Guides

Welcome to Romance of Five Kingdoms. This guide covers everything you need to get comfortable in your first session: how to ask for help, how the interface works, how to move around, and how to talk to other players.

Getting Help

Type help at any time to see a summary of common commands. To look up a specific command or topic, add it after help:

help look
help combat
help emote

You can also type a question and the built-in AI assistant will try to answer it:

help how do I fight?
help what is a delve?

If you are not sure what a command is called, helpsearch <keyword> searches the entire help database by keyword. The commands command lists everything available to you, optionally filtered by category (commands navigation, commands combat, etc.).

Aliases for help: h, ?

The Newbie Channel

When you first log in you are automatically added to the Newbie channel. This is an out-of-character (OOC) channel for new players to ask questions. No question is too basic. Everyone starts somewhere.

To chat on the Newbie channel, use the left (OOC) pane or type:

channel newbie Hello, I just arrived!

You can also use + <message> as a quick shortcut to send to the default OOC channel. To see all channels you can join, type channels.

The Interface

The webclient has two panes side by side:

• Left pane (OOC) for out-of-character chat, channels, and private messages.
• Right pane (RP) for in-character actions: movement, emotes, speech, combat, and most game commands.

There is one shared input box at the bottom. Press Tab to switch between the two panes. The placeholder text reminds you which side you are on: the left says “OOC chat” and the right says “Say, emote, pose.”

Press Enter to send. Press Escape to clear the input without sending.

Tip: If you start typing something on the wrong side and press Tab, the game saves your draft so you do not lose it when you switch.

Switching Output: onleft and onright

By default, output from a command appears in whichever pane makes sense for that command type. You can override where the result displays by prefixing your command:

• onleft <command> sends the result to the left (OOC) pane regardless of command type. Good for keeping your RP feed clean.
• onright <command> sends the result to the right (RP) pane.

Examples:

onleft commands
onright who

Switching Input Context: asleft and asright

These prefixes change how the server interprets the command, as if you had typed it on the opposite pane.

• asleft <command> executes the command in OOC context, even if you typed it on the RP side.
• asright <command> executes in RP context, even if typed on the OOC side.

Aliases: atleft = asleft, atright = asright

Keeping Commands in Input: sticky

Prefix any command with sticky and the input field will not clear after you send. Useful for repeated dice rolls, repeated emotes, or anything you plan to fire off several times in a row.

sticky roll 2d6
sticky emote taps the table impatiently

You can combine prefixes in any order:

sticky asleft say Hello
sticky onleft roll 2d6
asleft sticky emote waves

Global Sticky Mode: stickymode

Typing stickymode by itself toggles sticky mode on or off for your entire session. When sticky mode is on, the input field never clears after sending, as if every command had the sticky prefix. Type stickymode again to turn it off. A short confirmation banner appears when you toggle it.

Automatic Grammar Fixing

You can enable grammar checking in the settings menu and it will highlight any potential grammar issues in text you’ve typed. Hitting control/cmd and . will automatically apply fixes.

Undoing a Message

Made a typo or sent the wrong thing? Type undo within 60 seconds to delete your most recent message from everyone’s screen. It works for emotes, says, whispers, and channel messages. Type undo from the same pane where you sent the message (left for OOC, right for IC).

You can only undo your single most recent message. There is no further history to undo.

Moving Around

Use compass directions to move between rooms:

north   south   east   west
ne      nw      se     sw
up      down

All have single-letter shortcuts: n, s, e, w, ne, nw, se, sw, u, d.

On city streets the engine starts continuous directional walking so you glide through multiple rooms smoothly. Inside buildings and interiors each command moves you one room at a time.

You can also use walk, run, crawl, stroll, and many other movement verbs for flavor and varying speed:

walk north
run to tavern
crawl east
angrily stride west

Type stop to halt continuous movement. You cannot leave a room while in combat.

Seeing Who Is Online

who shows who is online in your current zone. Add here or all to narrow or broaden the scope:

who          -- online players in your zone
who here     -- only this room
who all      -- everyone online, grouped by zone and event

Alias: where

Looking Around

look with no argument shows the full room: description, exits, characters present, furniture, and objects.

look              -- the room
look door         -- a specific object or feature
look Mei          -- look at another character
look Mei's sword  -- look at something Mei is holding
look north        -- peek at the exit to see where it leads

Aliases: l, look at

examine gives you the detailed prose description of the room itself, separate from the quick overview look provides. You can also examine <target> to inspect characters and objects more closely.

examine
examine room
examine Mei

Alias: ex

Basic Emoting

emote (also pose or :) performs an action visible to everyone in the room.

If you start your emote with a lowercase letter, the game prepends your character’s name automatically:

emote waves at the newcomer.
-- Result: Liya waves at the newcomer.

If you start with an uppercase letter, you must include your own name in the text (for possessive or third-person constructions):

emote Liya's hand rests on the hilt of her blade.

The game adds a trailing period if you omit punctuation. Use undo if you make a mistake.

Talking to People Out of Character

ooc <name> <message> sends a private, out-of-character message to another player. This is separate from channels and visible only to the two of you:

ooc Mei Hey, is this your first time in Zhuwan too?
ooc Mei,Roku Great scene, both of you!

You can address multiple people at once by separating names with commas. Type ooc with no arguments to see your recent contacts.

For broadcast OOC chat visible to everyone on a channel, use the left (OOC) pane or channel <name> <message>.

News and Announcements

news shows staff announcements grouped into three categories:

• announcement for important game updates
• ic for in-character world news
• ooc for out-of-character announcements

Unread articles are marked [NEW]. Read them by number:

news
news announcement
news 5

Aliases: bulletin, announcements

Reporting Bugs and Suggestions

tickets opens a menu for submitting and tracking player requests. There are quick shortcuts for common cases:

bug       -- report a broken feature
typo      -- flag a text error
suggest   -- submit a suggestion
request   -- request a new feature
report    -- flag player conduct

Staff receive an alert when you submit. You can track status and read resolution notes with tickets list and tickets view <id>.

Letting People Know You Are Busy

afk marks you as away from keyboard. Others in the room see a brief broadcast so they know you stepped away. Type afk again to clear the status. Add a number to set a duration that auto-clears:

afk
afk 30    -- away for 30 minutes

gtg signals that you are about to leave. It works the same way: optional duration, room broadcast, cleared when you return or the timer expires:

gtg
gtg 15    -- leaving in about 15 minutes

Both statuses appear in who and finger output so other players can see your availability at a glance.

Aliases: afk = away, gtg = gottago

Quitting the Game

Type quit (or logout or sleep) to leave safely. Your character goes to sleep in the room where you logged out. The game records your playtime and clears any active states before logging you out. You cannot quit while in combat.

Tip: If your connection drops, you have about five minutes to reconnect before the game times you out. The server also logs you out automatically after three hours of inactivity, so you will not stay stuck online if you forget to quit.

Romance of Five Kingdoms is built around text as the primary medium of play. Every word you say, every gesture you perform, and every bow you give lands in the shared record of the scene. This guide walks you through every tool available, from basic speech to consent mechanics.

---

Speaking: say and its many voices

The say command broadcasts dialogue to everyone in your room. You can use the shortcut " or ' in place of the word say.

say The harbour smells worse than Jīnjiǎ brass in summer.
"The harbour smells worse than Jīnjiǎ brass in summer.

Add an adverb before your message to shade the delivery:

say quietly I have a theory about that merchant.
say excitedly Did you see the ship come in?

Any word ending in -ly works as an adverb. Common ones: quietly, loudly, nervously, excitedly, sadly, angrily, softly, cheerfully.

You also have a full set of verb aliases that change how the output reads: yell, shout, mutter, grumble, scream, moan, gasp, sob, stutter, murmur, flirt, lecture, argue, confess, order, instruct, beg, demand, tease, mock, taunt.

mutter Idiots. All of them.
beg Rúyǔ Please, just this once.

Directed speech

To address someone specifically, use say to:

say to Hóngméi I heard your sect recruits in Tōngzhì now.
tell Hóngméi I heard your sect recruits in Tōngzhì now.

Everyone in the room still hears directed speech. The target sees it as addressed to them; bystanders hear the full exchange. If you have been speaking with someone recently, you can drop the name and say to will continue to that same person.

Speaking through exits

say through north, Is anyone in the study?
yell through door, Stand back!

The recipient hears a voice from the opposite direction. They see “Someone says from south” unless they already know who you are.

---

Emoting: emote, pose, :

The emote command (aliases: pose, :) prepends your name to a freeform action.

emote sets a cup of tea on the table without looking up.
:glances toward the door, one hand resting on the hilt.

Start with a lowercase letter and your name is prepended automatically. Start with a capital letter only if you include your own name in the text:

Yuèhé Lanaris paces to the window and back, visibly agitated.

@mentions

Use @name inside an emote to tag another character. The system substitutes display names as each viewer sees them:

emote leans toward @Hóngméi and says something too low for the room to catch.

The @mention also nudges your character gently toward the target, if you are not already beside them.

Scene framing with adverbs

Adverbs work in emotes too:

emote nervously drums fingers on the table.

---

Subtle actions: subtle

subtle works like emote but is visible only to characters physically close to you (in the same place, or within a few feet ungrouped). Distant characters in the same room see nothing.

subtle slides a folded note across the tabletop toward @Fǎlán.
subtle winks conspiratorially.

Use subtle for small private signals that would not carry across a crowded teahouse. Your dance partner, if you have one, always receives your subtle emotes regardless of distance.

---

Whispers: whisper

whisper delivers the content only to the named target. Everyone else in the room sees that you whispered, but not what you said.

whisper Fǎlán quietly Something is wrong with the count.

Omit the name and whisper becomes a targetless quiet voice: it reaches only characters in your immediate vicinity (same-place bubble).

whisper I cannot stay here much longer.

Your dance partner always hears targetless whispers.

---

Private emotes: private

private sends an emote visible only to you and one other character. No one else in the room sees it at all. Use it for intimate or confidential exchanges that are fully witnessed by the players involved but not broadcast to the room.

private Hóngméi brushes a strand of hair from her face.
private to Rúyǔ squeezes his hand once, briefly.

private with no arguments toggles private mode, which enables adult content to be visible between mutually-opted-in characters.

---

Consent-based actions: attempt

Some physical actions require the other player’s permission. Use attempt (aliases: propose, request) to propose the action. The target receives a prompt to allow or deny it. If they allow, the emote fires as written.

attempt Fǎlán hugs tightly, burying her face in his shoulder.
attempt Rúyǔ presses a formal kiss to the back of his hand.

This is the right tool any time your emote involves contact with another character’s body. You can have only one pending attempt at a time. Wait for a response before trying again.

---

Internal thoughts: think

think (aliases: hope, ponder, wonder, worry, wish, feel, remember) records an internal monologue visible only to you and any characters who have telepathic abilities.

think There is something wrong with this whole arrangement.
worry He knows more than he is letting on.
wonder if the third letter ever arrived.

Use think to keep your character’s inner state alive in the scene without broadcasting it. It also enriches the RP logs available to you later.

---

Bowing

Bowing is how the Empire opens and closes encounters. The degree of your bow signals the respect you intend. The syntax prefixes the degree number directly onto the command word:

45bow Hóngméi
15bow Fǎlán with a casual tilt of the head
90kbow Rúyǔ, pressing his forehead nearly to the floor

bow is a standing bow; kbow is a kneeling bow. Valid degrees run from 1 to 90. Observers see degrees rounded to the nearest fifteen; the target sees the exact figure. Add optional RP text after the target name (separated by a space or comma) to colour the gesture.

A light bow (around 15 degrees) is a polite acknowledgment. Forty-five degrees is genuine respect. Ninety is reserved for profound deference or formal ceremony.

---

Honorifics

Honorifics are the backbone of Àolǎng social language. The four particles are:

Particle	Meaning
Wei	The addressee is your superior at this thing
Xia	The addressee is your inferior
Me	The addressee is your ally
Di	The addressee is your rival

They combine: Weime is a superior ally, Xiadi is an inferior rival, Weidi is a superior rival, Xiame is an inferior ally.

Honorifics attach to names as a prefix: Weime Hóngméi, Xiadi Fǎlán. They also serve as second-person pronouns in direct address, replacing “you” in one-on-one conversation.

They shift sentence to sentence as context shifts. A character addressing someone as Weime in a question of cultivation might shift to Xiame moments later when discussing commerce. That fluidity is the point.

Omitting an honorific entirely is read as evasive or dishonest in polite Àolǎng society. Between very close friends, that omission can read as fond teasing rather than a slight, but it is a risk. Noble society prizes the ability to shift honorifics without directly contradicting anyone, so changing from Me to Di mid-scene can signal a turn in allegiance without a word of overt disagreement.

Type help honorifics in-game for the full reference.

---

Posture: sit, stand, lie

Your posture shapes how others see you in room descriptions and during roleplay.

sit
sit on bench
sit at bar
sit in booth

stand
stand up
stand at window
dance on stage

lie down
lie on bed
lay on couch

sit has a wide range of aliases covering more specific stances: lean against, sprawl, kneel, crouch, lounge, straddle, study. stand covers dance and pace. Use whichever fits the fiction.

---

Eating, drinking, and smoking

Consumables add texture to a scene. Items in your inventory must be the right type.

eat rice cake
taste the broth
drink jasmine tea
sip wine
smoke pipe
puff cigarette
light up cigar

While you are eating, drinking, or smoking, other characters see that activity alongside your description. It ends when the item is finished or you put it away.

Opium circulates widely in the Empire and fluctuates between legal and decriminalized depending on the kingdom and current politics. It is available and IC-appropriate where the story warrants it.

---

Letters and telegrams: mail, letter, telegram

Written messages travel between characters regardless of distance.

mail                    -- open your inbox
mail read 2             -- read memo number two
letter Hóngméi          -- compose a letter to Hóngméi
telegram Fǎlán          -- compose a telegram to Fǎlán
mail delete 3           -- delete memo three

Letters arrive by courier and take time in transit. They are rendered as handwritten correspondence with a period-appropriate header.

Telegrams deliver immediately. They are rendered in all-caps with STOP markers between sentences, true to the wire-telegram aesthetic of the 1940s Empire.

The compose screen opens as a form. Fill in recipient, subject, and body. The system remembers recent contacts for autocomplete.

---

Direct messages: msg, dm

msg (alias: dm) sends an out-of-character or in-character instant message to another character anywhere in the world. It does not pass through the postal system.

msg Hóngméi Are you still in Sìshuǐ?
dm Rúyǔ Meet me at the harbour at midnight.

In the current era, other characters in the room see your eyes flick to a phone when you send one. Use messenger hidden to suppress that tell (available once every twenty minutes). messenger secret hides delivery from observers in the recipient’s room at a cost of 250 silver li per message.

---

Remembering names

Characters do not automatically know each other’s names. You learn a name when:

• Someone introduces themselves in dialogue (“My name is Hóngméi”).
• Someone mentions your name in speech or an emote, and you are present to hear it.
• You have been introduced through another channel.

Until you know a character’s name, you see them by their physical description instead. This is intentional. Introducing yourself IC is meaningful, and the system tracks exactly which name you used (“Méi” versus “Hóngméi” versus “Hóngméi Voss”) so that what others know matches what you chose to share.

