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Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

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AbeoLogos said:
To be clear, I'm not saying these are a full letter grade too high. Maybe half of one exp-wise, for many. As always, nerfs are the path to justice. And @Erebeal made me make this post.
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Oh, I would. I would say that they're multiple ranks too high.

To start with, we should review the ranking system:

S--Peak of Green/Bronze Ability
A
B
C-Peak of Yellow/Silver Ability
D
E-Peak of Red/Gold Ability
F-Peak of mortal ability
G
H-Negligble

F/E? Is actually *really* good. E/D is apparently supernaturally good, beyond the ken of mere mortals. Now t hink about this. Do all those skills that we have barely touched really deserve to be called that? No.

I would suggest something more like this:

Mental Skills
Academics: G (2/5)
Government: G (1/5)
Craft: G (0/5)

Physical Skills
Survival: F (0/10) [F5]

Social Skills
Art: H (0/5) [G]
Beast Handling: G (0/5)
Speech: F (0/10)

Like, let's look at these.

  • Academics. Governs knowledge of history, mathematics, language, medicine and other scholarly pursuits.
    • We might not be pig ignorant anymore, but we're hardly a great scholar. Ling Qi is: able to read, do basic sums, look shit up in a library, has basic general knowledge about the empire, and has done the equivalent of reading a couple of magazine articles about major historical events. Also can maybe sorta translate the equivalent of Latin text. So, what we're talking about here is roughly a highschool level of education. I would call that basic competence. G.
  • Government. Governs knowledge of how to navigate the intricacies of imperial politics and governance
    • Under Cai we've acquired a basic level of competence here. We have a basic understanding of the imperial system, can file (simple) paperwork, and some idea of how some bits of financial law work. Again. G
  • Craft. We aren't useless with our hands. Can cook and sew at a basic level. G at best. Maybe H tbh. Given that we've done nothing with this I suspect yrs just missed this when he added the new low ranks.
  • Survival. Governs the ability to track quarry in the wilderness as well as ability to identify natural dangers and harvest natural materials
    • Ok, so we learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling about this. We've also done a fair amount of practical work here, both on our own and with GF. Maybe one could justify this being F. That being said, I'm not sure how challenging Survival around the Outer Sect was, or if it would really have pushed us to get superlative mastery of survival skills. At a certain point I feel that we acquired basic skills and then everything else was kinda negated by us having high cultivation. G would also be plausible here.
  • Art. Come-on, we've done nothing here.
  • Beast Handling. Governs skill at guiding and taming sub-sentient spirit beasts, as well as performing cooperative efforts with sapient ones, such as riding.
    • We learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling and Elder Ying I think, but largely our knowledge here comes from looking after a baby turtle who we were psychicly linked too. Hardly something we've done a lot of. Basic competence is I think the best we could say here. G.
  • Speech. Governs the ability to to speak well and perform various social tasks
    • Again, I would question whether or not Ling Qi has really demonstrated much more than regular competence with speaking to people. You could maybe argue a certain skill at con-artistry and manipulation based off her background if you wanted to justify an F rank - though she hasn't really evinced that in quest. G, maybe F if people would cry otherwise.
Note that while I am arguing that these should be much lower, I would also argue that that's actually alright. I don't know if this is how @yrsillar is intending the scale to be read, but basic competence should really cover like 95% of most situations for these skills. You only really need high mastery and supernaturally good skills for things you're intending to compete with other cultivators on.

Like, unless we're intending to be a researcher and try to do things like finish impossible research projects in implausibly low amounts of time, having super high academics is kinda unnecessary (though a bit more general knowledge probably wouldn't hurt). Similarly, the most important thing with with Government is making sure we know how to file paperwork and engage with the system correctly. We don't necessarily need to be a lawyer or an international trade negotiator (at least, not yet). Survival is kinda like: how much do you really need? A lot of regular survival stuff is mitigated naturally by us being a cultivator. We might need more if we were going to the super death-worldy parts, but until then we should be fine.

