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 Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:13 pm
You find yourself standing in a precisely manicured field, pristine green grass stretching out in front of you for what seems like miles. A gaggle of large flightless birds stand in the shape of a horseshoe, a few of them already engaged by other Amityville students. A horseman of Conquest approaches you, her deep olive hair serving to help camouflage her in the surrounding foliage.
"Greetings. You may call me Rucha. Today you will be working with the adara." She sweeps an arm toward the birds, her long sleeves trailing through the grass at her feet. "On the whole, members of this species have a lot in common with humans as far as temperament and intelligence are concerned, so you should have no trouble getting them to tolerate you." She frowns and looks you up and down. "In theory." Rucha moves to one side, allowing you to step past her.
"Take this," She hands you a list of instructions. "Choose a bird, and make an effort to earn its trust."Instruction One First, you must bow to the adara to show it you mean no harm. Try to at least act sincere.Roll 1d4.1: Your bow is suitably impressive. The adara inclines its head and drops a feather. Perhaps it will be of some use later. 2: The bird screams in terror and pushes you to the ground before running away. You fail. 3: You don't make proper eye contact at first, but soon your adara is nuzzling up to you anyway. It seems you have a natural affinity for dealing with the beasts. A future as a DETH representative might be in the cards. You also obtain one feather. 4: You bow, but it's kind of a weak attempt. Still, your bird responds. It doesn't seem terribly enthusiastic about the whole situation though. You pass. Instruction Two Next you should offer the adara a refreshing drink of water or a salted cracker.Roll 1d6.1: The adara nibbles at your cracker, then turns away and starts to graze on the leaves near its feet. You pass, but not by much. 2: After you've fed your bird its snack, the adara puffs up and begins to gag. You've failed the challenge, but you do obtain a feather as a result of its misery! 3: Your adara drinks its water daintily, then allows you to pet it. You pass and you get a feather! 4: Sadly, after your bird eats your cracker, it quickly moves on to the next student, letting them pet it and collect one of its feathers. The two timer! You pass. Eventually your adara wanders back. 5: The adara in front of you ignores your cracker, but another animal wanders over to eat it instead, giving you one of its feathers in thanks! You pass. 6: You drop your water and crackers, watching in dismay as a passing bird tramples them. You fail. Instruction Three Ask the adara something about itself, listening attentively when it answers, even though you can't understand a word of its reply.Roll 1d6.1: You ask the bird to tell you where it was born and it responds with a happy trill and a long, drawn out bird story. After a while, you begin to get bored. The adara stops mid-chirp, gets up, and waddles away. You fail. 2: The adara looks on in confusion and dismay as you try to stutter out an interesting question. You fail. 3: Your bird is pleased by your question. It sits down and shares a tweety tale of intrigue that you manage to remain bright-eyed and alert for. You pass. 4: Your question frightens the adara and it leaves your vicinity with a shiver. Its shaking causes one of its feathers to fall nearby. You fail. 5: In an effort to seem like you care, you ask your adara a very personal question that it refuses to answer. You fail. 6: You've coincidentally hit on your adara's favorite topic of all time, and even if you can't understand what it's saying, it's still pretty entertaining. You listen as attentively as you can, and are awarded with a feather for your trouble. You pass. Instruction Four Lastly, tell the adara a secret. These animals love to think they're up on the latest gossip.Roll 1d4.1, 2: Your secret is a sad, boring one that nobody cares about. You fail. 3: The adara listens, rapt, as you tell it a little-known tale of intrigue and madness. When you're done, it drops a feather at your feet. You pass. 4: Everybody knows that secret! The adara shakes its head, accidentally dislodging a feather for you to keep. You fail. Horsemen Points For each feather you have (up to three) at the end of this test you may claim a Horsemen Point.
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xoxomenai rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:16 pm
Faussi stared to the instructions for a moment, studying them before surveying the birds gathered before him. Bright golden orbs eyed him curiously as one of the adara cocked it's head in his direction.
Oh dear, guess they have never seen a flame demon before ... or is it my natural affinity to nature that has caught the creature's interest??
Nonetheless, the demon gave a soft smile, folding his hand across his chest in a slow and deep bow. From his low position, he eyed the bird for any sign of acknowledgement.
Something seemed wrong, as the adara only bobbed its head thoughtfully, still eying him.
