>>4606545
>Light
>Darkness
>Beast (Dragon)
In the fashion of Astraplex, here's the most deviantart combination I can think of right now.

>>4606545
>water
>light
>beast(owl)

>>4606545
>Fire
>Light
>Beast (bear)

>>4606563
I don't know anything about this setting but this seems exploitable so supporting

>>4606767
http://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/76829480/

>>4606545
>Wind
>Light
>Beast (Dragon)

>>4606545
> Darkness X3

>>4606587
>>4606545
Supporting this so that something gets at least two votes.

>>4606545
>Human X 3

>>4606889
Support, being human is the true power

>>4606799
supporting

>>4606563

>Light
>Darkness
>Beast (Dragon)

>>4606587

>water
>light
>beast(owl)

>>4606799

>Wind
>Light
>Beast (Dragon)

Well then! It seems as these three options have struck even!

Should I leave this vote open for 6 more hours, or should I roll 1d3 to decide?

> Leave it open for 6 more hours
> Roll 1d3

>>4606967
I'll just switch to
>Wind
>Light
>Beast (Dragon)
And break the tie.

>>4606971
>>4606967
That was much faster than I expected!
Central Runes: Human
Affinities: Wind, Light, Beast(Dragon)
Writing...

>>4606993
Before you are born, you feel a calm breeze of wind and a gentle light from above.

Your father and mother are elementally inclined. Each of your parents possesses one elemental rune, which they have drawn powers from to a very small, subconscious extent, although they are not, and do not have the determination to become full blown cultivators. You inherited your Wind Rune from your father, and your Light Rune from your mother. And of course, your central rune is Human, as you were born from humanoid parents.

They bring you to a reading where they learn the source of your runes. And by the will of the gods, it appears you were a dragon in a past life. They are, for the least part, gobsmacked.

As a baby, you are perfectly human save for the tiny dragon wings and finned tail streaked with white and pale blue. The beginnings of your hair possesses a feathery quality, especially when it gets wet. Your elemental properties are only beginning to show.

The fact that you were a dragon in a past life will mean many things depending on where you are from. And this brings us to another question:

Where are you from?

> The rough-and-tumble streets of Geo City, with cyborgs and mechas galore. Every race and culture imaginable is clustered here, especially those of Lost Earthenland
> The beautiful tropical paradise of Catgirl Island
> The anachronistic medieval kingdom of Sirius, inhabited by kobolds, both draconic and canine
> The theocracy of Angel Fire, which rules over hundreds of flying islands
> The extremely violent, elementally afflicted, microclimate ridden colony of Chemical Romance
> The former prison colony of Mayday Parade
> The pristine forest kingdom of Kalest, inhabited by all manner of talking animals, kemonomimi, and furries
> The bizarre and secretive technocracy of Tripod
> The hillbilly towns of Red Fist Mountain, amid which lies a clandestine cultivation sect...
> The Roundabout Railway Republics, the RRR, or the Webrings, a series of semi autonomous protectorate at the farthest reaches of Geo City's jurisdiction. The equivalent to the wild west.

>>4607005
> The extremely violent, elementally afflicted, microclimate ridden colony of Chemical Romance

>>4607005
>> The bizarre and secretive technocracy of Tripod

>>4607005
>The anachronistic medieval kingdom of Sirius, inhabited by kobolds, both draconic and canine

>>4607020
> The extremely violent, elementally afflicted, microclimate ridden colony of Chemical Romance

>>4607030
>> The bizarre and secretive technocracy of Tripod

>>4607040
>The anachronistic medieval kingdom of Sirius, inhabited by kobolds, both draconic and canine

Ok, posters, should I leave this vote open for 6 more hours, or should I roll 1d3 to decide?

> Leave it open for 6 more hours
> Roll 1d3

>>4607130
>The anachronistic medieval kingdom of Sirius, inhabited by kobolds, both draconic and canine

>>4607040
>>4607130
>>4607352
>The anachronistic medieval kingdom of Sirius, inhabited by kobolds, both draconic and canine
We have a winner!
Writing...

>>4607422
The years pass. You are now twelve years old, and your childhood is unremarkable. Your mother, whose name is Hazel, is a kobold with light brown fur. Her whole body is covered with fur, and she also has a dog's ears, nose and tail. The reason is that she has two Beast Runes. Thanks to Hazel's light rune, her fur glows in the dark. When she reads you bedtime stories, she doesn't need to light the lantern.

Hazel care of you at home, while your dad works as an "engineer" at a "train station", whatever that is that was installed five years ago. His name is Rufus, and he also a kobold, but to a lesser extent, because he only has one Beast Rune. He's got no fur on him, and his whole face is but his dog ears and tail are still there. Due to his Wind Rune, hair is naturally windswept, although for the first time he has had to cut it short thanks to the "regulations" his job requires him.

You know little about your family's history, but you know for a fact that they used to be farmers before that job became unprofitable and they had to move to the bustling town of Eidelmanne. Up until now, have never known anything outside your neighborhood. It is a middle lower class residential district, with many houses and shops packed together. Crime is rampant, and the police are corrupt, but a coalition of vigilantes known as the Blue Sky Band watch over them.

>>4607453
Unlike your neighbours in the town of Eidelmanne, you have no dog features whatsoever. Had you no dragon wings, this would have made you the target of mockery at Eidelmanne Public School, where for three hours you learn maths and language, and for the other three you learn practical skills, most recently being how to operate the new machines that are being introduced here. At first these classes seemed silly and arbitrary, but they earned you respect when your friend's uncle couldn't figure out what was going on with his electric stove.

One day, you are summoned to the headmaster's office. He adjusts his spectacles. Up until now you've only seen them in pictures. "Alright. We've noticed due to the circumstances of your reincarnation that you are a legal candidate for the Integration Program. What that means is that you get to spend every other week up in Mount Effulgence with anyone else who's got a Dragon Rune. You and your family will effectively join the Dawn Tempest Clan, which means you'll get rich. This is a great opportunity for you. They'll teach you how to make use of your runes. You'll be really cool, kid."

Someone knocks at the door. A young, white haired man with an oversized mechanical arm says "Hello! Hey! Don't listen to him! I'm Xander Patrick of the Blazing Lantern Sect and I can't help but notice you're an aspiring cultivator. See, i've heard you've got a Light Rune and boy oh boy we can really get you set up, kid. I hear those dragon dudes are really finicky about what you do with the things they teach you, real hidebound, man. I don't know about you but it sounds to me like those scalies want you and your folks on your payroll forever and you'll never get to do anything for yourself again! You wanna be free, man, c'mon!"

> Sign up for Dawn Tempest Integration Program
> Sign up to join the Blazing Lantern Sect
> Tell both of 'em to bugger off

>>4607454
>Tell both of 'em to bugger off

>>4607454
>> Tell both of 'em to bugger off

>>4607454
>Sign up for Dawn Tempest Integration Program

That's it for today. I will wait until 11AM NZT to see what we've got here

>>4607484
>>4607487
>Tell both of 'em to bugger off
Writing...

>>4607959
You aren't prepared to spend every second week away from your family, and neither are you dealing with this Xander Patrick. Everything about him screams completely untrustworthy. If this foreigner thinks he can fool you, you'd have him know that you know every single sign of a scammer. With a huff, you tell them "Bugger off!" and walk right out of the principal's office as Xander behind you gives you an astonished look. Upon seeing your brazen defiance, he writes notes on a pocket sized notebook and strokes his chin.

During lunchtime you tell your friends about this over your packed lunches. Cole and Tarn, kobolds with yellow and dark red fur respectively, are amazed. Cole, wearing a green jerkin over a tan tunic, leans over the table and says "You really missed your chance, man. I wish I swapped placed with you."

"Same goes for me." You respond.