Basically, G should actually be an acceptable level of skill for a lot of stuff.
 
Erebeal said:
Oh, I would. I would say that they're multiple ranks too high.

To start with, we should review the ranking system:

S--Peak of Green/Bronze Ability
A
B
C-Peak of Yellow/Silver Ability
D
E-Peak of Red/Gold Ability
F-Peak of mortal ability
G
H-Negligble

F/E? Is actually *really* good. E/D is apparently supernaturally good, beyond the ken of mere mortals. Now t hink about this. Do all those skills that we have barely touched really deserve to be called that? No.

I would suggest something more like this:

Mental Skills
Academics: G (2/5)
Government: G (1/5)
Craft: G (0/5)

Physical Skills
Survival: F (0/10) [F5]

Social Skills
Art: H (0/5) [G]
Beast Handling: G (0/5)
Speech: F (0/10)

Like, let's look at these.

  • Academics. Governs knowledge of history, mathematics, language, medicine and other scholarly pursuits.
    • We might not be pig ignorant anymore, but we're hardly a great scholar. Ling Qi is: able to read, do basic sums, look shit up in a library, has basic general knowledge about the empire, and has done the equivalent of reading a couple of magazine articles about major historical events. Also can maybe sorta translate the equivalent of Latin text. So, what we're talking about here is roughly a highschool level of education. I would call that basic competence. G.
  • Government. Governs knowledge of how to navigate the intricacies of imperial politics and governance
    • Under Cai we've acquired a basic level of competence here. We have a basic understanding of the imperial system, can file (simple) paperwork, and some idea of how some bits of financial law work. Again. G
  • Craft. We aren't useless with our hands. Can cook and sew at a basic level. G at best. Maybe H tbh. Given that we've done nothing with this I suspect yrs just missed this when he added the new low ranks.
  • Survival. Governs the ability to track quarry in the wilderness as well as ability to identify natural dangers and harvest natural materials
    • Ok, so we learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling about this. We've also done a fair amount of practical work here, both on our own and with GF. Maybe one could justify this being F. That being said, I'm not sure how challenging Survival around the Outer Sect was, or if it would really have pushed us to get superlative mastery of survival skills. At a certain point I feel that we acquired basic skills and then everything else was kinda negated by us having high cultivation. G would also be plausible here.
  • Art. Come-on, we've done nothing here.
  • Beast Handling. Governs skill at guiding and taming sub-sentient spirit beasts, as well as performing cooperative efforts with sapient ones, such as riding.
    • We learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling and Elder Ying I think, but largely our knowledge here comes from looking after a baby turtle who we were psychicly linked too. Hardly something we've done a lot of. Basic competence is I think the best we could say here. G.
  • Speech. Governs the ability to to speak well and perform various social tasks
    • Again, I would question whether or not Ling Qi has really demonstrated much more than regular competence with speaking to people. You could maybe argue a certain skill at con-artistry and manipulation based off her background if you wanted to justify an F rank - though she hasn't really evinced that in quest. G, maybe F if people would cry otherwise.
Note that while I am arguing that these should be much lower, I would also argue that that's actually alright. I don't know if this is how @yrsillar is intending the scale to be read, but basic competence should really cover like 95% of most situations for these skills. You only really need high mastery and supernaturally good skills for things you're intending to compete with other cultivators on.

Like, unless we're intending to be a researcher and try to do things like finish impossible research projects in implausibly low amounts of time, having super high academics is kinda unnecessary (though a bit more general knowledge probably wouldn't hurt). Similarly, the most important thing with with Government is making sure we know how to file paperwork and engage with the system correctly. We don't necessarily need to be a lawyer or an international trade negotiator (at least, not yet). Survival is kinda like: how much do you really need? A lot of regular survival stuff is mitigated naturally by us being a cultivator. We might need more if we were going to the super death-worldy parts, but until then we should be fine.