Was it my failure to maintain eye contact all the way through?? ... he wondered as he carefully rose upright again.
Either way, the attendant waved him over for the second attempt.
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xoxomenai rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:38 pm
It seemed Faustus was having no luck. He cooed softly and stroked the bird's head gently as it nibbled on his cracker offering. But the moment it was finished, it wandered down the field to the next student, dropping a beautiful feather.
At this rate, I should just snatch one of my own, Faustus thought glumly, watching his adara mingle around before slowly coming back to him.
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xoxomenai rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6
Total: 6 (1-6)
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:50 pm
"Well now Mister Adara Sir," Faussi addressed the bird with the utmost kindness, waving a hand in front of his face a bit hush-hush as his voice dimmed. "Do you happen to like fish?? ..."
The adara cocked its head to one side almost astonishingly, eyes bright as it proceeded to let out a string of cackles and banter that seemed ... animated to say the least. Though Faussi couldn't comprehend a word of this, he could tell the adara shared his love of seafood, and nodded eagerly as it went on, grinning and clapping delightedly.
"It's pretty great isn't it??" he smiled, giving the creature a loving nudge. The bird cawed happily, reaching back to preen a feather, that came loose at it's touch. It offered the feather towards Faussi.
"For me?? ..." The flame demon was a bit surprised. After all, he hadn't received a single feather til now, and he hadn't expected that to change. The grin widened along his face, beaming. "Thank you!"
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xoxomenai rolled 1 4-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-4)
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Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 10:31 pm
Faussi smiled, and leant closer to the bird.
"Would you like to know a secret?? ..."
The adara's interest seemed piqued, and giving a blink it chirped cheerfully.
"Ah, you'll like this one ..." Faussi covered his hand once more as he whispered softly. "Did you know my wings-" he fluttered his smoldering wings behind him before continuing. "-Like yours are unable to fly, yet the FEAR-born flames burning through them change color depending on my mood?? Right now they're a nice healthy orange - because I'm quite honored to have met you!"
The bird gawked at the boil's words, before plucking a feather from its soft down that it dropped abruptly to his feet.
Faussi smiled, understanding the exchange. He picked it up carefully, stroking it as he gave a small nod of his head. "Thank you, my friend."
With that he bid the bird farewell, hurrying to the attendant to record his gathered feathers and be on his way.
{{Total Feathers/Points Gathered: 2}}
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:08 pm
Those who had taken Week 1 of the Clan of Conquest's class might recognize the female seated on the chair in the room; in front of her was a Guzheng. Standing on her left was a horsewoman who was dressed like a servant ghoul holding a Pipa, and on her right stood a horsewoman who looked like she was of the same age as the servant ghoul, but was dressed in clothing that looked more colorful and decorative.
"Welcome. I am Zhang Liulian, but you may address me as Professor Zhang. Traditionally, dancing is an art form reserved for females, but in recent years, even males had taken up this art," She explained, giving you a small smile, "It requires flexibility, a quick reflex... It is not as easy as you think it might be. In fact, it requires years of practice to get dancing down. Here, let my disciple show you." She turned to the ghoul on her right and gave her a nod; immediately, the young ghoul brightened up, moving to the space in front. When Professor Zhang started to play the Guzheng, accompanied by her servant's Pipa, the young ghoul performed a dance so entrancing, it probably kept you captivated.
"Same say that dancing may even lift your spirits and heal your soul... Why don't you find that out for yourself, child?"Quote: Time to dance!-> Roll these in separate posts and RP it out! -> It's more fun with friends. >_> Step 1: Costume : Just describe/post/draw it!-> Keep it CHINESE. -> Not Asian... CHINESE. >| Google it! -> It can be from the Huns as well. As long as CHINA. Step 2: Picking a prop from a "blind box" : 1d41 : Paper fan 2 : Streamers 3 : Nothing 4 : A long strip of thin fabric...? -> Remember to use what you got with the prompt below! Step 3: Now you dance : 1d201 - 6 : You tripped over your costume/foot/flat ground/etc and failed. 7 - 11 : You were a little out of pace with the music, but at least you tried! (1 Horsemen Point!) 12 - 15 : You were one with the music, but... Your dance wasn't exactly that graceful or captivating. In fact, are the Horsewomen giggling at you?! (2 Horsemen Points!) 16 - 20 : You did well for a beginner! It seemed like you had earned a genuine smile from the Horsewomen! (You obtain 3 Horsemen Points!) Horsemen Points - You win 3 horsemen points for completing step 3/ rolling 16 - 20 (after finishing all other steps fully)!
