Note that if we're doing something as broad as a bill of rights, then there would need to be some way to amend the contract, because there's no way we could get it right the first time.
Meguca Micro Empire Quest (PMMM)
- Thread starter inverted_helix
- Start date
Having serious internet issues (plus heading to bed) so little time to respond. However the simple answer here is to have a simple termination clause, a date at which the contract/s must be renewed, or some combination of the two. Sachiko would of course love the second.
Whatever method we pick that would let us make a new contract to account for changes that need to be made. Only "problem" is that it would require a 100% agreement.
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Not sure how necessary a bill of rights or whatever is though. The contracts works on spirit not just word so just a general "treat each other like decent people" would hand-wave all that away.
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Off the cuff, I'd put in a few setup items like:
1) Agreement does not go into effect until 2/3 of designated parties (assuming several groups are brought together for the agreement) have signed.
2) Amendments must be agreed to by 2/3 of the currently active signatories, and are considered 'temporary' for one year, at which point another 2/3 agreement will make them permanent.
3) Charter may be fully cancelled if 2/3 of all signatories agree to do so. (Basically the same as an amendment that says the entire thing is null and void.)
It's good to actually enumerate the details of such things because, being subjective, a general handwave like the above would tend to have wildly different interpretations by different people. The more specific the detail, the easier it is both to grasp a commonly agreed-upon concept, and believe everyone is adhering to it properly.
Hmm... sounds like her wish magic is driving her model rather than her personality.
I'm guessing a wish along the lines of "I wish people would keep their promises to me."
Wow... that's a huge benefit for spreading knowledge of the magical world but without all the problems of the masquerade. I so want to recruit this girl.
Not too bad. I'm wondering if distributing girls might also be a way to spread the word about the Serenes to other organizations.
How positive?I suppose being assured that people have to pay you back and cannot default does reduce the interest rate you need to charge.
Hmm...
I bet that's her wish magic. Artifact creation. And most of her research has been around allowing others to maintain and power her artifacts. That would fit the Miko motif, the feudal system with religious overtones.
Maybe she wished her teddy bear alive? Or wanted a house to tell her something about itself. Something like that.
Heh...
I notice that this gives us a temporary benefit, in exchange for them getting a permanent benefit.
Plus, this could be a test of character. Do we consider Tokyo our property to dole out? What about the girls living there already, don't they get a vote?
We need to be careful in how we respond to this.
Also, I think the term you are looking for is Onna-bugeisha.
Sounds like it does require a constant charger. I think our counter would be to actual obtain ownership of the device, with training in how to charge and maintain it.
... Also gives the possibility of studying it and trying to reverse engineer it.
That'll work...
Hmm...
That suggests she would be more interested in areas on the edges of Tokyo, where the demons were constantly patrolling and where there are likely to be fewer surviving locals. Maybe Mito, Hitachinaka, Otawara, or Utsunomiya.
Hard to tell. Conflicting messages but... she's basically the deal maker?
Err what?
First of all, Tokyo and Kyoto are not far enough away for this to be a problem. In fact historically during the warring states period several clans controlled different places. Including controlling Kyoto and Tokyo.
Second, Hiko does have the religious element.
We don't have the religious element. That's a misunderstanding by outsiders, don't forget that. We're a family or clan model, which has it's own ways to resist splintering, but we have no religious element in our organization.
I think it's more likely to assume that she is in a predicament similar to what we faced when we took over Itawa. She's looking for a new chunk of territory.
Errr.... why? I mean, I'm worried about casualties, but I expect we can beat it pretty easily if we catch it alone with a teleport interdiction.
That's probably her reason, though the distance isn't that big.
Mami never estimated it with anything like that precision or level. I got the impression of above 0 but below 10.
That's not a colony, that's a subservient feudal state, and that would fit in perfectly with Hiko's model.
No. You are confused. The Serene's have no religious elements. That is an unfounded rumor spread about us by outsiders. We act more like a large family than anything else..