---

In-game messaging and notices: msg vs mail

Use case	Tool
Instant contact anywhere, modern style	msg or dm
Formal correspondence, period-appropriate	letter
Fast formal contact across distance	telegram
Notice board posts via messenger	messenger post notice <board> "<title>" <body>

---

Summoning NPCs: summon

summon (aliases: call, beckon) sends word to a nearby NPC asking them to come to you.

summon Magistrate I have information about the smugglers.
call Guard There is trouble at the south docks.

The NPC uses their own judgment about whether to comply. If they declined recently, there is a cooldown before you can ask again. summon works only with NPCs already within summon range, not strangers across the city.

---

Locatability: check in

check in (aliases: checkin, wherevis) controls whether other players can find you in the where list.

check in                  -- open the menu
check in yes              -- visible to anyone
check in favorites        -- visible only to favorites
check in no               -- hidden from where entirely

This is useful when you want a private scene or simply do not want to be interrupted. Per-player visibility overrides can be set through the permissions menu.

---

Permissions and consent: permissions

permissions (aliases: perms, consent) is the master control for how other players can interact with you. Type permissions alone to open the full menu.

Key areas:

General settings (permissions general) cover defaults for everyone: who can see your location, who can send you OOC messages, who can whisper or say to you, who can follow you, and who can dress or style you.

Per-character settings (permissions Hóngméi) let you set exceptions for a specific player, either more permissive or more restrictive than your general defaults.

Content consent (permissions consent) controls whether you participate in unrestricted content (heavy or dark themes). This flag activates only when every player in a room has opted in mutually. The default is PG-13.

Blocks (permissions block Fǎlán) allow you to block a specific player for all interaction types or for specific ones: dm, ooc, channels, interaction, perception. Use permissions unblock Fǎlán to lift a block.

These settings are not IC knowledge. Block and unblock silently, without drama.

---

Scene tools: ooc, scene, endscene

Type ooc <message> to speak out of character to others in your room without it entering the IC record.

scene opens a scene with a title and brief framing. endscene closes it and can add a closing note. Staff and storytellers use these to bracket significant RP events, but players can use them for closed private scenes as well.

Romance of Five Kingdoms gives you several commands for reading your surroundings, checking your own status, and finding places and people across a zone. This guide covers all of them.

---

look

Usage: look [target]

Alias: l

look on its own describes your current room: the name, description, exits, people present, and objects in view. Use it whenever you arrive somewhere new or want to refresh the scene.

You can also direct it at a specific target:

Example	What it does
look	Full room description
look door	Inspect the door in the room
look Sifen	Read Sifen Cho’s description
look Sifen sword	Look at the sword Sifen is carrying
look Sifen's sword	Same, possessive form

If you are blindfolded you will only hear how many people are nearby. If you are aboard a vehicle in transit, look shows the interior and the names of fellow passengers.

---

examine

Usage: examine [target]

Alias: ex

examine gives you the full prose description of a room or object, including seasonal detail that look sometimes abbreviates. Without a target (or with examine room / examine here) you get the current room’s long description.

Example	What it does
examine	Long-form room description
examine here	Same
examine door	Detailed look at the door
examine Maruwa	Close inspection of a character

Use examine when look feels sparse or you want the full atmospheric text before writing a post.

---

places

Usage: places

Aliases: furniture, spots

Lists every named seat, table, counter, or spot in the current room. Useful before you sit or lean somewhere, and tells you how many people a place can hold.

---

who

Usage: who [here|all]

Alias: where

who shows online players grouped by location.

Invocation	Scope
who	Everyone online in your current zone
who here	Only people in your exact room
who all	All online players across the whole world, grouped by zone

Characters in private mode or in secluded rooms will not appear. The output also notes any upcoming public events.

---

score

Usage: score [adventure|sport|art|all]

Aliases: stats, status

score shows your character’s name, current HP as coloured pips, energy pool with regeneration rate, and your core approach stats.

The approach stats are always shown. Specialized skill blocks are hidden by default to save space. Pass a category name to expand one block, or all to see everything:

Example	Shows
score	HP, energy, approach stats
score adventure	Plus the Adventure skill block
score sport	Plus the Sport skill block
score art	Plus the Art skill block
score all	All skill blocks at once

If you are currently a hostage, the time remaining until release appears as a warning at the top.

---

map

Usage: map [room|area|city|mini|battle]

Aliases: viewmap, maps

map opens a visual display of your surroundings. Running it with no arguments gives you a quick-pick menu, or defaults to the battle map if you are in combat.

Subcommand	Display
map room	Floor plan of your current room, showing exits, furniture, and other characters
map area	Hex terrain overview of the region around your location
map city	Bird’s-eye city or zone layout
map mini	Toggle the persistent minimap on or off
map battle	Tactical battle grid (only available in combat)

The minimap toggle persists between sessions, so you only need to set it once.

---

directory

Usage: directory [query]

Aliases: dir, places-in-town

Lists all public buildings in the current town, grouped by type. Works only inside a city or town.

Example	What it shows
directory	Every public building in this town
directory temple	Buildings whose name or type matches “temple”
directory grand	Buildings matching “grand”
directory help	Valid building type keywords

Each entry is a clickable link. Click a name or type walk [name] to travel there directly.

---

landmarks

Usage: landmarks [query]

Aliases: public, locations, destinations

Like directory, but scoped to the entire zone rather than just the town you are standing in. Useful when you want to find a temple, forge, or market that might be in a neighboring district.

Example	What it shows
landmarks	All public buildings across the zone
landmarks forge	Zone-wide buildings matching “forge”

Results are also clickable, and walk [name] works the same way.

---

businesses

Usage: businesses [category]

Aliases: shops, yellowpages

Shows every shop in the current zone, grouped by the town or district they are in. Wandering market vendors with no fixed address are excluded. Once you find a shop you want to visit, go there and type list to see its inventory.

---

Quick reference

Command	Short form	What you get
look	l	Room description, people, exits
examine	ex	Full prose description
places		Seats and furniture in the room
who		Online players in your zone
who here		Online players in your room
who all		Everyone online, worldwide
score	stats	HP, energy, your stats
map room		Floor plan
map area		Terrain hex map
map city		City overview
directory	dir	Public buildings in this town
landmarks	public	Public buildings across the zone
businesses	shops	Shops and merchants in the zone

The Àolǎng Empire spans five kingdoms, dozens of towns, and one of the great port cities of the known world. This guide covers how you get around: step by step inside a location, on foot or by rickshaw across a city, and by rail, gunboat, or carriage between distant towns.

Moving Inside a Location

Every place in the world is divided into rooms connected by exits. You move between them using compass directions, named destinations, or the names of people you want to find.

Compass directions are the fastest way to step from one room to the next:

north    south    east    west
ne       nw       se      sw
up       down

Single-letter abbreviations (n, s, e, w, ne, nw, se, sw, u, d) all work. On outdoor city streets, moving in a direction starts you walking continuously in that direction; you will keep going through each intersection until you type stop. Inside buildings and indoor rooms, a direction command moves you exactly one room.

Named targets let you navigate without knowing the exact layout:

go to market
walk to Grand Temple
run to Yùhua

The engine finds a path from your current position to the destination and walks you there. It accepts room names, character names, and place names. If your target is ambiguous, you will see a menu to pick from.

Movement verbs are all interchangeable in terms of where you end up. Using creep, saunter, stride, stagger, or any of the other synonyms simply colours the message other players see. You can also add a manner adverb:

walk slowly north
stride boldly to the gate

Type stop or halt at any time to cancel movement in progress.

Checking exits before you move:

exits

This lists every passable exit from your current room with a direction arrow and the name of the room it leads to. Rooms connect by shared polygon edges, not by hand-placed door records, so an exit exists whenever two adjacent rooms share a passable boundary. A door or gate will only appear in the exit list if it is currently open; walls always block.

Going home takes you directly to your registered home room without typing a full address:

home

If you have not set a home yet, use sethome while standing in a room you own.

Following and Leading

You can shadow another character’s movement automatically:

follow Yùlín

Every time Yùlín moves, you move with her. Type stop following to break off.

For Yùlín to allow you to follow her, she must first grant permission:

lead Yùlín   (said by you, grants her permission to follow you)

To revoke that permission:

lead stop Yùlín

NPCs can also be asked to follow you with lead <npc name>. Whether they comply depends on their disposition and the request.

Getting Around the City by Taxi

The Àolǎng Empire sits at roughly a 1940s level of technology. Cities have two tiers of hired transport:

• Rickshaws are free and travel at about twice walking speed.
• Black cabs cost 20 to 100 silver li and move at roughly four times walking speed.

Auto-hail on long walks

You usually do not have to think about taxis. When you type go to <destination> or any of the named-target movement commands and the route is longer than about 500 feet on foot, the game treats the trip as “a long walk” and routes you through a taxi automatically. The flow chains together cleanly:

1. If you are inside a building, you walk out to the nearest street.
2. A rickshaw or black cab takes you to the street nearest your destination.
3. You walk the last few rooms into the destination building.

Which tier of ride you get depends on your transport preference. If you have set rickshaw, you board a rickshaw without confirmation. If you have set cab, you board a black cab and the fare is deducted from your wallet. If you have not set a preference yet, a quickmenu appears offering Walk, Rickshaw, and Cab with their estimated travel times. If you cannot afford the fare you picked, the game falls back to walking.

To set or change your default transport preference:

taxi

This opens a short menu where you can choose rickshaw, black cab, or walk-only (never auto-hail). Your preference persists between sessions.

Hailing manually

You can also hail a ride directly to a destination without using go to:

taxi to Grand Temple
rickshaw to harbour
cab to Night Market

The command aliases hail, cab, and rickshaw all work. cab to <destination> always requests a black cab; rickshaw to <destination> always requests a rickshaw; plain taxi to <destination> uses whichever tier you have set as your default.

If you own a personal vehicle, you can also drive it:

drive to market
drive home

Your vehicle must be parked in your current room. If it is elsewhere, the command tells you where to find it. If your vehicle is parked here when you ask for a long walk, the auto-hail prompt offers it as a third option alongside taxi and walking.

Traveling Between Towns and Kingdoms

Journeys between settlements use the world travel system. Towns are hours or days apart even by the fastest vehicles the empire offers: trains on the rail network, gunboats and river ferries along the Jīnhé and the coasts, and road carriages for inland routes without rail.

The travel map

The easiest way to plan a journey is to open the world travel map. Type journey with no arguments:

journey

A modal dialog opens over the webclient with a pre-rendered tile-based world map. You can zoom in and out with the + and - keys (or the on-screen controls), pan by dragging, and recenter on your current location at any time. Major settlements, garrisons, and known wilderness sites are picked out as clickable hexes.

Click any destination and the side panel fills in with your travel options: estimated transit time by each available mode (train, gunboat, ferry, carriage), the fare where relevant, and any flashback shortcuts you qualify for (see below). Pick an option and you depart. Press Escape or click the close button to dismiss the map without committing.

If you would rather skip the map and name a destination directly, you can do that too:

journey to Zhūwān
journey to Cángjìng

This brings up the same travel options for that specific destination without showing the full map. Choose your preferred mode and you depart. While traveling you can check your progress:

eta

This shows your destination, vehicle type, current terrain, distance remaining in hexes, and estimated arrival time. You can also view who else is aboard:

journey party

To leave a journey before it ends, use:

journey disembark

You are set down in the nearest wilderness room along the route. This cannot be undone; you will need to arrange a new journey from there.

To cancel a journey completely (this drops you at the wilderness point and ends travel for your whole party):

stop journey

Group Travel

If you want to travel with others, assemble a party before departing:

1. Run journey to <destination> and choose Assemble Party from the menu.
2. Invite companions who are standing with you in the same location:

   journey invite Sháo
   journey invite Weiming
   

3. Wait for each person to accept the invitation.
4. Launch when your group is ready:

   journey launch
   

To disband a party before launching:

journey cancel

Flashback Travel

Flashback time is an out-of-character convenience that reflects the time your character has been away from active roleplay. Every real-world minute you spend not participating in a scene accrues as flashback time, up to a cap of twelve hours.

When you start a journey, flashback options appear in the travel menu alongside the standard option:

• Flashback (Instant): if you have enough flashback time to cover the full journey, you arrive immediately and the time is deducted.
• Flashback (Reduced): if you have partial flashback time, travel is shortened and you cover the remainder normally.
• Flashback Return (Instanced): you arrive instantly at the destination and a portion of your flashback time is reserved to cover the return trip. While in this instanced state you can only interact with characters who traveled with you; use journey return to jump back to your origin instantly using the reserved time.
• Backloaded (Instanced): you arrive instantly and a return debt is noted. You can roleplay freely at the destination, but you will need to repay the debt before further instant travel is available.

Check your available flashback time any time by running journey with no arguments.

You cannot begin a new journey while already traveling or while inside a flashback instance. Use journey return to exit an instance first.

Overview

Every action you attempt in Romance of Five Kingdoms comes down to a dice roll built from two parts: an approach and a specialized stat. The approach tells the game how you are doing something; the specialized stat tells it what you are doing it with. Together they set the modifier on a 2d8 exploding roll. On top of that foundation sits a separate pool of qi dice you can spend for extra power, plus style abilities that can reshape the dice entirely.

---

Your Stat Blocks

Type score to see your character sheet. By default it shows your approaches and a prompt at the bottom:

score adventure | sport | art | all

Each of the four sections is a separate stat block with its own point budget.

Approaches

Three stats that describe the manner of your attempt. You allocate up to 8 points here (each point costs 1, maximum 4 in any single approach):

Abbreviation	Name	When to use it
QCK	Quick	Anything consciously fast: a punch, a quick answer, a sudden sprint
MTH	Methodical	Taking time to work through a problem reliably: forcing a door, building a logical argument
INS	Instinctive	Acting subconsciously before your mind catches up: dodging something you did not see coming, trusting your gut

Every stat roll requires at least one approach.

Specialized Blocks

Three specialist blocks, each covering a different domain. You receive 24 points in the block of your choice during character creation (max 6 per stat; costs scale up as values increase):

Adventure (default) – general adventuring capability:

Abbreviation	Stat	Covers
POW	Power	Physical strength
GRA	Grace	Agility and dexterity
KNO	Knowledge	Pre-existing knowledge
CUR	Curiosity	Figuring out new things on the fly
INF	Influencing	Swaying people
IGT	Insight	Reading people

Sport – athletic and physical contests:

JMP Jumping, RUN Running, BRF Brute Force, DOD Dodging, CRD Coordination, ACR Acrobatics.

Art – creative and performative disciplines:

PIT Pitch, RHY Rhythm, FMC Fine Motor Control, PAL Palette, IMP Improvisation, ACT Acting.

You cannot mix stats from different specialized blocks in the same roll.

---

The roll Command

The core syntax is:

roll <approach>+<stat>

Examples:

roll QCK+POW        -- quick use of raw power
roll MTH+KNO        -- methodical application of knowledge
roll INS+IGT        -- instinctive read of the room
roll QCK+MTH+GRA    -- two approaches averaged, one specialized stat

The game computes your modifier by taking the ceiling-average of your approach values and the ceiling-average of your specialized values, then adding them. If your QCK is 3 and MTH is 2, combining them gives a ceiling-average of 3 (not 2.5). That modifier is added to a 2d8 roll that explodes on 8 – any 8 rolled generates an additional die, which can itself explode.

