how to shoot.  While his crossbow was nowhere to be found, that didn't mean she couldn't put one together herself--and she'd feel a lot safer with one in hand to help even the odds if she ran into a beast.

There must be enough stuff lying around the ruins of home that she could put something together with--and it'd be an opportunity to see if the attackers had missed something in their devilry to boot.

It was a plan, and that's something far better than she had a little bit ago!  She'd try it!  Having direction would make things much better!

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 2):

Date (Y/M/D): 1000/10/08
Season: Autumn

You spent a week hauling up the layers of rubble, scooping through all the burnt and damaged stuff sometimes finding remains of some trinket that brings back the fine memories you had in the past. But it was to no avail - and there were many thoughts of giving up, but fortunately on the 3rd day, you managed to find quite miraculously a Repeating Crossbow that seems to be in working condition...! It even had fittings of Primordial Iron - which were only decorative, but quite fine nonetheless...!

Sadly - despite managing to find the crossbow, you could not find any bolts. Surely such small and fragile bolts would be the first to perish during the razing of your old home. But your persistent search rewarded you with some salvation, as you managed to find 6 Primordial Iron Bolt heads from the rubble.

On the last day, you managed to find a well sealed Primordial Iron canister the size of a man's head. Surprisingly, it is filled with sweet dried apricots that seem to be in perfect condition. From your estimates, if you ration this well, you can probably feed on this for another 2 weeks.

From the looks of it, the only a fifth of the rubble have been sorted through, and there is still a large pile of rubble remaining to be searched.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:15, Wed 14 July 2021.

Apricots were a step up from nuts and berries, Wei Jing would admit--but going a week of hard labor was not doing any favors for her stomach on that diet.  So while the idea of continuing to sift through the rubble continued roiling through her thoughts...

No, she had set a goal, and had already spent an uncomfortable amount of time here working on it.  She had a crossbow, she had some bolts to go with it.  That would--with any luck--keep her safe on the trip.

'Know when to call it a day...'  Wei Jing thought to herself, her scant possessions tied up in a satchel, with her new crossbow strapped to her back.  This would have to be enough for now--maybe she could return later to keep searching?

Either way, the decision was made.  To get on the road and hope Su Ren's village was also in good shape.  She'd...  Be able to make better plans from there--certainly.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 4):

Date (Y/M/D): 1000/10/08
Time: Early Afternoon
Season: Autumn

You spend half a day descending from your tall reaches of Qiuheng mountains where you lived, following the dirt and wood paved pathways that silther their way up the mountains likely used by decades of villagers using them to ascend the mountain to your abode.

Soon you arrive at the village which is some distance from a waterfall coming from one of the cliffs towards the south. Following the stream of water slithering from the waterfall, you eventually come to a village around which a simple wooden pallisade was constructed.

Judging from the occasional puffs of smoke emerging from the roofs of the thatched houses inside the pallisade, it would seem that the village is in quite a normal condition.

As you approach one the village gate, you notice that a two Asura men with deformed knobbed horns holding bamboo spears are standing watch outside. Judging from their expressions they look rather depressed and bear a heavy weary expression on their countenances.

Eventually when you come into their vision their eyes widen as they look at one another and look back at you with an unsettling smirk.

"Greetings young lady... welcome to our humble village... We must beg for forgiveness for such aggressive arrangements, for we have been taken the brunt repeated raids by bandits and have little choice but to protect ourselves... We are in desperate need for funds to fight back against those heartless vagrants, so we must beg of you to pay us a toll of 5 silver taels should you wish to enter the village...!" the guard on the right speaks with a wide smile, as the guard on the left rapidly nods in agreement.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:49, Thu 15 July 2021.

Oh good!  Everything was perfectly fine and good!  There was no fires, no attacks, and everything was going fine and dandy!

Except...  Well...

The revelation that there had been some kind of attacks going on, and that the village had been locked down and secured.  It might have made her feel a bit better if the guards were a bit more smartly dressed but that can't really be helped.  Could it?

"Ah..."  Wei Jing begins, pausing midway through her first syllable.  "I...  Don't have five taels?"

Why would she just carry money around?!?

"Umm...  Mister Su Ren knows my father though, could you send word to him?  It's...  Kind of important?"

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 6):

"Su Ren...?" the guard mutters for a moment and looks to his companion.

The other guard returns his gaze to his companion for a few moments and points towards the interior of the village.

After a short while, the talkative guard breaks the silence.

"Ah... yes... Su Ren... Of course...!" the guard's smirk widens as he speaks. "He is currently quite ill, so currently the village is being managed by his son Su Bing...! I am quite moved by your concern for the former... um I mean... the Village Elder, so how about this - why don't you hand over that Dao of yours, and we'll take it as a toll!"

The guard points towards the Deboning Vegetable Cleaver on your back and curls his index finger backwards repeatedly as if expecting you to hand it over.

The other guard to the looks back at you and rapidly nods in agreement.

It is clear that these two guards are being quite infuriatingly unreasonable...!

---

Make a Rage self check. 1d100. If the roll is more than your rage limit, add 1d6 rage. (Whether you pass or fail this check should influence your actions, but there will be no consequences for suppressing yourself unless Rage limit is reached)
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:30, Fri 16 July 2021.

