Tianchao Wangguo Chapter 1: Calm before the storm
- Thread starter Ariakor
- Start date
Lin Xu:
Scrubbing off the planks of the shrine you make a slow, but steady progress. One by one you "unearth" the symbols of the Five Elements and you can even clear the outlines of the Phoenix and the Dragon. But when you try to remove the thick paste of dried and hardened blood from where the carvings of the Qilin - the symbol of Unity under Heaven and the personal emblem of the Emperor Liang as given to him by the Celestial Order - you realize that the ones responsible for all this not only removed it with a few miss-matched strokes of an axe, the also etched another rune in its place: the Mark of the Spiritual Ravager. This sinister and crudely carved symbol could also be the one responsible for the local spirits madness. It is said to drive those mad who bear too much witness of it and rumor has it that if placed on or near a person it can act as a powerful curse.
Scrubbing off the planks of the shrine you make a slow, but steady progress. One by one you "unearth" the symbols of the Five Elements and you can even clear the outlines of the Phoenix and the Dragon. But when you try to remove the thick paste of dried and hardened blood from where the carvings of the Qilin - the symbol of Unity under Heaven and the personal emblem of the Emperor Liang as given to him by the Celestial Order - you realize that the ones responsible for all this not only removed it with a few miss-matched strokes of an axe, the also etched another rune in its place: the Mark of the Spiritual Ravager. This sinister and crudely carved symbol could also be the one responsible for the local spirits madness. It is said to drive those mad who bear too much witness of it and rumor has it that if placed on or near a person it can act as a powerful curse.
Nephtys
First Post
"A group of people with horses left down this path quite recently," Jian gestures to the game trail. "I'll try to follow their tracks. Catch up with me when you're done here." She leaves, following the tracks, with Shadow trailing her partially hidden by the vegetation by the side of the path.
*Guchiko will aid the others in setting the shrine to rights as much as she can, before going to join Jian.*
Jian Guo and Pan Chou:
The horses' tracks are old and would have been lost to last nights rain if not for the fact that no one from the village seems to have come up this path recently. The tracks lead down the hill, through a small valley along a stream lined with pine trees and finally branches off into a dense bamboo groove where it is hard to see beneath the undergrowth. The trail continues further towards the village. [ooc: spot checks and a wilderness lore check to look for further tracks, please]
Guchiko and Lin Xu:
Further cleansing of the shrine reveals two more marks like the one found before, but their meaning is not quiete clear. Furthermore you find a small, doll-shaped object in a hole dug underneath a peace of the smashed altar, roughly where the center for the shrine would be. It is made out of a dark wood, caked in blood and cleanly sliced in two by the same blade that also cut the shrine. The winds beginn to stir again. [ooc: knowledge arcana checks please] Kairan is growing more nervous and backs a few steps away from the shrine.
Arishan Tüen Li:
Unfortunately you notice nothing out of the ordinary while examining the area further. You just can't point to where the strange unnerving feeling that you have is coming from. Probably the Ghost, probably what has been done here. [ooc: i'm sorry i forgot your know: arcana result, what are you doint? helping the other two at the shrine?]
The horses' tracks are old and would have been lost to last nights rain if not for the fact that no one from the village seems to have come up this path recently. The tracks lead down the hill, through a small valley along a stream lined with pine trees and finally branches off into a dense bamboo groove where it is hard to see beneath the undergrowth. The trail continues further towards the village. [ooc: spot checks and a wilderness lore check to look for further tracks, please]
Guchiko and Lin Xu:
Further cleansing of the shrine reveals two more marks like the one found before, but their meaning is not quiete clear. Furthermore you find a small, doll-shaped object in a hole dug underneath a peace of the smashed altar, roughly where the center for the shrine would be. It is made out of a dark wood, caked in blood and cleanly sliced in two by the same blade that also cut the shrine. The winds beginn to stir again. [ooc: knowledge arcana checks please] Kairan is growing more nervous and backs a few steps away from the shrine.
Arishan Tüen Li:
Unfortunately you notice nothing out of the ordinary while examining the area further. You just can't point to where the strange unnerving feeling that you have is coming from. Probably the Ghost, probably what has been done here. [ooc: i'm sorry i forgot your know: arcana result, what are you doint? helping the other two at the shrine?]
