The Apothecary Diaries RPG

The series is set in an alternate reality of the Tang dynasty and follows a young female named Maomao, who was trained from an early age by her apothecary father, and was sold as a slave to the emperor's palace while she secretly employs her pharmacist skills at the service of the people of the palace. Set in a fictional country based on Imperial China during the Tang dynasty, and often referencing knowledge closer to the late Ming dynasty, the series follows Maomao, a young girl working as an apothecary in a red-light district, who was kidnapped and sold to the Imperial Palace as an indentured servant. She still retains her curious and eccentric personality and plans to work there until her two years of servitude are over. After learning that the emperor's newborns and concubines are critically ill, she begins to investigate the cause. Using her experience as an apothecary, she successfully solves the mystery of their illness. Even though she intended to remain anonymous, her actions catch the attention of Jinshi, an influential eunuch. She then undertakes the solving of mysteries for the royal court. In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the Neigong or Hougong, the inner or rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there. Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort… so she can taste the lady’s food for poison! At her lady’s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace—not all of it seemly. The Imperial Palace, The main setting, a sprawling complex where the Emperor and his court reside. It includes various pavilions and buildings, each serving a specific purpose. The Rear Palace (Neigong/Hougong), A large complex within the Imperial Palace where the Emperor's concubines and serving women live. The Verdigris House (Rokushoukan), A high-class brothel in the capital where Maomao was originally working before being sold into servitude. A concubine is a woman who cohabits with a man but is not his wife, often having a lower social status than the man's wife or wives. Historically, concubines were sometimes slaves, though the term "concubine" is often used interchangeably with "mistress". In some societies, especially in the past, concubinage was practiced, with concubines serving various purposes like providing heirs, enhancing family wealth, or fulfilling a man's sexual desires. Ladies-in-waiting, also known as ladies of honor, are noblewomen who served as personal assistants to female monarchs or high-ranking noblewomen. Their duties included intimate tasks, companionship, and representing the queen in public. female personal assistant who attends on consorts, high-ranking officials, and other people of high status. Apothecary, a person who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes. In "The Apothecary Diaries," an eunuch is a man who has been castrated, often serving in the palace, particularly within the Inner Court. Characters Jinshi (壬氏ジンシ, Jinshi) is the deuteragonist of The Apothecary Diaries series. He appears to be a beautiful eunuch who was placed in charge of the Inner Court and often requests for Maomao to solve mysteries in the Imperial Palace in exchange for rare medicines. He finds her apathy towards him refreshing and amusing, but his childish curiosity evolves into romantic affection. Possessing silky hair, slender features, almond eyes, and willowy brows, he was just as beautiful as a painting of a celestial maiden. Jinshi's most prominent feature is his outstandingly beautiful face. Frequently described as having "the looks of a celestial maiden", he has a feminine appearance, with long, silky, jet-black hair and obsidian eyes. In the light novel, he is stylized with dark purple hair and pink eyes. Despite his feminine face, Maomao comments that his body is "surprisingly well-built", and that his hands are smooth and masculine, though callused from wielding a blade. Unlike most other court officials in the series, he wears his hair in a half-back style tied with a cloth. He is most often seen wearing court official robes. While he wears an angelic smile on his face in public, he removes this persona in privacy and reverts back to the childish expressions he normally wears. His appearance is said to be so captivating that a mere look at his face is enough to cause most girls and men to swoon; Maomao even fears that Jinshi could start a war with warlords vying for his affection. When Maomao puts lipstick on him, she comments to herself that he has reached a level of beauty such that, if anyone besides her, Suiren and Gaoshun saw him, there would be a national crisis. While Jinshi appears to be serene and beautiful, he possesses a lack of self-confidence. Although he is intelligent and diligent as noted by Maomao, he is neither a great scholar nor a brilliant general, and believes that he pales in comparison to the large shadow that is his “older brother”, the Emperor. However, Jinshi is aware that his looks are extraordinary and thus uses his appearance and natural charm as weapons in order to make up for his perceived mediocrity in other areas. Maomao notes that he has a double-sided personality in this regard; while he puts on an angelic persona in public, he is more childish and lazy than he lets on, a fact that only a select few know. He is a imperial prince. Lady Ah-Duo (阿多, Āduo?) is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the Pure Consort of the Garnet Pavilio. Ah-Duo has black clear eyes and long black hair that she ties back. Although a woman and by far the oldest among the consorts, her appearance is akin to that of a handsome young man. She bears a striking resemblance to her biological son Jinshi, including an outstanding and androgynous beauty. She is often seen wearing simple clothes without any needless decoration. Ah-Duo possesses a rather tomboyish personality, to the point where she sees the Emperor of Li as an old friend and not as a lover since the loss of their son.