"You'd go and miss out on learning that magic and ninjitwhatever stuff, for what?" Tarn says, leaning back in his chair, in a black tabard over a striped blue tunic. "And you're a dragon, do you have any idea how cool that is? Don't you know just how easy you have it?"

It's as if they think they'll just be let off the moment they become powerful enough, at which they can live their lives selfishly with what they've learned. "Because getting taught magic means using it at another's behest. And as far as I'm concerned, that means putting your life on the line for someone who doesn't give half a damn about you."

Cole reiterates his point. "But you'll be able to do much more things and stuff, and that'll be, like, awesome. Besides, you'll be a hero!"

They still don't get it. "They don't teach you these things so you can use them for fun. They teach you so you can use magic for them. Have you seen the news? Look at the obituaries! Just about every magic user, every martial arts practitioner dies horribly trying to subdue monsters or criminals. Also, the ones who use powerful magic exclusively for 'fun' are nothing but a bunch of hooligans who sooner or later get put away by others like them. Let me tell you, I won't become the strongest. There's always a bigger fish out there. And I don't know about you, but I'm not throwing my life away anytime soon. I don't want to be a hero."

"I'd rather spend my life..."

> playing video games
> building machines
> drawing pictures
> playing music
> Write In

>>4608005
>Exploring, expanding own horizon

>>4608005
>Exploring, expanding own horizon

>>4608005
>>I wanna build flying super trains that shoot fuccking lazers. And use them to explore fucking space.

>>4608159
Fucking hell, I thought it was pretty difficult to convey the general theme behind Astraplex besides "lol DeviantArt, retro internet", but looks like you've got the tone spot on!

I'll leave this vote open for around three or four more hours.

>>4608159
>>>I wanna build flying super trains that shoot fuccking lazers. And use them to explore fucking space.
Support , fucking support

>>4608159
>>4608204
How could I refuse?

Sorry, >>4608063 and >>4608092.
Writing...

>>4606545
>tfw my favourite one-off /tg/ setting has a quest
Very cool

>and anons already bailed on gonzo cultivation adventures
>>4608159
Fuckit, backing

>>4608372
There are no cars in Eidelmanne. Almost every building in the city is made from wattle and daub with a thatched roof, and wedged very tightly together. After the Crown Calamity, thousands of refugees from elsewhere in the Duchy descended upon Eidelmanne and built it up around narrow streets for pedestrians and rickshaws because that's all there were three hundred years ago. Twenty years ago, the king's men ordered bridges of a smooth, grainless rock named "konkreet" to be built over the city, stopping at regular intervals at stations built on top of towers always one story higher than the buildings below them.

You came to see the "konkreet" bridges and the vast, coal devouring trains as a symbol of the future. And by gum were you gonna take part in it. At the train stations, there were sold little cheap books made from paper. Which was rather odd, because all the books you've seen outside were big and fancy and bound in leather and meal. These books were filled with astonishing visions of the future, so many wondrous ideas your mind could only half comprehend. Beams of terrible fire that varve mountains in half. And a train that could travel to space - no, not upward, but beyond.

With resolve burning in your heart, you say "I want to build trains like you've never seen before. We went from rickshaws to locomotives in half a bloody decade! Who knows what we'll have a whole century from now?"

Nonetheless, your friends admire your prospects. You spend the rest of lunchtime with them, sharing ridiculous but at the same time frighteningly plausible daydreams of what the future will be like. The day passes by swimmingly. You walk home all cheerful and optimistic the way only children can.

There's a newspaper on the kitchen table. Judging from the amount of pawprints on it, a dozen people have given it a read, drawn on it, wrapped it around fish and chips, and torn several pieces off for miscellaneous purposes before your mum read it. It's boring grownup stuff about politics and the fears the aristocracy have about nation states displacing them. Those things don't concern you at all, and they never will. But as you reach the end of the paper, you find three that certainly do.

> THE COSMIC SANCTUM: Come visit us and learn astral projection and see the wonders of an out of body experience! Travel to other celestial bodies without moving a finger!
> WILLENHAKER ARTIFICE INC: Sign up for an apprenticeship and witness the secrets of Aura Technology!
> BLAZING LANTERN SECT: Master the powers of Fire and Light! In urgent need of more members.
> EIDELMANNE FUTURISTIC SOCIETY: Come meet three of the Duchy of Wyndervilt's most famous inventors, and a mechanical savant from Geo City and hear their predictions of the future!

>>4608375
That's because I was the one who made the setting in the first place.

It began with this thread: https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/72142841/

The traction this thread got was about as good as it could get. The later threads died out within less than ten posts. It seems that worldbuilding threads getting popular on tg are something of a lottery: I was foolish to take my luck for granted.

This same thing happened with Gloria Etalia, Killblood Deathbane, and Galgeleth, the City of Wheels.

The latter two were thematically and tonally distinct: Killblood Deathbane was hilariously over the top metal and really edgy with nineties comic influences, Galgeleth was mysterious, grandiose and eldritch, and had an atmosphere similar to nautical stories like Moby Dick and the works of William Hope Hodgeson and China Mieville.

These rare gems lasted for about a few days before being archived forever in favour of endless inane questions devised to piss people off, and i'm not just talking about bumpfag.

Astraplex is based on several subcultures that were built on very, very specific circumstances, and died out like a puff of smoke and dismissed as childish even during its day.

There wasn't even a name to it, nor is there any concrete idea of what it is. Even modern revivals of it, given names like "webcore" or "animecore" are far too cleanly presented to truly capture this aesthetic. And today, even when they try to draw nineties anime, there is a certain drive to perfection that makes it a little inauthentic.

Hence I very specifically describe the aesthetic and tone as "western artists discovering anime for the first time and trying to adopt it as their own during the dawn of the new millennium" because of its imperfections and idiosyncrasies.

>>4608390
do we choose 3 out of the 4 or just 1?
> EIDELMANNE FUTURISTIC SOCIETY: Come meet three of the Duchy of Wyndervilt's most famous inventors, and a mechanical savant from Geo City and hear their predictions of the future!

>>4608390
> WILLENHAKER ARTIFICE INC: Sign up for an apprenticeship and witness the secrets of Aura Technology!
> BLAZING LANTERN SECT: Master the powers of Fire and Light! In urgent need of more members.
> EIDELMANNE FUTURISTIC SOCIETY: Come meet three of the Duchy of Wyndervilt's most famous inventors, and a mechanical savant from Geo City and hear their predictions of the future!
NO ESCAPE FROM BLAZING LANTERN (or willenhaker)

>>4608461
>>4608485
Just 1, they're all in different parts of Eidelmanne

>>4608486
Ah, then Eidelmanne Futuristic Society.

>>4608390
>EIDELMANNE FUTURISTIC SOCIETY:
The only choice for someone who wants to build space trains

>>4608461
>>4608485
>>4608489
>>4608569
> EIDELMANNE FUTURISTIC SOCIETY
Writing...
(btw the reason my trip is different is because i'm at a relative's house)

>>4608601
You spend this week's allowance on a train ticket to a temple at the other side of town which the EFS rented out for their presentation this afternoon. When you get there, the seats throng with a huge crowd of kobolds, both of the canine and draconic types, all wearing strange garments you've heard are called suits.

The inventors are as follows:

Nells Margonne of Dryngore, a member of the Mystic Knights responsible for the creation of fighting mechs.

Jenny L. Chalker of Geo City, the star of many interviews on the International Science Journal. Very, very interested in physical transformation.

Atto Norkath of Tarchnen, an outspoken proponent of industrialization.

Barene Calussman of Minharn, a well respected oracle known for his aura focussing devices.

You spend every moment fixated on their words, but being 12, you can't help but begin to get tired and lose focus two hours in. But you know what they're talking about. Barene strokes his beard and begins to go off on a tangent explaining his philosophy about how technology is "liberating" people from natural forces, and that the "ultimate form" of liberation is to remove them entirely.

