Alteration of the flow of chi

Natalya · Unread post by **Natalya** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:29 pm

When it comes to the type and amount of chi in a location, MC gave a good rule of thumb. One of them being beautiful, positive; ugly, negative.

While driving home, a question came to mind. I passed by a construction site that just a few days before had been a densely wooded area, 5 or so acres. Now it's ugly with ripped up trees everywhere.

So, the question is, when an area that was full of life and beauty is suddenly deforested (or whatever), how long for the chi in the area to adjust to match? An action? Melee round? A day? Two calendar weeks? Two contractor weeks?

Our group loves to play with explosives, so sudden deforestation is not an uncommon in our games. Just wondering if the suddenly ugly area full of dead trees would instantly have slightly negative chi, or if it takes a little bit of adjustment?

Guest · Unread post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 11:41 pm

It could be an instantaneous or short period change of any where from a few minutes to a couple of hours.

Hmm...I'd probably say reduce the flow of positive chi by 1 point per hour, up to maybe 75% total reduction.

RoadWarriorFWaNK · Fri Sep 16, 2005 5:22 pm

I personally wouldn't think the flow of chi would be altered very much at all (except for, of course added basements which would have a negative flow). The ground itself is still pretty much the same. The loss of trees would reduce the amount of ambient positive chi, but i dont think it would be that dramatic. Trees can grow back.
If however, the area were to become tainted with poisonous chemicals, an open sewer line, swamp-land, or evil spirits, then the flow would be altered, and would probably have take effect as quickly as the area is damaged.

acreRake · Unread post by **acreRake** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:55 am

RoadWarriorFWaNK wrote:Trees can grow back.

:erm: In a few decades...

I'd go with KS's suggestion. It feels very much in the spirit of the existing rules (ie it sounds like something Erick would have written).

/2¢

RoadWarriorFWaNK · Sun Sep 18, 2005 2:36 pm

acreRake wrote:
RoadWarriorFWaNK wrote:Trees can grow back.
:erm: In a few decades...

And in the meantime, other plants and animal life will take root in the area. The land and water is still good. Even ruined buildings can be grown over with ivy and weeds in a matter of months. If things can grow there, the chi has to be positive.

Natalya · Unread post by **Natalya** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:30 pm

RoadWarriorFWaNK wrote:
acreRake wrote:
RoadWarriorFWaNK wrote:Trees can grow back.
:erm: In a few decades...

And in the meantime, other plants and animal life will take root in the area. The land and water is still good. Even ruined buildings can be grown over with ivy and weeds in a matter of months. If things can grow there, the chi has to be positive.

Eventually, yes, I agree with you that the flow of chi would change back because the living things outweigh the dead things.

Though the area chi doesn't need to be positive for things to grow. Two of the examples of areas of Negative Chi are caves (NSS, pg 121) and swamps (MC, pg 119). Both are environments that are filled with life.

But my concern was the immediate aftermath of an explosion or other forms of destruction. When many things have been killed, and their dead remains are lying around, when the landscape is aesthetically ugly. How long does it take for the flow of Chi to reroute so the area contains Negative Chi instead of Positive Chi.

The Beast · Unread post by **The Beast** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 1:54 am

Natalya wrote:But my concern was the immediate aftermath of an explosion or other forms of destruction. When many things have been killed, and their dead remains are lying around, when the landscape is aesthetically ugly. How long does it take for the flow of Chi to reroute so the area contains Negative Chi instead of Positive Chi.

Until something started growing there again. What humans see as destruction and/or devastation may not be that from nature's view. An example would be a forest fire. We tend to see charred remains, but all forests need a fire every so often to clear out undergrowth and dead wood, plus some plants need it to reproduce. Another example would be from when Mt. Saint Helens blew back in the '80's. Back then, scientists were saying it would take centuries for the area to fully recover. The last thing I heard on it was that the region was returning faster than expected.

Your original post gave me this idea: A newly developed urban area would look nice, and thus have positive chi. For a period of time it would continue to have a healthy chi. Then something happens like a major job loss, recession hit, natural disaster, or something hits the area that hurts the people or chi (or both) in some way. People end up not putting as much effort into their community as they used to so the amount of positive chi starts to decline. As the flow of positive chi lessens, this brings in more & more depression and crime amongst those that stay or move into the area. Again this lowers the flow of positive chi. Once it reaches a critical point, it feeds on itself, creating an urban area everyone wants to leave because of the crime, and/or job opportunities, and/or education opportunities, and/or whatever. Eventually you get an area that has zero chi, or close to it, where crime, violence, poverty, and all sorts of urban problems are high. It would be possible, but extremely unlikely to even reach negative chi with this scenario. I say this because even in the poorest section in the worst part of the world there would be someone trying to make things better for the community. An example of this would be someone on their way to becoming a big sport/music star, or being the first in the family to go to college, or a criminal changing their ways while in prison, and then helping others in the community build a future.