[4] She is a very confident and caring woman with strong maternal instincts, especially towards younger women. Her childhood dream was to become a court official, a position illegal for women to hold. Ah-Duo is noted to be very clever and practical, but in contrast, her emotional intelligence is somewhat lacking. Xiaolan (小蘭シャオラン, Shaoran?) is a minor character in the overall The Apothecary Diaries series, but the focus of The Apothecary Diaries Side Story: Xiaolan's Memories manga.[2] She is a friend of Maomao and was a maidservant in the Inner Court. Xiaolan is a young woman with brown or hazel eyes and long brown hair that she braids into buns. She wears simple servant-class clothes, which comprise of an inner robe and an outer shirt. In the anime and manga, her hair is shown as brown. Lihaku (李白リハク, Rihaku?) is a military official in the Outer Court and an acquaintance of Maomao. He is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. Lihaku is a handsome young man with a notably muscular physique, due to frequently training. He has short, black hair and onyx-colored eyes. He is often described as dog-like in that he is a good-natured, honest, and likable person. Simple-minded and passionate, he adores Pairin and works extremely hard at his job in order to redeem her. He also has nerves of steel; he was unfazed by even the locust plagues in the Western Capital. He is extremely muscular, a result of regular training. Pairin (白鈴パイリン, Pairin?), also known as Pai Ling, is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the eldest of the Three Princesses of the Verdigris House and one of Maomao's adopted sisters. Pairin is described as a beautiful young woman standing tall in height and possessing a voluptuous figure. She has fair skin, calming brown eyes, waist length, plum purple hair that's sectioned and held back, leaving the rest to fall loose, saving two chin length fringes that frame both sides of her face, whereas her bangs are parted down the middle to reveal a red huadian in the shape of a flower in the center of her forehead. For clothing, Pairin wears a cream colored hanfu that's usually accompanied with a pink and faux furred shawl. As for accessories, Pairin opts to wear blue dangle earrings and a blue flower on the right side of her head. Among her sisters, as well as other bodacious courtesans in the Verdigris House, she has the largest breast size, due to being able to lactate naturally. Like the other princesses, Pairin became more miserly with age, resembling the Madam. But unlike many courtesans, Pairin is a woman who sells her body not just for money, but also for pleasure. As Maomao puts it, Pairin is a sex demoness who will go after not just customers and manservants, but also other courtesans and even apprentices when she feels too pent up. She has preferences for muscular men with large "frogs". Because of her rather loving attitude towards Maomao, the latter suspects that Pairin genuinely longs for motherhood. She also has a romantic side for her age, wishing to be carried away from her captivity by a foreign prince. Lishu (里樹, Riishu?) is a member of the U Clan and the Virtuous Consort of the Diamond Pavilion. Lishu has dark purple eyes and long brown hair worn half-up. Although she was predicted by many to become beautiful, she remained pre-adolescent throughout her time in the Inner Court and was almost never visited by the Emperor. As the Virtuous Consort, Lishu is typically seen wearing white clothing, which is often accented with cute, frilly designs befitting her young age. Lishu possesses a very honest and straight forward personality. Similar to a spoiled princess, she often acts without caution at times, but deep down she is a capable and very kind-hearted maiden who simply lacks sense from experiencing more of the world. Because she was sent away at such a young age, she is still incredibly unsure of herself and often blindly follows the advice of others. As a result, she became the target of bullying by her own ladies-in-waiting, who bossed her around under the guise of helping her. Maomao noted that they often manipulated her by claiming everyone else is the enemy and Lishu could only trust them, influencing the naive girl to do what they say. And since she is still naive, she isn't fully aware of it. She was essentially alone in the inner court with no allies except for Ah-Duo, who took on a motherly role to the young girl after losing her own child, which is why Lishu became incredibly attached to Ah-Duo and was devastated when she had to leave. Due to her young age and sheltered life, Lishu isn't performing the duties expected of a consort. She was overwhelmed with embarrassment when Maomao held a sex education class using her knowledge from the Red Light District to help the consorts "perform" their role. She greatly admires Jinshi for his looks, but fell in love with Basen for his bravery. Gyokuyou (玉葉ギョクヨウ, Gyokuyō) is a recurring character of the The Apothecary Diaries. She is a member of the You Clan, one of the Emperor of Li's favored High Consorts, and the mother of Princess Lingli. She holds the title of the Precious Consort. Gyokuyou has jade-green eyes and long red hair that is tied back save for a thick strand framing the right side of her face. Although she is not as voluptuous as some of her rivals in the Imperial Harem, her foreign heritage gives her an exotic appeal. Fitting with her red hair, her elemental motif among the high consorts is fire and thus she is generally seen in red and pink attire. Like Ah-Duo, she refrains from being too ostentatious. Gyokuyou has a personality worthy of a wise and benevolent empress. With her kind and witty personality, she quickly became the Emperor's current favorite consort. She is just, genuinely considerate, and protective