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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)
- Thread starter yrsillar
- Start date
- Original Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Literally what does that have to do with anything lol
Shenhua's orders for Ling Qi are to literally "advance in the ranks quickly" which is the very same objective of any cultivator of worthwhile ambition in the Inner Sect.
Your entire premise is flawed, simply because you refuse to acknowledge the in universe examples of hiding their powerlevels having logic to ascribe to that particular choice of actions. 'Whether or not Ling Qi has the time to afford the effort necessary towards keeping certain capabilities secret' is an entirely different argument than 'there is no value in attempting secrecy in the first place', and you ought to quit conflating the two.
- Location
- The Star Kingdom of Manticore
There is a huge gap between those two states though. Information control is never a bad thing in these types of high stakes competition. Just putting some effort into information control cuts down significantly on how many people know what we do. The harder information is to get the more expensive it is. Even putting a small price on that information will cut off the people who don't have the spare money/time to find out. We are never going to beat the dedicated information gathers in the inner sect. We don't have the networks or the arts to. However each time we increase the price of information on us, by making it harder to find out that information, the more people are limited in what they know about us.
A rich person will find out what he wants if he is willing to spend the money. However for most people there are choices to be made. Will paying for the information that may help in this one fight be worth it? Or would it be better to spend those resources on advancing myself. Right now we are at a huge disadvantage because almost everyone saw everything we had to offer during the tournament arc. This is alright because we are going to start blitzing forward and a great deal of stuff will change. People will have assumptions that may not line up with reality in a month or two. This works to our advantage. As long as we don't shout what we are doing or working on from the top of the mountain we will have started to control our information.
The real question becomes should we put more resources into information control. Now it becomes a balance act. The more resources we put into information control the better the average duel will go because the less the average person will know about us. However the resource cost of information control will go up as we go up the ranks of the inner sect and how fast we go up. The higher we go up and the faster we go the more concerned people above us will be which means more resources spent on information gathering. This will mean we will need to spend more resources on information control to keep up. This creates an information arms race where spending on both sides goes nearly out of control as long as we keep advancing. However resources spent on information control are resources not spent on cultivation.
An interesting aspect of information control is speed of change. Information about the solar system is not very expensive because the solar is not known to change very quickly. Information about the combination of a bank lock that changes every 12 hours will be incredibly expensive because it changes so quickly. Right now pouring resources into advancing ourselves seems to be a great idea because we will be changing and advancing at an incredibly quick rate at our current level. Information brokers will not just be able to sell old information to each new client and will have to launch a new investigation each time. This will greatly increase the price of the information because it is only good for a short time. If we combined our speed of advancement with some basic formations that deal with information control and could be bought with Cai funds we would limit the amount of people who have information about us to the people who would get it anyways.
- Location
- oregon, usa
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I guess that I did conflate the two positions, in what I wrote. I concede that there is merit to concealing abilities in general.
My revised position is that I do not believe Ling Qi to presently have the time to devote to effective measures toward keeping certain capabilities a secret.
Or we could SL Xuan Shi and get above average formations that can help with that instead!
And that's a perfectly fair argument to make, though it'll have to be put on hold until we have stuff worth hiding other than Ling Qi's possession of Abyssal Exhalation. I don't mind making the argument against that though, for the reasons that Neshuakadal already pointed out.
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Well, fortunately that one's easy because qi card mechanics mean that they continue to be the best way to summon.
(people might get suspicious if we keep doing that though)
- Location
- scrabbling
[X] would suggest that they have a spar after their talk
Though I don't mind either of the other two. First preference for me is needlework, but that's a lost cause.
Though I don't mind either of the other two. First preference for me is needlework, but that's a lost cause.
- Location
- The Core
Don't we have the networks, though? Between our friends, their associations and the high potential usefulness our particular skill-set would have to any information broker, I think we are in a pretty decent shape to correct that issue.
This is very true. I would nonetheless argue that putting effort into information control is a strong option: Arts that support subterfuge and stealth and information obscuration seem long-term beneficial to Ling Qi and her path. It will both cement our usefulness in the role Cai Renxiang seems to already have in mind for us, and help our ascent in the inner sect, as well as have potential combat side benefits. It fits with our general skillset very well, and would also potentially open up another source of income to us, if the inner sect information market is indeed as extensive as we are currently assuming to be the case from the information we have. As another benefit, a way to help our friends by providing information relevant to their interest in particular, for example Sun Liling and her cronies.
Arkeus
Crazy cat guy
- Location
- France
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NaanContributor
Provider of delicious flatbread, and nothing else.
