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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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TehChron said:
And thats perfectly fair.

But Ling Qis role as a scout is also to obtain actionable intel or pre-empt potential threats to the main force. As seen during the previous such arcs.

Going after the barbs may not be her orders, but it is in fact, her job. Its why she was able to leave Xiulan and Zhengui behind in the first place.

Her role as a scout is inherently flexible, and one that is supposed to be proactive as well.
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I disagree.
Right now she isn't on a scouting mission. Whatever behavior is appropriate for a scout is not relevant here and now.
Right now she is in the military and given express orders*, going off to follow her gut feeling that something is wrong would be going AWOL.

*again whether "both villages requested reinforcements" or "defent your attributed village" takes precedence is up to debate.
 
Huo Yuhao said:
[X] ...Wait

I actually believe this is the most interesting option for Ling Qi to choose here. It would be the most frustrating choice for Ling Qi, as stated by this option's description, since simply waiting is something Ling Qi has rarely done. It provides an opportunity for character growth as she would have chosen this option in spite of her own desires, presumably with the bigger picture in mind. This is especially compelling when juxtaposed with the influence the Forest King arc continues to have on Ling Qi, as shown in the prior update. Unlike the Forest King arc, in which Ling Qi gave in to her innermost desires, she would be resisting them here.

I also agree with Abeo in that deciding to wait here does not contradict SCS's insight either.


"..Wait" provides an opportunity for Ling Qi to think and may provide an impetus for her to change and grow, even if it's only in minor ways. With this option, she is not ignoring her problems but facing them in novel ways.

Looking at the other options:

[] Help the other village

This is the most boring option for me. Ling Qi has no personal connection to this village and I'm concerned about the content of this option overlapping with this update. I'm not sure how interesting this option would be character-wise. Strategically, "...Wait" may be just as good if not better as well.

[] Return

This option fits with Ling Qi's feelings toward Zhengui and Xiulan. This involves Ling Qi giving in to her own desires, prioritizing them over her own mission. It's an interesting path for Ling Qi to go down on, and would probably be my second choice. With that being said, it's not a positive path of development for her.

[] Hunt them down

Ling Qi gives in to her own desires in this option as well. In this case, however, those desires are entirely selfish. From a character perspective, this is an inferior version of Return in my opinion. I'd rather Ling Qi give in to her worries about Zhengui and Xiulan than to her desire to continue the chase.

There are strategic reasons Ling Qi would consider for choosing each of these options, but she would be influenced by her emotions regardless of the option we choose, so it's important to take them into account.
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Waiting also definitely sets up the impetus for cultivating RME later in the turn very strongly, since staying in place is significantly motivated by her ignorance in this situation. She'd really want to prevent it happening in the future.
 
Ayashi said:
I disagree.
Right now she isn't on a scouting mission. Whatever behavior is appropriate for a scout is not relevant here and now.
Right now she is in the military and given express orders*, going off to follow her gut feeling that something is wrong would be going AWOL.

*again whether "both villages requested reinforcements" or "defent your attributed village" takes precedence is up to debate.
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*shrug*

Thats the thing about being given operational leeway. Satisfying strategic demands can take many forms.
 
TimEd said:
[X] Return

We can just as easily receive news in our homebase.
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We can receive news there, but not quite as easily. We're in the most central location atm. It also lets us respond in different directions most equitably, which is important if we don't know which one the most pressing crisis is in.

Good point that getting messages isn't strictly limited to waiting though.
 
EternalObserver said:
Hmmm, what makes u say that? Cause from the sound of it, we're gonna be getting that news in the aftermath of the chaos should u choose that option. At least by waiting, we receive it in a not so chaotic environment.
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Where is the chaos gonna start though? We dont know where it will be, and of all the villages, all of them have others assigned to them. The only one (that we know of) that is currently understrength, is our base of operations. So I see it as imperative that we return to base so that we dont unintentionally leave a gap where the Barbarian can rampage through.

Either way, if the Barbarians ever attack somewhere else, the defenders should be able to hold long enough for others to reinforce at the least. Our base might not hold for that long. And it would specifically be our fault if our base fails, instead of someone elses when they fail to repel the barbarians long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
 
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Personally the reason I'm for returning is the missed summons that should have called us from the field initially.

This makes me worry about hostile actors in the area around the our assigned village.

I think touching base makes the most sense
 
TimEd said:
Where is the chaos gonna start though? We dont know where it will be, and of all the villages, all of them have others assigned to them. The only one (that we know of) that is currently understrength, is our base of operations. So I see it as imperative that we return to base so that we dont unintentionally leave a gap where the Barbarian can rampage through.

Either way, if the Barbarians ever attack somewhere else, the defenders should be able to hold long enough for others to reinforce at the least. Our base might not hold for that long. And it would specifically be our fault if our base fails, instead of someone elses when they fail to repel the barbarians long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
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yrsillar said:
"Ma'am," he stood up and bowed as she stepped in. There was a touch of relief on the middle aged man's features. "I am glad my message reached you. There is a situation. One of the outriders in the northwestern village spotted several tribesman with bonded mounts below the cloudline to our west. Shortly thereafter, the northeastern village reported something similar. They are requesting support."
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The same intelligence that had Ling Qi come to this village included the other village... On the other hand, that "message" never reached Ling Qi which is worrisome, though it could simply be because Ling Qi returned back to base too quickly for his message to find her.
 
larkins said:
The same intelligence that had Ling Qi come to this village included the other village... On the other hand, that "message" never reached Ling Qi which is worrisome, though it could simply be because Ling Qi returned back to base too quickly for his message to find her.
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Yeah, you know ehat that might mean? Our base might get attacked. And unlike the other villages, our base is currently lacking 1 Ling Qi.
 