If you were "liberated" from space, you would be able to teleport to any place in the world. If you were "liberated" from a body, you would be able to shapeshift at will with no restrictions. And if you were "liberated" from death, you would never die. All technology and magic is ultimately a step towards these liberations. They spend half an hour debating on whether it would hypothetically be possible to reach them, until they move over to a demonstration of Jenny Chalker's Transmogrification Ray, which has the power to transplant runes from one to another.

This wondrous machine has the ability to turn matter into energy, but the energy is always "inclined" to transform back into matter, which is why the Transmogrification Ray, in its incomplete state, requires an input of the operator's spiritual energy to direct its power.

You raise your hand. "Can this potentially be used in, say, hypothetical space trains?"

Jenny crosses her legs and speaks into her "microphone". "Thing about space is that there's nothing in there, nothing to turn into energy. And a train requires rails for it to travel on. But it's an interesting question: with the power of the Transmogrification Ray, there is nothing but energy there. In empty space, it would have the power to create temporary matter, a rail that vanishes as soon as the train moves past it."

Your heart throbs with excitement. You find yourself panting with your tongue out, which nobody pays attention to because, being part dog, everyone does.

Another person asks a question. "And what would become of us after we are "liberated" by a post technological singularity?"

"It's quite simple," Barene says. "Apotheosis. When technology and magic reach their peak, we would become gods."

>>4608621
Suddenly, disaster strikes. The roof busts open and the temple collapses on itself. A terrible, half mechanical giant reaches in and steals the Transmogrification Ray in one hand, and Jenny Chalker in the other. From the top of the giant jumps in a man in a long, pavonated cloak wearing three masks on top of each other. "We are the Brotherhood of Entropy! You visionaries talk so much of a totality, of an ultimate goal to civilization! We'll have you know that your diabolical dreams will doom the people to Astraplex to an eternity of ennui, as was the fates of a thousand unluckier realms!"

"If we don't transcend," Jenny groans as the giant tightens its fingers around her, "We'll stagnate, and our world will become nothing but an endless cycle of evil and suffering!"

"And that's nature!" the man rebuts. "To disturb the natural order is to defy the forces of creation. And believe me, you don't want to go there, oh ho trust me. You and your technology disturbs the natural equilibrium of the universe, and one day, civilization's avoidance of suffering will come crashing down on you. Come along, and we'll put that Ray to good use."

The giant stomps away, shaking every building in the town. The cloud of dust settles. Everyone is trying to pull their fellow men and women out of the pile of rubble. You help too by tossing shattered bricks, pipes and masonry out of the way, being barely out of primary school, you can only do so much.

For the first time, you realize that you could have done more. You want to change the world for the better, and now it's occurred to you that in order to do that you've got to deal with those who wanna change it for the worse. As the last people are saved, you remain in the temple, pondering these thoughts, mulling them about.

Your mother is overjoyed to see you. She is sobbing her eyes out, hugging you as you hug her back. She repeats your name, tearfully, each word filled with relief.

> What is your name?

>>4608627
Ventus Solaris

>>4608627
I've spent hours thinking of a name and all I can come up with is Johnovan. Johnny Blaze.

>>4608678
Or, well, Johnny Light. I will never suggest a name again.

I'll leave this vote open until 9-10AM NZT.

>>4608678
Zmaj Pasovski is all I could think of.

Johnny Light

>>4608627
>>4608697
Support.
Draconic nature will be shown in our name.

>>4608627
>Johnny Light

Apologies: Due to unforseen circumstances IRL, I may not be posting until 5PM.

>>4608663
>>4608679
>>4608780
>>4608780
>>4608793
>>4608806
Why not just mash 'em all toghther.
> Jonovan Zmaj Solaris
Writing...

>>4609543
"Johnny! Johnny!" Hazel wails. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay, mom. I'm okay." You assure her.

Your life goes on as usual. But every time you hear the town crier, or when you check the newspapers, you find no mention whatsoever of the kidnapping of Jenny Chalker. It's probably because Geo City is far, far away, and news travels very slowly. It also doesn't help that only fifty people attended, and she isn't considered a celebrity here. If anything, they're probably sending a letter there right now. According to your calculations, their metal ships would bring back a rescue squad in two weeks at least. And who knows what might happen to her and her machine!

Up until now you've never felt responsibility for a disaster this big: sure, it wasn't your fault, but you could have prevented it. Ever since you became hopelessly enamored in technology, she became your hero. And it hurts like hell knowing had you made different choices, you could have at least had a fighting chance at preventing it. Well, you assure yourself, don't give up hope: You still have a chance!

You've seen adventurers before. Ruthless and courageous mercenaries and sorcerers commanding powers beyond your ken. Occasionally you see one of them jump over fences, or even from roof to roof. Around a year ago you saw a man whom the Blue Sky Band was fighting summon a horde of ashen skinned, red eyed devils who burned down a whole neighbourhood, who fled into the sewers. And you've heard the tales of the Mystic Knights, who can make armour appear on their bodies by striking a pose, and create arcs of energy with the swing of a sword. If you had known even a little bit of that, you can bet the giant wouldn't have made it past the roof.

That evening, as you eat a dinner of peas, bone marrow spread over sourdough, perpetual stew, you notice an old corkboard on the wall. Most of it is filled with quests, but one corner catches your attention.

These advertisements mention mysterious forces that fuel mystic powers, "Aura" which utilizes the emanations of the soul, and "Chi", which manipulates the vital force of the body. You write them down on the corner of a notebook you always doodle in to keep you from getting bored and read it at night.

> Do you have Draconic Heritage? Join the Dawn Tempest Clan and learn to fly and shoot lasers!
> Blazing Lantern Sect: Fifty slots empty! Sign up at Eidelmanne Public School, we train in the gym! We specialize in monster hunting!
> Become a squire of the Mystic Knights! Incredible job opportunities and fiefdom ownership guaranteed upon knighthood!
> Blue Sky Band: Vigilante group seeks rookie enforcers. Rudimentary aura & chi training offered.
> I'm not going to rely on anyone else. Organizations always have ulterior motives. I'm going to borrow books about "Aura" and "Chi" from the library and practice them by myself!

>>4609589
> Blazing Lantern Sect: Fifty slots empty! Sign up at Eidelmanne Public School, we train in the gym! We specialize in monster hunting!

>>4609589
>Blazing Lantern Sect: Fifty slots empty! Sign up at Eidelmanne Public School, we train in the gym! We specialize in monster hunting!

>>4609589
>Blue Sky Band: Vigilante group seeks rookie enforcers. Rudimentary aura & chi training offered.

>>4609676
>>4609784
> Blazing Lantern Sect: Fifty slots empty! Sign up at Eidelmanne Public School, we train in the gym! We specialize in monster hunting!
Writing...

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>>4610069
It feels as though fate has prompted you, again and again, into joining them of all people. If fate exists, you have well and truly succumbed to her. How else could such a coincidence exist: it's so close you can walk there! Maybe that's the reason why that guy with the mechanical arm tried to get in touch with you in the first place.

Without further ado, the next day you head to the gym after school. It smells like wet dog. And for a martial sect, there are a pitifully small number of people training there. You've seen martial arts groups with more people on bad days. Currently they're doing sparring practice, and the man instructing them has white hair, a leather headband, an ill fitting vest, and a massive mechanical arm. He lights up upon seeing you.

"Hey man, I think I saw you before." He says.

"I'm Jonovan Solaris." You tell him bluntly. "I want to learn how to cultivate."

"Ah, Jonovan. I'm glad you changed your mind about this." He says. "The name's Xander Patrick. And i'm from Zelmyra, which is a kingdom beneath Angel Fire. What brings you here?"

"A woman who I look up to has been kidnapped. She comes from far away, and it'll be a long time until they send help to save her." You explain.

"You're a lot braver than me. I cultivate because I want to make my mechanical arm look more like my old one. You'll get it soon enough." he says. "You wait over there and when sparring is over, i'll introduce you to the others.