Hiko is not... whatever you just said she is. She is a feudalist with heavy religious overtones. This was explicitly told us by the GM.
Err... what? Puerto Rico is not a colony of the United States, nor has it ever been. It was a colony of Spain.
This is a recent development that is extremely confusing to me, people identifying the US as a colonial power. Unless you want to talk about the Philippines, there is no US colonial experience to talk of. The US was never a major colonial power. It's an abuse of the term, and factually incorrect. Arguably a minor colonial power due to Guam and the Philippines, but to rank it alongside France, Britain, and Spain is ridiculous. Sometimes it's been called an accidental colonial power, which is probably the closest to a accurate description.
Additionally, there is no significant cultural, technical, linguistic, or financial difference between Tokyo and Kyoto so I don't think the colonial model applies at all here.
Uhh... that make a huge assumption that the magic is somehow imbued into the written contract, and is not attached to the magical girl herself. It's far more likely that the contract has to be made within her presence for her to activate her contract magic. That would be consistent with what every other wish magic has depicted.
In fact, we don't even know if her contract magic works between two other people. It might only cover contracts to which she is a party.
Of course, we could get around that by have her be a party to the contract...
Again, these are based on assumptions that we don't know. I expect there are limits to her power, there always are.
Maybe. Probably.
We haven't actually talked to the Junta yet. For all we know they may be horribly misunderstood.
All questions we definitely need to cover in our discussion.
@inverted_helix Considering the crucial nature of this negotiation, and since we have Mami dedicated to this, I suggest that it become a series of mini turns.
(Plus it gives you more time to work on the rest of the turn events).
We do have a shrine, an obsessive focus on protecting magical girls, and Serena, so there is a pseudo-religeous thing going on, but it's still rather nebulous at this point. If we had any way of knowing about Madokami, it wouldn't take much for us to become the Cult of Hope.
Actually, we do have one method that would still work with an always-on device: Lure. Have the targets chase a KyouClone like the last time, and as long as she's close enough that the youma doesn't need to teleport to keep chasing her, she can lead it to a point where we can bring the anti-teleporting effect into play. IE: She stops just outside the area of effect (in case the youma does a teleport on the final catch-up), and then holds there with the demon as the AT+Serena group run in (100 m should only take a few seconds).
We will probably need the Bugeisha group with us as the start, since it's very likely that there will be a lot of support teleport attempts, and we'll need them to keep it up and running. However after a few times where that fails to have an effect, the support youma are likely to teleport to outside the interdiction range, and move in manually. At that point, we don't need the bugeisha on site since the natural effectiveness of the barrier should be sufficient. However we will need alternative methods of dealing with the youma support groups.
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Am also thinking of a new attack strategy for us. Basically, clairvoyant team spot checks a target. Teleport team drops powered-up Serena on the target. Serena's team takes one round of shots on the target, then teleport team immediately teleports them back out. Systematic harassment and harm, without long-term engagement, or giving them time to bring in support youma.
Do multiple hits on random targets, never the same twice in a row. And then periodically, do hit them twice in a row.
Basically, drain them using mechanisms to constantly draw out their support youma teleporters, but where they keep missing the target. Frustrate them, and force them to constantly divert manpower away from feeding.
This method would not work with Hiko's device, though it might be useful as a side-tactic. If we're constantly doing hit-and-run with teleporting, having teleport denial at random times, along with the likelihood of them getting lax on sending the support teleporters, could give us a notable tactical advantage. However we get back to the issue of how to actually implement use of the device.
We will probably need the Bugeisha group with us as the start, since it's very likely that there will be a lot of support teleport attempts, and we'll need them to keep it up and running. However after a few times where that fails to have an effect, the support youma are likely to teleport to outside the interdiction range, and move in manually. At that point, we don't need the bugeisha on site since the natural effectiveness of the barrier should be sufficient. However we will need alternative methods of dealing with the youma support groups.
