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

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Wow. Spectacular update, yrs.
Great fight scene, bunch of interesting small tidbits in there - for example the blood moon flashback, urhh, that one kinda worries me, but... not like we are in a position to collect a bunch of prisoners, with that new enemy out there. And for those who are wondering about Cai justice, CRX just blind-fired a Death Laser(tm) into the fog and disintegrated a bunch of em. Her stance seems pretty clear to me.

Also, Zhengui finding combat applications for gluttony, of course. This is the first time our little brother gets to really show off, and wow, he's a behemoth.

larkins said:
I'm worried about dealing a death blow when Ling Qi could otherwise incapacitate. Wouldn't her fully spooled up S-rank (melee) attack kill him? If so it'd be a quick way to end the fight but it might be a better idea to fall back on the old attrition and drain.
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I seriously doubt that. The guy is green five, we just took an S-ranked attack of his, he can take one in return for sure. Also remember the Bai's defensive prowess. The tricky part will probably be to catch him.

It seems pretty clear that we need to decisively end the enemy army asap, and drop the mist, so we have CRX and our own troops to take on the boss. Zhengui can probably keep his spirit beast in check, he seems to cope well with poison, and is a good staller. I think we should detonate TE asap, link up with CRX to buff and see if she has a good plan. If we manage to shatter the bandits, we have numerical superiority, so we only need to slow the guy down enough for Renren to apply her latest toy. That should leave a mark.
 
Alrighty then.

No point in speculating on the no doubt intriguing politics and intrigue behind this shit, we've got a battle to fight.

FVM is only gonna hinder our allies, since we don't have the Qi to shield all of them. We detonate Traveler's End immediately, and hopefully that takes out most of the Mooks.

We retreat as fast we can into the Cai Formation, and link up with CRX to take on the Green 5.

Sound good?
 
Raising Kittens said:
Whatever it was originated from within the mist, not outside it.
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He could have been in the mist then, used his technique, took the path out, then we closed it and now he's the only out. I don't really have a sense of where he would have been when this all started, or where he went after it did. Was he far ahead of the formation and came back to observe? Did he arrive right as CRX did? Or was he inside the formation from the beginning, observing, and only decided he had to act when CRX arrived?
 
yrsillar said:
Zhen snapped out, swift as a shadow and snatched the dragonfly spirit that had struck her out of the air. The massive insect let out an earsplitting shriek of agony as burning fangs punched through its exoskeleton.
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@yrsillar, can we get WoG on what happens to a spirit if they suffer a truly grievous injury? That is, is there any chance of a perma-death or do they retreat to their cultivators' Dantian and need a long time to recuperate?

I'm very worried about Hanyi now, particularly with the Green 5.
 
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yrsillar said:
She thought of squealing rat things, down in the dark, exploding into bloody snowflakes. Could she really do that to a person, even if they were a criminal? Ling Qi wasn't eager to find out, though… she expected that she very well could, if it came down to it. For a moment, she felt a strange stirring of… excitement at the thought. The scent of blood and burning wood seemed to fill her nose. Unsettled Ling Qi shook the feeling off, focusing on her mission. In the back of her mind, Sixiang stirred in discomfort.
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I feel like this could be a very important vote for whether Ling Qi's murderous excitement gets lowercase cultivated or not. This is her first fight where actual lives are on the line and how far she goes here will decide how she thinks of killing in the future. If she just detonates TE without a second thought, wiping out scores of people, that is how easy it will be for her to do it again. She feels uncomfortable right now but if she overcomes that all that will be left is the excitement and satisfaction of killing her opponents. It's not explicitly wrong with being a efficient killer in these kinds of stories but we have to be aware that Ling Qi already enjoys harming people in less drastic ways and this is the next step on that path.
 
Mmm, a big question mark I'd say is how effective TE is going to be. If it succeeds beyond our wildest dreams for instance and kills all his allies, I'd give good odds of him running. That would mean we'd want to be immediately moving on him and trying to snare him with LW.

