Through the looking glass (wushu game)

Ever since I've read about the RPG Wushu, I wanted to play/organise one. Not many of you may know of this rules light system but it seems ideal for forum use and is easy to learn.

Rules of wushu

A short example of play:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

In a scene where Lacie falls in a pool of her own town tears, she struggles to get on dry land. Dice cap is 6, her player has to throw at least 2 yin (defensive) successes every round to prevent her from losing chi. The scene is also near its end as Lacie’s player only needs to throw 1 yang (offensive) success to end it.

Her player describes:
Lacie feels the strength in her arms ebb away which is quickly replaced with a stinging pain. She can see the sun breaking through surface of the water getting dimmer and dimmer. A feeling of resignation takes control of her for just a moment: “This doesn’t seem so bad…”
“No she can’t give up now!” With the last ounces of strength left in her frail body, she thrusts towards the sun. Lacie breaks the surface near a large piece of wood. She climbs on it and crumples in a ball of exhaustion.

Now for the resolution:
Lacie’s player has described enough to earn 6 dice (the cap). He divides them evenly between yin (defensive) and yang (offensive). He also reckons that the most relevant trait Lacie used was her trait pigheaded 4.
The player rolls and gets yin 5, 5, 3 and yang 2, 6, 4. Every die equal or below 4 is a success.
This means that Lacie loses a point of chi (needed 2 successes and rolled only one) but it’s alright as she still has 1 point left( if Lacie went in to negative chi, her player would lose his narrative power over the scene). It also means that the scene has come to its conclusion (2 yang successes rolled, 1 needed), Lacie’s player gets to describe a coup de grace.

Coup de grace:
Seconds pass, minutes, hours? Lacie isn’t at all aware of the passage of time. A soft thud wakes her from her catatonic state. Her makeshift raft had drifted against the embankment of the pool. The girl leaves the piece of wood for dry land and exclaimed firmly “that’s the last time I’ll let THAT emotion get the best of me”. Lacie then wanders further into this strange land.

In short, everything can happen as long as you can imagine it (and it stays within the consensus of the group).

This first game will be played in the style 'Alice in wonderland' (dream logic, bizarre confrontations with bizarre characters, ...) but won't be the actual tale.

This game will require of the players to participate at least once everyday. Although it won't take more then a few moments.

Players:
Seon
Beskar
spL1tp3r50naL1ty
Diamondeye?


I'll keep it the number of participants to these 4 members but I'm still looking for reserves.

If there are any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I'd certainly be interested in playing, if there is room.

So far I've received 2 character sheets out of four. Chances are you'll be able to play.
I'll give everybody until sunday and I'll start on monday.

I am guessing my submission was acceptable then. :beam:

Yes it was.

So we have:
- Shepard (Seon) an above average when it comes to physical tasks but a great puzzle-solver and a way with animals with a cowardly streak to him.
- John (Beskar) a small (but just at the right hight if you know what I mean), detemined snarker whith a knack for verbal swords play. He does have a big ego though.

Others can still send in there character sheet (or ask about it) but the story will start of tomorrow. Hope to see you then.

Confirming the desire to be in on this game :D

I'd like to join in as a reserve. Do you want the character idea now, or when you need it?

Characters:
- Shepard (Seon), above average when it comes to physical tasks but a great puzzle-solver and a way with animals with a cowardly streak to him.
- John (Beskar) a small (but just at the right hight if you know what I mean), detemined snarker whith a knack for verbal swords play. He does have a big ego though.
- Jack (spL1tp3r50naL1ty) tall and lanky with a penchant for logic thinking.
- Liva (Diamondeye) a blunt girl who can be very convincing when talking about something she feels strongly for. She is a real master at solving riddles and possess nimble fingers. Her bluntness has caused her problems before

https://a.imageshack.us/img225/3092/marshgasteach.jpg

Prologue
In which curiosity follows boredom and our heroes follow a will-o'-wisp

Summer’s end, …, There isn’t much to do at the boarding school this early in the school year. No activities, no sports, no field trips, … It’s just the three of us, the caretaker and his daughter. And even the caretaker wasn’t that enthusiastic about being here.
The three of us, Sheppard, Jack and John were always the last to leave and the first to arrive at this institution. If you wouldn’t know any better you would start to think we actually liked it here. You would even think that we were the best of friends when we’re just … well, who wants to be lonely all the time ?

We were just doing the usual, killing time at the lake, when something caught our eye. A hovering light near the lake bank.
“Let’s find out what it is!”
“Do we have to? It’s dangerously close to the water”
“It’s always the same with you. If you want to die of boredom be my guest scaredy cat”


Give your descriptions and the traits you're using (no danger so you do not need to give me the ying/yang split). This is just a practice run to see if everybody understands the rules.

I forgot, The dice cap is 6 for this scene, which means you can earn no more then 6 dice when telling your part of the story.

This game has Truly begun

As the three boys pass a large, dead tree, one of them feels something land in his hair and finds it to be an intricately folded paper-bird. Stopping to look up, they see a dark-haired girl sitting on one of the few, solid branches of the tree some feet up, resting her back against the trunk and one feet resting on the brench, the other leg hanging lazily down. She's holding another paper folding and has a small bag thrown over her shoulder in a strop.

"Wotcher guys, where're ya going?"