Something about these guys...

Wei Jing's blood bubbled as she squinted, leaning forward as she drunk in their behavior--their words, their behavior.  Something... her spectacles glinted softly in the light...

They were shady!

More importantly, they didn't know who the town elder was right away.

That was suspicious!

So while she was feeling insulted that they thought she was dumb enough to fall for such a petty ruse, her smile beamed out.

Were these...  Were these the Bad Guys Papa always said were out in the world, tempting innocent young ladies like herself with foul blandishments and wicked ways?

"Sure!"  She smiled, pulling the Deboning Vegetable Cleaver from where she had it lashed.  "Papa gave it to me a bit back, but if it gets the door open..."

She made a safe, gentle motion with it--harmless really--she was just passing it over a bit clumsily.

Really, Bad Guys trying to trick her like that.  She wouldn't be fooled that easily!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC:  Wei Jing--amazingly--makes the Rage Control test despite her awful numbers.  As such, she determines to kill these Clear Bad Guys who didn't know who the Elder was until reminded, and let slip former there.  But doing it properly, by giving them exactly what they asked for with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.

They just never specified that she hands it to them by the Handle, such goofy villains.

Activating Gentle Touch.  How do combat rolls work in this?

Actually, feel free to do the rolls on your end if you get to this first?  I'm presently working, so my availability's going to be tight or the next week and a half or so.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:27, Fri 16 July 2021.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 8):

The smirk on the guard's face widens as he lightly chuckles as you clumsily hand him the Dao by the blade.

Clearly unaware of the deadly Cutting Qi reverberating in the Dao ever so slightly with every beat of your heart, and underestimating the sharpness of the Dao which appeared quite battered to begin with, the guard foolishly touches the Dao by its edge only to notice seconds later that the tips of his fingers are now missing.

Howling in pain, the man crumples to the ground unconscious!! Despite being quite the grown man - it seems that this guard had quite a frail constitution to begin with!

The other guard looks upon you with a clearly shocked expression on his face - but instead of shouting for help, he approaches the gate and begins to push it open!

It appears that the other guard - judging by how he was only capable to nod previously is probably a mute.

After the gate is open, he gets on all fours and kowtows towards you - clearly trying to beg for mercy.

---

For combat, I just wrote something about it a while ago. Check it out here: https://cluelessdelver.blogspo...e.html#combat-system
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:34, Sat 17 July 2021.

Huh.  He just kinda passed out?  I mean, all she did was trim his fingers a bit!  That was survivable--wasn't it?

Wei Jing leaned over, poking the twitching and unconscious body once or twice, getting no reaction.  Well, she'd call it fair punishment for the Shady Attitude, the other guy was being quite considerate by not screaming for help though!  She just had to get up, pass through him and figure out how to get the gate op..

Oh!

He just went and opened it for her!  Okay, maybe that one isn't a Bad Guy.  Maybe he was just lured by sinister blandishments?

Either way, that saved her a lot of work!  Pushing a gate this big open would be hard work!  This deserved a reward of some kind...  She flicked the blood off of her Cleaver and stepped forward, smiling brightly.  He was doing some kind of funny bow...

Well, that was nice.

She patted him on the head.  "So...  Do you know if Su Ren is okay?  He's kind of a friend of the family and if he's been kidnapped by villains, I sort of need to do something about that.  If you could just point the way..."  She grins.  "We'll call it all fair and square, see?"

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 10):

The man, without removing his forehead from the dirt packed ground points towards the northwestern direction, and continues kowtowing.

When you finally leave the man behind and enter the village, you can't help but notice that the village has not a single soul, which is strange for a village in autumn.

Based on what you've overheard from conversations between your Father and Su Ren back in the day, the village would hold an annual harvest festival and spend a few months of early autumn preparing for it.

Near each home that have each of their doors tightly shut, you notice that each farm plot seems devoid of any crops, and even some of the land seems ruined.

In the direction towards the northwest, you see a pathway that leads up a small hill to a larger house which is likely where Su Ren is at, if the mute guard's words - err... gestures were true.

Towards the north, you notice a small temple which seems to have a native iron tripodal pot filled with ash. Being able to recognise your father's craftsmanship, you immediately know at a glance that it was crafted by your father. Normally these tripodal pots would be filled with ash and have joss sticks planted upon them every morning as a sort of prayer for the protection of a local deity. But oddly, it appears that there is not a single joss sticks planted upon the ash.

As you make your way deeper into the village, you notice in one of the homes, a small girl looking out of a window at you. But eventually you see a woman appearing behind her.

"Xiao-er! I told you not to open the windows!! Get back in!" the woman hurriedly speaks, looking towards you fearfully and closing the windows quickly with two loud slams.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:04, Sun 18 July 2021.

Oh.

This was definitely the work of villains!  Evildoers!  Looting the farms and stealing the incense sticks?

Why were they stealing the incense sticks?  They weren't that valuable, were they?

Wei Jing frowned as she continued on her way--she did spare a moment to wave at the little girl who took a look, but her focus was advancing forward

Someone had been bullying the people of the village here--more than one apparently!  She didn't know who was responsible, but if those guards were any indication...