Rules and limits:

• At least one approach and at least one specialized stat are required.
• Maximum two approaches and two specialized stats per roll.
• You cannot use the same stat twice in one roll.
• Both specialized stats must come from the same block (you cannot mix Adventure and Sport).

If you type roll with no arguments, a quickmenu appears listing your stats by block, with an option to type a combination manually.

Raw dice notation

When you want to throw dice without stats attached:

roll 2d6
roll 1d20+5
roll 3d8-2

These bypass the approach system entirely and broadcast the result to the room. Limits: 1 to 20 dice, 2 to 100 sides per die.

Crit fail

On any stat-based roll, if one of the two base dice shows 1, the result is flagged CRIT FAIL and displayed in red. If you are spending qi dice on the roll, a qi die showing 1 can also trigger the flag.

---

Qi Dice

Qi is a separate resource tracked as a floating-point pool. You begin every session with 1 qi die and can accumulate up to 3. The pool is displayed as a decimal (for example, 1.5) because partial dice accumulate; you need at least 1.0 to spend a die.

How you gain qi

• Taking damage in combat adds 0.5 qi per HP lost.
• Recovering in an activity: choosing activity recover during a group activity skips your roll for the round but grants qi.
• Qi regenerates gradually over the course of combat rounds.
• When you leave all active sessions (fights, activities, delves) and return to the open world, your pool resets to 1.0.

What qi dice do

Each whole qi die you spend adds +1d8 exploding on 8 to the roll’s total. Qi dice roll alongside the base 2d8 and their results are added in directly. Spending qi is therefore a meaningful boost – especially if a style ability has upgraded your qi dice (see below).

Spending qi in activities

During a group activity, before you mark yourself ready for a round:

activity qi 0     -- spend no qi this round
activity qi 1     -- spend 1 qi die for +1d8
activity qi 2     -- spend 2 qi dice for +2d8

The command confirms your choice and deducts the dice when the round resolves.

Spending qi in delves

When you reach a skill check in a delve, the prompt asks whether you want to spend qi. Include qi in your response to spend one die on that check.

---

Style Abilities and Roll Bonuses

If your character has learned a martial style, many of its abilities can boost your dice rolls during adventuring. This is separate from combat – it is how style training helps you climb, restrain opponents, move through shadows, and perform other physical feats.

Two steps: invoke then roll

Step 1. Invoke the ability before you roll:

invoke <ability_key>

For example:

invoke thorn_snare
invoke shadows_veil
invoke stone_fist
invoke guardian_bloom

A short narrative line is echoed to the room when the ability arms. If you have not trained the relevant style to the required level you will see an error.

Step 2. Roll as usual. On your next qualifying roll the game checks whether the armed ability applies to the task. If it does, the bonus fires and appears above your roll result. The armed state is consumed by the roll whether the bonus fires or not.

Types of bonus

Depending on which ability you invoke and the nature of your task, the effect might be any of the following:

Effect	What it does
Flat bonus	Adds a fixed amount to the final roll total
Explode extras	Adds faces that trigger extra explosions (for example, 6s and 7s also chain in addition to 8s)
Reroll	Rerolls specific faces once before totalling (for example, rerolls any 1)
Reroll below N	Rerolls any base die that showed strictly below N, once
Floor	Sets a minimum value for the final total
Qi die floor	Sets a minimum value for each qi die rolled, guaranteeing a solid contribution from qi spend
Qi die explode extras	Adds extra explosion faces specifically on qi dice

Bonuses compose when multiple effects are armed: flat bonuses sum, explode and reroll faces union, and floors take the strongest value.

Conditions that gate a bonus

Some abilities only fire when specific conditions are met:

• Task type. Stealth abilities fire on stealth tasks; restraint abilities fire when you are trying to catch or hold something. The game classifies your task description automatically.
• Qi spend. Some abilities require you to have spent at least one qi die on the roll to activate.
• Approach. A few abilities are gated on a specific approach (for example, only fires on Methodical rolls).
• Room context. Abilities tied to terrain (a wood-sensing technique near a forest, for instance) check the current room automatically.

If the conditions are not satisfied the armed row is consumed silently and no bonus applies.

Scope: who benefits

Most abilities arm only on your own next roll (self scope). Some arm on a companion’s roll instead:

• Target scope. The bonus arms on the character you are assisting. Invoke the ability, then help your ally with their task.
• Group scope. The bonus arms on every character sharing your current room. All of them receive the effect on their next qualifying roll.

Finding ability keys

The ability key is always a short snake_case identifier matching the ability’s name (for example, guardian_bloom, natures_grasp, stone_fist). Use helpfile <style name> or ask a staff member to see the full list for any style you have trained.

---

Quick Reference

score                      -- view HP, energy, approaches
score adventure            -- view Adventure stat block
score sport                -- view Sport stat block
score art                  -- view Art stat block
score all                  -- view all stat blocks at once

roll QCK+POW               -- quick physical roll
roll MTH+KNO               -- methodical knowledge roll
roll INS+IGT               -- instinctive social read
roll QCK+MTH+GRA           -- two approaches, one specialized stat
roll 2d6                   -- raw dice (no stats)

activity qi 1              -- spend 1 qi die on your next activity roll
activity qi 2              -- spend 2 qi dice
activity recover           -- skip your roll this round, gain qi

invoke <ability_key>       -- arm a style ability before your next roll

Starting a Fight

To attack someone in the same room, type attack <name> (or fight <name>, combat <name>, engage <name>; they all do the same thing). If the target is a combatant NPC, the fight begins immediately. If the target is another player, the rules depend on where you are.

Zone rules:

• Open zones, most of the world. You can attack freely.
• Safe zones, certain areas (including parts of Zhūwān) block PC-initiated lethal combat unless a stealth alarm has been triggered. You will see an error if you try. Use spar for friendly practice here.
• Consent zones, attacking a player sends them a challenge. They must accept before the fight begins. The game will tell you if a challenge is pending.

You cannot attack your own side, and you cannot attack RP-only NPCs who have no combat training.

Sparring

spar <name> opens a friendly match that uses the same mechanics as real combat but tracks “touches” rather than HP damage. When your touch count hits your max HP, you are touched out and the round ends without anyone being hurt. Sparring is allowed in safe zones and is the standard way to practice techniques or settle grudges without consequences.

The Round Structure

Once combat starts, every participant configures their action for the round through the combat quickmenu. The round does not resolve until everyone has marked their input complete (or the input timer expires).

Each round follows this sequence:

1. Input phase. The quickmenu opens for each participant. You set your choices in any order, then mark Done.
2. Resolution. When all inputs are in, the engine resolves the entire round at once. Each fighter makes one main roll at the start of resolution; there is no mid-round dice rolling.
3. Results. Narrative text describes what happened. HP totals update. The quickmenu reopens for the next round.

If you submit your choices and change your mind before the round locks, type attack (with no arguments) to reopen the menu and adjust.

The Combat Quickmenu

The quickmenu is a hub: a single screen with seven configurable slots that you visit in any order before marking Done. The slots are:

Slot	What you set
Action	Your main action: Attack, Defend, Dodge, Sprint, Ability, Flee, or Surrender.
Tactic	A tactical stance for the round (see below), or a tactical ability if you have one.
Flavor	A free-text hint (up to 140 characters) describing how your character is fighting this round.
Movement	Where you want to move on the hex map.
Use Qi	How many qi dice to spend on your roll.
Options	Weapon selection (melee vs ranged) and reckless-movement toggle.
Style	Switch to a different combat style for the round (takes effect next round).

Each slot shows a checkmark when set, and the Done button confirms validation messages so you can see what is still required.

Flavor

The Flavor slot is the easiest way to colour a fight without writing emotes between rounds. Whatever you type, up to 140 characters, is fed into the round’s prose layer as a hint. It does not affect dice; it shapes how the engine describes what your character does this round. Use it to set a mood (“circling, watching for an opening”), a target (“focus on her wrist this time”), or a tone (“savage, no restraint”). Blank or clear resets it.

Main Actions

Action	What it does
Attack	Strike your current target. The default choice.
Defend	Focus entirely on blocking and parrying. Reduces incoming damage.
Dodge	Move out of harm’s way. Different defensive profile than Defend; your style determines which is better for you.
Sprint	Move aggressively across the battle map. Covers more ground but leaves you vulnerable.
Ability	Use a martial technique from your combat style (see below).
Flee	Attempt to break out of the fight and move to an adjacent room. Not guaranteed to succeed.
Surrender	Give up. Ends the fight for you (the outcome depends on your opponent).

You can also change your attack target mid-combat: attack <name> while already in a fight switches your focus.

The Main Roll

At the start of round resolution, every active fighter makes one main roll. That single result is the engine’s read on how well your character performs this round; it powers both whether attacks land and how hard they hit, with damage scaled by the threshold table below.

The roll is 2d8 exploding on 8: two eight-sided dice, and any die showing an 8 rolls again and adds. To the dice the engine adds your stat modifier, derived from your active style and weapon. Melee weapons key off Strength; ranged weapons key off Dexterity. Your wound penalty is subtracted, and any qi dice you spent are added on top.

If your roll wildly overshoots a target’s defence, that excess feeds into the damage threshold table; a glancing roll over the line still hurts, but a brutal overshoot can carve multiple HP off in one round.

Standard Tactical Actions

The Tactic slot lets you adopt a stance for the round, separate from your main action. The stances are:

Stance	Effect
Area Denial	Block enemies from moving past you. Lateral movement within 1 hex of you is denied, and climbers get kicked back down. Qi Lightness users bypass this.
Qi Aura	Each attacker who hits you this round deals 5 less damage. Costs your qi regeneration for the round.
Qi Lightness	+3 hexes of movement, and you ignore terrain penalties (hazards, climbing). Costs your qi regeneration for the round.
Guard	Protect an adjacent ally. 50% chance to redirect their incoming damage to you, with a +2 damage modifier on the incoming hit.
Back to Back	Mutual protection with an adjacent ally. 25% one-sided redirect, rising to 50% with -1 damage if both of you take the stance.
None	Skip the stance, no effect.

If your style includes tactical abilities (healing techniques, buffs, debuffs, sect-specific manoeuvres), they appear here alongside the stances. Tactical abilities resolve during round resolution, not as a standalone main action, so you can pair them with an attack.

The Tactic menu also surfaces environment options when relevant: smashing a window adjacent to you, breaking a debris pile to clear or block a path, detonating a munitions crate within reach.

Qi in Combat

Qi fuels both attack and defence. You begin each fight with a pool of qi dice. Spending them on an attack rolls those dice and adds the result to your damage. Spending them on defence rolls them as armour against incoming strikes. Each die explodes on an 8.

You gain qi as you take damage; adversity sharpens it. The pool caps at 3 dice, and you regenerate a fraction of a die each round even without taking hits. Two stances (Qi Aura and Qi Lightness) consume your regeneration for the round in exchange for their effect.

Combat Styles and Abilities

Your active style determines which abilities you can use and how your basic attacks behave. Outside combat, list and switch with:

stance               -- show your current stance and all known styles
stance <style name>  -- switch to a different style

Inside combat, style switching goes through the Style slot of the quickmenu and takes effect at the start of the next round.

Abilities are special techniques drawn from your martial style. Each has its own effect: extra damage, debuffs, repositioning on the hex map, ally protection. They appear in the menu under the Ability action when available. Using an ability costs qi dice and may impose a cooldown.

Restrictions in special fights

When a fight is launched as part of a stealth mission, the engine quietly filters your ability list to two flags: abilities marked non-lethal and abilities marked stealthable. Anything you know that fails either filter is hidden from the menu, since a stealth mission turns into a much harder problem the moment a guard is killed or a wall comes down loudly. A few styles are predominantly lethal; expect those characters to lean on basic attacks and tactical stances during stealth work.

Sparring does not hard-block abilities. The same menu options are available, but all damage is converted to touches against your sparring max, so killing strikes simply touch you out instead of taking you to the floor.

The Hex Map and Movement

Every fight runs on a hex grid: you, your opponents, terrain features, and hazards all occupy specific hexes, and most actions care about the distance between them. The webclient renders the grid graphically alongside the quickmenu. For screen-reader and text-only play, the combat command gives you the same information in plain text.

Reading the map with combat

The text-mode interface (also aliased as cb, ci, fight status, battle) prints a clear list of who is where and what they can do.

Command	What it shows
combat or combat status	Round, phase, your HP / Qi, enemy count.
combat enemies	Each enemy: name, HP, distance in hexes, weapon, status.
combat allies	Same detail for allies.
combat recommend	Suggested target with reasoning (low HP, in melee range, etc.).
combat actions	Available actions this round, with command syntax.
combat menu	The quickmenu rendered as numbered text.
combat help	Full subcommand list.

Distances are always in hexes. HP is always shown as current/max. A typical melee weapon reaches 1 hex; ranged weapons reach further. The combat system always treats melee as adjacent (1 hex); reach mainly affects when segments compress.

Movement

The Movement slot in the quickmenu lets you set where to move during the round. You can move toward someone, away from them, to a specific hex, stand still, flee, or perform style-specific moves like wall-flip. Sprinting (as your main action) lets you cover more ground at the cost of defence.

Base movement costs 1 hex per movement point. Hazard hexes (see below) cost 2. Qi Lightness flattens all that back to 1 and lets you climb any elevation difference without needing a ramp or stairs.

Map features

The hex grid is richer than just open ground. The terrain you fight on can include:

• Elevation. Hexes carry an elevation level. Attacking from higher ground gives you up to +2 on the attack roll; attacking from lower ground gives you the inverse penalty. Climbing or descending more than 5 levels in one step requires a ramp, stairs, or ladder hex; otherwise you cannot make the transition without Qi Lightness.
• Walls. Solid wall hexes block movement and (depending on type) line of sight. Doorways, archways, and openings are passable; gates and doors only when open.
• Cover. Many hexes carry a cover object (a tree, a column, a stack of crates, debris). Cover gives the occupant defensive benefit against incoming attacks across the line of sight.
• Windows. Breakable. Adjacent fighters can smash them through the Tactic menu, creating a new path or an open_window hazard tile.
• Breakable elements. Crates, statues, and similar can be broken to clear or alter the battlefield. Munitions crates can be detonated for an area effect.

Hazard hexes

Hazards are tiles that affect anyone standing on them or moving through them. The full list includes:

• Fire and fire hazard: damage on enter or end-of-round.
• Oil: slips you on entry, ignites if a fire reaches it.
• Sharp ground: cuts feet on entry.
• Puddle and frozen patch: slip or knock-down risk.
• Long fall: an exposed edge; being shoved off is bad news.
• Open window: passable but exposed.
• Poison cloud and ice zone: persistent zones inflicting on residents.
• Pressure zone: triggers an effect tied to who steps on it.

All of them double movement cost for ordinary fighters, and most of them inflict their own damage or status on top. Qi Lightness ignores the cost (but not the secondary effect, so don’t sprint through fire).

Studying Other Fighters

study <name> lets you quietly observe another character to learn something about their combat style. Each time your target performs an emote in the same room, there is a chance you catch a glimpse of one of their styles. There is also a chance your target notices the scrutiny. Use study stop to end the observation.

