[!] [TRAINING] [PRP] A Pair of Outcasts (Tyshina & Rafael)

[fenshae]

demon_pachabel

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:

Horsemen Points:
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!

 

[fenshae]

On the bright side, Rafael felt very confident about his sense of smell.

On the down side, he had no idea what any of these things he was smelling were, and they were hard to tell apart. Why weren't they doing this with rancid trash and moldy cheese? He could do that in a heartbeat!

He glanced over at Tyshina, a bit nervously. "Are you understanding any of this?" He asked, in an undertone, before the instructor came back by.

Pretty much sure he was just making things up, he scribbled some patterns down and looked up at the professor with a winning smile.  

[fenshae]

Well, the good news was, there was a pattern!

The bad news was, he totally failed at matching it.

Ah well. He hadn't been bitten by a plant or anything yet today, so he'd count that one as a "win".

((I drew all of this, and then somehow lost the file QQ))  

[chi honda]

Tyshina was quite unsure about this training. She had listened to all the instructions to the letter but yet she still was unsure. Then she looked over at her new friend and smiled. Even if she didn't quite understand at least she had a friend here with her.

"Honestly," Tyshina said before attempted to draw her own pattern, "Not at all. How about you?"

 

[chi honda]

She just stood there staring at her paper. As much fun as this was, she had no idea what she was doing or even if she was doing it right.

She couldn't match any of the numbers to save her life, but it looked like each one she rolled at some sort of pattern maybe...possible...hopefully.

 

[chi honda]

ETIQUETTE:

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 students. A horseman of Conquest approaches you, her deep olive hair serving to help camouflage her against the surrounding grasses.

"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

Begin by bowing 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. Go on to the next instruction.

2: The bird screams in terror and pushes you to the ground before running away. You fail and may not continue further today.

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, at least at the moment. A future as a DETH representative might be in the cards. You obtain one feather and may go on to the next instruction.

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 may go on to the next instruction, but you have not earned a feather.

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. You may move on to the next instruction.

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! You may not continue further today.

3: Your adara drinks its water daintily, then allows you to pet it. You pass and you get a feather! You may move on to the next instruction.

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! Eventually your adara wanders back. You pass and may move on to the next instruction.

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 and may move on to the next instruction.

6: You drop your water and crackers, watching in dismay as a passing bird tramples them. You fail and may not continue further today.

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 and may not continue further today.

2: The adara looks on in confusion and dismay as you try to stutter out an interesting question. You fail and may not continue further today.

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 and may move on to the next instruction.

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 and may not continue further today.

5: In an effort to seem like you care, you ask your adara a very personal question that it refuses to answer. You fail and may not continue further today.

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 and may move on to the next instruction.

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.

Quote:

Q: What happens if I fail?
You stop. You can try again tomorrow or the next, but once you fail you're done.

 

[chi honda]

Tyshina quickly took what she was given and started her new task. She began by bowing to the adara to show it she meant it no harm. She then began to hum a tune to show she meant no harm whatsoever to it and she cared about it.

As she stood there she could feel her eyes moving around and her eye contact was terribly off. The only strange thing was the adara didn't mind, as it gently began to nuzzle up to her. "He likes me!" she said happily to Rafe and smiled brightly as she petted the new friend on its head gently. Why they called this a beast she never would understand, but then again maybe she had a future with something here. An with that she gently obtained one feather and whispered, "Thank you."

Feathers so far: 1  

[chi honda]

Slowly she pulled out a refreshing drink of water and extends it to the adara. She whispered random words to the beast that were happy in sound. She wanted it to know she was a friend and not an enemy. In her eyes this creature was going to be her ally and to do that she had to earn its trust completely. Luckily the bird came forward and drank peacefully, and while they did she took a feather. "I hope you don't mind be borrowing this," she said kindly as she put it in her bag.

"Look Rafe another one," she said to her new friend happily! She wanted to give it to Rafe to show her friendship with him. Though the only thing was she wasn't sure, was how her mentor for this assignment would feel if she did. "I'll make him some else later," she thought quietly in her head as she added the feather to her last collected one.

Feathers so far: 2  

[chi honda]

Tyshina then asks the adara the first question on her mind, "Why are you considered a beast?" As she asked this, she cocked her head to the left side. In all honesty she did care, though to the adara it seemed like it didn't believe her. Since it shook its head and refused to answer. She understood her question may be to personal, so with that she did a nod of her head and a smile. "Understood, well it was good meeting you my friend," she said quietly as she walked away and headed the two collected feathers to her teacher.

Feathers in the end: 2