Vainqueur in Peril [Derahex X LadySmugleaf & shinygiratinaz]

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This is a game about decision-making, combat, and most of all, roleplaying! I'm looking forward to being your Game Master for this session. Here are the rules and necessary information for the game:

Statistics:

As a Disciple of Kaà, your body and mind are honed to fine point, and your mastery over the arts of combat are second to none. Your training in the Monastery of Kaà is expressed as two stats:

Stamina
Determines your physical health and ability to take punishment. Some also call it "Hit Points". Should this drop to 0, your adventure is over.
You begin with 24 Stamina, but you can chose to "Re-Roll" and randomly start with 20-29 Stamina instead. You can't go back on your decision should you chose to do this.

Skill
Indicates your prowess in a fight. The higher it is, the better your chances are of inflicting wounds upon opponents without receiving any yourself.
You begin with 14 Skill, but you can chose to "Re-Roll" and randomly start with 10-19 Skill instead. You can't go back on your decision should you chose to do this.

Adventure Log:

Your Adventure Log contains vital information to your quest. You can note many things of import here.

Backpack
Here, you can store the various items you will collect on your quest. Your backpack can hold up to 8 items total, including Meals.

Provisions
Here, you can highlight how many Meals you have left. If you are required to eat but have no Meals left, you lose 3 Stamina.

Special Objects
Some items have no obvious use, and might only serve in one special place or time. These peculiar items are stored here and do not count against the normal 8-item limit.
You begin your adventure with your Kaà talisman worn around your neck, indicating you are a Disciple of Kaà.

Piasters
Here you can write down how much currency you currently own. The kingdom's currency unit is called a Piaster. Your coin purse cannot hold more than 50 Piasters.
You begin your adventure with 0-9 Piasters (Determined Randomly).

Weapons
Here, you can store your held weapons. You can possess up to 2 at once. Should you be forced to fight without a weapon, you will suffer from a -4 penalty to your Skill.

Monastic Disciplines
Here, you can write down your mastered traditions and their descriptions for ease of access.

Monastic Disciplines:

Being of the Order of Kàa, you have studied long on the mastery of the self; body, mind and soul. The fruit of these studies is expressed as the Monastic Disciplines, techniques that require years of training each, but provide and unequaled edge to those who know them. In your training, you have mastered five of the ten Disciplines. Chose from the following list:

Hollow Body: Camouflage
Through arduous stealth training, this technique lets a Disciple blend in to their surroundings. In forests, they can use foliage and mud to hide within the underbrush. In cities, they can take on the appearance of a beggar and perfectly mimic the accent or language of the area. Whatever the environment, the Disciple is sure to successfully hide from their foes.

Spirit of the Bountiful Hunt: Survival
Practiced by going on long trips in the forest with only the clothes on their back and a knife on their belt, the Discipline of survival lets the Disciple sustain themselves even when no provisions are available. Except in hostile environments, such as deserts, or inside of cities, the Disciple is sure to survive by hunting, foraging and other means. Another benefit is that the Disciple can successfully follow a trail silently and avoid being detected.

Awaken the Third Eye: Sixth Sense
By awakening their third eye through intense meditation, Disciples can see hidden truths, such as the true intentions of a stranger or the workings of an unknown object, and sense imminent danger. Never will a Disciple armed with this technique be prone to the lies of the world.

Follow the Way of Fate: Path Finder
Years of blindfolded tests have sharpened Disciple's orientation. With this Discipline, one will always know which way leads to their goal, and where to go to find the person one seeks. Be it in a dense forest or deep in a city, the path will always be clear. With the Path Finder, a Disciple can also retrace another's steps with ease.

Tongue of the Sun and Moon: Animal Speech
By opening your spirit to the forces of nature and the ancient ways of the ancestors, a Disciple can commune with the people of the beast kingdom. With the ability to speak to them also comes understanding of the beast's way, and premonitions of an animal's hidden intentions.

Iron Grasp of the Mind: Telekinesis
The material world and the spirit world are interconnected. Find that connection, and you can accomplish small miracles. Using the Iron Grasp of the Mind, a Disciple can lift small objects with only the power of their thoughts, interpreting "Mind over Matter" in the most literal way possible.

Stonefist Master: Weapon Focus
Upon beginning their apprenticeship, Disciples are given the opportunity to train their mastery of the 9 weapons of the Stonefist Path, the Kaà combat style. The weapon choice is as follows:

• Dagger
• Spear
• Mace
• Glaive
• Warhammer
• Longsword
• Waraxe
• Quarterstaff
• Bastard Sword

While wielding your focus weapon, your Skill increases by 2.