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>>4610075
Xander's disciples are a motely bunch.

The first is a kobold woman in loose fitting clothes. Her Runes are Man, Fire, and Beast. She is no doubt a rookie cultivator, having no fiery physical traits. She gasps upon seeing you. "How old are you, Jonny?"

You answer "I'm twelve."

"And I'm seventeen! My name is Calucca Markane of Wyndervilt, nice to meet you. Welcome to the Blazing Lantern Sect, and what little there is of this town's wulin."

She makes a quick bow, and you respond with your own. Her rustic accent marks her as someone who has travelled here from the duchy's borders very recently.

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>>4610083
The next is a pouting human girl in an elaborate leotard with a round gemstone on her girdle. A bubble with a cat's face floats around her. The name's Sneeda Hanzmillo. Remember that." She pronounces her name slowly and carefully. "It's Sneeda Hanzmillo. And I'm from Mayday Parade. As you can tell by now, my Runes are human all the way through, save for a Wind Rune which is funny 'cos none of my parents were elementals. Mustave been a soap bubble in a past life." she absent mindedly prods at her bubble, and it springs back into its original shape after rippling for a while.

>>4610088
And the last is a human... no, wait a minute. He sweep his hands over his face, and he reveals himself to be a draconic kobold with green and red scales. "And i'm Aruvin Kazeryu!"

He explains "Before I came here, I had an apprenticeship as a wizard that I didn't quite finish. "And believe me, magic really isn't like aura, trust me, it's not."

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>>4610092
dammit, forgot the fuckin image

also: i meant red and purple scales.

>>4610094
After the sparring is over, Xander explains chi to you. "It's essentially your life force, and it runs through your body through meridians. The thing about chi is not how much of it you have, but the extent by which you can control it. Physically strong and agile people have good control over their chi, while the weak and slow don't. If you exercise your body, you can get better at it, but there's a limit where you can't get any stronger without martial arts training."

"That's where I come in," he says. "If you learn martial arts, you can jump over walls and smash rocks with your bare hands. And that's just one part of it. Mastering chi gives you a better control over your body. You can even use it to sweat out alcohol to stop being drunk."

"Every living thing's goal is to improve to a perfect state, but the entropy and suffering of the material world prevent that from happening. Your meridians project an energy field that is shaped exactly like how your body would look if it had no imperfections, and it's called the Morphic Field. It is what you believe you should look like. A healthy body is always getting closer to the shape of the morphic field, which is why bones heal and wounds close."

"Cultivating your chi is essentially improving as much as possible towards that perfect state. I really recommend doing that before you work on your aura. And with runes like yours, you have a head start."

He pulls out a whiteboard and writes some things down. "Which of these Body Tempering Arts do you wanna practice? We can only do one at a time."

> Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity
> Unflinching Beam Tempering Art: An chi training doctrine that removes physical limitations, imitating the intensity of a beam of raw sunlight. Uses Light Affinity
> Drifting Feather Tempering Art: Allows one to jump great distances among other things and take advantage of existing wind currents. Uses Wind Affinity.
> Storm Lung Tempering Art: Grants one immense control over their own lungs, and eventually the ability to influence the weather with their breath. Uses Wind Affinity.
> Shrieking Tornado Fist: an external tempering art that grants one incredible speed and stamina. Heavy emphasis on spinning moves. Uses Wind Affinity.
> Let me learn Aura.

>>4610114
> Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity

>>4610114
>Unflinching Beam Tempering Art: An chi training doctrine that removes physical limitations, imitating the intensity of a beam of raw sunlight. Uses Light Affinity

>>4610114
>> Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity
>> Unflinching Beam Tempering Art: An chi training doctrine that removes physical limitations, imitating the intensity of a beam of raw sunlight. Uses Light Affinity
Can't we try to mix and match to create our own way

I'll leave this open until 9-10AM NZT, depending on just how well I sleep tonight.

>>4610114
>Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity

>>4610114
> Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity.
>>4610161
Creating our own style is a bit hasty considering we haven't even learned the basics.

>>4610114
>>drifting Feather Tempering art
>>Shrieking Tornado Fist
so our travel expenses is reduced and we can attend more stuff and meet more people more easily.
Having superior mobility is just very very usefull, we can use wind to keep our distance while we blast shit with lasers.

and we need to proclaim what our long term dream is and that we will work tirelessly until we have accomplised it! It is such a cool dream! And we will help make it happen!

>>4610115
>>4610161
>>4610216
>>4610219
> Clarity Tempering Art: Allows one to enter a fight, or any dangerous situation, without being disoriented. Uses Light Affinity.
Writing...

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>>4610540
You remember just how frightened and disoriented you were when that giant attacked. This time, you won't be frozen solid with fear. The first hurdle to any fight is the unwillingness to fight itself. So first you temper your fight or flight instinct.

"Alright. Stand on that mat and close your eyes. Keep 'em closed." he says. You hear footsteps and whispers. Then you hear many objects flying through the air. They pelt you mercilessly, and you cringe with fear. Good thing they are just pool noodles.

The session goes by again and again until you finally manage to strike a noodle away.

Over the next few days after school, Xander teaches you a multitude of basic fighting skills until you've got the basics down. And in between those comes meditation. With his instruction, you sit down in lotus position and let the chi flow through you, feeling it pool in your dantian and circle again and again.

A warm vibration wells out from deep within you, resonating with the unflinching surety of light. And when you open your eyes again, you notice that Xander has been pointing a limelight at you. You squint your eyes and turn away. Xander snickers.

Since you get a grasp on Clarity Tempering Art, your mind becomes a lot more clear and focused: you wake up every morning in a state of perfect consciousness, and as the day goes by, it becomes a whole lot more difficult getting distracted from anything your doing. You even try counting every second in one day, but even that proves to be too hard an ordeal for you and you lose count by three o' clock.

You have awakened a new rune, and that rune is Light.

On the way to school you get ambushed by two muggers, grown men both of them. One of them grabs you from behind, and the other presses his dagger against your philtrum, drawing blood that dribbles down your lip as he demands money you don't have on you.

You aren't the tallest, nor are you the strongest, but you don't feel a single hint of fear or hesitation as you, with some difficulty, kick them with all the might your young body can muster in the upper shins. They topple over like dominos and land squirming on the ground in pain. "You told me... those dragon people had a lot of gold on them!"

Their daggers clatter on the pavement stones. You pick these up and bring them to Xander's makeshift dojo. He is, to say the least, happy. "...Impressive! You took 'em out like they were nothing!" He gives you a high five.

"I like to train my disciples quick. No waffling around, no flowery bullshit. Practical, hands on stuff is what monster hunting's about. OK! Right now, I say you're just as strong as a particularly well muscled teenager. And considering who the baddies are, I say you need a little more. Time to train your aura!" Xander gestures towards a big pillow which you sit on in lotus position.

>>4610566
You meditate, and circle the chi through your body again and again. "Alright!" Xander says. He switches off the gym lights. "You Aura is the second expression of your soul into the material world. The first expression is your chi, which creates the morphic field, which your body is in a perpetual state of striving towards."

You feel a dim glow within you. "Your aura can be thought as a more authentic expression: it is the part of your soul that overlaps with materiality. It is completely and utterly external! You cannot enhance your own body with aura, unless you're making aura but it doesn't really count. You can make energy beams if your stupid, and conjured monsters if you're smart!"

You strain yourself a little. "Aura passively manifests itself as an energy cloud that resembles the elements you've taken on as runes. Everyone has one. But without enough will to shape it, and technique to hone it, it is a wavering, directionless energy centered on you." You finally manage to create a thin layer of aura coating your body.

"It's all about feeling! Come on, Jonovan, think about why you came here in the first place!" Xander shouts. You think of Jenny Chalker and what happened to her lately. Suddenly, your aura flares up into the shape of a beam of blazing light concentrated in a circular pool at your feet radiating up towards the roof. There's a great big circle of light on the gym ceiling and your whole body is underlit.