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:57 pm
 Faussi found himself dressed in a rather gaudy outfit. At least the colors are nice, he thought, admiring the shiny golden accents and bright red layers. There were even stripes in some of the fabric.Okay, time to do this.
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xoxomenai rolled 1 4-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-4)
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:58 pm
Faussi reached into the box, rummaging his hand inside before pulling out ...
A thin, long piece of silk fabric.
Wait, what?? He blinked. What am I supposed to do with this!?? he wondered.
The attendant cleared the floor. It was time to dance.
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xoxomenai rolled 1 20-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-20)
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 11:59 pm
Faussi stepped into the center of the room, and taking the cloth between his hands began to trail it through the air, hopping awkwardly from foot to foot as he danced in a circle round the room. Behind them the attendant and her assistant played a soft melody. The demon made a sudden swoop, placing his foot down ...
Directly onto one end of the cloth. It pulled taut, sending him tumbling to the floor with a loud "Oof~"
The demon groaned as he picked himself up off the floor. Why were these Conquest trials so jackdamn hard?? ... It was only dancing after all ...
Grumbling, he quickly changed, exiting the training grounds for the day.
{{Total Points Obtained: 0 }}
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 8:29 am
KUMIKO: While the ceremony of Kodo is a complex one and may take years to master – upwards to 30 being the quoted amount – it seems that the Clan of Conquest has taken it upon themselves to at least bestow a small challenge of observation upon the students in the form of a game that, in theory, is rather simple. One of the younger members of Conquest’s Clan, for the sake of difficulty adjustment, has set up 5 different samples of incense on scentless bamboo squares.
A small demonstration is made as how to smell them – also known as ‘hearing’ the scents, with the square held up to one’s nose and the hand cupped over the square in order to scent it.
With this done, the rest of the explanation is given: Your task is to determine which scents are the same, and which are different! Several scents might match each other, some might not match any of the others. For this task, you are given several different sizes of block.
Using these blocks, you stack them so that a top bar may be put across matching incenses, which will form certain Genji-mon (also called Genji-ko) to denote chapters of the Tale of Genji (a strange tale from the Human World O_O!! )
For example, if the first and the last scents match each other, you would stack your blocks to form the chapter ‘Maboroshi’ (Chapter 41, ‘The Wizard’) with three shorter blocks in the center, and two taller ones on each end with the longer block set across the top of them.
The trickiness comes in that some scents may be very similar to each other, but not the same, and some might be exactly the same just to trick you!
Once you have ‘heard’ each scent and set up your blocks, the individual who set up the challenge will let you know how you did.Mechanics! [ Mechanics: ] You will roll twice for this! In both posts, roll 5d6. In the first post, the dice represent your students ‘guess’ at the scents. Any matching numbers are matching scents! The second post is the Horseman who set up your challenge telling you how you did. However.As there are only 5 blocks, the number 6 is a wildcard! You may alter the number 6 in your roll to be any number of your choosing! How nice! What the numbers are exactly doesn’t matter, it simply matters that numbers repeat in the same places in each roll. Example First Post Invictus rolls 5d6 He gets 33113 That means he guesses that the first two scents and the last one match, as do the third and the fourth one. That means his blocks resemble the chapter ‘Wakana no jo’ (Chapter 34, New Herbs, Part 1). Second Post The Horseman who set up the event rolls 5d6 He gets 44226 This means that because the last number is a 6, it is a wildcard! I can now change this ‘real’ answer’s 6 to a 4, and have the same matching pattern as Invictus had in his guess! Gasp! He got it right! WHY:
You get points based on your accuracy! (SELECT ONLY ONE)
If you 100% match the Horseman’s set up, take 3 points!
If you were one block off of 100%, take 2 points!
If there are multiple matches and you only get one of the two correct, take 2 points!
If you were one off of the second match, take 1 point!
If you matched the wrong pattern, but there was an existing pattern, take 1 point!
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xoxomenai rolled 5 6-sided dice:
4, 1, 2, 2, 3
Total: 12 (5-30)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:07 am
Faustus stared for a moment to the incense sitting atop the squares. This was really starting to look very similar to his daily class. Surely it couldn't be too complicated?? He had done well in his classes thus far after all.
