Heading to the farm...

"The farmhouse for maybe an hour will be more than fine, thank you.  As to what we came for, is there any fallen wood or old dead peach trees we can use?  We don't need live wood, and I would prefer not risk your tree in any way if it can be avoided."

"And of course we won't discuss your presence here, if that is your wish.  We honestly have no need to do so, and intend no harm to your community.  In fact, the fight was not how I wanted to resolve this, and I'd be happy to repay your generosity in any other way that I can.  Perhaps we could arrange to bring you supplies from the city once our work with the Jiangshi is done, or some other service?  I need not rely on ordinary means to communicate, so checking in from time to time would be no hardship for me or risk to you."

The man says, "We are able to provide for ourselves here, away from the dead lands of the city. Occasionally we make runs to town for fuel or ammunition to power the generator and keep predators at bay. Particularly the yaoguai at night.

"As for the wood, scrap wood is gathered and used for the fires at night. What we have is in a great pile and I would be unsure which among it belongs to the peach tree. You are free to take some from there, but I would not know what specific wood you would be taking."

"Thank you.  I will see what I can do and be as careful as we can of your tree.  Are there any among you that care for it on a regular basis?  I really don't want to risk it's health in any way, it's a rare treasure."

On Comms, "As soon as we settle in here I'm going to go Astral and consult with the others.  Maybe Kingfisher could send me back with a Plant spirit or something that would be better at identifying the proper wood from the pile, if any can be found there.  The safe bet is of course wood from the tree itself, and I'd really rather not piss off the Jiangshi and find out later we staked it with the wrong wood, but if we can be sure of what we have I'd just as soon leave the living tree alone"

The man says, "Only Yousei-san is permitted to touch the tree. You should understand it is a great sacrifice on her part to allow you to even touch, much less gather actual wood from the tree. She does not do this lightly and so you should treat the tree with respect that she has given you. None of us here agree with her decision, but we respect it."

WuJen looks at the man with some anger "I have shown nothing but respect here, and am being as accommodating as I possibly can.  I have offered trade, services and friendship.  I have explained that my need is only for the wood, so any fallen from the tree or from the others that used to be here would suffice.  I have explained that this creature is murdering innocents near my home and that this is the only thing known to stop such a creature.  I suffered the risk of *execution* over a few sticks."

His anger intensifies as he continues to speak "I could leave right now without taking a single splinter of the tree, catch the creature and let it loose among you.  At least you and your people would have a chance at defending yourselves, unlike those victims in the city that have already fallen to the thing.  Would *that* be satisfactory?!  I am leaving here to face a threat that very well may kill me and my friends, but left unchecked could grow to the power of a GOD, wiping out all mankind probably starting right here where it's already feeding, and you want to whine about how you don't agree to giving us a scrap of wood carefully harvested in as non damaging manner as can be accomplished!"

The more he speaks, the angrier he seems to become, "You realize we didn't have to do it this way, right?  I don't need to be here to get this done.  I could have called spirits to uproot the whole fragging tree and bring it back to the city.  I could have summoned Fire to burn you without ever giving you a chance to threaten me with a shotgun.  My chummers could have assaulted this place and taken all you have, the least being the the fragging tree.  Your Guardian lying on the ground unconscious over there is the only one among you that even begins to threaten us, yet we approached looking to barter, not fight."

Wujen by this point is just short of shouting, his voice raised in outrage, "You want to talk about respect?  Try showing some yourselves.  People are *dying* for want of this wood.  Some of those people could have been *you*, and if we don't get it probably will be you because the Jiangshi will eventually become a Ba.  Its not stupid.  It probably knows that the only thing in the entire slotting *world* that can hurt it is wood from a peach tree, and guess who's living right on top of one of the few left anywhere?"

Wujen calms himself with a visible effort of will, "But you are right, chummer.  This is a real hardship for you, your community, and your way of life.  We should show respect for your great sacrifice."

Torpor places a restraining hand on WuJen's shoulder yet let's him finish his tirade. He does not say a ward though, just to imply keep it verbal.