How Damage Resolves

Romance of Five Kingdoms does not subtract raw damage numbers from HP directly. Instead, raw damage is compared against a threshold table to determine how many HP you actually lose. The thresholds shift based on how wounded you already are.

Base thresholds (unwounded):

Raw Damage	HP Lost
0 to 9	0 (miss)
10 to 17	1 HP
18 to 29	2 HP
30 to 99	3 HP
100 to 199	4 HP
200 to 299	5 HP
300+	6+ HP (scales upward)

Wound penalty. Every HP you have already lost shifts all thresholds down by 1. If you are at 4 out of 6 HP (2 HP lost, penalty of 2), the miss threshold drops from 9 to 7, meaning 8 raw damage now deals 1 HP instead of missing. The more battered you are, the easier it is to hurt you further.

Early hits feel glancing, but fights can turn quickly once someone accumulates wounds.

Healing and Recovery

Characters have 6 HP by default. Losing HP does not just lower your current health; it also degrades your maximum HP over time.

How degradation works. Each time you take cumulative damage equal to your current maximum HP, your maximum drops by 1 (minimum 1). Your current HP is capped to the new maximum. A character who fights repeatedly without resting eventually has a lower ceiling to heal to.

Recovering current HP between fights:

• Rest naturally. Simply not fighting restores current HP to your current maximum over time.
• Activity rest rounds. Group activities and adventures include dedicated rest phases. During a rest round, use activity heal to restore your current HP up to your maximum. activity continue votes to move on; the group advances when a majority is ready.

Recovering lost maximum HP requires either time away from combat or the right facility.

• Wait it out. Maximum HP regenerates automatically after 6 hours without taking damage. Logging off overnight is enough to fully recover.
• Soak at the Cuìquán Teahouse in Zhūwān. The mineral springs in the teahouse cellar are the only place in the empire where degraded max HP can be restored on demand. 2 Gold Dollars at the front desk buys an afternoon’s access; in the pool, you regain 1 maximum HP every 15 minutes until you are back to full.

There is no in-game heal command from town apothecaries or surgeons. Towns have herbalists and apothecaries as flavour and roleplay anchors, but mechanical HP recovery runs through rest, activity heal rounds, and (for max-HP damage) the Zhūwān springs.

Quick Command Reference

Command	Purpose
attack <target>	Start a fight, or set your attack target during combat
fight <target>	Alias for attack
spar <target>	Start a friendly sparring match
stance	Show known styles and active stance
stance <style>	Switch to a different combat style (outside combat only)
study <target>	Observe someone to learn their style
study stop	Stop observing
combat	Show combat status during a fight
combat enemies	List enemies with HP and position
combat allies	List allies with HP and position
combat recommend	Get a target suggestion
combat actions	List available actions this round
combat menu	Show the quickmenu as numbered text
activity heal	Heal during an activity rest round
activity continue	Vote to move on during an activity rest round

What Is Energy?

Energy is a passive resource that accumulates continuously, whether you are logged in or sleeping offline. It represents readiness, focus, and the stamina you bring to demanding undertakings. Your maximum is 2,000 energy. You start at zero and work your way up.

Check your current energy at any time with score. The bar shows your current total, your cap, and your live accumulation rate.

---

How Energy Regenerates

Energy builds up automatically every minute without any input from you. The rate slows as your pool fills, so the first thousand points arrive quickly and the final stretch takes longer.

Pool range	Base rate
0 to 999	0.1 per minute
1,000 to 1,499	0.05 per minute
1,500 to 1,999	0.025 per minute

At the base rate of 0.1 per minute, filling the first tier from empty takes about 10,000 minutes (roughly 167 hours). Because the rate drops at 1,000 and again at 1,500, a full pool takes longer than a simple division would suggest.

Active Engagement Bonus

When you are logged in not afk, your regen rate gains a +10% multiplier on top of whatever tier you are in.

RP Quality Multiplier

Your accumulated roleplaying quality score also scales your regen. The assessment runs automatically after long RP sessions and produces a grade (see the RP Quality section below). That grade maps to a multiplier between 0.2 and 2.5. A player at grade S earns energy noticeably faster than one at grade F. The default for an unassessed character is grade B, which equals a multiplier of 1.0.

Both bonuses stack multiplicatively with each other and with the tier rate.

---

RP Quality Grades

The game periodically reviews long RP sessions and assigns a grade that feeds directly into your energy regen multiplier. You do not trigger this manually; it fires automatically after a qualifying transcript builds up. The system blends your most recent session’s score with your best score in the past seven days in each category. So RPing more often will generally increase your score as you’ll benefit from your best day in the last seven in that category. But quality matters more than quantity.

The grading criteria are: Positive (8) — higher is better

• believability — grounded, consistently in-character
• thematic_setting — fit with wuxia romantasy setting
• thematic_etiquette — honorifics, bows, courtly manners
• wit — sharp, clever prose/dialogue
• excitement — momentum, tension, dramatic energy
• support_others — gives other PCs room and hooks
• depth — emotional/psychological/thematic depth
• creativity — original, specific, imaginative

Negative (4) — higher is worse

• slop — generic, padded, repetitive
• theme_breaking — anachronism, mismatched style
• fourth_wall — OOC intruding into IC
• ooc_unpleasantness — non-narrative meanness rather than valuable IC conflict

---

What Spends Energy

Energy is spent when you commit to major activities. Below are the costs sourced directly from the game systems.

Jianghu Adventures

When an adventure triggers, each participant in the party pays up to 1,000 energy (everything you have, capped there). The exact amount spent becomes your personal reward budget for that adventure: a party member who showed up with 900 energy earns roughly three times the rewards of one who had 300.

If the adventure fails to generate and gets aborted, your energy is refunded.

How much of your energy budget goes toward treasure, influence, or cultivation ingredients depends on the adventure’s outcome focus, which is determined at the climax.

Earning Destiny points during the adventure applies a further per-point bonus.

Society Events (Jianghu Gatherings)

Role	Cost
Hosting (one host)	500 energy
Co-hosting (split equally)	250 energy each
Attending	100 energy
Performing (musician, dancer, etc.)	50 energy
Exhibition fight participant	50 energy

Energy spent here converts to influence at a rate of 1.5 influence per energy. The final influence award is then scaled by how the event and your personal participation are graded.

Stealth Missions

Drafting a stealth mission plan costs 250 energy, spent upfront when you submit the plan. If the plan synthesis fails, the energy is refunded. If you cancel before execution, you also recover the 250.

Delves

Each delve entry costs 50 energy. This is non-refundable regardless of outcome.

Offline Work

You can convert energy directly to coin using influence and selecting the Offline Work option. The rate is 5 energy per Gold Dollar (equivalently, 0.2 dollars per energy point). You must spend in multiples of 5, with a minimum of 5 energy per transaction.

This is useful when you are energy-rich and currency-poor, or when you want to bank resources before a long offline stretch.

---

Reading the Energy Bar

The score command renders a live energy bar with color-coded zones:

Color	Range
Green	Below 1,000
Blue	1,000 to 1,499
Purple	1,500 and above

The label next to the bar shows your current total, the cap (2,000), and your current per-minute rate. When you are full it reads FULL instead of a rate.

---

Practical Notes

• Energy accumulates while you sleep, travel, or are logged off. There is no decay and no penalty for holding a full pool.
• You cannot go below zero. Activities that would cost more than you have are blocked until you regenerate enough.
• For adventures, the system takes whatever you have up to 1,000, so arriving at a trigger with 1,000 or more is the sweet spot.
• Improving your RP quality grade is the single highest-leverage way to increase long-term energy income, since it multiplies every minute of accumulation including offline regen.

Cultivation is the refinement of qi through disciplined breath, sworn forms, and herbal pills distilled from rare mountain flora. A practiced cultivator can shatter stone with an open palm, stride across water, and deflect blade-strikes that would kill any unblooded soldier. It is understood throughout the Àolǎng Empire that only those of noble blood walk this path. When a commoner appears to show the gift, inquiry quickly uncovers hidden noble lineage.

The mechanics of cultivation are practical: pills to advance your style rank, active practice to reduce the cost of those pills, and the qi die system to amplify your performance in any high-stakes moment.

---

The Cultivation Interface

Open the cultivation panel at any time with cultivate (alias: cult). The interface shows three panels in one:

• Known styles with your current rank (1-9) and the recipe needed to reach the next rank.
• Available styles you have not yet learned.
• Shop where you purchase ingredients.

Rank 9 is the mastery ceiling for any given style.

---

Buying Ingredients

Ingredients are purchased directly through the cultivation interface. There are two currencies at play.

Gold Dollar ingredients are the cheaper base-tier materials, sold at a price scaled to your energy work-rate. You buy these with coin from your wallet.

Influence ingredients are rarer materials purchased with accumulated social influence rather than coin. They range from modest (Red Vein Tuber, value 9) to extraordinarily rare (Lacquer Tear, value 100). Influence ingredients carry the bulk of the cost at higher ranks.

The recipe displayed in the cultivation interface shows exactly what you need before you commit to a purchase.

What the Costs Mean

The base recipe cost for a given level is level × 100, scaled by a multiplier based on how many styles you already know. Your first and second style share a cost multiplier of 1×. Every additional style costs exponentially more: a third style costs 2×, a fourth 4×, and so on.

Boosts (described below) reduce the ingredient cost for your next pill by up to 50%.

---

Brewing a Pill

Once your inventory matches the recipe, return to the cultivation interface and select the style you want to advance. The system consumes the ingredients and either grants you rank 1 in a new style or advances your existing rank by one.

There is no separate brew command. The crafting is handled entirely through the cultivate interface.

---

Cultivating Faster: Boosts

Practice earns you boost points. When you craft a pill, accumulated boosts automatically reduce the ingredient cost for the following level’s recipe by up to 50%. The reduction is consumed at the moment of crafting, so there is no stockpiling across multiple levels.

All boost sources are capped on a rolling weekly basis. Once you hit the weekly cap for a source, further practice in that vein earns nothing until the week resets.

Sparring

spar <target> initiates a friendly sparring match. Sparring uses the full combat engine but tracks touches rather than lethal damage. It is exempt from most zone combat restrictions.

Each round of a spar earns boosts across three channels:

• Spar-style (+5 per round, capped at 50/week): awarded for the specific style you are fighting in. These are applied only to that style’s next-level recipe.
• Spar-general (+2 per round, capped at 50/week): a general cultivation bonus not tied to any single style. You receive an additional +1 per round if any opponent has a higher style rank than you.
• Master spar (+10 per round, capped at 50/week, shared pool): if your opponent holds rank 7 or higher in their style and outranks you in that same style and you already know that style (rank ≥ 1), you gain accelerated boosts toward it. This counts against the shared master pool (see below).

The practical takeaway: spar regularly, fight opponents who are stronger than you, and focus your active style on the one you want to advance.

Combat

Real combat also earns boost points. Each combat round where you fight using a style earns +4 toward that style (capped at 100/week). Combat accrues more total points than sparring allows, but the danger is real.

Master Lessons

If you find a cultivator who holds rank 7 or higher in a style and outranks you in it, ask them to teach you with teach <student> <style>. The teacher begins a lesson session that captures the transcript of everything said in the room. When the teacher ends the session with teach stop, an evaluation scores the lesson on five criteria: how well it embodied the style’s themes, its wuxia master-student quality, creativity, interactivity, and the degree of tension or conflict between teacher and student.

A genuinely good lesson can award up to 200 boost points toward the student’s next pill in that style. Rote drills at a training dummy score poorly; unusual, contested, interactive lessons score well.

Master spar and master lesson boosts draw from a shared weekly pool capped at 200 points. Once that pool is full, neither source adds more until the week resets.

Intimate Chemistry

At chemistry level 5 or higher with another character (tier: Blaze), being intimate together converts a fraction of that chemistry into general cultivation boosts. The boost scales with how many chemistry points are consumed in the process. These general boosts are not tied to any one style and reduce the cost of whichever pill you craft next.

---

Qi Dice

Qi dice are a separate pool from the regular dice you roll for skill checks. They represent surges of refined qi channeled in the heat of the moment, and they follow their own rules entirely.

The Pool

Your qi dice pool is a floating-point value between 0.0 and 3.0. You start each fight, delve, or activity with 1.0 qi die. Only whole dice can be spent; fractions accumulate toward your next die.

• In combat: you gain 0.5 qi per HP you lose. Taking two solid hits can push you from 1.0 to 2.0. The maximum cap is 3.0. Between sessions your pool resets to 1.0.
• Regeneration: you recover 0.34 qi per combat round passively. Choosing the Qi Aura or Qi Lightness tactical options suppresses this regen for that round.
• In delves: use the focus action (30 seconds) to gain 1 qi die manually, up to the 3.0 cap.

Your pool is shared across context. A die spent in a delve is gone for the duration of that delve; your pool carries over between sessions if you remain in an active engagement.

How to Spend Qi Dice in Combat

In the combat quickmenu, select Use Qi. You can allocate up to 2 dice per round (total, not per slot). Each die you allocate is spent permanently for that round:

Allocation	Effect
Attack	Each die adds one exploding d8 to your damage roll
Defense	Each die adds one exploding d8 of armor (subtracts from incoming damage)
Ability	Each die adds one exploding d8 to your active ability roll
Movement	Each die is rolled as a d8; half the total (rounded down) becomes bonus hexes

All qi dice explode on their maximum face. A roll of 8 on a d8 is re-rolled and added, repeatedly if you keep rolling 8s. This means qi spends can produce dramatic bursts of damage, protection, or speed in a single round.

You can skip qi allocation to save dice for a later round.

How to Spend Qi Dice in Activities

During a mission or group activity, use activity qi <0-2> to declare how many dice you are spending before the round resolves. Each die adds an extra d8 (exploding) to your check roll for that round.

How to Spend Qi Dice in Delves

Delve obstacles can be crossed with the qi option. If you have dice available, the cross <direction> qi variant gives a bonus to your skill check when forcing a passage.

Grading Your Qi Die

The base qi die is a d8 (sides: 8, explodes on 8). This is not fixed. The face count of your qi die rises with your romantic chemistry.

Chemistry is a measure of the depth of your connection with another character. It accrues through roleplay, through conflict, through presence, and through intimacy. Chemistry tiers run from None through Spark, Kindling, Flame, Blaze, Inferno, and Transcendent (tiers 0-6). The tier of your strongest chemistry relationship determines a bonus that is added to your base d8 to give your personal qi die its face count:

Chemistry Tier	Bonus Faces	Resulting Die
None (0)	0	d8
Spark (1)	+1	d9
Kindling (2)	+2	d10
Flame (3)	+3	d11
Blaze (4)	+5	d13
Inferno (5)	+7	d15
Transcendent (6)	+8	d16

The die can climb as high as d20 at the absolute upper limit. Proximity matters too: the bonus is multiplied by how close you are to the person. Being in the same room gives full value; the same building gives 80%; the same city 50%; distance reduces it further with a recency decay over 48 hours.

Fighting alongside or against someone you have deep chemistry with amplifies the multiplier further. A 1v1 duel against a rival at chemistry tier 4 applies a 2× conflict multiplier to the bonus, potentially pushing your die far above what passive proximity achieves. This is the engine behind the lore observation that rivals often advance faster than friends.

