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

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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1986ctcel said:
Leaving out the characterisation question, Dreaming Moon is pretty much the best choice just from a pure mechanics perspective since we already get bonuses to our cultivation from sneaking and larceny (grinning) and from finding hidden or forgotten knowledge (hidden) but we don't get any cultivation bonuses from playing music (despite two of our main Arts being music based) nor from socialising.

Dreaming's suggestion in addition to sounding fun can give us mechanical stuff that we're lacking right now in EPC.
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Given the description of us forging our own unique phase, I'm not sure how the existing bonuses will even be handled. The stealth bonuses are baked into our Way at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got recajiggered anyway. There's moon magic afoot.
 
Also it might be just me but picking Grinning moon twice in a row just seems boring when we also picked her choice for the setting and we don't have any idea of how many choices before the moon quest ends.
 
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AbeoLogos said:
Given the description of us forging our own unique phase, I'm not sure how the existing bonuses will even be handled. The stealth bonuses are baked into our Way at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised if it got recajiggered anyway. There's moon magic afoot.
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Yeah,

I wonder how often our peers get Attention from Powers like this.
 
[X] Take the Dreaming Moon's suggestion

Let's see if we can make this place a little bit better.
 
OneArmedYeti said:
I wonder how often our peers get Attention from Powers like this.
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Well, there are about three people with this specific cultivation art in the entirety of the Argent Sect. Us, Elder Jiao, and the Rank 3 dude Liao Zhu. I'm sure that there are other cultivation arts to talk to other great spirits, but I think that they'll be about as rare, if not rarer. After all, the Moon is a total of eight different great spirits that have been around for a long, long time.

The Sun version might have been involved with the Lu clan in the Golden Fields given their connection with the Sun, and if it survived the death of the Sun then clans in that area might have it. I'm not sure what other cultivation arts are that deal with great spirits, but I'm positive that they are just as rare and coveted as EPC.

As for doing Great Spirit quests and the like... I'm not sure. It certainly would be different for the other cultivation arts.
 
Humbaba said:
What in the actual hell happened in Ling Qi's head in this update to get her to leap to this sort of ridiculous conclusion? How high on moon power is she?

Oh a woman got all her teeth permenently knocked out (we know mortals don't get access to easy superhealing without a stupid huge expense of hiring a high tier cultivator doctor becasue cultivator medicine is essentially poison) but it's allright because she got a pittance worth of pity money and a trade. Really the guy who will live much longer and much more healthily (due to being any sort of cultivator) but got a small fine is the one who really got it worse here.

Just what?

Honestly the more I read it the more the whole brothel part of the update felt quite weak to me. There was no real feeling like Ling Qi was actually confronting a long held issue, no real sense of lingering horror or emotional payoff. I get that this is SV and we need to be very careful around certain topics, but any sort of horror Ling Qi felt seemed purely an informed attribute here, with too much telling what she felt and not enough showing. The whole tone of the update feels like "it really wasn't that bad, it's fine... oh I guess you still don't like it.". It also feels like it's trying to walk back too much of the horror, even the mundane horror (like the aformentioned removal of the guards can be utter bastards and reporting this to other guards will at best do nothing because no one wants to care aspect).

The mental comparison against the streets and their "mundane everyday horror" also feels rather weak, becasue we don't go and see the streets again to actually feel that conclusion. It also glosses over the other personal issues, like the Liu's interest in this place, forcing Qingge into this life.* Or the frankly very real possibility of Qingge being unable to prevent Ling Qi from being forced into things (though I recognise how difficult this may be to address in a way that is safe for SV).

Honestly I think the biggest problem to me was that this was essentially trying to deal with a very key part of Ling Qi's backstory and personal trauma in essentially half an update, complete with irreverent commentary from Ling Qi's spirits. This whole arc is a key part of Ling Qi's character and cultivation development. Choosing Tongou was a clear indication that we wanted to explore Ling Qi's past and it's effect on her self and her future, but it really feels like we got the whistlestop tour of character development. Ling Qi's interactions with the spirits of the moon are great, but it detracted from dealing properly with the actual issue.

Don't get me wrong I love the grinning moon's efforts to heer up Ling Qi and how all three of the moon spirits are clearly trying to support Ling Qi but this entire thing reads like Ling Qi is on heavy painkillers; completely outside of her own emotions and is due to have a massive freakout when she comes down.

*Although this could suggest a nice bit of fridge horror to hit Ling Qi later. The guard only got punished and the woman got any sort of compensation because the business belonged to the people forcing her mother into prostitution.