EDIT: That'd be using the nimble-fingers thing, if anything.

To get a good idea how details work, I'll count them:

As the three boys pass a large, dead treen (1), one of them feels something land in his hair(2) and finds it to be an intricately folded paper-bird(3). Stopping to look up, they(4) see a dark-haired girl sitting on one of the few, solid branches of the tree some feet up(5), resting her back against the trunk and one feet resting on the brench, the other leg hanging lazily down(6). She's holding another paper folding and has a small bag thrown over her shoulder in a strop.(7)

"Wotcher guys, where're ya going?"(8)

You see how easy you earn the dice cap (6 in this scene). Nothing stops you to describe more than the dice cap but you can also go under it but then you earn less dice.

Quote:

---

EDIT: That'd be using the nimble-fingers thing, if anything.

---

That's a hard one to pin down. A character doesn't always use one of his named traits. In cases he doesn't, the default number used is 2. In this case I would go for the default number as she wasn't busy folding the paper at the time of the description.

I'll show the mechanic side when everybody has put in their description and used trait.

"Eerrr, it is a girl!" John says as he notices the dark haired female. The others boys laughed at John, and the girl didn't look much pleased either. John was a short, ruddy, young lad, looking around seven or eight. He wore long shorts, with a baggy shirt not tucked in and a waistcoat with a flat cap. He didn't mind the caretakers daughter, that doesn't stop it being fun to tease her.

Shepard hurriedly shoves the paper bird into his pocket; how the heck the girl managed make the paper bird, intricate and also dead, into his hair despite the wind he could not figure out despite his best efforts. Probably luck, he thought as he clasped tightly at the bag he was holding. Enough weird thing has happened for one day...

"Guys, I heard stories of people who went into a swamp to chase after some light though; I heard they never found the body," Shepard muttered. "I heard about sirens too, anyways, can't we chase after the light later? Hmm?"

((I have some doubts as to how succesful a game that relies on equal participation will be. Especially since Spl1t seems to be MIA))

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Diamondeye

((I have some doubts as to how succesful a game that relies on equal participation will be. Especially since Spl1t seems to be MIA))

---

You btring up a good point. The inactivity of one of the players is not really a big problem BUT with so few players more than 1 player missing can stop the game. I'll be looking for reserve players.

I'll give it until tomorrow and than we start with or without Split.

Mechanics
So all of you three got to the 6 dice maximum set for this round. There was no danger so no defensive dice needed.
Diamondeye used non of Liva's named traits so he must roll equal or below 2.
Beskar used the snarky (5) skill so he needs to roll equal or below 5.
Seon tried some puzzle solving (5) but also showed his weakness: cowardly (1). I opt for using his weakness as this was more relevant to the scene rather than figuring out how an origami bird was folded.

You can always step in and correct me if you believe I should be using another trait or if you think a certain character is doing something that doesn't fit into the genre.

Resolution:
I use this website for the dice rolls.
Liva gets 4,3,5,3,3,1 which means 1 success.
John gets 2,1,6,5,1,6 which means 4 successes
Sheppard gets 4,6,4,3,4,1 which means also 1 success.

Normally I would've set a number which you would have to reach in order to end the scene. ATM you get 6 points amongst yourselves.
When a scene has no more points left, then the person who 'ended' the scene can describe the ending. This was a practice scene without a number to reach so I'll describe the start of the next scene (tonight).

The next scene will involve danger so don't forget to mention your yin and yang split next time.

https://img843.imageshack.us/img843/958/2752531.jpg

Scene1
In which the chase continues and perspectives are skewed

Specifics:
Mook conflict
Dice cap: 6
Threat rating (TR): 50 (the scene ends when you reach 50 yang successes together)
Yin successes needed per round per player: 1

Sheppard, John and Liva suddenly lost sight of their prey. It suddenly vanished into the ground.

"Ah...If you hadn't slowed us down, we wouldn't have lost it."
"You're mean. And you losing your shoe didn't help us either."

"Hey, look at this."
Sheppard was waving furiously near what looked from afar as a small grey hill. As the others got closer, it became clear that it was a corner of some building, eroded by weather and watery soil.

"My father told me about a castle that sunk into the ground long ago. He said that it was cursed and that I should stay away and ... and..."

John pushed her away hard. "And I'm afraid because I'm a useless girl. Nenenenenene."
"That thing went in there so I'm following you can tag along if you like as long both of you stop whining."

The castle lied slanted. The three had to be carefull not to slip, slide down walls or lose their orientation in this skewed mace.

"Over there, I see some light... That must be that thing we were chasing!"


Don't forget to mention the trait you'r character used and how many dice you use for Yin and Yang

Liva turned from John, furious in her resolution to show that she wasn't just a useless girl. She trodded past him and quickly reached the slanted wall and carefully began climbing. Her anger fueled her and she forcefully dug her fingers in to catch hold whereever a small crack or loose gravel allowed it. "Hmpph! I'll give you useless", she mumbled as she began ascending the slippery plane.

Trait: Blunt personality (?)
Dice; 3 Yin, rest Yang.

"Wait! Come back!" Shepherd yelled after the girl. "It's too dangerou-" Shepherd immediately stopped as he realized that John was about to follow her up the slippery slope as well, living him all alone in the swamp.