She licked her lips, hand still on Papa's cleaver.  They were something she could handle.

And what are the odds?  That mysterious beams of light fly through the sky and destroy her home, and then just barely over a week later, the nearest village is attacked by bandits?  It sounded fishy!

And she hated fish!  It was like trying to be meat but not having the courage to be savory!

Six rounds for the crossbow, and the Cleaver.  More than enough to liberate a village.

Uh, unless there's like, a ton of guys holed up in Su Ren's house waiting for her.  Or one actual expert.

She'd figure out how to make this work regardless!

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 12):

Focused on your main destination of Su Ren's home, you make your way up a gentle hill road lined with trampled mimosas. This hill path snakes up a few terraces of empty paddy fields and eventually ends at a larger plot at which a rather large wooden house sits, its thatched roof much larger than the rest of the homes that you've seen in the rest of the village.

From the top of this hill, a bird's eye view of the entire village can be perceived and alongside the entire extent of the palisade which seems to have gates to the north, west and south - the south gate being ajar where you entered from.

Glancing back at the hilltop home, you notice 5 men lazily seated on the raised platform of the home. Some are lying down, and others are seated at short distance from one another drinking from hand sized round clay pots. The faint aroma of rice wind seems to travel to your nose as a wind blows towards you from the direction of the men.

Each of the men also seem to be plainly dressed, but they each appear to be wearing thick furs and have a shoddy iron Dao by their side.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:31, Mon 19 July 2021.

Gosh, they really were just a bunch of bandits, weren't they?

Five on One was rough odds at least, she was a pretty dab hand at cutting obstacles down, but that would be...  Tricky.

Especially when she didn't see anyone who might be a chieftain in this group, and they usually have the best stuff.

And yet...

Should she even announce herself?  That...  Seemed appropriate.

Also, they weren't even really looking at her!  They were busy drinking!  Wei Jing actually felt vaguely insulted at that!

Insulted enough that she unslung the crossbow and brought it up, acquiring her targets...

Three shots, right?  Nail the ones sitting down.  Three more for later!

She licked her lips, and began depressing the mechanism.

*Fwup, Fwup, Fwup*

OOC: That's a 138 on Wei Jing's pre-emptive attack there, that's gonna leave a dent.

I don't know if you want me to roll for each shot or not, but yeesh.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 14):

The bolts fly to the each of the resting men and strike at their flesh!

With a yelp of pain they jump up, causing the rest to also leap up in utter shock!

"What the!? There's some brat there who fired at us!!" you see one of the injured men you successfully shot shout angrily as he pulls out a bloody iron bolt from his arm and throw it to the ground violently.

"Get her!!"

Four of the men all draw their Dao and begin to run towards you! But it seems that there is still some distance between you and them before they will come in the distance of combat with you. You also realise strangely that some of the men aren't actually running in a straight line - apparently some of them are quite drunk!!

You quickly also notice one of the men you injured hurriedly sliding open the door near them and entering the large house instead of entering combat with his companions.

"I dunno what your dealy is..."" Wei Jing thought, directing her crossbow at the fleeing bandit and delivering fire into him.  "But you can wait your turn mister!"

Gosh, what was even going on in this place? Bandits and scared people and problems, this was a perfectly normal peasant village!  What did they even have to gain from this aside from random murder without a cause?

She fired the last of her bolts, and set her crossbow down, grinning as her Cleaver fell into her hand.  This would be a good time, she thought, to get a little exercise in.  A bracing little challenge to properly start off the day!

Hopefully they didn't have a chieftain who was super strong or something though, that would be a problem.

Who knows, maybe they'd also be intimidating by a girl taking them down?  She'd be perfectly happy just scaring the rest of them off after all...

OOC: Wei Jing's strategy in a nutshell.

1) 101 on a Crossbow check to fire her last three bolts, she prioritizes taking down the one that's fleeing, and then the remaining wounded ones.

2) When the battle closes to melee, she'll prioritize cutting down the injured and the apparently healthy bandits over the ones who look to be drunk.  It's better to reduce the number of enemies she's fighting first.  Gentle Touch will augment attacks on unharmed bandits, but saving at least enough to use it once more.

3) Wei Jing is primarily going to focus on parrying incoming attacks over dodging them.
 She will use footwork as required to avoid anyone getting to her back though, because she may be a youth with little experience fighting actual humanoids but she's not stupid.
 
This message was last edited by the player at 08:23, Wed 21 July 2021.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 16):

The fleeing man tries to duck out of the way, sensing a bolt hurtling towards his back, but the bolt hits him in his right shoulder, causing him to yelp in pain!

The rest of the men eventually close in onto you, and 3 of them swing wildly and completely miss you - you didn't have to use footwork as their ability to judge distance seems to have been clouded by their drunkenness!

However, one man seems to be sober enough, and you notice your body standing in the trajectory of his blade swing!

Make a Parry Roll. 1d100+Parry skill. If it is more than 106, it is successful. Otherwise, take 3 damage.

"Whoops!"  Wei Jing hops back from the three poorly aimed swings, and deflects the one remaining one with a gesture.  This was...

In hindsight, this was probably a bad idea?