I am very against returning. Nothing has changed since we made the decision to leave in the first place. We expect that the village will be hit by a flood of spirit beasts, and we left defenders behind capable of handling that. There's no evidence the nomads are heading that way other than sudden fear in Ling Qi's gut.

On the other hand, there's a nearby village we explicitly know is being attacked by the nomads and needs our help.
 
[X] ...Wait

The urge to do something so you don't feel so damn helpless is strong. It is a very useful lever to manipulate people with.

It is deeply frustrating to consider what might be happening, but the barbarians are attacking in much greater force than we expected or were warned about. Some amount of damage to our zone of responsibility is inevitable; our team is not pulling a clear win out of the situation. The thing we need most is to avoid this becoming a disaster; keeping ourself in play as a mobile reaction force in the center of the area, where people know to find us, accomplishes that most directly (remaining a Ling Qi In Being, as it were). We have the advantage of interior lines of movement for communication or repositioning, and that should let us punish overextension at the cost of accepting the damage they can do before we can respond.

This seems to me both the best strategic approach and the most interesting possible character development. LQ is very used to winning and being in motion. Accepting time spent passive and the frustration of "the enemy is definitely doing something you don't want somewhere" is a nice growth opportunity.

EDIT: Approval voting.
[X] Help the other village
 
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Briefvoice said:
On the other hand, there's a nearby village we explicitly know is being attacked by the nomads and needs our help.
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Thats reactive logic. The village under attack might have already recieved reinforcements elsewhere, or are just able to handle their problems. Ling Qi's Area of Responsibility is her village. Her Village which might be comming under attack by spirits and has a nonzero chance of being attacked by barbarians.

Everyone everywhere is at risk of attack, but we've already weakened the defense of our Responsibility by leaving to reinforce others. Nobody will be able to fault us if we return to make sure our Responsibility doesnt get turned to shit. Ling Qi doesnt have to do EVERYTHING herself. There are others with more experience, more authority, and (I assume) more information which can direct where efforts are best used. And running about chasing every enemy we hear about is just amateur hour.
 
Inserted tally
Adhoc vote count started by Killer_Whale on Oct 21, 2019 at 11:28 PM, finished with 78 posts and 31 votes.
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TimEd said:
Everyone everywhere is at risk of attack, but we've already weakened the defense of our Responsibility by leaving to reinforce others. Nobody will be able to fault us if we return to make sure our Responsibility doesnt get turned to shit. Ling Qi doesnt have to do EVERYTHING herself. There are others with more experience, more authority, and (I assume) more information which can direct where efforts are best used. And running about chasing every enemy we hear about is just amateur hour.
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You keep capitalizing Responsibility and then using the phrase "nobody will be able to fault us" like the most important thing in the situation is to avoid blame.

But hell, I don't really care whether Ling Qi gets a smilely face or a frowny face on her sect report card after all this is done. Who cares if someone were to "fault us"? Like, whatever, they'll wag their finger and tell her to study up on war and not to be led out of position next time. We're not trying to have a career in the Sect military anyway.

I think Ling Qi should do what she thinks is best and will save the most lives, not what she thinks will most shield her from potential blame if she's wrong. Maybe that's rushing to the next village. Maybe that's staying here and waiting to take stock. But it's definitely not doubting the decision she already made and rushing back to a position she left defended out of unsupported fears.
 
yrsillar said:
Not all could escape however. Young men in their heavy furs and masks screamed as her mist phantoms tore at them leaving them spinning out of control in the eddies of her mist as they lost focus and orientation, fighting fruitlessly against the illusory nightmares Ling Qi had conjured, easy pickings for her darting blade to strike, it's echoing song the last thing they heard.
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yrsillar said:
Still, it did not sit right with her that the barbarians were yet unscathed
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Wow. She's really rocking that "This young miss does not even put them in my sight" thing, isn't she? :)

As for the vote...


[] Hunt them down
Bad plan. Significant change of overextension, and leaves basically everything undefended. Might go for this if we were more of a solo adventurer, but the thing we want to do is protect our liege's lands, not go on loot runs against random barbarians.

[] ...Wait
Another bad plan. We're not at our assigned post. Right now, this town doesn't need us. The civilians are safe, the guards are alerted, and the fields have already been trashed. They're a much harder target than they were when we showed up, with far less to lose, and the group that was attacking them has taken a noticeable amount of damage even if they do decide to turn around and come back. Other places need the support more, and we could have potentially quite a lot of waiting before we hear anything else.

[] Return
The defensive play. Effectively, we have a duty to protect that location, but there's a decent chance that nothing is happening there (or that those we left can handle it themselves). If that's true, then there's no benefit to returning right now, and we'd be wasting time where we could be saving more imperials, and killing more barbarians. If there *is* some major issue back home, then heading to the other village still lets us help the other village, but it means that our position came under threat because we left our assigned post, and the ones who are most endangered by it are our dear friend and our little brother. Similarly, we are unlikely to be judged for returning to our post. We may well be judged for *not* returning to our post.

[] Help the other village
The aggressive play. We put our trust in Zhengui and Gu Xiulan, we hope that they can handle whatever it is they might have to deal with for at least a while longer, and we head out to play cavalry for another village that's likely desperately in need of same. Essentially, we risk the chance of harm to the personal, in exchange for guaranteed help to the whole.

Between those?

[x] Help the other village

I think they're going to need it more.
 
What the hell happened? Why was the update rereleased? There's no change and I didn't keep up with the thread after the (apparently) 1.0 version.
 
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