WuJen finishes his Tirade, glaring at anyone who looks like they might want to say anything else.  "Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go see if I can conjure up a way to tell if any of your scrap wood for the night fires happens to come from your holy, unique peach tree so that we don't have to risk the health of the living tree in even the slightest way."

He glances back at Torpor "You would think if it was that fragging important they wouldn't just burn it in bonfires with the rest of their lawn trimmings and someone would know where it is."

KingFisher ripples in the Astral.
Strangely her form appears to be one ready to be buried.
The normally passionate priestess sounds bone weary from some kind of ordeal.
She intones her rite of summoning in a flat emotionless tone.
"By birdsong, insect hum, rustle of leaves in the wind, and scent of blossoms drifting in the breeze I call upon a spirit of plants. Hear my call and come to me here.

She calls a moderately powerful (Force 4) spirit to appear.



When the spirit appears she points to WuJen.
"Follow this one's orders until the boons are spent, then you may go"

To WuJen
"Kami watch over you brother. It appears there are many fools who do not wish to listen to good sense. The Temple considers that I do not have the ability to tell the difference between a supernatural thing and a bowl of cold noodles. I'm expecting pointless delay and endless ceremony and by the time Mount Fuji is the size of a pea they will probably give us a single half inch piece of wood taken when trimming the tree.
The more I spent time in this temple the more I doubt the purpose of being here. Our new arrival Sato is much better at keeping face with the tired relics who run the place.

I've summoned a plant spirit to aid you, it will take your commands until it has run out of services.
Should any need healing or my help I am here.
Good luck to you and Little Dragon.
"

"Thanks.  I'm not a gardener, and what I know about plants can fit in my salad bowl."

"From the way Harumi worded her challenge, we technically own the whole tree if we want it, and these drekheads want to give me grief when I asked for some dead wood or for their own people to harvest us some wood in the least damaging way possible so we don't hurt the thing.  I trust one of your Plant spirits' word over Earth's in a case like this."

"I'm beginning to suspect they are taking our kindness and respect for their property as a show of weakness.  The woman they called Harumi is interesting, especially that duplication spell she used.  If it was an illusion it wasn't obvious from the Astral Plane, and that's a neat trick.  However, my patience is running awfully thin at this point and that will make me lose interest in a hurry.  We won, I'm trying to be a good sport about it and even offered to still pay for the wood... but so help me they are getting awfully close to finding out why I am *not* a priest."

Torpor nods, "I agree, i can probably use smaller branches they would normally prune. And we need at least 1 piece big enough to maybe use as a stake or two just in case my theory is wrong. "

The man quickly becomes agitated and raises his voice as well, "You do not understand what Yousei-san is to us, or what that tree is to her. She is the sole reason we are able to survive as we do! She is the one who ensures the harvests grow and the food is plenty! She is the one who heals us from the wounds that the deadly creatures of this land inflict upon our flesh! She-"

"Enough!" interrupts the elf, apparently brought to consciousness by the person who was tending her wounds. She tries to rise to her feet, but the dizziness of what is likely a concussion prevents her from gaining her balance, so she remains on the ground. "I have said they are to take as much wood as they need,"  she says, "There is nothing further to discuss on the matter."

The farmers grumble a little but give no further argument. "Forgive them," she says, "They were born into a life of nothing and I have provided them with comfort and purpose they could have never found in the city. Thus they are protective of this life we have built here. Had I the resources, I would take in all of the impoverished who live among the tunnels of the mountain city. But you do not need to hear about us. Please take what you need. You will not be troubled further."


On the astral plane, Kingfisher summons a plant spirit to aid her comrades. It is quite resistant to her summons, but she manages to convince it to grant a single boon to Wujen. The backlash of summoning energy is also quite incredible, but she manages to absorb it without issue. ((no drain))

KingFisher ripples in the Astral.
"WuJen can you pass this on.