"Oh forget whatever it is I said. I guess we can just all go together to dinner too! Yeah, DINNER FOR GHOSTS!" Shepherd let out a groan as he began to climb after Liva, he didn't get strong so that he can chase after some ghostly supernatural light, he did it so that he could RUN AWAY from it.

Trait: Athletic

Dice; 3 yin, rest Yang

John sticks his tongue out at Liva, and followed her up the slippery slope, "Shepherd, I thought Liva was the girl here?" as he interrupts him in mid-speech, "Come on you silly light, we are going to get you!". Shepherd blushed and muttered something about dinner. John licked his lips, when he thought of turkey leg, stuffed cream pudding and chocolate, just to be greeted by Mrs. Maggiepies unseasoned oats at the boarding house, yuck! He wondered about Liva, she always seems to have a grandiose appearance, like she is some snooty princess, she probably would announce how a butler butters her crumpets layered with cream and jam.

John stopped and looked around, his mind went off-track, when he noticed a twinkle in the corner of his eye, "There you are, you glistening troll bogey!" and he followed on chasing the whisp, who seemed to react slightly to the mark, or was that his imagination? Like that thing he swore he saw Liva in a polka dot dress and an little umbrella, being huffy and puffy about his latest prank. It wouldn't been so bad but that night I woke up with my hand in a bowel of water, and I swear I saw the caretaker. I asked him in the morning about it, he just looked at me oddly then said something about staying away from his daughter. That wasn't too bad, I just put Mr. Cuddles, up in a tree. I like teasing Liva.

John easily walked under a branch, and flicked it as he went past. Hoping to catch Shepherd, but he was too far behind, darn. "Twinkle Twinkle Smelly Star, No one cares to wonder what you are". He put his arms by the sides of him outstretched for balance as he went along. "Is it a bird? It is a cannon ball? No, it's Super John!".

Trait: Snarky
3 Yin, 3 Yang.

As they were chasing the odd ball of light, the three companions suddenly realized they were missing one- specifically, Jack.

No sooner had one of them said the words, "Where's Jack?" than a figure leapt into their midst from a nearby tree.

"Did somebody call?"

The creature looked like Jack, and yet it was... not. Most of Jack's features were present, but exaggerated in their proportions: his tall, lanky self had become a towering figure of ridiculous thinness. He had a greenish glint in his eyes which matched the emerald suit with coattails that he was now wearing. And just barely visible on the top of his head were the tips of two horns.

"The name's Jackaloup, but I suppose Jack works for short. A pleasure to meet you all, and especially you, Miss Wildflower," he said with a brilliant smile as he turned to Liva.

Trait: Charm
2 Yin, 4 Yang

Resulution
Diamondeye: trait 5, 3 yin successes and 3 yang successes
Seon: trait 3, 1 yin and 2 yang
Beskar: trait 5, 3 yin and 2 yang
Chaotix: trait 4, 1 yin and 3 yang

So everybody has at least 1 yin success which means that nobody loses chi.
10 yang successes in total which means the scene has still 40 points left.

I'm sitting this round out. The stage has been set, I'm interested how you'll all react.

OOC:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So, basically, we decide what happens for the rest of the seen? We have to figure out for ourselves what's inside this twisted castle?

In any case, I'm going to wait for someone else to go before I go again.

John jumps from column to column, while he looks up and sees 'Jackaloup'. "Hurry up dowsing rod, we are almost there!".

He notices Liva paying attention to Jack and rolls his eyes "Always after the attention", as he makes his way towards the twisty castle. He goes under arch-ways, climbing across ledges, as it is an oversized assault course.

"Hey guys, it seems this place.. keeps changing, it doesn't seem like we are getting closer"

The strange orb is still there, glowing near the gate. The ground seems to be, fluid? as if the grass was placed on top of a pond, and there are little dips and quakes. "Perhaps Shepherd wet himself, or this place is just weird", John continued ahead, possibly getting ahead of Liva and the others. Why did he think of Liva first? Perhaps because she is the annoying one, makes sense.

Trait: Snarky
Yin 2, 4 Yang

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Yes, I got the annoying 'little brother' type role. :beam:

Liva braved another steep climb and found a small niche she could sit down on to rest for a moment. John had disappeared ahead of them, but she could still hear his voice, snarky and loud, "... Perhaps shepherd wet himself...". She looked down and saw that Shepherd had only just begun the climb and was still quite the distance behind them. He, too, was yelling. Something about dinner and ghosts and what not. "Come on, Shep!", she yelled. "We don't wanna wait all day for you!"
She looked at Jackaloup and frowned - the guy looked very strange - then reminded herself that she was scaling a tilted wall of a castle ruin in the middle of a swamp, chasing a moving light; there was plenty of strange things going on. "Wotcher, mister", she replied before resuming the climbing with a backwards glance at Shepherd. She looked towards the moving light again... Strange? No, this was exciting!

Skill: Blunt Personality
3 Yin, rest Yang.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chaotix

OOC: So, basically, we decide what happens for the rest of the seen? We have to figure out for ourselves what's inside this twisted castle?

In any case, I'm going to wait for someone else to go before I go again.

