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

[x] Go along with it, this is Suyin's expedition.

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

[/] Dissuade Li Suyin from following the trail. Surely she already had plans in the region she had already scouted out. Who even knows how far the beasts trail descends.

If Ken Griffey Jr. can't get 100% vote neither can Ling Qi

[x] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

Just kidding

So, some more discussion regarding this awesome chapter!

yrsillar said:

She grimaced as she felt her technique fail to dissipate the heavy chains of qi dragging at her friends limbs, but they were both fortified against attack now. Her sword was doing its job, making the beast flinch and snap by darting around its head like a bothersome fly, so she moved forward with the next part of her plan. There was no time to talk and make plans, but she trusted Li Suyin to follow up to the best of her abilities.

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Unsurprisingly, Ling Qi isn't the best at getting rid of techniques once they've taken hold of someone. We just don't have the skills or attributes to dispell something that seems to be a major focus of the Impure Antlion's hunting method. As for Li Suyin, she certainly demonstrated how a talented, dedicated crafter, with time to prepare, can be devastating on the field of battle.

yrsillar said:

Then Ling Qi heard something flying through the air, and a puff as a tiny clay sphere shattered on the massive beasts upraised forearm. The scent of fresh air reached Ling Qi's nose, along with a mild breeze that sent her hair fluttering. The beast however, seemed to find it much more distressing, letting out an earsplitting shriek as it pawed at its face and gnashed its jaws. Ling Qi held back a grimace as it released another burst of heavy earth qi, but it washed off of her without effect this time, and avoiding the boulder that fell from above took a mere sidestep.

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And here we see the effect of fresh air on the inhabits on this cruel and twisted realm. I wonder what makes it so toxic to these creatures? It's probably not because of the qi in the air, as the beast was using qi. So... I don't know if it is a chemical toxicity or simply a conceptual toxicity. The mere fact that it is fresh and untainted is enough to produce a violent reaction. While I don't know, I'm sure Li Suyin has some clues or is going to try and figure it out. Also... I'm glad that we finished the fight when we did, I would rather not have more boulders fall on us and the ceiling collapsing would be pretty bad. At least we have escape talismans!

yrsillar said:

"Y-yes," Li Suyin called back from the edge of the pit, her voice muffled. Ling Qi looked with bemusement upon her friends solution to the issue of being dragged down, She stood in a veritable cage of bone, metal and silk, formed by her guardians. The one with the shield stood below, shield spiked into the ground, the simple slab of metal had expanded, twin plates of steel bursting from its sides to form a curved barrier. The other one stood behind, the hooked ornament at the base of its gaundao now stuck firmly into the ceiling at the end of a chain. It clasped the extended weapon in one hand, while the other seemed to be holding the first guardians collar, but a second look showed that the gauntlet and armor had fused into a single piece. Metal flowed as she watched, the two guardians detaching from one another as Li Suyin peeked out from behind them.

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And here is Li Suyin's minions in siege mode! A nice defensible formation designed to restrict movement and provide protection. There seems to be some sort of melding going on between the two Minions, probably to provide a stronger connection point and a more secure entrenched position. It's interesting though, from this protected position Li Suyin was able to hurl toxin bombs and launch a bird minion to deliver another potent chemical weapon. I wonder if there is a more offensive formation for this trio... or if Li Suyin really developing these minion's defensive abilities to protect her from harm. Either way, once Li Suyin reaches green and can recreate make these minions green as well, she'll be a potent force on any dueling stage.

yrsillar said:

Ling Qi sighed, and resigned herself to tanding guard while her friend butchered hundreds of kilograms worth of beetle monster. She was glad Suyin was happy, but should she really be this blase about the threat to her life. What had happened to the wilting girl who hated fighting and blood?