towards her female attendants and her children, as demonstrated when she relieved her former nurse with a proper compensation, offered all her ladies-in-waiting her protection against officials who tried to "hire them", and asked Maomao to teach her daughter herbal medicine in case she would need to defend herself in the future. She sometimes shows hints of a mischievous side and can be somewhat of a troublemaker and gossip seeker, constantly playing around with her children and teasing her attendants (and Jinshi) about their love lives. In her own way, Gyakuyou shares many personality traits with Maomao, namely her pragmatism and understanding of her "role" in life: she is a tool to be used to help her family, and her role is to be married off to someone of higher status and to provide them with heirs, regardless of her personal feelings. She is politically savvy, utilizing her position to send prudent information she hears in the Imperial Palace to assist her family in their endeavors, but she is well-aware of the dangers of coming off as too ambitious and keeps her political moves to an "acceptable" level. She embraces the sexual part of her role with enthusiasm, often showing excitement at ways to spice things up and keep things from getting boring, but doesn't harbor any romantic ideations of her arranged marriage because she knows that she must "share" her husband with his other consorts, which is why she didn't even bat an eye at him asking Maomao to look after Lihua in her presence, and actually expressed some relief when other consorts caught his attention as it meant that she could get a break. While she doesn't openly expresses bitterness or resentment about her life, during a private conversation with Maomao, she does reveal her envy towards Fuyou's marriage to her childhood friend and having a marriage based on mutual love with someone who is solely devoted to her. Despite the fact that she and the other consorts are ultimately in a competition to be the empress, the reason being one of survival and sucess as if the Emperor ever loses interest in them they can quickly be replaced and lose their standing and ability to support their family, Gyakuyou doesn't have any jealousy or ill-will towards her fellow consorts. While she is certainly capable of being the necessary level of viciousness needed to establish her dominance and defend her position from the nastiest of schemers, she has no interest in creating conflict or undermining someone without good reason. It is clear that she recognizes that her fellow consorts are not her necessarily her enemies but are merely in the same situation as her, and are trying to navigate the situation as best they can. Unless doing so would undermine her position she has no problem letting go of slights, she didn't even retaliate against Lihua when the latter accused her of trying to murder her son going so far as to slap her, acknowledging that Lihua was understandably not in her right mind with her son's condition. Gaoshun (高順ガオシュン, Gaoshun?) is a recurring character in The Apothecary Diaries. He was the Emperor of Li's attendant, but temporarily transferred to Jinshi. Gaoshun has short black hair and eyes. Although he looks quite young for his age, the wrinkle between his eyes and forehead depicts the stress he endures everyday from his masters and his family. On the outside, Gaoshun appears calm, aloof, and capable. He will sometimes show his angry side towards his young master and his sons when they fail to do their jobs properly. On the inside, he has a fear of women due to his overly bossy wife and daughter. Despite being a high-ranking official, he will humble down to do peasant work if the command comes from a woman. Lihua (梨花リファ, Rifa?) is a recurring character in The Apothecary Diaries series. As one of the Emperor's favored high consorts in the Inner Palace of the Imperial Palace, she was bestowed the title of "Wise Consort" ("Worthy Consort" in Square Enix translation) by the Emperor and given the Crystal Pavilion to live in. She is the mother of the Second Prince. Lihua has flowing dark-blue hair with bangs swept to the left side and ruby-red eyes. With her voluptuous body, she is the Emperor's favorite consort when it comes to body type. As a high consort, she is often seen wearing extravagant clothes and decorations to bring out her mature beauty. Her elemental motif among the high consorts is water, and thus is generally seen in blue and purple attire. On the outside, Lihua possesses a serious and overpowering personality. In reality, while she is proud, she isn't arrogant and cares deeply for those who assist her, thanking their care and ensuring their efforts are properly rewarded. This duality is what drew the Emperor to her compared to the other consorts, and she in turn admires his character and work policies deeply. She is very similar to Gyokuyou in terms of capability and demeanor, being smart and politically savvy as well as kind, but she is more emotional and attached with bouts of insecurity, especially after the loss of her first son. She is the Emperor's current second favorite consort after Gyokuyou. Meimei (梅梅メイメイ, Meimei?) is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the second-oldest of the Three Princesses of the Verdigris House and one of Maomao's adoptive sisters. Meimei is a beautiful young woman standing at average height and possesses a well-endowed figure. She has fair skin, dark purple colored hair that falls to mid-back length and is otherwise styled into a side ponytail, leaving a section of her hair to frame one side of her face, whereas the rest of her fringe frame the left side of her face, soft sea-green eyes, and a beauty mark beneath her right eye. For her outfit, she wears a seafoam green, long sleeved top along with a long royal blue skirt and is usually seen with a coral-colored shawl. For accessories, she wears