---

Well this is about me setting you guys up for the things you want to do. I kept aside as I wanted to let you guys free to confront this new character without me pushing you to one side or the other.
Also when I thought up the skewed castle scene, I had a short voyage in mind full of danger and wonders through the castle (rooms bigger than they should be, gravity shifting, enviroments changing from room to room, ...). But anyone can take the story in a different direction as long as everyone else is OK with it.
And don't worry, whatever happens I have a next chapter already prepared. It's very hard to derail dreams :wink:

Against better judgment, I'll wait 24 hours more so that Seon and Chaotix get there descriptions in.
Don't make a habit of this, That's what reserve players are for.

Jackaloup had now joined his three companions in scaling the sloped side of the twisted castle. He walked up the side on two legs, the rest of his body seemingly tilting at a ridiculous angle from the point of view of the others. The odd young man looked curiously at the kids crawling up the castle even as they looked at him just as curiously.

From Jackaloup's point of view, however, he was walking along a straight path. It was the kids who were crawling sideways up the castle wall, for the castle wall was indeed sideways and not on a slope at all. Jackaloup laughed at this thought.

Suddenly, the floating ball of light they had been chasing ducked down into a window in the twisted castle's side. When Jackaloup reached the window, young John was already there. Jackaloup looked down through the hole, and the sight that he saw boggled even his mind.

Trickster
Yin 2, Yang 4

Sheperd looked down into the hole that Jackaloup and John was staring down at.

Oh what the hell. Indeed, if the scale of insanity went from to the madness of a schizophrenic man to the schizophrenic man poisoned by mercury to the taste of the caretaker's grandmother's cookies, the sight before them would be a step below the cookies.

Why was there, for instance, pillars rising from the bottomless depth of hell and why, oh WHY was the light bouncing off the the top of the pillars towards the said bottomless pit of hell?

And who the hell put a staircase sideways?!

And why were the pillars moving?

Shepherd shook the thought out of his head. Now he wanted some answers. The pillars seemed to be moving randomly, but there was a certain pattern you could see... Shepherd hopped onto a pillar much the same way the light did.

"This is the single worst idea I have ever had!" he immediately shouted. He hopped off the pillar onto another one as the pillar nearly smashed into a wall. There was no way getting back up, Shepherd sadly thought as he began to leap down from pillar to pillar.

Puzzle-Solver

Yin 2 Yang 4

Resulution
Beskar: trait 5, 1 yin and 2 yang
Diamondeye: trait 5, 2 yin and 3 yang
Chaotix: trait 5, 2 yin and 3 yang
Seon: trait 5, 1 yin and 2 yang

So again everybody has at least 1 yin success which means that nobody loses chi. Everybody has 3 chi per scene but this will be more important when you're pressed for time or against something more dangerous/harder.
Coincidently again 10 yang successes in total which means the scene is down to 30 points.

I'll be adding a time limit. You'll have to complete the whole scene in 2 rounds otherwise the will-o'-wisp will get away and you may get lost inside the sunken castle.

Liva notices a shut window, a couple of feet below the place where Shepherd, John and Jackaloup have found an open window. She fiddles with the rusty barring mechanism and manages to open it, but the window shutters open under her. The boys hear a yell of surprise as Liva falls into the room and starts sliding down the inclined floor, the smooth marble tiles not proving any way of slowing down. Finally, before skidding into a column, Liva managed to dig her fingers into the cavity of a shattered tile and break her descend. Slowly, she begins climbing her way up by carefully removing pieces of broken tiles or lifting loose tiles to find hold for hands and feet.
Skill: Nimble Fingers
1 Yin, rest Yang

Jackaloup had begun looking around to find the ball of light, but he wasn't having any success.

Suddenly, Jackaloup heard the scream of a girl, and looked down (or perhaps was it up? Or sideways? It's becoming difficult to tell) to see Liva sliding towards the center of the massive, conical room, where only a few columns separated her from the swirling ball of darkness at the core.

He studied the tricky physics of the place for a split second and decided that logically, he could decide whichever way was up or down for himself. Thus, throwing all caution to the wind, he started sprinting down the sideways, spiral staircase that ran along the walls of the chamber, hoping to catch Liva before she slipped again. Whatever the globe of nothingness was, it was trying to pull her in, and that couldn't be good.

Trickster
6 Yang

John notices another entrance, and due to his small size, he was able to sneak in. Once he got through, he was surprised to see the ground rise at both ends. He turned around, after hearing Liva, as saw her sliding across the ground. He ran towards her, but this was no hamster wheel. John couldn't carry on running along. He headed back to where he came in, but the passage way seemed like a bottomless pit to the outside. He looked around, seeing no other way, he began to lower himself into the gap. As he lowered himself in, he felt himself press again the wall. He let go and he was laid against it, perfectly still. He then tried to exit the hole, but acting as if the 'ground' was infact a 'wall', and as he got through, he dropped down onto the 'real ground'. He turned and saw Liva still getting dragged along as the human-twig started heading towards her.

"Shepherd, where are you? Liva needs your help!"


Small
6 Yang

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As it is 3 Chi per round and we lose 1 chi for no Yin. However, there is only two rounds left and we need the stack up our Yang successes. So lets go without any Yin rolls. I am not sure how Phil is doing it, but I think you could edit your post, Diamondeye. Just hope we get a lot of successes. We need to get 15 between us, and the maximum we can get is 24 for the round.

Shepherd could see the way this room acted now. The will o' wisp...moving columns...people literally flying against the laws of physics.... erratically swaying columns...twig things... this entire world was designed to lure people in and trap it as an angler fish swallows little fishes whole.

