The Day of Thunder

[Saru Shang]

It's me, hi!

I'm might be scarce for a bit but dropping one of these in case anyone has questions for Shang!

[Jiyo Sora]

THE DREADED FORM QUESTIONS!

1. Biggest curveball Shang threw you?
2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?
3. Favorite moment?
4. Biggest missed opportunity?
5. Any secrets Shang has that never came up?

Sorry we only ever had the one thread... Shang was actually a really interesting character, coming into this game for me, because she had so few hooks to all the big mega-drama...

[Togashi Satsuki]

Shang!

Lady Saruko will be very proud of this student. Don't be surprised if Shang might find herself with some extra praise and maybe promotions when returning to the Dragon, for a job well done. She'll want to hear all the stories!

Will Shang be sad that the river is purified now? Will she plan to elope with Matsu?

[Canary]

shang was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed what she added to the group here - she was really unique! Thank you so much for playing.

[Bayushi Norikage]

I interacted with both Shang and Zhe, and I think both of them had a lot of fun qualities for RP.

Though as Zhe was very grounded despite being a bit peculiar, Shang was...well, hilarious, at least to me. I think you did great, posts full of the fluff of a person who just keeps talking.

Just wanted to make sure you knew how well you entertained with this character. What do you think she'll be doing next?

[Kaijarisuigyo]

Shang was actually a really interesting character, coming into this game for me, because she had so few hooks to all the big mega-drama...

Plussing this. Shang often felt like she was totally removed from the main plot. Like a character from another story having somehow wandered into this one. Was it on purpose? How did it impact your play?

[Doji Hikaru]

Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed the artist and atmosphere talk between Hikaru and Shang! Sorry I let it drop, but I had a very hard time maintaining scenes past day-change this game.

[Saru Shang]

I see all the questions and they'll be answered in time! I'm just at work at the moment (and it's busy) and I like answering them one at a time (and I tend to ramble). Not overlooking any of the questions!

THE DREADED FORM QUESTIONS!

1. Biggest curveball Shang threw you?
2. Biggest curveball the game threw you?
3. Favorite moment?
4. Biggest missed opportunity?
5. Any secrets Shang has that never came up?

Sorry we only ever had the one thread... Shang was actually a really interesting character, coming into this game for me, because she had so few hooks to all the big mega-drama...

1) I suppose the first curveball is perhaps finding myself playing an artisan character. I don't play too many of these as I find myself a bit anxious when it comes to giving justice to the character's created art on screen. And not just go "and character created art" and be done with it. It is a bit of a mental workload I found myself unprepared for and I wanted to contribute something that made people go "Wow, this character is a legit artisan". In her background, Shang is suffering a bit from an art block at the moment but there were enough inspiring things during the game that would allow her to break from that, I just didn't capitalize on it! She do some art but I did not meet my personal goal/standard.

However, I know probably put some unexpected/unintended anxiety on myself with Shang. At the end of the day, I should have taken a step back and realized that everything a character does has to be a Picasso masterpiece, maybe they're just on Artstation or Deviantart. That's fine with them and should be fine with me!

2) Hm! I expected a bit more in-your-face horror. Maybe some monsters in the night, a murder, or maybe some sort of infection/taint. I kind of roll Shang to fill that role of oblivious socialite/dilettante sort in a horror movie/call of cthulhu way. She'll complain about the proverbial pool being closed when they are deep ones emerging from the sewers. I was hoping to take a few investigation points but that fell off when I decided to give her martial skills instead. Bumping that Agility 4 to become a Perception 4 maybe could have made her a Jenny Barnes-esque character, considering she already had Reflex 4!

There was some horror but I suppose the dreams made things a bit less tangible, she felt more annoyed and continued with her day.

3) Biggest moment? There were a few key points that Shang managed to get some highlights in-game. The cooperative gets together to put the scroll together, teamwork! The courtship proposal from Matsu, unexpected! The waking dream, pretty creepy!

Personally and less obvious big moment was when I felt I did manage to play peak Shang as intended during the house party on Day 3. I missed pre-game and I was trying to nail her character in-game. She was running loopy, scattered and a little drunk with a conversation to play around. I'd say that hitting peak Shang did make me happy that I nailed the character personally as I wanted was a milestone for me.

4) As mentioned above, practicing ART in-game and on-screen. The anxiety and mental load weren't something I prepared for. I put my sights high but ultimately I should just go to a comfortable level and shoot for what I can. She never got to use her rank 3 technique to regain void but thankfully there were many solutions around.

5) Not too many dark secrets from Shang. She's just a little bit scattered and she loves to drink. Admittedly, she shouldn't be an alcoholic but it was amusing to play up that aspect when I could. Alcohol is also a great lubricant for creativity. Or at least, that's what Shang will tell herself.

No worries, it's been a hectic game. And thank you! This is my first Dawn game, actually.

Shang!

Lady Saruko will be very proud of this student. Don't be surprised if Shang might find herself with some extra praise and maybe promotions when returning to the Dragon, for a job well done. She'll want to hear all the stories!

Will Shang be sad that the river is purified now? Will she plan to elope with Matsu?