As to the vote:
[X] Take the Grinning Moon's suggestion
[X] Take the Hidden Moon's suggestion

Really not a fan of the whole "must pick dreaming to get mechanical bard bonuses" some people seem to be suggesting.
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You said it yourself that this is kinda a huge issue with a lot of trauma to unpack. I'm guessing Yrsillar knew that it's too much for the length of this chapter. Honestly it's gonna take multiple updates for her to really address everything. We shouldn't be expecting it all to happen now. But we've taken the first step because LA will be more willing to examine these thoughts and feelings in the future. She's starting to face her fear. Her memories of the streets were from and awful but she didn't have to suppress them. She associates an unnatural horror to the brothel because they're childhood memories. Most things are scarier when ur a kid. Yrs wasn't trying to downplay the awful, exploitative nature of the brothel. Just get LQ to a place where she can confront this traumatic part of her life.
 
Thor's Twin said:
Well, there are about three people with this specific cultivation art in the entirety of the Argent Sect. Us, Elder Jiao, and the Rank 3 dude Liao Zhu. I'm sure that there are other cultivation arts to talk to other great spirits, but I think that they'll be about as rare, if not rarer. After all, the Moon is a total of eight different great spirits that have been around for a long, long time.

The Sun version might have been involved with the Lu clan in the Golden Fields given their connection with the Sun, and if it survived the death of the Sun then clans in that area might have it. I'm not sure what other cultivation arts are that deal with great spirits, but I'm positive that they are just as rare and coveted as EPC.

As for doing Great Spirit quests and the like... I'm not sure. It certainly would be different for the other cultivation arts.
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I could see the Gu having a Determinator art all about perseverance, getting back up one more time, "I could do this all day", that sort of thing.

"Should the Sun not Rise" "The Corpse Yet Smoulders", something like that.
 
yrsillar said:
Ling Qi cast them all a wary look. "...You're going to have me choose between a cryptic metaphors for whatever we're actually going to do, aren't you."

"Hazard of the company," Sixiang grumbled, sitting up with a grimace.

"Well now you've gone and taken the fun out of it," The Grinning Moon said, crossing her arms. "Fine, we can be direct too. In my choice, we'll be going to a place where the dullards at the top of this heap would much rather we not go."

"In mine, we will see to the spread of art too long forgotten and suppressed," said the Dreaming Moon, her smile catlike and predatory.

"And in mine, we will see that a certain secret makes its way to the appropriate ears," The Hidden Moon said somberly, speaking once again through Xin.

Ling Qi glanced between them. She sensed a certain crossover in portfolios for these things. Also they were still being annoyingly vague.
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Eyyy, now that's more like it. An actual choice with at least minimal information!

[X] Take the Hidden Moon's suggestion

I just prefer being the person who can walk up to Renxiang when she's about to make a major decision, lean over, whisper a few sentences and derail the inevitable plot levelled against her with a well-placed secret. But that's just me.
 
The update was pretty neat and I like how it gives Ling Qi a little bit of a fresh perspective on her childhood memories.

"Still, I think this has been enough walking, feeling up for a run?" The Grinning Moon asked, leaping down from the awning where she had been lounging.
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It makes sense with the story of the girl who stole the wind, but the Grinning Moon is very animated isn't she? At least compared to the Dreaming Moon being all elegant with the parasol and Xin just teleporting.

"In mine, we will see to the spread of art too long forgotten and suppressed," said the Dreaming Moon, her smile catlike and predatory.
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Leaning towards this for moment since Dreaming Moon's smile makes me wonder what the art will be. Particularly since
"May the Dreamers attentions remain benign, child,"
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was a proper response to a traditional Weilu greeting back when Ling Qi talked to the Luo clan rep back in FoD.

[X] Take the Dreaming Moon's suggestion
 
[X] Take the Grinning Moon's suggestion

When Ling Qi suddenly showed up in Yan Renshu's lair, she dissolved his organization overnight. When Ling Qi suddenly showed up in Sun Liling's fortress, the failure of Sun's retaliation sent her rebellion into a death spiral.

I would like to continue this trend of Ling Qi popping up in places she shouldn't be and ruining her enemies.
 
OneArmedYeti said:
Yeah,

I wonder how often our peers get Attention from Powers like this.
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AbeoLogos said:
We could ask our scouting teacher about it. Letting him in on the true extent of our special snowflake-ness might be a mistake though. Dude's already smugly establishing ties to aid in his future projects, he doesn't need more motivation.
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yrsillar said:
"No more aping of the eight, but rather, forging your own," the Grinning Moon said seriously, before shooting a sly look at Dreaming and adding in a much more irreverent voice. "Of course, there really should only be two of us."
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There is a standard procedure, this is a normal and expected part of Ling Qi's cultivation art.
 
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