Basically, G should actually be an acceptable level of skill for a lot of stuff.
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Counterpoint, for Survival at least. In urban contexts I would give Ling Qi an F in Survival, due to her time as a street rat. Unless all of that just falls under Larceny or Stealth, but she did have to spend years living hand to mouth.
 
Erebeal said:
Oh, I would. I would say that they're multiple ranks too high.

To start with, we should review the ranking system:

S--Peak of Green/Bronze Ability
A
B
C-Peak of Yellow/Silver Ability
D
E-Peak of Red/Gold Ability
F-Peak of mortal ability
G
H-Negligble

F/E? Is actually *really* good. E/D is apparently supernaturally good, beyond the ken of mere mortals. Now t hink about this. Do all those skills that we have barely touched really deserve to be called that? No.

I would suggest something more like this:

Mental Skills
Academics: G (2/5)
Government: G (1/5)
Craft: G (0/5)

Physical Skills
Survival: F (0/10) [F5]

Social Skills
Art: H (0/5) [G]
Beast Handling: G (0/5)
Speech: F (0/10)

Like, let's look at these.

  • Academics. Governs knowledge of history, mathematics, language, medicine and other scholarly pursuits.
    • We might not be pig ignorant anymore, but we're hardly a great scholar. Ling Qi is: able to read, do basic sums, look shit up in a library, has basic general knowledge about the empire, and has done the equivalent of reading a couple of magazine articles about major historical events. Also can maybe sorta translate the equivalent of Latin text. So, what we're talking about here is roughly a highschool level of education. I would call that basic competence. G.
  • Government. Governs knowledge of how to navigate the intricacies of imperial politics and governance
    • Under Cai we've acquired a basic level of competence here. We have a basic understanding of the imperial system, can file (simple) paperwork, and some idea of how some bits of financial law work. Again. G
  • Craft. We aren't useless with our hands. Can cook and sew at a basic level. G at best. Maybe H tbh. Given that we've done nothing with this I suspect yrs just missed this when he added the new low ranks.
  • Survival. Governs the ability to track quarry in the wilderness as well as ability to identify natural dangers and harvest natural materials
    • Ok, so we learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling about this. We've also done a fair amount of practical work here, both on our own and with GF. Maybe one could justify this being F. That being said, I'm not sure how challenging Survival around the Outer Sect was, or if it would really have pushed us to get superlative mastery of survival skills. At a certain point I feel that we acquired basic skills and then everything else was kinda negated by us having high cultivation. G would also be plausible here.
  • Art. Come-on, we've done nothing here.
  • Beast Handling. Governs skill at guiding and taming sub-sentient spirit beasts, as well as performing cooperative efforts with sapient ones, such as riding.
    • We learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling and Elder Ying I think, but largely our knowledge here comes from looking after a baby turtle who we were psychicly linked too. Hardly something we've done a lot of. Basic competence is I think the best we could say here. G.
  • Speech. Governs the ability to to speak well and perform various social tasks
    • Again, I would question whether or not Ling Qi has really demonstrated much more than regular competence with speaking to people. You could maybe argue a certain skill at con-artistry and manipulation based off her background if you wanted to justify an F rank - though she hasn't really evinced that in quest. G, maybe F if people would cry otherwise.
Note that while I am arguing that these should be much lower, I would also argue that that's actually alright. I don't know if this is how @yrsillar is intending the scale to be read, but basic competence should really cover like 95% of most situations for these skills. You only really need high mastery and supernaturally good skills for things you're intending to compete with other cultivators on.

Like, unless we're intending to be a researcher and try to do things like finish impossible research projects in implausibly low amounts of time, having super high academics is kinda unnecessary (though a bit more general knowledge probably wouldn't hurt). Similarly, the most important thing with with Government is making sure we know how to file paperwork and engage with the system correctly. We don't necessarily need to be a lawyer or an international trade negotiator (at least, not yet). Survival is kinda like: how much do you really need? A lot of regular survival stuff is mitigated naturally by us being a cultivator. We might need more if we were going to the super death-worldy parts, but until then we should be fine.