Too bad I didn't realize that before I jumped, Shepherd shook himself away from the thought.

"Shepherd!" John yelled, standing sideways...no...Shepherd realized. The room had twisted configuration once more and Shepherd realized that he was the one standing sideways up. The suicidal thought nearly killed him when he felt gravity exert its control again, but he managed to grip onto the column in time. "Liva needs your help!" John finished.

Shepherd looked at Liva who was being dragged off towards whatever the dark depth of this pit led to... "You want me to help what?!" Shepherd yelled back.

Whatever John's reply was, Shepherd did not hear it. He managed to hoist himself up to the side of the column and began to clamber his way towards the side of the room where Liva was hanging on for her dear life, hoping that it would just be long enough for him to catch her if she fell, and hoping that the column would not move again before he quite reached her.

Puzzle Solver:

6 Yang

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Beskar

As it is 3 Chi per round and we lose 1 chi for no Yin. However, there is only two rounds left and we need the stack up our Yang successes. So lets go without any Yin rolls. I am not sure how Phil is doing it, but I think you could edit your post, Diamondeye. Just hope we get a lot of successes. We need to get 15 between us, and the maximum we can get is 24 for the round.

---

Well played. You can also include the loss of 1 Chi in your next description.

Resulution
Diamondeye: trait 4, 0 yin and 4 yang
Chaotix: trait 5, 0 yin and 6 yang
Beskar: trait 4, 0 yin and 4 yang
Seon: trait 5, 0 yin and 6 yang

This means that everybody loses 1 chi. Please rationalize this loss in your next description.
You scored a whopping 20 points which means the scene is down to 10 points.
The person who knocks of the final points wan describe the groups escape from the castle/the capture of the wisp.

I'll be much more involved in the next scene, to get a sort of back and forth interaction between everybody.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Peasant Phill

This means that everybody loses 1 chi. Please rationalize this loss in your next description.
You scored a whopping 20 points which means the scene is down to 10 points.
The person who knocks of the final points wan describe the groups escape from the castle/the capture of the wisp.

I'll be much more involved in the next scene, to get a sort of back and forth interaction between everybody.

---

Perhaps we should make this the one who scores the most points total?

I have a feeling the reason people are holding off on the next move is because they want to score the winning points. :clown:

That said, I'll make my move in a few minutes as soon as I figure out what to do.

Jackaloup looked back towards Liva as he continued sprinting "down" the staircase that spiraled around the room and hung sideways. John was on a curved wall moving towards Liva, while Shepherd had nearly reached the edge of a long pillar jutting out sideways, and directly in the trajectory that Liva would fall were she to slip. However, he wasn't paying attention to his own footing and suddenly slipped, beginning to fall sideways and backwards and every which way but the direction that made sense.

He landed hard on the side of a column, causing it to shake- in fact, the same column Shepherd was standing on, and he too was thrown off balance. The column was now beginning to move in the wrong direction, and only the great darkness loomed underneath Liva. Suddenly, Jackaloup had an idea. The dark blob was what was distorting the gravity around the area... Jackaloup pulled out his trusty Boomerang, and threw it towards the darkness. The Boomerang began orbiting around the blob as if it were a planet- or more appropriately a black hole.

"Liva! Grab the Boomerang!"

Jackaloup was counting on the thought that, in this world, that Boomerang weighed more than Liva herself, and it would launch her away from the dark hole if she took hold of it.

Boomerang
6 Yang

And everybody better hurry or you won't win this round.

I'm watching Anderlecht - Zenith Sint-Peterburg. When the game ends this scene will do the same and may have some repercusion in game turms.

John was very distracted and busy, his imagination kept thinking things far more complicated than a simple young boy like him could understand. What ever it was, it felt weaker after it, especially when John woke up, with Liva flying around the room on a boomrang, as Jackloup strokes his horn. Shepard seemed to be muttering something about Reapers and Liva seemed very confused.

"Come on you dilly dallies, the wisp is getting away, we better get it quickly!"

He quickly began to following the wisp, as the world around him seems to be distorting.


Trait: Snarky
6 Yang

Liva was confused and the whole castle seemed to spin around her as she held fast to the boomerang, which apparently only a miracle kept from crashing towards the black hole beneath her. She looked up, at the weird room as it spun above her, the windows to freedom at what seemed like the top from her current point of view. Suddenly, the room, rapidly shifting in its contours due to her fast movement, began to make sense again. Her systematic mind clicked back on and the pattern layout of the room became obvious to her. With a sigh of relief, she dropped to the floor - the one she had been skidding across earlier - and just plain walked across the smooth tiles towards the window to escape the strange room and catch the strange wisp...

Trait: Puzzle-Solver. 6 Yang.

Right, we're only missing Seon.

Resulution
Chaotix: trait 3, 0 yin and 4 yang
Beskar: trait 5, 0 yin and 5 yang
Diamondeye: trait 3, 0 yin and 3 yang

Everybody loses 1 chi but it means the end of this scene (barely).
Although I said earlier that the one actually taking the scene to 0 points would get the narrative, I have to admit that Chaotix has a point.
In this case I think that you three Chaotix, Beskar and Diamondeye can come up with an ending together. In order to collaborate, you get an extra 24 hours.
In the future I'll decide on merit within the scene (who had the coolest ideas, who did the most 'work', who caused the most drama, ...).