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Gez
First Post
Lin Xu points out her discovery.
« The defiling's more subtle and more thorough than I thought, they engraven here a foul rune instead of the Qilin. Well, » she say, unsheathing one of her blade, « two can play that game. »
She carefully chops the wood until the dreadful mark of the Spiritual Ravager is gone, then proceed to the next such rune.
« Somebody more skillfull than me will have to trace back the Qilin rune. I think new planks will be needed anyway. »
[OOC: No Knowledge Arcana check from me, I don't have the skill. Though I could try Kn. Religion instead.]
« The defiling's more subtle and more thorough than I thought, they engraven here a foul rune instead of the Qilin. Well, » she say, unsheathing one of her blade, « two can play that game. »
She carefully chops the wood until the dreadful mark of the Spiritual Ravager is gone, then proceed to the next such rune.
« Somebody more skillfull than me will have to trace back the Qilin rune. I think new planks will be needed anyway. »
[OOC: No Knowledge Arcana check from me, I don't have the skill. Though I could try Kn. Religion instead.]
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Nephtys
First Post
Rhialto said:
"I doubt the spirits can be placated with anything less than the return of their sacred artifact. A defilement cannot simply be washed away, but we all deal with crises differently. Their efforts are laudable."
Ariakor said:
Jian crouches down at the entrance to the grove, knowing that the tracks must continue inside.
[Spot: 13+10=23]
[Wilderness Lore: 18+10=28]
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sword-dancer
Explorer
Arishan Tüen Li
*He helps the other in cleaning the shrine as good as possible, carefuly not to defile himself*
It wouldn`t lift the defilement, nor even restoring the harmony, but it could give this place at least a bit of dignity!
OOC: If Guchiko and/or Lin Xu shows him the doll object and the marks he would study them carefully and thoroughly. Knowledge Arcana Check is 16,
Noble Guardian Lin Xu, learned Guchiko which sign would be warn the people, that this shrine shouldn`t be visited till it´s fully cleaned and restored?
*He helps the other in cleaning the shrine as good as possible, carefuly not to defile himself*
It wouldn`t lift the defilement, nor even restoring the harmony, but it could give this place at least a bit of dignity!
OOC: If Guchiko and/or Lin Xu shows him the doll object and the marks he would study them carefully and thoroughly. Knowledge Arcana Check is 16,
Noble Guardian Lin Xu, learned Guchiko which sign would be warn the people, that this shrine shouldn`t be visited till it´s fully cleaned and restored?
Jian Guo:
Closer inspection reveals that the riders chose to leave the main trail and followed along a much frequented game trail . Due to the recent rains and the animals in the area, it is difficult to see the tracks at first, but then you see them. You also realize that one rider must have split off from the rest and continued further down the trail. Under one bush close to where they parted from the road you can see some dark spots in the mud, which seem to be blood. These spots are about as old as the tracks themselves.
Lin Xu:
[Know religion 15]: you realise that simply scratching it away won't undo the magic at work here, but it sure is a start and could at least slow down the corrupting effects. There are some other protective signs and small rituals you, or anyone with spiritual experience, could conduct to further slow it.The doll seemed to have been the focus for the summoning, as it is caked with the monk's blood and was left in the place where you could usually expect to find the relic holy to the shrine and its ghost.
[to answer Arishan's question: there are signs used for defiled places, usually it is a scroll that you put up over the entrance to warn people coming here.
Closer inspection reveals that the riders chose to leave the main trail and followed along a much frequented game trail . Due to the recent rains and the animals in the area, it is difficult to see the tracks at first, but then you see them. You also realize that one rider must have split off from the rest and continued further down the trail. Under one bush close to where they parted from the road you can see some dark spots in the mud, which seem to be blood. These spots are about as old as the tracks themselves.
Lin Xu:
[Know religion 15]: you realise that simply scratching it away won't undo the magic at work here, but it sure is a start and could at least slow down the corrupting effects. There are some other protective signs and small rituals you, or anyone with spiritual experience, could conduct to further slow it.The doll seemed to have been the focus for the summoning, as it is caked with the monk's blood and was left in the place where you could usually expect to find the relic holy to the shrine and its ghost.
[to answer Arishan's question: there are signs used for defiled places, usually it is a scroll that you put up over the entrance to warn people coming here.
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