Basically, G should actually be an acceptable level of skill for a lot of stuff.
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I think something to keep in mind here is that cultivation will boost physical stuff more than mental or social stuff, simply because stuff like Physical Cultivation and movement Arts make it easy to run faster than any mortal could ever hope to but we're retaining our human brains and behaviours for the most part, and most of their limitations. It's not just Ling Qi, all of the other Green-stage cultivators we've interacted with still perform more or less within human bounds socially.

At the same time, cutting everything down so that you're G and F rank until your social skills are literally superhuman would remove a lot of resolution from the system. I figure what would be best, rather, would be to redefine the benchmarks as they apply to social stats such that they match our intuition of what those stats are like. For instance, 'E' or 'D' in stats like Academics could be taken to mean 'has some skill and experience, but is not by any means an expert', with the 'peak of mortal ability' somewhere closer to A or S or even higher.

Changing the benchmarks for social stats also allows them to still be easily compared with other stats to get a sense of relative build focus. If Li Suyin has, say, 'B' in Academics and 'D' in Strength, that gives a much more accurate depiction of her build focus than 'F' in Academics and 'D' in Strength.
 
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Inferno Vulpix said:
I think something to keep in mind here is that cultivation will boost physical stuff more than mental or social stuff, simply because stuff like Physical Cultivation and movement Arts make it easy to run faster than any mortal could ever hope to but we're retaining our human brains and behaviours for the most part, and most of their limitations. It's not just Ling Qi, all of the other Green-stage cultivators we've interacted with still perform more or less within human bounds socially.

At the same time, cutting everything down so that you're G and F rank until your social skills are literally superhuman would remove a lot of resolution from the system. I figure what would be best, rather, would be to redefine the benchmarks as they apply to social stats such that they match our intuition of what those stats are like. For instance, 'E' or 'D' in stats like Academics could be taken to mean 'has some skill and experience, but is not by any means an expert', with the 'peak of mortal ability' somewhere closer to A or S or even higher.

Changing the benchmarks for social stats also allows them to still be easily compared with other stats to get a sense of relative build focus. If Li Suyin has, say, 'B' in Academics and 'D' in Strength, that gives a much more accurate depiction of her build focus than 'F' in Academics and 'D' in Strength.
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That involves basically shoehorning in a fourth mechanical scale/system on top of the one we already have. (Fourth because it would be the fourth mechanical system overall, counting the cultivation system, the combat system and the system NPCs run on)
 
Erebeal said:
Oh, I would. I would say that they're multiple ranks too high.

To start with, we should review the ranking system:

S--Peak of Green/Bronze Ability
A
B
C-Peak of Yellow/Silver Ability
D
E-Peak of Red/Gold Ability
F-Peak of mortal ability
G
H-Negligble

F/E? Is actually *really* good. E/D is apparently supernaturally good, beyond the ken of mere mortals. Now t hink about this. Do all those skills that we have barely touched really deserve to be called that? No.

I would suggest something more like this:

Mental Skills
Academics: G (2/5)
Government: G (1/5)
Craft: G (0/5)

Physical Skills
Survival: F (0/10) [F5]

Social Skills
Art: H (0/5) [G]
Beast Handling: G (0/5)
Speech: F (0/10)

Like, let's look at these.