Aw, thank you and I'm happy to hear! As above mentioned, I hoped I do proper justice playing an artisan character. That also goes double to being a Dragon and following the ways of the Saru. I suppose maybe her curiosity and optimism could fall into that? I'd like to think so!

Aha! No, I suppose she won't be sad that the river is purified now but she had some inkling that she was missing something when Yumi drank from it initially. Like Yumi was seeing something that Shang could and now never behold, maybe even a gateway to another world or an opening for creativity. They did manage to entertain some rather strange conversation with her, at least, potentially worldbuilding to some fictional setting where humans and giant sentient bunnies exist side-by-side. Kind of curious about what to do with that creation in a feudal society. Suppose an early attempt at fantasy-fiction in Rokugan? Not to be confused with folklore or fable.

Also, they just begun their courtship together. It's far-far too early to plan to elope with someone just on that plan alone! I imagine that they will be roaming the Spider lands together as long as the Dragon will allow it, learning from being abroad, bonding with each other, and gathering good material for hero-folk-epics to be written about making the land civilized from bandits! Then after a journey, they'll consider it? Hm, sounds like a potential endgame goal to me!

[Nanzi Ai]

I enjoyed our scenes, I got the impression she was trying to make something to celebrate the group? I know our encounters were brief, but she was a mystery to me in a good way.

[Saru Shang]

shang was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed what she added to the group here - she was really unique! Thank you so much for playing.

Thank you and thank you for having me!

I interacted with both Shang and Zhe, and I think both of them had a lot of fun qualities for RP.

Though as Zhe was very grounded despite being a bit peculiar, Shang was...well, hilarious, at least to me. I think you did great, posts full of the fluff of a person who just keeps talking.

Just wanted to make sure you knew how well you entertained with this character. What do you think she'll be doing next?

Thank you! I suppose, to reference a conversation Shang had with Kaij, Shang is probably that person who conjures things in hopes that they'll be made reality sometime down the line. Maybe not in her lifetime but hopefully sometime! Would that make her a futurist? A conceptual artist? And I suppose any small kernel of idea or curiosity is enough for her to talk. That also might be a bit of me too. I'll admit there's sometimes some bleed in my characters to do something like that, haha.

[Saru Shang]

Shang was actually a really interesting character, coming into this game for me, because she had so few hooks to all the big mega-drama...

Plussing this. Shang often felt like she was totally removed from the main plot. Like a character from another story having somehow wandered into this one. Was it on purpose? How did it impact your play?

Back to this question! Well, she's neither a shugenja nor a bushi, so she's already technically off the table when it comes to being a Thunder. Being my first Dawn game, it was fully my intention to not be in the running, so I decided to roll up a courtier/artisan and hopefully find other avenues of the story or spots to entertain myself. There are also bits that I'm not familiar with, so it's also been a learning experience through play. I suppose this might make her feel removed from the main plot? As mentioned before, I kind of designed/wanted her to be kind of a bystander so that might be in effect why she might feel that way?

Also, chalk it up to me for not being assertive. It seemed to me that there were enough players in the vehicles. There were some small things she checked up/showed interest in, like the mysterious river and past lore of the town but I didn't poke too deep. It wasn't my intention to avoid the plot by any means, just hopefully catch the residual vibes (events do help) and talk to the potential heroes/Thunders. I'd say I'm fine with what I set out to do, often just wanting to hit on personal RP milestones.

Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed the artist and atmosphere talk between Hikaru and Shang! Sorry I let it drop, but I had a very hard time maintaining scenes past day-change this game.

That's fine, the game has been a bit hectic in places with all of the foreboding Thundering/nightmares. I enjoyed the talk too. Shang is just happy to talk about art and almost anything, really.

I enjoyed our scenes, I got the impression she was trying to make something to celebrate the group? I know our encounters were brief, but she was a mystery to me in a good way.

Thank you for the scenes! Yes! That mostly came from her Day 1 talk with Satsuki and the announcement of the Day of Thunder. So, she kind of put it upon herself to be the one to record what happened here with her art. Unfortunately, she didn't have much of an idea of who the Thunders were and how to go about that without being actually in the battle herself. Perhaps she did eventually set out to be a bit broader and mainly just commemorate being here as a whole. That's probably still too ambitious without a finite concept. Something tells me at the end of the day, she's just going to remain haunted by the forest, fog and river and that just might be her painting subject. Dread. Something so mundane that was really a herald before the end times at the proverbial edge of the Kami Empire.

[Nozomi]

*laughs* I am sorry we didn't have time this game. We've done a lot in past games, but life has been throwing me a bit of a lemon this month. Still, it seems like you had an interesting character that a lot of folks enjoyed. I'm glad you had fun.

[Saru Shang]

*laughs* I am sorry we didn't have time this game. We've done a lot in past games, but life has been throwing me a bit of a lemon this month. Still, it seems like you had an interesting character that a lot of folks enjoyed. I'm glad you had fun.

No worries, I figured you were busy and busier with handling supply duties for Shinsei. And yes, thank you, I suppose I've managed to keep myself active in the game.

[Nozomi]

-snip-

Ah how the years have passed. It's genuinely nice to see a few of us sticking around this long even as the years change. I've loved watching this all play out slowly but surely.