Like I said after this I'll be a lot more involved in the story itself.

P.S. I really likes the dream logic behind the boomerangs weight.

Yeah, sorry I skipped the last phase :(

Jackaloup, John and Shepherd suddenly noticed that Liva was running quite unaffected across the - to them - tilted floor leading to the windows where they first entered. It was is if this realization itself conquered the fathom logic of the castle, and the confusing geometry of the place began to fall into shape. The boys ran to catch Liva while Jackaloup quickly retrieved the boomerang which, having been deprived of its strange gravitional tie to the far end of the room, was lying still on the floor. He quickly picked it up and followed the others; Liva was almost at the window.

... Liva ran up to the window, but when she looked out, she realized that the whole castle was tilted when compared to the earth. With this realization, she began to slip back towards the "bottom" of the room, but caught the windowframe with her hands. John caught up with her and jumped out without looking out first, which resulted in him leaving the building unharmed to slide down the outer wall of the castle. Shepherd followed John, and finally Jackaloup too arrived at the window. After he had exited, he reached his hand back in and Liva caught hold of it. Once she was carried out of the strange castle, they left it behind and ran towards the two boys. Shepherd was mumbling something intelligible, but John was obviously proud of himself and yelled at them to hurry up. "Looks, guys!" He held up his hand and they saw the wisp of light they had been chasing stuck in his clenched fist.

"So, who's the best, huh?" Liva rolled her eyes and looked back at the castle. How nice they had finally gotten out of that strange place!

Scene 2: The gnome dance
In which once must dance very carefully

John notices an itchy feeling on the palm of his clenched fist. He slowly opened it, expecting the Will-o'-wisp to make a run (a flight, a float?) for it the moment it could. But nothing moved in his hand. When he finally opened his hand enough to see inside, John felt shocked. He held just some straw. A minute ago he swore he caught the wisp. He most defiantly did. There was no doubt about it. ...
He lost his train of thought when he caught up with the rest of the group. This wasn't the boarding schools' grounds anymore. The lake kind of looked the same but the otherwise so prominent bell tower was nowhere to be found. The plants seemed to swap places the moment you stopped focusing on them and he could've sworn that flower was purple just a minute ago.

The others were less aware of the surrounding flora. Liva, Sheppard and Jackaloup were watching a group of curious looking creatures in confused silence. These small humanoid beings were apparently moving in a circle dancing and chanting.

"Let's ask them if they know what's for dinner this evening" said Jackaloup while running towards the little men.
The others had no choice but to follow.

OK, this is just the beginning of this scene. This will be a 'diplomacy' round. There will be no dice rolls just talking. I'll determine what happens next by how you interact with the gnomes.

OOC:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Query: Are you speaking for gnomes, or do we have to include their actions in our own posts?

Yes, I'll be speaking for the gnomes.

Liva slowly approached the gnomes, waiting for them to turn their attention to her before she speaks.
"Wotcher, fellows. Do you know where we are? And what was that strange light we saw?"

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...

The strange little men stopped dancing.

"Firstly, please speak English. What's this Wotcher creatures you're talking about?
Secondly, yes we know where you are. You're about a rock's throw from where we are.
Thirdly, that light was alight, what else would it be?"

The men continued dancing in a circle.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday...

"Gentlemen, could you tell us the significance of your dance? Perhaps we could assist you with it."

"Silly gnomes, don't they know it is Moon-day, Tooths-day, Wedding-day, Thirds-day, Fried-day, Sat-in-day and Sun-day?", John rolled his eyes.

Liva rolled her eyes, distanced herself a couple of feet from the gnomes, and reached into her bag to produce a few sheets of paper. Letting the others do the talking, she began to fold the paper to resemble one of the small gnomes.

Shepherd chuckled as he heard John's quips about the name of he day, realized that John was serious, and shut his mouth.

He turned to the gnomes. "Sirs, if I may ask, what do you call this place?"

Shepherd chuckled as he heard John's quips about the name of he day, realized that John was serious, and shut his mouth.

He turned to the gnomes. "Sirs, if I may ask, what do you call this place?"

(ooc: he was not serious. Bad Sheperd. :p)

(OOC: Shh...the gnomes does not need to hear that :P)

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…

Quote:

---

"Silly gnomes, don't they know it is Moon-day, Tooths-day, Wedding-day, Thirds-day, Fried-day, Sat-in-day and Sun-day?", John rolled his eyes.

---

The ring dance halted once again. The gnomes shared confused looks while pondering what this boy was smirking about. The words didn't go like that. Sheppard’s chuckle wasn't appreciated either.

The small creatures, if it wasn't for those hats you would swear that it were just shrubs, started surrounding the group.
"Those are not the right words" they yelled in unison.

Quote:

---

Liva rolled her eyes, distanced herself a couple of feet from the gnomes, and reached into her bag to produce a few sheets of paper. Letting the others do the talking, she began to fold the paper to resemble one of the small gnomes.

---

One of them noticed Liva's origami.
“What a remarkable statuette you made there. Perhaps you could give it to us as a token of your respect for our culture. And perhaps we may in turn perhaps some of your questions.”

Quote:

---

Shepherd chuckled as he heard John's quips about the name of he day, realized that John was serious, and shut his mouth.