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Am also thinking of a new attack strategy for us. Basically, clairvoyant team spot checks a target. Teleport team drops powered-up Serena on the target. Serena's team takes one round of shots on the target, then teleport team immediately teleports them back out. Systematic harassment and harm, without long-term engagement, or giving them time to bring in support youma.
Do multiple hits on random targets, never the same twice in a row. And then periodically, do hit them twice in a row.
Basically, drain them using mechanisms to constantly draw out their support youma teleporters, but where they keep missing the target. Frustrate them, and force them to constantly divert manpower away from feeding.
This method would not work with Hiko's device, though it might be useful as a side-tactic. If we're constantly doing hit-and-run with teleporting, having teleport denial at random times, along with the likelihood of them getting lax on sending the support teleporters, could give us a notable tactical advantage. However we get back to the issue of how to actually implement use of the device.
You know they haven't had any lingering infestations, that doesn't necessarily mean they haven't spawned any.
In this case it's just a version sent via email which carries no magic.
It's short enough range that this is less of an issue than you'd think. But more importantly it's not always on, the technician will be able to toggle it on and off.
Minutes to recharge. It can be turned on and off by the technician, but it's not like there's a switch on it.
Essentially just a percent or so below market. To account for the detail you spotted. Interest on loans generally has to account for the expected value of the chance they default, with that removed you can charge less.
I suppose being assured that people have to pay you back and cannot default does reduce the interest rate you need to charge.
Yes there are significant limits to her power that she's not mentioning, there always are limits to powers.
This you know isn't possible based on her limits though. The contract can't be forced onto people that don't agree, it has to be agreed to. (Unless you were talking about amendment procedure to be agreed to in the original contract.)
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That particular point was to prevent one or two groups from signing, and then everyone else going NOPE, and just those two being stuck with the restrictions they'd signed on to.
It's not that it would affect all designated parties as soon as 2/3 of them signed, it's that its enforcement on those who had signed wouldn't come into play unless at least 2/3 of the designated parties had signed, and would obviously only affect those who had actually signed at that point.
Ah, I didn't get that.
Probably because the American Constitution was said to come into effect without every state voting for it. Rhode Island was the last hold out if I remember right...
OK, verified that it has an on/off switch. That makes it easy enough to incorporate into standard movement tactics. Basically, the bugeisha team is incorporated into the support group, and activates the denial field as soon as the basic target is within range.
The triple barrier shielding should keep everyone safe from a standard group of two youma. Will need to reevaluate if they increase their clustering more than that.
The main problem remaining is how to deal with Serena's aura.
We can expect that the bugeisha team simply cannot deal with the full aura. On the other hand, we do know that Serena + support can manage two youma without Serena's full aura. So the question is: How well can the bugeisha team handle the low aura? At this point we don't have enough information to say for sure. There do seem to be indications of a decently high morale for her group, though (at least a 3), so they probably will be able to manage OK.
For the time being I think we can work with what's being offered. We just need to decide on how to deal with the price being asked.
The triple barrier shielding should keep everyone safe from a standard group of two youma. Will need to reevaluate if they increase their clustering more than that.
The main problem remaining is how to deal with Serena's aura.
We can expect that the bugeisha team simply cannot deal with the full aura. On the other hand, we do know that Serena + support can manage two youma without Serena's full aura. So the question is: How well can the bugeisha team handle the low aura? At this point we don't have enough information to say for sure. There do seem to be indications of a decently high morale for her group, though (at least a 3), so they probably will be able to manage OK.
For the time being I think we can work with what's being offered. We just need to decide on how to deal with the price being asked.
You know it's odd. I expected based off the huge Serena argument that you guys would practically consider Sachiko the devil (not only does she have mind magic, she has the nerve to use it!). And in return she was going to consider your response to mean that you must be completely untrustworthy.
1: "Honesty" aura is less threatening than "Happiness" aura
2: Sachiko's magic only affects those that willing agree, Serena's magic effects everyone
3: Sachiko's magic is non-addictive, Serena's is
Basically, Sachiko's mind magic doesn't even reach Taura's powers level of creepiness.