  • Academics. Governs knowledge of history, mathematics, language, medicine and other scholarly pursuits.
    • We might not be pig ignorant anymore, but we're hardly a great scholar. Ling Qi is: able to read, do basic sums, look shit up in a library, has basic general knowledge about the empire, and has done the equivalent of reading a couple of magazine articles about major historical events. Also can maybe sorta translate the equivalent of Latin text. So, what we're talking about here is roughly a highschool level of education. I would call that basic competence. G.
  • Government. Governs knowledge of how to navigate the intricacies of imperial politics and governance
    • Under Cai we've acquired a basic level of competence here. We have a basic understanding of the imperial system, can file (simple) paperwork, and some idea of how some bits of financial law work. Again. G
  • Craft. We aren't useless with our hands. Can cook and sew at a basic level. G at best. Maybe H tbh. Given that we've done nothing with this I suspect yrs just missed this when he added the new low ranks.
  • Survival. Governs the ability to track quarry in the wilderness as well as ability to identify natural dangers and harvest natural materials
    • Ok, so we learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling about this. We've also done a fair amount of practical work here, both on our own and with GF. Maybe one could justify this being F. That being said, I'm not sure how challenging Survival around the Outer Sect was, or if it would really have pushed us to get superlative mastery of survival skills. At a certain point I feel that we acquired basic skills and then everything else was kinda negated by us having high cultivation. G would also be plausible here.
  • Art. Come-on, we've done nothing here.
  • Beast Handling. Governs skill at guiding and taming sub-sentient spirit beasts, as well as performing cooperative efforts with sapient ones, such as riding.
    • We learned a bit of stuff from Su Ling and Elder Ying I think, but largely our knowledge here comes from looking after a baby turtle who we were psychicly linked too. Hardly something we've done a lot of. Basic competence is I think the best we could say here. G.
  • Speech. Governs the ability to to speak well and perform various social tasks
    • Again, I would question whether or not Ling Qi has really demonstrated much more than regular competence with speaking to people. You could maybe argue a certain skill at con-artistry and manipulation based off her background if you wanted to justify an F rank - though she hasn't really evinced that in quest. G, maybe F if people would cry otherwise.
Note that while I am arguing that these should be much lower, I would also argue that that's actually alright. I don't know if this is how @yrsillar is intending the scale to be read, but basic competence should really cover like 95% of most situations for these skills. You only really need high mastery and supernaturally good skills for things you're intending to compete with other cultivators on.

Like, unless we're intending to be a researcher and try to do things like finish impossible research projects in implausibly low amounts of time, having super high academics is kinda unnecessary (though a bit more general knowledge probably wouldn't hurt). Similarly, the most important thing with with Government is making sure we know how to file paperwork and engage with the system correctly. We don't necessarily need to be a lawyer or an international trade negotiator (at least, not yet). Survival is kinda like: how much do you really need? A lot of regular survival stuff is mitigated naturally by us being a cultivator. We might need more if we were going to the super death-worldy parts, but until then we should be fine.

Basically, G should actually be an acceptable level of skill for a lot of stuff.
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Man this is why I just wanted to get rid of the benchmarks on the ranks, it creates weirdness issues.

Anyway update will be up in a sec
 
It is possible that as our cultivation has improved we all started talking to each other faster and didn't notice.
 
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Turn 1: Arc 1-3
  • Threadmarks
    • Cai Renxiang's dwelling further up the mountain was not very much larger than her own Ling Qi mused as she approached the door set in the mountainside, if the spacing between it and the others on its level was any indication. Stepping up to the wooden portal, she knocked once politely and settled in to wait.

    She was not left for long. Soon enough the door swung open, revealing her liege standing behind it. The passive corona of light which shone behind her head casting her shadow over Ling Qi. "Welcome," she said crisply, stepping aside to allow Ling Qi entrance.

    "Thank you for your invitation," Ling Qi replied politely giving the proper bow for a vassal greeting their liege before stepping inside. The front room of Cai Renxiang's domicile was about the same size as hers, but better furnished. She suspected that the girl herself was the source for that, given that it had been arranged to look rather more like an office than a sitting room.

    "I copied the Elder's lecture as you requested, Lady Cai," she said politely as the shorter girl closed the door and swept past her, returning to the desk laden with sheaves of paper and scrolls set up against the far wall. "Have you made progress on your own projects?"

    "All of our necessities have been arranged for and filed," Cai Renxiang replied. "And I have reviewed my resources and available intelligence. I will be prepared to attend our honored elders lessons on the morrow."