"Holy moly!" He exclaims. "That Jenny must be one fine gal! But take my advice, kid: go meet her daughter if she has one instead, there's no telling how Jenny is gonna be in six years!"

You cringe. "I admire her for different reasons."

As you open your eyes you can see wind whipping against your body. And when you look at the shadowy walls of the gym, you can see the faint shadow of yourself, yet much larger and with much, much bigger horns and wings. And his tail is so huge he'll need a bigger hole in his pants. Xander notices this. "See that? I've never seen someone make a Fate Shadow so early in their training before."

"A what?" You ask him.

"The temporal expression of your secondary morphic field. In other words, what you're gonna look like in the future if you train enough." Xander points at the Fate Shadow. "I see you best not worry about acne: in due time you'll be just the right man for her!"

You blush and turn away.

"Okay!" Xander flips through a book. "First threshold aura techniques for Wind and Light affinities... "

>>4610598
Select any two of these techniques.

> Blinding Mantle: Brightens aura to the point where it blinds your enemies
> Luminous Lance: Extremely quick and focused energy beam that can be blasted instantly
> Rainbow Marionette: Creates a small, human sized illusion that can only last for thirty minutes. Cannot create sounds or touch anything. Can be used on one's self to create a disguise.
> Sunshine in a Bag: Condenses light into a solid form. In your current state, you can only create 255 grams worth of solid light.
> Whirling Triskelion Onslaught: Conjures several mini tornadoes of varying size and intensity.
> Breathtaker: Close range attack that instantly draws the breath out of any given opponent, winding them instantly.
> Quick Draw: Causes all winds within range to head towards the user, bringing any flying objects within grabbing distance.
> Headwind: Causes a stream of wind to blow behind any flying object within range of the user.
> Bubble Bomb: Conjures a bubble of extreme high pressure air that travels freely through any solid or liquid medium, including the ground. When it emerges into the air, it explodes violently.

>>4610617
Also:
> Sunlight Swagger: Creates a number of afterimages behind you so long as you walk arrogantly enough.

>>4610617
> Sunshine in a Bag: Condenses light into a solid form. In your current state, you can only create 255 grams worth of solid light.
> Headwind: Causes a stream of wind to blow behind any flying object within range of the user.
can probably do some serious damage by creating something like a shuriken/throwing knife then propelling it with Headwind.

>>4610617
>>Luminous Lance

laser laser laser!!

>>4610651
cool!
we could also have a custom air gun that uses air pressure and Headwind to propell solid light projectiles, like bullets, stakes and shurikens! that is cool!!!
maybe we could create the air gun out of solid light also, that would be so badass, imagine shooting that while doing Sunlight Swagger

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>>4610792
would be pretty fun to cultivate to higher levels and start making actual light weapons like guns/blades, but a 255 gram limit is only just above half a pound (or 8 ounces) right now.
Depending on how the details of Sunshine in a Bag works, there could be potential for some interesting uses such as attaching a solid light blade to a quarterstaff to turn it into a spear/scythe/axe.
Thrown weapons / Ammunition do seem like the strongest options within the weight limit and an object made of pure light is sure to have other uses as well outside of combat.
Of course though, the best use of this ability is to become pic related.

>>4610821
shiny light armour bling man

also we could create some sort of bottle rocket, only instead of cola and mentos in a bottle, we create a hollow mini rocket/lance filled with pressurised air, then we open up a small hole in the end of the projectile and let it fly like a rocket, it would be really bling.

also put a light blade around the end of a existing blade to make it longer

also dragon claws made out of light!

>>4610882
>also dragon claws made out of light!
Maybe someday. Can't do that with 255 grams.

>>4610651
>>4610821
>>4610882
> Sunshine in a Bag: Condenses light into a solid form. In your current state, you can only create 255 grams worth of solid light.
> Headwind: Causes a stream of wind to blow behind any flying object within range of the user.
Writing...

>>4611057
You think to yourself "I want to make weapons out of light."

Your aura shines yet brighter as you channel the full force of your consciousness. Now you can feel every dust particle, every droplet of sweat drifting through it. Something is clinging to your hands. A quarter pound of hard light covers them. As of now you're unfocussed, and the light has the physical properties of hard cheese.

You concentrate a little harder and the light begins to melt into little globules that hang in the air. Entranced by this new power, you cradle them in your palms, feeling them thoroughly, and will them into the shape of a single glowing sphere the size of a milk bottle, solid and malleable as iron.

The next few minutes are spent into turning it into various shapes: a crude dagger, a bowl and spoon, a coin, anything, until you feel a bit burned out. Everything you've made looks geometrical, like a bad 3D render. You'll work on that soon enough.

Later, Xander helps you try out your Wind Affinity. Your aura takes on the properties of a strong gust of wind and begins to blow hard, very hard, to the west. It takes on a pale blue hue, focusing in a concentrated sphere around you, then trailing off in one direction.

Dust is flowing towards you, pooling around the sphere. You reach out your hand, clench your eyes shut and shoot a stream of air from your open palm. It rockets across the gym, dusting the wall. It spreads out and falls to the ground.

"Not bad," Xander says. "Be sure to practice them every day. Got that?"

You nod. "Yes sir!"

"Don't call me that. Call me Xander." he replies.

You're amazed by the sheer potential of your abilities. So far, Headwind's nothing but a glorified fan, a strong breath from your hands. But air's everywhere. You could run out of rocks or water, but unless you're underwater, air is always at your disposal. And as for Sunshine in a Bag: man, do you love the idea of hard light. You're caught up daydreaming about slashing villains apart with dragon claws made from light, or gallivanting across the countryside

"Now, I don't want to be responsible for a dead 12 year old. My publicity is bad enough as it is." Xander says in the most solemn tone you've heard him. "I make so little money from this I peddle mince pies and grape tarts at the circus to make ends meet. I'll send one of my other disciples to help you, Jonovan. Considering the state of monster hunting these days we don't get much field work done."

Xander closes his eyes and spins around and around pointing his mechanical hand, the sheer weight of it keeps him spinning on one foot. When he stops spinning, he's pointing at:

> Calucca Markane
> Sneeda Hanzmillo
> Aruvin Kazeryu

>>4611082
> Calucca Markane

>>4611082
>Sneeda Hanzmillo

>>4611082
>Sneeda Hanzmillo

>>4611328
>>4611356
> Sneeda Hanzmillo
Writing...

>>4611411
"Sneeeda!" Xander calls, waving her over. "We've a job for you!"

She spins around on one foot. "Huuuh?"

"Take care of this rookie for me. Go save this woman called Jenny Chalker." Xander says.

Sneeda crosses her arms. "And for how much?"

"How grateful Jenny feels." Xander assures her. He smiles. "It's time you get some field work done, seeing how you conned me into forgetting yours three times in a row."

"Fine." Sneeda sneers.

When she joins you, she tries to be a little friendly, but is untalkative overall. "So... how're we gonna find her?"

"That's easy!" You respond. You go over to Cole's house, which is on the second story of his father's workshop. With your dinky little wings, you can't fly, but considering how poorly the building was constructed, you easily climb up to his bedroom window. "Coooole!"

Cole runs upstairs. He's gotten up here so quickly he's panting with his tongue out. "What is it?"

"How well can you smell human women?" You ask. Sneeda cringes and gives you a look as if you're covered in putrefying animal viscera.

You lead him to the temple. Cole is an observant boy who likes to share his opinions, and he never fails to reinforce this perception.

As we walk across town, he's raised his nose, and he's sniffing incessantly. "I'm telling you, they should ban foreigners from using perfume here. Their ladies lather themselves in gallons 'cos those hyposmiac humans can't smell anything wrong with it!"