All life moves in cycles. The seasons follow their predictable pattern. In meta humanity we move from birth, to adulthood, old age and death. In nature the new shoots of plants in spring, the fruit on the branch, the ripping of flesh from dead prey and the sleep through the snows of winter are all part of the cycles of nature.

We are no more afraid of death then may other person might be. When young, fit, healthy, and strong death is like a distant relative. There but not something we must deal with right away. On the battlefield you may be unharmed, wounded or killed. Death becomes an old friend.
When the time is right, you will move on from this world.
We go to fight a foe that doesn't want to kill us but to consume us. To devour our life energy, our Qi, our few stitches in the great fabric of life. Imagine if you were to face a foe who wanted to burn your entire existence out of the fabric of existence. To take all the energy of your past, your present and your future to grow stronger by your destruction. Notice I did not say death but worse.
What this elf does is little concern to me.
We go to face a foe that can unmake us if we do not carry weapons of peach wood."

"It appears to be good work you are doing here at least insofar as building a peaceful community is concerned, landmines and shotguns notwithstanding.  I would be interested to see that whole providing good harvests trick you seem to be doing, and that duplication spell is impressive."

"Still, if I didn't know better I'd think you were just some sellsword con artist who really likes peaches and found herself a soft gig."

Wujen focuses into astral space, appraising the Plant spirit.  "Sorry to have disturbed your rest, I am called WuJen, what would you like to be called?"

"The task should be a simple one, easily and quickly accomplished so that you may return to your home."  Wujen points at the peach tree, "We need wood from a peach tree, but do not wish to harm this one if at all possible to get it.  It's claimed that some wood might be in that pile, and there may be more in the area."  WuJen gestures with his hands to indicate useful sizes, "Smaller pieces are fine if there are several, and we need at least one larger piece, though a couple would be better."

"Please, use your Search power within the bounds of the old orchard that once stood here.  So as not to abuse the sensibilities of those living here now simply return, report and then lead me peacefully to the wood we seek.  Once we have what we need, your service is complete and you will be free to depart with my blessing."

To Kingfisher WuJen says "Sure, I can repeat that, or you could manifest yourself and talk to them.  You are a bit more personable than I am.  Clearly, as I was just shrieking like a fishwife at this guy."

The elf says, "You are free to believe as you wish. However, this stimulant patch they have given me will not last forever and once it wears off I fear I shall fall unconscious again. If you will excuse me, I must lay down before that happens."

The woman with the medkit helps the elf to her feet and escorts her into the farmhouse.

The spirit, which appears to be a mass of weedy grass roughly in the shape of a metahuman, says to Wujen, "I will see what I can find."

((Search is an extended test with an interval of 10 minutes, so it will take a little time before it returns))

Uncertain if she can do so KingFisher tries to appear as a ghostly version of herself.
"All life moves in cycles. The seasons follow their predictable pattern. In meta humanity we move from birth, to adulthood, old age and death. In nature the new shoots of plants in spring, the fruit on the branch, the ripping of flesh from dead prey and the sleep through the snows of winter are all part of the cycles of nature.

We are no more afraid of death then may other person might be. When young, fit, healthy, and strong death is like a distant relative. There but not something we must deal with right away. On the battlefield you may be unharmed, wounded or killed. Death becomes an old friend.
When the time is right, you will move on from this world.
We go to fight a foe that doesn't want to kill us but to consume us. We have maybe two days to march into the fiends lair and kill it. If we're very lucky we only die screaming in the dark bleeding to death in a filthy sewer or abandoned tunnel. If we fail the fiend will devour us like a hungry teenage boy given a bowl of dim sum.
With all that Qi it will fly on wings of night. With a snap of its fingers it will drain the Qi, the very life essence of every living thing in this camp. Every buzzing insect, every blossom, every blade of grass, every animal, every plant, every meta human, every spirit or Kami. There is no prayer to protect you, no spell to block its attack. No armour or weapon will so much as tickle it. Fire has no effect, neither does salt. Only peach wood can even scratch it.
So you may live a hard life and suffer hardship. But at least you know you are part of the great cycle of life. Death will come and the cycle moves on.
If we fail we are gone from the cycle. We will simply be a ripple in a puddle. There for a single heartbeat then gone.
If we have enough peach wood we can find this fiend and kill it. That way all of you can continue in the natural great cycle as should be. We're not going to be rich for doing this, or become famous, most likely the state will pretend nothing happened. We were never there, there was never a vile fiend and we deserve only mockery.
I'd take mockery for cheers if I could kill this thing.
So no parent would have to grieve for a dead child, taken without reason, without any hope of escape or defence.
Things outside the cycle should always be destroyed or the cycle might stop its endless cycles and all is lost.