    Ling Qi waited a moment for her Lady to take her seat before taking her own. "Thank you for your efforts," she replied. "What intelligence are you referring to though?"

    Cai Renxiang accepted the writing kit and notes as she passed them over the desk before responding. "Information from disciples loyal to my Mother of course," she replied absently glancing over the notes. "Your calligraphy is improving. Continue working hard."

    Ling Qi grimaced, getting the real meaning. Her chickenscratch was readable now, but not to the level expected of a noble. "Thank you. Am I going to be out of the job then?" She asked lightly.

    Cai Renxiang glanced up from the notes. "No, they have been instructed to limit their aid," she said quietly.

    Of course. Ling Qi almost wanted to sigh. The duchess would not make anything easy for them.

    "That is not to say we are without benefits," Cai Renxiang continued crisply, setting the papers down. My allowance has been expanded significantly. "I have a package containing spirit stones and medicines for your use. I will give it to you when you take your leave."

    "I did not expect any less," Ling Qi replied with some relief.

    "I promised benefits and I will not break my word," the other girl replied seriously. "I have also instructed the head of the Cai families archive to search out arts which may suit your inclinations. That may take some time to complete, and the results will be limited… I may only take so much of the head archivist's time and resources."

    Now Ling Qi felt almost embarrassed. "You are too generous," she said awkwardly. "I… ah did you have any tasks in mind for me then, Lady Cai?"

    Cai Renxiang leaned back in her seat, the light playing around her shoulders shimmering on the silk of her gown. "I will be holding monthly gatherings to build my influence in the Inner Sect, I will expect you to attend."

    "Of course," Ling Qi replied immediately. What fun, but she could…

    "You will be providing the entertainment," her liege said bluntly. "There is little point in wasting your talents. Your musical ability is a superior tool in the Inner Sect environment. I do expect you to keep your ears open, however, and continue improving your other abilities."

    "Hmph, she can at least see what good taste looks like," Sixiang murmured in Ling Qi's head, almost startling her.

    "I will do my best not to disappoint your expectations," Ling Qi replied instead.

    "I trust you will not," Cai Renxiang replied confidently. "Other than that… do as you do. Make personal connections, and of course, should you overhear anything of interest…"

    "So make friends and eavesdrop," Ling Qi said wryly. "You give me the most difficult tasks."

    Her liege gave her a flat look over her steepled fingers. "You jest, but is that not the task of the spymaster, stripped of its pomp?"

    Ling Qi was glad that Cai Renxiang had recovered from dealing with her Mother, she did not like seeing the other girl shaken and uncertain. "I suppose it is," she said lightly. "Is there anyone in particular I should be on the lookout for?"

    "Extend a hand to Xuan Shi," Cai Renxiang said. "He and his clan are both amenable to connection, even if he himself has fallen from my circle."

    Ling Qi's eyebrows rose, she hadn't even been aware of that happening. "Was there some dispute?"

    "No, not as such," the light the other girl gave off rippled, sending the shadows in the room dancing as she frowned. "Our paths simply diverged."

    Ling Qi hummed but didn't press the issue. If Cai Renxiang thought it would impact her task, she would say something. "What do you think of Shen Hu?"

    Cai Renxiang frowned in thought. "Your opponent from the preliminaries? He is a scion of a small baronial clan in Meng territory. No one of great importance, but I suppose his personal skill makes for a useful connection."

    "I'll have to follow up on that chat I had with him then," Ling Qi said. "I… don't really know anyone else though." She could search out her tutors she supposed. She wondered what rank Ruan Shen held.

    "That will be your task then. Discern those who you feel you might connect with," Cai Renxiang replied crisply.

    "Consider it done, when will your first gathering be, do you think?" Ling Qi asked.

    "I am uncertain," the other girl admitted. "There are too many factors yet. I shall inform you once a date is set."

    She would just have to learn a few more songs in free time, Ling Qi supposed. "I will leave you too it then," she decided. "Do you think you will have time for a cup of tea soon?" She asked innocently.