Cole waves his finger in the air. "But really, Jon, I can tell. Any kobold can tell. Even when you've got a cold we know they've smeared themselves in animal fat and rotting plant juice. It's a public health hazard! May as well build an open air tannery right by the town square."

"It's the tourism." You say. "They love to snap photos of our castles and citadels. And lots of them like hunting in our forests, and a few of them even get married here! A lot of people even make a living off of it. As weird as they are, don't see anything wrong with humoring their customs."

"I do!" Cole retorts. "Do you know how much of a travesty it is? The worst part is, the best thing about a woman is the smell!"

You don't say anything, because in your opinion, nothing he said was wrong. You wish he could just shut up once in a while. "And by the Storm King," he's almost tearing up, "they ruin it just like that, 'cause they think their artificial garbage is better. It's terrible! It's evil! It's like putting raisins in a pastry!"

We reach the town gates. The four guards, bored out of their minds, are all nodding in unison. I turn around look at Sneeda and she looks as if she's seconds away from vomiting. As bratty as she is, I can't help but feel sorry for her. I make a signal and they pull a lever, raising the portcullis.

Cole makes his final sniffs. "Aah! She should be at the summit of... Mount Nicagont! That's where the hideout is."

"Thanks for your help, man." You say.

He scoots home. "No problem! Tell Jenny I said hi!"

>>4611425
Sneeda is trembling with disgust as she holds her stomach. "...uuughh!!!"

"Deep breaths." You assure her. "Take deep breaths. I'm sorry, I really am. Once Cole gets started, there's no stopping him."

"Oh, tell me about it!" Sneeda remarks with a wave of her hand.

Your school holidays are coming up soon, which is a convenient excuse for your parents that you'll be away for around two weeks. In Eidelmanne, they don't really care about truancy because public school is a recent concept to them.

You take a quarterstaff which you always keep in your room in case a burglar comes in, which has happened three times this year when bandits tried to sack the place. Next you take your bag and stock it with pottage, pickled vegetables and smoked meats that will show the first signs of rot maybe next century, a trusty pot, a flint and steel, some silver coins, and a hatchet. Then you take three waterskins and sling them to your belt. For a moment there you consider bringing a torch until you realize you are one.

Sneeda goes and does the same. Her blue backpack is unlike anything you've seen before. So is her water bottle, made from a green, smooth substance that is too thin to be stone and too warm to be metal. She calls the material "Plass Stick" and that it comes from Geo City. You imagine weapons and armour forged from this "Plass Stick", and chuckle at how patently ridiculous they would look.

There are multiple ways to Mount Nicagont. It's at the very edge of the Duchy of Wyndervilt.

> Train ride to Doberan, a rough and tumble settlement that has rapidly expanded over the past few years.
> A long walk to Pomerra, a nice village inhabited by a number of distant relatives who will probably recall you from a family gathering.
> Moderate walk to Espial, a hunting village you've never seen before.

>>4611429
>A long walk to Pomerra, a nice village inhabited by a number of distant relatives who will probably recall you from a family gathering.

>>4611429
>Train ride to Doberan, a rough and tumble settlement that has rapidly expanded over the past few years.
Time is of the essence! Who knows what dastardly plans they could be advancing at this very moment?
Also trains.

>>4611429
> Train ride to Doberan, a rough and tumble settlement that has rapidly expanded over the past few years.

>>4611429
>>train ride to Doberan
train! maybe friends of dad is running it!

>>4611467
>>4611544
>>4611683
> Train ride to Doberan, a rough and tumble settlement that has rapidly expanded over the past few years.
Writing...

>>4611828
You take the MODERN MAN'S preferred mode of transport: trains. When you arrive at the station, you are disappointed that the economy class seats are occupied by the kind of people who would pickpocket you after hearing the clinking in your coin satchel, and the upper class seats are too expensive for you. Such are the plights of being middle class! So instead, to Sneeda's chagrin, you take the cargo instead.

When they start it up, the engine gets jammed and the train ride is delayed. When you crawl off the boxes and check out the problem, the stoker and the engineers are confused at what they're seeing. So you observe from a distance. It seems that your Clarity Tempering Art has improved your vision, thanks to your Light Affinity. It has also removed your sense of hesitation. "Got a problem there?" They ignore you.

As they argue as to what's causing the problem, the passengers are getting more and more impatient. So when they're not looking, you fix the thing. It's obviously caused by a lack of maintenance, but luckily you can find a quick solution that probably needs to be fixed up as soon as it reaches Doberan. "Alright, it's done."

"Oh!" The conductor says. "What're you doing up here? Hey, you must be Rufus's son!"

"Indeed I am." You reply.

The conductor turns around and sees your work. "Wha- How- ah, good on you, kid. Looks like your dad really taught you well."

"Thanks! Ask his boss to give him a raise." You say.

You return to Sneeda in the cargo. The train takes off. When you first chose this part of the train, you were worried that you wouldn't get to see the countryside: but thanks to a modestly sized hole in the wall, you get both a breath of fresh air and a glimpse of the the rivers, woodlands and pastures. The bulk of your trip is spent staring out this hole.

Suddenly, you hear screaming mingled with shouted demands outside your car. You must be getting hijacked!

> Climb into the economy class car and move on from there
> Get on the roof and bust a hole into the roof of the upper class car
> Sneak to the very front of the train
> Jump out the hole and run to Doberan
> Write In...

>>4611842
> Climb into the economy class car and move on from there

>>4611842
>Climb into the economy class car and move on from there

>>4611849
> Climb into the economy class car and move on from there
*hooray, we're up to a hundred posts!!!*
Writing...

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>>4612094
"We've got to enter the economy class cabin." You say as you reach into the hole.

But Sneeda intercepts you. "I can help you with that." She brings out her aura, a wavering purple which swirls around the gemstone in her belt. For the first time, you notice she's wearing nothing but a midriff revealing "polly yester" shirt and what equates to a pair of undies with a belt. >>4610088
you feel mildly unnerved by this.

The aura around the round gemstone condenses into a grey gum that wraps around her fingers as she twirls her hand around in a circular motion. Sneeda sticks it into her mouth and chews it thoroughly before blowing it into a grey bubble that rapidly expands in size, eventually revealing its cartoony face and its white, ovular belly. The bubble drifts out of the hole, creating a platform beneath it.

Sneeda jumps on. "Looks like it's Play~Time*!"

You join her. She holds you tight as the bubble floats over to the economy class cabin. Sneeda knocks vigorously. "Hey! Let us through, we're going to deal with the hijackers upfront!"

A terrified miner opens the window wide open. But it's too late. A lanky and sullen man with bat wings and cat ears stands at the front, with a long, curved blade of a design you cannot recognize over his shoulder. "So!" he calls out to his minions, "Now that we've taken our fill from the rich, it's time we do the same from the poor."

The miners are paralyzed with fear. The bubble floats by Sneeda's side. The hijacker continues. "And what have they got to offer us? Nothing! But we all know how to collect tribute from someone nonetheless..." He spreads open a huge black bag. "Get in here, test subjects, there's enough room for all of you! The Transmogrification Beam awaits!"

You can't let this happen. You stand up and strike a pose! "Hold it! You won't lay a single finger on these passengers!"

You bring out your aura, and for a brief moment everyone squints at your brightness before it dies off. Now a powerful wind is blowing in his direction. The passengers hold down their hats. You raise your arm, and a flaring light shines between two fingers, and as it dies off, a glowing dagger appears in your hand. "Sunshine in a Bag: Willow Leaf Knife Technique!"

The passengers duck as it soars down the aisle. The hijacker slaps it away, but grunts in rage as it tears apart his bag. A billowing darkness races across the walls and pools on the floor. Its cold grip bites your ankles.

"It seems we have a hero!" He spits. His aura surges up towards the train roof "Well then! Before you die, know that I am Atralos Telaka of the Entropists!"