Heh. Well, she's allayed most fears with a few salient points:
1) The parties must willingly enter into the agreement. If you don't agree, nothing happens.
2) It's based on the spirit of the agreement as each party perceives it. No underhanded lawyer tricks and fine print.
3) She allows termination clauses, and reveals that up front, rather than hiding it behind the "You didn't ask" barrier.
Now, there's most definitely still care to be taken in any dealings with her — she didn't get her reputation for nothing — but as long as she's willing to be upfront and fair in her dealings, it's just a matter of paying attention to the details.
As for the Serena (and Hino, and even Taura) issues, I've always been more lax in how I perceive such matters should be dealt with. Namely, if you go into it with your eyes open, and the other side isn't deliberately trying to screw you over, then you should extend the benefit of the doubt.
Now, if they are trying to screw you over, then things get ramped up to "You do not fuck with me" levels.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
Eh. Requires Informed Consent is pretty moral as a restriction. I am totally willing to deal with her. We just need to be sure to be very careful about what we sign.
I find it kind of silly that most of your post is talking up how incredibly valuable her power is, but then you call whatever rate she might charge a rip-off based on comparison to mundane contract fees.
Yes, in fact Sachiko's basic power set was drawn up already by that point though I'd yet to firm up her character/personality at that point. It was basically intended that forming some sort of UN/EU would have basically required getting her on board with your plan. Though that's a major limiter that people speculating on what they could use her power for seem to have forgotten.
I do like this term. I was basically looking for a term that Hiko would refer to her own combat focused girls by. Since she probably wouldn't call them by the same terms you would. Sometimes I ignore that as below the level of granularity of the quest, but sometimes I like to include nomenclature differences you'd expect from groups not talking much.
Problem with that would be I expect that it wouldn't really bulk out to miniturns easily without me describing a level of detail which would normally warrant indepth analysis in this quest. Which would then drive crazy paranoia when I'd just be trying to flesh out character design or something. I'll try and come up with something I guess, we'll see what I manage.
I've actually been editing and shifting around a lot of character designs for the background characters recently trying to flesh out the interactions and more logically arrange things. Trying to piece together a world with people interacting. Kind of like how Hiko and Hino don't get along much at all because of their traditional vs modern and feudal responsibility vs oligarchy/corporate clash despite there not being a whole lot of material reasons for them not to get along.
Personally I suspect murder rates would skyrocket if everyone had to tell the truth.
Something to consider is how she got her money, she hasn't been selling contracts to every magical girl in Japan yet, but she still has serious wealth.
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The point that stuck out to me is that the six youma dogpile is the point where space started to warp, which is also what happens in the beholder's vicinity. On the other hand, we know that youma pairs don't warp space. That puts the beholder at greater-than-pair youma levels of power, a condition that we couldn't even escape from without losing someone.
The current situation with Puerto Rico puts it as a US territory, which means it has no representation at the US federal level, even though they have to pay US federal taxes and follow rules laid down by the US federal government. That makes them a de-facto colony of the US, even if they're the lighter touch kind that can elect their own governor, rather than the kind directly ruled by a appointee of the metropolitan state.
HC's Tokyo territory will be an area distinct from the "home" territory, that is still under the control of the "home" territory, and in fact will almost certainly be ruled by Hiko's direct appointee; that's pretty much the definition of a colony.
And I'd argue that there will be a rather significant cultural difference between the Tokyo natives and Hiko's culture; modern Tokyo bears little resemblance to the traditionalist views of a centenarian like Hiko. Tokyo natives in fact would identify much more strongly with the corporate structure of the Nagoya Mageocracy, a cultural viewpoint that Hiko herself disagrees with strongly enough to remain in conflict with them even with the presence of a self-described "Junta" on her western flank. The difference is certainly large enough to cause friction anyway, resentment of having to bow and pay tribute to some distant ruler from halfway across the country who publicly disdains their city and way of life. Sometimes it's little differences like this that cause more violence than large differences.