He turned to the gnomes. "Sirs, if I may ask, what do you call this place?"

---

“This is the puppet state of Nornori. Not the socialist state, kingdom or confederation and certainly not the republic, dictatorship or exilarchy.

Beware it’s many strange prohibitions.”

Quote:

---

Shepherd chuckled as he heard John's quips about the name of he day, realized that John was serious, and shut his mouth.

He turned to the gnomes. "Sirs, if I may ask, what do you call this place?"

---

“Sure you can assist. We would be honored”


Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tooths-day, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat-in-day, Moonday…
Moon-day, Tooths-day, Wedding-day, Thirds-day, …

“Thordamnmebillionbillioninhisname, Youmustbetoodumbtohelpitthunder, Withafaceto crackcoalon, Afacetowalkbehindthedungtruck, YouThor’snamebillionstupidass, Ididn't knowtheycouldstackcrapthathigh, now you’ve done it.”

“Well put.” said another one, "Let's teach him a lesson."

The response was physical rather than vocal. Four creatures tackled John and rolled him in a nearby hay stack. John emerged from the hay covered in huge boils.

"Of course, you can keep it." Liva smiled and handed them the small paper statuette. "But be careful, water will ruin it."
She hesitated and thought up a question. "Where do you live? You have to sleep somewhere. And perhaps you have more friends living there?"

"Now, John may have gone and ruined your chant, he is is one of our friends, good sirs. I'll see to it he stays completely by the book from now on, and please try to avoid covering him in those nasty boilish things in the future.

Though, your chant has piqued my curiosity. Why have you not a day for Thor? A Thorsday, so to speak?"

And I thought I was late. I had my apology ready and all.

I'll give Seon and Beskar an aditional 13 hours.

This is the last diplomatic round in this scene.

Shepherd starts to hum...

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday

Then he stopped and tilted his head. "Dear sirs, why is Moonday called Moonday?" he asked.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saterday, Moonday…

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seon

Then he stopped and tilted his head. "Dear sirs, why is Moonday called Moonday?" he asked.

---

OOC: Good catch! Can't believe I didn't see that one.

"It's ruined, all ruined!" The gnomes stormed off, all in a different direction seemingly vanishing in the surounding flora.
Our heroes had no time to react, there questions still hanging in the air.

"I could help you with those basty boils,...,sure, because we all want to help eachother."
A figure stepped into their midst. It looked like a charicature of Jackaloupe. Even taller, even thinner, ... and a smile that only the Chesire cat could have.
"I'm sure Chief Toss-an-Emu will have an answer"


OOC: And here I thought someone would want to ask about a cure for those boils. That'll teach me to think ;)
I'm at work and out of time. I'll set the stage at the regular time. You can add anything you like.
P.S. the figure is Lange Wapper just look him up on google (just not the bridge)
P.S. Thanks to Gregoshi for the pun name.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Peasant Phill

OOC: And here I thought someone would want to ask about a cure for those boils. That'll teach me to think ;)

---

OOC: Boils would just pop, taking the gunk with them. I didn't think we would need a cure.

First of all I want to know if you'll follow Lange Wapper or not?

Democratic decision, any other suggestions are welcome.

"Well, it depends, really, on how much John wants to get rid of those boils.

It looks rather as if he's taken a liking to them. But if he'd rather his face be covered in only the usual dirt, then I am all for him, of course.

In other words, my vote hinges on dearest Johnny's."

"Of course we'll follow Lange, right guys? Otherwise this isn't going to be exciting.
Any of you cowardly enough to back out of a dare with a girl?"

Shepherd slowly started to raise his hand, caught the deadly glare of Liva, and nearly started to curl up on the floor, whimpering.

Instead he quickly pulled down his rather frozen hand and groaned.

Perhaps it is an idea to get rid of these Boils.

OOC OK To Chief Toss-an-Emu it is then.

Scene 3
In which practical jokes may not prove to be the best diplomatic gambit

https://img834.imageshack.us/img834/38/langewapper.jpg

The group is led by Lange Wapper into what seems a wall of trees, ferns and rose bushes. As if stepping through a doorway, they were now in the open prairie. A Indian camp lay just ahead.

Lange strode ahead of our heroes as if he was the king of the prairie. The dumbfounded sentries didn't quite know if they should stop this man or kneel before him.
"I need to see the chief of this settlement!" He exclaimed with a thunderous voice.
"Where is that goat-loving lowlife, I need to speak with him at once!"
A figure, just big enough to hold the absolutly massive head dress of the ground, rushed out of his tipi in the most intimidating way a forest of feathers ever could.

"Who dares to insult me amongst my own people"

Lange Wapper laughed a somewhat animal like laugh and shrunk so fast he seemed to just disappear.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can make a run for it, try to talk your way out of it or duke it out. It's up to you.

1 Nemesis (Chief Toss-an-Emu with 3 chi)
Mooks: the rest of the Indian tribe. Threat rating of 40, 2 yin successes needed per round
Dice cap 6

Jackaloup was stunned he had not seen the trick Lange Wapper had designed before it had played out. Now they were surrounded by an angry Indian Chief and his entire tribe. He considered his Boomerang for a second... but decided that it might be a good idea to at least try diplomacy first.