His aura runs up his glistening blade. It glowers with a baleful energy. With one powerful swing, a crescent of aura tears across the train car. The roof flies off and violently smashes into someone's paddock, burning to pieces. You reopen your eyes. Your aura isn't strong enough to resist his... so how are you alive?

>>4612136
The answer is a popped balloon. Melted gum pools in front of you, and in the midst there stands an unusually large hamster. Atralos concentrates his dark around his knuckle dusters and punches away at it.

His minions flank him and pour down the aisle, some even walking on top of the seats and on the passengers' heads. They unsheathe their swords and leer at you with malicious intent. Most of them are kobolds, and others are foreigners. You take out your quarterstaff, and using Sunshine in a Bag, you add a small blade made from light on top and turn it into a trusty polearm.

As the passengers hide under their seats, you hold 'em back, stabbing them hard as they try to search for an opening. A lucky shot knocks you off your feet, and they pounce towards you. Using Headwind, you create a gust of wind entirely localized to the part of the aisle that is below the seats. A roaring gale sends them flying back towards their boss. Stray swords stab each other, and blood splatters all over the seats and the passengers. Atralos, taken aback by this sudden collision, steps over his bleeding, injured minions and spreads out his wings, casting a long shadow over the aisle.

> Charge at him with your makeshift polearm
> Throw a shuriken at him
> Allow him to come close, then stab him in the guts with a dagger made from light
> Tell him to leave the train or else his minions will bleed out and die
> Write In

>>4612146
>Throw some shuriken at him, then charge him with your makeshift polearm

>>4612148
+1

>>4612148
>>4612151
Throw some shuriken at him, then charge him with your makeshift polearm
Writing...

>>4612362
Doing the same shuriken thing, you throw a flurry of them at him. With each throw, you make another one to replace it. Atralos slices every one you throw at him, in a storm of dark energy arcs and dissolving puffs of light. When that doesn't work, you take your quarterstaff, point it right at him, and summon the largest and sharpest blade your aura can muster. Your blade shines brighter than burning magnesium. With a terrifying roar, you charge at him at a speed you never thought possible, and make contact with soft flesh.

With all your might, you get pressing deeper, burrowing through his flesh. Your grip is so strong you feel as if the blisters are already hears. Blood pours through down his chin, and onto the ground. Atralos's face is contorted in sheer agony. He opens his eyes and they glow with wrath. He puffs out his chest and flaps his wings, lifting the polearm into the air, and you with it. But just as he grabs your quarterstaff, you adjust your stance and slide down it, kicking him across the jaw and knocking him to the ground. Then you stamp on his face three times when he's down. You raise the quarterstaff, but he rolls away and spin kicks you hard in the shin.

Atralos gets up and slowly approaches you, only to slip on the carpet. It appears Sneeda, hiding under the seat and bickering angrily with a fellow passenger has interwoven hundreds of oily bubbles into the fabric, as evidenced by the tiny bubbles floating above Atralos. He grimly looks over at his wing. It appears you have seriously shredded it with your shurikens. Guess he didn't horizontally cut the train in half for nothing, but now he did.

He tries to imbue his sword with aura, but only a single ribbon of energy crawls up the blade. Now you see his aura is spent, reduced to a faint purple and red wisp circling his head. Atralos sweeps up his magic bag, miraculously reconstituted, shoves all his minions in there, and flies off to the mountains. You create a makeshift dagger and throw it at him. But he leaps into the bag. It collapses upon itself, and Atralos is nowhere to be found.

You don't know if he can hear you, but you decide to give him a parting shot. "Fuck off and get a new shirt, like one that doesn't show the world your ugly midriff!"

The passengers, although with one less roof over their heads, have made it out alive. They erupt into applause. You bow over and over again, and go to the conductor. ""Scuse me, sir, can I sit in first class? It's a lot windier in economy, and I saw a roach in the cargo."

"Of course you can, you saved our lives!" he responds.

The upper class car is bloody fantastic. There's a meter of legroom between each plush seat, and a table for yourself. Everything's so clean and overly decorated here, and there's a tapestry depicting a historical war on the roof. Better yet, a kobold woman with sleek black fur comes by with a trolley filled with pies, of which you take three.

>>4612390
You lavish every bite, because you have an overwhelming hunch this will be the last good food you eat in a while. The pumpkins and beans really complement the greasy mince and cheese. You ask Sneeda if she would like one. She seems hesitant for some reason. Eventually she takes a small nibble, then a larger bite, and when she's down to the last quarter she notices a hair and stops eating and looks out the window. You finish it off for her since she's about to let it go cold, and she seems to not mind so that's good.

The train goes up a steep slope as it ascends the hills. It begins to jitter and shake, and all of a sudden you're not scared out of your mind as you usually are, but you're alert, eyeing every window and calculating your probability of survival if the train began to fall and that was your only way out. You hate long trips uphill. Finally the rail plateaus and it reaches the station, which consists of a single wooden platform filled with dusty, unwashed miners.

Doberan is a tiny hamlet with three or four stone buildings. There are perhaps a dozen wooden ones, and you suspect the majority of the population lives in tents sprawled all over the place, and even the nearby caves, if the laundry hanging out in the distance is of any indication. You're not used to mountainous terrain. The roads are so poorly made and steep it seems to be a network of ledges that always slant outwards. Your vertigo, though it gnaws at your mind, fails to debilitate you.

At last, the presence of a third dimension: height, cautions to be careful wherever you step. Sneeda is perpetually looking down, so you do the same. First, you need directions.

Where do you go?

> Inn
> Mining Depo Tavern
> Town Hall
> Beanery

>>4612401
>Inn

>>4612401
>Inn

>>4612401
> Mining Depo Tavern

>>4612401
> Inn

>>4612401
>> Inn

>>4612426
>>4612453
>>4612577
>>4612864
>Inn
Going for the classics, I see!

>>4612906
Like any sensible adventurers, you go to the inn where one stay in bed can heal your life threatening injuries. Not that you have any, but it seems a decent enough choice to ask around.

This place is jampacked with people. You don't order any food, but they do offer provisions which you accept. The innkeep is a hardened man with several scars and burns on him. His hands, now wiping a crude ceramic cup, are calloused. He, and he seems to a very trail hardy man, and it's not unreasonable to doubt that he must have a background as a prospector or a miner. "Sir, if you don't mind, do you know a trail to Mt. Nicagont?"

"That, boy, is a very perilous trail! But i've heard they're other ways up there." he says. "I'll tell you about it if you buy my most expensive drink.

The "most expensive drink" appears to be a wine whose Rune is Plant, surrounded by Fire, Electricity and Water. You only have a few copper coins left.

"This is Vitreous Vigor! It's one of the few alchemical compounds that are drinkable. Dilute this ten to one." he says.

You pocket it just in case. "Along the western slopes, the ledge curls around Lake Skobine and it's filled with deadly acid. It's just a folk tale, but I've head there lives a powerful spirit guardian who watches over the lake."

He leans in close and whispers to you "You've noticed how we're a little over capacity. If you want to stay in my inn, you're out of luck 'cause i'm out of ruins. Go look for a cave, 'cos the haylofts are already full."

You nod sadly. There are so many people here at this time of day that many of the inn's patrons have taken to sitting on the floor and eating food on their laps.

>>4612941
You listen in on a kobold with shaggy bright yellow and red fur wearing a leather cap beneath a hood. "I shouldn't have underestimated how much Kadolite there was! The ground must be*churning* with vital force!

Around these parts, Xander told you, chi is called "Vital Force", because technically that's what it is, and it sounds less exotic that way.

The kobold next to him has grey fur and a long snout. You eavesdrop more closely "And yet just one Diamond Moon Flower! They must be lying to us. I've heard there's a man in these caves who knows how to find it... His hideout's hard to find, but last time I saw it it was by Ullik Glacier..."