Otoh, if there are plenty of survivors it seems likely that he'd stay and fight, in which case falling back and spooling up our buffs is the best option.

One thing I will note here is that in the old system at least the yellows would definitely survive. Heck, due to damage caps there would be good odds of the reds surviving, depending on how much damage they've already taken.

@yrsillar does Ling Qi have any idea of how much damage TE is likely to do?
 
dycouza said:
I feel like this could be a very important vote for whether Ling Qi's murderous excitement gets lowercase cultivated or not. This is her first fight where actual lives are on the line and how far she goes here will decide how she thinks of killing in the future. If she just detonates TE without a second thought, wiping out scores of people, that is how easy it will be for her to do it again. She feels uncomfortable right now but if she overcomes that all that will be left is the excitement and satisfaction of killing her opponents. It's not explicitly wrong with being a efficient killer in these kinds of stories but we have to be aware that Ling Qi already enjoys harming people in less drastic ways and this is the next step on that path.
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I fully agree that it shouldn't be easy to detonate TE. I also fully agree that this situation requires it. I think how LQ feels about it is up to yrsillar, and I have confidence that he'll write it well.
 
To be honest though.

This is not the time and place to be thinking about long term trauma.

This is a life or death battle against someone very far above us on paper. I rather doubt that arrow of his was the strongest thing he had in his quiver either, and even then--it failed to kill us only because of DWV giving us a chance to dodge by slowing it a little bit.

Detonate TE while spinning up Aria/Echoes (Grabbing the common greens with Lunatic Whirl to neutralize them, since I'm not confident in one-shotting them with it), rely on the Zhengui/Hannyi dream team to tarpit his spirit beast. (Remember, Zhengui could throw down with Dharitri with a similiar level of disadvantage), while Ling Qi and RenRen team up to fight the boss. She's our liege, we followed our orders--this is not the time for aggressive initiative--and she did just get the shiny new saber. Be a shame if she couldn't test it on a strong foe.
 
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If he actually is a Bai. "It is I, your opponent! a Bai! You can tell I'm a Bai by my snake and being super sneaky and treacherous! Like the Bai are! Of which I am one and you can absolutely trust that despite how treacherous and cunning the Bai are! I should know, totally being one! Anywhoo the important thing to remember is I am really no fooling a Bai! Tell your friends!"
 
Erebeal said:
One thing I will note here is that in the old system at least the yellows would definitely survive. Heck, due to damage caps there would be good odds of the reds surviving, depending on how much damage they've already taken.

@yrsillar does Ling Qi have any idea of how much damage TE is likely to do?
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I'm... not sure? Ji Rong was doing something like +9 perfect damage on all his attacks back in the tournament. Even FSA was +4 damage and DV+2. Under the old system, I could easily see this ending up on a full DV +7 damage to everyone, for 15~ damage or so.

It really depends on how Yrs wants to play it, though, I agree. I can as easily see 'everyone survives' as 'only 1 green is alive'.
 
Also keep in mind these guys aren't civilians.

They are hardened killers that just attacked and razed a village, stole goods from a Duke and killed guards and villagers alike. This is a situation where lethal force is needed.
 
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@yrsillar how are you playing morale, here? Is it a "10% loss of men means a well trained company of people who fights for a cause rout" thing, or are cultivators having super-morale and don't run away through morale loss?
 
NotAlwaysFanfic said:
Also keep in mind these guys aren't civilians.

They are hardened killers that just attacked and razed a village, stole goods from a Duke and killed guards and villagers alike. This is a situation where lethal force is needed.
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Yeah they are either bandits or soldiers either way they are enemy combatants who sacked a village of the land your sworn lord holds dominion on. Don't fuck with the Cai is a thing for a reason.
 
Ling Qi has never actually used the TE bomb in live combat, and definitely not on a bunch of lower level cultivators. So she couldn't be entirely certain no. She's pretty sure its gonna be a real big punch though.