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Yep, Li Suyin has changed. Probably influenced by her teacher Bao, but Li Suyin is now much more comfortable with using violence as a means of achieving objectives. Especially if it is against hideous monsters that aren't human. There will always be conflict for an Immortal, and this Li Suyin seems to be much better at handling that conflict.

yrsillar said:

Li Suyin shook her head, even as she flicked her wrist, drawing a carving knife the length of her forearm from storage. "There isn't enough nutrition in this region to support multiple adults of this size, perhaps a mated pair at most, the upper caverns would be stripped bare if there were more. We might find juveniles, or even eggs though! A sample of the carapace still in development could advance…"

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Unfortunate that we didn't hear exactly what a sample of the carapace still in development could help advance, but it was probably more SCIENCE! Given the creatures ability to generate and launch spikes from it's carapace, Li Suyin might be interested in that. She doesn't have a ranged attacker in her gaggle of minions, and so having a skeletal creature that can generate and fire spikes at foes could really help the formation that Li Suyin is developing. Other than that, a chitin that regenerates would provide a nice level of armor for her skeleton soliders.

yrsillar said:

"Well, we can determine that later," Li Suyin replied deliberately, reaching into her bags to retrieve a leather surgical mask and a pair of goggles.

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Huh, she's wearing goggles over her eye patch. I guess it keeps the patch from getting dirtied, though I would've liked to see her pull out a monocle. Mono-goggle?

[x] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

Like Ling Qi said, this is Suyin's expedition, so unless there's a pressing reason not to, may as well follow her lead in this environment she knows better than us.

yrsillar said:

a tiny clay sphere shattered on the massive beasts upraised forearm. The scent of fresh air reached Ling Qi's nose, along with a mild breeze that sent her hair fluttering

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Weaponizing the air of the surface world, huh? The same methodology as her pure air pills, probably: storing especially pure air from a site similar to the Mystic Vale, I think. I wonder where Suyin sources the site from? She and Su Ling had to have been capable of producing the pills on their own, since they were undergoing expeditions while in the supportless Outer Sect. Did she have to find a site on her own? Or is the site supplied from the Sect on their own recognizance?

(Say, does Su Ling also have permission to use this site? She discovered it, too.)

Also, has Suyin tried making impure air pills or impure air bombs? The pure air bombs have a ready development path of compressing more air into her bombs, creating stronger winds for a field cleanse/AOE attack. The impure air should have similar effects on Suyin's enemies; she can even act like a mini-Ling Qi: creating battlefield hazards while select allies are immune from previously consumed pills.

(The impure air should be related to Black Blood of the earth mother released during the Dragon God wars. I wonder how traumatizing Suyin would be if she attacked survivors of those wars with an impure air bomb?)

yrsillar said:

a skeletal crow zoomed past overhead and exploded violently in midair above the beasts head, releasing a misty rain of rust colored liquid

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'Rust' meaning blood, I suppose? I really can see why the Thunder Crow were slated for extermination: their formation constructs are ridiculously evil in aesthetics. Says such good things about Suyin; she fits so well with Ling Qi's friends, with all their villainous imagery.

yrsillar said:

"There isn't enough nutrition in this region to support multiple adults of this size, perhaps a mated pair at most, the upper caverns would be stripped bare if there were more. We might find juveniles, or even eggs though! A sample of the carapace still in development could advance…

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..Isn't the beetle-like antlion the juvenile form? And the dragonfly-like antlion the adult adult? So any trail that goes to a nest should be past the fourth cavern, and any adult should be farther into Green (or maybe even Cyan).

Are we going to blitz past multiple levels for the first boss?!?

lioli said:

..Isn't the beetle-like antlion the juvenile form? And the dragonfly-like antlion the adult adult? So any trail that goes to a nest should be past the fourth cavern, and any adult should be farther into Green (or maybe even Cyan).

Are we going to blitz past multiple levels for the first boss?!?

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Spirit beasts don't necessarily follow the life cycles of their real world equivalent animals. And the dragonflyoids probably wouldn't be spending their time deep underground even if they did.

yrsillar said:

Then Ling Qi heard something flying through the air, and a puff as a tiny clay sphere shattered on the massive beasts upraised forearm. The scent of fresh air reached Ling Qi's nose, along with a mild breeze that sent her hair fluttering. The beast however, seemed to find it much more distressing, letting out an earsplitting shriek as it pawed at its face and gnashed its jaws. Ling Qi held back a grimace as it released another burst of heavy earth qi, but it washed off of her without effect this time, and avoiding the boulder that fell from above took a mere sidestep.