    Cai Renxiang raised an eyebrow. "Shall I ask now what devilry you have in mind?"

    Ling Qi huffed, it had come out mechanically, but that had definitely been a joke. Still, some niggling part of her wondered if the other girl was just getting better at imitating the behavior Ling Qi thought of as friendly. "I thought it would be relaxing. Besides, did you not say that you would teach me about tea blends? You made it seem very important."

    "And you expect that I shall serve you tea? How arrogant," Cai Renxiang replied imperiously. For a moment, Ling Qi felt concerned, looking back at the girls affronted expression, but then the corner of the stiff girl's lips quirked up. "I suppose there is only one individual capable of not burning the leaves present however. Tasks should be divided by merit."

    Ling Qi narrowed her eyes at the other girl. She wasn't sure how pleased she was to see Cai Renxiang able to fool her like that. She simply bowed her head deeply. "This humble vassal apologizes for her inability," she instead said aloud, allowing a sarcastic edge to touch her voice.

    The shorter girl made a brief sound of amusement, before turning her eyes back to her desk. "I shall be sure to remove that inability. You will have to entertain yourself until I have completed these last forms however. Confine yourself to this room however."

    "Hm, well that makes me wonder what my Lady is hiding," Ling Qi mused, but her liege ignored the minor jibe. Sighing, Ling Qi stood and drifted over to one of the bookshelves, flipping through one of the less weighty tomes there.

    It was about a half hour later that she found herself seated across from Cai Renxiang at the little table in her homes kitchen, with a steaming cup of dark brown tea being placed in front of her. It had an invigorating, earthy scent, but also a hint of sweetness.

    "Hm, you added honey?" Ling Qi asked, for once recognizing a scent. She had stolen jars of the stuff a time or two after all. It was expensive and kept well, so it was easy to hide until it could be fenced.

    "The Primeval Root blend is incomplete without a a small spoonful of Cloudblossom honey," Cai Renxiang replied from her seat. Seeing her with her eyes closed, inhaling the scent of the tea, Ling Qi could almost mistake her for being a normal, relaxed girl.

    "Throwing out names like that," Ling Qi said slyly. "You should have told me it was cultivation aid."

    Cai Renxiang cracked one eye open to give her a disapproving look. "It is not, the medicinal blend has a terrible flavor, and uses a different subspecies of the plant."

    Ling Qi huffed in a disappointment, but took a tiny sip anyway. It had a very rich flavor, which she had to admit was really tasty. It still seemed a bit of a waste. "What is with those names then?"

    "The tea leaves only grow from the hills formed by the capital city's root network, and the honey arises from the bees kept in the fourth stratum cloud gardens," Cai Renxiang explained, taking a sip of her own.

    "I definitely want to see that place one day," Ling Qi mused, struggling to picture it, a tree big enough to be a mountain. "So, why is tea so important in Emerald Seas?"

    Her liege was silent for several moments as she sipped from her cup. "It is in truth, a holdover from the days of Weilu rule. Their founder Tsu the Diviner, mastered the secrets of weather and seasons, and allowed his people to grow their food from the earth. Tea plants were among the first domesticated this way. Those early blends were of practical use… they fortified the drinkers health and warded off sickness."

    That made sense Ling Qi supposed, even she knew boiling water helped remove some of the impurities that could make you sick, if you could make it have medicinal value and taste good at the same time, why not? "So it's a habit that stuck around then?"

    "In simple terms, yes," Cai Renxiang replied. "It became a mark of status to grow especially flavorful and desirable plants on your land, and remains so to this day."

    Ling Qi hummed to herself, taking a deeper drink from her cup. It did have a certain relaxing effect. "So it's another thing like swords then... " she mused aloud. "You seem more passionate about it than a mere obligation would imply though."

    Cai Renxiang did not answer, and as seconds stretched into a minute and more, Ling Qi looked up, to find the girl wearing a troubled expression.