On our side, Iwata started out as a colony, but at this point it's basically part of our "home" territory, if only because the connections are sufficiently broad and the travel time is sufficiently low (within easy teleport range) that it's no longer remote enough to really be a colony anymore. As you've said, and I agree, we work more as a family/clan style of governance, rather than as a feudal/colonial style anyway, united by bonds of friendship, sisterhood, and shared goals rather than religious dogma, so the colony moniker doesn't really apply to us.
I dunno about sharecropping, but I think a counter-offer of our full DS-measurement training and RT hunting methods, in exchange for the (loan of) the teleport interdiction device, plus training in how to empower it. Our full suite of hunting tech should increase their home territory's production by 17%, which is a guaranteed benefit, unlike the potential benefit of possible future territory. It also comes without the political complications of having to subdue a potentially unwilling section of Tokyo, and the risk of once again destabilizing the region so soon after the last youma apocalypse.
Puerto Rico is a strange case. Mostly because they presently pay only some of the federal taxes. Specifically Puerto Rico is not subject to federal income tax. Which is a huge portion of federal taxes.
So they maintain most of the benefits of being part of the United States, they gain the military protection, the citizenship, social programs, laws, but don't pay the full taxes.
They'll probably become a state in a few years anyways based on the results of last referendum putting them as inclined toward statehood. All of the current US states started off as "territories" as well.
Also I generally speaking don't agree that colonialism was a failed model in the first place. Many colonies lasted hundreds of years. The current U.S. government is only a bit more than two hundred years old. There's very very few governments that lasted intact for hundreds of years.
Whoops. Kira = twinkle = light based powers = mixup.
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
@inverted_helix, What does Hiko think of The Eyes counter offer? Although I suppose it's really up to the thread if we want that to be the counter offer.
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Rest of thread, what think you of the following idea: Give Hiko the right to sharecrop in any tokyo territory we acquire. That gives her exactly what she asked for, a portion of the cube income of our tokyo gains, while also not setting up another potential rival in Tokyo.
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Rest of thread, what think you of the following idea: Give Hiko the right to sharecrop in any tokyo territory we acquire. That gives her exactly what she asked for, a portion of the cube income of our tokyo gains, while also not setting up another potential rival in Tokyo.
Kesi is African though
Rotating tactics offers her far less benefit than you believe it to. And it's also far less guaranteed than the value of territory.
Well.. it's more a "keep your promise" effect than "always tell the truth" effect.
Main point though is that while it mildly twinges on the Liberty value, it has very little to no registration on Hurt/Care, Proportionality, Duty/Loyalty, Respect, or Purity values.
One thing to realize is that escaping can be more difficult than attacking. Momentum is certainly a thing. And yes, I'm certain that the beholder is more powerful than a pair of demons.
Colonies are historically two models:
1: The planting of "colonies" of your own civilians to establish and grow into new branches of your nationality. (America, Canada, Australia).
2: The establishment of an elite ruler class made up of your citizens to extra resources and/or wealth from a different nationality who do not have full citizenship rights, creating a tiered system based on race or nationality. (India, Middle East, most of Africa).
This second is the version that tends to particularly upset people. Though many of the Spanish American colonies are somewhere in the middle of the two models.
Neither case applies to Puerto Rico since Puerto Ricans are American citizens, and also do not pay most federal taxes. Their situation follows the traditional American pattern of territories that eventually become states. Nor has there ever been any significant effort to extract resources from Puerto Rico to benefit the mainland polity.
Sometimes it is argued to include Puerto Rico under the "accidental colony" umbrella by virtue of it having been won in war against Spain in addition to the Philippines (which was treated as a semi-colony). Though I think this makes the mistake of including it in a category just because people don't know where else to classify it, so they are lazy and put it with the other thing that happened at the same time.