a gold necklace, pink colored flower earrings, and a magenta-colored flower pin on the left side of her head. Meimei is an emotional person who is especially attached to the courtesans of the Verdigris House. Although she is normally kind and gentle, she can short-tempered at times, according to Maomao. Joka (女華ジョカ, Joka?) is a secondary character in The Apothecary Diaries. She is the youngest of the Three Princesses of the Verdigris House and one of Maomao's adopted sisters. Like her sisters, Joka is described as a beautiful young woman with a well-endowed figure. She stands at average height, possesses fair skin, calf length indigo colored hair that's styled both elaborately and is otherwise sectioned, sharp amber colored eyes, and is typically seen with a flat expression on her face. Joka's outfit consist of a maroon colored hanfu with blue accents. For her choice of accessorizing, she wears a silver tiara on her head and red colored earrings. She is also seen with two small lilac colored dots for makeup above her thin eyebrows. Compared to the other two Princesses, Joka is colder and more aloof; but she is still warm and thoughtful towards Maomao and the other courtesans. Despite being a courtesan, she does not like men, whom she sees as uuntrustworthy. Guen (虞淵グエン, Guen?), often referred to by Maomao as the Quack Doctor, is a recurring character in The Apothecary Diaries. As a eunuch court physician, he holds the responsibility of managing the health of the residents of the Inner Court. Guen has the appearance of a chubby middle-aged man. He has black small eyes and black hair tied into a knot. He has a small mustache. Guen, while being a kind and friendly person, is meek and insecure. Due to being castrated, he often behaves like a lady and replaced his libido with a desire for food. Maomao (猫猫マオマオ, Maomao?) is the main protagonist of The Apothecary Diaries series. The illegitimate daughter of the talented and eccentric La Clan, she lived in the red-light district until she got kidnapped and sold by bandits. She suddenly found herself working as a servant in the Imperial Palace of Li. There, she was able to make use of her sense of practicality, keen deductions, and insightful knowledge of herbs and illnesses to solve the mysterious problems within the Inner and Outer Courts. Maomao is a young girl who stands relatively short in height and possesses a petite frame. She has blue eyes and dark forest green hair, which is typically tied up and sectioned with a light blue ribbon that holds a portion of her hair back, whereas two strands of hair can be seen framing her face and are adorned with 2 beads each; the top one being red and the bottom one being sky blue. The bandage wrap seen on her left forearm hides the number of self-inflicted scars from where she had tested upon herself when experimenting with remedies and poisons. Maomao's main outfit consists of an aoqun hanfu with a light green top and a long, burgundy skirt. The inner robe in her top is white, while the collar of her light green robe is both pale and dark green. She also wears a pair of dark green flats to accompany this outfit. In essence of her usual wear, Maomao prefers to wear more simple and practical garments and will otherwise avoid wearing elaborate outfits and makeup unless the opportunity for her to do so arises, giving those the impression she dresses rather plainly. Despite avoiding makeup, she frequently paints freckles using clay around the bridge of her nose. On the occasions where Maomao would dress up, she is considered to be quite attractive if less endowed by many when the effort is given, something that usually leaves most people to fail in recognizing her as the same person entirely. Despite wearing an impassive expression on her face, she can radiate with heightened excitement whenever she is able to taste and or experiment with poisons, medicines, or rare medical ingredients. Maomao's approach to life is very practical, focused on learning to survive and thrive in whatever way her environment demands her to. She is rarely tricked or charmed by others: she is one of the few to be unaffected by Jinshi's beauty and charm. Her mindset has helped her come to terms with matters that many would find scarring; for example, she considers her near-rape, and later her kidnapping enraging situations, but also as inevitabilities of living in the red-light district. She is a very pragmatic individual who is well aware of her position in the world as someone with no status who can be considered expendable at a moment's notice. She often follows commands without outward protest and forces herself to not acknowledge (and even withhold) significant events she had witnessed in the Imperial Palace as a form of self-preservation, such as the truth behind the illness of Gyokuyou's daughter, Lishu's harassment by her ladies-in-waitig, or that Jinshi is not in fact the Emperor's brother but is in fact his son by Ah-Duo, as she is well aware that her status as a commoner means that she is easily expendable if it means to protect a noble and that her words might get someone killed. In part because of her own self-preserving attitude, she finds people who will help others to their own detriment painful to watch. Despite her pragmatism, Maomao's insatiable curiosity often leads her to involve herself in the problems of others. It is also implied that she has a strong sense of justice, empathy, and compassion, which makes it very hard for her to ignore misdeeds and injustice once she has witnessed them.[6] She is well-equipped to expertly navigate the inner palace, which she herself notes is more or less the same as the red light district she was raised in. She is sharp-witted, calm and mature enough to know how to read people and situations, and how to placate or intimidate aggressive colleagues or superiors without making them direct their ire at her.