Yeah, this was definitely a bad idea. She made a clumsy swing back at the one attacking her and began to backpedal.  Four on one was tricky odds, when she was more used to chopping down bamboo and the like.

She had hoped the crossbow would have made the difference, but...

Hmm...

She kept her cleaver on hand, glancing from side to side, looking for an edge, keeping her distance as best as she could all the while.  If she could find some way to reduce this to a series of one on ones...  That'd be a lot better.

Maybe an alley she could maneuver towards?  She could make a run at the gate she entered from too...

Either way, getting some distance would be a good idea now!

OOC: 144 on the Parry, so no damage, but 37 on the attack, so lol.  I'm not sure if a "Find an advantangeous position to fight" requires a combat action at this point or any rolls, but Wei Jing is content to make them keep chasing her instead of surrounding her, so she's spending her movement right now to add more distance.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 18):

While there are no alleys in this very expansive open place such as a rural village, you imagine that the next best thing would to be to head into a nearby bamboo grove behind you.

As you make your move, the four men pursue, but two of them clearly too drunk smash into thick bamboo stalks and collapse to the ground!

"Those idiots!!" the sober bandit curses as he pursues alongside his slightly drunker companion who just seems to have been lucky enough to avoid walking into a stalk of bamboo.

You manage to cover more distance than the bandits are able to - and the bandits are 6m away from you. You have an action remaining.

This was much nicer!

The bamboo forest was a familiar environment!  A place where Wei Jing could comfortably flow from place to place, knowing the terrain like a native...  Which she is--kinda--that's what most of her chopping experience was aimed at anyway!

But the fact of the matter is that this was a much better position to be in than before, and this meant Wei Jing could work with this

She slunk through the brambles, swaying with the wind and flowing from place to place, a rictus grin on her face as she brandished her cleaver, languidly sweeping it through the air--a gesture timed with the sober bandit's glance back to his ailing companions.

Frankly, it looked clumsy as hell.  Maybe she wasn't quite as good at this as she was with the crossbow?

It was a mystery!

OOC: Going for a Gentle Touch on the Sober Bandit, 80 on the attack roll, if that hits, 5 damage is done because I can't have nice things :(

I dunno if you allow movement before and after an attack, but if I can, Wei Jing'll move in and then move out, which should keep the ones who tripped off her for another round

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 20):

Your swing manages to strike at the sober bandit's arm, and leaves a lethal cut to it, causing him to scream in agony!

But it appears that the bandit in the face of such severe pain no longer holds any desire to fight, and begins to take flight from the area, fleeing deeper into the forest past you!

The other drunk bandit on the other hand swings wildly again and completely misses!

As for the other two bandits who were knocked down, it seems that they have yet to arrive at the area you are in!

Wei Jing's grin grew ever toothier as she let the wounded bandit flee, swiveling between bamboo stalks as the remaining standing bandit took a swipe at her--and completely misjudged the distance.  She lurched forward in that opportunity, spectacles glinting off of the rays of light penetrating the wood as her cleaver swings out again, seeking the bandit's body out.

This wasn't so much harder than cutting bamboo after all!  Just a matter of staying out of the way of the branches and taking your opportunities when your footing is nice and secure!

Her exchange completed, she danced back through the woods, whirling around as she led her foes on.  Hopefully it shouldn't take much more to spook them!

Then she could go back and deal with what's left and everything'll be all hunky dory!

OOC: 89 to hit, 4 damage

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 22):

This time, however, despite your extremely precise aim and timing, the Drunk Bandit somehow stumbles on a rock on the ground and trips away from the trajectory of your strike!

What unbelievable luck!

But it seems that his luck has quickly ended as you see him keel towards the ground and unleash a terrible barf of whatever his breakfast was to the forest ground.

It seems that exercising too much after drinking heavily is really bad for the body...

After retching a few times rather painfully, you notice the man collapse from exhaustion.

"Oh!"  Wei Jin's face screws up into a moue of distaste at the...  Filthy, collapsing bandit.  She wouldn't argue about how it saved her some work...

But it was really gross!

She shook her head and tapped her cleaver as the others arrives.  "Well, that's two down, and none of you have scratched me...  Do you want to keep this up or do you want to save some time and pain and just follow that other guy?"  She tilts her head towards the still screaming and fleeing bandit, as she drives her foot into the back of the exhausted bandit's head.

Not to kill him of course!

But just to make sure he was properly knocked out, you know?

OOC: 79 on trying to convince them to run away from the scary waif with a cleaver

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 24):

As you speak to the other two trudging bandits who cling onto the bamboo for support - you realise that they have lost their weapons are just barely hanging on.

As they hear your words, they nod and mumble unintelligibly and slowly trudge in the direction of their fleeing companion, taking care to circle around your for a distance to avoid walking in your direction. It seems that they have lost all will to fight!

As your foot strikes the exhausted bandit's head, he hiccups and stays motionless - clearly completely wasted.

"All done then?"  Wei Jing says to herself, looking around to make certain, satisfied that there were no more threats here.

Goodness!  Turning the fight into the bamboo forest was a really great move!

All she had to do now was head back to the house, make sure the one who ran away doesn't cause trouble, and possibly beat any leader who might be around.

Who...  Hopefully wasn't super strong?  Maybe?