Depends on the model. If Hiko plans to send a bunch of her girls to Tokyo, then it's probably more likely to succeed than if she plans to rulethe local girls from a far. Because Hiko does not sound like a fool, I expect her to send girls to Tokyo.
My feeling on what we should bring up are the following issues:
1: Serena's aura effect, and that her bugeisha would be exposed to it, effected by it, and at risk of addiction. So just as our suggestion is not as feasible as we thought, her suggestion also has practical difficulties.
2: We do not control Tokyo, and do not have the right to impose our will on the girls of Tokyo. Other than to prevent another development of youma. We certainly hope that we will be able to expand into Tokyo, and expect that doing so will be likely, but we avoid expanding by force, having done so only once, because we could see no other way to protect our girl after she came under attack. Essentially Hiko is asking for us to promise something we don't have, though we are likely to have a lot of influence on the matter. At best we could commit to promising a zone of influence in which we agree not to try and expand into, and possibly give implicit support to Heaven's Chosen expansion there.
3: This suggested trade gives us a significant temporary benefit (loaning an artifact) in exchange for a rather significant permanent benefit (territory).
Propose the following:
1: We gain permanent ownership of the artifact, with warranty only until the Tokyo youma are killed. Recieve training in the charging maintenance of it. This resolves two of the issues above.
2: We agree to train girls in our hunting techniques. Offering to pay the vets training in hunting in our territory (stay below 3 cubes per a vet if they agree to pair hunting each with a Serene girl, below 1.5 if they agree only to pack hunting, 3 cubes per a clairvoyant). This should provide some immediate infusion of cubes to Heaven's Chosen.
3: Based on her request she would prefer an area with fewer local girls, this would tend to imply an area on the Tokyo border where the demons constantly patrol, hunting for girls trying to escape. Additionally this would make integrating it easier. Perhaps Mito and Hitachinaka area which is accessible by sea, or Otawara and Utsunomiya, accessible by the bullet train. We would agree to recognize one for those areas as a zone of influence by the Heaven's Chosen, where we would not attempt the holding of territory ourselves, and perhaps even provide some logistical support in the early days of their efforts to establish control there. (Local housing, names of any prominent local girls we have identified, etc.) We would not give up the right to recruit any local girls to our organization, but if we do, we commit to providing for them by hunting in other territory and not hunting in the HC zone of influence.
@inverted_helix I think you have higher expectations of a mini-turn than we do. I'm not expecting that much. Just a Hiko response to our counter proposals. Maybe one or two short paragraphs worth. Some GMs do have mini-turns like that. I'm not expecting a blow by blow recounting of the diplomatic small talk.
Also, at this point do we know how many local girls there were in the Tokyo Area that we are hunting this turn? That would help give us an idea of how badly the Tokyo girl population has dropped in these border areas where the youma are constantly patrolling.
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Mini Event: Negotiations
Mini-mini turn Negotiations
Further discussions with Hiko about what we can offer that we think could be of use to them, and our own needs with respect to our goals of stabilizing the Tokyo region. Attempt to negotiate a trade for the teleportation interdiction tech.
Make our Hunting Manual the initial gift. Explain how crop rotation has allowed our area to support many more girls than is normal. Mention how the demon strength tracking once allowed us to swiftly identify poaching in our area.
Mention how on one occasion we accepted visitors from another organization to receive training for a month in our hunting techniques. Since our organization is focused heavily on Tokyo right now, our area is currently being under hunted. We could possibly host as many as six to twenty-four veterans right now (up to six if they agree to pair hunting with a Serene hunter, up to twenty-four if they want to do pack hunting), if they were sufficiently experienced with safety measures. If Hiko seems interested, make a note of this to be discussed later when we begin discussing trade deals.
Explain that being right next door to Tokyo the problems there effect us rather severely even now, what with both youma wandering into our area and with refugees coming and asking for help. (Share some specific examples). Mention that we have had 44 girls, mostly greens, come to us for refuge, and while we can manage to support them right now, you worry about more. If Hiko knows any groups that would accept refugees, including greens, if only temporarily, that would be useful. We have been training them in our hunting techniques, and would provide a copy of our Hunting Manual to anyone willing to take some in.