Also spirits can die even if theyre bound, if your quick about it and nearby you pull off a save by withdrawing them though.
 
dycouza said:
This is her first fight where actual lives are on the line and how far she goes here will decide how she thinks of killing in the future.
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No, it's not. We killed that shaman back in the first thread. The middle of a life and death struggle is not the time to hold back and think about the morality of killing. The time to stop and reflect is after the battle is won.
 
My thoughts are:

[] Defensive/teamwork plan
-[] immediately detonate TE to even the odds and clear the way for our troops. See if we can catch the Bai in the blast with a quick dash forward, but don't worry if he avoids.
-[] lock down the greens with LW
-[] move to support Renxiang et al. with defensive buffs (though don't spread expensive techs like HRA around on everyone - keep those to the greens)
-[] Hanyi: ranged dps support. Help our troops fight the bandits if they need it. Do not pull aggro from Bai or his snake.
-[] Zhengui: keep snake busy while Renxiang and we engage Bai
 
larkins said:
I'm worried about dealing a death blow when Ling Qi could otherwise incapacitate. Wouldn't her fully spooled up S-rank (melee) attack kill him? If so it'd be a quick way to end the fight but it might be a better idea to fall back on the old attrition and drain.
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My expectation is it just forces a somewhat expensive defensive technique out of him at best, unless we wait until his qi is low and CRX is doing her own stuff to go for it.
 
[X] Plan: The Might of the Cai
-[X] Begin the Spring's End Aria bolstered with Echoes of Absolute Winter (With relevant Arts augmented with Joyous Toast), and clear the board and airspace by detonating Traveler's End, taking advantage of the paralysis effect to Lunatic Whirl any of the surviving Third Realms or enemy rangers to neutralize them. Regroup with Renxiang and company (Recalling our Beasts and playing taxi if needed) to face the rogue Bai, and support her and the platoon with our arts from Harmony and Thousand Ring Fortress, relying on Zhengui and Hannyi to be contest his own Spirit Beast's control of the battlespace with the support of the rest of our unit. If we get a chance at a sneak attack of Call to Ending, take it, otherwise, let our liege take the lead here and back her as best we can.
 
Regarding killing people in this battle. First off it is like pointed out not the first time LQ will have killed a person, the shaman comes to mind for example. And you got to remember that we signed up with the ducal heir and picked sides in what is looking like a brewing clusterfuck in the Empire and a potential Cloud nomad invasion. LQ is going to have to kill a lot of people on the path she has chosen. It is a fact she got to get used to. The fact that she is killing bandits and raiders will probably help a bit afterwards strangely enough, as they are as a rule some of the worst people you can find. CRX is clearly not taking prisoners so it seems that LQ is the executioner in this justice system now.
 
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Mr Apollo said:
No, it's not. We killed that shaman back in the first thread. The middle of a life and death struggle is not the time to hold back and think about the morality of killing. The time to stop and reflect is after the battle is won.
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From an IC perspective, the Shaman doesn't "count", any more than the Green-level monsters we fought while Suyin was harvesting eggs count.

This is genuinely different; it will be our first time taking the lives of "real" people.
 
Mmm, my feeling is that spooling up Echoes before dropping TE doesn't actually help that much?

The yellows should all be more than 2 ranks below our hit/pen anyway, and so we should probably already be hitting max damage on most of them... Is that how it works @yrsillar?

The only one's that it might help on would be the greens, and I'm not sure that's worth the delay. Echoes also doesn't have as much range as FVM, so we definitely can't catch Bai in it as well.
 
Erebeal said:
Mmm, my feeling is that spooling up Echoes before dropping TE doesn't actually help that much?

The yellows should all be more than 2 ranks below our hit/pen anyway, and so we should probably already be hitting max damage on most of them... Is that how it works @yrsillar?

The only one's that it might help on would be the greens, and I'm not sure that's worth the delay. Echoes also doesn't have as much range as FVM, so we definitely can't catch Bai in it as well.
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It's the defensive advantages, it effectively lowers his attack power by a full rank while it's up, so it gives us a shroud to regroup under.
 
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