Lifting each to his nose and cupping a palm to isolate the scent, he worked to identify each aroma. After a moment of sniffing and rearranging his tiles a bit, Faussi stepped back to await inspection, satisfied with his setup.
4 1 2 2 3
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xoxomenai rolled 5 6-sided dice:
4, 6, 3, 3, 2
Total: 18 (5-30)
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2012 9:11 am
The horseman revealed their setup, a slow smile forming on their face.
4 6 3 3 2
* ^ 6 becomes a 1 making the final outcome:
4 1 3 3 2
Faustus had achieved a perfect score, identically matching the Chapter 4, Yûgao (Evening Faces) of this "Tale of Genji". His classwork must really be paying off. With a polite bow to his horseman instructor he exited the training area.
{{Points Obtained: 3}}
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:39 am
KUMIKO: While the ceremony of Kodo is a complex one and may take years to master – upwards to 30 being the quoted amount – it seems that the Clan of Conquest has taken it upon themselves to at least bestow a small challenge of observation upon the students in the form of a game that, in theory, is rather simple. One of the younger members of Conquest’s Clan, for the sake of difficulty adjustment, has set up 5 different samples of incense on scentless bamboo squares.
A small demonstration is made as how to smell them – also known as ‘hearing’ the scents, with the square held up to one’s nose and the hand cupped over the square in order to scent it.
With this done, the rest of the explanation is given: Your task is to determine which scents are the same, and which are different! Several scents might match each other, some might not match any of the others. For this task, you are given several different sizes of block.
Using these blocks, you stack them so that a top bar may be put across matching incenses, which will form certain Genji-mon (also called Genji-ko) to denote chapters of the Tale of Genji (a strange tale from the Human World O_O!! )
For example, if the first and the last scents match each other, you would stack your blocks to form the chapter ‘Maboroshi’ (Chapter 41, ‘The Wizard’) with three shorter blocks in the center, and two taller ones on each end with the longer block set across the top of them.
The trickiness comes in that some scents may be very similar to each other, but not the same, and some might be exactly the same just to trick you!
Once you have ‘heard’ each scent and set up your blocks, the individual who set up the challenge will let you know how you did.Mechanics! [ Mechanics: ] You will roll twice for this! In both posts, roll 5d6. In the first post, the dice represent your students ‘guess’ at the scents. Any matching numbers are matching scents! The second post is the Horseman who set up your challenge telling you how you did. However.As there are only 5 blocks, the number 6 is a wildcard! You may alter the number 6 in your roll to be any number of your choosing! How nice! What the numbers are exactly doesn’t matter, it simply matters that numbers repeat in the same places in each roll. Example First Post Invictus rolls 5d6 He gets 33113 That means he guesses that the first two scents and the last one match, as do the third and the fourth one. That means his blocks resemble the chapter ‘Wakana no jo’ (Chapter 34, New Herbs, Part 1). Second Post The Horseman who set up the event rolls 5d6 He gets 44226 This means that because the last number is a 6, it is a wildcard! I can now change this ‘real’ answer’s 6 to a 4, and have the same matching pattern as Invictus had in his guess! Gasp! He got it right! WHY:
You get points based on your accuracy! (SELECT ONLY ONE)
If you 100% match the Horseman’s set up, take 3 points!
If you were one block off of 100%, take 2 points!
If there are multiple matches and you only get one of the two correct, take 2 points!
If you were one off of the second match, take 1 point!
If you matched the wrong pattern, but there was an existing pattern, take 1 point!
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xoxomenai rolled 5 6-sided dice:
1, 5, 3, 3, 6
Total: 18 (5-30)
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:40 am
Faussi had returned today for another game of Kumiko. He bent over the scents, rearranging his tiles into what he thought was a suitable setup.
1 5 3 3 6
** ^ 6 becomes a 5 making the outcome:
1 5 3 3 5
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xoxomenai rolled 5 6-sided dice:
2, 5, 1, 1, 5
Total: 14 (5-30)
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Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:41 am
The horseman revealed their pattern. Another perfect match today as well. Faustus smiled and bowed politely before exiting the area.
2 5 1 1 5
{{Total Points Obtained: 3}}
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