> Go there by yourself
> Ask if you can join them

>>4612954
> Ask if you can join them

>>4612954
> Ask if you can join them

>>4612941
>Ask if you can join them

>>4612954
>> Ask if you can join them

>>4613608
>Ask if you can join them

>>4612962
>>4613289
>>4613608
>>4613654
*dammmit*
Writing...

>>4613664
You swagger up to them and ask "We'd like to help you find him."

They instantly sieze up. The grey one says, "We also don't recall you asking."

You know for a fact you can't let this opportunity slip. "Well, then it seems you won't mind us divulging it to the rest of this inn!"

The yellow and red one glares at your use of extortion. "Fine then. We'll show you."

The two of them take you out of the village to a beaten track that seems to lead nowhere. They reach a mildly vegetated ledge, where they bring you to a long mountain climb up rocky trails so faint and steep you lose track of them. The winds blow ever stronger, and you wish more than ever that you could fly.

So you use your aura technique, Headwind, to keep the wind blowing up the slopes as to not loosen anyone's grip. Nobody notices, and instead they take this as a token of good luck. Even so, if only you knew one that could still the wind instead of just change its direction. At last, you seek shelter in a cold cave that ends in a steep hundred meter drop.

The yellow and red one, Halwenn, points at a hut that perches on the very pinnacle of a mountain. "That's where he lives."

Perhaps you could use Sneeda's Play~Time* bubbles to get you across. You look out and the powerful wind makes you squint. It's become so fast you're unable to control it with Headwind. That option's definitely out of the question. But one slope's completely slick with thin snow. That gives you an idea.

You make some very wafer thin skates with Sunshine in a Bag. Everyone's sitting down with glowing white blades coming out of the bottoms of their shoes. "Trust me," you say, "I'd give you skis if I could!"

Then you take off down the slope, hit a sweeping, icy bend, shoot off into the air before dissipating Sunshine in a Bag on yourself and landing on your bottom. You begin to shiver. You were certainly unprepared for the cold. The rest are more hesitant than you were, but they make it across anyway.

The hut is tall and dark. It's located right at the summit of the mountain where there's nothing but a pen filled with animals that look like an absurd cross between moles and wild hogs. You wonder how the man who lives here leaves this peak, if he does at all. Halwenn's partner, Odway, knocks hesitantly, and the door springs open. Sand falls out from between the planks.

A filthy, emaciated kobold dressed in white and green woolen robes with a silver dagger by his side and various crude items of jeweler made from semi precious stones hang off of him. He stinks of a number of unverifiable substances. "Who, who, who is this!" he bleats, before coughing extremely hard and spitting on the snow.

> Let Sneeda introduce herself first
> Allow Odway and Halwenn to represent your party
> "My name's Jonovan Solaris, and we're looking for the Diamond Moon Flower!"
> "I am Jonovan Solaris, and on behalf of the Dawn Tempest Clan, we request your aid in seeking the Diamond Moon Flower!"

>>4613668
>Allow Odway and Halwenn to represent your party

>>4613668
> Allow Odway and Halwenn to represent your party

>>4613668
>Allow Odway and Halwenn to represent your party

Since we've long since hit the bump limit, i'd like to present to you the Astraplex discord Server, where I can give you updates on when the next thread is!

https://discord.gg/2TgSE3UAtu

>>4613674
>>4613760
>>4614042
> Allow Odway and Halwenn to represent your party
Writing...

>>4614124
You let 'em come forward.

"I'm Odway, and this is Halwenn. We're miners, and we're looking for the Diamond Moon Flower. We humbly request your assistance, o venerable geomancer."

The geomancer puts his hand on his crudely shaven chin. "Why do you seek the flower?"

"My daughter's dying of Thick Blood Disease, and it is the only way to banish the evil spirit." Odway says. He lies prostrate before the geomancer. " I am but a yeoman, and we cannot afford the necessary exorcists. All that we ask of you is to help us and we will forever be in your debt."

"Very well, then!" The geomancer says. "If it is as you say."

The geomancer touches a sapphire talisman, then an amber one, and finally a diamond bead on his necklace. He pulls out a stone idol and raises it above his head, chanting a slow and orotund incantation. You can see his jade green aura slowly exude from his body, then rippling in mixed shades of purple and gold.

The aura suddenly vanishes, leaving a sense of lingering power in the ground below you. Then the geomancer removes his sandal and stamps with his bare foot. His aura rushes through the ground, sweeping past your feet and down the slope, racing across every crack and ridge of the mountains around you.

The geomancer brushes aside a matted lock of hair from his forehead, revealing a glittering gemstone that suddenly glows. He siezes up for a moment, and points a shaking, wizened finger to the northeast.

> Ask him about the spirit guardian
> Ask him about the flower's properties.
> End the quest, put up the next thread

>>4614144
> Ask him about the spirit guardian
> Ask him about the flower's properties.

>>4614144
> Ask him about the spirit guardian
> Ask him about the flower's properties.
>> Tell him that he is rather cool and that you are around these parts to save somebody you care about from some weird dangerous assholes.

>>4614144
> Ask him about the spirit guardian
> Ask him about the flower's properties.

>>4614151
>>4614571
>>4614743
> Ask him about the spirit guardian
> Ask him about the flower's properties.
Sorry, I was feeling groggy this morning
Writing...

>>4614792
You clear your throat. "We are headed to Lake Skobine. There is talk of a Spirit Beast which guards the lake."

"When a geographical feature lives long enough in the minds of men, it gains an aura, which shapes itself according to what is thought of it." The geomancer explains.

He kicks up a cloud of dust right by his door which inexplicably rises up in a column. The dust sweeps across the ground, and you crane your head as it twirls ever higher. It then creeps along the ground and twists into the shape of a lake. "Suppose a lake provides great bounties of fish to the folk who live along its shores."

The dust rises up into the shape of a benevolent, matronly looking woman. "They will think of it as a motherly figure and revere it."

"I take it you know of the nature of Lake Skobine?" The geomancer asks.

"It's full of acid, which is something like poison." you answer.

"Indeed it is! Poison that gnaws at the flesh!" Sudddenly, the geomancer crouches down and imitates a leaping wolf.

The swirling cloud suddenly morphs into a monster whose movements are too quick for you to track. It then leaps out at you, and when it is centimeters away from your face, it dissipates into dust. "Beware the Spirit Beast of Lake Skobine!"

"With all due respect, o geomancer, I have recently come into possession of talents that may help me contend with this monster." you summon a throwing dagger with Sunshine in a Bag.

The geomancer grabs onto your hand and holds it very close to his eye. Then he lets go of it and lifts up his cloak, revealing a leg made from stone. "He's taken my leg, and he's likely to take more from you. Last time I saw him, he was very, very cut up about the... changes in the mountain. The veins in the ore reminded him of someone he did not like. When I questioned him further, he flew into a rage."

"What about the veins? All we know is that there's a new flower because of it." you say.

"That flower's aura... it's so far, yet I can feel it from here. It takes on the shape of a dragon." the geomancer answers. "It carries a mere fraction of its soul, yet its radiant power can remove curses and blow away ailments."

Sneeda steps up and crosses her arms. "Any idea what this Spirit Beast looks like, old man? Any weaknesses, any quirks?"

The geomancer shakes his head sadly. "The Beast of Skobine does not allow himself to be seen. He would have taken my eyes, had I not fled with a leg I had made that very instant."

You look at Sneeda and shrug. "Well, then it looks like we'll avenge your leg!"

"You have many years ahead of you, boy... Don't waste them." The geomancer says solemnly. "I must ask you, why do you help them? They do not seem to be kin to you."

"That's true." You say. "I extorted them. But that's okay, since I want to save someone I look up to from some bad guys.

He nods in approval. "I admire your spirit. Be careful and I hope you succeed in your quest!"

== SESSION END ==

Thank you all for playing my quest!

This is my discord: https://discord.gg/2TgSE3UAtu

And the next thread should be up by tomorrow.

New thread is up!

>>4616114