We're concerned that the Tokyo problem will only grow worse. Almost 1/4 of Japan's population lives in Tokyo, and if they die the way Hong Kong did, it will have a devastating effect on the rest of Japan. In many ways the problem isn't directly the high level demons, it's that they prevent magical girls from hunting normal demons effectively. Making it impossible to fulfill the magical girl duty of protecting humans. Those normal demons are what then kill the city. Our thought is that first we need to kill the youma in the city, and then rally the local meguca to hunting the normal demons back up to safe levels. After that, there is a need to put some system in place to prevent the conflicts that created the super demons in the first place.
We've managed to kill ten of the demons plaguing Tokyo last month. However, we have struggled with the teleporting demons. Many managed to escape because of this. Worse, we lost one girl last month, because a large number of youma teleported in on top of us in mass. We were there, but unable to save her. If we were only able to interdict teleportation clearing Tokyo would both become faster, and more importantly, much safer. We know it ought to be possible, since the floating eyeball demon is able to do it. We've made some initial progress on researching this ability, but it is still weak and not as effective as we need.
See what Hiko is willing to offer. Both in response to our gift, and to put on the table for trade. We have in addition our Tandem Research, Spell Anchoring, Duration, etc available for trade, as well as cubes and money.
Also on the table is to accept hunters in our territory for training on hunting techniques in exchange for training in their teleport interdiction techniques. We could accept up to 6 vets if they agree to pair hunt with a Serene hunter, or up to 4 sets of 6 vets if they want to hunt as a pack. We could also accept 2 clairvoyants to train with our dispatch team. Recommend girls skilled in math. Discuss the safe level for them to hunt (ask for at least -9% risk when pair hunting before agreeing to pairs, explain that less than that means we cannot guarantee safety, packs we can guarantee safety no matter what, but still try to learn their risk reduction level).
If this offer to trade training is rejected, consider offering to pay the vets training in hunting in our territory as a sweetener (stay below 3 cubes per a vet if they agree to pair hunting each with a Serene girl, below 1.5 if they agree only to pack hunting, 3 cubes per a clairvoyant).
At the close, give our History of the Serenes as a gift. While only a short history, it may still hold some interest to her. Mention that we would be interested in learning the history of magical Japan as Hiko remembers it, if she someday has the time to record it.
Make our Hunting Manual the initial gift. Explain how crop rotation has allowed our area to support many more girls than is normal. Mention how the demon strength tracking once allowed us to swiftly identify poaching in our area.
Mention how on one occasion we accepted visitors from another organization to receive training for a month in our hunting techniques. Since our organization is focused heavily on Tokyo right now, our area is currently being under hunted. We could possibly host as many as six to twenty-four veterans right now (up to six if they agree to pair hunting with a Serene hunter, up to twenty-four if they want to do pack hunting), if they were sufficiently experienced with safety measures. If Hiko seems interested, make a note of this to be discussed later when we begin discussing trade deals.
Explain that being right next door to Tokyo the problems there effect us rather severely even now, what with both youma wandering into our area and with refugees coming and asking for help. (Share some specific examples). Mention that we have had 44 girls, mostly greens, come to us for refuge, and while we can manage to support them right now, you worry about more. If Hiko knows any groups that would accept refugees, including greens, if only temporarily, that would be useful. We have been training them in our hunting techniques, and would provide a copy of our Hunting Manual to anyone willing to take some in.
We're concerned that the Tokyo problem will only grow worse. Almost 1/4 of Japan's population lives in Tokyo, and if they die the way Hong Kong did, it will have a devastating effect on the rest of Japan. In many ways the problem isn't directly the high level demons, it's that they prevent magical girls from hunting normal demons effectively. Making it impossible to fulfill the magical girl duty of protecting humans. Those normal demons are what then kill the city. Our thought is that first we need to kill the youma in the city, and then rally the local meguca to hunting the normal demons back up to safe levels. After that, there is a need to put some system in place to prevent the conflicts that created the super demons in the first place.
