Lokenstein's

Introduction

The game starts with two men trying to escape enemies while one of them is carrying a baby. One of the men dies, but one survives with the baby - whose cheek is grazed by an arrow, drawing blood. As the baby grows up, we learn that the man who survived is the main character's adopted father, Jiang Wulang, while the baby is the main character. Uncle Jiang teaches them martial arts during their childhood and teenage years, as they live together in the Bamboo Abode.

My character's name is 路茸 (Lù Róng), and they're non-binary.

They have long black hair that they prefer tied up away from their face, and no matter the circumstances, they always wear heavy make up including huadian and yedian, as well as red and black dramatic eye shadow, drawn flowers and more decorations, usually in red tones. Although not on purpose, they somewhat remind me of real-life author Xiran Jay Zhao (maybe it's the makeup). They have a scar under their left eye due to the arrow which hit them as a child.

As a young adult, they were a naïve youth, wandering around in clean, light pink robes, usually with their guqin strapped to their back. Although they were interested in martial arts thanks to their education by Uncle Jiang, and couldn't wait to prove themselves, they still spent most of their time climbing to far away places simply to enjoy the nature, play music, dance or make tea.

As the game story kicks off, Lu Rong was visiting the Bamboo Abode when they get attacked by a fighter dressed in black who steals the Jade Pendant bearing their name.

Another New Wing

After the fight, Lu Rong passes out until a child named Ruby wakes them up. Together, they investigate the Bamboo Abode and theorize that because the Jade Pendant was given to them by Uncle Jiang, the mysterious attacker might be linked to Jiang Wulang, so they leave for Heaven's Pier to ask Han Xiangxun for more information.

Before reaching Heaven's Pier however, Ruby insists on going to the General's Shrine to buy things from the travelling caravan. There, she first encourages Lu Rong to participate in a fighting competition, where they fight Fang Xu from Well of Heaven sect, among others. After winning the competition, Ruby still wants to hang out around Heaven's Pier so it's settled that she will make her way back with Beard Guang while Lu Rong continue alone.

A Horse Neighs in the Forest

Having made their way to Heaven's Pier, Lu Rong is informed by Uncle Zhou that Aunt Han is waiting for them, so they head to the nearby Blissful Retreat. Upon arriving, it quickly becomes clear that Aunt Han is very angry about Lu Rong leaving with Ruby, and she immediately ropes them into helping out by serving wine to her clients. While working, Lu Rong hears news from the area, including some tales about the violent Killerblade and the Twelve Calamities, as well as about Master Wen, who runs Weiyang City. A guest named Qianye in a nearby private room tries to flirt with Lu Rong, but gets quickly interrupted by Aunt Han, who asks her protégé.e to check on the nearby Porcelain Kiln to see if the wine jars are ready.

At the Porcelain Kiln, Song Jiu explains that the wine jars haven't been delivered yet because the place was just robbed. Lu Rong decides to investigate, and soon finds the thieves... as well as a man with a huge sword about to kill them! The man turns out to be the legendary Killerblade, and he attacks Lu Rong for a while, before finishing off the thieves and questioning Lu Rong on the whereabouts of Han Xiangxun. Lu Rong, afraid that Killerblade wants to hurt Aunt Han, refuses to help him, so Killerblade kidnaps them, ties them to his horse and (after calling them "pup" and "brat" a few times, which may or may not have awakened something in them...) starts to ride towards Blissful Retreat. Lu Rong learns that Killerblade's real name is Yi Dao. On their way, Yi Dao spots someone sneaking around and goes to investivate, giving Lu Rong an opportunity to escape into the Ghost Temple and through secret tunnels.

Back in Blissful Retreat, Lu Rong asks Doudou about Aunt Han's location, but he only give a vague answer about her strange ability to appear and disappear at will, just as his own master does. Doudou's master lives in the Evergreen Clinic, so Lu Rong goes there to investigate and, after talking to Yao Yaoyao, they gain access to the second floor which leads to a hidden well, itself leading to a secret underground place.

In the dark tunnels below, there are many traps as well as mysterious Faceless Ones lurking about. Lu Rong finds ustensils seemingly used to remove faces from soldiers, the purpose of this operation unclear and quite creepy. They make their way to a small indoor courtyard, where they find the Nameless Jade Flute along with a music score for the Song of Longing. Using their musical skills, Lu Rong plays the song on the flute, which the Faceless Ones seem to enjoy. They also find a treasure room, before suddenly waking up back in the Evergreen Clinic... however, the clinic feels a bit strange, and turns out they're in a magical nightmare. There, they will make their way through a morbid world, before fighting an enemy named Heartseeker, which has taken on Aunt Han's appearance. After the fight, Lu Rong wakes up in the treasure room, in which the Faceless Ones leader, Cheng Xin, is sitting. After returning the Nameless Jade Flute to Cheng Xin, he offers to change Lu Rong's looks, which they decline. Continuing to wander the tunnels, Lu Rong finds a note written by Chu, a name they're familiar with. They also find Doudou, who's quite out of it and scared to become a faceless one. From what he says, it seems like the Faceless Ones are people who wanted to alter their appearances but for whom the surgeries went badly.

After exiting the underground tunnels, Lu Rong heads to Aunt Han's room, where they find more things about Chu, hinting at a romantic relationship between the two - until then, Lu Rong had thought that Uncle Jiang and Aunt Han were possibly in a relationship, but it seems they were mistaken. Suddenly, Yi Dao appears, and turns out he was following Lu Rong all along in order to get to Aunt Han... But when a group of figthers attacks them, they fight against them together, and Yi Dao helps Lu Rong escape through the roof. Tailing one of the assaillants, they end up in a cellar and have to work as a team to avoid the various traps they encounter. Warming up to Yi Dao (and trying to keep their crush under control), Lu Rong starts to call him Dao-ge (or Blade in English) along the way. Lu Rong also gets some information as they go through the dungeon: the fighters attacking them are Aureate Pavilion soldiers, and Sleeping Puppets (which they have to fight at some point) used to be a big problem 16 years prior.

After finally coming back outside, Lu Rong and Yi Dao reach a dilapidated temple swarming with Aureate Pavilion soldiers, and Yi Dao comes up with a plan to defeat them. He also reveals that Han Xiangxun is being hunted by the soldiers because she allegedly stole some secrets from them. Despite having quickly grown attached to Yi Dao, Lu Rong is wary of trusting him (and very aware that they should put family ahead of a recent crush), so they trick him and enter the ruined temple on their own. There, they free Ruby and Beard Guang, before having to fight a beautiful white horse named Dalang, and the Horse Dancer with a golden face who's controlling it. After killing the horse once (which pained them a lot), Lu Rong witnesses the Horse Dancer spit out a purple cocoon an feeding it to the horse before disappearing, essentially posessing Dalang . After the horse is almost defeated a second time, Aunt Han suddenly appears and throws a dagger at it, making it spit out the purple cocoon. She also defeats the soldiers Yi Dao is still fighting against, and they start talking together - turns out they knew each other all along! Lu Rong insists on asking questions about Aunt Han's past, but she gets upset and punishes them by telling to go copy some books.

Dust on the Rhombus Mirror

Lu Rong passes off the book-copying task to Ruby in exchange of promising to introduce her to Killerblade, because she's obsessed with great heroes (... and Lu Rong can start to relate). They then meet with Beard Guang, who in exchange for a jar of Parting Tears explains that Dalang and the Horse Dancer had travelled with him for a few days, and that he had noticed a glowing powder on the horse's hooves - the same he had already seen on the shoes of people at the western post station the horse and its owner came from.