She pauses for a second, assessing their weapons.  Come to think of it, while this cleaver was servicable enough, maybe a proper blade would be better?

Just a sec to check, and then back to the house!

OOC: An action to check for any possibly better weapons they used to carry, and then off to the boss fight!

And hope I don't get pasted T_T

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 26):

The Dao held by the bandits looks pretty shoddily made fashioned from average quality bronze, and looks like the product of mass production (1d4 damage).

Whether you decide to bring them along with you or not, you eventually reach the house and enter it.

The interior of the house has the thick scent of alcohol - and you see drops of blood on the floor likely shed from the bandit you managed to shoot with your crossbow bolt.

As you follow the drops of blood, you eventually come to a room where you see the bandit you shot tending to his wounds, wrapping it with bandages.

As he sees you he puts his hands up and speaks.

"Calm down, I'm not fighting... Su Bing told me to tell you find him in the room at the back... Su Ren is resting there..."

Ehh...  It wasn't a very good blade, not really any better than the Cleaver.

Which was showing no real signs of decay or anything--so she'd go with it!

Which led her to returing to the house, blade drawn and door barged in, to see...  The first guy patching himself up?  And all of this?

Uh...

Did she make a terrible mistake here?

Goodness, she was glad she didn't kill anyone!  Just...  Uh, wounded one of them and took some fingers from another.

Well, there was still much to be asked for, so with a leery look at the shot bandit, she moved into the next room as directed.

There'd really better be a good reason for this...

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 28):

In the next room, you see on a futon the ailing Su Ren leaning against the wall while Su Bing feeds his father medicine from a porcelain bowl.

"Ah.... there you are.... I.... I thought great calamity had befallen.... but thank goodness.... thank goodness..." Su Ren says as clasps his hands together in prayer.

"Father, please, you should take care of your body. Please finish your medicine..." Su Bing speaks as he takes another spoonful of black liquid and brings it to Su Ren's lips.

But Su Ren ignores his son and turns towards you speaking. You notice Su Bing's expression turn dark as he sees his own father disregard him.

"Oh Daughter of Sage Wei... Please tell me... has Sage Wei sent you here?"

"I thought much the same, given how the first one at the gates had no idea who Su Ren was at first, and tried to shake me down on approach"  Wei Jing crossed her arms and sniffed.  "Coupled with armed strangers, terrified villagers holed up in their homes, and ruined lands--I almost could have sworn this place had been taken over by bandits, and I was most ungenerous to those I saw enjoying themselves in such troubled times."

This was all super shady though.

"It's good to see that you are not, in fact, a prisoner of villains--though my news is not good.  Father has been slain by figures unknown, the compound sacked and myself survived only as I was out in the wilderness at the time.  I had thought to come here in hopes of some guidance, but it seems that matters are quite troubled here as a result."

That was polite, right?  That was how you talked to people normally?

Gosh, she had no idea if she was doing this right, everything seemed so confusing all of a sudden.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 30):

".... He passed...? Sage Wei passed from this world...?"

You notice Su Ren's complexion turn even paler as he begins coughing heavily, spewing some blood from his sheets in the process.

"... That explains... why they're planning to come here all of a sudden..." Su Ren speaks again after a few moments.

You notice Su Bing put down the bowl of medicine and abruptly leave the room. Su Ren pays him no heed as you eventually hear his footsteps fade out.

"Our village has always been under the protection of Sage Wei. He has been here ever since I was a young man... But now he is gone, there are no doubt many enemies of him eyeing the land he used to protect..."

"I hate to admit it, but despite my son's despicable ways, his connections with the local banditry has allowed the village to remain for the time being... though I imagine time is running out, and the Yuan's Warband will likely occupy this village and sack all that is left of it..."

Based on what Su Ren tells you, there is an infamous Bandit Warlord named Yuan who is apparently an immortal cultivator. He has built a large following of bandits and criminals going around the wastes of Zhanbei terrorizing villages and sacking them before moving on to the next. Rumor has it that his warband is currently sacking the nearby village of Linshuang, and will most likely come here next.

It seems that before, the Warband has never come close to this village, and many refugees who have had their village sacked come here to live instead under your father's protection, which has allowed the village to develop to the stage it is at now.

"All is lost... Young lady, though I know not much about Sage Wei - I would think that he would not wish for you to stay here. I advise you to head to the south to Dingzhou. At the very least there will be significantly fewer threats there..."

This story, these tales...  It...

Wei Jing wrinkled her nose, her expression darkening.

"Absolutely unacceptable!"  She said, crossing her arms and shaking her head.  "It's been barely a week since Papa was slain, and they've already made their move?  The timing is too convenient--this so-called bandit warlord making his move so swiftly?  Whether he be a tool of the murderers or part of their company, he has clues that I require--and even beyond that..."  Her cheeks flushed a little pink there.  "I did hurt several of the ones I took for bandits on the way in here, and I need to take responsibility by making up for that in the defense.  Papa didn't tell me all of his secrets, but I've learned a fair bit at his side!  Immortal Cultivator or not, this Yuan cannot be too mighty, or he would not require his warband to do work for him--if we work together--the skills I've gained and the people of this village, perhaps we can chase him off.  Because I'd not see my neighbours be put to the sword simply because I feared a little danger!"