Mind's Stronghold: Mental Shield
Deep meditation in a troubled and generally noisy area has permitted Disciples to block off rogue thoughts and keep their peace of mind against all odds. The malevolent creatures that plague the world have many a trick up their sleeve, including psychic attacks. This technique gives a measure of immunity to such attacks.

When you are subject to a psychic attack, Mind's Stronghold lets you take no damage from that attack and also protects you from any adverse side effects that would follow.

Perfect Offense: Psychic Assault
Since Kaà's Disciples train both their body and mind, some wish to take advantage of this dual perfection. Using the river of their inner strength, called Qi, they can empower their attacks so that it strikes both flesh and soul. This technique is not effective on all foes, however. Some creatures are naturally resistant or have a shielded mind, and so the Qi-empowered strikes will have minimal effect on them.

Perfect Offense boosts your Skill by 2 points, but not against creatures that are immune.

Purity of Body: Recuperation
With some herbal and alchemical knowledge, it is believed that meditation can heal any physical wound. The Purity of Body Technique allows Disciples to slowly but surely recover from the strains of battle while in a peaceful environment.

If you master the Purity of Body Discipline, you regain 1 point of Stamina gradually at a fixed rate when not in combat. You will be notified when you recover this way.

Special notes on Disciplines:
Most disciplines that aren't combat-focused open up new paths to explore in the normal scenario. It is recommended to balance between metagame Disciplines and path-opening ones.

Combat:

Sometimes bloodshed is a necessary evil. In order to attain your goal, you may find yourself in a situation where you must engage in combat. Combat works in a turn-based fashion, as follows:

The Skill of each opponent is compared to obtain the Attack Rating. Each turn, a dice roll is made to determine how much damage each side takes. The higher your Skill, the better the Attack Rating will be and the less likely your are to take damage. For example: Should your Skill be 14 and your foe's 9, the Attack Rating will be +5, so The Disciple will take 0-4 damage and the enemy will take 5-16 damage. Should your enemy's Skill be superior, the Attack Rating will be a negative number, such as -7, and both sides will take 0-8 damage. Rarely, that the difference in Skill can be so great that one side has a chance to perish instantaneously. Be cautious.

Live Another Day:
Sometimes, it is a wiser decision to flee an opponent you cannot defeat. In some combat encounters, you may have the possibility of fleeing the battle. If you do this, the enemy has a free attack against you from which you cannot riposte. You can only flee from fights where it is indicated that you can.

Kaà's Wisdom:
Even if a Disciple of Kaà learns the best fighting techniques, their first goal is to resolve matters peacefully, and resort to violence only if necessary. It is entirely possible to complete this quest even with minimal Stamina or Skill. One must only make the right choices.

Familiar:

Some Disciples of Kaà chose to have a Familiar. Familiars act as extensions of the Disciple's will, and yet they are also beings with minds of their own. Because of that, they can council their masters in difficult situations and provide insight should the Disciple need it. But their abilities do not end merely in speech and thought; Familiars also have a set of instinctive powers they can unleash:

Familiar's Strike
Boosts the Disciple's Skill by 1 for the current turn. Usable only once per encounter.
Familiar's Shield
Shields the Disciple from harm, reducing the damage taken by 1 point, to a minimum of 1. Usable only once per encounter.
Familiar's Insight
Sometimes, Familiars are struck with magical inspiration and can briefly gain powers and knowledge from seemingly nowhere. Disciples would do well to always listen to their Familiars.

Also to be noted is that Familiars are never targeted by enemies' attacks, and their survival is solely based on their master's lives.

Our tale begins in a monastery in the northern regions of Demspey, one of the kingdoms on the continent of Vainqueur. The other kingdoms being Tempest, to the southeast, Culliacan, to the far east, and the northern city-state of Höris. The monastery in question is the home of the Fraternity of Kaà, an order founded nearly a century before present time, back when war wrought the land.

Those were dark days indeed. Often called the Crimson War, for much blood had been spilled, but also because of the instigators: The Red Warlords, one of the clans that live past the western mountain range, were untamed lands lie. The Red Warlords have the uncanny ability to command all manner of eldritch beasts to do their bidding. It was a dark time, and Demspey, being the westernmost kingdom, on the border of the mountain range, was the most devastated. It was in those days that Kaà founded the Fraternity to fight against Warlords' savage bloodlust. But the Disciples were not tasked for violence exclusively; they also served as beacons of wisdom and mediators between the kingdoms. It was thanks to fierce fighting and peacekeeping of Master Kaà and his Disciples that the war was won and the last of the Red Warlords were decimated.