- Location
- Hawaii
[x] talk tea over a cup of the stuff, Cai Renxiang seemed to think it was important.
Yeah, perception/anti-perception would, in many ways, be almost ideal. Conceptually, I guess I'd flavor things as more "by listening to the music of the world, we perceive more deeply. By delicately manipulating its tones we hide the signs of our presence and redirect attention". i.e. more of a music focus.
The grinning/hidden thief/secrets coloring is really interesting too though.
I feel like something along these lines, tying together music, secrets, and sneakiness would pretty much be the perfect perception art for us.
We would need to try to pick up spiritual defense somewhere else, but I personally want that anyway (spiritual defense/dispel resist? Group spiritual defense?).
- Location
- The United States
- Pronouns
- He/They
[X] talk tea over a cup of the stuff, Cai Renxiang seemed to think it was important.
- Location
- United States of America
[X] would suggest that they have a spar after their talk
Chu Song Negaverse
Chu Song Negaverse
For the second time, you look upon the Outer Sect Mountain from the place set aside for the older Disciples. The failures. Those who could not meet the cut for the Inner Sect. For the second time, you knew that you did not belong here, among the failures and the disappointments. For the second time, you had been unlucky. For the second time, you had been robbed of your well-earned opportunity.
For the second time, for the last time, you resolved yourself to get back on track, and advance on the long road towards restoring your clan.
You are Chu Song, and you will not be denied a third time.
It was the first day since the beginning of the new year, and though the events of the previous one had been tumultuous indeed, you understood keenly that you were head and shoulders above those who would be entering the ranks of Outer Sect Disciples this year. Yes, just like last year. However, this year you were armed with knowledge you did not possess the previous one. Information earned through the grim toll of experience. This year, there was little doubt that Cai Demon's abominable government would remain in some form or another, courtesy of her mewling, oversized idiot of a bootlicker Gan...Something. It didn't matter.
Cai's Big Lapdog is how you always thought of him, and if anyone bothered to correct you you'd let them! But he was the pawn of the Demon, and so he'd try and copy her ways. You might be able to defeat him, your ex-Lil' Bro Ji Rong had managed it, sure, but then he had gotten beaten by the same self-absorbed little snit that had taken you out like you were trash. No less a demon than her mistress, that one.
Sure, you were bitter. You'd try warning her, but a rat's still a rat, no how far they'd climbed out of the gutter. At least you and Ji Rong had been agreed on that much...But damn, that still stung. You'd gotten your hopes in working with the lil' bastard, helped raise him up when he didn't have anyone else, and then what happens? That freaking embarrassment Sun Princess showed up, won you both over with boasts about just how 'brilliant' she was, and how you 'needed to stick together' to beat the Cai demon.
Man, what were you thinking?
You must've been desperate to go along with those promises of hers. And as a result, you lost your lil' bro to the clutches of that miserable little harpy. Pfft. She just wanted to pretend to be some perfect lil' Princess while covering herself in blood. You knew the type. Sun Liling might've had everyone else fooled, but a Chu always sees through people. That's why your clan knew the Demon exactly for what she was, and why you understood just how Sun Liling had been a faker...But you'd bought into it anyway. Like a sucker.
At least Ji Rong had the excuse of getting distracted by that useless fat on her chest, what were you looking for?
Well, whatever. You couldn't do anything about it for a year anyway, not directly anyway, same as with the Demon and her merry band of the Snake, the Turtle, and the Rat. And that mousy little blue haired girl, too. Sheesh. Those two really had to suck all the talent around them into their little circles, didn't they? But as a result...Of the groups left after last years mess, there's still that group under the Han kid and the leftover remnants of the two greater factions too. Plus, with The Worm gone into the Inner Sect, that meant there were a lot of subordinates just waiting to be snatched up.
A lot of people who sure would like to hitch themselves onto the bandwagon you'd make for yourself once you got started on the business of remaking the Clan. Heck, even among the girls still here the only one capable of really contesting you was Wen Ai, and she and you had wildly different views on recruitment. Yeah, you've got this in the bag.
Third time's the charm, right?
Choose One:
[] Han Jian: The guy was the ringleader of a four man squad. Or he would have, ordinarily, but that firebrand Gu girl wound up making it into the Inner Sect at the expense of Wen Ai. You had no love for the hoity toity faker, but there was no way she wouldn't take offense to you lending this group a hand. Especially since the Han kid is still strutting about in that Cai Armor of his. Still, you needed the allies, and he at least wasnt beholden to the Demon.