She had ideas even!  If they still had a shipment of ore here, she could forge weapons to aid the defenses! With some added help, perhaps they could make a better job salvaging Papa's estate to see if anything remained that could change this?

Immortal Cultivator?  He couldn't be that immortal or he wouldn't be slumming it as a common bandit!  And anything that isn't undying can still be cut down!  It was just a matter of preparing the right tools and tactics for the job!

And a lot of hard work too, that was important.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 32):

Upon sharing your ideas Su Ren seem to slightly glow with a little hope.

"I am not sure how long they will take to come here... no doubt based on what Su Bing has told me - the head of the Bandits Yuan intends on making this village his headquarters... As he has had Su Bing's agreement he will likely come here unprepared... But then again... an immortal cultivator's abilities are not to be underestimated - I have heard that they are beings capable of slaying a man with a mere flick of their finger!"

But upon hearing your proposals, Su Ren reveals that there is indeed a stock of Native Iron Ore in one of the warehouses of the village. Su Bing was planning on selling it, but there has been literally no travelers arriving in the past few weeks.


Based on what you know you could probably fashion one set of items usable by all the able bodied villagers, or some traps that can be laid around the village within the span of a month - and maybe more if you were afforded more time.

Furthermore, Su Ren states that the villagers will be able to help with the salvage and you expect it to be complete in around a week.

In the light of this new information, you may state your plans going forwards.

It was something!

Well, something was better than nothing at least.  Maybe the home had something that could be used, maybe nothing would get stolen on the way, maybe she could produce enough tools and traps to save the day.

She didn't know!

But she does know that she was raised properly, and that meant she had to do the best she could with what she had!

Which was--in this case--a cache of Primordial Iron Ore, a flame-bitten cleaver, a crossbow, and a pot.

It was a very nice pot though, convienently resizing itself to be easier to carry?  Unless that was just her imagination--maybe she'd have to see if it did more than just serve as a liquid carrier?

Plans for later, when she had more time to spend chasing long shots.

It was a mystery how much time she'd have, and what she'd find, so she needed to make her plans based on what she knew.  So she borrowed the local smith's forge, and wracked her brains for what she could do to turn the tides of this calamity.

Weapons first--crossbows maybe?  She could use a better blade herself, and maybe some armor if she was going to take the lead?  She had so many ideas!

...

Hopefully she remembered her lessons properly.  This would be a bad time for a reversal of fortunes.

OOC: First, preparing equipment for herself and the villagers willing to stand up to the bandits.  Ideally crossbows and simple to use close combat weapons like spears.  Wei Jing herself will try and put together something nice for herself if time and resources allow it.  I may spend time later on assessing what comes out from the salvage effort when they get back, so just one week for now.

Since this is early on, and time is at a premium, I'm spending 1 point of Luck to reroll the 23 I rolled first into a 58--which when including Wei Jing's Forging skill, is a result of 101, should be enough for some solid progress!

Luck has gone from 15 to 14
This message was last edited by the player at 15:59, Thu 29 July 2021.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 34):

With the help of the villagers, the following useful items were obtained:

- 23 sets of assorted large game traps (e.g. bear traps)
- 4 crossbows
- 19 quivers of crossbow bolts [20]
- 10 sets of ring mail

You efforts in forging yielded the following products alongside +72 Xiuwei:

- 9 crossbows
- 9 spears

There are around 17 able bodied persons able to participate in the defense of the village, and your equipment should be able to have a decent mix of spearmen and crossbowmen, though it is likely that the village will be outnumbered by the bandits whose numbers are not certain to the villagers.

While you were busy forging however, you came to discover from the word of one of the villagers that someone stole 7 of the 19 quivers of bolts - leaving you with only 12 quivers...
It seems that there are some traitors in the village.

At the end of the week, some of the villagers helping to scout the surrounding area report that there is still no sign of the bandits' approach for now.
With your assistance in arming the villagers, you notice their mood improving slightly, except for Su Bing who seems to always gaze at you with a cold expression.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:17, Fri 30 July 2021.

Of course there were sneaky people...

That wasn't a good sign really!  It meant there were bad guys sneaking around and stealing stuff and there was only one Wei Jing who could catch them in the act!

Of course, one sort of logic suggested that she could just outproduce the bad guys and make their sabotage moot, but...  It put an ill taste in her mouth, she'd need to do something very clever instead.

The good news, of course, is that she was pretty on the ball!

Lots of traps too!  She worked with the people when time allowed to set some up on the approaches (And moved them again in the dead of night later on, just to mix things up a bit of a spy was taking note of where they were), and continuing her work  on preparing tools and gear.  With 17 able bodied defenders...  She needed another eight sets--then she could focus on traps and other tools.

Work was work was work, but she thought this was going along quite nicely!

(Though she Did sneak a few hastily forged bells into the pile of goods this time around--a noisemaking inscription was something she could do even with her own limited knowledge, and if she could catch the spy in the act, maybe she'd even be able to recover the lost bolts!)