At d10 or higher, your qi becomes visible. Observers in the same room see that you look radiantly healthy, your skin all but glowing.

If your chemistry relationship fades, your die downgrades.

Chemistry criteria

Positive criteria (0.0-1.0, higher = better):

• wit - flirtatious banter, innuendo, double entendre.
• rivalry - friction, one-upmanship, enjoyable competition
• vulnerability - risking embarrassment publicly
• actions - gestures (gifts, dates, letters)
• appearance - varied outfits, alluring-but-not-cheap
• caring - non-performative concern, especially costly; protecting without patronizing
• visible_attraction - staring, being flustered
• ill_concealed_attraction - trying and failing to hide it
• specificity - complimenting particulars, not generics

Negative criteria (0.0-1.0, higher = worse):

• ironic_distance - over-the-top compliments for deniability
• crudeness - blunt sexual comments without wit
• non_commitment - avoiding affection around others, keeping options open
• patronizing - unwanted protection, treating partner as lesser
• meanness - unpleasant in a non-teasing way
• passivity - only replying, never initiating
• narcissism - RPing your character as innately more attractive than others
• entitlement - acting owed others’ interest
• shallow - generic compliments that fit anyone

---

Quick Reference

Goal	Command
Open cultivation / buy ingredients / brew a pill	cultivate
Start a sparring match	spar <target>
Teach a style to a student	teach <student> <style>
End a teaching session	teach stop
Gain qi in a delve	focus
Spend qi in combat	Combat quickmenu: Use Qi
Spend qi in activities	activity qi <0-2>

A last note: your qi die grade, the pill cost you face, and the boosts you accumulate are all intertwined with the relationships you build. Cultivation in the Àolǎng Empire has always been as much a social discipline as a physical one.

Stealth missions are your family’s way of striking at rivals without open war. You slip operatives into a school’s archive, an embassy compound, or a rival warehouse; you pull what you came for; and you get out before the catchers arrive. Every move has a cost, every failure raises heat, and a bad night can leave your people locked in someone else’s cellar.

Purpose and Stakes

A stealth mission lets your family take something, copy something, or shift the political balance without putting your name on a declaration of war. The three target kinds reflect different ambitions:

• School raids target a martial school’s restricted manuals. A successful school raid earns your family pages toward unlocking a new ability, eventually completing a FamilyManual that lets every eligible member learn the technique.
• Embassy raids target a kingdom’s diplomatic presence. Success (or partial success after a fight) shifts that kingdom’s resource metrics, such as their wealth or military standing, according to what you were after.
• Warehouse raids target a kingdom’s trade infrastructure and work the same way, with wealth as the primary lever.

There are also finer goal kinds within those targets: manual, tactical_plans, trade_deals, cultural_artifact, intelligence, and custom. The goal kind shapes which kingdom metrics shift at the end.

Creating a Mission

You need to belong to a family and have at least 250 energy on hand. That energy is spent immediately when you draft the plan; it buys the AI synthesis pass that constructs the activity layout, round sequence, and narrative brief.

mission start school <school_key> [--goal "steal the silent-step form"] [--plan "..."]
mission start embassy <kingdom_house>
mission start warehouse <kingdom_house>

After you submit, the server queues a synthesis job. You will receive a notification within 1 to 6 hours when the plan is ready. If synthesis fails for any reason (the AI returned unusable output, or a composition rule triggered), your 250 energy is refunded automatically and the mission enters plan_failed.

You can optionally pass --goal with free text describing your objective, and --plan with tactical notes. Both are fed into the synthesis prompt, so the more specific you are, the more focused the generated layout will be.

Composition rule: You cannot raid your own group. School raiders must not belong to the target school. Embassy and warehouse raiders must not belong to the target kingdom’s house. This check runs at draft time, at launch time, and again when synthesis returns, so late house-switches cannot sneak someone onto their own faction’s mission.

Recruiting Companions

Once a mission is ready, other characters can join it:

mission join <mission_id>
mission join <mission_id> --invest

Joining free costs nothing. Joining with --invest spends 250 energy from the companion’s pool, marking them as a full stake-holder. Invested companions receive the same influence reward tier as the initiator on success; free companions receive a reduced share. The same composition rule applies: no joining a raid against your own group.

Launching

Only the initiator can launch:

mission launch <mission_id>

Launch commits the confirmed party, creates an activity instance, and teleports everyone to the target entrance. From this point the mission is running and the activity rounds begin.

To cancel before launch:

mission cancel <mission_id>

Cancelling before running refunds the initiator’s 250 energy. Cancelling a running mission (or during alarm_tripped) does not refund energy.

Round Types

Stealth missions use the standard activity round system. Each generated mission contains a sequence of rounds; the synthesis AI chooses the types based on your goal and plan notes. Understanding what each round demands helps you pick a party with the right abilities.

Round Type	What it demands
Standard	A stat-based skill roll; the most common infiltration obstacle (picking a lock, scaling a wall, forging a seal).
Reflex	A fast-response roll with a 2-minute window instead of the normal 8; a guard patrol is rounding the corner.
Group Check	Everyone rolls; the party’s combined result determines success; no one can sit this one out.
Combat	A fight breaks out mid-mission; the party must win or the round counts as a failure.
Persuade	A social or deception roll adjudicated by the AI narrator; talking your way past a sentry or convincing a clerk you belong there.
Free Roll	An open-ended roll also adjudicated by the AI narrator; creative solutions and unconventional gambits land here.
Branch	A decision point; the party chooses between two paths, each leading to a different sub-sequence of rounds.
Rest	A pause to recover between difficult segments; no roll required.
Break	A pure narrative beat with no mechanical action.

Reflex and Group Check rounds are mandatory for all participants; no one can hang back to help others. Standard and combat rounds allow more tactical flexibility.

The Alarm System

Every round that the party fails increments a fail_count on the mission. When fail_count reaches 3, or when the final round of the activity fails, the alarm trips. The alarm also trips if the party somehow fails a round that is explicitly marked as a mission finale.

When the alarm trips, two things happen simultaneously:

1. Flee or Fight prompt. Each party member receives an interaction asking whether to flee or stay. You have 30 seconds to respond. If you do not respond, the system defaults you to fight. Choosing flee teleports you home immediately.

2. Answer the Alarm prompt. Every online character belonging to the target group (the school’s members, or the kingdom’s house members) who is not already in another active mission receives an interaction offering to join the catcher fight. They have 180 seconds to accept.

After 180 seconds, catchers and any accepting defenders teleport into the target room and a fight begins. The fight is non-lethal and classified; defeat or victory determines the final mission state.

If every party member flees and no one stays to fight, there is no fight. The mission resolves as fled with no rewards.

Reward scaling after an alarm. The reward share is frozen at the moment the catcher fight starts, calculated as the fraction of party members who chose to stay and fight. If four people joined and two fled, survivors who win receive half the normal reward. This is the reward_share_pct on the mission and is applied to influence grants and kingdom-resource deltas alike.

Outcomes of the catcher fight:

• caught_won: stayers defeat the catchers. The activity continues to its conclusion and rewards are distributed at the (share-scaled) full amount.
• caught_lost: catchers win. Mission ends immediately. KO’d stayers become hostages (see below). Companions who fled receive nothing.

A successful antagonist who captures at least one hostage receives an influence bonus on top of any consolation reward.

Opposing a Mission (Playing Antagonist)

When a mission targets your school or kingdom, online members of that group receive the Answer the Alarm interaction the moment the alarm trips. Accepting it makes you the antagonist on that mission. Only one antagonist slot exists per mission; the first accepted offer locks out all others.

As antagonist you join the catcher fight on side 2, alongside any NPC reinforcements the system spawns. NPC reinforcement strength is calibrated to approximate a fair fight (50/50 win rate) against the stayers, using the party’s measured combat power as a baseline.

You do not need to be online before the alarm trips. The offer is sent at alarm time and expires when the 180-second window closes.

The Hostage System

When the antagonist wins the catcher fight, every KO’d party member who chose to stay becomes a hostage of the antagonist’s character.

Being Taken Hostage

A hostage is teleported to the antagonist’s home room and locked there. The initial lock duration is 24 hours (1440 minutes). Higher chemistry between captor and hostage at the time of capture extends the initial window, up to a maximum cap of 72 hours (4320 minutes). Spending in-character RP time with your captor extends your release timer further: each real minute of roleplay logged extends your release by 6 minutes, to the same 72-hour cap.

While you are a hostage, your movement is restricted:

• If your captor binds you (hostage bind <id>), you cannot move at all.
• If unbound, you can move freely within the building containing your locked room. You cannot leave the building.

Managing Hostages (Captor Commands)

hostage list
hostage bind <hostage_id>
hostage unbind <hostage_id>
hostage relock <hostage_id> <room_id>
hostage summon <hostage_id>
hostage release <hostage_id>

hostage list shows all your active hostages with their release times and bind status.

hostage relock moves the lock anchor to a different room, but only to rooms within your own building.

hostage summon teleports the hostage to your current location (useful if they have wandered within the building).

hostage release voluntarily frees the hostage with no ransom applied.

Ransom

When the release timer expires naturally, a ransom settlement runs automatically. This applies kingdom-resource shifts scaled by the hostage character’s highest combat-style level: the captor’s kingdom gains a small amount of wealth, and the hostage’s kingdom suffers proportional losses to wealth, unrest, and government integrity. The magnitudes are capped and never large on their own, but they compound across repeated successful raids.

Voluntary early release via hostage release skips the ransom entirely.

Rewards at a Glance

Outcome	Initiator	Invested Companion	Free Companion	Antagonist
Clean success	100 influence	100 influence	50 influence	(none)
caught_won (share-scaled)	partial	partial	partial	20 influence
caught_lost	nothing	nothing	nothing	100 influence + ransom
Fled / Aborted	nothing	nothing	nothing	(none)

School raid success also grants manual pages to the family, potentially completing a FamilyManual and unlocking new abilities for every eligible family member immediately.

Society events are the arena where noble reputations are built or broken. You invite rivals, display art, stage fights, dance under lanternlight, and court influence through wit and spectacle. When the event closes, everything you did is reviewed and converted into influence that shapes your standing in the Five Kingdoms.

This guide covers how to create and run a society event from first concept to the final tally.

Preparing an Event

Society events are created through the event planner interface, not via a command directly. Open the planner from the in-game web client, fill in the event name, date, venue room, and your theme statement. The theme statement is a short phrase that tells graders what mood and concept you are going for: “moonlit tea ceremony under cherry blossom snow,” or “a sparring exhibition to honor the northern border regiments.” Keep it vivid and specific. Vague themes score poorly on the thematic criteria.

While setting up, you will choose:

• Event type. The base calendar category: party, meeting, competition, concert, ceremony, private, or public. This is administrative bookkeeping and does not directly affect scoring.
• Activities. You choose one or two activities from the list below. These are the structured entertainment segments your guests participate in. Picking activities that match your theme sharpens your thematic score.
• Co-host. Optional. You may designate a second host. If you do, the 500 energy launch cost is split evenly between you (250 each rather than 500 solo).

You can designate a co-host in the planner before launch. The co-host must be physically present in the event room at the moment you launch.

Launching the Event

With your event prepared, go to the venue room and run:

host society <event_name>

This validates your setup, charges the launch energy, registers you (and your co-host) as attendees, and sets the event to launched status. You must be standing in the event’s designated room. Your co-host must also be there.

Launch energy cost: 500 energy total. Split 250 / 250 if you have a co-host.

Once launched, run:

host kickoff

This clusters the attendees into social groups so the RP can flow. Do this after a reasonable number of guests have joined, not the instant you launch.

Joining an Event

Guests find an active event in the room and run:

join society <event_name>

This opens the entrance interface where you set your social preferences (who you enjoy talking to, who you would rather avoid). The system uses those preferences to pair you sensibly during activities like dance.

Join energy cost: 100 energy per attendee.

Your outfit is snapshotted the moment you join. Whatever you are wearing at that instant is what graders evaluate. See the fashion section below for what makes an outfit score well.

Activities

Every society event runs one or two formal activities chosen by the host at setup time. The host starts and ends each activity with:

start activity <type> [args]
end activity

The six activity types are:

Type	Command syntax	What happens
dance	start activity dance [song-name]	A paired social dance. The system matches partners by preference. Guests join with join dance and leave with leave dance. The host can call shuffle partners to reshuffle all pairings.
art_exhibition	start activity art_exhibition	Pledged art pieces are scattered around the room. Guests wander between them with wander. Artists earn influence based on their pieces’ value and LLM quality scores.
performance	start activity performance	Designated performers take the stage. Each performer runs their routine with perform. The host pre-approves performers via designate performer <name> <event>.
show	start activity show <media-name>	A cinematic or theatrical show plays for the assembled guests.
game	start activity game <game-name>	A structured game (mahjong, tiles, etc.) runs for participants. Everyone who takes part earns a flat influence grant.
exhibition_fight	start activity exhibition_fight <format> <names>	A formal sparring exhibition. Three formats: solo (one fighter vs escalating waves), pairs (4 fighters, 2v2, silk ribbons binding each pair together), los (5-fighter open melee). Spectators can place wagers.

Dance

The dance is the cornerstone social activity. You and other guests join the dance floor, and the system pairs you with partners using your preference lists. Partners marked as liked are more likely to end up with you; characters on your avoid list will not be paired with you unless there is no other choice.

If you are paired for at least half of the dance’s running time, you earn a 25% bonus multiplier applied to your base influence at the end of grading.

The host can pause and resume the dance with pause dance and resume dance. Pairings accumulate time only while the dance is unpaused.

Art Exhibition

Before the event launches, the host can whitelist contributors with:

whitelist art <character-name> <event-name>

Whitelisted characters can then pledge items from their inventory:

pledge art <item-name> <event-name>

Pledged items are held in a vault room until the exhibition starts, at which point they are automatically scattered around the event space. Guests wander from piece to piece. At close, each artist’s pieces are scored by the LLM grader on creativity, depth, and style. Items with custom color descriptions or attached images earn bonus multipliers (10% each, stackable).

Pieces that have appeared at prior events earn no dollar-value toward the artist’s grant. Novelty matters.

Exhibition Fight

The three fight formats differ in structure and audience experience:

• Solo: One fighter named in the command (start activity exhibition_fight solo Rhen). The fighter faces escalating waves of opponents. Spectators wager on how many waves they survive. The fighter earns influence based on performance; wager winners collect from the pool.
• Pairs: Four fighters named in order (start activity exhibition_fight pairs A B C D). A and B form one team, C and D form the other. Each pair is bound together by a silk ribbon and cannot move more than 4 feet apart. Spectators wager on the winning team.
• Line of Succession (los): Five fighters in a free-for-all (start activity exhibition_fight los A B C D E). Spectators pick the winner.

Each fighter pays 50 energy to participate. Fighters receive 100 influence for taking part regardless of outcome.

Spectators place wagers with:

wager <amount> dollar on <count|winner-name>

For solo events, wager on the number of waves survived. For pairs and los, wager on the winner’s name.

Performance

The host designates up to several performers before or during the event:

designate performer <character-name> <event-name>

Designated performers can then run their routine with perform. A fresh performance (first time the performer has used that routine) earns 50 influence. A repeated routine earns 25 influence. Performing costs 50 energy.