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Damn, she just gassed it with fresh air.

yrsillar said:

Ling Qi's ears caught no cry of pain from behind her either, only the staccato sound of impact on metal and the feeling of her Deepwood Vitality fading. Her friends condition was confirmed when a skeletal crow zoomed past overhead and exploded violently in midair above the beasts head, releasing a misty rain of rust colored liquid. A little washed over Ling Qi, but it seemed benign, at least to her. The beast on the other hand, once again thrashed, some of the gleaming metals in its shell turning dingy and corroded, forming cracks in its carapace.

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Where'd she get Rust Monster saliva?

yrsillar said:

"Y-yes," Li Suyin called back from the edge of the pit, her voice muffled. Ling Qi looked with bemusement upon her friends solution to the issue of being dragged down, She stood in a veritable cage of bone, metal and silk, formed by her guardians. The one with the shield stood below, shield spiked into the ground, the simple slab of metal had expanded, twin plates of steel bursting from its sides to form a curved barrier. The other one stood behind, the hooked ornament at the base of its gaundao now stuck firmly into the ceiling at the end of a chain. It clasped the extended weapon in one hand, while the other seemed to be holding the first guardians collar, but a second look showed that the gauntlet and armor had fused into a single piece. Metal flowed as she watched, the two guardians detaching from one another as Li Suyin peeked out from behind them.

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Oh cool, more combining robots skeletons.

yrsillar said:

"I take it that's new," Ling Qi said dryly, gesturing to the dead beast.

"Nothing like that has come up here before, no," Li Suyin replied with a frown, making her way down the slope carefully as her guardians disentangled themselves. "It could just be bad luck, but…"

"You did have a way out with you before, right?" Ling Qi asked worriedly. While Li Suyin had weathered the peripheral of the fight fine and even helped distract the creature, she didn't think her friend could have handled it on her own.

"I have an escape talisman," Li Suyin replied absently, examining the creature. "You would think a predator like this would leave more signs, considering how destructive it is," she mused absently.

"Unless this isn't it's normal hunting grounds," Ling Qi replied with a frown.

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Its a hell-antlion. Those guys fill in the hole after they're done and its' Earth affinity.

yrsillar said:

"Well, we can determine that later," Li Suyin replied deliberately, reaching into her bags to retrieve a leather surgical mask and a pair of goggles. "I need to harvest this! A core this potent will be a great boon for my work."

Ling Qi sighed, and resigned herself to tanding guard while her friend butchered hundreds of kilograms worth of beetle monster. She was glad Suyin was happy, but should she really be this blase about the threat to her life. What had happened to the wilting girl who hated fighting and blood?

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Loot happened.
Loot is a known character growth method.

yrsillar said:

"Do you think we should follow it's trail?" Li Suyin asked, crouching near the beasts oozing maw. "I had scouted out a path to the third level already, but if this leads back to a nest… There could be so much more to find."

Ling Qi raised an eyebrow. "You want to tangle with a bunch of these?" She asked incredulously.

Li Suyin shook her head, even as she flicked her wrist, drawing a carving knife the length of her forearm from storage. "There isn't enough nutrition in this region to support multiple adults of this size, perhaps a mated pair at most, the upper caverns would be stripped bare if there were more. We might find juveniles, or even eggs though! A sample of the carapace still in development could advance…"

Ling Qi watched her friend sank the knife into a crack in the creatures carapace, and the formations on it's blade glowed, even as a spurt of blood stained Suyin's facemask. She listened absently to Li Suyin discuss the improvements she could make to her constructs.

What a change, that she was the one feeling a little timid.

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Suyin: "SCIENCE!"
Ling Qi: [Concern]

lioli said:

(Say, does Su Ling also have permission to use this site? She discovered it, too.)

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She was Suyin's escort last time

lioli said:

Also, has Suyin tried making impure air pills or impure air bombs? The pure air bombs have a ready development path of compressing more air into her bombs, creating stronger winds for a field cleanse/AOE attack. The impure air should have similar effects on Suyin's enemies; she can even act like a mini-Ling Qi: creating battlefield hazards while select allies are immune from previously consumed pills.