    "...Mother does not care for teamaking at all," the other girl finally said in a quiet voice. For once, her corona of light had died down to a bare flicker. "She recognizes its value. So she does not reprimand me for the practice, but it also holds no interest to her… and it is something I enjoyed, even as a small child"

    Ling Qi simply nodded in understanding, but didn't say a word. She could read between the lines of what had been said well enough. As the silence began to get heavy, Ling Qi put on a smile. "Well, you've certainly gotten good at it. Are there any other interesting blends from the capital?" She asked.

    Cai Renxiang gave her a look that said that she knew clearly what Ling Qi was doing. "Of course, some even, which might interest you. In the fifth and sixth stratum, there are…"

    Ling Qi leaned forward and took the pot, pouring herself another cup. This wasn't such a bad way to spend the afternoon.

    With her first day in the Sect past, Ling Qi found herself faced with a few decisions

    You still had that mirror from the Weilu tomb, it would be worth a hefty sum if auctioned.
    [][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction
    [][M] Keep the mirror

    Zhengui had put off his slumber, to remain with you for the tournament. Now he is barely able to stay awake. A space has been assigned to him by the Sect though.

    [] Go with Zhengui and help him build his breakthrough nest on your own.
    [] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it
    [] Invite Gu Xiulan along to help you, if the last one was any indication, you would need to start a lot of fires.
    [] Invite them both, why not? They don't have any conflicts, right?
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Invite them both, why not? They don't have any conflicts, right?

    SOUNDS LIKE A TRASH FIRE IN WAIT.

    not to say that they're opposed naturally, but.....

    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction

    not really into the mirror itself, so away you go! fund our drugs
     
    [X] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it

    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction
     
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    yrsillar said:
    Man this is why I just wanted to get rid of the benchmarks on the ranks, it creates weirdness issues.

    Anyway update will be up in a sec
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    This would have been perfectly sane in my opinion. Just lets it be calibrated to what we actually experience via us hacking together an idea of what means what.

    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction

    DRUUUUUUUUUUUG MONEY!

    [X] Invite them both, why not? They don't have any conflicts, right?

    You joke, but I'm pretty sure they don't know each other and only know us.
     
    I've made my position on the Mirror clear I think

    [X][M] Keep the mirror
    [X] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it

    Also double-dipping is bad m'kay. There's stuff one or the other might be willing to open up to Ling Qi about in private, but those avenues would definitely be closed off with a third wheel present.
     
    [X][M] Keep the mirror

    [X] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it
     
    Actually, the in private thing is a good point and I care a bit about what Xuan Shi has to say.

    [X] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it
    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction
     
    [X] Invite Xuan Shi to help you with building his breakthough nest. Surely his knowledge will improve it
    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction
     
    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction

    Break out the spreadsheets! It's time to OPTIMISE!

    [X] Invite them both, why not? They don't have any conflicts, right?

    LanLan needs some more friends, and everyone loves adorable snoozing turtlesneks. Everyone wins.
     
    [X][M] Ask Cai Renxiang to put it up for auction
    [X] Invite Gu Xiulan along to help you, if the last one was any indication, you would need to start a lot of fires.
     
    Once again, I seriously need to emphasize that inviting both of them to assist means that whatever social interaction we get from them will both be surface level at best, and dictated entirely by societal norms.

    Much like how Xiulan and Meizhen's initial interaction worked out, only without the benefit of mutual ribbing on Ling Qi's failure points to help bond over.

    Because, unironically, Xuan Shi considered Ling Qi a harbinger of doom and gloom in the Outer Sect, and that will turn Xiulan off rather quickly, which will result in a chilliness at best. Those of you expecting a trash fire misunderstand Xuan Shi. He won't do anything to feed Xiulan's temper, rather, he'll just clam up if the conversation takes a turn for the worse.

    So lets.

    Uh.

    Not overreach.

    Pick one or the other, but definitely not both.
     
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