Show

The host names a piece of media and it plays for the room. There are no scoring sub-mechanics; the show contributes to the overall event transcript that graders read.

Game

Any attendees who participate in the named game each earn a flat 20 influence grant when the host calls end activity.

Ending the Event

When you are ready to close, the event organizer ends it through the event manager interface (or via the standard event close flow). Once the event is marked complete, grading begins automatically in the background. You do not run a separate command; it fires on its own.

Grading typically completes within a few minutes. If the grader encounters a problem, the event is marked failed and logged for operator review.

Grading Criteria

When the event closes, an LLM grader reads the full in-character transcript and scores every participant. Scores run from 0.0 to 1.0 per criterion. The raw scores are squared, averaged, then scaled to a 0-100 normalized score. That normalized score feeds into a raised-cosine multiplier curve, so middling performance earns roughly baseline influence and exceptional performance earns significantly more.

Host scoring

Hosts are graded on seven criteria:

Criterion	What the grader looks for
creativity	How original and inventive the event concept and execution are
engagement	How actively the host engages with individual attendees rather than broadcasting into the void
interactive	Whether attendees had things to do; did the host prevent dead air and boredom
thematic	Fit with both the event’s own theme statement and the wider 1940s-Wuxia-Noble setting
immersive	Believable in-character behavior; no anachronisms, no fourth-wall breaks
fun	How much enjoyment the attendees visibly had
spicy	Presence of risk, intrigue, conflict, or gossip-worthy moments, provided they did not sour the overall fun

The base influence pool for a host is 500 energy (or 250 if co-hosted) multiplied by 1.5, giving a raw base of 750 (or 375). The normalized score then applies the raised-cosine multiplier on top of that.

Attendee scoring

Attendees are graded on two criteria:

Criterion	What the grader looks for
wit	Clever, entertaining conversation without crudeness or buffoonery
engagement	Active participation: starting conversations, joining activities, contributing to scenes rather than lurking quietly

The attendee base is 100 energy multiplied by 1.5, giving a base of 150. Dancers who qualified for the dance-time bonus multiply that base by 1.25 before the score multiplier is applied.

Influence from activities (art, performance, fighting, game participation) is added on top of the base. These ledger grants are paid out at the same time as your main grading result.

Art scoring

Art pieces are graded separately on three criteria:

Criterion	What the grader looks for
creativity	Originality and inventiveness
depth	Emotional or intellectual resonance
style	Aesthetic polish and evocativeness

The influence an artist receives is proportional to the effective value of the pieces they exhibited, multiplied by the LLM quality score. The value calculation is covered in the fashion and outfit section below; the same color and image bonuses apply to art.

The Fashion System

The game tracks what you are wearing the moment you join society. That snapshot is what graders evaluate. The snapshot captures every visible item: the outermost layer in each equipment slot, plus all jewelry and unslotted accessories. Items hidden under a coat are not seen.

What drives outfit value

Your outfit contributes influence proportional to the effective monetary value of what you are wearing. The system calculates it like this:

1. It reads the pattern price of each piece (the price of the pattern it was made from, in the game’s currency).
2. Items with custom color-code descriptions earn a 1.2 multiplier.
3. Items with an attached image earn a 1.2 multiplier.
4. These two bonuses stack: a colorful, pictured piece is worth 1.44 times its base value.
5. If you have worn the same item to a prior event, the value is penalized. Wearing it again yourself applies a 0.5 multiplier per prior wearing (stacking). Other attendees wearing the same item at other events applies a 0.75 multiplier per occurrence.

Novelty is rewarded. A bespoke piece worn for the first time at your event is worth its full value. A piece you wore at the last three events you attended is worth 0.125 of its original value.

The dollar total across all your worn items is then multiplied by 0.2 and by the outfit quality score multiplier to produce your outfit influence. Outfit influence is paid into your tainted influence pool (it is wealth-derived, not RP-derived), which is tracked separately from clean RP influence.

Outfit grading criteria

The LLM grader scores each attendee’s outfit on four criteria:

Criterion	What the grader looks for
creativity	Originality in how you assembled the outfit; unexpected combinations that work
style	How fashionable and polished the overall look is
thematic	Fit with both the event’s theme statement and the 1940s-Wuxia-Noble setting
daring	Bold choices that read as sophisticated or provocatively tasteful. Merely wearing less clothing does not score here; deliberate, knowing audacity does

Practical outfit advice

• Dress for the theme. A midnight garden party rewards silk and dark brocade; a military exhibition rewards clean, precise tailoring with martial accents.
• Invest in pieces made from well-crafted patterns. The pattern price is the mechanical lever for outfit value.
• Add a color description or upload an image to your items. Both carry a 1.2 multiplier.
• Rotate your wardrobe. The repeat-wearing penalty is steep. If you attend events frequently, spread your best pieces across events rather than wearing the same ensemble every time.
• Do not neglect accessories. Jewelry and unslotted pieces stack directly onto your outfit value without competing for slots.

Quick Reference

Action	Command
Launch a prepared event	host society <event_name>
Group attendees after launch	host kickoff
Join an event	join society <event_name>
Start an activity (host only)	start activity <type> [args]
End the current activity (host only)	end activity
Whitelist an art contributor	whitelist art <name> <event>
Pledge an item as art	pledge art <item> <event>
Designate a performer	designate performer <name> <event>
Place a wager	wager <amount> dollar on <count\|name>
Set social preferences	society interactions

What Is a Jianghu Adventure?

The Jianghu is the wandering world that exists outside civilized rule: the bandit camps in bamboo groves, the abandoned forts above mountain passes, the haunted ruins where an old cultivator’s cell is slowly being reclaimed by tree roots. Romance of Five Kingdoms is set in the Àolǎng Empire, and the empire has roads and garrisons and telegraph wires. But the Jianghu sits between all of that, and it remembers older ways.

A Jianghu adventure is a short, self-contained episode set in that world. The game generates a premise, populates it with characters tied to real people and real locations near you, and then runs an automated GM to guide it through to a resolution. Adventures range across six plot types: rescue, investigation, political intrigue, sect dispute, treasure hunt, and horror. No two are identical.

You are a cultivator of royal blood. The problems of rural villages and wilderness ruins are, technically, below you. But the empire’s problems always start somewhere small.

---

Prerequisites

You need to be in the right place and the right state for an adventure to begin.

Location. Adventures can start anywhere in the empire except the five kingdom capitals and Zhūwān. If your are inside Fēiyín Dū, Táiyōu, Tiějué, Jīnhuì, Cángjìng, or Zhūwān, no adventure will trigger. This is also the case if one of these cities is currently your closest town/city. You need to move further away before one will start.

Energy. You need at least 250 energy. Adventures consume up to 1,000 energy per participant; you spend whatever you have up to that cap at the moment the adventure claims you.

Not disguised. If your disguise is active, the adventure scanner passes you by entirely. The scanner is looking for idle nobility; a figure in a hooded robe does not qualify. See the section below on disguises.

Not on cooldown. After each adventure concludes, you cannot start another for 30 minutes. The cooldown refreshes from the moment the adventure ends, not the moment it begins.

Not already in a session. If you are currently inside an active adventure session from a prior adventure, you will not trigger a new one.

Idle for five minutes. The scanner runs every 60 seconds and looks for players who have not moved, attacked, or performed any room-changing action in the last five minutes. Stop somewhere outside a capital city, keep your disguise down, and let the world come to you.

You do not type a command to launch an adventure. The scanner finds you automatically when all conditions are met. You will receive a notification when the adventure begins preparation, and another when it is ready for you.

Party play. If you are in a travel party, the scanner treats the party leader as the trigger. When the leader qualifies, all accepted party members who are in the same room as the leader are pulled in as participants. Each participant pays their own energy cost; rewards are calculated individually based on what each person spent.

---

The Disguise System

Before going out into the Jianghu, you may not want everyone to know who you are. A royal cultivator wandering into a bandit camp under their own name is an event. A masked stranger is just a stranger.

To put on a disguise:

disguise
disguise a masked swordswoman
disguise the one with dust on her coat

Without an argument, disguise uses the default alias: “a figure in a hooded robe.” With an argument of up to 40 characters, you set your own alias. Other players see that alias in room descriptions and emotes instead of your name.

To remove a disguise:

undisguise

Recognition is permanent and one-way. If another player examines you while you are disguised, they learn who you really are. That reveal stays on record permanently: even if you clear the disguise and set a different alias later, that player will still see your real name. The reveal is keyed to your identity, not to the alias text.

Two rules govern adventures and disguise:

First, disguise blocks adventure triggers. As long as your disguise is active, the idle scanner skips you. If you want an adventure to find you, you must be undisguised.

Second, toggling disguise resets your idle clock. Setting or clearing a disguise counts the same as movement. If you have been idle for four minutes and then type undisguise, your five-minute window restarts from zero. This is intentional: you cannot use a disguise toggle to satisfy the idle requirement without actually being idle.

---

Costs

Energy. At the moment the adventure claims you, the engine spends up to 1,000 energy per participant. If you have 600 energy, you spend 600. If you have 1,200, you spend 1,000. The remainder stays with you. If the adventure fails during the generation phase before it can begin, your energy is refunded in full.

Time. Adventures are bounded by an inactivity timeout of two hours. If the session sits idle for two hours without any player action, it is abandoned. There is no upper bound on how long an active adventure can run, but most conclude well within an hour.

Cooldown. After the adventure resolves, whether by success, partial success, or failure, every participant enters a 30-minute cooldown before they can trigger or join another.

---

How an Adventure Plays Out

When the scanner finds you, the game enters a preparation phase. This takes a minute or two. The engine selects a plot template appropriate to your kingdom and region, brainstorms a scenario, grounds it in the real NPCs and locations near you, and produces a structured script for the automated GM to run from. You will see a brief notification when the adventure is ready.

Your basic tools in the session:

• Emote freely. Describe what your character does. The AutoGM reads your emotes and responds to them narratively. Longer, more detailed emotes give the AutoGM more to work with.
• Use standard game commands: move, fight, examine, speak. Combat resolves through the normal combat system. The AutoGM is watching and will react to the outcome.
• Use assert to spend destiny and shape the story directly (see the Destiny section below).

The beat structure. An adventure is organized as a sequence of beats: typically an inciting event, two or three middle stages, and a climax. Each beat has a location, a challenge or situation, and conditions for advancing. The AutoGM moves the story from beat to beat as you make progress. Some adventures have a branching structure where your choices at an early beat determine which version of later beats you face.

Advancement. The AutoGM does not require a specific action to tick from one beat to the next. It monitors your activity against the beat’s advancement conditions and narrates the transition when those conditions are satisfied. A rescue adventure might advance from “infiltrate the camp” to “find the prisoner” when you have navigated past the guards; an investigation might advance when you have asked the right questions or found the hidden document.

Outcomes. When the climax resolves, the AutoGM classifies the result: success (full), success (partial), or failure. Full and partial success both grant 100% of your energy-based reward budget. Failure grants 50%. The outcome also determines the reward focus: a story that ends with a sect negotiation leans toward ingredient rewards; one that ends recovering a cache leans toward treasure.

---

The Fate System

The Fate system is the AutoGM’s tool for keeping the story interesting. As the adventure runs, the AutoGM accumulates fate points when the session leans too far toward smooth, effortless play.

How fate accrues. Fate builds when players succeed easily and consistently: dominant skill checks, flawless combat victories, showing clear command of the situation. The Fate pool is capped at 12. At zero, the world is calm. As it rises it passes through: stirring, gathering, threatening, and at 12, crisis.

What you will see. When fate climbs above calm, the look command will show a subtle atmospheric line:

• Stirring: “The threads of fate begin to tighten…”
• Gathering: “A weight settles over the air, unseen but undeniable…”
• Threatening: “The world holds its breath…”

You cannot see the exact fate total. The atmospheric string is your signal.

How the AutoGM spends fate. The AutoGM uses fate points to introduce mechanically grounded complications. Minor interventions cost 1 to 2 points and include things like the next skill check becoming harder, an NPC adding a demand before continuing to help, or a previously available path closing off. More significant interventions cost 3 to 4 points and can impose stat penalties on one character for the rest of a stage, undo a completed objective, or block HP recovery until a condition is met. At tier 3, for 5 to 6 points, the AutoGM can introduce a powerful hostile NPC connected to your character’s history, have an allied NPC betray the party, or add an entirely new stage to the adventure.

During combat, the AutoGM can also spend fate between rounds to trigger special effects: double damage on the next enemy hit, reinforcement spawns at varying tiers of power, or improved enemy defenses for the remainder of the fight.

---

The Destiny System

Where Fate is the GM’s currency, Destiny is yours. Destiny points are individual, not shared by the party. Each participant has their own pool, capped at 8.

How destiny accrues. The AutoGM grants destiny when you act heroically, make a genuine sacrifice for the party or for an NPC, or play in alignment with your character’s established values and history. Engaging with setbacks also builds it: the system tracks when you have suffered multiple reversals in a row and scales your destiny award upward when you recover from them. A longer, more detailed emote at a moment of crisis carries more weight than a single terse line.

As your destiny rises, the look command will show a quiet reflection of it:

• Flickering (1-2): “A faint warmth stirs within you…”
• Steady (3-4): “The spirits watch you with quiet approval…”
• Bright (5-6): “Heaven’s gaze rests gently upon you…”
• Radiant (7-8): “You feel the full weight of heaven’s mandate…”

Spending destiny: the assert command. When you have destiny, you can spend it to make narrative assertions about the world around you. This is how you as a player reach into the story and change it.

The command syntax is:

assert <type> [@target] <description>

Types and their costs:

Type	Alias	Cost	What you can do
environment	env	1	Change the scene or surroundings
npc		2	Introduce a new NPC into the story
connection	conn	2	Assert a relationship between characters
complication	comp	0 (self) / 1 (targeted)	Add a complication to yourself or another player
gift		1	Give an advantage to another participant
revelation	reveal	3	Reveal a hidden secret or truth
converge	convergence	2	Propose a story convergence (requires party agreement)

Examples:

assert env A thick fog rolls in off the river
assert npc A courier arrives with urgent news from the capital
assert connection @Meilin You recognize her as the one who pulled you from the fire three years ago
assert comp You stumble on the loose stone and drop your lantern
assert comp @Zhao A wanted poster on the wall bears Zhao's face
assert gift @Meilin You spot a hidden exit the guards have forgotten
assert reveal The merchant has been feeding information to the bandits since spring
assert converge All of this leads back to the same night at the old granary

Tonal validation. Before your assertion takes effect, the AutoGM checks whether it fits the tone and structure of the current adventure. Most well-considered assertions are accepted. If the AutoGM finds an issue with the tone or setting fit, it may offer an adaptation: a revised version of your assertion that preserves your intent. You then respond:

assert accept
assert reject

Accepting wires in the adapted version. Rejecting withdraws the assertion and you keep your destiny points.

Self-complications skip tonal validation. You can voluntarily make things harder for yourself without review.

Per-session limits. You can only introduce one new NPC per scene. You can only apply one complication per target per scene. A revelation can only be made once per player per session. A convergence can only happen once per session, and it requires the rest of the party to join in before it takes effect.

---

Adventure Locations

Every town outside the five capitals has several named wilderness sites within roughly 15 kilometers: old forts, abandoned mines, cave networks, ruined estates, sacred valleys, fords with bad histories, and places the locals prefer not to talk about after dark. These are the places adventures unfold.