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Not sure how wise it'd be to bring the taint up as a weapon.

lioli said:

..Isn't the beetle-like antlion the juvenile form? And the dragonfly-like antlion the adult adult? So any trail that goes to a nest should be past the fourth cavern, and any adult should be farther into Green (or maybe even Cyan).

Are we going to blitz past multiple levels for the first boss?!?

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Well...this is just a Trapinch huh?
Flygon would be Fun

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

The danger doesn't seem insurmountable, and no cultivator can progress without taking risks anyway.

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

With the tally being what it is, there's probably no reason to list these for discussion but I like doing this.

I decided on this vote for several reasons.

-Along with the mooks, we've already accomplished the objective of her original plan with getting the third realm Impure Core. Everything from here is gravy, no reason to scoop more potatoes on the plate.

-We handled ourselves pretty well, and didn't really expend very many resources (A single qi restorative, it looks like) . Suyin's constructs appear undamaged or lightly so, and she hasn't complained about ammunition.

-I want those shells.

-I want those eggs.

-With how easy we handled that thing after it started the fight with its ideal opener, I'm thinking there's a substantial gap between "Intimidates the Ant Lion" and "We can't take without LQ/LS/Spiderfriend suffering expensive/slowing/permanent injury or death" I like that gap, I want to kill things in that gap and sell their organs to buy drugs.

Most Importantly However:

-Suyin is our friend. She's rarely excited. She rarely pulls wins.

In a situation like this, well, you know that I'mma ride for my motherfucking ni... Inner Circle of Friends.

Arkeus said:

Inserted tally

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Closest I've ever come to gilding a post. Unfortunately paying for server fees of a service I regularly use is against my religion.

Saidoro said:

Spirit beasts don't necessarily follow the life cycles of their real world equivalent animals. And the dragonflyoids probably wouldn't be spending their time deep underground even if they did.

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I agree with the first sentence. For the second, I wouldn't discount the possibility in setting of a cave massive enough to allow for the existence of a aerial ecological niche.

Like, the rotted out ribcage of an eons old Earth Dragon or something, the bones still indestructible by anything under the Pinacle of cultivation, but made useless as drugs/reagents by their Impure environs.

In the words of the great sage Smash Mouth, "All that glitters is gold, only shooting stars break the mold".

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

OneArmedYeti said:

[X] Go along with it. Suyin can protect herself, and you… You're not weak, this isn't like the dream. Who are you to deny Suyin her own bout of good fortune.

With the tally being what it is, there's probably no reason to list these for discussion but I like doing this.

I decided on this vote for several reasons.

-Along with the mooks, we've already accomplished the objective of her original plan with getting the third realm Impure Core. Everything from here is gravy, no reason to scoop more potatoes on the plate.

-We handled ourselves pretty well, and didn't really expend very many resources (A single qi restorative, it looks like) . Suyin's constructs appear undamaged or lightly so, and she hasn't complained about ammunition.

-I want those shells.

-I want those eggs.

-With how easy we handled that thing after it started the fight with its ideal opener, I'm thinking there's a substantial gap between "Intimidates the Ant Lion" and "We can't take without LQ/LS/Spiderfriend suffering expensive/slowing/permanent injury or death" I like that gap, I want to kill things in that gap and sell their organs to buy drugs.

Most Importantly However:

-Suyin is our friend. She's rarely excited. She rarely pulls wins.

In a situation like this, well, you know that I'mma ride for my motherfucking ni... Inner Circle of Friends.



Closest I've ever come to gilding a post. Unfortunately paying for server fees of a service I regularly use is against my religion.



I agree with the first sentence. For the second, I wouldn't discount the possibility in setting of a cave massive enough to allow for the existence of a aerial ecological niche.

Like, the rotted out ribcage of an eons old Earth Dragon or something, the bones still indestructible by anything under the Pinacle of cultivation, but made useless as drugs/reagents by their Impure environs.

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Flygon is a dragon! An Earth Dragon could probably fly just fine in stone

Enigma said:

Make sure you read the first part of the quest as well.

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Oh I did - it was amazing.

I was focusing on the narrative though, so I probably need to reread this thread again with a focus on the mechanics ...

HeiTian said:

Oh I did - it was amazing.

I was focusing on the narrative though, so I probably need to reread this thread again with a focus on the mechanics ...

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*silent screaming*