OOC: 92 on further gear prep, then 127 to hopefully kitbash some alarm inscriptions secreted in our supply to hopefully catch the thief in the act

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 36):

While work continues on in this week, you hear rumors that Yuan's warband got distracted and decided to raid another village nearby. It is said that the reason why the warband got distracted was because of the sheer beauty of one of the village's women. One can only shudder in terror as to the result of such a raid given such a reason for an attack. It seems that the warband won't be here just yet.

Having salvaged all the useful things salvageable for now, some of the villagers begin to help with your forging instead, operating the bellows, shovelling coal and other supporting activities with regards to forging which has improved the productivity of your work as you have more time to focus on the shaping of metal. As time is limited you figure the best would be to make coats of plates as armor for the rest of the men.

Your work for the week produces the following alongside 92 Xiuwei:

- 8 Coat of Plates
- 8 Spears
- 6 Bells
- 5 of "traps and other tools" (you may specify or I can help decide)

With regards to your new security measure, you manage to capture a thief who was trying now to steal more quivers - and it appears to be a stranger who gives the following reasons for his crime:

"Please, have mercy...! My village will soon be under attack by the Yuan's gang... We simply require more bolts so we can fend them off! We have little choice but to resort to such means as the alternative is the destruction of our homes!" the man tearfully pleads as he is held in front of you while tied up.

Wei Jing perched up on a seat, staring at the fellow before her with a frown.  "But...  You could have just asked, you know?"  She muses.  "I mean, rather than just sneak in and take our stuff, if things are that far off, wouldn't it be better for us to work together instead?  Then we'd all have lots of firepower to throw at the bandits!"

Ugh, the tales and rumors she heard, so unsavory!

"I mean, we've got decent enough walls, we've got brave people ready to stand up and protect everyone--and we've even gotten some tricks up our sleeve for good measure!  Just taking our own stuff is just letting them bounce from place to place and take what they want from all of us, just one at a time, you know?"

Well, he might just be an evil bandit too but Wei Jing had learned better by now!

"So if you're really just from another village, why don't you go home...  And then just bring them here and we can work together to chase off the bandits!"

She still had so much to do though!  She had enough crossbows for everyone to use, she had enough spears for everyone, and even enough armor for everyone!

Well, except herself really.  She just had what she already had lying around.

She'd have to do something about that.

OOC: Seeing if I can persuade the guy to help out...  Only rolled 65 though, alas.  Beyond that, any time that isn't taken otherwise making her gear should be spent training the defenders as best as she can.  Mostly with the crossbows as she's not really familiar with spears, but they're easy to figure out.  Don't know what roll that'll involve tho.

After that, Wei Jing'll try to forge some personal gear that's a bit better than her cleaver, and maybe some armor.  106 on the Forging, and 79 on inscription

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 38):

"O... of course! I... I will not dissapoint Gre... Great Magnanimous lady" the man says as he leaves the village.

...

Focusing on making robust equipment for yourself,

You manage to forge the following alongside gaining 118 base Xiuwei:

- Balanced Dao (Reinforce I): 1d6+2 damage
- Coat of Plates: 10 armor

Unfortunately you only have time to inscribe your new Dao before you hear word from the scouts that Yuan's warband is arriving!

Judging from the sightings, a band of 45 bandits are headed towards the village from the north!

You still have 2 days until they arrive, and may plan any course of action in anticipation of their arrival.

The blade was well crafted--all things considered.  Balanced and prepared for war, and inscribed so as to be exceptionally sharp and hardy enough to put up with some abuse.

It was, in short, a step up from using a deboning cleaver in battle--however well it was constructed.  It was unfortunate then that word had come along that the warband was on their way...  Forty five of them.

Wei Jing ran the numbers in her head...  45 vs 18...  That was tough odds normally, but they had the advantage of a wall and knowing the terrain.  The boss apparently being an immortal slumming it was a problem, but...

He couldn't be that strong, could he?  He wouldn't be so small time if he was.

And Bandits generally shouldn't be hardened fighters either, given that and some good traps along the way, defeating them shouldn't be an issue.  They had good equipment from her labors, they had the walls to fight on, and Wei Jing could certainly do her best to even the odds--as long as the chieftain wasn't too much.

Two days to prepare, that should be enough to adjust the traps to concentrate them on the avenue of approach.  She'd set up some bells secretly on the gates as they were closed for the night in case any spies tried to sneak out to send word.  If the traps could injure or otherwise neutralize even a couple of the incoming bandits--it'd make things a lot easier to handle.

So she'd spend what free time she had in the coming days familiarizing herself with her new equipment, and keeping an eye out for any clever schemes that the bandits might try.

OOC: Practicing the Swaying Bamboo Cleaving Method.  A roll of 47 after modifiers probably won't get any real progress, but should at least avoid any penalties from not being used to it in battle.

Don't know if you want to roll her 'Shenanigans Detection' in secret or not, or even what skill it would require, so feel free to handle it on your end

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 40):

As your practicing was only one night, you sadly did not make much progress in your cultivation of the Swaying Bamboo Technique.

On the first night of your preparation, one of the bells on the north gate rings at night. As people were already keeping watch there in anticipation of an attack, the person trying to sneak out was apprehended and restrained.

From the looks of it though, the person who tried to escape was actually the rather rebellious son of one of the villagers who had an argument with his family and decided to leave the village for good. Of course he wasn't pleased that he was accosted by the guards.