The story generated for you will be grounded in whichever of these sites is appropriate to the premise. The AutoGM will bring you there through the narrative, or start you at the scene if you are already nearby. You do not need to travel manually; the adventure’s inciting beat places you in the action.

After the adventure concludes, you are returned to the room where the adventure found you.

Romance of Five Kingdoms is a text game, and that gives it real advantages for accessibility. Almost everything in it is already words. This guide documents the tools available to you so you can tune the experience to what works best for your body and setup. None of these settings affect your character or gameplay; they only change how information reaches you.

To see all your current settings at once, type accessibility status.

---

Accessibility Mode (the master switch)

accessibility mode on (or accessibility mode off to reverse)

Enabling accessibility mode does two things automatically: it optimizes all game output for screen readers, and it activates the TTS auto-queue so narration flows without any extra steps. If you only want the output formatting changes without narration, you can turn mode on and then disable TTS separately with narrate off.

Turning accessibility mode on also enables screen reader optimization automatically. The two work together, but you can fine-tune them independently (see below).

---

Screen Reader Optimization

accessibility reader on / accessibility reader off

When this is on, the game simplifies its output formatting. Visual decorations, ASCII borders, and layout-heavy displays are replaced with plain linear text. Room descriptions list exits as a comma-separated line (“Exits: north, east”) instead of a graphical compass. Combat displays show participants as numbered lists with HP and distance values rather than a hex-grid rendering.

This setting is worth enabling even if you use a screen reader’s browse mode rather than TTS, because it strips the structural noise that gets in the way of reading.

---

Text-to-Speech Narration

The narrate command (also tts or voice) controls the TTS system.

Command	What it does
narrate on	Start narration for this session
narrate off	Stop narration
narrate	Toggle on/off
narrate pause	Pause playback, keep your position
narrate resume	Resume from where you paused
narrate current	Skip ahead to the latest content
narrate skip +15	Jump forward 15 seconds
narrate skip -15	Jump back 15 seconds
narrate clear	Clear all queued audio
narrate status	Show full TTS status and queue info

Choosing what gets narrated

narrate config speech on/off controls character dialogue (say, whisper, yell). narrate config actions on/off controls emotes and action messages. narrate config rooms on/off controls room descriptions when you move or look. narrate config system on/off controls system messages.

All four are on by default. You might turn rooms off if you prefer to read descriptions yourself, or turn actions off in a busy social scene where emote volume is high.

TTS speed

accessibility speed 1.0 sets the narration rate. The range is 0.25 (very slow) to 4.0 (very fast). You can also choose from preset speeds (0.5x, 0.75x, 1.0x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, 2.0x) through the Settings panel.

The narrator voice is configured separately from your character’s voice. Your character’s voice is what other players hear when your character speaks in TTS. Your narrator voice is what reads room descriptions and system messages to you. Both can be set independently.

TTS and typing interaction

accessibility typing on pauses narration the moment you start typing, so the voice does not talk over you while you compose a message. This is on by default.

accessibility resume on automatically resumes narration when you stop typing. Also on by default. Turn this off if you prefer to resume manually with narrate resume.

---

Replay Buffer (message history navigation)

The replay buffer lets you step back through recent messages without leaving the input field. This is useful with a screen reader: rather than moving your cursor away to browse the message window, you can press a hotkey combination and hear previous messages re-read in sequence.

Default hotkeys:

• Alt+Up – step to the previous message
• Alt+Down – step to the next message
• Escape – stop replaying and return focus to normal input

To check these bindings, type accessibility keys. To change them, open the Settings panel (gear icon in the webclient) and look under the Accessibility section. Click the hotkey field and press your preferred key combination to record it.

---

Visual Settings

High Contrast Mode

accessibility contrast on / accessibility contrast off

Increases the contrast between text and backgrounds throughout the webclient. Useful if you find the default colour palette hard to distinguish, or if you are playing in bright ambient lighting.

Reduced Visual Effects

accessibility effects off (reduces effects) / accessibility effects on (restores full effects)

Note: the toggle is phrased in terms of effects being on or off, not reduced or full. “effects off” means effects are reduced; “effects on” means they are full.

This setting minimises animations and transition effects in the interface. It helps players with vestibular disorders or motion sensitivity who find animated elements distracting or uncomfortable.

Color Blindness Mode

Available through the Settings panel under Accessibility. Three modes are supported:

• Protanopia (red-blind)
• Deuteranopia (green-blind)
• Tritanopia (blue-blind)

Selecting a mode applies a colour filter across the game interface, shifting hues to distinguish information that the game normally conveys with red/green/blue contrast.

Dyslexia-Friendly Font

Available through the Settings panel. Enabling this switches the message windows to OpenDyslexic, a typeface designed to reduce letter-flipping and improve readability for players with dyslexia.

---

Accessible Combat Presentation

When you are in a fight, the combat command (also cb or battle) provides a screen-reader-friendly view of the tactical situation. The hex-grid battle map is visual-only; combat gives you the same information as plain text.

Command	What it shows
combat or combat status	Round, phase, your HP/Qi, enemy count
combat enemies	All enemies: name, HP, distance, weapon, status effects
combat allies	All allies with the same detail
combat recommend	Suggested target with reasoning (low HP, in melee range, etc.)
combat actions	Available actions this turn with command syntax
combat menu	Numbered quick-menu of the above options

Distances are always given in hexes. HP is always shown as current/max (for example, “24/30HP”). Monster bosses with multiple segments list each segment’s name and HP separately.

---

Settings Form

If you prefer a form interface over individual commands, type accessibility (with no arguments) to open an interactive settings form. It covers all the settings above. Submitting the form applies all changes at once.

---

Getting Help

Type accessibility help at any time for a condensed command reference. Type accessibility status for a full readout of your current settings and session TTS state.

If you need something that is not listed here, you can file a support request with tickets new. Accessibility requests are treated as priority work. Please describe your setup and what you are trying to accomplish and the team will do its best to help.

Overview

Zhūwān, Pearl Bay, is the largest city in the Àolǎng Empire and the place where all five kingdoms meet the rest of the world. The Jīnhé river empties here into a deep natural harbour, and for as long as anyone can remember the docks have been loud with the business of people who have something to sell or something to hide. Electric trams run along Governor’s Way. Neon signs hang above traditional teahouses in classical calligraphy. Ironclad gunboats of the Aldermark Commonwealth ride at anchor off the southern quays, their consuls smiling over treaties the Empire signed under duress.

Status in Zhūwān is measured in Capital Li, not birthright. A wealthy merchant commands as much deference as any minor noble, and an impoverished one earns none at all. The city is simultaneously the most cosmopolitan place in the Empire and the most contested: martial schools, sect headquarters, embassy compounds, night-markets, and opium dens operate openly within a few blocks of each other, and the governor answers to nobody in particular and everyone in practice. The saying runs: “In Jīnhuì you can buy anything the Empire will sell you; in Zhūwān you can buy anything at all.”

Currency here is Capital Li. 1,000 Capital Li equals 1 Gold Dollar. Prices you see in Zhūwān are denominated in Capital Li unless stated otherwise.

---

Districts and Streets

The city is laid out on a ten-by-five block grid inside a walled peninsula. The streets run east-west (rows) and north-south (avenues). If you learn the grid you can find anything.

East-west streets, south to north:

• Harbour Street (row 0, southernmost): the working waterfront. Docks, the Cháohén Seafood Market, industrial sheds, and the Cánghǎi Warehouse line the Jīnhé river bank. The Dockside Boarding House is here for those who need a cheap bed close to the water. The Yānmí Opium Den sits on a corner; nobody pretends otherwise.
• Market Way (row 1): the city’s central trading spine. The Floating Market stalls face the canal here. The Zhūwān Central Train Station occupies a full block, connecting the city to the rest of Qiānjīn.
• Herbalist Street (row 2): middle-class shops, the cabaret and nightclub strip, the Bàihuā Flower Market, and the Bǎihuā Flower Market greenhouse. The car dealerships cluster toward the east end of this row.
• Embassy Street (row 3): the prestige commercial and diplomatic tier. The Jīnjiǎ and Qiānjīn embassies face each other across Lantern Avenue. St. Cecilia’s Hospital sits on a corner of Governor’s Way. The Cuìquán Teahouse mineral springs are here.
• Palace Row (row 4, northernmost): civic and institutional power. The Governor’s Palace anchors the centre. The Grand Temple and Star Order Monastery bookend the row at the east end. The two major ballrooms and the Grand Library are on the west side.

North-south avenues, west to east:

• Ocean View Avenue: the western waterfront, home to the Ocean Dragon Temple, whose oldest hall juts into the surf.
• Library Avenue: the Grand Library, and at the southern end the small dock where you board the dinghy to the Lotus Boat.
• Lantern Avenue: bookshop, teahouse, the Crystal and Pearl Ballrooms.
• Park Avenue / Garden Avenue: the Large Park fills four full city blocks at the civic-core level.
• Governor’s Way: the palace, the hospital, and several martial schools.
• Temple Avenue: the Grand Temple and the car dealerships.
• Barracks Avenue: the Military Barracks, Jail and Police HQ.
• Pearl Avenue: bank, jewellers, opera house, and the Tiāngǔ Opera House.
• East Wall Avenue: horse traders, the rural market, and the eastern city wall.

South of the river, across four bridges, lies the South Ruins. River Road runs along the north bank of that ruined quarter, and the further south you walk the quieter and more dangerous it gets. Cinder Lane at the southern edge is for people who prefer not to be found.

---

The Floating Market

The Floating Market straddles the canal on Market Way, roughly at the intersection with Library and Lantern Avenues. Two bank-side walkways face each other across the water: the West Bank Walkway and the East Bank Walkway. Both are outdoor plank decks strung with awnings; each holds a cluster of stalls, with punts moored at most of them so vendors can ferry heavier goods across.

The market operates on a daily lottery. Each morning the stall roster reshuffles: who shows up, what they sell, and what they will pay changes with every rotation. You will not always find the same vendor twice at the same stall.

What sells here:

• Raw materials (ores, silk, jade, timber, and other commodity goods). Material vendors set prices by supply and your character’s relationship with the market. Use market to see today’s offerings and their per-unit Capital Li price, then mbuy <stall_code> <quantity> to purchase.
• Secondhand goods. Resale-pool dealers buy used items from the public and sell from pooled stock. Run mbuy <stall_code> list to browse a resale stall’s inventory.
• Foot-traffic vendors. Wandering sellers with hand-baskets and small carts: snacks, tea, flowers, hot grilled food. They sell convenience, not volume.
• Specialist buyers. Some stalls want to buy rather than sell. They will pay Capital Li for specific categories of goods. Run market to see who is buying what today.

Key commands at the market:

Command	Effect
market	Show today’s full stall roster with prices
mbuy <stall_code> <qty>	Buy materials or items from a stall
sell <item>	Sell an item into the secondhand resale pool
sell <item> to <stall_code>	Sell directly to a specialist buyer stall
materials	List your current raw-material stacks and their worth

The resale pool pays 20-50% of an item’s value on intake. The pool then resells through secondhand stalls at 60-80% of value. It is not a pawn shop in the traditional sense; it is closer to a consignment market with no memory of who sold what.

---

Cuìquán Teahouse (Mineral Springs)

The Cuìquán Teahouse sits on Lantern Avenue at Embassy Street, in the northwestern prestige district. From the street it presents an understated front: low tea tables, a calligraphy scroll wall, a tea-tasting counter with a view of the spring garden behind. Attendant Mistress Sūn sits at the Front Desk.

The real point of the place is in the basement.

Access to the Mineral Springs grotto costs 2 Gold Dollars paid at the Front Desk. That buys you an afternoon’s soak. The changing rooms (Plum, Pine, Bamboo, and Orchid) lock automatically when occupied and share a common stash space, so anything you leave in one cubicle can be retrieved from any other. The springs themselves are a large hot mineral pool with a cool plunge basin alongside; stone-tile cushions line the edges. Měi-Lán runs drinks.

The springs are the only place in Zhūwān where long-term HP damage (degraded maximum health) can be restored without logging off for six or more hours. If you have taken wounds that have not fully healed, the springs will recover them. The investment is worth it before a delve or a serious confrontation.

---

The Lotus Boat (Nòngshuǐ Lóu)

The Nòngshuǐ Lóu, the Water-Play Pavilion, is a many-decked pleasure craft moored in the bay south of Harbour Street. It does not appear on the city grid because it is not on the city grid: it rides at anchor in the Jīnhé river mouth, accessible only by dinghy.

To reach it, walk south along Library Avenue to the dinghy at the end of the dock. Step aboard and you are carried across the bay; the boat handles the crossing itself. You arrive at the Mooring alongside the lacquered hull, strung with red silk lanterns carved with overlapping lotus blooms.

What is on the boat:

• Open Salon (Main Deck): The public mixing area. Crowded tables, a cocktail bar, a lounge band. This is where most people spend most of their time.
• Gambling Floor: Mahjong tables, pai-gow, roulette (an Aldermark import). Chip cashier at the desk; a pit boss on a stool watching.
• Smoking Lounge: Imported cigars, pipes, floor cushions.
• Bar / Drinks Salon: Long bar, top-shelf imports, a reserved stool for visiting ship captains.
• Private Suites (upper deck): Named suites – the Peony, Lotus, Phoenix, Dragon, Crane, and Pearl. Each is hosted: Líli in Peony, Húdié in Lotus, Senior Hostess Madam Wǎn in the Dragon Suite. The Dragon Suite accommodates a full meal table and private bar; the Pearl Suite has a musician’s pipa player on call.
• Open Sky Lounge (top deck): Star-watching benches and the most expensive drinks on the boat, with a view of Zhūwān’s lights across the water.
• Galley (below decks): Not normally visible, but the crab steam you smell is real.

Private suites are rented by the session. Once you have a suite, use invite <name> to bring guests past the curtain, uninvite <name> to withdraw an invitation, and leave session (or pay tab, or end session) when you are done. The hostesses bow and depart; the curtain is drawn back.

The Nòngshuǐ Lóu is neutral territory in a city with many factions, and the management intends to keep it that way. The “no weapons” sign at the Approach Deck is enforced. The smuggling crate in the Service Hold that nobody mentions remains unmentioned.

---

Ballrooms

Noble society in Zhūwān conducts much of its real business on the dance floor. Three dedicated ballrooms operate in the city, plus the Grand Hotel’s smaller ballroom for private events.

The Crystal Ballroom sits on Lantern Avenue at Palace Row, in the northwestern prestige district. This is the upmarket venue: the room where ambassadors bring their guests, where Merchant Prince families conduct introductions, and where a new face can be noticed or overlooked depending entirely on who introduced them. Dress here is expected to meet the standard. Four taxi dancers hold residencies.

The Pearl Ballroom occupies the adjacent lot on Ocean View Avenue at Palace Row, a short walk west. It is the mid-tier alternative: still respectable, less scrutinised, and more forgiving of a traveller who arrived in Zhūwān three days ago and has not yet acquired the right tailor. Four taxi dancers here as well.