May the Kami watch over you all, grant you rich harvests, full stomachs, clean water, love, laughter and long life.
"

WuJen looks to Kingfisher's materialized form "At any rate, one way or another we have secured rights to the wood.  I'm going to rest up a bit, and let that Spirit do it's thing.  Once we are fit to travel and have the wood in hand we will head back to the city.  If you see the apocalypse kick off down here, you'll know I finally lost my temper.  Otherwise I don't expect to be gone more than travel time plus an hour or two."

Toror follows where the others go. "I could use a bit of a rest myself"

The spirit spends about an hour searching the area for scrap peach wood. It returns with a couple of sticks of a lighter colored wood that it claims are from a peach tree. It could not find any more than that though. They are not exceptionally thick, but perhaps if you sharpen them they might make a pair of shivs, or arrow tips. While they will probably do the job, a poorly aimed attempt may just snap the stick, rendering it useless. There will be just about no margin for error.

During the hour, the elf has been completely knocked out as the stim patch wore off. She awakens, but is still pretty groggy, so she continues to lounge on a couch. The other farmers offer you all food and water or tea while you wait. Though they are somewhat cagey around your group, they do treat you as guests. Most end up going back to what they were doing before you arrived, but one woman watches the elf and tends to whatever needs you all may have.

((feel free to make checks for any stun damage recovery you want to make. any hits on body+willpower will reduce your stun by that much. If you are partaking in food/tea, then add +2 to your pool for the check))

(Body+Willpower, I assume wound penalties don't apply to recovery)
WuJen carried out 8 launched of one d6 :

, , , , , , ,

WuJen thanks the spirit for it's aid and releases it.

He addresses Harumi, "I'm sorry.  I had really hoped there would be enough dead wood left that cutting the tree would not be needed.  I've actually never tried on a plant before, but once the tree is cut I could try healing magic on it to help ensure it recovers.  Either way, we should have more than this or we risk failing to kill the creature.  Let's go see what we can do."

Torpor looks at the collection of branches. Thinking to himself.

((can i make a Aerosmith roll to see if i can make 2 shivs and how many bullets out of what's here. I mostly need pieces to pulp, then i can either load capsule rounds and/or hand loads[9 -2 for damage]))

Torpor carried out 7 launched of one d6 :

, , , , , ,

((I want to see an Aerosmith check to rock out the wood. Yes there are no penalties to damage resistance/recovery))

Torpor considers making bullets out of the sticks and remembers what Wujen mentioned about the product possibly needing to be unrefined. He could try and make something with the pulp in a bullet, but is unsure if that would work when the time comes. Still, he is sure he could make a handful of bullets without the pulp getting too diluted. Another option would be to use an air gun or something similar that could launch a wooden dart. It is likely to work and requires less time to come up with the bullets but would require him actually acquiring said air gun.

Harumi says to Wujen, "By right you can take what you wish, but I appreciate the consideration never the less."

WuJen motions to Sun and Torpor and heads out to the Peach Tree to see about an appropriate branch.

To Harumi he says "They mentioned you were the only one allowed to touch the tree.  I suspect there's a good reason for that.  This is going to hurt you, isn't it?"

Harumi nods and says, "Cutting a limb from the tree is as cutting a limb from my body. If the tree dies, so do I."