Soon after practicing a few drills on your own alongside the village strongmen who practice a few routines of spear use and some shooting practice, the day of the warband's arival slowly comes, and as it slowly becomes midday, you soon catch sight of an approaching band of 40 men armored with fur and Daos from a small watchtower along the walls of the village.

As they approach, some of the traps hidden were triggered, causing around 28 for them to be midly injured.

Noticing that the approach to the village is trapped, the band pauses for a moment considering their actions with a man on a large gray skinned horse.

"Hehehe..."  Wei Jing chuckled, perched as she was at the front part of the gates, grin so wide you could see it from miles away.  "That the best you guys got?!?"  She called out, swaying back and forth, tapping the flat of her Dao blade on her shoulder.  "The big, scary bandits running rampant--what, you have a little bit of trouble with the road?  Ankle biters and bugs got you down?"  She giggled, a noise incongruous with the gravity of the day.

This was important after all!  Some of them were already hurt, and they were wary of fighting.  But they weren't cowed yet, give them a chance to reorganize and they'd come back--and the advantage would be lost.  The will to fight was the most important thing in any group--as long as that will to fight remained intact, the battle wouldn't be over.

No.

They had to lose.  Firmly and unambiguously.

They were sore, they were wary, they were taking their time to think, and that meant they didn't have full control of the situation.

So you capitalized on that, poked that shakiness with all of your strength.  Near three quarters of them were injured--if only slightly.  They were up against a walled settlement, with crossbowmen on the battlements.

If it came to a fight, a lot of them were probably going to die, and none of them would be willing to risk that.

Which meant there was room to maneuver.

"Bandits, schmabits"  Wei Jing bounced from foot to foot.  "Betcha a little girl like me can take your best.  Why don't we save us all a bit of time and effort and sort this out that way?  Your best and me, one on one, I win?  You all scram!
 You win, maybe you get what you came here for without getting shot up too much more, see?"

They were hurt, they were wary.  They were up against a hard target, if they took a moment to withdraw and patch themselves up, the next go wouldn't be in the favor of this little village, not with the traps expended.

Use that wariness though to bait the enemy into a fight though?  Take out the leader?  The entire force would shatter like glass.

Of course, the rumor of him being an Immortal was concerning...  But again, if he was actually an immortal...  What's he doing with such a small warband?

She'd put Papa's teachings and the forgecraft he taught her over some petty warlord who knew some martial arts any day of the week!

OOC: Gonna try to take advantage of the relative success of the trap and the fortified defenses to bait their leader into a one on one duel with Wei Jing.  Gonna be tight, but even hurt as they are, we're outnumbered two to one and I still suspect betrayal at some point.  Best to sort this out while they're wary

97 on the Persuasion Check, pretty good result!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:47, Wed 04 Aug 2021.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 42):

As the approaching bandits see you gesture as you make your taunting speech, they can only stare with widened eyes in surprise - but eventually their surprised faces turn into a devilish sneer as they continue their advance slowly while the asura man on the large gray horse replies in a powerful voice.

"One on one you say? Okay - We agree. Let us settle with a duel right outside here," the same asura man points his muscular finger downwards to the ground as he slowly advances with his remaining uninjured troops we cautiously strike the ground with staves ahead to look for traps.

Their cautiousness this time manages to trigger and set off a number of traps safely as they slowly make their advance.

Your companions at the wall look towards you uneasily as though waiting for the order to fire at the troop with their crossbows. Although it seems that only 12 are advancing alongside the man on the gray horse, they seem quite well armored, have strong looking physiques and appear quite battle hardened seeing how most of them are covered in scars.

This seemed...  Shady.

Offering a duel, and then marching out with his men?  Cowwwarrrd

It was proof of Wei Jing's guess though that he was just a fake immortal--a real one wouldn't need to hedge his bets like that.

"Heh, fine!  I'll take that challenge!"  Wei Jing shouted back, and vaulted up and over the gates--with a quick gesture for the ad-hoc militia to be ready to react if things got spicy or some sneaky bits happened.

She walked up, taking swipes with her Dao--seemingly amateur works.  Just warm up swings, practice really.

She'd get one good shot in, she had to make sure it counted.

In reply to Wei Jing (msg # 44):

Shocked at what you're doing, a few of the strongmen of the village try to call to you as you vault across the wall. But seeing you gesture to them, they only nod with a rather uneasy expression.

"This brat... she really is courting death isn't she...?" you catch the utterances of one of the hardened men as you approach the halfway point between Yuan's forces and the village's wall.

You notice the mounted Asura man's lips curl into a grin as you eventually reach the agreed upon location, standing around 15 meters away from one another.

"So, what is your name young lady? Few have had the gall to challenge the great Yuan - many of them were heroes in their own right, but never would I have expected to be challenged by a whipster like you," Yuan provokes you as he dismounts and throws to one side his long fur coat to reveal his sinewy body that appears to have been very vigiorously trained.

You hear the surrounding hardened bandits snicker maliciously as they eye you from a distance as Yuan approaches you slowly, closing into you to about 10 meters away from you while cracking his muscles and stretching his neck by turning it side to side.