[] Gan Whatever: Yeah, he was a bootlicker and subordinate to the Demon. But he wasn't the demon herself, and you had held your nose up enough at worse things (like Liling bossing you around) to know that sometimes you needed to make sacrifices of pride in order to get more important payoffs down the line. He's gonna be setting up a fake council or whatever in the Demon's absence, so he's gonna be desperate for strength to help him keep it going. Hey, at least it'll pay better than the pittance that Liling tossed you when you worked under her.
[] Wen Ai: The flower priss wasn't someone you got along with, but rumor has it she was building bonds with Kang Zihao before the end of the year, in the event that one or the other of them didn't make it into the Inner Sect. Wen Ai was definitely going to push herself to make it in after she got blasted out by someone who wasn't even fully third realm at the time, and you needed a good sparring partner. Plus, she might have an in with that beefcake Kang, and you wouldn't say no to saying hello to him, mhmm.
[] Lu Feng: The last remaining bit of Sun Lilings crew, which wasn't saying much because pretty much everyone abandoned that overhyped poser after she surrendered to the Demon. Of those, the only ones that really mattered were your ex-Lil' Bro and Mister Luscious Locks over there. He wasn't exactly the type to lead, more the cloak and dagger type, and if he wanted to strike back at The Demon's lackeys this year, he'd need some muscle to back him up. Besides, it'd be only too fitting if you managed to snatch him away the same way that the lil' Princess had managed to steal what was yours. Turnabout and whatever.
[] Take Your Chances: See if there were any independents left for you to pick up that hadn't really participated in that mess last year. You remember there being some fox half breed with the Rat and her Blue Haired friend that one time, and she didn't even try to get into the tournament if what you heard was right. There's gotta be some other diamonds in the rough just waiting for someone to take them under their wing, right?
Devilis said:
twochron said:
bungi angel said:
larsilly said:
ElasticOgre said:
White Noise said:
Boateus said:
A.N. There you go, another Omake as promised, @yrsillar . Regrettably, the only person who's tone I'm sure I absolutely nailed is the Arkeus expy tho.
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BungieONI
Seven gremlins in a trench coat
- Location
- Lickwidget
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Question that I think needs to be brought up, are you rating a single action point as 24 hours? If you are, why?
Additionally, I don't see how "increases our odds of victory by 20%" is actually useful information. There is an argument to be made that, for example, revealing 20% of their build could work, but that is unlikely to because what is revealed could be not actionable or otherwise useless and devalue it. Or it could be incredibly useful!
The point is that it that phrase is only useful in my mind when applied to an objective thing, and the value of intel is not objective because two different people can rate the same piece of intel completely differently.
I to think it could be a cousin from the ninja maid/butler clan, though I don't recall it ever being mentioned that she could use her favor to have Ling Qi instead of a cousin from this other clan. And I don't think she actually has much desire to either, because that sort of arrangement can be quite permanent and Meizhen has already been extremely clear on the separation between Ling Qi and her family life.
[X] talk tea over a cup of the stuff, Cai Renxiang seemed to think it was important.
With the drinking contest Suyin had to do to get Zhenli, the spider prominence amongst one of the pre-Cai Emerald Seas Dukes while Weilu influence still exists as a cultural idea, I currently think this is a case of the Dreaming Moon always being on the look out for a good party no matter who can bring it. I uh, actually expect to find multiple further examples amongst spirits around here to be honest.
And even then he actually basically isn't, since we have barely any relationship with him anyway, and he'd be a pretty crap pick because he's a bit of a turd personality wise when it comes to Zhengui.
Months. Not weeks.
Also you could argue Hanyi is a stealth dps spirit, given how good she is at hiding and playing tag, see our first meeting and the games with Zheng. It also fits her themes that I am aware of as a Yukinko(the historical name for a young yukionna).
This in particular is an excellent point.
Yeah, though I am curious what you consider to be "certain capabilities". Like TehChron the only one that comes to mind is the existence of AE. Maybe the exact level of EPC. However, that will change eventually, and in a way the challenge system actually helps us with this, in that by its nature it encourages only revealing sections of our abilities. For example the production cultivator we challenge making a defense and us being forced to infiltrate it, really only tests our infiltration ability, which isn't our mass combat silliness or spirit loadout.
There's something about the whole broker network which represents an odd opportunity but I'm not sure how to word it. The bare minimum surface of the idea has to do with artificial hiking of prices related to Ling Qi. Need to think about it.
You need to find an in to give such info to in the first place, because Ling Qi is a bit too airheaded to run that kind of network of contacts as she is right now lol
Edit: lmao @yrsillar
"Chuck Song", really?
That poor guy ain't gettin' no respect smfh