We've managed to kill ten of the demons plaguing Tokyo last month. However, we have struggled with the teleporting demons. Many managed to escape because of this. Worse, we lost one girl last month, because a large number of youma teleported in on top of us in mass. We were there, but unable to save her. If we were only able to interdict teleportation clearing Tokyo would both become faster, and more importantly, much safer. We know it ought to be possible, since the floating eyeball demon is able to do it. We've made some initial progress on researching this ability, but it is still weak and not as effective as we need.
See what Hiko is willing to offer. Both in response to our gift, and to put on the table for trade. We have in addition our Tandem Research, Spell Anchoring, Duration, etc available for trade, as well as cubes and money.
Also on the table is to accept hunters in our territory for training on hunting techniques in exchange for training in their teleport interdiction techniques. We could accept up to 6 vets if they agree to pair hunt with a Serene hunter, or up to 4 sets of 6 vets if they want to hunt as a pack. We could also accept 2 clairvoyants to train with our dispatch team. Recommend girls skilled in math. Discuss the safe level for them to hunt (ask for at least -9% risk when pair hunting before agreeing to pairs, explain that less than that means we cannot guarantee safety, packs we can guarantee safety no matter what, but still try to learn their risk reduction level).
If this offer to trade training is rejected, consider offering to pay the vets training in hunting in our territory as a sweetener (stay below 3 cubes per a vet if they agree to pair hunting each with a Serene girl, below 1.5 if they agree only to pack hunting, 3 cubes per a clairvoyant).
At the close, give our History of the Serenes as a gift. While only a short history, it may still hold some interest to her. Mention that we would be interested in learning the history of magical Japan as Hiko remembers it, if she someday has the time to record it.
However she must decline your initial offer. It would benefit her little and you much. It's also less feasible than you believe. She doesn't train girls to project such fields; she crafts artifacts to do so.
She pulls off the wall a fairly simple looking wooden calligraphy panel 50cm x 15cm x 2cm. The symbols on it are ornately done, but rather clear and descriptive for a calligraphy plate: passage prevention 100m. She explains some of its function for you, it blocks teleports from being initiated at all into or out of the area it protects. She even hands it to you to feel. It is simple wood to the touch, but to your magical senses it's brimming with energy beneath the surface.
She can offer you an alternative proposal though. She can loan you one of her teleport prevention devices along with a squad of her bugeisha to maintain it for as long as you need it.
The artifact will function on its own for a while. But that duration is variable. It can last several hours if no one is actually trying to teleport through it, but if it's blocking many attempts it can be worn down fairly quickly without someone to charge it. If it goes dead it can still be restored by the technician later. Damage will also shut it down and the technician can only repair very minor damage.
In exchange she isn't asking much of you she explains with an especially cute face, she simply wants a portion of the spoils of the victory. Specifically territory.
Your mind races across meanings and possibilities for such a desire. Is she expansionist, did you misread the local situation? Is she the threat everyone else united against? Or is she just desperate for cubes? The question that you actually ask first is how much territory she wants.
Negotiable, she's not looking for as much as you, you've obviously invested far more effort into this than her, but she needs additional territory. How much she needs depends on how many girls already living on the land she'd need to take in.
You try to take another angle, pushing that the crop rotation and rotating tactics method that your group employs will already improve yields significantly, you could offer training in that and combined with the share cropping you offered to begin with for an immediate infusion of cubes that could satisfy her needs.
Her counter is that the increased yields that would offer her are not actually so high as you believe. It would offer only a few percent increase over her current methods. It doesn't hurt, but it is insufficient. Your methods are also incredibly vulnerable to disruption by outside parties.
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Essentially just consolidating what was already said from many posts into one, but at the very least this will make it much more readable.
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