The Starlight Dance Hall is on Herbalist Street at Park Avenue, in the middle-class entertainment district alongside the Velvet Cabaret, the Blue Pearl Jazz Club, and the Midnight Lounge. The Starlight is a working dance hall, not a society venue. Nobody here is watching your posture. Five dancers are available, weighted toward apprentices learning their craft.

The Grand Hotel Ballroom (described below under the Grand Hotel) is smaller, used primarily for banquets and private gatherings.

Taxi dancers are professional dance partners available for hire by the set. A set lasts one hour of game time, and the fee is paid in Capital Li upfront when you hire them.

Tier	Fee
Apprentice	100 Capital Li
Regular	300 Capital Li
Star	800 Capital Li

Dancers work the evening shift, from 18:00 through 04:00. Outside those hours, the floor is yours but unstaffed.

To hire a dancer: enter the ballroom, run dancers to see who is available and at what tier, then hire <name> to start a session. The dancer will join you on the floor and follow you around it. dismiss ends the session early (no refund). Dancers are professionals; the arrangement is taxi-dancing in the early-twentieth-century sense and nothing more.

---

The Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel sits in the warehouse-and-industrial district, north of Market Way near the train station. It is the city’s principal hotel for foreign visitors, commercial delegations, and anyone who requires discreet, quality accommodation without an embassy connection. The Grand Lobby has a concierge desk and a framed wall of visiting dignitaries past.

Ground floor amenities include a Lobby Café (marble-top tables, upright piano), a Hotel Bar serving Aldermark cocktails, and a Hotel Restaurant with arched windows on the ocean. The Hotel Ballroom is smaller than the Crystal or Pearl but used regularly for banquets with assigned seating.

Upper floors: standard rooms on the second and third floors, deluxe rooms on the fourth. The Penthouse Landing on the fifth floor holds four named suites (the Pearl, Jade, Phoenix, and Dragon), the Dragon being the largest, with three rooms and a diplomat’s ante-room. A Penthouse Roof Terrace sits above, with sea-view railings and a breakfast service in summer.

---

Embassies

Six embassies occupy prime sites in Zhūwān, mostly along Embassy Street and the western coast. Each maintains a public Reception Hall at ground level; upper floors and the cellar passages are restricted to staff and residents of that building.

Sìshuǐ Embassy (northwestern prestige district, western coast) represents the Imperial heartland. The ground floor Reception Hall is open to visitors. Upstairs, an Ancestral Shrine Alcove holds House Lanaris tablets. A Sea-View Balcony on the top floor looks out over the harbour.

Táimí Embassy (northwestern prestige district, western coast) is immediately south of the Sìshuǐ compound. Where the other embassies have a servants’ kitchen, the Táimí ground floor has an Herbal Garden: stone planters of medicinal herbs, a dripping watering-can, a seat for the resident herbalist who tends them.

Tōngzhì Embassy (Lantern Avenue at Palace Row, northwestern prestige district) keeps a notably organised interior. Their Cypher Room is renamed the Cypher and Cataloguing Room, which tells you something about how Tōngzhì approaches classification.

Jīnjiǎ Embassy (Lantern Avenue at Embassy Street) has a martial-training mat and weapons rack on the ground floor beside the Drawing Room. This is not unusual; Jīnjiǎ culture treats the martial arts as a normal part of professional life.

Qiānjīn Embassy (Governor’s Way at Embassy Street, civic core) converts the standard Drawing Room into a Trade Salon lined with ledgers, sample bolts of silk, and an imports price-board. Their Cypher Room is tagged Commercial.

Aldermark Embassy (Pearl Avenue at Embassy Street, civic core) is the largest and most heavily trafficked foreign mission in the city. The Aldermark concession on the southern quays (warehouses, drydocks, and counting-houses) is legally an extension of Aldermark soil on the Empire’s reluctant agreement. The embassy itself carries the trappings of comfort: a Tea Room with cucumber-sandwich tier and bone-china service, a Billiards Parlour on the ambassador’s floor. The cellar holds a Lamplighter Listening-Post, though you will not see it on any floor plan the embassy provides.

The Aldermark Missionary School occupies the adjacent lot.

All embassy Reception Halls are accessible to any character during normal hours. Staircases and cellar passages are gated to staff and building residents; attempting to access them without authorisation will not go unnoticed.

---

Other Notable Locations

Ocean Dragon Temple: the oldest building in the city, its foundations older than the grid around it. The oldest hall juts directly into the surf on Ocean View Avenue. The Lower Hall floor floods twice a day with the tide. Inside, a sixty-foot azure-blue dragon coiled in abalone-shell scales dominates the Inner Sanctum. Sailors leave offerings before departing. The Sea-Captain’s Tablet Wall on the upper level names every captain who survived a bay storm, from age fourteen to eighty-two.

Tiāngǔ Opera House: a full-block venue on Pearl Avenue at Embassy Street with an attached Crown Cinema and Zhūwān Bulletin newspaper office on smaller lots. The opera season runs year-round. Evening performances draw the prestige crowd.

Martial Schools: four schools operate openly in Zhūwān: the Veiled Grace School (western prestige district, near the ballrooms), the Mirrored Tempest School (Governor’s Way), the Radiant Chorus School (middle class, Herbalist Street side), and the Ember Fist School (eastern middle class, near the Flower Market). Public vestibules are open; inner halls require school membership.

Sect Headquarters: most of the major sects maintain a concealed presence in Zhūwān, embedded in ordinary-looking businesses. The Ninth Pouch operates from a Reading Room beneath the Dockside Boarding House. The Chainless Compact meets in a Five Kingdoms Room under the Wǎnxiá Teahouse. The Crimson Cleavers run a butchery behind the open kitchen of the Bànghǎi Restaurant. The Silken Gloves keep a Receiving Vault inside the Mòchí Art Gallery’s restorer’s studio. The Twice-Sworn maintain a Vow Pavilion in the Bǎihuā Flower Market greenhouse. Finding these rooms requires either membership or a very thorough search.

Governor’s Palace: the civic centre of Zhūwān. The Audience Hall and Petitioners’ Waiting Room on the ground floor are open to the public during business hours. Administrative offices, the Private Reception Hall, and all upper floors are closed to visitors.

Romance of Five Kingdoms is a romantasy wuxia game set in the Àolǎng Empire, an island realm a little smaller than France, drawing on Chinese-influenced fantasy in the way that a typical Western fantasy draws on medieval Europe. It is not historical China. There is no Confucius, no Buddha, no Tang, Ming, or Qing dynasty. The gods are not borrowed; the dragons are not borrowed; the philosophy is not borrowed. Everything in this world is invented for this world. Please do not import real Chinese history, mythology, or religion into your roleplay. If something feels like it would be a reference, it almost certainly should not be.

The world sits at roughly a 1940s level of technology. Telegraph wires cross the rice terraces; the great port of Zhūwān has neon signs in classical calligraphy beside traditional teahouses; trains and gunboats exist and matter.

Honorifics

Honorifics carry a lot of the conversational weight. The four short particles are Wei (the addressee is your superior at this thing), Xia (the addressee is your inferior), Me (the addressee is your ally), and Di (the addressee is your rival). They combine: Weime is a superior ally, Xiadi is an inferior rival, and so on. They shift sentence to sentence as the topic shifts. Omitting an honorific entirely is read as dishonest or coy. See help honorifics for the full table.

Bowing

It’s customary to bow to people upon greeting them, bowing deeper and longer conveys more respect.

Fashion

The technology level of the Empire is roughly 1940s, any fashion up to this point is acceptable, drawing from most any culture. While the most common garbs are robes, dresses and suits anything which doesn’t seem overtly modern is acceptable. It’s a fantasy setting, so outfits can also be more varied or elaborate or creative than they would have been historically. It’s also an era of refinement however, outfits that show copious amounts of skin or the like are considered in extremely poor taste.

Gender

The empire is gender-balanced. Women rule kingdoms, command armies, run merchant houses, and duel in the streets on equal footing with men. Sects, orders, and the imperial bureaucracy are all open to anyone. While sexism does exist, it’s more rare and repressed than open, similar to modern society.

Sexuality

Àolǎng Culture, particularly that of the higher classes is very concerned with dynasty and family. Gay marriage is not legal and marriages are usually arranged and inescapable unless one joins the Starlight Order. However, outside of this obligation, there’s very little concern with someone’s sexuality and lavender marriages are not uncommon.

Names

Names in Àolǎng are always given forename-first, regardless of which cultural register a name reads in. Yuèhé Lanaris is forename Yuèhé, house Lanaris. The empire is intentionally a cultural mix: not every name will sound Chinese, and that is canon. Ambassadors and certain noble appointees use a hyphenated <birthname>-<housename> form (for example, Sháo-Lanaris) to mark their formal role.

Class and cultivation

Cultivation, the refinement of qi into superhuman martial ability, is open only to those of noble blood. Commoners cannot cultivate; the rare exception is always quickly explained as a hidden noble bloodline rather than a true exception to the rule. This is not just flavour, it is class: cultivators heal faster, hit harder, age slower, and command rooms by walking into them. Your character’s relationship to cultivation tells everyone in the room where they stand. Cultivation is martial and herbal, not religious; cultivators are not monks, and the sects are not temples. Nobles being the only ones who can cultivate is generally seen as clear evidence of their superiority over the commoners and their right to rule. See help cultivation.

Drugs

Opium is a popular drug in the Empire, and tends to fluctuate between different levels of legal, illegal and decriminalized with no Kingdom finding a particularly successful strategy for dealing with it.

Legal Structures

Towns are ruled by a Magistrate, and regions by a governor. While there are sets of official laws these can be overridden by the respective official. As members of a royal house you likely will never be convicted of a crime, but if you bring enough dishonor to your house you may be quietly disappeared.

Honor

Honor is very important, both Honor of the family and of the individual. Being truthful, righteous, loyal, respectful, brave, and polite are all considered very important.

Spirits

The world is animist. Almost every river, mountain, threshold, hearth, and human concept has an associated spirit, and the greatest of them take the form of dragons. Spirits can be kind, indifferent, or malevolent according to their nature. Táimí, the Singing Forests, treats spirits as part of daily life; other kingdoms keep more of a wall between civic and spiritual life, but no one denies the spirits exist. Shrines on doorways and at street corners are not decoration; they are functional. See help spirits.

Magic

Beyond cultivation, the main form of magic is blood sorcery, powered by sacrifice. It is not inherently evil. A village witch sacrificing a chicken to ward a barn is doing blood sorcery; so is a self-immolating martyr saving a town. Most practitioners, however, are malicious, and cultivator blood is the most prized fuel of all. See help "blood sorcery".

The five kingdoms at a glance

• Sìshuǐ is the imperial heart, ruled by House Lanaris: cosmopolitan, water-themed, diplomatic.
• Táimí is the Singing Forests: animist, decentralised, every village a law unto itself, the most “different” daily-life of the five.
• Jīnjiǎ is martial and hierarchical: ranks, duels, brass and ox-blood.
• Qiānjīn is the trader kingdom: loud, plural, fashion-forward, status by wealth not birth.
• Tōngzhì is the scholar kingdom: quiet bureaucrats, libraries, and one of the empire’s most dangerous intelligence apparatuses behind the spectacles.

Read help kingdoms for the full sketches, and pick the one that fits your character rather than defaulting to the imperial one.

The political moment

The empire is under pressure. The Commonwealth of Aldermark, the colonial Western power, supplies the empire’s imported technology and is steadily extracting concessions through unequal treaties anchored in Zhūwān harbour. Shirogane, a long-standing rival civilization across the water, is a separate strategic problem.

Sects, schools, and orders

These are not interchangeable.

• Schools teach martial styles. The four great schools are Ember Fist, Veiled Grace, Mirrored Tempest, and Radiant Chorus.
• Sects are voluntary associations with shared agendas, philosophies, or trades. Some are public, some hidden, some criminal.
• Orders like the Starlight Order are monastic, requiring renunciation of family and rank. Joining one is a permanent identity shift.

See help sects and help "the starlight order".

Romance of Five Kingdoms is a romantasy wuxia game. It is unapologetically dramatic, and the systems, lore, and culture are all bent toward a specific cluster of tones. Knowing the themes the game is reaching for will help you write a character who feeds into them rather than fights against them. None of this is a checklist; pick what speaks to you. But if your character touches none of these, you may struggle to enjoy yourself.

Wuxia

The bones of the game are wuxia. Wandering martial heroes, codes of honor, sect rivalries, secret techniques carried from one master to the next, breathtaking duels on rooftops and in bamboo groves. Style matters as much as outcome.

Cultivation

Cultivation is the preoccupation of most PCs, to grow ever stronger in their martial and supernatural abilities through practice, meditation, and refinement of pills. Some even take a strategic approach to romantically powered cultivation. Cultivation is the main progression mechanic in the game, and wanting to enhance your qi and learn new techniques provides a strong driver for your character to do things. As long as your character cares about cultivation it should generally be easy for you to have reasons for them to get involved in the game’s systems and with other PCs.

Adventure

The empire is large, varied, and mostly underexplored by any one character. There are spirits in the rivers, monsters in the high passes, ruins under the rice terraces, smugglers in the Zhūwān harbours, and trains that will take you somewhere you have never been by morning. The world of the game is vast and one of the main themes involves going out into the wilderness of the Jianghu and having wild martial artist adventures, whether those are battling monsters or solving mysteries.

Action

Many of the game’s systems feature high octane action, from stealthy heists, to epic battles or frantic chases. In combat characters can be fighting groups of enemies and leaping from tree branch to tree branch while a group of thugs fire machine guns at them from below.

Noble Intrigue

Your character is a Prince or Princess of one of the royal houses, as well as likely having loyalties to their martial school and perhaps one or more sects as well. This is part of the fantasy of the setting, you’ll go to fancy balls, wear absurdly expensive outfits, scheme and plot over expensive teas and whiskeys and work to dominate others through superior social maneuvering as much as martial footwork. In the high reaches of society a well placed backhanded compliment does more damage than a well placed backhand. Both the upsides of the royal fantasy, extravagance and importance, and the downsides of the fantasy, duty, obligation, are part of the setting.

Forbidden Romances

With most marriages being arranged and qi growing stronger the more opposed you are to your romantic interest the setting strongly encourages romances which are forbidden or between enemies or rivals. The friction between who you want and who you should pursue is core to the theme and plays out in long, slow burning flirtations that often ultimately explode in qi-unleashing passions. While romantic obstacles like this are common in Romance stories they are unusual in RPGs, and it’s worth thinking about how your character will interact with these themes.

Advice

This setting is a whimsical, high fantasy action-adventure romantasy setting. It isn’t grimdark fantasy, nor western dungeons and dragons style fantasy, or a comedy setting. If you try and play a character that doesn’t suit the theme you’re unlikely to have a good time. The best characters will all involve elements of martial arts cultivator, adventure, noble, and romantic lead. How you combine those elements or spin them is up to you. While there are no rules against making for instance a character disinterested in adventure, or in romance you will be locking yourself out of significant amounts of the story and potentially end up battling the game’s mechanics in a way that is unlikely to be enjoyable.

• help "aolang culture guide" for the cultural ground rules.
• help cultivation for the mechanical and dramatic centre of the world.
• help sects for the orders, sects, and schools that organise most adventures.
• help kingdoms for the five kingdoms and their distinct flavours.
• help honorifics for the language the empire uses to mark every social move.