Now, nearly one hundred years after that, the people of Vainqueur thrive in continual prosperity. Relations between the kingdoms are in good standing, and the damage done by the war has been mostly recovered. Truly, all is well.

Or so all thought.

The tale is ready to begin... Only one thing remains: Who are you?​

 

Prologue​

The sun shines bright on the morning of the Verdant Feast, Demspey Kingdom's Spring Equinox holiday. The dawn's warm rays dance in the Monastery's windows, as if even the sun itself is rejoicing on this most festive day. Master Cassius is walking through the halls, heading towards Erimenthia's chamber. Cassius has always been there to support Erimenthia, and help her overcome the initial judgmental disposition most people had towards her. Indeed, Cassius was often judged from his origin long ago, but all that was forgotten. He hopes she too can rise up above the other's expectations. Up until now she is doing well, though her combat skills need polishing, on many other aspects, such as wits and better judgement, she excelled.

There was Erimenthia's door. Time to start the day...

You hear knocking on the door. "Erimenthia! Good morning." It was Master Cassius' voice. "I wish to speak to you. May I come in?" he asked.

 

The door swings open, and Cassius walked in, revealing the subtle smile he almost always wore. He smirks at you, his contagious good cheer attempting to infect you, and closes the door behind him. "Fine day isn't it?" He asks you, rhetorically, before walking towards your bed. After which he gestures you to sit down as he does so himself. "So, how are you faring today?"

 

As you state your request, you see Cassius' expression turn sad. And expression that states I was afraid you'd say that. He tries his best to mask his emotions as he sighs. "Erimenthia, you know as well as I do that an apprentice such as yourself is forbidden to leave the whereabouts of the Monastery if it's not an official mission." He says regretfully. "And I don't think I'd be able to create an excuse for you to disappear for a few days. You know it takes at least a full day's ride to the capital, and I don't know how long you'd expect to stay there."

 

"Well, I might not be able to bring you to your grandfather, but we may be able to bring a bit of your home to our Verdant Feast." He then smiles, saying: "I wonder how Master Gwindelle will react to us tye-dying the uniforms bright yellow and orange." Cassius lets out a chuckle. "Hm! In any case," He says, trying to stifle his laughter. "Now, on to the reason I wanted to see you."

"I'd like you to do me a favour." Says Cassius, clasping his hands together. "We normally make preparations for the Feast the day before, to mitigate the amount of work to the cooking on today. However... There's been a problem, concerning Rosemerry." An image of a short but stocky young woman in her mid-twenties, with brown-red hair with one single pigtail, comes to mind. She was one of the newer recruits, and you were often in the same group when learning Stonefist Master techniques.
Cassius' gaze shifts upward, as if reminiscing. "Well, I found she made a slight, eh, miscalculation regarding the amount of wood to chop for today's cooking." You then remember hearing that she was raised in a family that couldn't afford much education. What she lacked in wit though, she made up in incredible physical force and a surprisingly quick learning of most martial techniques. "Given that like she has been excused from work like the other apprentices, I couldn't ask her to fix that now."

Cassius smiles somewhat sheepishly. "So, as you may have guessed, I come to ask you to remedy Rosemerry's little mathematical mistake. It's not much, just a wheelbarrow full, but it's nonetheless necessary. I'm sure Feles can be of assistance." He finishes, casting a sideways glance at the air elemental.

 

"Haha!" Cassius laughs. "Of course, Feles. Ah, speaking of which..." Cassius rises to his feet, face to face with Erimenthia - Albeit with a slight height difference - and his expression changes to a more concerned one. "I may have another favor to ask you." Says Cassius, hands behind his back. "I would like you to try and enjoy this day, to go talk to people, deepen friendships. Even if you are unfamiliar with our traditions, they will happily show you how." Cassius eyes you hopefully as he says so.

 

Seeing how his request consternated you, Cassius lightly sighs. "Or don't. You could just take your time in the woods, and read, with only Feles to keep you company." He says, motioning toward your pillow with his head. "We still have some supply, the extra wood won't be due until this afternoon." Cassius begins walking to the door. "Whatever suits you."

 

Seeing you running, Cassius smiles. "Until later!" He shouts from behind you, after which he resumes walking.