"Ah! Great and Honorable Chief! You have saved us from that nasty fellow who was taller, even, than I. He dissappeared using dark spirit magic and tried to frame his own insults on us. But you have made him shrink away in fear from your mighty presence, and saved our lives. For, truly, it was this trickster, this Lange Wapper, who captured the four of us and made us his slaves. He even put these nasty boils on little Johnny here when he refused to submit. But now we are saved and it is all thanks to you and your magnificent headress and massive, rippling muscles. Now if only someone could help poor Johnny with his boils..."

Charm
Yin 2, Yang 4

Liva glares at Jackaloup, evidently unpleased at something he says (his lies, of course, but the indians can't know that). She frowns at the trickster and sits down, making a resigning wave with her hands. "Whatever, Jack, you handle this alone then."
Yin: All

Blunt Personality Trait

I forgot to mention that you have to either 'attack' the Chief or the angry tribesmen. (you can adress both but then you will have to split your dice as well).

Great roleplaying Diamondeye. Sitting a round out is of course also allowed.

"Umm yeah. You got this Jack, woohoo!" Shepherd said meekly.

Yin: All

Trait: cowardly.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Seon

"Umm yeah. You got this Jack, woohoo!" Shepherd said meekly.

Yin: All

Trait: cowardly.

---

Sheesh, Seon... You're not even guaranteed two dice for that line, you know? :tongue:

John looked the nervous, and hid behind Jackloup. If any of the indians made any threatening moves against him, he was going to dodge them use Jack as a human shield.



Small
Yin: All

OK, I'm going to assume Chaotix is going after the chief while the rest is defending itself against the tribesmen.

Chief: 6 dice, trait 5, (5 yang, 1 yin mix) 0 yin successes 3 yang successes
Chaotix: 6 dice, trait 4, 1 yin 3 yang
Diamondeye: 6 dice, trait 5, 4 yin
Seon: 2 dice (barely), trait 1, 1 yin
Beskar: 4 dice, trait 4, 2 yin

This makes that the Chief is on 0 Chi which means he's just alive. Chaotix has 1 chi left, Seon 2 while Diamondeye and Beskar have their full 3 chi.
It's anybodies move now. I'll chip in tomorrow.

By now, several of the miniature tribesmen were holding Jackaloup and the group, comically hidden behind him, at spearpoint. However, Jackaloup's words were finally starting to sink into Chief Toss-an-emu's head, and it seemed his demeanor began to change from fierce to simply proud and almost benevolent. Evidently, the trickster's flattery had affected him in the intended way. The Chief was on the verge of breaking his standoff.

With a gentle gesture, Jackaloup simply brushed away the spearheads pointed at him and walked closer to the Chief, his height comical in comparison to Toss-an-emu's stature.

"I am certain that you or your village shaman has the skill to cure such a problem as these boils. Perhaps we should discuss this in your tent, honourable Chief?

Trickster
3 Yang, 3 Yin

Directed at: Chief Toss-an-emu

Liva looks around nerveously, the common tribesmen directing their attention to her as the two boys cower behind her in fear. This was not what she had in mind. She desperately looks around for anything that can strike a resound with the tribesmen, not willing to take on adult men with weapons in a hand-to-hand fight. She catches a glimpse of the chief's headdress and suddenly gets an idea. Ignoring the oncoming tribesmen, she quickly reaches inside her small bag and finds a couple of sheets of paper, but this time, she also brings up a pen. On the first piece of paper, she rapidly sketches a single feather, seen from different angles. She shows this to the tribesmen while quickly beginning to draw up a design of a feather headdress. She hopes that this will serve as sufficient communication that she can help them make headdresses, but that she has no feathers with her.

Skill: Nimble Fingers
Yin: 2
Yang: 4

Chief Toss-an-Emu realized that such an outburst wouldn't get him anywhere. He let his anger get the better of him ... again. Brother Always-there-at-the-wrong-time still wasn't quite the same after the last episode. Best start over then, he thought.

"My good man, what is the reason of this disturbance of our peaceful settlement?" He said in his most honey-coated voice possible but he still hoped his firm gaze would lend him enough authority.
"And don't try to outsmart me, I once finished second at the Nornori's national debating contest!".

Skill: Loves to hear himself talk (5) aimed at Chaotix
Split: 4 yin, 2 yang

OOC: 2 descriptions, still 2 to go.

Shepherd nodded at the events unfolding around him and silently picked up a large rock from the ground and into his pocket whilst everyone was distracted by Liva's drawing.

Then he began to ponder...if the rock was thrown at X velocity against the Mook A's head at angle Y, and assuming that the density of their helmet was at 12.00 g/cm^3, then the ricochet will...

The Indian noticed his gaze and stared in his direction. Shepherd let out a nervous chuckle. Nevermind that plan... But it was always good to think of at least 12 contingency plans for every circumstance. People always told him that he was paranoid, that there were no frog people inside the sewers, that the aliens weren't invading, and whatnot, but he knew better. He had been planning a defense against them at every spare time...

Right now, he felt it was a good time to use the contingency plan 4AB-47-a: prevent horrible death by the hands of a barbarian tribe by hiding in plain sight.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his portable chess set. Hopefully the natives will be so surprised by this random act that their brains will refuse to see him, making him invisible...

For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that there was a massive flaw with this plan, but then again this was a flawed world and everyone knew that two negatives made a positive...

Puzzle solver

3 Yin 3 Yang